The Princess and the Pearl

  Annie had no way of telling the time, but she was sure it was well after midnight when she spotted her parents’ castle. Audun had started flying lower hours before, so they could easily see the flickering of candles in the windows of one of the rooms. “That’s my uncle’s chamber,” Annie told Audun. “I hope this doesn’t mean we’re too late!”

  “We’ll find out in a few minutes,” Audun told her. “I need to land where the sentries can’t see me. I’d rather not get shot full of arrows if I can help it! Thank goodness sentries rarely look up when they aren’t used to having dragons around.”

  Annie swallowed hard. In her concern over her father and uncle, she hadn’t thought about how the guards might react when they first saw a dragon. As Audun began his descent, Annie held her breath and didn’t exhale until he had safely landed in her mother’s flower garden. He had scarcely closed his wings when she slid off his back and started running. A moment later, Audun, in human form, was running right behind her.

  Annie headed straight for her uncle’s room, racing up one flight of stairs, then down the corridor. Her heart sank when she saw people gathered outside the door, talking in low voices. She didn’t slow down until she reached the room and had to squeeze between the people. The room was so crowded that she couldn’t see much at first, but as she pushed forward, she spotted her mother seated beside the bed. The doctors that the family had consulted earlier were lined up behind her. Rupert must have been close to death if her mother had asked them to come back. Annie’s sister, Gwendolyn, was sitting on the other side with her new husband, Prince Beldegard. Big Boy was there as well, sitting beside Gwendolyn with his great head resting on Rupert’s hand.

  “Is he still alive?” Annie asked as she made her way closer.

  A woman gasped as if Annie had said something she shouldn’t have said, but Annie didn’t care. She pushed past her just as Dr. Hemshaw tried to pour liquid between Rupert’s closed lips. “Whatever you’re trying to give him, stop it!” Annie said as she struggled to undo the straps holding the bag on her back.

  “Annie, you’re here!” cried her mother.

  “Thank goodness!” exclaimed Gwendolyn.

  “Your sister came when she heard the news,” the queen told Annie. “We’ve been so worried that you wouldn’t get back in time.”

  “Well, I’m here now and everything is going to be all right. But why are all these people in the room? Get out!” Annie told the onlookers. “This isn’t your evening’s entertainment. This man is sick and needs some air.”

  Some of the people grumbled and seemed reluctant to leave, but when Annie glared at them they began to shuffle out.

  “That goes for all of you, too,” she told the doctors.

  “I’m giving Prince Rupert tonic to ease his suffering,” said Dr. Hemshaw, tilting his head so he was looking down his nose at Annie.

  “I told you to get away from him!” Annie snapped. She had no time for pompous men who didn’t know what they were doing. Seeing Audun approaching the bed, she waved him closer. “Please escort that man from the room. I need to give my uncle the cure.”

  Her mother gave her a sharp glance and half rose from her seat. “You found it?”

  “We found it,” she said, nodding at Audun. Pulling the straps off her shoulders, Annie swung the bag in front of her and undid the string tying it closed. Her mother stood up and let Annie take her seat. Big Boy glanced at her without moving his head. The sadness in his eyes was almost overwhelming.

  For the first time since she’d walked in the room, Annie was able to get a good look at her uncle. He was lying on his back, with his eyes closed, breathing heavily as if it took great effort to draw air into his lungs.

  “He’s in a lot of pain,” murmured the queen.

  Annie nodded. Her uncle was blue up to his chin, but his face was almost as pale as the moon. “Then there’s no time to waste,” Annie said, taking the bottle and the thimble out of the bag.

  Annie poured the potion into the thimble. “Here you go,” she told her uncle, holding the thimble to his lips. “I consulted a witch doctor who has treated this illness before. This is the cure. All you have to do is drink it.”

  Annie wasn’t sure if her uncle was aware of her or what she had said when she poured the first drops between his lips. After a little had trickled in, however, his lips parted, making it easier to give him the rest. When she saw his throat move, she knew that he had swallowed it.

  Nothing happened at first, and Annie held her breath without realizing it. Suddenly, Rupert began to shake violently from head to toe. The tremors were lessening when he began to cough. Big Boy raised his head and barked, a deep whoof! that drowned out the sound of her uncle’s coughing. When he coughed again, Dr. Hemshaw stuck his head back into the room. “That was a death rattle. Whatever you gave your uncle, you just killed him.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Annie as her uncle continued to cough. When he stopped, there was a hint of pink in his cheeks and the blue was already receding from his chin.

  “Thank you, Annie,” Rupert said, his voice the faintest whisper.

  “You’re very welcome,” Annie replied, and kissed him on the cheek.

  “Oh my!” cried her mother. “You did it! You actually found the cure. Oh, Rupert, I’m so glad! And your father, Annie. Your father!”

  “We need to go to him!” cried Gwendolyn.

  “Just a moment,” said Annie. “I want to make sure it really works.”

  Annie smiled when Big Boy raised his head, revealing Rupert’s twitching fingers. As the blue receded down Rupert’s neck, he seemed to gain strength and he was able to reach up and pet the dog. Big Boy’s plumed tail began to thump Gwendolyn’s chair.

  Annie laughed with joy. Her uncle really was going to be all right! “I’ll see you in a bit, Uncle Rupert,” she said before turning to her mother. “Let’s go see Father now. I’ll race you there!”

  Gwendolyn, Beldegard, and Audun joined Annie and her mother as they reached the door. Feeling lighthearted for the first time in weeks, they ran down the hall and up a flight of stairs, laughing. Although Annie was the first one to reach the door, it was the queen who threw it open. Edda had been lying beside the king’s bed, but she jumped up now and ran to greet Annie.

  “What’s all this?” the king grumbled from his bed.

  “I’m sorry if we woke you, Father, but we brought you something that you are going to like very much,” Annie said as she crossed the room with Edda at her side.

  “You didn’t wake me, child,” her father said. “I’ve been lying here awake for hours. What did you bring me? If it’s something to eat, I don’t want it. Your mother has been after me to eat for days.”

  “You don’t eat this, Father, you drink it. Here,” Annie said, pouring the potion into the thimble. “Drink all of it and I guarantee you’ll feel a lot better.”

  “It’s the cure, Halbert!” exclaimed the queen. “Annie found the cure! Rupert was about to die and she gave him the cure and he’s much better already. Will you please just drink it?”

  The king grunted and looked from the queen to Annie. “The cure, is it? Now that’s a story I’d like to hear. All right, hand it over. We’ll see if this really works!”

  Annie gave him the thimble and watched him sniff the contents. “You must drink every drop,” she told him.

  “It smells slightly fishy. It wasn’t made from fish, was it?” he asked, giving the thimble a dubious look.

  Annie shook her head. “I watched the witch doctor make the potion. He didn’t use any fish.”

  The king sighed. “I can scarcely keep food down, and you want me to drink this. Ah well. Here goes.” Tilting the thimble, he emptied it into his mouth all at once and swallowed with an audible gulp.

  “Just a moment,” said the queen. Taking a candle from a nearby table, she brought it closer to the king’s bedside. “Where was the blue the last time you looked?” she asked.

  “It had almost reached
my chest,” her husband replied.

  “Look and see where it is now,” she directed.

  “So soon?” said the king. “I just drank it, and … Oh, I feel odd.”

  The king began to shake just like Rupert had when he drank the potion. When the coughing started, Annie and her mother looked at each other. Annie thought it was an encouraging sign. After an extra-loud cough, the king sighed and fell back against his pillows.

  “Halbert, are you all right?” asked his wife.

  “You know, I think I am,” said the king. “I actually feel much better!” Lifting the neck of his nightshirt, he peered down at his stomach. “There’s less blue already! Your potion is working, Annie!”

  “Thank goodness!” exclaimed the queen. “I was so afraid I was going to lose you. I don’t know what I would have done without you, Halbert!”

  “Nor I without you, my dearest,” the king said, smiling tenderly at his wife.

  Annie yawned and her jaw made a cracking sound. Suddenly she was so tired that she could hardly keep her eyes open. After flying for so long on the back of a dragon, she didn’t have any energy left.

  “It looks as if you don’t need me right now,” she told her parents. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to bed.”

  “That’s a good idea,” said the queen as she took a seat beside the king.

  “Liam and our friend Millie should be here by midday, but Audun needs a place to sleep tonight,” Annie said, and yawned again.

  The queen took her husband’s hand and moved a little closer to him.

  “I’ll have the steward see to it,” said Gwendolyn. “Go to bed, Annie. You need your rest! We should go, too, Beldegard. I think my parents would like to be alone. Good night, Father. I’m so happy that you’re going to be all right!”

  “Thank you, my dear,” he replied. “And thank you for all you’ve done, Annie! I owe you my life now!” her father called as she left his chamber with Edda pressed against her leg.

  “You’re welcome,” Annie murmured as she shut the door. She was so tired, she imagined that she heard her mother giggle.

  Annie slept in the next morning. She would have slept even later if a maid hadn’t knocked on the door of her chamber. “What is it?” Annie asked, sounding groggy.

  Edda had slept on the floor beside Annie’s bed. The big dog got up now and padded across the room.

  The maid opened the door and peeked in. “I apologize for disturbing you, Your Highness, but Queen Karolina requests your presence in the great hall. Hi, Edda. Do you want to go out?”

  While Edda wagged her tail and nosed the door open wider, Annie sat up and stretched. “You can tell the queen that I’ll be down as soon as I get dressed.”

  “Very good, Your Highness. Come on, Edda. Let’s go,” the maid said, letting the dog out of the room.

  Annie groaned as she got out of bed. Riding a dragon was fun, but it used muscles she didn’t know she had, and now every one of them ached. She would love a hot bath, if only she had the time. Instead, she hurried to get dressed and gave her hair a cursory brushing.

  As she walked through the corridors, Annie wondered why they were so quiet. Could something have gone wrong? It occurred to her that the potion might not have worked as well as she’d thought, and that the improvements in her father’s and uncle’s conditions had been only temporary. Suddenly apprehensive, she hurried to the great hall.

  She stopped worrying as she approached the hall and heard the sound of a large group of people talking and laughing. When she stepped into the doorway, she found that everyone was seated at the long tables that were usually filled only in the evenings.

  “There she is!” the king called out, and everyone turned toward the door.

  Annie blushed as they all cheered. When Edda trotted over and bumped against her leg, Annie placed her hand on the dog’s back and walked with her to the head table.

  “Your father and I were starving this morning, so we decided to have a feast,” Prince Rupert said when she reached the table. “It’s really in your honor, though. We can’t thank you enough for finding the cure. I was sure I was about to die last night, and your father wouldn’t have lasted much longer.”

  Annie smiled at her uncle. He looked better than she had ever seen him, with color in his cheeks, a sparkle in his eyes, and the erect posture of a military man. Big Boy was lying at his feet, asleep. If even the dog wasn’t worried, Rupert had to be all right!

  An empty seat waited between her uncle and Audun. As Annie sat down, her father leaned forward to look past her friend and say, “Thank you again, Annie. Not one of those idiots who came to treat us knew what to do. I’d like to meet that witch doctor you mentioned. At least he knows his trade.”

  “He does,” said Annie. “I invited him to come to Treecrest. He said he would consider it.”

  Annie noticed that the doctors who had tried to treat her father were seated at a table near enough to hear her. A few of the doctors looked interested, but Dr. Hemshaw just scowled and took a sip from his tankard.

  “We had hoped that Liam and Millie would be here in time to join us, but they haven’t arrived yet,” said the queen.

  “I’m sure they’ll be here soon,” said Audun.

  Annie gave him a closer look. Although everyone else seemed satisfied with his answer, she knew him well enough by now to tell that he was worried. True, he seemed to worry about Millie a lot, but Annie hoped that this time he wasn’t justified.

  Sitting back, Annie helped herself from a passing platter. She noticed how healthy her father looked, and that both men ate hearty amounts of the feast the cooks had prepared. Although she was delighted to see them like this, as time passed, and people finished eating, Annie began to worry, too. Liam and Millie should have reached the castle by now. She knew that something as simple as a lame horse or broken wheel might have held them up, but she couldn’t help but think that it might be something far more serious.

  As the feast ended and her family began to get up from the table, Annie turned to Audun. “Millie and Liam aren’t back yet. I think we should go look for them.”

  “I was thinking the same thing,” he replied. “You know I can’t ride a horse, and a carriage wouldn’t be fast enough.”

  “Then we’re going to have to fly, aren’t we?” said Annie. “We can stay high up like we did before, but what if they’re in the forest? How will we see them through the trees?”

  “We won’t need to see them,” Audun told her. “I’d recognize Millie’s scent anywhere.”

  “Then let’s go,” said Annie. “We’ve waited long enough.”

  CHAPTER 16

  No one questioned them when Annie and Audun went for a walk along the riverbank soon after the feast. They left through the gate facing the forest and headed for the water in case someone was watching. The moment they were out of sight and were sure no one could see them, Audun turned into a dragon and crouched down. Without Liam’s help, it was hard for Annie to climb onto Audun’s scaly back, but when she faltered, the dragon helped by turning his head and giving her a push with his nose.

  Annie had worn warmer clothes this time, so she was prepared when they rose into the sky and kept climbing. They didn’t go quite as high as they had before; just enough that people would think Audun was a large bird if they happened to look up. When Audun was satisfied that he was high enough, he turned to fly over the road, and they both peered down, hoping to see the carriage and the guards. They flew back the way they had come the night before, passing above farmland, forest, stone houses, and straw huts. Neither Annie nor Audun saw any sign of the carriage or the guards. Audun kept sniffing for Millie’s scent, but all he could find was her trail from their trip to Kenless.

  They were well south of the castle when Audun finally turned his head to Annie and said, “I’ve found Millie’s scent. Hold on tight!”

  Annie wrapped her arms more tightly around the dragon’s neck when he pressed his wings to his sides and dropped like
a stone. The wind whistled around them as they plummeted straight down toward the forest, pulling up at the last moment to skim the tops of the trees. The leaves were so thick that Annie couldn’t see the road, but Audun seemed to know right where to go. Reaching a gap in the branches, he slipped between the trees, landing in the middle of the road. Annie would have been relieved to see the royal carriage of Treecrest if she hadn’t noticed the fighting first. A tree was down in front of the carriage, which had forced the driver to stop. Bandits were attacking the guards, trying to reach the carriage. Using curved cutlasses, they slashed at the sword-wielding guards, moving back and forth across the road as they advanced and retreated. The combatants seemed to be evenly matched, because as far as Annie could tell, no one was winning.

  “I see Liam,” Audun declared. “Millie must still be in the carriage. I know you don’t want people to see me like this, but I’m a much more effective fighter as a dragon. Would you mind terribly if I engaged the bandits while I was in this form?”

  Annie spotted Liam now. While guards fought bandits all around the carriage, Liam stood in front of the carriage door, protecting it from four bandits at once. He was badly outnumbered, and if he didn’t get help soon, he was bound to tire and make a mistake.

  “Go for it!” Annie told Audun, clambering off his back. She no longer cared if people saw the dragons. The pirates had already seen them, which meant word was bound to get out if it hadn’t already. As far as Annie was concerned, having a dragon on their side was a definite advantage.

  “Stay here,” Audun said as gas began to trickle from his nostrils. “I don’t want my breath to hurt you.”

  “And I don’t want to get in your way,” Annie said, stepping aside. “You do whatever you need to do to end this now!”

  The door to the carriage started to open. Liam noticed and shouted, “Don’t come out!” even as he avoided the swipes of two cutlasses at once. The bandits rushed forward, only to have Liam beat them back. One of the bandits was bigger than the others and particularly vicious in his attack, wielding his cutlass like an expert. Annie stepped to the side, trying to get a better look. When she saw his bald head and full beard, she realized that he was the pirate captain Prickly Beard.