The Fairy's Return and Other Princess Tales (8 page)

As the water soaked into them, Lorelei's skirts got heavier and heavier and dragged more and more. It was hard to walk, but she had to do it.

“Trudy! I'm coming!”

Where was the stream? She should have reached it by now.

“Leonard?” Maybe the mule would hee-haw and she'd find him. Then she could ride him and find Trudy more quickly. She pushed past bushes and over fallen logs.

Two hours passed. Lorelei still hadn't found Leonard, Trudy, or the stream. She was hungry and chilled. She sneezed almost as often as she took a breath. She couldn't get sick, not now when Trudy needed her.

Finally Lorelei sat on a tree stump and cried between sneezes. She had to admit it. Trudy was lost. Leonard was lost. And she was lost.

Nine

B
y dinnertime the flood of princesses had slowed to a trickle. Around ten o'clock it stopped. Seventy-nine princesses had come.

Queen Hermione set aside a wing of the castle just for them. Tonight they would sleep in ordinary beds with only one mattress and no pea. Tomorrow the tests would begin. Tomorrow night would be the final exam for those who had passed all the other tests. The mattress and pea test. The test that the Chief Royal Chambermaid was sure nobody could pass.

Prince Nicholas was beside himself. What was he going to do? And where was Lorelei?

Lorelei was flat on her face in the forest. She had tripped over a tree root, and she was too tired to get up. Too tired to do anything except sneeze.

But she had to get back to the village and form a search party. She stood and picked up the picnic basket and blanket. Her gown and face were covered with mud and dead leaves. Well, the rain would clean off her face. And the gown didn't matter, since she hadn't had a chance to embroider anything on it yet.

She heard something. She stood still and fought back a sneeze. There it was again. A snuffling noise. Trudy! She opened her mouth to yell. But wait. What if it wasn't Trudy. What if it was—

Lorelei had never climbed a tree in her life. But she climbed one now. One second she was on the ground. The next she was twelve feet up.

A bear crashed through the bushes. She sneezed. Oh no! He was going to find her!

But he passed right by, in a big hurry. He didn't even look up. He was probably going to his nice warm cave. Lucky bear.

Lorelei climbed down from the tree and stumbled on. “Achoo!” Hang on, Trudy, she thought. Hang on. I'm coming.

Nicholas couldn't sleep. He paced up and down in his room. He didn't want to marry anyone but Lorelei. He didn't care about having a princess for a bride. As soon as he married her, Lorelei would be a princess anyway. So what was the difference?

He wouldn't even care that much about becoming a king someday, if Archduke Percy wasn't such a monster.

The wind howled in the forest beyond the moat. He looked out his window. Sheets of rain poured down. Wherever Lorelei had been today, she'd have to be home by now. He wished he could peek in her window and see her, warm and dry and fast asleep, in an embroidered nightgown.

Had she seen a light? Way up ahead? So much water was coming down, it was hard to keep her eyes open. “Achoo!”

Lightning flashed, and Lorelei saw a castle. Towers and battlements, dark against the yellow-gray sky.

Who lived there? A royal family? A troll family? Ogres? An evil magician? Maybe she should stay in the forest. “Achoo!” No. She had to go on. For Trudy's sake.

She hurried across the drawbridge. “Achoo!” It would be dry inside. She'd be out of the wind. If the owner was an ogre and he decided to eat her, she'd warm up while she roasted. And if he was a decent ogre, he might even let her take a bath before he cooked her.

She knocked on the thick oak doors. The Chief Royal Night Watchman opened them. A dripping muddy maiden stood there. Another princess? She didn't look like much. But he had his orders, and he let her into the great hall. “Wait here,” he barked.

Nicholas had seen the small figure cross the drawbridge. Another one, he thought. His parents weren't going to like having to get up in the middle of the night for her. He grinned sourly. They'd be sorry they hadn't put in a test for coming in the daytime.

He met his parents on the circular stairway to the great hall where the maiden stood shivering and sneezing.

“S
HE KNOCKED ON THE THICK OAK DOORS
.”

He couldn't believe it. It was Lorelei! What was she doing here?

Lorelei watched them come down the stairs. They weren't ogres and trolls. One of them even looked familiar. It was that nice Prince Nicholas. Lorelei's heart lurched a little.

She curtsied deeply. She sneezed and wobbled and almost fell over.

They have kind faces, Lorelei thought, but they look annoyed. Except the prince. He looks glad to see me. She sent him a special smile. And then she sneezed.

“Who are you?” King Humphrey boomed. “Which one are you?”

“I am—achoo!—Lorelei. You see—achoo!—I got—”

“Another princess,” Nicholas interrupted loudly. “There's always room for one more.” He winked at Lorelei, hoping she'd see and go along. Hoping his parents wouldn't see. “Who knows?” he added. “She might be the one to pass the princess tests.”

Lorelei saw the wink. He wanted her to pretend to be a princess? She could, if he wanted her to. But why?

She curtsied again. “I am Princess Lorelei. Achoo!”

Ten

“H
ow did you get here?” Queen Hermione asked. “Where's your carriage?”

“Um . . . achoo! Um, I don't have a carriage. Um . . .” What could she say? “Um . . . I . . . I was bewitched.” That was it! “Achoo! A fairy put a spell on our whole court. My father was turned into a blacksmith. I became a blacksmith's daughter. I was—achoo!—a baby when it happened.”

Quick thinking, Nicholas thought. She was clever, too.

“Absurd! Ridiculous!” King Humphrey roared. “There hasn't been a case or example of a fairy spell in a hundred years. Not since Queen Rosella and King Harold's reign.”

“Achoo!”

The lass is crazy, the queen thought.

“Suppose she is a true princess?” Prince Nicholas said. “She might be the only one of the eighty maidens here who is.” He hoped Lorelei was paying attention. “If you don't give her the tests, you'll never know. You won't be able to abdicate, Father. I'll never marry. You'll never have grand—”

“Son or heir, you're right.” The king put an arm around Nicholas' shoulder. “The boy is correct or accurate.”

Lorelei listened between sneezes. Tests? Had they said that if she passed some tests, she could marry Nicholas? Really?

Queen Hermione shrugged. It couldn't do any harm. A true blacksmith's daughter would certainly fail the tests. She rang her bell for the Chief Royal Chambermaid.

“Achoo! Excuse me. My Lady-in-Waiting was with me when we got lost. Achoo! She's still under the spell. She thinks she keeps house for a blacksmith.” Lorelei told them about Trudy.

She's so kind! Nicholas thought.

“And our black stallion got lost too. He looks like a mule.”

The king called for a groom to ride to the village of Snettering-on-Snoakes to see if Trudy and Leonard had gotten home safely.

Lorelei went upstairs with the Chief Royal Chambermaid. Nicholas followed them. She'll pass one test anyway, he thought, looking at her muddy footprints. She has small feet. But what about the rest?

The tests began first thing in the morning.

Lorelei had slept well. Her sheets were satin. The blankets were velvet. The mattress was stuffed with swans' feathers. Just like home. When she woke up, she wasn't even sneezing anymore.

Someone had laid a gown out for her, and a Royal Chambermaid was there to dress her. The gown was pretty, with diamonds sewn into the skirt and pearls sewn into the bodice. But it wasn't embroidered, which was a shame. And look at that! “That's funny,” she said out loud.

The Royal Chambermaid curtsied. “What's funny, your ladyship?”

“Well . . .” You'd think they'd get it right for a princess. “The skirt on the gown—I don't mean to criticize—but it's lighter than the bodice.”

So Lorelei passed the first test.

Three princesses hadn't noticed. Seventy-seven maidens sat down to breakfast, which was a simple meal. Poached eggs, dry toast, and half a grapefruit—Lorelei's favorite food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

While they ate, King Humphrey welcomed them to the kingdom or monarchy of Biddle. Then he explained about the tests, but he didn't say what any of them were. “In closing,” he concluded, “let the truest princess conquer or win.”

After breakfast, the king and queen and Nicholas gave the princesses and Lorelei a tour of the castle. King Humphrey lectured about Biddle as they went. Nicholas stayed near Lorelei, wishing he could warn her about each test, but the princesses might hear.

When the tour was over, everyone returned to the royal banquet hall for lunch—the next round in the true-princess test (although the contestants didn't know it).

The queen rang her bell, and Royal Serving Maids entered the royal banquet hall.

A salad was placed in front of Lorelei. She picked up her fork.

Now why was a bit of uncooked noodle mixed in with the lettuce? Quietly, she pointed it out to a Royal Serving Maid. And passed the salad test. So that was it, Lorelei thought. You had to guess what was wrong with the food. Funny test.

Five maidens didn't find the noodle. They were escorted out immediately.

Seventy-one to go, Nicholas thought. He noticed that the crocodile princess was still in the running.

Lorelei found the toothpick under the flounder. It wasn't hard, now that she knew what to look for. Nicholas breathed a sigh of relief.

Only one princess didn't find the toothpick.

Lorelei fished the tiny marshmallow out of her ragout. Eight princesses didn't. One of them was dragged away, yelling, “It isn't fair! Mine melted!”

Nicholas thought he was going to die of worry before the meal ended.

Lorelei found the flake of tuna on the chocolate cake icing. Four princesses didn't. The meal was over. Lorelei and the crocodile princess and fifty-seven other princesses remained in the game.

Eleven

A
fter lunch the measuring began in the queen's bedchamber.

Nicholas and the king weren't allowed to view this part of the test. They waited in the throne room. King Humphrey listened to petitions from his subjects while Nicholas paced up and down, chewing his nails.

In the bedchamber Royal Chambermaids with tape measures checked every inch of every princess. If a princess was too tall, she was out. If she was too short, she was out. If her ears were too big, they were out and she was out.

The measuring took the rest of the day. Lorelei worried about the size of her nose. It was her worst feature. She pulled in her nostrils. When she looked in the mirror, she always thought that made her nose seem a little smaller.

Her nose squeaked by. A hair bigger and she would have had it.

The measuring went on.

The waist of one of the princesses was too big by a sixty-fourth of an inch. Queen Hermione said she was sorry, but if she let this maiden slip by, she wouldn't know where to draw the line.

When the measuring was over, only ten princesses and Lorelei were left. The queen led them to the throne room.

The crocodile princess entered first. Nicholas bit his finger so hard it bled. She smiled at him. Her teeth looked pointy. Where was Lorelei? He held his breath.

Lorelei was the ninth to enter the room. Nicholas started breathing again. They looked at each other. This was scary.

The king gave bouquets to the princesses and congratulated or applauded them on getting so far.

Nicholas wanted to yell, It's another trick! It's a test!

Lorelei held her bouquet away from her to examine it. Some flowers made her sneeze and some made her eyes water. Roses were okay. Daffodils were okay too. Lilies made her sneeze. So did peonies. What was that? Parsley? That wasn't a flower. This was a test! She pulled out the parsley and sneezed.

The bouquet test fooled everyone except the crocodile princess and Lorelei. The best and the worst, Prince Nicholas thought. He was trembling.

Both of them passed the tapestry test. Lorelei spotted the missing thread from twenty feet away. Nicholas wished she could get extra credit.

King Humphrey announced that they would have a light supper and go to bed. The final test or examination, he lied, would be tomorrow, or the day after today.

Lorelei didn't have a moment to talk privately with Nicholas. She could tell he wanted her to be the one to pass the test, but she wanted to hear him say it. She also wanted him to give her a hint about the big test tomorrow.

He wanted to get near her, too. If he could whisper to her for just one second, he could tell her about the pea. But at supper she sat at the other end of the table, next to the king. Nicholas heard him telling her about his collection of unicorn horns or tusks.