"This way, Giant," Eadric shouted as the giant crawled to his feet with difficulty, shaking his head and moaning. Spinning Bright Country around, Eadric kicked him into a gallop, taking the rocky terrain far too fast. The other knights ran with him, but the giant seemed interested only in Eadric and the silver-maned Bright Country.
"Come back here, puppy," he shouted loudly enough to start rockslides on the next mountain over. Lurching after Brighty, he followed Eadric away from the village and far across the rock-strewn slope. Although I'd been sure that the destrier would outrun him, the giant was catching up. Eadric must have heard him, because he began turning Brighty in a zigzag pattern, but even that didn't slow the giant.
It was time that someone did something, and that someone was going to have to be me. The giant had given me the idea himself. Because witches' magic doesn't have much effect on beings that exist through magic, I couldn't cast a spell on him. I'd have to cast it on something else without using obvious magic. Pointing a claw at the ground between Eadric and the giant, I said,
Move the rocks to form a bump—
Not too high, more like a hump.
All we want the bump to do
Is catch the giant by his shoe.
Eadric was still racing away when the ridge rose up, tripping the giant. I held my breath until the giant hit the ground with a splat so loud that Bright Country was blown over and avalanches started on every mountain in the chain. The knights cheered when the giant didn't get up. I began to breathe again when Eadric stood and stepped aside so Bright Country could scramble to his hooves.
When the giant continued to lie there unmoving, I wondered if he'd been injured in his fall. Then, with a snort and a gargle, he began to snore, and I knew that he'd done just what he was supposed to do. The giant had fallen down, and fallen asleep.
I flew back to my carriage when a group of exultant villagers threw open their doors and hurried out to thank Eadric. By the time he returned, I was waiting impatiently astride Gwynnie. "How did it go?" I asked.
"Very well," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "I had the giant follow me until he collapsed, exhausted. I told the villagers to make a lot of noise when he wakes up. That should drive him away."
"Why would noise drive him away?" I asked.
"Because he's going to have a very bad headache when he wakes, and loud noise will only make it worse. He'll leave, all right, as quietly as he can."
"It sounds like you thought of everything," I said.
"I try," Eadric replied, looking very pleased with himself.
I didn't mind that Eadric believed he'd taken care of the giant on his own. He'd been very brave to lead the giant from the village the way he did, and if anyone deserved the credit it was Eadric. However, having to be secretive bothered me enough to put me in a bad mood, which hadn't improved by the time we finally saw the royal castle of Upper Montevista.
It was a forbidding-looking castle, not airy and light like my home. Thick-walled, with few windows and four dull gray towers, it was perched on a jagged pinnacle of rock called Castle Peak with only one route to its gate across a narrow, steep-sided ridge. Although it commanded breathtaking views of the valley far below and much of the mountainside, the castle itself wasn't at all pretty. At least Eadric was happy to see it.
I sat up straighter in my saddle, sorry that I hadn't taken the time to fix my hair and change into a clean gown. The castle guards had already spotted us, and we could see the flurry of activity on the walls. Their prince was coming home.
At Eadric's command, the knights who'd been in front fell back, and the two of us led the way across the ridge. With the ground falling in sheer drops on either side of the road, I could see that the castle would be easy to defend. A drawbridge before the castle gate made unwanted visitors even less likely. As our horses clattered across the wood and we entered the passageway beyond the portcullis, I looked up to see the murder hole from which defenders could drop boulders or pour boiling oil from above. I was glad that we were welcome.
Eadric's parents must have been alerted to our arrival, because they were waiting for us as we entered the courtyard. It was obvious that his mother was upset. Her eyes were red, her face mottled and tear-streaked. Eadric's normally amiable father, King Bodamin, looked angry and very, very worried. At first I thought it was because I was there, but then the queen rushed to Eadric's side, exclaiming, "My darling boy! You've come just when we need you most!"
"Indeed," said his father. "Tell me, son, did you see anything unusual on your way here?"
Eadric and I exchanged glances. "Well," he began. "There was a drunken giant. . ."
Queen Frazzela glanced at the king. "You don't suppose that giant was involved?"
The king shook his head. "I don't know what to think."
"What's going on?" asked Eadric, frowning. "What aren't you telling me?"
The queen sighed and dabbed at fresh tears. "Your brother has been kidnapped."
Her husband looked annoyed. "Now, we don't know that, my dear," he said before turning to Eadric. "The scamp has been ill and tucked in his bed for the past week. Last night he became restive and sneaked out of the castle, something I strongly discourage, I might add. He's been looking for dragon eggs, and he may have thought he'd have better luck at night. Bradston is only ten years old! He knows I don't approve of his solitary forays even when he's healthy, as I've told him . . ."
"Bodamin, you're rambling!" said the queen.
"Ahem, well, yes, I suppose I am. As I was saying, he sneaked out, but wasn't missed for hours because we thought he was in his bed. A stable boy admits to having seen him go. Everyone has been looking for him, except no one can find hide or hair of the rascal. I was afraid that he might have taken a bad fall, so my men have been searching the cliffs and er . . . rocks below."
"He wouldn't have fallen," said Eadric, shaking his head. "Bradston is more agile than a mountain goat. I've never seen him miss a step."
"That's what I said!" wailed the queen. "I know he's still alive, because the banshee hasn't come to tell us that he isn't. And I would have sensed it if my little darling were hurt." A lady-in-waiting offered her a clean cloth to wipe her eyes. The queen took it, handing the woman her soggy one in return as new tears dripped down her pale cheeks. "I just wish I knew where he was. He's still not well and I'm sure he must be terrified."
Eadric looked grim. "Bradston isn't afraid of anything, although he'll have reason to be when I get through with him if this is another of his tricks. Mother," he said, reaching for my hand, "I've brought Emma for a visit. I'd appreciate it if you'd welcome her and make her comfortable while I organize a search party. I'll find Bradston for you."
Queen Frazzela looked at me as if she hadn't realized that I was there, although she couldn't have missed seeing me sitting on my palfrey right next to Eadric. "Ah," she said. "You brought her. I suppose it can't be helped, but this is a very bad time to have a visitor, especially one with her inclinations."
"Mother," said Eadric, with iron in his voice. "You can't talk about Emma that way. I want you to remember that this is the girl I'm going to marry. And you can hardly blame her for coming at a bad time. We had no way of knowing about Bradston."
"She might have," his mother said with obvious distaste. 'You forget that I've seen her true nature. Go, organize your search party. I'll see that the girl is suitably housed." The queen turned to gesture to one of her waiting servants.
"Suitably housed for a princess, you mean," said Eadric.
The queen's back stiffened. "For a princess," she added, although I could tell from her voice that it pained her to say it.
After Eadric took my knights to confer with his father's, I had to wait in the' courtyard for someone to show me to my room while Lucy fussed over me. After she'd tidied my hair and straightened my gown, I'd had enough. "You can help me more by seeing to our rooms," I said, trying to shoo her into the castle. Although she went easily enough, Hortense refused to go u
ntil I told her that I was exhausted and was relying on her to find a place for me to rest. Satisfied that she had an even greater mission than to wait with me, Hortense bustled off into the castle, determined to set things right.
I was finally free to find my friends. Slipping into my carriage, I fetched a sleepy little bat and a skittery crab, tucking them into my sleeves. Because there was still no sign of anyone coming to get me, I sat down on a step to wait. "Why did the queen leave you out here?" Shelton asked, his voice muffled by fabric. "Coral would never be so rude. Why don't we just go in and have a look around?"
"Because that wouldn't be polite either. As my old nurse used to say, 'Two wrongs don't make a right.'"
Shelton giggled, tickling my arm with his eyestalks. "And two rights don't make a left. That would take three, wouldn't it?"
I laughed for the first time in days, and said into my sleeve, "That's true. I hadn't thought of that."
"Pardon me, Your Highness, are you all right?" someone asked from the steps behind me.
I turned, holding my sleeve to keep Shelton inside. A scullery maid stood at the top of the steps smelling of fresh baked bread.
"I'm fine," I said. "Why do you ask?"
Giving my sleeve a funny look, she curtseyed and said, "No reason. The queen says I'm to take you to your room. Come this way, if you please." I hurried to keep up with the little maid as she took me through a door and up a winding set of stairs. "I can't take long because Cook doesn't know I'm gone and won't be happy if I'm not there to turn the spit." We turned down a corridor lit only by a few narrow arrow slits. "Ah, here we are. It isn't much, but it's better than some. Now, I'd best be off or Cook'll box my ears again."
The maid shut the door behind her, leaving me in a small room with a tiny unglazed window and a pallet on the floor. When I saw that the trunk that stood in one corner was filled with someone else's clothes, I wondered who had been made to give up her room for me.
"Is she gone?" Shelton asked.
"She's gone," I said, pulling him out of my sleeve and setting him on the trunk.
The crab scuttled across the wooden surface, waving his claws in the air. "So this is where they put us? This is disgraceful! It looks like a closet. Even the butler has a better room in Coral's palace. I would, too, if I had a room."
"We'll be fine here," I said, setting Li'l on the trunk beside Shelton. The little bat fell over, murmuring something about drafty caves, and went back to sleep.
The room was dark, depressing, and as drafty as the rest of the castle, but at least it was clean. I didn't think anyone, including the room's usual occupant, would mind if I made it a bit more pleasant. Using some simple spells, I added a bright-colored tapestry to the wall to keep out the draft and turned the pallet into a regular bed, adding feather pillows and a warm blanket. The rest would have to do.
Shelton was trying to peek inside the trunk when I lifted the chain from around my neck and held my farseeing ball to the light coming through the window, saying,
Find the prince who lives here, too.
Find Eadric's younger brother.
Show me where he is right now
Despite his nasty mother.
'You're going to help that awful woman?" asked Shelton, waving his eyestalks at me. "I know I wouldn't if I were you."
"If you were me, we wouldn't be here," I said. "And just because his mother was rude to me doesn't mean that I won't help find the boy. I'm doing this for Eadric, not for her."
I had to wait a while for the spell to work, which surprised me because my magic is usually much faster than that. When an image finally began to appear in the farseeing ball, it was dim, with lights flickering at the edges, and I had to concentrate before I could understand what I was seeing. It was a narrow, stone-walled passage embedded with some kind of shiny pebbles and . . . The passage seemed to move as I watched, but it wasn't the walls that were moving, it was the prince. Striding along as if he owned the place, Bradston was following some sort of creature carrying a torch that. . .I squinted at the farseeing ball. It was a four-headed troll, which meant that, in the troll world, it was a being to be reckoned with. Other trolls followed behind the prince, one with two heads, the rest with only one.
I was peering at the ball, trying to make out where they might be, when the troll in the lead stopped abruptly. One of the heads glanced down; suddenly my perspective changed and all four heads were looking directly at me. Startled, I nearly let go of the farseeing ball.
"I know what you doing," croaked a head with a bad overbite and fiery red hair that had been chopped into short spikes.
"You not do that here," a brunette head spat at me.
My hand shook. I'd never heard voices or any kind of sound from my farseeing ball before. Every time I'd used it, the ball had shown me an image and nothing more. Even worse was the fact that the troll could see me, too. Some new magic was being worked here, and not through anything that I had done. I looked more closely, hoping to get a clue about what was going on. The troll was wearing an ornate golden chain around all four of her necks and was looking into something connected to the chain. From the way she was holding it I wondered if she might have a kind of farseeing ball of her own. But that didn't make sense. Only magic users could see into farseeing balls, yet I'd never heard of a troll having magic.
' "You try use magic here, I kill boy in worst way," said the red-haired head. "Go now, unless want me show what can do."
A wavering light approached the troll from behind, resolving into a one-headed troll carrying another torch. "Your Majesties," he said, bowing. "Cave behind treasure room ready."
The four-headed troll whipped around to face him. All of the heads shouted at once, but one head seemed the loudest. "Quiet, numbskull!" she shrilled. "Not now! Can not see I . . . " The image in my farseeing ball went fuzzy, then disappeared altogether, something that had never happened before. I frowned and shook the ball, but no other picture appeared. Sighing, I slipped the farseeing ball back under my neckline. At least I knew what had happened to him and where he had gone. The queen of the trolls had kidnapped Prince Bradston and taken him to her underground home.
"I'll be right back," I told Shelton on my way out the door.
The little crab darted to the edge of the trunk. "Where are you going?" he asked.
"To find Eadric," I said. "I have to tell him what I learned."
Armed with my newfound knowledge, I went in search of Eadric. It didn't take long to find him with a discreet tracer spell, but I had to wait outside the door until he'd finished talking to the assembled knights.
"I know who took Bradston," I said as the last knight left the room. "The troll queen has him."
Eadric rubbed his chin, frowning. "The troll queen, huh? I was sure you were going to say that Jorge and Ole-bald took him."
"How do you know where Bradston is?" asked Queen Frazzela. She'd been standing in the corner, and I hadn't seen her when I'd come in.
"I'm sorry you don't like magic, but it was the only way I knew of to find Bradston."
The woman's face turned crimson, and her voice shook as she said, "I knew you would do magic here. You witches are all alike—coming where you aren't wanted to ply your wicked trade. Well, I won't have you casting spells in my castle! I forbid it, do you understand?"
"You forbid it at the cost of your younger son's safety?" I asked, my own voice as steady as I could make it. "Do you really hate magic that much?"
" I . . . " I could tell that the woman had a scathing retort on her lips, but then she seemed to deflate as her maternal side won out. In half-strangled tones she asked, "Where is he? Is he all right?"
"He looked fine, for now. He's in an underground tunnel, wherever the queen makes her home." Turning to Eadric, I asked, "Are there any mines around here? Somewhere you might find precious gems?"
Eadric frowned as he thought. "I remember hearing rumors about Roc Mountain. . . . But that's all they are—rumors. No one who has gone there has ev
er come back."
"They wouldn't if the trolls lived there, would they? See what you can find out about that mountain. I think that's where we'll find him."
"What do you mean we?" demanded Queen Frazzela. "Who do you think you are to invite yourself along? Eadric will lead the search party, and they won't need you or your horrid magic!"
"I'll have to go with them if either of your sons is to come back. Eadric is the bravest man I've ever known, but even he is no match for a mountain full of trolls. Just who do you think would have the advantage in the queen's own mountain? He won't have a chance without me, so I'm going whether you want me to or not!"
Eadric put his arm around me and pulled me closer to kiss my cheek. "I'd rather you stayed here," he whispered in my ear. "Trolls are horrible creatures, and I may not be able to protect you the way I'd like."
"I'm going with you, Eadric. Don't you know me well enough to know that I can protect myself?"
"With my help," he said. "But I'll be busy helping Bradston."
"And so will I," I said, looking into his eyes so he'd know that I meant it.
Eadric sighed and turned back to his mother. "Emma is the Green Witch—the most powerful witch in her kingdom and probably in ours as well. I'd rather not take her into danger, but if she's willing to go, we stand a much better chance of getting Bradston out safe and sound."
"I see you're siding with her!" the queen said, looking as if she'd been slapped.
"It's not a matter of taking sides. I love Emma, Mother. I'm marrying her, with or without your permission, and I believe she's right about this."
Queen Frazzela drew herself up to her full height, which was still shorter than either of us. "Just bring Bradston back," she said, her eyes blazing. "And keep your nasty little witch and her horrid magic away from me!"
And this woman is going to be my mother-in-law? I thought, then bit my lip as I wondered how I'd ever be able to spend part of each year living in a castle with her.