Wrede, Patricia C - SSC (2 page)

"It's all very well for a
middle Princess to be ordinary," the chief of the King's councillors told
her in exasperation. "But this is going too far!"

"It was only the second-best
teapot," said Elyssa, who had just broken it. "And I did say I was
sorry."

"If you'd only pay more
attention to your duties, things like this wouldn't happen!" the
councillor huffed.

"I dusted under the throne
just this morning," said Elyssa indignantly. "And it's Orand's turn
to polish the crown!"

"I don't mean those
duties!" the councillor snapped. "I mean the duties of your position.
For instance, you and Orand ought to be fearfully jealous of
Dacia
,
but are you? No! You won't even try."

"I should think not!"
Elyssa said. "Why on earth should I be jealous of
Dacia
?"

"She's beautiful and
accomplished and your father's favorite, and—and elder Princesses are
supposed
to dislike their younger sisters," the councillor said.

"No one could dislike
Dacia
,"
Elyssa said. "And besides, Papa wouldn't like it."

The councillor sighed, for this was
undoubtedly true. "Couldn't you and Orand steal a magic ring from
her?" he pleaded. "Just for form's sake?"

"Absolutely not," Elyssa
said firmly, and left to get a broom to sweep up the remains of the teapot.

But the councillors refused to give
up. They badgered and pestered and hounded poor Elyssa until she simply could
not bear it anymore. Finally she went to her stepmother, the Queen, and
complained.

"Hmmph," said the Queen.
"They're being ridiculous, as usual. I could have your father talk to
them, if you wish."

"It won't do any good,"
Elyssa said.

"You're probably right,"
the Queen agreed, and they sat for a moment in gloomy silence.

"I wish I could just run off
to seek my fortune," Elyssa said with a sigh.

Her stepmother straightened up
suddenly. "Of course! The very thing. Why didn't I think of that?"

"But I'm the
middle
Princess,"
Elyssa said. "It's youngest Princesses who go off to seek their
fortunes."

"You've been listening to
those councillors too much," the Queen said. "They won't like it, of
course, but that will be good for them." The Queen was not at all fond of
the councillors because they kept trying to persuade her to turn her
stepdaughters into swans or throw them out of the castle while the King was
away.

"It would be fun to try,"
Elyssa said in a wistful tone. She had always liked the idea of running off to
seek her fortune, even if most of the stories did make it sound rather
uncomfortable.

"It's the perfect
solution," the Queen assured her. "I'll arrange with your father to
leave the East Gate unlocked tomorrow night, so you can get out. Orand and
Dacia
can help you pack. And I'll write you a reference to Queen Hildegard from two
kingdoms over, so you'll be able to find a nice job as a kitchen maid. We won't
tell the councillors a thing until after you've left."

To Elyssa's surprise, the entire
Royal Family was positively enthusiastic about the scheme. Orand and
Dacia
had a long, happy argument about just what Elyssa ought to carry in her little
bundle. The King kissed her cheek and told her she was a good girl and he hoped
she would give the councillors one in the eye. And the Queen offered Elyssa the
magic ring she had worn when
she
was a girl going off on adventures.
(The ring turned out to have been swallowed by the castle cat, so Elyssa didn't
get to take it with her after all. Still, as she told her stepmother, it was
the thought that counted.) All in all, by the time Elyssa slipped out of the
postern door and set off into the darkness, she was downright happy to be
getting away.

As she tiptoed across the
drawbridge, Elyssa stepped on something that gave a loud yowl. Hastily, she
pulled her foot back and crouched down, hoping none of the councillors had
heard. She could just make out the shape of the castle cat, staring at her with
glowing, reproachful eyes.

"Shhhh," she said.
"Poor puss! Shhh. It's all right."

"It is not all right,"
said the cat crossly. "How would you like to have your tail stepped
on?"

"I don't have a tail,"
Elyssa said, considerably startled. "And if you hadn't been lying in front
of me, I wouldn't have stepped on you."

"Cat's privilege," said
the cat, and began furiously washing his injured tail.

"Well, I'm very sorry,"
Elyssa said. "But I really must be going." She stood up and picked up
her bundle again.

"I don't know how you expect
to get anywhere when you can't see where you're going," said the cat.

"I certainly won't get
anywhere if I stay here waiting for the sun to come up," Elyssa said
sharply. "Or do you have some other suggestion?"

"You could carry me on your
shoulder, and I could tell you which way to go," the cat replied. "/
can see in the dark," he added smugly.

"All right," Elyssa said,
and the cat jumped up on her shoulder.

"That way, Princess," the
cat said, and Elyssa started walking.

"How is it you can talk?"
she asked, as she picked her way carefully through the darkness according to
the cat's directions. "You never did before."

"I think it was that ring of
your stepmother's I swallowed yesterday," the cat said. He sounded uneasy
and uncomfortable, as if he really didn't want to discuss the matter. So,
having been well brought up, Elyssa changed the subject. They chatted
comfortably about the castle cooks and the King's councillors as they walked,
and periodically the cat would pat Elyssa's cheek with one velvet paw and tell
her to turn this way or that way. Finally the cat announced that they had come
far enough for one night, and they settled down to sleep in a little hollow.

When she awoke next morning, the
first thing Elyssa noticed were the trees. They were huge; the smallest
branches she could see were three times the size of her waist, and she couldn't
begin to reach around the trunks themselves. The ground was covered with green,
spongy moss, and the little flowers growing out of it looked like faces. Elyssa
glanced around for the cat. He was sitting in a patch of sunlight with his tail
curled around his front paws, staring at her.

"This is the
Enchanted
Forest
, isn't it?" she said
accusingly.

"Right the first time,
Princess," said the cat.

Elyssa frowned. She knew enough
about the
Enchanted
Forest
to be very uncomfortable about wandering around in it. It lay a little to the
east of the
kingdom
of
Oslett
,
and the castle had permanently mislaid at least two milkmaids and a
woodcutter's son who had carelessly wandered too far in that direction. The
Enchanted
Forest
was one of those places that
is very easy to get into, but very hard to get out of again.

"But I was supposed to go to
Queen Hildegard's!" Elyssa said at last.

"You wouldn't have liked
Hildegard at all," the cat said seriously. "She's fat and bossy, and
she has a bad-tempered, unattractive daughter to provide for. She'd be worse
than the King's chief councillor, in fact."

"I don't believe you,"
Elyssa said. "Stepmama wouldn't send me to a person like that."

"Your stepmother hasn't seen
Queen Hildegard since they were at school together twenty-some years ago,"
said the cat. "You're much better off here. Believe me, I know."

Elyssa was very annoyed, but it was
much too late to do anything about the situation. So she picked up her bundle
and set off in search of something to eat, leaving the cat to wash his back.
After a little while, Elyssa found a bush with dark green leaves and bright
purple berries. The berries looked very good, despite their unusual color, and
she leaned forward to pick a few for breakfast.

"Don't do that,
Princess," said the cat.

"Where did you come
from?" Elyssa demanded crossly.

"I followed you," the cat
answered. "And I wouldn't eat any of those berries, if I were you. They'll
turn you into a rabbit."

Elyssa hastily dropped the berry
she was holding and wiped her hand on her skirt. "Thank you for warning
me," she said. "I don't suppose you know of anything around here that
I
can
eat? Or at least drink? I'm very thirsty."

"As a matter of fact, there's
a pool over this way," said the cat. "Follow me."

The cat led her through the trees
in a winding route that Elyssa was sure would bring them right back to where
they had started. She was about to say as much when she came around the bole of
a tree into a moss-lined hollow. Green light filtered through the canopy of
leaves onto the dark moss. In the center of the hollow, a ring of star-shaped
white flowers surrounded a still, silent, mirror-dark pool of crystal-clear water.

"How lovely!" Elyssa
whispered.

"I thought you were
thirsty," said the cat. His tail twitched nervously as he spoke.

"I am," Elyssa said.
"But— Oh, never mind." She knelt down beside the pool and scooped up
a little of the water in her cupped hands.

"Who steals the water from the
unicorn's pool?" demanded a voice like chiming bells.

Elyssa started, spilling the water
down the front of her dress. "Drat!" she said. "Now look what
you've made me do!"

As she spoke, she looked up,
expecting to see the person who had spoken. There was no one there, but the
chiming voice spoke again, in stern accents. "Who steals the water from
the unicorn's pool?"

Elyssa wiped her hands on the dry
portion of her skirt and cast a reproachful look at the cat. "I am Elyssa,
Princess of Oslett, and I'm very thirsty," she said in her best royal
voice. "So if you don't mind—"

"A Princess?" said the
chiming voice. "Really! Well, it's about time. Let me get a look at
you."

A breath of air, scented with
violets and cinnamon, touched Elyssa's face. An instant later, a unicorn
stepped delicately out of the woods. It halted on the other side of the pool
and stood poised, its head raised to display the sharp, shining ivory horn, its
mane flowing in perfect waves along its neck. Its eyes shone like sapphires, and
its coat made Elyssa think of the white silk her stepmother was saving for
Dacia
's
wedding dress.

"Gracious!" Elyssa said.

"Yes, I am, aren't I?"
said the unicorn complacently. It lowered its head slightly and studied Elyssa.
An expression very like dismay came into its sapphire eyes.
"You're
a
Princess? Are you quite sure?"

"Of course I'm sure,"
Elyssa replied, nettled. "I'm the second daughter of King Callwil of
Oslett; ask anybody. Ask him." She waved at the cat.

The unicorn scowled. "I should
hope I would never need to ask a cat for anything," it said loftily.

"Overgrown, stuck-up
goat," muttered the cat.

"What did you say?"
demanded the unicorn.

"Nothing that would interest
you," said the cat.

"You may go, then," the
unicorn said grandly.

"I'm quite happy right
here," the cat said. "Or I was until you came stomping in with your
silly questions."

"How dare— Princess Elyssa!
What are you doing?" said the unicorn.

Elyssa took a last gulp of water
and let the rest dribble through her fingers and back into the pool.
"Having a drink," she said. She really
had
been very thirsty,
and she had taken advantage of the argument between the cat and the unicorn to
scoop up another handful of water.

"Well, I suppose it's all
right, since you're a Princess," the unicorn said. Its chiming voice
sounded positively sulky.

"Thank you," said Elyssa.
She stood up and shook droplets from her fingers. "It's very good
water."

"Of course it's good
water!" the unicorn said. "A unicorn's pool is always pure and sweet
and crystal clear and—"

"Yes, yes," said the cat.
"But it's time we were going. Princess Elyssa has to seek her fortune, you
know.''

"Leave?" said the
unicorn. It lifted its head in a regal gesture, and light flashed on the point
of its horn. "Oh no, you can't leave. Not the Princess, anyway."

"What?" Elyssa said,
considerably taken aback. "Why not?"

"Why, because you're a
Princess and I'm a unicorn," the unicorn said.

"I don't see what that has to
do with anything," Elyssa said.

"You will gather trefoils and
buttercups and pinks for me, and plait them into garlands for my neck,"
the unicorn went on dreamily, as if Elyssa hadn't said anything at all. "I
will rest my head in your lap, and you will polish my horn and comb my mane."

"Sounds like an exciting
life," said the cat.

"Your mane doesn't need
combing," Elyssa told the unicorn crossly. "And your horn doesn't
need polishing. As for flowers, I'll be happy to have Stepmama send you some
dandelions from the garden at home. But I'm not interested in staying here for
goodness knows how long just to plait them into garlands."

"Nonsense," said the
unicorn. "You're a Princess. All Princesses adore unicorns."

"Well, I don't," Elyssa
said firmly. "And I'm not staying."

The cat lashed his tail in
agreement and gave the unicorn a dark look.

"You don't have a
choice," the unicorn said calmly. "You're not much of a Princess, but
you're better than nothing, and I'm not letting you go. I've been stuck out
here on the far edge of the
Enchanted
Forest
for years and years, with no
one to sing songs about me or appreciate my beauty, and I deserve some
consideration."