Then he began to notice, dimly, that when he dropped a goblin into the water, it sank immediately, to be seen no more. He was on his knees now, goblins clawing at his hair, his face, and he pulled them off, one by one, until there was only one left, rolling on the bottom with Floam.
With a great effort Mika picked up one in each hand and pulled them apart. He held out one over the water and let go.
But the thing he held clutched him wildly. “Wait! Wait!” Floam shrieked. “It’s me! MIKA!”
Mika jerked his hand back hastily. In his hazy condition he had been about to throw Floam overboard and keep the goblin.
“I’m sorry, Floam,” he murmured as he tossed the goblin out with his last ounce of strength. Floam collapsed on the floor, muttering wildly. Mika, too, lay in the boat, and Robin, who had been fearfully curled in the bow, crept out and lay down beside him. Mika could keep his eyes open no longer and drifted into unconsciousness.
7
VICTORY
When Mika woke, he was amazed to find himself lying on a grassy bank by the side of the river. Someone was anointing his wounds with soothing ointment. With an effort, he sat up and looked about.
There beside him were Floam and Glite, their eyes fluttering a little. Robin was playing quietly in the grass. And the person who was healing his wounds was a mermaid!
The mermaid smiled. “How do you feel?”
“Why—much better, thank you. How—what happened?”
“We found you on the river,” she said. “Just where it comes out of the mountain. It must have been an awful fight.”
“Yes,” Mika answered. “It was … but then—the goblins didn’t climb back in the boat any more.”
“No. We took them. The King was terribly angry.”
“The King?” Mika asked.
“There he is.” The mermaid gestured toward the river, where a graceful boat made of coral and mother-of-pearl was approaching the bank. In the bow stood the King of the River Fairies. He had a long green beard, and his robes were embroidered with designs of shells and fishes.
The boat ran up on shore, and the King stepped out and came toward them. Though he had legs, he also had fins, which were rather becoming. Mika rose to his feet and bowed.
“Sir, Your Majesty, most profound thanks for rescuing us from the goblins.”
“Quite all right,” said the King. “Meddlesome brutes! War or not, they know better than to come down this river on my birthday! They spoiled my birthday party!” He waved his arms angrily. “I always have a parade on my birthday! And what happens? Up above us, on the surface of my river, there’s fighting going on! Splashing about, goblins falling in, polluting the water!”
“I’m terribly sorry,” Mika said.
“So I told ’em to gather in the wretched creatures, and put ’em away. I turned ’em into ornamental jars to grow seaweed in. And they’ll have to stay there until the enchantment is over. No business going about abducting children, starting wars. My beautiful birthday procession. I won’t have another for a year,” he ended sorrowfully.
A merman swam up to the bank and bowed before the King, handing him an important-looking document. “Latest news from the front,” he said.
The King opened it quickly and read it, while the others stood breathlessly waiting to hear the news.
The King read from the paper: “Goblins in flight at every point … hundreds captured… Fairy armies invading all parts of goblin kingdom … all captives released … no trace of Robin or Prince Mika, believed captives of Krustigrubb, now fleeing with a few followers … other goblins scattered… King Klux sends greetings, and so on,” the King said. “All the other Kings send greetings and felicitations on my birthday for three pages. Well! You’d best be getting home, young man.”
Mika picked Robin up and hugged him. “Yes, right away. Gloria will be frantic. Again thanks, Your Majesty.” He swiveled his head around. “I wonder where the West Wind is. Breeze? Is there a breeze anywhere about?”
A little zephyr swirled up to him. “I’ll find him for you,” she said, and was gone. In a little while the West Wind came puffing up.
“All I do is carry you about,” he said. “I have an appointment with a hurricane a hundred miles away.” He picked up the four of them gently, but so quickly they barely had time to wave goodbye.
“I’m used to traveling on my own wings,” Floam said, “but this is certainly less trouble. Would you mind dropping us at the Fire King’s palace?”
The Wind had to take Robin and Mika home first, because Mika couldn’t go into Fairyland on account of the enchantment. In a very short time he set them down in front of the castle, and hurried off with the Fire Fairies, explaining that he was late for his appointment.
When Gloria saw them, she ran from the palace to meet them. Flumpdoria and King Klux came hurrying behind her, and all the fairies sent up shouts of triumph.
When the excitement had died down a little, King Klux told Mika more of what had happened. “Glauz made magic even he didn’t think he could do. We captured them so fast they didn’t have enough soldiers left to guard their entrances, and we finally got into the goblin kingdom. We marked the passages with spells so we wouldn’t get lost. We used every bit of goblin dust in existence. We explored every bit of the goblin kingdom and couldn’t find King Krustigrubb. He’s probably in a hollow tree somewhere. I suppose they’ll come back, what’s left of them, but we don’t want the gloomy place. How’s the boy?”
“Frightened,” Mika said. Robin’s face was buried in the crook of his mother’s arm.
“He’ll forget,” Flumpdoria said. She kissed Robin on the forehead. “Forget,” she whispered.
“And did he?” Lucy asked.
“Yes. He was young. But he had some sixth sense about the goblins after that, I think,” Michael said. “Nobody worried about them for a long time, which is sometimes a mistake with goblins. But the fairies had defeated them so thoroughly, they all felt safe.”
“What about the Midsummer’s Eve celebration?” Lucy asked. She liked the thought of them dancing on the grass, twinkling like fireflies in the darkness.
“Oh,” said Michael, “they had a feast and a ball and a parade, and because his birthday had been spoiled, the King of the River Fairies was asked to lead the procession, which pleased him very much. He and his people were brought to the castle in special coaches full of water, and they were taken everywhere, sightseeing.”
Lucy sighed with satisfaction. Robin’s shadow waved its arms on the wall before her. “Tell me about when he grew up,” she said.
Michael went to the window, pushing aside the vines to look at the morning sun. “All right,” he said. “Time goes so slowly today.”
Lucy sat still and quiet, waiting. The light in the room began to turn purple, and the shadows looked almost solid. There was a tense feeling in the air. Then Michael began to talk softly again, and the shadows seemed to recede.
8
THE VISITING PRINCESS
As the children grew up (Michael said) it was easy to see that there was a difference between them. Robin was very like his father, with red curly hair and green eyes, while Meira was like her mother, golden-haired and blue-eyed. You could hardly tell she was half fairy, she looked and acted so much like a mortal.
One summer when they were about twenty years old, Meira went for a visit to her grandparents, King Ferdinand and Queen Katrina, in their kingdom of Kengaria, but Robin stayed at home. He was a great favorite with all the fairies, and liked to be with them.
One day Flumpdoria appeared at the castle for a conference with Mika and Gloria. She stepped out of her carriage, which disappeared, and immediately grew to mortal size, as she usually did when in the castle, as a matter of convenience.
“It’s time the boy was married,” she said, “and even if it isn’t, everyone seems to think it is. I’m always being hinted at by ambassadors from this country or that, about how beautiful or accomplished their particular prin
cess is.”
“I won’t have him marry except for love,” Gloria said decidedly.
“Certainly not. But we could invite a princess here to visit, and he might fall in love with her.”
So that’s what they decided to do, and after much consideration decided on the only daughter of the King of the Blue Elves. She was reported to be the most beautiful and the most intelligent and to have the sweetest disposition.
They sent gifts and messages, and invited her to come to the castle and make them a visit. In a few days there was an answer accepting the invitation.
Everything in Blue Elfland is blue—trees, grass, flowers, everything. It is the national color. So Gloria prepared a room especially for the Princess, all in blue.
Then they were ready for their visitor, whose name was Bluebell, and after three days a messenger arrived to say that the Princess would be there at any moment.
Soon a beautiful, tiny chariot, drawn by bright blue dragon-flies, stopped in front of the castle. The Princess stepped out, waved a wand, and she and the chariot and all her company, in the twinkling of an eye, became as large as mortals.
Mika and Gloria and Robin went out to meet the Princess. She was very beautiful, with cloudy black hair and deep blue eyes, but Mika didn’t think she was as beautiful as Gloria.
She greeted them ceremoniously, and they escorted her into the castle, where she exclaimed over her lovely blue room, and seemed altogether pleased to be there.
No one told Robin the reason the Princess Bluebell had been invited to the castle, but he probably had a pretty good idea anyway. He was very polite to her. He danced with her and walked with her, but he didn’t seem to be seeking her out when it wasn’t necessary for politeness’ sake.
The Princess didn’t seem to be very fond of the daytime. The only things she really enjoyed were the dances that were held at night. She always wore beautiful blue gowns. She slept late in the mornings, and her little maid carried her breakfast to her.
This maid was an ugly, shy little thing. Her skin was a deep purple, and she never said a word. The Princess said that the little maid couldn’t talk, and that she was very sorry for her.
One night, when the Princess had been there about a week, Robin went up to his mother’s rooms to see her just before dinner. He was surprised to see Gloria still sitting before her dressing table, with her maid arranging her hair.
“Why, Mother, you’re late, aren’t you?”
“Hello, darling,” Gloria said. “Yes, I am. Everything’s gone wrong today.”
The maid, who was combing her hair, pulled nervously at the comb, and Gloria said, “Oh, you hurt me.”
“I’m sorry, Your Highness. I didn’t mean to.”
“It’s all right. What’s the matter with you tonight, Tinkle? You’re so jumpy,”
“I—I don’t know, Your Highness. Something is queer—I—don’t know. Oh, I can’t get your hair right!” And Tinkle began to cry.
“See?” Gloria said to Robin. “Every single soul in the castle has been acting strangely all day. I don’t know what’s the matter with them. There, Tinkle, that’s all right. It looks very nice. Go and get your dinner, and maybe you’ll feel better!”
Tinkle set a diadem of pearls on her mistress’s head. Gloria looked lovely. She looked just the same as she had when she and Mika were married. Because of the fairy spell, she never grew old.
“Tinkle,” she said, “if there’s anything wrong, I think I ought to know about it, don’t you?”
Tinkle looked unhappy, and said, “Yes, Your Highness. But I don’t know what it is. Everything’s queer.”
That was all she would say, so Gloria told her to run along.
“I wonder what’s the matter with her,” she said when Tinkle had gone. “She’s dropped everything she picked up, she brought me the wrong slippers, it took her two hours to do my hair, and I am simply exhausted.”
“She’s not the only one,” Robin said. “All the servants keep looking over their shoulders. That is, all of ours. The ones the Princess brought with her don’t seem to be bothered. You don’t suppose they’ve been quarreling with each other, do you?”
“I wish I knew,” said Gloria.
The next day about noon Robin was wandering restlessly about the castle. He wanted to go riding, but the Princess hadn’t come from her room yet, and he felt that it would be impolite to go off without inviting her to go with him. He went up to the second floor where her rooms were, hoping to catch sight of one of her servants and find out whether she was likely to appear very soon.
He saw the little purple maid coming down the hall with a large tray of food for the Princess. “Good morning,” he said.
She started violently at sight of him, and dropped the tray, scattering food and dishes everywhere.
Robin said, “Oh, I’m sorry I startled you. Let me help you pick them up.”
The little purple maid only put her hands to her face and sank to the floor trembling and sobbing silently.
“It’s all right,” Robin said, distressed. “It doesn’t matter. Run and get another tray, and send one of the servants to clear this away.”
But the little maid only shuddered, and started picking the dishes up in a great hurry. Robin couldn’t understand why she should be so frightened. But he was sorry he had been the cause of it, so he decided to go down himself and tell them to prepare another breakfast for the Princess Bluebell. He did so, and then came back upstairs to see if the little maid was all right.
The stairs and halls were thickly carpeted, so when Robin came back the two people in the hall didn’t hear him. As he reached the top of the stairs he heard the Princess’s voice, “You ugly, clumsy, purple thing!” she was saying furiously. “You’re five minutes late with my breakfast! If you’re not careful, something worse will happen to you!” She slapped the little purple maid as hard as she could. The little maid didn’t say anything, but just stood there, swaying a little.
“Look here, it wasn’t her fault,” Robin said, walking up to them quickly. “I scared her. She didn’t see me, and dropped the tray. I’ve already sent for another for you, Princess.”
The Princess was all smiles. “Oh, I’m sure it couldn’t have been your fault,” she said sweetly. “She’s very stupid, you know. No one else would put up with her, but I keep her because I’m sorry for her.”
The little maid shivered.
Robin thought he’d better change the subject, so he asked the Princess if she’d like to ride with him.
“No, thank you,” she said. “I’m a little tired today. We did dance so very late last night. You go on, Robin. I don’t want you to stay at home on my account.”
Robin certainly didn’t want to stay at home on her account. He got Mika to go with him, and they rode out across the valley together.
“I don’t think I can possibly marry the Princess Bluebell,” Robin said as the horses ambled along.
“We don’t want you to marry anyone you don’t want to marry,” Mika said. “I don’t know that I’m sorry. I don’t think I could ever be very fond of her.”
“She slapped that little maid of hers this morning for something that was an accident,” Robin said. “I think her sweet disposition has been overrated.”
“Hmmmm,” said Mika. “A true princess is never cruel to her servants, and never unladylike.”
“The things she said were not very ladylike,” Robin said. “Do you have to invite another princess? It’s not much fun, you know, having a girl brought to visit, and then knowing everyone is watching to see whether you fall in love with her or not.”
“I know,” said Mika. “Anyway, Princess Bluebell is still here, and we certainly can’t invite another until she’s gone.”
“When is she going?”
“I don’t know. She hasn’t said anything at all about the length of her visit. She seems to like you.”
Robin just growled under his breath.
9
SOMETHING WRONG
I simply don’t like that Princess Bluebell,” Robin said that night to Gloria.
“I—I’m afraid I don’t like her either,” Gloria said. “But she’s very beautiful.”
“Her face is all right, I guess. But I don’t like her. Can’t you get her to go away?”
“I can’t order her to leave, Robin. It wouldn’t be polite, and besides, her father is a powerful king. These fairies are so touchy. Sometimes I think they make war just for the fun of it.”
They were giving a small dinner party for the Princess that night, and Gloria and Robin went down together. Flumpdoria was there, and three of Mika’s brothers and their wives, and a few others. There was also Wuddle, a prince of the Swamp Fairies, damp and green and slithery.
No one seemed to have a very good time, except Bluebell. After dinner there was dancing, and her gay laugh could be heard frequently as she danced with one partner and then another.
Robin danced with her a few times, but stood in a corner most of the time, adding nothing to the gaiety of the occasion.
Flumpdoria came up to him and said, “What’s the matter with you, Robin? You don’t have to marry the girl, you know.”
“She gets on my nerves,” he said grumpily. “She gives me the creeps.”
Flumpdoria looked thoughtful. “She certainly isn’t much like the description of her we had before she came. I’m going to ask our ambassador to the Blue Elves where he got the idea he was a judge of princesses.”
“I’d like to talk to him, too.”
“He’ll be here for the Grand Ball Thursday night. Why do you suppose Mika and Gloria invited that ugly Swamp Prince, Wuddle?”
“When we were out riding today,” Robin said, “we met him, and he practically invited himself. Father said he had once been the cause of a war with the Swamp Fairies, and didn’t want to start any more trouble, so he told him to come.”
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