The Runaway Princess (23 page)

Authors: Kate Coombs

BOOK: The Runaway Princess

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Meg shook her head. “Makes me sound like I didn't do anything.”

“The Frog Warriors of Greeve?” said Cam.

Some of the princes chuckled. Red-haired George the Fourth of Shervelhame snapped at a passing fly and was clearly dismayed to find his tongue so short.

“You make a lovely supper,” the king told Janna, patting his stomach with satisfaction.

“Why, thank you,” said Janna.

“But we'd better get back to the castle. Margaret's mother must be frantic.”

That's when they heard the hoofbeats and the marching feet.

“NOT AGAIN!” CAM MOANED. THE PRINCES sprang up, a little battered, but ready for sprang up, a little battered, but ready for action. Outside, a trumpet fanfare sounded across the now-dark farmyard.

King Stromgard managed to open the door, a hasty new construction. His wife flew into his arms. “Darling!” she cried.

Behind her stood two kings. “Istilda, who are these people?” Stromgard asked his queen.

“Oh! They've come for their sons. And to help you. Do you need help?”

Meg pulled her parents into the room. “Mother!”

Everyone waited for the royal family of Greeve to finish hugging. As Istilda began explaining to her husband about the not-quite-invading army, Janna graciously invited the visiting monarchs inside.

Lex and Nort tagged along after the new arrivals, prompting yet another reunion. Cam and Dilly were
pleased to finally meet the young wizard. Cam thanked Lex for designing the spell that saved him, diplomatically avoiding reference to Lex's original magic. Nort remembered to tell the others about Dagle's poetry, and they all laughed at the thought of the twin princes proclaiming their love to an empty tower.

For their part, Jal and Tark appeared astonished at the quantity of princes lounging about the farmhouse, talking about the recent battle and the best-tasting kinds of flies. Jal went about from prince to prince, eventually focusing on one young face. “Edgley? Is that you, boy?”

The prince straightened up. “Why, Father!”

Meanwhile, Tark had found his own heir, Illipe, and was telling him just how to deal with witches in the future. Tark didn't seem to notice that Gorba was peering over his shoulder, listening avidly, and Illipe was wise enough not to mention it.

Meg looked around the room, well content. “We did it!” she said.

“Even with that Vantor around,” Dilly boasted.

“And Bain,” Cam added. “Why did he pretend to be a prince?”

“To get the dragon gold,” Lex guessed. He sighed wistfully. “The spells I could have worked with all that treasure â¦”

“Don't you want to meet an actual dragon?” Meg asked.

“That's right!” Lex crowed. “Where is it?”

Meg led her friends over to the hearth, where Laddy and the cats and Meg's scarf were snoozing in a heap now that the excitement had died down. Lex knelt to pat the baby dragon. “Their hearts are said to make a man invincible.”

“Don't even think about it!” Meg warned.

“What about a scale?” Lex wheedled.

Laddy opened one eye, sneezing a thread of flame.

“Look, he dropped one,” Cam said. He picked the scale up from the hearthstones. It shimmered red and gold. Cam handed it to Lex.

“There you go,” said Meg.

“I must say, being your co-conspirator is immensely satisfying.” Lex slipped the scale into his pocket. “Now I really must talk to your friend the witch.”

Gorba was helping Janna tidy the kitchen.

“Excuse me, madam witch,” said Lex.

“You're that wizard boy,” Gorba announced with some suspicion.

“It is an honor to meet such a brilliant practitioner of magic,” Lex said, bowing.

Gorba blushed. “Well, some have called me that, yes, though not recently, at least not so as I can recall.”

“I'm told the frogs were superb.”

“It is my signature spell.”

“I was wondering if I might come to see you, perhaps partake of your wisdom,” Lex said.

“I suppose you might,” the witch responded regally.

A frog hopped down into the rushes beside the pond on Hookhorn Farm. He was surprised to find a welcoming committeeâa dozen wet curving shapes with gleaming red eyes. The frog hesitated.

“What's the matter, Vantor?” Horace asked. “Scared of a few salamanders?”

In the farmhouse, things had calmed down once more, and some of the princes started hinting at Gorba to change them back into frogs. Kings Jal and Tark caught wind of this and, reluctant to attack a witch who was obviously a guest of the household, instead began giving heart-wrenching speeches about grieving parents in kingdoms throughout the land. By the time they were finished, most of the princes had promised to go home.

Some of the older princes figured they'd been gone so long they were no longer missed; they decided they would set off together in search of adventure the next morning.

Everyone agreed it was too late to go back to the castle. After a bit of shuffling and fussing, Janna managed to find makeshift bedding for most of her royal guests. They settled down in the farmhouse and the barn, while Jal's and Tark's soldiers set up camp in the cow pastures, to the great surprise of the cows.

The sun rose the following day to the welcome smell of pancakesâJanna's solution to her quantity of unexpected
company. After breakfast, most of the frog princes bade fond farewells to the witch, who grew positively misty-eyed watching them go.

“I'll be back to visit,” the last one promised. He couldn't have been much older than Cam.

Gorba waved her black hankie as all of the princes except Edgley and Illipe set off. She patted her pocket, sniffing. “It's all right, Howie.”

Then Gorba's bright eyes caught sight of Meg across the room with her friends. She frowned, watching Meg and Cam.

The witch went to pack her things.

A few minutes later, Meg found her. “Can I help?”

Gorba shook her head.

“I'm sorry about your frogs.”

“Time the boys stopped hopping about and got on with their lives.” The witch tucked a handful of vials into her knapsack. “That bandit was a nice-looking fellow, wasn't he?” she asked innocently.

Meg stiffened. “I hadn't noticed.”

In the farmhouse kitchen, three monarchs gathered for an informal meeting. “No more of these contests, eh, Stromgard?” Tark said, slapping the king of Greeve on the back with a jovial air.

“No more of these unannounced visits with hundreds of soldiers, heh heh,” Stromgard replied, slapping Tark's back in turn.

All three rulers exchanged shrewd looks. Queen Istilda noticed wryly that the kings of Tarylon and Lors weren't rushing to introduce their sons to her daughter. She kept her thoughts to herself, though, thanking the visitors yet again for their heroic assistance. At last Jal and Tark, sons in tow, marched away to their own realms, promising not to leave any armies lying around behind them.

Everything else was soon sorted out, and the royal family of Greeve made their way home to the castle, where the king relieved Dorn and Dagle of guard duty. The twin princes were rather woebegone, having learned about the dragon and other recent developments from one of the servants.

When the king thought to ask where his guards were, the queen explained that she and her royal companions had met some of Hanak's men on the road to the farm. Part of that squad was put in charge of the prisoners from the barn. As it turned out, Hanak and the rest of his men returned to the castle much later without a single glimpse of a bandit, let alone of Vantor or the princess.

Hanak was appalled to find out all that had happened without him. It took the king a great deal of talk to convince the loyal captain that his absence from the Battle of Hookhorn Farm was only a matter of unfortunate timing. “Besides,” the king said, “Prince Bain was a great help.”

Hanak gritted his teeth. “I understand, Sire.”

King Stromgard also had a long meeting with his abashed prime minister, charging him never to use the words “economic development” again. In the weeks to come, Garald was often seen with a thesaurus, trying to come up with an acceptable alternative.

The king further commanded Garald to plan suitable rewards for those who had helped keep his daughter safe during the past week. By applying his imagination, not to mention asking Meg for her advice, the prime minister did a fine job of selecting rewards for the princess's companions. The king approved each and every one.

Nort was to be trained under Hanak's direct supervision, with an eye toward eventual knighthood. “A promising lad,” Hanak growled, “but he's going to learn whose orders to follow
when
!”

“Yes, sir,” Nort said fervently.

After Dilly had survived a little talk with her uncle about using his name to improperly influence guards, she was given the title of Meg's lady-in-waiting. Dilly was specifically assigned not to carry towels. She was given some satin gowns of her very own, which she hung carefully in her airy new chamber. “Do I have to gossip?” Dilly asked Meg, eyeing the queen's bevy of ladies.

To Chief Gardener Tob's amazement, Cam was allowed to pick his own section of the palace gardens to manage. Meg wasn't surprised when her friend chose
the kitchen gardens. “Roses are nice,” he confided, “but there's nothing like the orange curve of a fine pumpkin or the snap of a good green bean.”

Gorba kindly agreed to make the king's tower and the houses in Crown visible again. Then she went back to her wood, which the king deeded to her officially. Before she left, though, Gorba magically repaired Janna's pitcher and promised to come to tea with her at least once a week to discuss Greevian literature. Janna had quickly recovered from the shock of having her farm attacked. The king sent a crew of laborers to repair Hookhorn Farm. In addition, he bought Janna more cows and pigs and named her Guardian of the Royal Dragon.

Meg didn't want to leave Laddy at the farm, but she had to admit he was safer there than at the castle, where not everyone seemed to understand how sweet he was.
I'll come see you all the time
, Meg told him.

The king tried to name Lex Royal Wizard. Lex said no thank you, but he would always be available for contract work. “I'm an independent man,” Lex told Meg later. “When are you coming over for hot chocolate?”

Since the king wanted to reward Bain for saving his life and Hanak wanted to throw Bain in the dungeons, the prime minister wasn't sure what to do. The decision was taken out of his hands, however, because the bandits were seen no more in the kingdom of Greeve. Except
onceâand Meg was the only person who knew about that.

First the princess had a discussion with her parents about her own future. Meg wore her scarf for courage.

The king leaned forward over his desk. “What's that around your neck?”

“A magic scarf.”

“It appears to be watching me,” King Stromgard said.

“Yes. It saved my life.”

The king and queen exchanged glances.

“Gorba gave it to me,” Meg added.

“I see.” The king sat back, but he kept his eyes on the scarf.

“Now then,” Queen Istilda said. “As you well know, you've caused us a great deal of worry these past few days. You've been disobedient and underhanded.”

“I'm sorry to have frightened you,” Meg said honestly.

“Therefore, we are not going to reward you publicly for your actions,” the queen said.

Meg drooped. Maybe everything was going to be like before.

“Nevertheless,” her father continued, “your actions have shown us that you have the makings of a monarch.”

Meg looked up, surprised.

“Your mother feels that you have become sufficiently
adept at embroidery to move on to other studies, subjects such as administration and diplomacy,” the king said.

“What?” Meg asked, worried.

“Don't forget,” her mother put in.

“Ah yes. Also magic, horsemanship, and swordplay.”

Meg felt a smile spreading across her face, bright and warm as a baby dragon.

Across the valley, a cow ambled up to the gate of a farm. An old woman came out to greet her. “Why, you silly thing. What happened to your two fine friends?”

“I hate to question the decisions of a lady queen,” Dorn told his brother as they climbed back up the mountain, “but she should have taken us along.”

“To the battle?”

Dorn nodded. “Instead of leaving us in the castle with that terrifying woman.”

“Our mother's housekeeper is much more gentle,” Dagle agreed.

They reached the dragon trap and stood looking at it mournfully.

“If I hadn't seen the bones myself, I would still have high hopes for our handiwork,” said Dorn.