Froggy continued the open-house meeting and Red continued chatting with Alex.
“Now, if he wants to go on a second walk with you, you must act like you’re too busy,” Red said.
“Why?” Alex asked.
“To keep him grateful for your company,” Red said as if it was obvious.
A hurried set of footsteps echoed through the room. A woman was causing quite a commotion as she entered, pushing past all the townspeople waiting in line. It had been such a pleasant day until this; the disturbance caught everyone’s attention, especially Red’s.
“Excuse me, you have to wait your turn,” Froggy politely told the woman.
“I didn’t come here to ask for any favors,” the woman said as she stepped before them. “I’ve come here to make an announcement.”
She was a very beautiful and determined young woman, who seemed to be about the same age as Red. She had pale skin, blue eyes, and dark hair that was tucked underneath a yellow bonnet. She wore a matching yellow ruffled dress with a blue sash and carried a white shepherd’s staff. She was the most stylish shepherdess Alex had ever laid eyes on.
“Who are you?” Froggy asked her. He was fairly new to the Red Riding Hood Kingdom and didn’t recognize her.
“I’m Little Bo Peep, owner of the Bo Peep Family Farms,” she declared.
A hush fell over the room. Little Bo Peep was a very powerful and respected member of the community. It was only on rare occasions that she was seen outside her farms. The townspeople and representatives knew there must be a very important reason she had come to the House of Progress today.
Queen Red eyed her up and down, and left to right. She refused to be intimidated by anyone in her own house. “Thank you for joining us, Little Bo,” she said. “What brings you to the House of Progress today?”
Little Bo smiled. “To put it simply, I’ve come here before you today to challenge Queen Red for the throne of the Red Riding Hood Kingdom.”
Everyone gasped. Never in the history of the Red Riding Hood Kingdom had someone so openly disrespected the queen. Little Bo smiled snidely at their reaction.
At this bold declaration, Red stood up from her throne. “How dare you,” she said coldly. “You think you can just walk into my House of Progress and threaten the throne of my kingdom? You’re lucky I don’t have you immediately locked up!”
“You think this is your kingdom?” Little Bo said without a trace of fear. “Then you’re mistaken, Your Majesty. It may have your name on it but this kingdom belongs to the people. The sole purpose of the C.R.A.W.L. Revolution was to free ourselves from the Evil Queen, who was in power in the Northern Kingdom at the time. Now look at us, a decade and a half later we’re standing in one of the many shrines to another self-obsessed queen. Well, I’m sick of it and I’m not alone.”
She reached into the pocket of her dress and removed a scroll that she handed to Froggy.
“This is a petition signed by a hundred other citizens of the kingdom who agree it’s time for a regime change,” Little Bo said. “They also have stated that I am their chosen candidate for a new sovereign. We elected a queen before, we can elect a queen again.”
“This is preposterous,” Froggy said.
“It’s the will of the people, sir,” Little Bo corrected. “Are you going to ignore it—in the House of Progress of all places?”
Froggy looked over the list of names and shared it with the representatives.
“You’re not actually humoring her, are you?” Red yelled, outraged that they would even read such a thing.
“The Little Peep girl has a point, dear,” Granny said.
“Granny, whose side are you on?” Red asked in shock.
“I’ll always be on your side, dear,” Granny said. “But it’s the people who gave you your throne, so if the people want to give it to someone else now, they have the right to do so.”
All the other representatives seemed to agree with her; even the Three Blind Mice nodded along and they couldn’t read the names on the scroll.
“What makes you think you’re qualified to lead this country?” Red asked Little Bo.
“My farms make up over seventy percent of the kingdom and produce over eighty percent of the goods we trade with other kingdoms,” Little Bo proclaimed. “Only for you to take ninety percent of those profits and use it to build castles and statues of yourself.”
Red’s nostrils flared. “Which keeps many builders and artists employed throughout the kingdom,” she said in defense.
“Yes, but as you can see, there are no builders or artists seeking aid in this room,” Little Bo pointed out. “I believe there is a more responsible way this kingdom can be managed that will benefit everyone equally—and I believe I am the woman to do it.”
The townspeople and representatives began whispering among themselves. Red could sense some of them were starting to agree with Bo Peep.
“So what do you want, Little Bo?” Red said, crossing her arms. “You can’t just waltz in here and demand to be queen.”
Sir BaaBaa raised a hoof to join the conversation. “We could have another election.”
Red was staring daggers at him. “Oh how typical, the sheep wants Little Bo Peep to run for queen. That’s partisanship if I ever saw it.”
“I think that’s a good idea,” Granny said. “An election would give the people of this kingdom a way to express their will.”
“And what if I don’t allow an election?” Red said. “I’m still the queen, after all. The last time I checked, my word was still the law.”
Little Bo stepped even closer to her throne. “Then you would be proving to your kingdom that you are no different from the Evil Queen, and the next revolution that breaks out will be against you.”
The statement was meant to scare Red and it worked. “So be it,” Red said. “We’ll humor this shepherdess with a little election. But if I recall, Little Bo, you have a reputation of not being able to find your own sheep, so I doubt you’ll be able to find support that rivals mine. I was elected queen after the C.R.A.W.L. Revolution and I will be elected queen again.”
“Then I’ll see you at the polls, Your Majesty,” Little Bo said with a coy smile. She turned on her heel and promptly left the House of Progress.
Red re-seated herself on the throne. Her cheeks were bright pink and a concerned scowl was frozen on her face. Alex had never seen her look so distraught. The thought of losing her throne had always been Red’s greatest fear—but the idea that she might lose it to the people’s will was obviously almost unbearable to her.
Alex couldn’t imagine Red as anything but a queen. She put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, wishing she had words to comfort her with.
Froggy ran up to the throne and kneeled at her side. “Are you all right, my dear?”
“Splendid, just splendid,” Red said. She stared at the floor, quietly plotting her next move. “If it’s an election that sheepherder wants, it’s an election she’ll get.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
LITTLE BO PEEPING
Alex left Red’s House of Progress, grateful to return to her own problems. The anxiety she felt about the Fairy Inaugural Ball and the walk with Rook was heavy to carry around, but not life altering like Red’s afternoon had become, although Alex had a sneaking suspicion Red would find a way to drag her into the drama.
That evening Alex went to the field beyond the gardens to meet Rook. She was positive she arrived at the exact time they had agreed to meet but when she got there Rook was nowhere in sight. Alex sat on a boulder by the stream and waited patiently for him—or at least she thought she was being patient.
Every second waiting for Rook felt like a minute and every minute felt like an hour. The more she waited the more her head filled with doubts. Where was he? What was taking him so long? Had he forgotten about their walk? Had he changed his mind and decided not to come? Had she been stood up?
In between the negative thoughts she self-consciously straightened her headban
d or fixed a crease in her dress. After only five minutes of waiting Alex had convinced herself Rook wasn’t coming. What was she going to tell Red the next time she saw her? How was she supposed to trust another boy again? How could she live with the embarrassment?
Just when she was about to call it a day and return to the Fairy Palace, she heard rustling in the woods beyond the field. Rook stepped into view, looking as happy, excited, and dreamy as ever.
“Hello, Alex!” Rook said with a big smile.
“Hi, Rook!” Alex said, and let out a relaxed sigh. Just seeing him had instantly switched off all the negative thoughts multiplying in her head. She had stressed herself out for no reason.
Neither knew if they should hug or shake hands or something else, so they stood a few feet apart and silently looked at each other for a moment. It was an awkward hello.
“How was your day?” Alex said, breaking the silence.
“It was pretty normal,” Rook said. “I was planting carrots.”
“How nice!” Alex said, as if it was the most fascinating thing she had heard in weeks.
Rook nodded. “I’m a good gardener,” he said. “My secret is singing. I’ve discovered if I sing to the crops, they grow much healthier.” Rook’s eyes suddenly widened. “Oh no, I hope you find that charming and not crazy.… It’s not like I have conversations with them or anything.…”
Alex giggled. “Oh please, where I live, the plants often sing back.”
Rook was relieved to hear this. “So… where would you like to take a walk to?” he asked.
“I was planning to follow you,” Alex said. She wasn’t obeying any of Red’s advice and she knew Red would have killed her for saying that she’d follow Rook.
“Well, there’s a trail through the woods that I know pretty well,” Rook said.
“Terrific,” Alex said.
They journeyed into the trees and found a small dirt path that snaked deeper into the woods. It wasn’t a very scenic route but it didn’t matter; their walk was more about getting to know each other. However, they were both afraid to be the first to say something to the other.
“What if we take turns asking each other questions?” Rook suggested. “This is going to be a very quiet walk unless we start talking about something. Or we could play charades.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Alex said. “But you go first.”
“Oh, you’re making me go first?” Rook said playfully. “All right, here’s one—how long have you been practicing magic?”
“Less than a year, actually,” Alex said. “Everyone says I’ve been learning very quickly, though. I didn’t even know I was a fairy until I was twelve.”
“Really?” Rook said. “How did you find out?”
“It’s a long story,” Alex said bashfully.
“Good thing we picked a long path,” Rook said with a wink that made her melt inside.
Alex decided to tell him the shortest version of the story she could. “My twin brother and I grew up in a place very far away and different from all of this,” she explained. “Our dad grew up here and felt that magic ruined people. He thought it made them lazy and entitled. He wanted us to learn how to take care of our problems without relying on magic. Then when we were twelve—well, to make a long story short, we followed our grandmother home one day and discovered who we really were.”
Rook’s eyebrows were raised so high they disappeared into his floppy hair. “That’s incredible,” he said. “No wonder you’re so different from all the other fairies. What does your father think of you now?”
“I wouldn’t know,” Alex said sadly. “He died shortly before our eleventh birthday. He never got the chance to tell us the truth himself.”
Rook nodded. “I’m very sorry to hear that. He must have been a very smart man to raise a daughter like you.”
“Thank you,” Alex said. She quickly straightened her headband to distract him from her blushing face.
“Is your brother a fairy, too?” Rook asked.
Alex couldn’t help but laugh. “Conner? A fairy? Oh, heavens no. Being a fairy was the last thing he ever wanted to be. He still lives back home with our mom and stepdad. I think he’d be really good at magic if he ever tried, though.”
“What about your grandmother? Does she live in the Fairy Kingdom with you?” Rook asked.
It took Alex a moment to respond. She hadn’t realized how little he knew about her; it was really refreshing. He must have genuinely liked Alex for her and not who she was going to be.
“She does,” Alex said. She wasn’t sure how he would react to hearing who her grandmother was and she wasn’t sure she was ready for him to know. “Now it’s my turn to ask you a question. How old are you?”
Rook had to think about his answer. “I’m fifteen, but technically I’m one hundred and fifteen.”
At first Alex thought he was joking and gave a small laugh, but when he didn’t laugh with her she realized he was being serious. “Oh my goodness, because of the one-hundred-year sleeping curse!” She figured it out. “You must have been a toddler when it was cast.”
“I was very young,” he said. “I don’t remember much about it. I was playing outside when suddenly for no reason I went to sleep. Then my dad and I woke up one hundred years later.”
“What about your mother?” Alex asked. “What happened to her?”
Rook paused for a second before explaining. “It was my birthday and my mother and brother were in a field collecting berries for a special dessert they were making that night. The field was just outside the border of the Eastern Kingdom, so when the sleeping spell was cast it didn’t reach them. By the time my father and I woke up… they were gone.”
Alex placed a hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Rook,” she said. “It never occurred to me that families were separated because of the curse.”
“Many people don’t realize that,” Rook said. “They just assume everyone went to sleep and awoke to their normal lives a hundred years later, but our whole lives changed when we awoke. I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you I was happy to hear Ezmia had been killed. It brought a lot of closure for me. I don’t think my father will ever be the same, though. That’s why he hates fairies so much; he blames them for not being able to stop the curse.”
Alex nodded. “I understand him a little better now.” She wondered how Rook and Farmer Robins would take knowing she was the one who had defeated the Enchantress. Would it make them like her any more? Or would she just become a living reminder of what they had lost?
“My mother and brother took care of us for as long as they could while we slept,” Rook went on. “They wrote us letters every day and left them for us to read when the curse was eventually broken. I’ll read one or two when I find myself missing them the most. It makes it feel like they’re still around.”
Alex understood this more than he knew. One of the reasons she felt so comfortable in the Land of Stories was because everything there reminded Alex of her dad and made missing him less painful.
“My turn to ask you another question,” Rook said, changing the subject. “How was your day? Tell me everything you did.”
Alex didn’t know where to begin. “Well, it started out very nice,” she said. “I went to the Red Riding Hood Kingdom to visit Queen Red—we’re old friends, believe it or not—but then the day took a very bizarre turn.”
“What happened?”
“Her throne was challenged by Little Bo Peep,” Alex told him. “She managed to convince everyone they should have an election for a new leader.”
Rook was so intrigued his whole face lit up. “That’s unbelievable,” he said. “What would make her do that? I always thought Queen Red was loved by her people.”
“Not by everyone, it seems,” Alex said. “Apparently Little Bo has been unhappy for a long time with the way the kingdom has been managed and thinks she would be a much better queen. I would never want Red to lose her throne but I honestly think Little Bo had some valid things to s
ay.”
Rook scrunched his forehead and thought more about it. “What would you say possessed Little Bo to challenge the throne today of all days? If she’s been unhappy for so long you’d think she would have done something about it sooner.”
Alex thought back to the scene Little Bo had caused earlier that day in the House of Progress but couldn’t come up with an answer. “That’s a really good point,” she said. “She didn’t mention anything in particular. But something must have provoked her into demanding an election.”
“Seems fishy, if you ask me,” Rook said. He abruptly stopped walking and a sly smile crept over his face.
“What is it?” Alex asked, looking back at him.
“I just thought of something really adventurous we could do,” he said, but then quickly said, “Never mind, it might not be your cup of tea.”
Alex laughed—if he only knew the mischief she and her brother had gotten into over the years. “I’ll have you know I happen to be very adventurous,” she teased. “Don’t let the wand and sparkly dress fool you.”
Rook shook his head. “I don’t want to be a bad influence, especially to an up-and-coming fairy. It could get us both into a lot of trouble.”
Alex was appreciative of this but was even more curious about what he was getting at. “Then tonight I’ll just be Alex,” she said. “What’s on your mind?”
Rook laughed at her and caved in. “All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He chuckled. “I was just going to suggest that if you’re curious about Little Bo Peep’s intentions, we could sneak onto her farm and have a look around. I know right where it is—it’s on the southeast side of the Red Riding Hood Kingdom, not too far from our farm. Her farmhands sold my father some sheep once.”
Alex’s conscience instantly shot down the idea. As a respected fairy, it would be extremely irresponsible and childish of her to spy on Little Bo Peep. She would never want to do anything that could potentially jeopardize her reputation. But the answer she gave Rook took them both by surprise.
“Let’s do it!”
Rook was shocked. He had been half kidding but the excitement in Alex’s eyes was contagious. “Are you sure you’re up for it? I’m not pressuring you, am I?”