Princess in Disguise (2 page)

“Then we will, Ella,” Annie said with a smile.

“We wanted to tell you how happy we are for you, Annie,” Snow White told her. “Liam is perfect for you. He's wonderful and loves you so much. After seeing you two together, I knew that I wanted a husband just like him. He's what inspired me to choose Maitland—a good man who loves me for myself.”

“That's how I feel about Ainsley,” said Ella.

Squidge hadn't closed the door all the way when he left, and now it opened wide as Annie's sister, Gwendolyn, walked in. “Oh good, you're awake,” she said, seeing Annie sitting up in bed. “I came to see if you had any questions for your older, already married sister.”

Gwennie and her new husband, Beldegard, had returned from their grand tour only two days before, giving the sisters little time to talk.

“You've been married for just over a month,” said Annie.

“Yes,” Gwennie said as she plunked herself on the edge of the bed. “But I've learned so much about men that I never knew! What would you like to ask me?”

“Uh, nothing?” said Annie.

“Well, I have a question,” said Snow White. “I'm getting married soon, but before I do, there is one thing I've been wondering and I didn't know who to ask. It's very personal, but I couldn't talk to my father about it and I don't have a mother to ask.”

“What is it? I'll be happy to talk about anything!” said Gwennie.

“Do all men snore? The dwarves all did and it made a horrible racket at night. I was always glad that my room was on a different floor and I could shut the door at night.”

“Snoring? That's what you want to ask me? I thought you wanted to know about …” Gwennie gasped as her
gaze landed on the magic mirror in the corner. “I heard you had a magic mirror in your room, but I didn't know it was so big!” she told Annie. “I have
got
to ask it a question!”

Snow White glanced at the mirror with distaste. “You can, but I'm not going near it. That thing reminds me of my evil stepmother.”

“That's all right,” said Gwennie. “I have plenty of questions for it. Let's see, which one should I ask first? Ah, I know. Mirror, mirror, on the wall, how many children will I have?”

“That doesn't rhyme,” said Ella. “I thought the questions you asked magic mirrors always had to rhyme.”

“Rhyming isn't necessary,” said Annie as she watched mist begin to form in the mirror.

When the face appeared in the swirling mist, it looked annoyed. “What do I look like—a crystal ball? I can't predict the future!”

“Well then,” said Gwennie. “Tell me this. Who is the handsomest prince of all?” She looked smug as she waited for the answer, and surprised when the image of a blindingly handsome prince wearing a cape of blue-striped skins appeared.

“That would be Prince Larsenvarsen from the kingdom of Skol,” said the mirror.

Irritation came through in Gwennie's voice when she said, “Let me rephrase that. Who is the handsomest formerly enchanted prince?”

“Prince Cumberpants of Grimswald,” the mirror said as two images appeared side by side. One was a frog looking very unhappy. The other was a handsome prince wearing a goofy grin.

“Uh, Gwennie, you can't ask it too many questions,” Annie told her. “The mirror is going to run out of power soon.”

“I know, I know!” Gwennie replied. “I just want to hear the mirror say his name. Who is the handsomest formerly enchanted prince who was once a bear?”

“Prince Allyoop from Skreevakia.” The image of a cuddly little bear cub appeared beside that of a handsome dark-haired child, but the picture was fainter than before.

“This is ridiculous!” cried Gwennie. “Why can't this mirror give me the right answer?”

“Gwennie, you really can't—” Annie began.

“Just one more,” said her sister. “Mirror, who is the handsomest formerly enchanted prince who was once a very big bear whose name begins with ‘B' and ends in ‘ard'?”

“That would be Prince Beldegard, although Prince Borisigard is a close second,” the mirror said, showing two images that were so faint that they were almost impossible to see.

“Finally!” cried Gwennie. “Annie, this mirror is defective. You should get rid of it.”

The face was gone, but the swirling mist was still there. Suddenly, bright lights flickered in the mist, then the whole thing went black.

“I think you upset it,” Annie said. “I'm sorry, ladies, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave so I can get dressed. I'll talk to all of you after the wedding.”

“We're leaving,” said Gwennie. “I almost wish I had come home sooner so I could have helped you plan your wedding. If it were my wedding, I would have done things very differently. Why, I was telling Beldegard that you really should have—”

“I'll talk to you later, Gwennie. Thanks for stopping by, everyone!” Annie said, shooing the princesses out of the room and shutting the door. Hearing Gwennie talk had reminded Annie of what her sister had been like when she married Beldegard. She had been demanding, overly sensitive, and so concerned with what she wanted that she had made everyone else's lives miserable. Annie couldn't stand being around her sister then, and was determined not to act the way her sister had or treat anyone the way Gwennie had treated her.

Queen Karolina had made it very clear that Annie was to come straight to see her the moment she got out of bed. As Annie hurried along the corridor, she glanced to the far end, where a window revealed a beautiful cloudless day, just as Squidge had said. It was the perfect kind of day for a wedding.

The little sprite wasn't the only one who had offered to help. Annie's aunt and uncle, Queen Theodora and King Daneel, were there, as well as their son, Prince Ainsley, and his new wife. Ella had been an enormous help with the more practical matters like seating arrangements at the formal dinner and choosing the food to be served after the ceremony. Snow White and her betrothed, Prince Maitland, had arrived a day later, even though they were in the midst of their own wedding preparations. Snow White had hit it off with Ella right away and together they had taken over decorating
the castle. With Squidge and Annie's friends to help, Annie had little left to do, other than get dressed and calm her mother's nerves.

Her mother had been agitated since the day Annie and Liam returned from helping Snow White and announced that they planned to marry right away. Queen Karolina had just finished putting on a wedding for her older daughter, Gwendolyn, and hadn't expected Annie's announcement quite so soon. When Liam said that he wanted to marry Annie that week, the queen announced that no daughter of hers was going to get married in anything but the most beautiful ceremony, and that would take at least two months. They were able to talk her down to one, but that had only been after much wheedling, begging, and threats of elopement. Everyone in the castle had worked overtime to get things ready, but Annie's gown hadn't been finished when she went to bed the night before.

Annie and Liam had thought long and hard about their invitation list, and had finally decided that they had to invite all the witches and fairies in the kingdom if they wanted to stay on cordial terms with them. Although there weren't very many witches in Treecrest, there were lots of fairies. None had arrived yet, but Annie was sure that they planned to make a big entrance, arriving together just before the wedding. More worrisome, however, was that Liam's father had yet to arrive. They had invited him as soon as they
set the date and had welcomed a messenger bearing a reply soon after. He had promised to come, but there was still no sign of the elderly king. Annie wondered if she should once again offer to postpone the wedding, an offer she had already made to Liam the day before. He had turned her down then, saying that he expected his father to show up any minute.

“There you are!” Lady Clare exclaimed as she rushed down the corridor to take Annie by the arm. “Your mother has been waiting for you!”

Annie let the woman lead her into the queen's chamber. Although it was a large room, it seemed small with all the ladies-in-waiting there along with the two seamstresses who were still fussing over the gowns they had made for Annie and her mother.

Queen Karolina turned away from her mirror to glare at Annie. “It's about time! Where have you been?”

“I came straight here,” Annie replied. “Did Liam's father arrive yet?”

“No, but I'm sure he's on his way. The ceremony isn't due to start for another three hours,” said the queen.

“What if he doesn't get here in time? Maybe we should postpone it until—”

“You will do no such thing!” her mother cried. “You bullied me into having the wedding today and you're not going to change it now. I've worked my fingers to the bone trying to make this perfect. Nothing is going to make us postpone this wedding!”

Annie could tell that her mother was annoyed with her, but she was too worried to give up. “He should be here by now. What if something has gone wrong?”

The queen sighed as if it was all too much. “If something had gone wrong and he wasn't able to come, he would have sent word. Now please, go look at your dress. Mabel and Inga just finished it.”

The two seamstresses bobbed their heads, beaming at Annie, but she could see the shadows under their eyes and knew they had been up all night. Her mother wasn't the only one who had put a lot of work into the wedding. Maybe it wouldn't be fair to any of them if she postponed it now.

Lady Clare had already crossed the room to where the seamstresses hovered over the gown. “It's gorgeous!” she exclaimed. “Oh, dear, there's a loose thread.”

The moment Lady Clare touched the thread, Annie heard twanging as if someone had struck a harsh chord on a lute. “No, don't!” Annie cried out, but the magic she'd heard had already done its work. At the touch of the woman's hand, every thread in the gown came undone and the fabric fluttered to the floor in scraps, while all the hand-sewn pearls and gems fell with a loud clatter.

Queen Karolina gasped and turned pale. Lady Clare's hand flew to her mouth and she shook her head. “I barely touched it!” she cried, turning to the queen.

“It wasn't your fault,” said Annie, although her heart was sinking. The gown had been the one she had always
envisioned herself wearing at her wedding. It had been perfect, and now it was destroyed. Even though all the pieces were there, it would be weeks before the dress could be remade. “Someone used magic to ruin my wedding gown. I could hear it!”

No one seemed to think this was odd, as they all knew that Annie actually could hear magic. Because of the first and only christening gift she had received from a fairy, Annie was impervious to magic, but she always knew when it was present.

“Why would anyone do such an awful thing?” the queen asked.

“I don't know,” said Annie with a catch in her voice. “I mean, I know I've made enemies, but I've already dealt with Terobella and Granny Bentbone. I didn't know anyone else hated me enough to do something like this.”

Granny Bentbone and her daughter, Terobella, were evil witches whom Annie had defeated while visiting Snow White. Terobella had destroyed herself when she tried to use magic on Annie, and Granny Bentbone was currently locked away in a tower under armed guard. After dealing with the witches, Annie had accepted Liam's proposal on the way home, certain that no one else wished her ill the way they had. She'd thought that her only worry now was that she didn't become the same demanding, imperious, self-centered harridan that her sister, Gwendolyn, had been when she had
been about to get married. Remembering her resolve to be considerate of others' feelings even if things didn't go quite the way she wanted them to, she tried not to let her disappointment over her ruined gown show.

The queen must have noticed the unshed tears glistening in Annie's eyes, because her own expression softened. “Oh, my poor darling. Don't worry. I'm sure we'll think of some way around this. Perhaps I have a gown we could alter. Lady Clare, see what you can find that might work. Lady Suzette, empty out that jeweled box and help the seamstresses collect all the pearls and gems. We have a lot to do and only a few hours to do it.”

Boom!
Thunder shook the room as lightning flashed close by. Everyone turned to the window when rain began to pour from the sky. What had been a beautiful day just minutes before was suddenly dark and stormy.

In the silence between rumbles of thunder, they all heard a knock on the door. One of the ladies-in-waiting opened it to admit a maid. “Your Highness,” she said, looking around the room until she spotted Annie. “You need to come quick. It's the two princesses Snow White and Eleanor. Something terrible has happened to them!”

“Was there an accident?” asked Queen Karolina.

“Are they ill?” asked Annie.

“No, no! It's worse than that,” cried the maid. “They have rashes!”

Everyone looked confused, but it was Annie who spoke up first. “Excuse me, Mother. I should go see about this,” she said, curtsying to the queen.

“Of course, my dear. You take care of your friends and we'll see to a gown for you.” The queen looked relieved that she wouldn't have to deal with this newest emergency.

The maid was so upset that she nearly tripped over her own feet as they ran down the corridor. “Where are they?” Annie asked.

“In Princess Eleanor's room,” said the maid. “I was brushing her hair when Princess Snow White came by. They were both fine, then suddenly they claimed to be hot and I looked at their faces and … Well, you'll see for yourself. They're in here.”

Annie led the way into the room, stopping so suddenly that the maid bumped into her from behind. The two princesses were seated in chairs in front of the window, gazing at each other in bewilderment. They had rashes, but they weren't like any that Annie had ever seen before. Bright green splotches moved across their faces, drifting from chin to cheek to forehead and back again, making one pattern after another.