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

Vidya had ever seen, who answered in a soft voice that was barely heard. “Because we know that spring will always come.”

Master Sunny stared at navy haired boy for a moment and then nodded slowly. “That’s right, Willow. Like the passing of the seasons, the good always follows the bad.”

Vidya turned to see Lobey giving Master Sunny an unimpressed look, her face screwed up in annoyance.

That’s two strange things that’s happened today, Vidya thought. What are the adults trying to hide from us?

Vidya and Pancake watched Master Sunny carefully. His eyes were fixed upon the blackboard, but Vidya had the feeling he wasn’t looking at his diagram on there at all. He looked as if he were seeing something very far away. He mouthed something to himself and fingered the edge of his long black robe. Then he shook his head once, scratched his ear, and nodded. Vidya had seen that look on adults’ faces before. It was the face of an adult trying to decide if they should reveal something important.

“There is an old story I would like to tell you,” he said. He fidgeted with the edge of his sleeve this time. Vidya thought he looked quite suddenly exhausted.

“Willow,” he called. “Find me a book about the creature called, ‘the Bunyip’.”

Willow shot out of his chair and walked over to the large table set in the corner of the library. On it sat an ancient miniature tree called a Bonsai. Except this tree was different to other Bonsai because of the long vines attached to his sides. In front of the tree on the table sat a wide box filled with tiny green cards made of square leaves.

“Book Tree!” Willow called in a loud voice. You always had to make sure to speak loudly to the Book Tree, as his hearing had gotten worse in his old age. “I need a book about the Bunyip.” The little Bonsai lifted a vine-arm up. The little fingers on the end of the vine were lifted against his trunk in the way that people did when they didn’t hear what you said.

“BUNYIP!” Willow practically shouted.

The Book Tree shook its topmost leaves as if nodding in understanding. His vine-arms shot out in front of him, fingers hovering over the box of leaf-cards, thinking. After a second, he reached into the box and plucked out two cards, holding them out to Willow.

The navy haired boy accepted the cards and read them out loud.

“‘The Bunyip: Sightings and Stories’ and ‘Indigenous Legends’.” He looked up at Master Sunny, listening keenly by his blackboard.

“The first one, Willow, if you please.”

Willow nodded and returned the cards back to the Book Tree, who took it back and placed it in its original spot within the box in front of him. Willow trotted away from the class into the many rows of bookshelves on the other side of the library. Vidya could see him scanning the shelves, and after a minute he slipped out a small book and brought it back to the class, handing it over to Master Sunny.

“Let’s see,” he wheezed, leafing through the pages. “Here we go. I can’t quite draw this one as well.” He held up the open book for them to all to see a painting of a large black creature that looked like a cross between a gigantic black dog and a seal.

From Vidya’s lap, Pancake sat up with interest, then squeaked with disgust.

“Urgh,” said Toad, flicking her electric blue hair. “Is that a Bunyip?”

“Indeed. They are creatures of the human realm,” said Master Sunny, turning the book over to read from it.

“Of the most fearsome of mythical creatures in Australia is the Bunyip. With the body of a large seal and the head of a most gruesome dog, the Bunyip swims and runs with equal strength, patrolling the length of the Murray River, his terrifying call can be heard for miles. Stroll down the Murray river after dark, and be sure that if a Bunyip sets his sights on you, there is no return.”

Master Sunny snapped the book shut and looked out at them all with a stern eye.

“This book was written in 1780. Shortly after, the rates of Bunyip attacks in the human realm increased tenfold. The humans were so terrified, in the end, King Fern, Vidya’s grandfather, being the Fae King and guardian of both plants and animals, intervened. He enlisted the help of Queen Talia, the Mermaid Queen of the Western Pacific Ocean, to help.”

“What did they do?” asked Toad in a hushed voice, “they didn’t hunt them, did they?”

“Well, as you know, the first rule of the Fae is ‘do no harm unto another living being’. But the Bunyips were not creatures that were open to conversation, they only think of their next dinner. There is nothing else on their minds. So, King Fern devised a grand plan. With the help of the merpeople, to cut the Bunyips off from escaping through the river, the Fae rounded up the Bunyips one by one and brought them here, into the Fae realm, into the secret cave system deep in the Fae forest.”

“But how did they get them into the Fae realm?” asked Vidya, imagining that rounding up scary creatures and bringing them all the way here would have been no simple task.

“The Fae pond system,” said Master Sunny, leaning back on his desk with a faint smile on his face. “Brilliant, really. The Fae ponds are small pools that exist all over the Fae realm, and they lead right into secret locations in the ocean. This is the way the Fae people and the merpeople under the ocean have spoken to each other for thousands of years.”

Vidya leaned back in her chair and shook her head. If she was to be queen one day, and take over her father’s job, she would have to be just as clever to come up with answers to problems just like this one. She listened keenly as Master Sunny continued.

“King Fern sealed