“How did you know I was a lady?” Gwendolyn asked, looking up at him through her eyelashes.
“Your voice, your hands, a hint of your cheek. Who are you, my lady? You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!”
“My name is Gwendolyn,” she said.
Once again the men stirred, but this time because their prince had fallen to his knees at her feet. “Princess Gwendolyn! The most beautiful princess in all the kingdoms! What are you doing here, my lady?” he asked, taking her hands in his and holding them as if they were fragile birds that might fly away.
“I am on a most urgent and secret quest, my kind prince. One that I must complete with my two companions before I can marry my true love.”
“And who may this true love of yours be?” the prince asked, his eyes darkening.
“I have yet to see his real face,” said Gwendolyn.
“You mean there might yet be hope…”
“There is always hope, dear prince,” she told him, giving him the same sweet smile Annie had seen her practice in mirrors countless times. “You must leave us now so we might continue our quest.”
“And I’ll see you again once you’ve completed it?” asked Prince Maitland.
“I’m sure of that,” Gwendolyn told him.
The prince raised her hand to his lips. After releasing her, he stood and took a step back. “Then we’ll be off,” he said, and gestured to his men.
No one moved while the prince and his men rode away. When he stopped at the top of the ridge to wave to Gwendolyn, she waved to him, then continued to watch as he disappeared over the other side.
“Wow!” Annie said, shaking her head in amazement. “You handled that really well.”
“I know,” Gwendolyn said with a smug smile.
“I thought he was about to declare his undying love for you,” said Annie. “And when you said you had to go on an urgent and secret quest so you could marry your true love, that was inspired! He thought you might be talking about him, didn’t he?”
“Maybe,” Gwendolyn said, looking coy.
“Well, I didn’t like it,” Beldegard said, getting to his feet so that the blanket, leaves, and Annie’s knapsack slid off and she had to scramble out of the way. Annie had been so close to him that he now looked mostly human. “What were you doing, flirting with my brother?” he asked Gwendolyn. “I noticed you didn’t tell him that you have a true love.”
“I wasn’t flirting with him! I mean I was, but not like you think!” said Gwendolyn. “I was trying to get him to go away and leave us alone. And what was I supposed to do, tell him that I intend to marry his brother, the bear, when everyone seems to think that telling him who you are is a very bad idea. And why is that, anyway?” she said, whirling around to face Annie.
“It may not be,” Annie said, shrugging. “But it’s better to be safe than sorry. I just think it was a little too much of a coincidence that Beldegard is a bear and his younger brother is out hunting bears when we just happen to be passing through the kingdom. If I’m not mistaken, if Beldegard were to die, Prince Maitland would be the one to inherit the throne.”
“That’s true,” said the bear prince, who was looking more bearlike by the moment. “But Maitland has never been interested in the throne. He’s always been more interested in hunting and having parties with his friends.”
“That may be so, but I think he’s interested in the throne now!” said Annie. “He is introducing himself as the heir.”
“How would he know I’m a bear?” asked Beldegard.
Annie shook her head. “Are you kidding me? Nearly two weeks ago, half the princes in the kingdoms learned who you were. I’m sure word has traveled all over by now.”
“You sound a lot better, Beldegard,” said Liam. “Are you feeling all right?”
The bear prince grunted. “I started feeling better when Annie leaned against my stomach. I think she took away the fish’s magic long enough that I could start digesting it. I feel great now, or I would if I hadn’t heard what I heard,” he said, turning to give Gwendolyn an injured look.
“But Beldegard, you know I love you!” she cried.
“Haven’t seen his real face, huh? What do you suppose this is?” the bear prince said, patting his cheek with his paw.
“That’s the face the dwarf’s magic gave you!” she cried, running to catch up as he stalked off. “You know I’ve never seen your real face, not even when Annie holds your hand. You still look a little bearlike then and I…”
“I don’t know which is worse, being around them when they’ve all lovey-dovey or when they’re arguing,” said Annie.
“I think listening to Gwendolyn talk to Beldegard’s brother was the worst,” said Liam. “But she did seem to know what she was doing.”
Chapter 16
Annie glanced from beldegard to Gwendolyn. Neither one had spoken to the other for the entire afternoon. When Annie refused to get drawn into a conversation with her sister about Beldegard, Gwennie had stopped talking to her as well. It was getting dark now and past the time when they should have started looking for somewhere to spend the night, but no one had brought it up yet.
“Quiet!” Beldegard growled, although no one had said anything. “Listen!” he added in a whisper.
Annie closed her eyes and listened, but all she could hear were the usual sounds of dusk. The occasional bird sang good night to its neighbors as they settled down to sleep; an angry squirrel chattered somewhere in the forest while leaves rustled overhead, sounding like the rush of water. And then it came again, the whinny of a horse calling to other horses.
“Have you heard it before?” Liam asked the bear prince.
Beldegard nodded. “Off and on all day. They’ve been following us, but keeping their distance.”
“Do you think it’s Maitland and his men?” asked Annie.
“More than likely,” said Beldegard. “But there isn’t much we can do about it.”
Annie was confused. “Why do you think he’s staying back and not confronting Beldegard now?”
“Probably because he’d have too many witnesses if he attacked his brother in front of us,” said Liam. “It would be a lot easier for him to deny that he knew it was Beldegard if Gwendolyn wasn’t there to shout, ‘That’s my true love! Don’t hurt him!’ I think he’s waiting until he can catch Beldegard alone in the woods hunting for food or until it’s dark.”
“That’s simple then,” said Annie. “Don’t go anywhere without us, Beldegard.”
“I’m not going to let him out of my sight, even if he is being thickheaded,” Gwendolyn said. “Do you think we can stop for the night soon? My feet are killing me!”
“We’ll stop as soon as we can find someplace safe to sleep,” Liam told her.
They continued on as the light faded, looking for a likely place to make camp. At one point Liam spotted something moving between the trees. When he threw a stick at it, the animal ran off. “Another wolf,” he said as if it were nothing, but Annie noticed that he kept his hand on his scabbard and stopped now and then to look back behind them.
It was Annie who spotted a flicker of light in the woods. At first she thought it might be fairies, but when it stayed in one place rather than dart from tree to tree, she touched Liam’s sleeve and pointed. “Is that a fire burning back there?”
Liam peered into the woods. “I think it’s a cottage,” he said after a moment. “Beldegard, Annie might have found a place for us to stay.”
They walked single file behind Beldegard with Liam in the back. As they drew closer, Annie could see that the light was coming from a cottage window and that whoever was inside was throwing a party. Loud voices shouted, while others sang a drinking song. Figures moved past the window, their bodies blocking the light to create dancing silhouettes.
When they were close enough to see the entire cabin, Annie noticed something odd. “Look there,” she told her friends. “By the back. There’s a figure standing outside a window, watching the
people at the party.”
“I see him,” said Beldegard. “Let me look around before you go any closer.”
Beldegard was padding toward the cottage when the figure slunk away from the window. Suddenly the door slammed open, there was a terrible racket, and the candles went out, leaving only the dim glow from a fire in the fireplace. Men poured from the cottage, tearing down the path.
Annie and her friends stepped out of their way as the men raced by. They were a rough group, their faces weather-worn and scarred. Even in the near dark, Annie could see the whites of eyes wide in terror.
“Who could scare those men like that?” Annie whispered to Liam.
“I don’t know,” said Liam. “Something strange is going on and I’m not waiting for Beldegard to see what it is.”
Annie and Gwendolyn followed Liam to the window and peered inside. It was a one-room cottage with a fireplace in the back. In the center of the room stood a table covered with a red tablecloth and piled high with food. A roast goose rested on a golden platter beside a tureen of still-steaming soup. Bowls of potatoes, stewed greens, carrots, squash, and corn vied for space on the table with a glistening ham, grilled fish, fruit pies, wheels of cheese, loaves of bread, and a cake shaped like a castle. Annie’s mouth watered at the aromas wafting from the cottage. Gwendolyn made a whimpering sound.
Suddenly a gray-and-white-striped cat jumped onto the table and began to devour the fish. Then a rooster landed in the bowl of corn and began pecking. A moment later a scruffy white dog set her front paws on the table and pulled the ham off the platter while a donkey trotted to the far end and buried his face in an apple pie.
Still watching through the window with Gwennie, Annie wasn’t the only one who was startled when Beldegard bounded into the cottage looking fierce. The rooster flew into the rafters while the dog, the cat, and the donkey shrank back.
Swinging his great head around, the bear prince sniffed the air and growled, “Where is he?”
The cat and the dog glanced at each other, then the dog sat down on her haunches, tilted her head to the side, and said, “Who?”
“The person who scared those men off,” said Beldegard.
The dog stared at the prince. “The person? Oh, you mean…” When she opened her mouth again, her tongue lolled to the side, the curled tip bouncing with each breath. The cat’s lips pulled back, almost as if he was smiling, the rooster hopped from one foot to the other, and the donkey brayed loud and long. Annie suspected that the animals were laughing.
“That wasn’t a man,” said the cat. “That was us!”
Beldegard shook his head. “I saw him. It was a tall, lumpy man.”
“That was us!” said the donkey. “See!” Striding to the middle of the room, the donkey planted his feet and held his head high. In two bounds, the dog jumped onto the donkey’s back. As the rooster fluttered down to land on the donkey’s head, the cat jumped from the table to the back of the dog. When they were all settled, the donkey began to bray, the dog to bark, the cat to yowl, and the rooster to crow. It was the same awful sound she had heard when the figure scared the men from the cottage.
“Very impressive,” said Beldegard. “But why did you want to scare them away?”
“They were thieves,” said the cat. “They stole our master’s magic tablecloth that brings food when you want it. We deserve the tablecloth more than they do.”
As the cat and dog jumped down from the donkey’s back, the rooster flew to the table and began to peck at a loaf of bread. “Would you mind if my friends and I come inside?” asked Beldegard. “We’re hungry as well and the night is cold. I promise you, we’re not thieves and will not steal your magic tablecloth. We just need a place to spend the night and will leave in the morning.”
“Come on in,” said the dog. “There’s lots of food. If we run out, the tablecloth can always bring more.”
Liam, Gwendolyn, and Annie had heard everything the animals had said, so they didn’t wait for an invitation. When the cat saw them in the doorway, she gave Beldegard an accusing look. “You didn’t say your friends are human! Ah well, we won’t hold that against them. Shut the door and help yourselves to the food. I wouldn’t eat the ham, though. Dog has mangled it so no one else will want any.”
The dog hung her head and put her tail between her legs. “Sorry.”
Annie was too hungry to care about a few animals on the table. She made herself a trencher with a hollowed-out slab of bread and filled it with goose and vegetables and everything else that she thought looked tempting.
She took her food to a bed that stood against the wall and sat down to eat. Gwendolyn joined her a minute later and sat close enough that her beauty began to fade. Liam sat down on the other side of Annie and soon the only sound in the room was that of the donkey munching carrots and the dog slurping soup from the tureen.
“Where are you from?” Beldegard asked the cat after finishing off the fish and a berry pie.
“Brementown, originally, but lately we’ve been making our home in Grelia,” said the cat. “We lived there with our master until he died a few days ago. He was a wizard and used his magic to make us speak so we could be his servants. I was with him for fourteen years, but he was already old when I was just a kitten, and his health had never been good. The thieves came when word got out that he’d died, and they took most of his possessions. We followed them through the woods to this cottage. It isn’t right that they should have the old wizard’s things.”
“We couldn’t stay in the wizard’s house in the city,” said the rooster, his voice hoarse from crowing. “We’re all old. No one wants us anymore.”
“That’s not quite true,” said the cat. “We heard our master’s neighbors talking. One of them was going to take Rooster for the stew pot.”
“And one wanted me for my hide,” the donkey told the bear prince.
The dog looked up from the ham bone she was gnawing. “I know who you are. You’re Beldegard.”
“How did you know that?” the bear prince asked.
The dog dropped the bone long enough to say, “People talk. I listen. They say in the capital that Beldegard was turned into a bear. You talk like a prince. You must be him.”
“Was this a widespread rumor?” asked Annie. “Were a lot of people saying it?”
The rooster nodded, making his red crest bob up and down. “Everybody.”
“That settles it then,” said Annie. “If it was common knowledge, your brother Maitland had to know, too, Beldegard. He must want the throne.”
Beldegard growled and swatted at the table, knocking a mincemeat pie onto the floor. The dog sauntered over to sniff it. “My belly is so full I couldn’t eat a pea, but it would be a shame to waste this,” the dog said, and began gobbling up the broken pie.
Gwendolyn set her trencher on the table and hurried to the bear prince’s side. “Oh Beldegard,” she said, throwing her arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry! Your brother may no longer love you, but you’ll always have me!”
Beldegard nuzzled her shoulder and said something into her ear.
“I guess their argument is over,” Liam told Annie.
Annie nodded. “I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did. You know, I’ve been thinking. When we met Maitland in the forest, I think he suspected who Gwennie was before he pulled down her hood. We had attended the ball the day before and I’m sure a lot of people were talking about her. I bet people saw us leave the city too, and noted which way we went. If Maitland knew about Gwennie, do you think he knew that she was traveling with Beldegard?”
“Not necessarily,” said Liam. “Beldegard has been careful to stay out of sight when we run into other people.”
“Except when we were talking to Rose Red, and those men went after him with pitchforks. A lot of people saw him with Gwennie then. And that was back before she started wearing the hood. Besides, everyone knows that his kiss ended the curse. It makes sense that she’d be helping him now.”
??
?So Beldegard,” said the cat. “I heard people say you were turned into a bear, but I never heard anyone say how it happened. Did you get a witch angry or was it a fairy?”
“Neither,” grumbled the bear. “It was a dwarf. I was on a quest when I heard that a dragon had carried off a princess. Her father was offering her hand in marriage to the brave man who rescued her. I slayed the dragon, but the princess ran off with one of her father’s knights before our wedding day. Her father was furious, and so embarrassed that he gave me a chest full of jewels. I was on my way home with my treasure when the dwarf waylaid me and turned me into a bear.”
“Oh, Beldy, I knew you were brave!” cried Gwendolyn. “But I didn’t know you’d slayed a dragon! There are so many things I don’t know about you.”
“That’s all right, my dearest. After we’re wed, we’ll have a lifetime to learn everything there is to know about each other.”
“My stomach is churning,” Liam murmured.
Annie frowned at him. “I think what he said was very sweet. It wouldn’t hurt you to say something like that once in a while.”
“Really?” Liam said. “You like that kind of thing?”
“Most girls do,” replied Annie. When he looked puzzled, she sighed and said, “I’m going to sleep now. Good night, everyone.”
Annie stretched out on the bed with her back to the room. She didn’t go to sleep right away, but lay listening to her companions as they found their own places to rest. The bed moved as Gwendolyn lay down with her back to Annie’s. She heard Liam mutter to himself as he made his bed out of a blanket on the floor near the fireplace.
Annie couldn’t understand Liam. He could be so sweet sometimes. But he never had finished what he’d started to say in the Gasping Guppy, and whenever Beldegard said something sweet to Gwennie, Liam had made fun of him. After Prince Ainsley’s ball, Annie had been sure that Liam really cared for her, but he still always seemed to back off without really telling her so. He hadn’t kissed her in days and she missed it; she just didn’t know how to tell him. Remembering their last kiss, she touched her lips with a fingertip. If only he would kiss her again!