Unlocking the Spell (18 page)

Liam held a branch aside to let the others pass as they headed into the woods. “We've been in Montrose ever since we crossed the river. If this is your home kingdom, Beldegard, what prince would be out hunting bears?”

“My younger brother, Maitland,” panted Beldegard, trudging up a slope with his head hanging low. “I have two sisters, but he's the only other prince, unless it's someone from another kingdom.”

“Has your brother always hated bears?” asked Annie.

Beldegard shook his head. “He didn't used to, but he's always loved to hunt.” He groaned again and
turned to bite at his side. “I don't think I can go any farther.”

“If the prince is Beldegard's brother, do we really need to run?” asked Gwendolyn. “We should just tell him who we are and what we're trying to do. I bet Maitland would help us.”

“I don't think that's a good idea,” said Annie. “Don't you think it's odd that his brother is hunting bears
now
? Until we know what's really going on, I think we should hide Beldegard.”

“I agree,” said Liam. “Not all siblings are as nice as yours, Gwendolyn. Come on, Beldegard, just a little bit farther. They won't see us once we get over the ridge.”

Beldegard's muzzle was nearly touching the ground when he staggered to the top. “This isn't very far from the road,” said Gwendolyn, looking back at the woods behind them.

“Keep going,” said Liam. “We haven't gone nearly far enough.”

Beldegard started down the other side, one slow paw at a time. He'd gone only a few yards when he collapsed.

“Get up, my love,” Gwendolyn said, hurrying to his side. “We have to keep moving.”

Annie was right behind her sister when she heard a horse whinny. “Someone's on the road!” she said in a loud whisper. “Hurry, we have to hide Beldegard!”

“Where?” Gwendolyn asked, looking around in confusion.

“Here, cover him with this,” Annie said, pulling her blanket from her knapsack. The bear prince had collapsed in a slight depression in the ground, which his bulk more than filled. Annie was glad that there wasn't more of him to cover, as her blanket was barely big enough. It was a dull brown, not too different from the forest floor, and when they scattered leaves across its surface, Beldegard was almost impossible to see.

“They're coming this way,” said Liam from the top of the ridge. “Sit down and act natural. Pretend we just stopped for a bite to eat. Gwendolyn, stop looking like the world is about to end. Take something out of your bag and eat it!”

Gwendolyn looked as frightened as a fawn in a dragon's den. “I don't think this is the time—” she began.

“Ooh,” groaned Beldegard.

“Gwendolyn, sit by his head and keep him quiet!” Liam told her as he hurried to join them.

While Gwendolyn carefully took a seat at one end of Beldegard, Annie plopped down next to his stomach and opened her knapsack, setting it on him as if he were a bump in the ground. She had just taken the first bite of hard cheese when five men on horseback appeared over the ridge.

“Good day!” Liam said, getting to his feet.

Annie noticed that he kept his hand near his sword; she wondered what he'd do if the men proved to be dangerous. Five armed men against one were not very good odds.

“Good day,” replied the young man who seemed to be leader of the group. Well dressed and with wavy brown hair, he looked a lot like Beldegard did whenever Annie's touch made him turn back into a human. “My men and I are bear hunting. A particularly nasty one has been ravaging these woods of late. I would be careful if I were you.”

“Thank you for the warning,” Liam said. “And you are…”

“Prince Maitland,” said the young man. “Heir to the throne of Montrose.”

“I thought Prince Beldegard was the heir to the throne,” Gwendolyn said.

Maitland turned to face her. “He was,” he said, and shook his head as if in great sorrow. “He died on a quest two years ago. And who, may I ask, are you?”

“Just some travelers,” said Liam.

“
You
may be,” said Prince Maitland, “but this lovely lady is not.” With one fluid motion, he threw his leg over his horse and dismounted. Gwendolyn didn't move when the prince strode to her side and pulled her hood back from her face and her cap off her hair.

The mounted riders stirred, their horses responding by shifting their feet. Liam took a step closer, but
Annie caught his eye and shook her head. One thing Gwendolyn knew how to do was deal with men.

“How did you know I was a lady?” Gwendolyn asked, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

“Your voice, your hands, a hint of your cheek. Who are you, my lady? You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen!”

“My name is Gwendolyn,” she said.

Once again the men stirred, but this time because their prince had fallen to his knees at her feet. “Princess Gwendolyn! The most beautiful princess in all the kingdoms! What are you doing here, my lady?” he asked, taking her hands in his and holding them as if they were fragile birds that might fly away.

“I am on a most urgent and secret quest, my kind prince. One that I must complete with my two companions before I can marry my true love.”

“And who may this true love of yours be?” the prince asked, his eyes darkening.

“I have yet to see his real face,” said Gwendolyn.

“You mean there might yet be hope…”

“There is always hope, dear prince,” she told him, giving him the same sweet smile Annie had seen her practice in mirrors countless times. “You must leave us now so we might continue our quest.”

“And I'll see you again once you've completed it?” asked Prince Maitland.

“I'm sure of that,” Gwendolyn told him.

The prince raised her hand to his lips. After releasing her, he stood and took a step back. “Then we'll be off,” he said, and gestured to his men.

No one moved while the prince and his men rode away. When he stopped at the top of the ridge to wave to Gwendolyn, she waved to him, then continued to watch as he disappeared over the other side.

“Wow!” Annie said, shaking her head in amazement. “You handled that really well.”

“I know,” Gwendolyn said with a smug smile.

“I thought he was about to declare his undying love for you,” said Annie. “And when you said you had to go on an urgent and secret quest so you could marry your true love, that was inspired! He thought you might be talking about him, didn't he?”

“Maybe,” Gwendolyn said, looking coy.

“Well, I didn't like it,” Beldegard said, getting to his feet so that the blanket, leaves, and Annie's knapsack slid off and she had to scramble out of the way. Annie had been so close to him that he now looked mostly human. “What were you doing, flirting with my brother?” he asked Gwendolyn. “I noticed you didn't tell him that you
have
a true love.”

“I wasn't flirting with him! I mean I was, but not like you think!” said Gwendolyn. “I was trying to get him to go away and leave us alone. And what was I supposed to do, tell him that I intend to marry his brother, the bear, when everyone seems to think that
telling him who you are is a very bad idea. And why is that, anyway?” she said, whirling around to face Annie.

“It may not be,” Annie said, shrugging. “But it's better to be safe than sorry. I just think it was a little too much of a coincidence that Beldegard is a bear and his younger brother is out hunting bears when we just happen to be passing through the kingdom. If I'm not mistaken, if Beldegard were to die, Prince Maitland would be the one to inherit the throne.”

“That's true,” said the bear prince, who was looking more bearlike by the moment. “But Maitland has never been interested in the throne. He's always been more interested in hunting and having parties with his friends.”

“That may be so, but I think he's interested in the throne now!” said Annie. “He
is
introducing himself as the heir.”

“How would he know I'm a bear?” asked Beldegard.

Annie shook her head. “Are you kidding me? Nearly two weeks ago, half the princes in the kingdoms learned who you were. I'm sure word has traveled all over by now.”

“You sound a lot better, Beldegard,” said Liam. “Are you feeling all right?”

The bear prince grunted. “I started feeling better when Annie leaned against my stomach. I think she took away the fish's magic long enough that I could
start digesting it. I feel great now, or I
would
if I hadn't heard what I heard,” he said, turning to give Gwendolyn an injured look.

“But Beldegard, you know I love
you
!” she cried.

“Haven't seen his real face, huh? What do you suppose this is?” the bear prince said, patting his cheek with his paw.

“That's the face the dwarf's magic gave you!” she cried, running to catch up as he stalked off. “You know I've never seen your real face, not even when Annie holds your hand. You still look a little bearlike then and I…”

“I don't know which is worse, being around them when they've all lovey-dovey or when they're arguing,” said Annie.

“I think listening to Gwendolyn talk to Beldegard's brother was the worst,” said Liam. “But she did seem to know what she was doing.”

Annie glanced from beldegard to Gwendolyn. Neither one had spoken to the other for the entire afternoon. When Annie refused to get drawn into a conversation with her sister about Beldegard, Gwennie had stopped talking to her as well. It was getting dark now and past the time when they should have started looking for somewhere to spend the night, but no one had brought it up yet.

“Quiet!” Beldegard growled, although no one had said anything. “Listen!” he added in a whisper.

Annie closed her eyes and listened, but all she could hear were the usual sounds of dusk. The occasional bird sang good night to its neighbors as they settled down to sleep; an angry squirrel chattered somewhere in the forest while leaves rustled overhead, sounding like the rush of water. And then it came again, the whinny of a horse calling to other horses.

“Have you heard it before?” Liam asked the bear prince.

Beldegard nodded. “Off and on all day. They've been following us, but keeping their distance.”

“Do you think it's Maitland and his men?” asked Annie.

“More than likely,” said Beldegard. “But there isn't much we can do about it.”

Annie was confused. “Why do you think he's staying back and not confronting Beldegard now?”

“Probably because he'd have too many witnesses if he attacked his brother in front of us,” said Liam. “It would be a lot easier for him to deny that he knew it was Beldegard if Gwendolyn wasn't there to shout, ‘That's my true love! Don't hurt him!' I think he's waiting until he can catch Beldegard alone in the woods hunting for food or until it's dark.”

“That's simple then,” said Annie. “Don't go anywhere without us, Beldegard.”

“I'm not going to let him out of my sight, even if he is being thickheaded,” Gwendolyn said. “Do you think we can stop for the night soon? My feet are killing me!”

“We'll stop as soon as we can find someplace safe to sleep,” Liam told her.

They continued on as the light faded, looking for a likely place to make camp. At one point Liam spotted something moving between the trees. When he threw a stick at it, the animal ran off. “Another wolf,” he said
as if it were nothing, but Annie noticed that he kept his hand on his scabbard and stopped now and then to look back behind them.

It was Annie who spotted a flicker of light in the woods. At first she thought it might be fairies, but when it stayed in one place rather than dart from tree to tree, she touched Liam's sleeve and pointed. “Is that a fire burning back there?”

Liam peered into the woods. “I think it's a cottage,” he said after a moment. “Beldegard, Annie might have found a place for us to stay.”

They walked single file behind Beldegard with Liam in the back. As they drew closer, Annie could see that the light was coming from a cottage window and that whoever was inside was throwing a party. Loud voices shouted, while others sang a drinking song. Figures moved past the window, their bodies blocking the light to create dancing silhouettes.

When they were close enough to see the entire cabin, Annie noticed something odd. “Look there,” she told her friends. “By the back. There's a figure standing outside a window, watching the people at the party.”

“I see him,” said Beldegard. “Let me look around before you go any closer.”

Beldegard was padding toward the cottage when the figure slunk away from the window. Suddenly the door slammed open, there was a terrible racket, and the candles went out, leaving only the dim glow from
a fire in the fireplace. Men poured from the cottage, tearing down the path.

Annie and her friends stepped out of their way as the men raced by. They were a rough group, their faces weather-worn and scarred. Even in the near dark, Annie could see the whites of eyes wide in terror.

“Who could scare those men like that?” Annie whispered to Liam.

“I don't know,” said Liam. “Something strange is going on and I'm not waiting for Beldegard to see what it is.”

Annie and Gwendolyn followed Liam to the window and peered inside. It was a one-room cottage with a fireplace in the back. In the center of the room stood a table covered with a red tablecloth and piled high with food. A roast goose rested on a golden platter beside a tureen of still-steaming soup. Bowls of potatoes, stewed greens, carrots, squash, and corn vied for space on the table with a glistening ham, grilled fish, fruit pies, wheels of cheese, loaves of bread, and a cake shaped like a castle. Annie's mouth watered at the aromas wafting from the cottage. Gwendolyn made a whimpering sound.