There was someone missing, Meira.
“Of course,” he thought. “She’s a mortal now. She has her shadow with her. Naturally it wouldn’t be here.”
Mika spent the whole day in the shadow room, and a good deal of his time after that.
“I don’t understand it,” Flumpdoria said when he told her about it the next time she came to see him. “No one knew that would be part of the spell. It must be a great comfort to you.”
It was a great comfort to him at first, but after a while he couldn’t bear to go up there. Seeing Gloria’s shadow only made him long for her more.
Flumpdoria and King Klux and Queen Meira, and Robin and Bluebell, and all Mika’s friends spent as much time with him as they could, trying to keep him from being lonely, but Mika wasn’t very cheerful company,
After a while he decided to travel, and through all the long years he roamed the world. He always attended the christenings of the babies of the royal family of Kengaria, and watched them grow up, and king after king ascend the throne.
These kings and queens were his great- and great-great- and great-great-great-grandchildren, but he didn’t have much fun with them. Sometimes he didn’t even appear but stood about in his cloak of invisibility, just to see that everything was all right.
They were so very mortal. As the centuries passed, the art of magic was gone from the kingdom. It made him sad that the people of Kengaria didn’t even believe in it any more.
Branstookah was always glad to see him. He was lonely again. For two or three hundred years the royal palace had stood on his mountain, but finally it had been moved back, and a new castle built where King Ferdinand’s had been.
“No one ever comes here any more,” Branstookah told him. “I really believe they doubt my existence. Anyway, they don’t bother me,” he added. “Sometimes I wish they would. I get bored.”
The time was so long, not like time in Fairyland, where a year passed so quickly one hardly noticed it was gone. As the slow centuries rolled on, Mika was lonely, lonely.
There were too many mortals. They built their towns right outside the enchanted valley. Of course they didn’t know about the valley. They never came in.
“And none of his descendants knew they were related to the fairies?” Lucy asked.
“Just one.” Michael smiled.
“Who was that?”
Michael looked out the window again and sighed. “I’ll tell you about her. There seems to be more time than I thought.”
17
FLAME
The years passed so slowly (Michael said). Mika, tired of traveling, was walking about the castle grounds. It had been five hundred years since he had found Gloria, and five hundred long, slow years must pass before he could see her again. The spell was half over.
He looked about unhappily. He almost wished the goblins would stir up trouble, just so he’d have something to do. Then he heard a swishing noise and a shadow fell over him. He looked up and there was Branstookah, circling above him.
Mika thought the poor thing must have been lonesome. He was glad he had come. He waved to Branstookah, and the dragon settled on the grass beside him. There was a young girl riding on his back!
She slipped to the ground and looked about wonderingly.
“My dear Mika,” Branstookah said. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? I’ve brought you a visitor. This is the Princess Flame, of Kengaria. Prince Mika is a relative of yours, my dear.”
Mika took the Princess Flame’s little hand and looked into her face. She was about seventeen years old. Her eyes were almost green, with long black lashes. Her eyes turned up a little at the corners. And—she had red hair.
“The blood,” Branstookah began.
“Yes,” said Mika. “After all these years. It’s hard to believe.”
“We look alike,” said the princess. “Are we cousins?”
“Not exactly,” Mika said. “I am your—ancestor.”
“My ancestor!”
Mika looked at Branstookah, and the dragon shook his head. “I haven’t told her.”
“Told me what?” Flame asked eagerly. “Oh, tell me!”
“Come into the castle, and I will,” Mika said.
They went in, Flame exclaiming at everything, and Mika summoned a servant and ordered luncheon. They ate and drank in the great hall, as it was the only place where the old dragon had room enough to be comfortable. Branstookah’s little pink bird perched on the high chandelier above them.
While his guests were eating, Mika told Flame the story of how the castle came to be, of Gloria, of Meira and Julian, and how the rulers of Kengaria were all descended from them. Flame listened in silence and wonder. There wasn’t the smallest flicker of doubt in her eyes. She didn’t say, “But there aren’t any fairies.” She said, “It’s wonderful! It’s what I felt. But I never would have guessed. Oh, Branstookah, I’m so glad you brought me here!”
“How did you happen to do it?” Mika asked Branstookah.
“She came to the mountain,” said the dragon.
“It started with the magic,” Flame said. At these words there was a mournful sighing in the room.
Mika looked around.
“It’s Elgi,” Flame said, looking embarrassed.
Then Mika saw him. There was the cloudy form of the djinn, Elgi, sitting in a chair in a dejected attitude, his head in his hands. He looked like a puffy man made of mist.
“Tell him,” he said whisperingly, “what you’ve done.”
“Well,” Flame said, glancing uneasily at the djinn, “as I said, it started with the magic. Everyone said I was peculiar. They didn’t say it to me, but I knew it. I’d wander about the palace and feel sad. My brother, the King, said I made him jumpy. I felt as though I was looking for something. I’d explore places where no one went any more. So one day I found an old deserted tower. Trees had grown around it. I had never known it was there.”
“Part of the old palace of King Ferdinand,” Branstookah said.
“I went in and up the stairs,” Flame went on, “and there was a dusty old room filled with books. Big, old, strange-looking books. I opened them, and saw that they were books of magic. I was terribly excited, and began coming every day. The more I read in the books, the more I could understand. Then one day I found the courage to try one of the spells.”
“Unhappy day!” groaned Elgi, with a truly tremendous sigh. His voice was like the wind moaning through a tunnel.
Flame and Branstookah looked at him patiently, and Flame went on with her story. “The magic worked! I had changed a spider into a lizard. It fell out of its web and ran away, and I ran away, too, and didn’t come back for a week.
“I never dared mention it at the palace. I didn’t want them to find out about the books. They might take them away from me. My groom, who is rather stupid, would wait outside the tower and sleep. He prefers dozing in the shade to riding. I never told anyone.
“One of the books was a notebook, half filled with notes on experiments. In it I saw a reference to the Mount of the Dragons. They call it Flower Mountain now, but I knew it at once from the description. I asked Paul, my brother, why no one ever went there, and he said the people were superstitious about it. He said it wasn’t good for anything, because nothing would grow on it except the flowers that were already there. If I wanted to look at it he didn’t suppose there was any harm in going.”
“So she did,” said Branstookah, “just as Meira did, and we became friends.”
“No one knew,” said Flame, “because my groom was scared, and waited at the bottom. We had some lovely times. Branstookah told me all about king Ferdinand, and how interested he was in magical things. And then—along came Elgi.”
“Not from choice, I assure you,” said Elgi indignantly. “Here’s this child, dabbling in things she knows nothing about, and what does she do? She turns to the back of the book, and has the unmitigated arrogance to perform an enchantment that brings me, me, to do her bidding!” He st
opped, too angry for the moment to go on. “It wouldn’t have been so bad,” he continued in slightly calmer tones, “but she got it twisted some way, and instead of doing what she wanted and disappearing, as is my custom, I found I couldn’t disappear again! And here I’ve been ever since, following her around, and I tell you I can’t stand it much longer.”
“I don’t know what I did wrong,” Flame said. “I’ve tried everything to release him. He even followed me in the palace, and frightened everyone out of their wits. They’d see his cloudy form trailing after me wherever I went. They thought I was haunted, like a house or something!”
“So we came to you,” Branstookah said. “The association is not a happy one, and we need magic to end the spell.”
“We were coming anyway,” Flame said. “Paul thinks he can arrange my marriage to a positive toad, so I ran away.”
“I thought this was the best place for her,” Branstookah said. “I hate to lose her, she’s been a great comfort. Just to find someone who’s able to see me—” He broke off with a sigh. “Mortals can’t see anything nowadays, so I knew she was different.”
“Yes,” said Mika, looking at her curiously. “I wonder how different you are. I’ll see what I can do about you, Elgi.”
“I’m extremely patient,” Elgi said. “I’m noted for it. But things can go too far. Please try to keep her from wishing for anything.”
“It’s terrible,” said Flame. “Every time I say I wish something, it happens. I was so furious with Paul that one day I said I wished he was at the bottom of a well, and he just vanished. I said, ‘Where on earth can he be?’ and Elgi said, ‘At the bottom of a well, of course.’ So I wished him back again very quickly, and there he was, just fearfully angry. I had to run off and hide. I couldn’t seem to help saying things. People would annoy me, and I’d just flare up.”
“She’s rightly named,” Elgi said gloomily.
“And of course everyone I wished anything on was terribly upset, even though I wished it right off again.”
Mika couldn’t help laughing at the thought of people spending a surprised few minutes at the bottom of a well, and other places. “I can see that the situation needs attention,” he said.
“Oh dear,” Flame said, “I wish—”
“STOP!” shouted Branstookah.
“STOP!” moaned Elgi in tones like a mournfully tolling bell.
“Whoops!” Flame clapped her hands over her mouth. “I was going to wish—”
“Don’t tell us,” Mika said hastily. “Why can’t you wish Elgi back where he came from?”
“That doesn’t work,” Flame said. “I can only wish things Elgi can do, and if he could send himself back where he came from, he would have done it long ago. Mika, maybe if you saw the book the spell came from, you could figure it out. Elgi, I wish I had that book.”
Elgi disappeared.
“If I learn enough magic will I turn into a witch?” Flame asked. “I’ve always wondered about witches. I’ve never seen one. Oh, I do wish I had a real witch right here to look at.”
“Stop!” shouted Mika, but it was too late.
There was a loud groan and they turned just in time to see Elgi returning with the book. He dropped it on the floor with a thump, and vanished again in a flash.
18
ELBILDISH
Elgi reappeared angrily, and he was not alone. “You’ve done it again!” he said, and there stood a witch, simply shaking with fury.
“What is the meaning of this?” the witch screamed. “Roused in the middle of my good day’s sleep, transported through the air by a demon!”
“I’m not a demon,” said Elgi.
“You are a demon! I won’t be treated this way! I’ll have you haunted, that’s what I’ll do. I’ll turn you into—”
“Wait,” Mika said. “Let me explain this dreadful mistake. I’m sure you’ll understand—”
Flame began to cry. “Ohhh, I wish you were back where you came from,” she sobbed.
Immediately Elgi and the witch disappeared with a swish.
“Now you’ve done it,” Elgi said when he appeared again a moment later. “She’ll never forgive you. I know witches. If you had waited and let us explain, she might have agreed to forget it, but now she’ll get even with you, some way. I wash my hands of the whole business! I mean I wish I could.”
Mika picked up the heavy book. “I’ll take a look at this. Come, I’ll show you to your rooms.”
“I’m afraid I can’t get into any room except this one,” Branstookah said. “I’ll camp in the woods, and only sleep here in case of a storm.” At these words the little pink bird got back under his wing.
Flame said she thought she would take a nap before dinner, and Elgi said he would relax, too, as she didn’t wish in her sleep. “So far,” he added.
Mika went to his library to look up magic. He was a very able magician by this time, but he had never studied undoing spells which had been done wrong. The sooner the spell was broken the better, as there was no telling what Flame might get herself mixed up in.
Unfortunately, the books didn’t have much to say on the subject of undoing mistakes. As they ate dinner in the great hall, he told Flame he’d just have to work out the magic himself. It might take a few days.
The next morning when Mika emerged from his study, still scratching his head, Flame said, “Let’s go on a picnic, Mika. The woods look so cool and nice. Maybe it will help you think.”
“Fine idea,” said Branstookah.
“I’m just as bad off one place as another,” Elgi said.
“I won’t wish for anything,” Flame assured him.
So Mika ordered a hamper and they set off for the woods. It was dim and cool in the forest. Clouds of little Wood Fairies fluttered about their heads, come to see Mika’s visitor. Flame thought them adorable.
“You see,” Branstookah said, “she can see them.”
They had gone several miles from the castle before they stopped for lunch. They ate in a grassy dell, fragrant with the scent of large blue violets. Branstookah’s bird ate from their hands. Lunch and the long walk made them all drowsy and soon they were sleeping peacefully in the grass.
When Mika woke it was nearly dark. He roused the others. “We must get back. It’s late.”
They walked home through the darkening woods. Glowworms glowed at them beside the way.
As they neared the castle, Branstookah made a startled sound. “Oh! I feel so strange.” The little bird fluttered into the air, squeaking in agitated chirps.
“The bird says there’s something the matter with me,” Branstookah said worriedly. “There is, too. I feel it.”
“Feel what?” Elgi asked curiously, floating up to peer into the dragon’s face.
Branstookah’s mouth opened, and snap! the huge jaws closed on Elgi with a loud Click!
“Branstookah!” Flame shrieked, horrified.
“Are you crazy?” Elgi cried angrily, oozing out between Branstookah’s teeth.
The little bird squeaked wildly. Branstookah snapped at him, seeming hardly to know what he was doing. He stood there, dazedly looking at them, then sank to the ground, wringing his claws remorsefully.
“What have I done?” he cried. “Oh dear. Oh dear, I’m turning into a wild beast! And me a vegetarian!”
“What do you mean?” Mika asked sharply.
“Before I knew it, I simply snapped up the nearest person. Why, suppose it had been Flame, or you, or my little bird? Anyone but Elgi would have been in pieces in a minute. I tell you, I’m ill. Very ill.”
“Dangerously ill,” Elgi said. “The bird knows. When Branstookah feels that way, you notice the bird is somewhere else.”
“The bird says it’s witches,” Branstookah said. “He keeps saying ‘Witches, witches, witches.’”
“I told you that witch would make trouble,” Elgi said. “She’s trying to enchant Branstookah so he’ll eat you all. Except me.”
“If he ate me,” Flame
said, “would you have to come along?”
“I might. We really must do something.”
“When it’s coming on, I want to growl,” Branstookah said.
“Please do,” Flame requested. “This makes me very nervous. I wish—”
“STOP!” they all cried quickly.
“Be quiet,” Mika said. “I’m thinking.” They all stood very still, waiting. After a long minute he said, “I’ll try this. It will infuriate the witch, but then everything infuriates a witch.”
Just then the little bird flew into a tree, as Branstookah gave a truly terrifying growl. The very trees shook, and Flame and Elgi ran frantically away. Mika jumped behind a tree.
“Gizzlebat!” he shouted. “Rerum bok!” He waved his sword three times to the left, then to the right. “Blittum! Stoopwraggle! Klop!”
There was a flash of green light around Branstookah’s head, and a scream of rage died away on the air. Then everything was quiet again. Branstookah shook his head, bewildered.
“How do you feel?” Mika asked him.
Branstookah smiled slowly. “Better. Much better. In fact, I think it’s gone.”
“That spell won’t last long,” Mika said. “I’ll have to do it every time you feel that way, until I can work out something permanent. Let’s get back to the castle. The fairies say there’s something wrong there.” The little Wood Fairies were fluttering anxiously, whispering in Mika’s ears.
“In that case,” Elgi said, “maybe we’d better stay away.”
“I’m not going to have witches cluttering up my castle,” Mika said, hurrying along.
As they approached the castle, they saw, at every window, tiny green lights. Two little lights close together would wink and go out, and then appear again. Small dark forms swooped and circled, around and about and in and out of the windows.
“Bats,” Elgi said as they hurried forward. “Bats and cats. The castle is full of the witch’s demons. I suppose you’ll try to make me remove them all single-handed,” he added to Flame.
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