The Bravest Princess (24 page)

“That's some rescue,” said Liam.

“But it sounds as if Milo meant well,” Snow White said.

“I want to hear about Andreas and the sick family,” said Annie.

“Andreas did take food to a family in the city,” said the guard who had followed him. “He took a basket filled with bread, wine, and cheese from the cooks in the royal kitchen and carried it to an area where the houses were in poor repair. He asked the people on the streets if they knew of a family who was sick and was directed to one of the more dilapidated cottages. When a woman opened the door, she admitted that everyone had colds, so he handed her the basket. The woman seemed more surprised and confused than anything.”

“At least he tried to be helpful,” said Snow White.

“Do we really have to do this?” asked Annie. “I mean, you have to know who you're going to choose by now, Snow White.”

“I do,” Snow White admitted, “but it's only fair to hear the other side of each of their stories. Besides, I like to hear the truth.”

“And I find it highly entertaining,” said the king. “Please continue. Who saw Digby rescue the kittens?”

“I did,” said a guard. “He was riding beside the river when a man carrying a squirming, mewing sack tossed it into the water. Digby dismounted and used a stick to pull the sack to the water's edge. He opened the sack and looked inside. The man came over to ask what he was doing. Digby handed the sack back to him and rode off. The man tossed the sack in the river again and left.”

“So the kittens drowned?” Snow White said, looking horrified.

“Uh, after Prince Digby was out of sight, I fished the sack out again and took it with me to the next village,” said the guard. “Three little girls were delighted to get the kittens.”

“So you were the one who actually showed compassion!” cried Snow White.

The guard looked embarrassed when he shrugged.

Captain Sterling gestured to another guard, who said, “I followed Prince Tandry. He did move a turtle off the road, although I believe the turtle would have appreciated it more if Tandry hadn't taken it back to the side from which it'd started.”

Liam snorted and shook his head.

“Prince Emilio also did what he said, to some extent,” said a guard. “He rode to a nearby village, where he found an old woman lamenting that her roof was collapsing. He stayed for the entire afternoon and helped her fix it; however, he helped by making her go up the ladder onto the roof while he handed her new thatching.”

“He made the old woman climb around on the roof herself!” Snow White exclaimed. “That's dreadful.”

“At least he tried!” Liam said with a laugh.

“And I suppose Cozwald didn't really give a cherished book to a deserving person?” Snow White asked the guards.

“Indeed he did,” a guard said. “He was reading a
book in the garden when a girl dressed in dirty furs went past. I don't think she knew he was there and seemed startled when he closed the book, stood up, and handed it to her. She stammered her thanks as she took the book and ran off as if she was afraid.”

“He gave a book he'd finished reading to a girl who can't read,” said Liam.

Annie smiled, but she didn't say anything. She wouldn't be at all surprised if Lilah was able to read.

“And Annie has already told us of how Maitland helped her today,” said the king. “Does anyone have anything to add to that?”

Captain Sterling shook his head. “Prince Maitland did everything that the princess said. I heard him ask about her later, and he seemed quite concerned.”

“Very good!” said the king. “Then I believe we've heard all the reports. Thank you, gentlemen. You are dismissed. However, I want your captains to stay. We still have much to discuss. Captain Sterling and Captain Everhart have already told me what transpired today, but Snow White hasn't heard the story. Annie, if you would?”

Annie nodded and turned to her friend. “After we left your room, the gentlemen helped me put on a suit of armor, and we went outside.”

“A suit of armor! What was it like?” asked Snow White.

“Hot and uncomfortable, although I was glad I had it on when the crows spotted us. Anyway, we got to the
south tower, and we searched the whole thing. We found where Granny Bentbone has been living.”

“Is that the old woman you told me about, Liam?” asked the king. “The one who escaped from the tower?”

“Indeed it is, Your Majesty,” Liam replied.

“Was she there?” Snow White asked.

Annie shook her head. “No, so we kept looking until we got to the top floor.”

“Where Marissa had set up her workshop!” exclaimed Snow White.

“Exactly!” said Annie. “Her old mirror was still there, and Cat came by and suggested that we try asking it a question. Liam asked it who had come to see it in the last few days. The visitors were your stepmother, Marissa; Granny Bentbone; and a woman I didn't recognize. I think she must be Terobella.”

“The witch who'd sent Liam's mother the message!” said Snow White.

“That's right! They looked like themselves when the mirror showed them to us, but when he asked who else they had looked like here, the mirror showed us a few people—a guard, a chambermaid, and two young men.”

“We think the young men came here with one of the princes who arrived before we did,” Liam told Snow White. “One had brown hair and blue eyes; the other had blond hair and hazel eyes. Do you remember any men fitting those descriptions?”

“No, sorry! I was so busy looking at my prospective
bridegrooms that I didn't notice anyone else,” said Snow White.

“Does anyone remember these two young men?” Annie asked the others. When no one said that they had, Annie sighed and glanced at Liam. “Then I'm afraid that we're going to have a rough morning tomorrow.”

“What Annie's trying to say is that if we don't take the witches into custody before Snow White makes her announcement, they are bound to cause problems. We'll all be together in one room, so we'll be easy targets.”

“I'll post extra guards,” said Captain Everhart.

“My men will also stand guard,” Captain Sterling told the king.

“And I'll try to find the men in the morning,” Annie said. “They may have changed their appearances again, but my touch will still show them as witches.”

“I think we should all try to get some rest now,” said Snow White. “Tomorrow is going to be a busy day!”

Annie, Liam, and Snow White left the room when the king started talking to the captains about where the guards would stand in the great hall. Maitland was waiting outside the room, and his eyes lit up when he saw Snow White.

“So is Maitland her choice?” Liam asked as he and Annie left Snow White and the prince alone in the corridor. “He's the best of the lot, so I hope she chooses him.”

“I hope so, too,” said Annie. “I think they're almost as perfect for each other as we are.”

Annie slept poorly that night. She lay awake until the small hours of the morning, thinking about all the dreadful things the witches could do. When she finally fell asleep, she had terrifying dreams that left her staring into the darkness with her heart racing.

She couldn't go back to sleep, so she tried to make her mind go blank. Instead she ended up thinking about the contest and what she would have done if she had been taking the tests. Because she knew Snow White better than any of the princes did, the first test would have been easy. She probably would have asked the gardener to help her plant a garden like the one Snow White had at the cottage, or written out some of the funny stories Snow White had told her about living with the dwarves and then given them to her in a book.

The test for compassion would have been easy, too, because Annie liked helping others. She often gave
clothes or food to the less fortunate at home. Helping people who wanted to see what some aspect of their lives would be like without magic was being compassionate, too, wasn't it? Looking at compassion like that made her wonder if, instead of getting annoyed when so many people asked for her help, she should think about their plights a little more and try to be a little more patient with their demands.

As for the honesty test—it never would have occurred to her to keep the coin. But while that had seemed like a good test before, she now thought that the real test for honesty had been when the princes told the stories of what they'd done.

Annie thought that the test for bravery would have been the hardest. When she tried to think of the one thing she feared the most, she remembered what Maitland had told Liam. His worst fear was that Snow White wouldn't choose him. When Annie really thought about it, she realized that her worst fear wasn't of crows or water-filled rooms or falling carriages or dangling baskets—it was that something awful would happen to Liam. He had become the one person in her life whom she thought she couldn't do without. She was happiest when she was with him. When they were apart, she couldn't wait to see him again. Annie couldn't bear to think of a future that didn't include Liam. Anything that could jeopardize that petrified her.

Annie dozed off eventually and woke to sounds in
the corridor outside her room. First she couldn't go to sleep, then she'd overslept on a morning when she had hoped to be early! A sliver of light came under the door, but it wasn't enough for her to see to get dressed, so she got out of bed and tucked back the tapestry that covered the window just enough to let in some daylight. Washing and dressing didn't take long, and she was soon hurrying down the stairs.

Even though she fairly flew down the steps and through the corridor, Annie was the last to arrive at the royal table. Liam raised a questioning eyebrow when she took her seat, but she just shook her head and reached for a piece of toast.

“We were talking last night,” Andreas was telling Snow White. “We all decided that whoever is not chosen will leave right after your announcement.”

“I quite understand,” Snow White told him.

“The baked eggs and cheese are really good,” Liam said to Annie. “You should try some.”

“I'm not very hungry,” Annie replied. She was holding the piece of toast in her hand, but she had yet to take a bite. The two witches might be seated somewhere at one of these tables. If she'd been here as early as she'd planned, she might have spotted them when they took their seats, but now …

When Snow White finished talking to Andreas, Annie leaned closer to her and whispered, “Has anyone spotted the witches yet?”

Snow White shook her head. “No, although the guards were watching for them as everyone came into the hall. Do you think they might leave without doing something horrid?”

“I doubt it very much,” said Annie. “So keep your eyes open and tell me if you see anything odd.”

“You should eat something,” Liam said as he heaped food onto her plate. “You want to keep your strength up.”

Annie eyed the toast and took a bite. She was glad when breakfast was finally over and the plates were removed.

When Snow White stood, everyone grew silent and turned her way. “First of all,” she said, “I'd like to thank all the princes who participated in my contest. The trials were not always easy, but you did your best and for that you should be proud. I understand that you want to leave if you have not been chosen. To those of you who did not win, I promise you my friendship and wish you all the best in finding your own true love. Fortunately for me, this contest has allowed me to find the man with whom I wish to spend the rest of my life. My true love and the man I want to marry is Prince Maitland of Montrose.”

Hardly anyone seemed surprised. Emilio shrugged and smiled at Snow White and Maitland. “Congratulations!” he said, extending his hand to the grinning prince. His cousin Cozwald also offered his hand, as did Andreas and Milo.

Prince Nasheen, however, stood and slammed his tankard onto the table, sending cider sloshing over the rim. “I knew you were going to choose him! I don't know why I bothered to participate in a contest where the winner had been determined from the start. Good-bye. I doubt I shall ever return to your kingdom.”

Annie watched openmouthed as he stormed from the hall, but she kept her eyes on the men who followed him. None of them looked like the men she'd seen in the mirror.

“I must say that I am very disappointed,” said Digby. “I came a long way and faced much personal danger to try for your hand. I did extremely well in each of the trials and deserve more than this.”

“I'm sorry, Digby, but I've already made my decision,” Snow White replied.

“Then I'm leaving, and you don't have to worry about being my friend. I don't need another princess for a friend. I have enough of those already. ‘Can't we just be friends, Digby?' they say,” he declared in an artificially high voice as he stalked from the table.

“If there was a contest for worst sport, I think Digby would win,” said Liam.

“I don't know,” said Annie. “I think Nasheen would be a real contender. Liam, where did Tandry go? He had been sitting beside Digby before Nasheen started talking, but now I don't see him anywhere.”

“What's that, you say? Is Prince Tandry gone?” asked
the king. “Guard!” he called to a man standing nearby. “Find out where Prince Tandry went.”

“Did anyone see him leave?” asked Annie.

“He was there one minute and gone the next,” said Snow White. “I think that's odd. You told me to tell you if I saw something odd, Annie.”

“You're right, I did,” Annie said. “I think I should go look for him.”

The guard whom the king had sent to find Tandry came hurrying back to the table. “He's in the courtyard, Your Majesty. He's preparing to leave.”

“Excuse me,” Annie said, getting to her feet.