by Mari Mancusi
“Morgana! You’re here! At last!”
She nodded to Sir Agravaine, who was running toward her like an excited puppy dog. She assumed Sir Kay was not far behind. Clearing her throat, she clasped her hands in front of her. “My loyal knights,” she purred as, sure enough, Sir Kay stumbled from the bushes. “It’s so good to see you again.”
“You as well!” Sir Kay cried. “We’ve been waiting forever.”
“I ran into a little…trouble,” she admitted. “But no matter. I have a plan and—”
“Wait until you see what we have for you!”
She crinkled her forehead, annoyed at the interruption. “What?” she demanded. “If this is another chicken, then I don’t really—”
“Come. We’ll show you.” Sir Kay bounded off in the other direction, Sir Agravaine at his heels. Morgana groaned, but followed them into the druid village. She couldn’t help a small smile of pleasure as her eyes roamed the empty buildings. She may have not gotten the Grail, but she’d made great inroads in destroying its protectors. Now it was in the hands of mere children. Soon it would be hers.
“Look!” Agravaine announced, his voice thick with triumph. “The man himself!”
Her gaze followed his pointing finger, and her eyes widened in disbelief at what she saw tied to a tree. Merlin! The great Merlin! Wrapped in thick rope, a cotton gag stuffed in his mouth. Was he asleep? Or…?
“You didn’t kill him, did you?” she asked, squinting at the wizard’s slumped form. Not that she would have minded him dead. But he was more valuable to her alive. She imagined herself riding into King Arthur’s court with his beloved master as her prisoner. Who knew what Arthur would trade in exchange for Merlin’s life?
“No. He’s just sleeping, I think.”
She walked over to the wizard and gave him a swift kick. He stirred, but did not awaken. Her mouth stretched into a smile. “However did you manage this?” she asked her knights. “Why, he should have struck you down like gnats.”
“Maybe we’re better than you think!” Sir Kay declared, puffing out his chest.
“No.” She shook her head. “You’re not.”
Their faces fell. “Do not misunderstand me,” she said. “I’m most pleased by this. But…Merlin is a very powerful wizard. He wouldn’t have gone down without a fight.” She eyed the knights curiously. “Where did you find him?”
“He was with some children,” Kay explained. “They went up the mountain. We followed them, and they never saw us coming.” He grinned gleefully, revealing a mouth full of broken teeth.
Morgana stared down at the wizard, trying to understand. It was then her eyes fell upon the tips of Merlin’s fingers—blackened and shriveled like prunes. A sure sign he had just cast a major spell. Realization fell over her like a heavy cloak. “He must have been taking them to Faerie!” she exclaimed.
“Faerie?” the knights repeated doubtfully.
“He probably spent all his energy opening the portal. And you grabbed him before he could go through. Did they have a cup with them?” she asked. “Or a…chicken?”
The two knights exchanged glances. “I don’t think so?” Sir Agravaine stammered. “But the mists were very thick. And one of them was carrying quite a large bag….”
Morgana stared down at Merlin. Why would they go to Faerie? Were they giving the cup to her cousin the queen for safekeeping? But no. Her cousin would never help friends of Merlin.
Unless she didn’t know they were his friends.
Hmm. Perhaps it was time to pay a little visit to Faerie.
She turned to her knights. “You did well,” she said. “Now I need you to do one more thing for me.”
“Anything, my queen!”
“Stay here and watch over him until I get back.”
Agravaine’s face soured. This was clearly not the “anything” he had in mind. “What? I thought we were going back to the castle! To take down Arthur once and for all.”
“Yes, yes. We will, I assure you. But there is something I must do first.” She turned to leave, then stopped. She stared down at the unconscious wizard, tied up in simple ropes. He looked harmless now, but when he woke, he would have his powers again. And he would easily outwit these fools. If only she could put him on ice for a while. Until she could get back.
Ice…
A laugh bubbled up in her throat. Of course!
She raised her hands, mumbling the spell under her breath. Smoke swirled beneath her feet and her fingers crackled with familiar energy. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Sir Kay giving Sir Agravaine a frightened look. Good. Let them witness her true power. Let them see firsthand why she—and she alone—deserved to be queen of Britain.
“Glacies,” she chanted loudly, even though it wasn’t strictly necessary. “Glacies, magicae, carcerem!”
A cold blast shot from her fingers, freezing the great Merlin in a solid block of ice.
“Wind and Rain!” Kay swore under his breath, taking a quick step backward.
Morgana hid a smile, pleased with herself. This was more like it!
“Now,” she instructed, “stay here and make camp. I will return shortly.”
After a quick quest for the Holy Grail.
“Sophie, Sophie!”
Sophie groaned as rough hands shook her awake. She tried to swat them away.
“Five more minutes, Dad,” she begged sleepily, reaching for her pillow to block out the light. It was then that she realized there was no pillow.
Because she was not in bed.
“Finally! The sleeping beauty wakes!” declared Ashley from somewhere nearby. “Without even a kiss from a handsome prince! Which is a good thing for you, because there’s no one even remotely good-looking anywhere around this place. No offense, Stu.”
“Uh, yeah. Sure,” Stu replied dryly.
Sophie forced herself to sit up, rubbing her face. The light was way too bright, stinging her pupils. She dropped her hands, forcing herself to open her eyes.
Her jaw dropped.
The dreary forest, the steep cliffs, the heavy mists of the island of Avalon had vanished completely. And in their place? A candy-colored dreamland ripped straight from the pages of a fantasy book. It was like that moment in the old Wizard of Oz movie where everything goes from black-and-white to vivid color…or a new Instagram filter gone wild.
Fairyland. They were actually here.
Her eyes took in the brilliant purples and hot pinks and deep blues all around. And not just from wildflowers—though there were many of these—but entire trees. Their leaves—even their trunks—sported all the colors of the rainbow. Some with stripes, others with swirls. Still others seemed to be coated in glitter. In fact, it was such a wonderland she half expected a Mad Hatter or White Rabbit with a pocketwatch to wander through.
“Pretty amazing, huh?” Ashley said.
Sophie nodded, turning in a circle, trying to take it all in, breathing in fresh, sweet air that smelled vaguely of gingerbread and Christmas spices. A warm breeze riffled through her hair, tickling her earlobes…
…while something else tickled at the back of her brain.
Something odd. Something she was…forgetting.
“Did…something bad happen back there?” she asked suddenly, frowning at her friends. She tried to reach for the thought and pull it back to consciousness. Her head still felt foggy—maybe a side effect from the trip? She wrinkled her forehead. “Is Merlin okay?”
“What?” Stu and Ashley exchanged puzzled glances.
She rubbed her head in her hands, feeling all sorts of confused. “I just…I feel like Merlin might be in trouble.” Why couldn’t she remember?
Stu shrugged. “He was fine when I left. Ashley?”
“Totally fine,” Ashley agreed.
“Right. I guess he was?” Sophie bit her lower lip.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Stu asked, peering at her worriedly. “Did you hit your head on the way down?”
“No. I’m…good.” S
he drew in a breath, the strange sensation fading. She smiled at her friends. “Sorry. That was weird. I don’t know.”
Stu patted her arm. “Don’t worry. Merlin, of all people, can take care of himself. And he’s counting on us to find the fairy queen. Now come on. Let’s go do it.”
Sophie nodded. Her eyes scanned the landscape. It was so beautiful it barely looked real. On the ground were wildflowers with the most intricate petals, and toadstools big enough to sit on. There was a babbling brook to one side, with water flowing frothy cotton-candy pink. And trails led off in all directions, sparkling as if they’d been paved in silver.
Thank goodness Merlin had given them a map. Otherwise there’d be no way to know which direction they should take.
She turned to Stu. “Got the map?”
“Yup.” Stu reached into his pocket and pulled out the rolled parchment the wizard had given him. As he started to unfurl it, the air clouded with glitter. He made a face. “Seriously, I can’t get rid of this stuff,” he muttered, shaking it off.
“Yeah, well, at least it fits in here,” Sophie pointed out, gesturing to the trees.
Stu cocked his head. “What do you—”
But his question was suddenly interrupted as, out of nowhere, a large pink bird swept down from the sky. Sophie watched, paralyzed, as the creature dove straight toward Stu, its eyes locked on the glittery map.
Oh no!
“Hey!” Stu cried. “Get lost!”
But the bird didn’t listen. Instead it latched on to the map with its sharp talons, plucking it from Stu’s hands. He tried to grab it back, but the bird was too quick, rising to the sky and out of his reach. A moment later, it disappeared beyond the thick canopy of trees. Gone forever—with their only way to navigate Fairyland in its claws.
Oh no. No, no, no!
“What just happened?” Ashley asked, horrified.
“Your glitter happened,” Sophie snarled, looking up at the sky in dismay.
“What? How can that—”
Stu groaned. “Birds are attracted to shiny stuff. Like glitter.” He shook his hands, trying to get rid of the remaining sparkly specks. “I’m probably lucky it didn’t take me with it.”
“Oh my gosh!” Ashley cried. “I’m so sorry! I never meant…” She rummaged through her backpack, pulling out her phone. “Ugh. No GPS, either. In fact, I can’t even get a signal.”
Sophie ran a hand through her hair, walking over to a polka-dotted toadstool and sitting down on it. Part of her wanted to yell at Ashley, but she looked so upset Sophie didn’t have the heart to blame her. Besides, what good would it do? It wouldn’t bring the map back.
She looked around.
Should they just give up now? Drink the potion and go back home in defeat?
“Come on, Sophie. Don’t freak out!” Stu said. “We can still make this work. After all, I was a Boy Scout. And Boy Scouts are always prepared.”
“I thought you bailed on Boy Scouts after three meetings.”
“Three very informative meetings!”
“Great,” she said, though she kind of wanted to scream. “Then which way should we go?”
Stu looked around, tapping his chin with his hand. “Well, there’s moss on this side of the tree. Which means that’s north? Or south.” He scratched his head. “South. Right.”
“Do we want to go south?” Ashley asked.
“Was the castle south?”
“What castle?”
“Did anyone even look at the map?” Sophie blurted out.
Stu and Ashley looked at one another, then shrugged guiltily. “I figured we’d look when we got here,” Stu said.
Sophie sighed, suddenly feeling a million years old. “This is ridiculous,” she said. “We should just drink the potion and go back. Tell Merlin we need to find another way.”
“Or maybe we can ask him for directions?” Ashley suggested.
Sophie frowned, turning to her. It was then that she realized her future stepsister was looking up, head tilted to the sky. Had the bird returned? But no, backlit by bright sunlight was a person-like silhouette, hovering above them. A silhouette with something flickering behind it.
Make that two somethings. As in two large, gossamer wings.
She swallowed hard. “A fairy,” she whispered, totally stating the obvious. She glanced around warily, remembering Merlin’s many warnings. Fairies were dangerous. Tricky. Not to be trusted. And definitely—
“Super cute!” Ashley cried way too loudly. She gave the fairy boy an approving once-over. “I thought they were going to look like Tinker Bell or something. But this guy is H-O-T.”
“Please don’t let him hear you say that,” Stu scolded.
Sophie watched as the fairy began to descend. He was definitely nothing like Tinker Bell. Unless he was Crossfit Master Tinker Bell. In fact, if he didn’t have wings, he could have doubled as a male model, with bulging biceps, sparkling blue eyes, full lips, and cheekbones that might have been cut from glass. He wore an emerald-green tunic over a pair of brown leather leggings, and his wings shimmered behind him like sparkling jewels.
“Greetings!” he cried, coming down for a landing in front of them. “Welcome to the land of Faerie!” He pushed a hand in their direction. Ashley ran up to take it, pumping it happily, clearly unconcerned with her own safety when it came to a cute boy.
“Hello!” she chirped. “It’s so great to meet you, too. I’m Ashley Jones. But you can call me Ash. Or Lee. Or…” She giggled. “Honestly, I’d answer to ‘Hey, you!’ if you were the one calling.”
“Wow! Hey you! What a great name!” the fairy exclaimed, a big smile crossing his handsome face as his wings fluttered behind him. “This is so exciting. I can’t even tell you. We hardly ever get visitors here. And it’s so dull.”
Ashley grinned from ear to ear. “Well, allow me to brighten your day!”
“How amazing of you to do that for me! I love bright days, don’t you?”
“So! Much!”
“He’s rather friendly,” Stu observed out of the side of his mouth.
“I know, right?” Sophie scratched her head. Puzzled. She thought back to all of Merlin’s warnings. How dangerous fairies could be. But this guy seemed so…nice. Was it some kind of trick? Or just another example of Ashley’s odd superpowers—able to charm cute boys in a single bound.
Which was annoying, but also possibly useful in this case.
She rose to her feet, and walked over to the fairy. She didn’t know if they could trust him, but without their map, they admittedly didn’t have a lot of options.
“Excuse me, um, sir,” she said cautiously, realizing suddenly that he hadn’t given his own name. “Do you know where we might find the castle? We lost our map and need to get to the fairy queen.”
“We have a super-cool gift to give her!” Ashley chimed in.
The fairy’s eyes lit up. “A gift? Ooh! Our queen loves gifts. She just loves them. She will be so happy!” He broke out into a little happy dance, as if to prove his point.
“Um…great?” Sophie replied. Seriously, this guy was like ten cans of Red Bull in one gulp. “Then can you…take us to her?”
The fairy stopped dancing. “Absolutely. I totally can! In fact, it would be my pleasure, mortals! Please follow me! This is going to be amazing!” He held out his arm. Ashley took it, still beaming at him. Sophie caught Stu rolling his eyes.
“Lead the way,” Ashley declared.
And so they were off, blindly following a random dude they had just met, who still hadn’t offered his name, down a glittering path and deep into the woods of Faerie.
What could possibly go wrong?
To say the fairy forest was beautiful would be a complete understatement. It was also completely over-the-top. As if someone was trying too hard. Like, if a tree was already painted with purple polka dots, did you really need to add tinsel and LED lights?
In fact, the farther Sophie and her friends traveled into the forest, the more elabo
rately the trees seemed to be decorated—with delicate glass-blown orbs, long strings of popcorn and cranberries, and huge golden stars on top. Why, if she didn’t know better, she’d think it was…
A bird above her started tweeting “Jingle Bells.”
“Is it…Christmas here?” she blurted out.
The fairy gave her a wink. “Does it look like Christmas?”
“Actually it looks like Halloween,” Stu declared. “My favorite holiday!”
Sophie snapped her head in his direction. Halloween? What was he talking about? It didn’t look anything like Halloween. It looked like—
“Fourth of July!” Ashley pronounced. She turned to their fairy guide. “I just love fireworks,” she added. “Don’t you?”
“Fireworks are the best!” the fairy agreed.
Sophie frowned, something weird tickling at the back of her neck. Fireworks? What was she talking about? There were no fireworks.
The birds started tweeting “Deck the Halls.” They passed more Christmas trees. This was getting weirder and weirder. She glanced behind them, wondering if they should have left bread crumbs or something like Hansel and Gretel, in case the fairy was leading them astray.
“Are we almost there?” Stu asked, sounding a little nervous himself.
“Oh yes!” The fairy dipped and swirled in the air. “We are so very close! Follow me! You are going to love this!”
“Love what?” Sophie asked, her skin now prickling with goose bumps. “I thought you were taking us to the castle.”
“Of course! The castle! The queen! But first, I thought you might be hungry?”
As if on cue, the trees fell away, revealing a huge Christmas party in the middle of a large meadow, nestled in the candy-colored woods. With tables piled high with food and drink and presents wrapped with bright red and green bows.
But it was the partygoers themselves that caught Sophie’s attention. There had to be at least a hundred of them, all as stunningly beautiful as the one who had led them here, and dressed as if they were attending the finest ball. She watched as they laughed and danced and drank, seemingly unaware that mortals had crashed their party.