The Fae Princess (The Pacific Princesses Book 2) by Ektaa Bali (books to improve english .txt) 📗

5

The Unicorn Princess

“The Fae have many friends in the secret parts of the world; other creatures who sing the same song but with a different melody. When we recognise the song, we know we have a true friend, a knower of the same secrets, a believer with the same heart.”

—The Book of the Fae, Queen Mab the First, 3333 B.C.

Vidya awoke before the sun the next day and set out to meet the team she had chosen to come with her to collect Princess Sonakshi.

Her leaf-message had been simple.

Emergency. Fae adults ALL asleep. Need help.

Princess Sonakshi’s hurried scribble was just as short.

I’ll be at the portal at dawn.

Vidya’s heart had swelled with joy reading her best friend’s response. Sonakshi was coming to help so quickly, without question. Unicorns were special creatures, that was for sure. Since the dawn of time, the Fae and unicorns had been loyal friends. But as time went on and the unicorns decreased, the Fae had been without unicorn friends for over a hundred years. And then Princess Sonakshi had been born, and the Fae wept with happiness.

Vidya just knew that Sonakshi could help them somehow. A few months ago, they had met on Sonakshi’s quest to save her friend Rowen from the evil witch Mankini. Vidya had been alerted by her people that there was a unicorn trapped in the bush. She had known immediately that the poachers Gary and George would be responsible and set out to save Sonakshi and her friends. Being the only known unicorn in existence, Vidya and Sonakshi became fast friends, writing to each other often. Sonakshi had some wonderful powers as a unicorn, including the power of healing, so Vidya was certain Sonakshi would have some ideas about how to get the Fae magic back and wake up the grown-ups.

The previous night, Vidya and Lobey had gone through the list of older kids and their skills.

She picked out three of them.

“Willow, I already know your eyes are the best, you need to come with me,” she said, tapping her finger against her chin. He gave her a wide-eyed look that said he was nervous, but she continued on and chose a tall boy named Lotus whose muscles had started to take shape already. He must’ve been nearly thirteen. Then she picked out an orange-winged girl named Lily, who said she was the best tracker of the city kids.

She took Willow, Lotus, and Lily into a side room with chairs and asked them to sit. Confused, they hung on her every word as she laid out the plan for how they would safely escort Princess Sonakshi up to the palace and back out again. She then told them all to get to bed early that night so they could meet bright and early the next morning.

They awaited Vidya at the front of the palace. Bold Lotus, serious Willow with his bow slung over his shoulder, and the easy-going Lily. The cool morning air blew in their faces, waking them up in the dim light.

“Right, everyone!” said Vidya, clapping her hands once. “Let’s go. Stay sharp.”

They lifted off into the sky in a V formation with Vidya at the front, Willow and Lily slightly behind to her left and right and Lotus bringing up the rear.

They fluttered over the Bottomless Sky quickly, keeping their eyes on the line of trees on the other side, watching for any unusual movements. Vidya was not exactly sure where Captain Silver had been attacked, so in her eyes, any part of the Fae forest could be dangerous.

The forest was divided into two sections. The tree line all along the edge of the cliff was the safe zone for the Fae. They were allowed to wander freely in this section and in and out of the portal trees that led to the human realm. If they wandered further in for a little while, pretty soon they’d would come to trees with X markings made by the Kings of old. This was the end of the safe zone, telling all Fae that to wander across into that part of the Fae forest meant danger and peril. The most dangerous creatures lived in that section, which was much bigger than the safe zone, but every so often, creatures trundled across, looking for trouble. Just like when Aunty Sandy had her nose stolen by the Yarama. So even though the team would be staying in the safe zone, Vidya was ready for anything. She wouldn’t let any of them, including Princess Sonakshi, get hurt.

They touched down on the other side, enjoying the shade of the tall trees. The air smelled sweet with a mix of the banksias and eucalyptus that grew in this area.

Sipping on Ghostberry juice, they trekked through the long grass through the forest, scanning the area all around for signs of trouble.

“Worms!” chirped a bird high in a gum tree.

“Fae!” chirped another.

Vidya rolled her eyes and groaned. Clearly, the birds had not lost the Fae magic that made them speak English.

“Shh!” she said into the trees, pressing a finger into her lips.

Next to her, Willow shook his head, navy wings quivering slightly. “At least they’ll announce any strange creature nearby,” he said helpfully.

“I hope so,” she said as a magpie warbled loudly:

“Dawn is approaching!”

They stomped through the otherwise quiet forest for a few minutes, finally arriving at the great portal tree. This portal was made of Eucalyptus and was the closest one to Sonakshi’s secret home in the Blue Mountains. The tall trees shaded them from the rising sun as Vidya touched a finger to the portal tree, making it flash bright gold light. A door formed in the wooden trunk, and it opened, swinging outward toward her, and Vidya stepped through into the human realm.

“Princess Vidya!” came an excited cry.

Vidya turned to her left and saw Princess Sonakshi standing there in her human form, her black as night hair swinging as she ran toward Vidya.

“Princess Sonakshi!” she called,