Princess between Worlds (15 page)

A woman passing by was helping Annie up when the two dragon people stalked toward Liam. Annie
could still hear their magic, which grew louder as they approached.

“Why did you push that girl?” the young man asked Liam, sounding angry.

Liam was so surprised that he didn't seem to know what to say. “I, uh . . . what?”

“You knocked her down for no reason. Why would you do such a thing?” demanded the young woman.

Liam glanced behind him to see who they were talking about. When he saw Annie brushing off her knees, he turned back to the dragon people and said, “That isn't a girl. That's my wife. I was trying to protect her from, uh, well . . . you.”

“That's true,” Annie said, coming up to join him. “My husband works under the mistaken belief that I can't take care of myself.”

“Really?” said the girl. “I know someone just like that.” She turned and cast the silver-haired young man a look that made him shrug and give her a rueful smile.

“How did you turn from a dragon into a human?” asked Annie. “Are you both powerful witches?”

She could hear their magic more clearly now. One of them had a sweet melody with another, simpler melody running through it. The other's music was more strident and had a harsher tone. The dragon-people also had distinctive scents, although the girl's was fainter than the boy's. The girl's scent reminded Annie of burned toast,
while the boy's was sour, like a piece of fruit that was starting to decay.

“Neither of us are witches,” the girl said with a laugh. “My mother is a witch, though, and can turn into a dragon whenever she wants. I can, too, because she turned into one so often when she was expecting me. My husband is a dragon who had to learn how to change into a human. All dragons can do it if they learn how.”

“We saw dragons like you in East Aridia,” said Liam. “They were attacking the city in pairs; one exhaled gas and the other lit it with a flame.”

“The dragons are at war with King Beltran. They've learned that they're much stronger when they pair an ice dragon with a fire-breather,” said the girl. “I understand why they do what they do, but I could never try to hurt someone. It makes me ill just to think about it. You must be new around here. I'm Millie and this is my husband, Audun.”

“Princess Millie, if you really want to know,” Audun added.

“This is my wife, Princess Annabelle of Treecrest, and I'm Prince Liam of Dorinocco.”

“Where are Treecrest and Dorinocco?” asked Millie. “I've never heard of either one.”

“No one has lately,” Annie said with a sigh. “We're far from home and want to get back, but we don't know how.”

“We just got married and are on our grand tour,” said Liam. “A woods witch gave us—”

“There you are!” cried a voice from the top of the stairs. A little woman with white hair waved to Millie and Audun as she hurried down the steps. “I went inside to ask where I could find you. I need your help. I have to go back to my castle to fetch something I left behind, but my eyes still aren't very good, so I can't go alone. I'd ask Mudine, but she's been having tingling in her fingers and toes, elbows and nose lately. She doesn't mind, except the tingling in her nose makes her sneeze, so she's gone off to find the witch doctor who treated her the last time she was ill. Oculura and Dyspepsia are away as well. Their cousin is getting married in Soggy Molvinia. She's holding the wedding in a swamp at midnight, so of course Oculura and Dyspepsia want to be there. Her bridesmaids are will-o'-the-wisps, and you know what they're like!”

Annie turned to Liam with a surprised look. “Dragons and will-o'-the wisps are real here! I wonder what else is real that isn't at home.”

The little white-haired woman glanced at Annie and raised one eyebrow. “And who, may I ask, are you?”

“Princess Annabelle and Prince Liam, I'd like you to meet Azuria, the Blue Witch,” said Audun before turning to the white-haired woman. “They aren't from around here. As far as I can tell, they aren't from any of the
known kingdoms. They were telling us how they came to be here when you arrived.”

“You were on your grand tour . . . ,” prompted Millie.

“Oh, right! We were going to go by ship until we heard that a nasty wizard was after us. A woods witch gave us some postcards . . .” Annie glanced at Liam, who seemed surprised that she'd mentioned the cards. “We might as well show them, Liam, if we want them to help us. Anyway, she gave us the cards to use for our grand tour, then my mother's fairy godmother said we should use them while she took care of the wizard. The only problem is, the woods witch didn't give us a card that will take us home, and the wizard has been traveling ahead of us, trying to turn people against us!”

“I guess the fairy wasn't very successful at getting rid of the wizard for you,” said Audun.

“If the wizard was traveling ahead of you, he must know where you're going. Are you sure he wasn't in disguise and gave them to you himself?” asked Azuria.

“We thought of that,” said Annie. “We had never met the woods witch before. But I don't think so for a number of reasons. And looking back, I didn't hear any magic when we were talking to her, and I would have if it was the wizard in disguise.”

“You can hear magic?” asked the Blue Witch, looking surprised.

Annie nodded. She noticed that while Audun looked interested, Millie just smiled.

“Annie has a special talent,” Liam said, sounding proud. “Magic doesn't work on her. If anyone is near her, their magic fades and goes away if they touch her. She can also hear magic, good or bad.”

“I've never heard of such a thing!” cried the Blue Witch. “Imagine, magic can't touch her. I'm tempted to try a spell on her just to see what happens, but that can wait until later.” She turned to Millie and Audun. “If the wizard is going ahead of them to talk to people, has he come to see you?”

“It's possible,” said Millie. “Audun and I were out, and Mother and Father took my little brother, Felix, to visit my grandparents in Upper Montevista, so someone could have stopped by when no one was here.”

“There's another problem,” said Liam. “If we do find a way home, what's going to stop the wizard from following us there and causing even more trouble?”

“Good point,” said Millie. “Maybe we can help you with that. I wouldn't want to confront him here with so many innocents around, but we could face him at Azuria's castle. There's no one there but some eagles.”

“And the abominable snowmen,” said Liam. “Didn't we hear that they took over the castle after the Blue Witch left?”

“They did indeed,” Azuria replied. “Which is another reason I need your help. I still have a problem seeing white, and they are
snowmen
.”

“We'd be happy to go with you, wouldn't we, Audun?” said Millie. “What did you forget, Azuria?”

“My map to the Magic Marketplace. I didn't notice it was missing until I wanted to go. I've run out of supplies for some potions and I need to stock up again. When I couldn't find it, I remembered that I'd left it on my bedchamber wall in the castle. Oh, dear! I just thought of something. What if the snowmen get their mittens on it and go to the marketplace? I'll be responsible for whatever havoc or mayhem they wreak. I could get my witching privileges revoked, and then where would I be? I need to get the map back as soon as possible!”

“Then we'll leave right away,” said Millie. “Annie, Liam, the wizard is probably keeping track of what happens to you on each stop. If he finds out that you've gone to the castle with us, he might follow.”

“But how will he know where we've gone?” asked Liam.

“I'll write a note and post it on the front door,” Millie told him. “Just give me a few minutes and we can go. I need to tell the captain of the guard and then find you some warm clothes. Audun and I can carry you and
Azuria. It shouldn't take more than a day to reach the Icy North.”

“We could use the postcards,” said Annie. “We have one for the castle and we'd get there in seconds.”

“You have a postcard for my old castle!” said Azuria. “Well, I'll be! Imagine that! I've never traveled by postcard before. I wonder what they'll think of next!”

CHAPTER 13

Despite the warm clothes Millie had given them, Annie and Liam shivered as they stood in front of the ice castle. The wind coming down from the mountains dusted them with snow while reddening their cheeks and noses. Annie blew into her mittened hands as she listened to Millie and Audun debate where they should enter the castle. When Liam scooped up snow and started to make a snowball, Annie shook her head. “Don't you dare! I'm cold enough as it is without melting snow trickling down my neck.”

They had arrived at the foot of the castle, which was intact as far as Annie could tell, but the others weren't so sure. “I'll look around,” volunteered Audun. “We left the castle from the far side. Unless the snowmen did major repairs, it should still be in bad shape. Before we go in, I want to make sure it's not going to fall down around our ears.”

Annie gasped when Audun turned into a dragon before her eyes. Although she'd seen him turn from a dragon into a human earlier that day, somehow this seemed even more amazing. She watched him beat
his wings and rise into the sky. It was thrilling, especially since she'd never seen a dragon so close before.

The white dragon circled high overhead before flying back to rejoin them. When he landed, everyone crowded close to hear what he had to say. “The snowmen are working on the back of the castle. It looks as if they've already done a lot. When we left, it was nearly half-ruined, but they've fixed most of the roof and outer walls. We can try going in through the front door. We'll just have to be as quiet as possible. Sound really carries in this castle. When I was frozen in the wall, I could hear everything.”

“Frozen in the wall?” Annie mouthed to Liam, who raised an eyebrow in response.

“Um, Audun, aren't you forgetting something?” Millie asked as her husband started toward the door.

“I don't think so. Were we supposed to bring something with us?”

Millie shook her head, then pointed from Audun to herself. He glanced down, only to look up and smile. “Sorry! I forgot.” Light shimmered around him and once more a handsome young man with silvery white hair was standing in their midst. “The door is too small for a dragon, but fine for humans,” he explained to Annie and Liam.

Everyone followed Audun to the door, which was only a few inches taller than Liam. Audun opened it without any trouble, and they all filed inside.

“I'll take it from here,” whispered Azuria. “My room is back this way. Remember, be as quiet as you can.”

Fascinated, Annie looked around as they tiptoed through the narrow halls. The entire castle was built of ice, most of which was blue. Although the floor was level, neither the ceiling nor the walls were straight, with strange bulges and depressions here and there. As they made their way deeper into the castle, she saw that many of the walls had been patched with white ice, which seemed to bother Azuria. The old witch muttered to herself as she walked, complaining about every change. She didn't pause until she reached her chamber, where she stopped outside the door to peer in.

“I was afraid of this,” she muttered. “Two of the walls have caved in. My map is buried under chunks of ice.”

“Let me look,” said Audun. “Excuse me! Pardon me! Coming through!” he said, pushing his way to the front of the line. Millie was right behind him, and they slipped into the room together.

A few minutes later, Millie stuck her head out of the room. “We can handle this,” she said. “I spotted some things buried in the ice. One of them might be the map. Stay out there. We need as much room as we can get.”

“Don't you think we—” Azuria began, but Millie had already started to change. Soon there were two dragons in the room, making it so cramped that it was hard for them to turn around.

Annie stepped into the room to see what the dragons were doing. At first she thought they were pawing through the icy rubble, until she realized that they were digging two tunnels straight down into the ice.

“I have to say,” said Azuria, “I really do appreciate that all four of you came to help me. When I lived here before, I didn't have any friends. The snowmen were here, of course, but they waited on me without ever talking. You can't imagine how lonely I felt! I'm so glad I left with Millie and her friends when I did. I live with three other witches now and I'm never lonely. One of the witches is my old childhood friend, Mudine. And I've met a man! A very nice farmer named Sam has been calling on me and I think he's about to propose. Imagine, me marrying for the first time at my age! Who would have thought? Say, what's that little blue thing?”