The Bravest Princess (23 page)

“Ask the mirror,” said Cat.

“Mirror, which prince brought those men?”

“I'll try,” said the face, which was becoming blurrier
by the moment. A picture appeared, but it was so faint that all they could see was a vague shape. And then it, too, was gone, and the mirror went blank, not even reflecting the people around it.

“Well, that was interesting,” said Cat.

“And quite helpful as far as it went,” said Liam. “Now we just have to figure out which prince they're with.”

“And hope they don't do anything nasty first!” said Annie. She gasped at a sudden brilliant idea. If it worked, they could find the queen that very afternoon! “Dog, you've smelled Queen Marissa before. Do you think you could smell her if she looked like someone else?”

“If she looked like someone else, she'd smell like someone else,” said Dog. “She didn't smell like the queen when she came to the cottage in a wagon.”

“Oh, right,” Annie said. “She was a young woman then, dressed as a tinker's wife. So much for that brilliant idea!”

“Don't worry,” Liam told her. “I'm sure you'll have another.”

Annie was looking forward to supper that night. She hoped that seeing the princes would trigger memories of the people who had been with them when they arrived. The bandages made cleaning herself up awkward, but she managed it after a while and was ready when Liam arrived to escort her downstairs.

“I wonder if Snow White has chosen her prince yet,” said Liam as they walked through the corridor.

“I think she knows who it's going to be, but she doesn't want to tell anyone until after the competition is over. It won't be long now. The last test was today.”

Annie looked up as a young woman approached. It was Cynara, the girl she had asked to help with the test of honesty.

“Your Highness,” Cynara said, curtsying.

“I'm so sorry, Cynara! I forgot to send the coins to you!”

“That's all right,” the girl said, her cheeks dimpling when she smiled. “I did it anyway. I asked a friend to help me, and we had great fun! I thought you would like to hear our results. All the princes gave the coin back to me except for two. Digby kept it, and my friend said that he seemed quite pleased with himself. Milo kept it, too, but he treated it more as a curiosity. He made a remark about King Archibald's likeness and tucked it in his pocket. My friend wasn't sure that Milo was even aware that I had dropped it.”

“Thank you so much for doing that!” said Annie. “You were very helpful. I'm sorry—I don't have any coins with me now, but—”

“I do,” said Liam, handing Cynara two pieces of gold.

“Ooh, who is that on the coin?” Cynara asked, examining it closely. “I've never seen one like this before.”

“That's my father, King Montague of Dorinocco,” said Liam.

“I think I'll save one of them as a keepsake,” Cynara said, tucking the coins into the tiny silk bag that dangled from her wrist.

“Thank you again!” Annie said as Cynara curtsied once more.

The young woman was walking way when Annie turned to Liam and declared, “So we had our honesty test after all! I must say, the results don't really surprise me.”

“Me, either,” said Liam. “Although I do think we're
finding out more about the princes by comparing their own stories with what the guards say they're actually doing.”

“I know!” said Annie. “I can't wait to hear the new stories tonight!”

Snow White and most of the princes were already at the table when Annie and Liam entered the great hall.

“Annie, how are you?” Snow White asked. “I worried about you all afternoon.”

“I'm fine, thank you,” Annie said, aware of the curious glances of the people seated nearby.

“Why were you worried?” Emilio asked as he took his seat.

“The crows attacked Annie today!” exclaimed Snow White. “She fought them off very bravely, but they scratched her poor arms.”

“Dear girl!” said the king, who had come in without Annie's noticing. “How dreadful! I see you are wearing bandages.”

“Snow White helped me,” said Annie. “As did Maitland and Liam.”

“Then we know what Maitland's story will be tonight,” said Nasheen. “Yet another tale of how he helped Princess Annabelle.”

“Actually, he helped me a great deal,” said Annie.
“He bound up my wound and saw that I was tended to, then got rid of the crows that had taken over my bedchamber.”

“The always honorable prince,” Nasheen said, sneering at Maitland. “How can the rest of us compete?”

“By actually trying,” Annie said, trying not to lose her temper. She caught herself before she could say more and sat back in her seat.

Liam, however, had a gleam in his eye when he said to Snow White, “Since we've already heard Maitland's story of compassion, I propose that we hear the rest now, before we eat.”

“Excellent idea!” said the king. “I'm eager to hear their tales myself. Prince Nasheen, why don't you go first?”

Nasheen looked unhappy, but he bowed his head to the king before turning to Snow White. “I was riding my stallion this afternoon when I came upon an old woman in the road. She had lost her young charges, so I helped her find them.”

“That was good of you, Nasheen,” said Snow White.

“I moved a turtle that was crossing the road,” said Tandry. “A cart was going to run over it, but I saved its life.”

“Well done,” said Snow White.

King Archibald looked amused.

“Well, I rescued a drowning child!” Milo announced. “Children in Gulleer can swim before they can walk,
but this poor boy was floundering in the water while his companions stood by, unaware of his pleas for help. Hearing his cries, I ran to the pond, dove into the water, and pulled him to shore.”

“Brave and compassionate!” said Snow White.

“I went to a nearby village, where I found an old woman whose roof had collapsed,” said Emilio. “I spent most of the day helping her fix it.”

“Really!” said his cousin. “So that's where you were! I thought you were afraid of heights!”

“I managed,” Emilio said, his face turning red. “And what did you do today, Cozwald?”

“I gave a cherished book to a deserving young person who I thought would benefit from reading it,” Cozwald told them.

“The gift of knowledge is a gift beyond measure,” said the king. “And what about you, Prince Digby?”

Digby shrugged. “I rescued some drowning kittens from a river.”

“Why were the kittens drowning?” asked Annie.

“A farmer had stuffed them in a sack and tossed them in,” said Digby. “I guess he didn't want so many cats.”

“And that leaves you, Andreas,” said Liam. “What did you do today?”

“I took a basket of food to a sick family,” he said. “They were all extremely grateful.”

“Quite admirable,” said the king.

“May we eat now?” asked Digby. “I'm starving!”

“Rescuing kittens will do that to you,” Liam told Annie as the king gestured for the servers to bring the food.

Annie studied each of the princes as they ate supper, trying to remember whom she had seen them with throughout their stay. Unfortunately, she'd been paying more attention to the women she thought might be witches than to the young men who had arrived with the princes. Maybe Liam or one of the guards had a better memory of them.

As anxious as Annie had been for supper to start, now she couldn't wait until it was over. Snow White seemed as eager to go, and Annie was just about to suggest that they ask the king's permission to leave when a serving girl set a pie in front of her.

“I was told to tell you that this was made especially for you,” said the girl.

Annie glanced at the golden-brown crust on the pie. The crust looked delicious, but there was something odd about the pie. There was a funny smell, for one thing.… It was musky and …

Annie jumped up from the table. Something under the crust had moved!

“What is it?” Liam asked, and everyone else turned to her in surprise.

The bandages made Annie's hands clumsy, but she grabbed the platter that held the remains of a roasted duck and dumped the bones on the table. Crows had
begun bursting through the crust when Annie slammed the platter onto the pie, fighting furiously to hold it there.

“Help me!” Annie cried, but Liam had already lunged toward the platter to add his strength to hers.

Maitland had jumped up as well, and together he and Liam wrestled the wobbling, jerking pie plate off the table while holding the platter on top.

Annie sank back in her seat as the two young men carried the platter out of the great hall.

“Get that serving girl back here!” the king growled to a guard.

Snow White put her arm around Annie's shoulders. “How awful!” Snow White cried. “And after everything that happened today!”

“I never used to think about crows one way or another, but I can honestly say that I now truly hate them!” said Annie.

“I don't blame you one bit!” her friend exclaimed.

Only a few minutes later, the serving girl was back, looking bewildered. “Yes, Your Majesty,” she said, curtsying to the king. “You wanted to see me?”

“Where did you get that pie?” demanded King Archibald.

“From the kitchen, Your Majesty. One of the kitchen helpers told me to bring it and say what I said.”

“Which helper?”

The girl looked even more bewildered now. “I don't
know, Your Majesty. It was so busy in there. And everyone was rushing around.…”

The king glanced at Annie. Her distress must have shown on her face because he motioned to Snow White and said, “Why don't you take Princess Annabelle out of the great hall? There's no need for her to stay. I'll have my guards look into this.”

“As you wish, Father,” Snow White replied. She stood and turned to the princes, who were still sitting at the table. “I'll make my announcement in the morning. We'll meet here at eight o'clock instead of in the small dining hall. I hope you all have a pleasant evening.”

The two girls had just entered the corridor when they ran into Liam and Maitland. Liam started walking with Annie while Snow White stayed behind to talk to Maitland.

“Are you all right?” Liam asked Annie as he put his arm around her.

“I am,” she replied, leaning into his warmth. “Thank you for rescuing me yet again. I don't know what I would have done if you and Maitland hadn't jumped up to help me.”

“Poor Maitland,” said Liam. “He is so smitten with Snow White that he hardly touched his food. I wonder if she knows how he feels about her.”

“Oh, she
knows”

“Do you think she's forgiven him for the remarks he made about her to his friends?”

“I'm not sure, though I do know that her decision depends on it,” Annie said. “She was furious with him when it happened.”

When Annie and Liam reached the small dining hall, Captain Everhart was there, as well as Captain Sterling. “I want to talk to the captains about the crow pie,” Liam told Annie. “I'll be with you in a minute.”

Annie didn't even want to think about the crows, so she was happy to take her seat. Snow White and her father soon arrived, stopping to speak to Liam and the two captains before coming to the table.

Snow White sat down and leaned toward Annie. “Father talked to the guards. No one knows anything about the kitchen helper. She was there, then she wasn't. Maitland did tell me that when he and Liam set the pie in the courtyard, twenty-four small crows flew out and got bigger as they flew away. Now, you can't tell me that wasn't magic, too! No one could really bake birds in a pie and have them come out alive, let alone grow as they fly!”

“I'm sure magic was involved,” Annie said, her stomach churning as she remembered the crows shoving their beaks through the pie crust. “The witch must have known that the magic would come undone when the girl set the pie in front of me.”

“And then the crows would get big again and force their way out of the pie!”

Annie nodded. “She's a very smart witch.”

“We'll begin with the guards' reports,” said the king. “Who followed Prince Nasheen today? Did he really help an old woman?”

“I followed the prince,” said a guard. “He was riding through your city when he almost rode over an old woman walking down a narrow road with two small children. His horse reared and the woman screamed. The two little boys ran off. The woman became frantic when she couldn't see them, and he told her which way they'd run.”

“That was it?” said Snow White. “He made it sound like so much more.”

“What about Milo?” asked Liam. “Did he really rescue a drowning child?”

Another guard spoke up. “He came upon a farm pond where a man was teaching his sons to swim. The youngest was kicking and splashing more than the others. I suppose it's possible that it might have looked as if he was in trouble. Prince Milo dove into the water and dragged the boy to the edge. The child was afraid of the prince and started crying. The boy's father was angry at first, but he didn't know what to do when the prince introduced himself.”