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

Daisy and Luna emerged from the palace kitchens holding two large cakes.

“It’s not burnt!” said Daisy proudly.

“Well, it is a little,” admitted Luna, plonking hers down on the table. “But its covered in icing, so that’s okay, right?”

“Right,” nodded Daisy. “Mum’s gonna be so proud of me, when she wakes up, I’m going to be an excellent cook!”

“Just whatever you do,” said a boy with spotted black and white wings. “Please don’t make that thing you made last night again.”

“Excuse me,” Daisy said, affronted. “I thought that was a lovely broccoli stew!”

The kids made gagging noises.

Vidya shook her head. The Fae kids were doing well without their parents so far, with the older kids making sure no one burnt the place down, but, reminded herself, it had only been a day and a half.

After feeding Sonakshi cake and the green mess Daisy called ‘broccoli stew’, Vidya rounded up the team again, and before long, they were flying toward the Fae forest. Landing, Sonakshi turned back into human form, and they trudged through the trees.

They had been walking for ten minutes when Sonakshi stopped and turned to peer into the dark forest.

“Did you hear that?” she frowned.

The others stopped and listened.

“I can’t hear anything,” said Vidya, scratching Pancake’s head where he sat in her pocket.

Sonakshi shrugged. “My unicorn hearing reaches a super long way away, so it could’ve just been a platypus in that billabong a few kilometres away.”

They continued walking, but within two seconds, Vidya heard it too.

“I heard that!” Vidya exclaimed, peering in the forest. “It sounded just like someone was saying—”

“OI!”

Vidya jumped and immediately turned, heading in the direction of the voice. Willow and Sonakshi called for her to stop, but Vidya pushed through the bushes into the dark of the forest. That voice did not seem sinister, it had seemed sort of nasally. Vidya felt Sonakshi close behind her, followed by the angry grumbles of Lily and Willow.

Vidya stormed through a line of bushes and found herself in front of a Fae pond. She knew it was a Fae pond and not a regular pond because of the way the blue water glowed with its own light. It was small enough that Vidya could’ve jumped over it easily. There were many Fae ponds all over the Fae realm. They had been created by the first living Fae as a connection to the merpeople of the great oceans of the world. Through a Fae pond, a mermaid or merman could swim up from the ocean and speak to the Fae. They were supposed to be tricky to find out in the ocean. It took real skill for a merperson to find them, let alone the right one. But it was something that was passed down to children from their parents. But it was not the Fae pond that caught Vidya’s attention; it was what was next to the pond.

Sitting on a large wet rock next to the pond was the strangest creature she had ever seen. He was some sort of fish, except he was fat and blob-like. It reminded Vidya of a sunken ball of jelly, and she had certainly never seen a fish with a nose that big and fat before. He stared at them back in an unimpressed sort of way with bored, black eyes. Then, to her shock, he opened his mouth and spoke.

“I have a message,” his voice was nasally, like his nose was blocked due to allergies, and he droned as if he was very annoyed at having to be there.

Vidya and Sonakshi stared at him. The others gathered into the clearing.

“I said, I have a message,” the fish repeated, annoyed. Vidya had never spoken to a fish before, but his lips were definitely moving. Animals of the Fae spoke all the time. She supposed fish that lived near merpeople probably could talk as well.

Vidya stepped forward hastily, “Yes, sorry, sir, I didn’t hear you properly.”

“Yes. Well, I’m in a hurry. It’s for the Princess of the Fae.” He squinted at her. “Are you the Princess of the Fae?”

“I’m Princess Vidya, yes. And this is Princess Sonakshi.”

The fish’s black eyes widened at this, and he gave what looked like a nod, but it was more like a twitch because he did not have a head to nod.

“I have heard of you,” he said to Sonakshi. “Her royal watery-ness, Princess Meera of the Western Pacific merpeople has an important message,” he droned on.

“Princess Meera sent you?” asked Sonakshi. She turned to Vidya. “I met her on the way to Fiji. She saved the boat you loaned me from capsizing, Vidya.”

The fish twitched again.

“Yes. Well. The message is this: Emergency. Bunyip sighting near the Fae pond. Eating creatures. Be careful. Investigating now. I’ve sent Bob to tell you.” He flapped a small fin. “Bob is me.”

“A Bunyip?” said Lotus in disbelief. He crossed his arms. “There has not been a Bunyip here since King Fern and Queen Talia of the merpeople locked them up two hundred years ago.”

Bob twitched. “It appears that they have woken up. From the magical spell laid on them.”

“All of them?” asked Vidya, “How many are there exactly?”

Lotus shook his head “It’s just not possible, Vidya. I highly doubt—”

“I mean, it could be true,” interrupted Willow. “Vidya, do you remember what Master Sunny—”

A roar pierced the air. A terrifying, spine tingling, heavy sound that made the earth beneath them tremble.

Vidya’s heart froze in her chest.

“Oh no,” Bob droned, “They’re coming!”

It was Lotus who sprang into action first, “Princess Sonakshi, to the portal, now!”

Vidya thought fast, and she whipped out a messenger leaf and jammed into Bob’s mouth.

“For Meera to send me a message later,” she blurted.

Sonakshi and Vidya then bolted, hearing a splash as Bob must have flopped back into the water. Pancake shrieked on Vidya’s shoulder, and she hoped he held on tight as the two Princesses and the three Fae kids sprinted through the bush, dodging branches and jumping over logs.

Vidya and the