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

unicorn walked the land, we’ll be glad to accept this gift.”

Vidya nodded.

“Well then,” said Akurra, regarding Vidya with a new respect. “Come on. The King will be eager to see you.”

Vidya turned and waved for the others who were staring at her, gaping. There would be time to explain later.

They followed Akurra over the grass up to the base of the enormous tree.

“Your Majesty,” bowed Akurra.

Vidya stared up into the branches and gave a slight bow of her head too, urging her pounding heart to slow down. Her mother had always taught her that when speaking to a tree, the most polite thing to do was to keep your eye steady at the topmost part of the trunk you could see below the first branches. Pancake climbed out of Vidya’s pocket and clambered up onto her shoulder, craning his neck to look at the oldest tree any one of them had ever seen.

And then a voice spoke, and none of the children had ever heard a voice so deep and regal as that of the King of Trees.

“Who are you?” They felt the voice rumble in the ground under their feet, and it rose up their legs to vibrate in their chests. But although the voice was heavy with age and wisdom, Vidya felt it was rather soft with kindness too.

Vidya shuddered. “I… I am the Fae queen of the Eastern Bushland, your majesty.”

His great leaves rustled, although there was no wind.

“I was there the day your kind were woken from the earth,” he rumbled gently. “Tell me what it means to be Fae, my Queen, and I will give you the knowledge you desire.”

Vidya frowned and chewed her lip. An image of her Nani came into her mind’s eye. How she fearlessly cared for the Devil’s Fingers when no one else could. She thought of the Flower of Awakening and how the Fae magic looked after the plants.

“The Fae are the guardians of the plants,” said Vidya confidently. “We care for the plants when no one else will.”

The Wollemi Pine King remained still and unmoving. Vidya’s stomach did a little flip. Had she said the wrong thing?

But his voice rumbled through the ground again. “What is your name, Queen of the Fae?”

“Um… Vidya.”

“Ah! Queen Vidya. Tell me, do you know what your name means?”

Vidya was slightly taken aback, but her mother had, of course, told her what her name meant many times. It had been chosen by her Nani, from her home country, India. “In Hindi, Vidya means knowledge.”

“Not just any knowledge,” rumbled the King. “Knowledge of the highest kind, the truest kind. If this knowledge wore a dress, it would be pure white. Queen Vidya, look inside yourself and tell me what it means to be Fae.”

“To be Fae…” started Vidya. Her mind raced. She knew she was missing something, but what was it?

But it was Willow who finished her sentence. “It means to see all living things as yourself. To be Fae means to see all plants and animals and beings as one.”

“Ahhh,” breathed the King of Trees. “The Fae, are nothing if not loyal to one another. How I have missed the Fae in my little corner of the world. I accept this answer from the boy with hair like twilight.”

Vidya could not help but turn to Willow and smile, he grinned in return.

“What is it you seek?” he rumbled kindly. “Although I believe I think I may know.”

Vidya cleared her throat. “You were there that day the Flower of Awakening woke up the Fae?”

“I was.”

“The Flower of Awakening is drained of her power. I need to know how she woke up last time. What made her awaken the Fae, and how do we restore her power once again?”

The gigantic tree rustled his leaves in memory.

“The Wollemi were there when the Flower of Awakening sung her song for the first time. Except we did not call her that—I knew her by another name at that time. When she awoke, we spoke back to her and told her of the kingdom above the sea. If she is to be restored, she must feel my presence and remember. I will give you a spell thus: Take my wood and give it to your finest Bowyer. They must make a bow and an arrow. With this bow and a single arrow, you must deliver the spark.”

“What do you mean by spark?”

He quivered, “The thing that the plant Kingdom despises the most. Fire.”

“Fire?”

“Earth fire. That day, it flew across the sky.”

“What type of earth fire flies across the sky?” asked Vidya, looking behind her.

“A comet,” said Willow breathlessly, “It had to be. It was a comet that awoke the Flower of Awakening.”

“This is all you will require,” rumbled the Wollemi Pine.

The King of Trees shook himself, and three long lengths of wood tumbled down to the ground. Willow hurriedly scooped them up, holding them against his body reverently.

“Thank you, your Majesty,” bowed Vidya.

“You are most welcome, my Queen,” he replied, rustling his branches. “Please do visit with me again, with your little quokka.”

As they walked back toward her, Akurra watched them with curious eyes.

“We do not often see your kind here,” she drawled, looking at them all one by one.

“No, this is a sort of emergency,” Vidya replied.

“Of what kind?”

“Of the war kind. An army of Bunyips is out to kill us.”

Akurra jerked a little in surprise. “Interesting,” she remarked. “How things can change so quickly.”

“Yes, well, thanks for your help,” Vidya replied, turning away. “We’ll be getting on our way now.”

“A word of advice, Fae Queen,” Akurra said, making Vidya stop in her tracks. “When at war with an unusual enemy, one must think unusually.”

Vidya turned and gave Akurra a curt nod before following the others out of the clearing.

13

Yara-ma-yha-who

Foolish is he who walks into a dragon’s den. Foolish is he who walks into the Fae forest. For with either, none survive without the scars to tell the tale.

—The Book of the Fae, Queen