Chapter Twenty-One

“Prince Lann,” Arabella said. She glanced down at her shift. It was covered in river mud and stunk of sulfur from the cave. “Well I guess this can not be helped.” She waved to the shift. She hefted the sack over her shoulder. Now that the contents were wet, it weighed a ton. The little bird rapidly disappeared from sight as Arabella and Stig walked towards the campfire. Mavie was sitting on Lann’s shoulder by the time Arabella and Stig moved into the circle of light.

“Arabella,” Lann shouted and jumped up. He wrapped her in a bear hug. “It is wonderful to see you again.” He released her and wrinkled his nose. “By heavens, you’re a mess.”

“Yes I know,” she dropped the sack by the fire. Stig sat and listened. He kept his mouth shut and groomed his fur. “I came to find you. My mother is still up to no good and she has a fire dragon helping her now.”

“A fire dragon,” Lann’s eyes lit up. Arabella could see that Lann was thinking of facing the fire dragon in some heroic gesture. She shook her head. Lann would be roasted alive before he could draw his sword. “It truly breathes fire?”

“Yes, but you need to focus on saving Rosalina,” she said pointing to him. The last thing she needed was to have Koaner kill Lann, especially before he could save her cousin.

“Yes, my Rosa,” he sighed. Arabella dumped the soggy things out of the sack. “How did you get so wet? There’s not a river for miles around.” She looked at Stig in disbelief.

“We managed to find one,” she said as she laid out her clothes and boots near the fire to dry. The fur on her cape looked ruined. She tried to fluff it up, but it seemed impossible. She told Lann about the obstacles that they had run into.

“A swamp? Blizzard? A river monster?” he said. “What an adventure! You must have taken a different path then I did. The most exciting thing I ran across was some moss growing on the trees. I wish I had taken you way. What fun that would have been!”

“I wish we had found your way,” Arabella said shaking her head. “The oddest thing was that after we passed through each area, it disappeared off the magic map. I bet that if we looked now we would not see the river on the map.” She saw Stig nod his head out of the corner of her eye. For some reason, Stig was not talking. Arabella opened the food bag and started pulling out a meal.

“That is a great trick,” Lann said. He started helping himself to the food. He snatched a piece of ham from in front of Stig and got snapped at. Arabella quickly replaced Stig’s ham piece before he started a tug-of-war with the prince. She told Lann about the dragon attack on King Waldemarr’s camp.

“That’s where I met this sweet little bird,” Lann said feeding Mavie little crumbs from a roll. “She was warning the king about the dragon and then she offered to lead me to the fairies. Waldemarr showed me on a map, but having a traveling companion helps immensely on long trips.” Stig glared at Mavie and opened his mouth to speak but snapped it shut again.

Arabella fussed with her clothes, turning them over. She laid her boots down so that the heat would dry them on the inside. She untied her hair and dragged her fingers through it. Luckily it was not snarled. She tilted her head towards the fire to let her hair start drying. Lann kept eating. It looked like to her that Lann and Stig were having an eating contest. They eyed each other and kept stuffing food in their mouths. Arabella smiled at the thought that she would have to roll them both up the fairies’ mountain because they would be too fat to move.

Mavie was asleep with her head tucked under her wing. The fire was nice and the weather stayed clear. Once her cape was dried, she spread it out and laid down. Her hair was still a little wet, but it did not bother her much. She removed the crystal ball and placed it beside her boots. Stig gave a loud belch and curled up along her side. She ran her fingers through his fur. Lann had wrapped himself in a blanket and was sound asleep.  

“You stink,” Stig mumbled sleepily.

“I know,” she said. “I know a spell for that, but I do not know if it will work.”

“You should try,” he said. “You know, while you are not wearing the crystal ball. That way you will find out if it is your magic or the dragon’s magic that you’ve been using.”

Arabella stared at the stars and listened to the weasel’s breathe even out as he fell asleep. She did not want to do this. If it was Denrisi’s magic she had been using than she still had a connection to him. If it was her magic… She could not finish the thought. It hurt too much. Quietly she said the cleaning spell and willed herself clean. She felt the filth and mud leave her skin. Tears welled up in her eyes. She said the spell again and willed her clothes clean. She could do her own magic now. She should have felt overwhelming joy at this simple act of casting the cleaning spell, but instead she felt overwhelming sadness. It was the final proof that Denrisi’s magic had died along with the air dragon. She cried herself to sleep.

The next morning, Arabella cast the cleaning spell on Prince Lann and his clothes. He looked and smelled much better. After a large breakfast, they started down a well worn path towards the fairies’ mountain. Mavie flitted back and forth singing happily. Stig looked annoyed and glared at the bird. She just waggled her black tail feathers at him and sat in a tree. Arabella looked at Stig. He still had not spoken in front of Lann. She thought it odd, but respected his choice not to speak to the prince. She wondered if he were jealous.

The forest trees were much taller here. They were so slender that the slightest breeze sent them waving violently back and forth. Arabella thought that she could hear the trees whispering to each other. The moss was extremely thick in places on the forest floor and mushroom rings became a common appearance. The air here felt damp. Around noon the forest heated up. Arabella felt sticky with sweat. It was hard to breathe as well.

“Time to eat,” Lann sat down under the trees.

“We need to hurry and find the fairies,” Arabella said. Stig looked at her with big eyes and placed a paw on her foot. Even Mavie started to beg. “All right, but we keep moving while we eat.”

Arabella took out the food bag and gave Lann a handful of sausage meat and some tangy cheese. He was overjoyed and begged for a bread roll as well. Mavie sat on his shoulder and begged for crumbs. Arabella ate a little cheese herself, but tossed the meat pieces to Stig one at a time. He seemed happy with the arrangement. Once she accidentally tossed him a piece of cheese. Stig gagged, made a horrible face, and rolled over onto his back. His four feet twitched in the air and he held his tail straight out.

“Oh honestly Stig,” Arabella walked around him. “I guess I will have to finish off the meat myself.” She found herself tripping over Stig in just a few steps. She laughed and fed him the rest of the meat.

The trees stopped suddenly at the edge of a large open place at the foot of the mountain. Flowers grew in a riot of color. Lann ignored the flowers and crushed them as he continued into the meadow. Arabella carefully tried to step around the flowers. She had never seen so many colors together in one spot. She felt each one was special. Three tall ladies dressed as if going to the king’s court appeared before Prince Lann when he reached the middle of the meadow. They wore dresses that were identical except for the color. A multitude of greens, whites, and blues shimmered on their dresses.

“We are the fairies,” they announced all together. “Welcome Prince Lann. We know that your hardships have been many since you set out to see us.” Hardships? Arabella would have laughed but they were being so serious. “Come ask us your question?”

“How do I awaken Princess Rosalina?” Lann asked the most obvious one. Arabella stopped behind Lann. The fairies smiled at her. At least they seemed to be friendly. She did not know if they realized who she was.

“Princess Rosalina will only awaken when kissed by her true love,” they spoke in unison again. They sighed and gazed at Lann with large eyes. Arabella watched unbelievingly as Lann seemed to puff up with pride.

“You must hurry before Orinda discovers that you can break her curse,” said the green fairy.

“She has many spies that will tell her what you are up to,” said the white fairy. Arabella looked amazed because she had never seen a spy visit her mother.

“You must act now before she comes after you with her dragon minion,” said the blue fairy. Were they talking about Koaner? He was her mother’s minion? She wanted to laugh out loud. The women were being so melodramatic and Prince Lann was soaking it up. Arabella conceded that they did have a point.

“They are right, Lann,” she said to him. “You do need to hurry back to Rosalina.”

“You must travel without companions now for they will slow you down,” said the white fairy.

“I will cast a spell of transportation for you,” said the blue fairy.

“It will be up to you to get to the princess though,” said the green fairy. “I have tried and I can not break the spell on the rosebushes.”

“I think I can,” Arabella said. She pulled the enchanted knife out of the sack. “This can cut through any type of plant.” The green fairy squinted at the knife then jumped back as if a snake was threatening to bite her.

“Where did you get that?” she demanded stomping her foot in the flowers.

“I created it myself,” Arabella said.

“It has the taint of dragon magic on it,” the green fairy said. “That is not good.”

“Take it Lann,” Arabella rolled her eyes and handed the knife to Lann. “It will cut the rosebushes. Who knows, it might even break my mother’s spell on them.” The fairies stared at her and she felt she had just said something wrong. Lann tied the knife to his thigh with a piece of narrow leather string. “I wish there was something more I could give you.”

“You could give me the food bag,” Lann said. Stig’s ears perked up. He ran around behind Lann so that he was directly in Arabella’s line of site.

“Well,” she said slowly. She watched as Stig shook his head emphatically. “If you are traveling magically, you should be back to the castle in no time.” Stig started to nod his head vigorously.

“Yes, but after I have broken the spell, I may have the need to go on another quest,” Lann said. Stig made an evil face and made biting motions towards Lann’s legs.

“I really can not give you the food bag,” Arabella said. She had to stifle a laugh at Stig’s antics. “It belongs to someone else. So I have to give it back when I am done traveling.” Arabella lied with a sweet smile on her face.

“Oh,” Lann’s face held a mournful expression. “All right then.” Arabella could picture Lann in the future if he had the unlimited supply of food the magic bag could provide. She had to shake away the vision of a fat man out of her head.

The blue fairy raised her hands high above her head and started chanting. Arabella heard the rushing of water near her. A small circle of water swirled into being in front of the fairy. It grew larger as the fairy chanted. Soon it was large enough to accommodate the prince. King Waldemarr’s castle gates appeared in the center of the water ring.

“I wish you could come with me Arabella,” Lann said.

“I can not. My mother would find you quicker. “Good bye Lann,” Arabella said. Lann grabbed her in a swift hug and kissed her softly. “Stay safe,” she wished him.

“Stay safe, Arabella,” he said. He stepped through the portal and disappeared.