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CHAPTER 11
Grace and Russell stared at the book. “Well, is that all?” asked Grace.
“Yeah, pretty much,” said Russell.
“It’s a pretty long chapter.
The rest are about politics and stuff. I didn’t even know that much about Fantasia. I’ve really got to listen in Monschool.”
“Wait, Monschool? Oh, I get
it, monster school, Monschool.
Clever. So, Gryzo is, like,
ruling Fantasia and he’s looking for the princess?”
“Yep,” replied Russell. “And
when you said you were a werewolf, I thought about there being no more
werewolves in Fantasia, besides in the palace dungeon.” He looked
around to see if anyone was around.
No one was. He leaned in
and lowered his voice. “I think
you’re the lost princess!”
“What?!”
exclaimed Grace in a whisper.
“Me? Why?”
“Well, usually mons and monsters can see each other in their true form
every time they look at each other.
You’ve got a concealment spell put on you. I can't see your true form, no matter how many times I
blink. I bet one of your parents
did that to protect you!” Russell announced.
“What? Me? No, not me, I’m just........Grace.”
“Think
about it, Grace,” said Russell.
“You’re the only werewolf anyone’s seen in around 13 years. You’re 13, and Gryzo attacked Fantasia
13 years ago. Your don’t have any
parents, and you randomly appeared on earth in a flash of magic. You’ve even got a concealment spell on
you! It all connects, see?”
Grace was boggled. Russell
could be right, and she could be the lost princess, and part of her wanted to
believe that she was, but she was uncertain that she wanted to be a princess.
“Look, let’s go to The Flabby Frog, and talk it over, okay?” Russell
asked. “We can ask Aunna and her
mom for their insight, and we can stay the night and get a good breakfast. Sound good?”
Grace took a deep breath.
“Okay.”
*****************
Grace and Russell walked to The Flabby Frog, Aunna’s mom’s inn and
tavern. It was a small building,
but when Grace walked in, she suspected it was magical. It looked a lot bigger from the
inside. There were many strange
creatures sitting at the bar.
Grace saw a wizard smoking a pipe in a corner, some dwarves talking
about how the Rynests were cheating them out of their rightful share of gold, some
pixies playing cards, and many suspicious looking characters.
Russell led her to the back of the room, and through a door. It led to the kitchen, where a cheery
looking fairy with her long brown hair in a bun stood at a stove, listening to hard
rock music while she fried potatoes.
Her large wings were silvery blue, and reflected light from around the
kitchen. The strange thing about
this particular fairy was her size.
She looked to be around 5 feet, the size of a small adult woman. Grace was confused. Aren't fairies supposed to be small? she thought.
Russell interupted her train of thought. “Um, excuse me, Auntie Christy?” The fairy jumped.
“Oh! Sorry dear, I didn’t
hear you come in! And who is this
lovely lady?” she asked in a musical voice which reminded Grace of Aunna.
“This is Grace,” replied Russell.
“Grace, this is Christy, she’s Aunna’s mom. This is Grace’s first time in Fantasia,” he explained.
“Hello dear, Aunna told me about you,” said Christy. “Do you guys want something to
eat? It’s almost dinner time.”
Russell looked at Grace, who shook her head. “No, not right now, but can we go up to my room? And where’s Aunna?”
“Of
course you can go to your room sweetheart, and Aunna’s in her room. I’m sure she’d love to talk to you! Don’t forget to come down for dinner
and yell if you need anything,” she said.
“Thanks, Auntie Christy,” said Russell. “Come on, Grace, let’s go find Aunna.”
They
walked out of the kitchen through a back door and up a staircase. Russell led Grace down a hall at the
end of the stairs to a five-inch pink door. He squatted and knocked. “Hello? Anyone
home?”
“Hang on one
second, Russ,” said Aunna from inside.
She opened the door after a moment’s wait. “Oh, hello Grace!
How’s your first day in Fantasia been?”
“It’s awesome!” said Grace, and she meant it. Today has been the best day of my life, she thought to herself. But I'm still not sure about the whole princess thing.
“Great!” replied Aunna, snapping Grace out of her thoughts.
“Did you guys need me?”
“Yes, actually, can you come to my room?” said Russell.
“Sure!”
They
walked down the hall again, to a green door. Russell produced a key and opened it. “This is my dad’s and my room, we live
here when we come to Fantasia,” he explained. It looked similar to room 5 in the Forde Inn. Grace thought Paransvile was worlds
away, now. Russell led them to
another green door, and they went in and closed it behind them. This room was obviously Russell’s
bedroom, judging from the bed and the large sign featuring his name. They sat on the bed, and Russell
quickly explained the situation.
“Wait, so you think Grace is the lost princess?” asked Aunna.
“Yep, I think so,” said Russell.
“She sure fits the clues.”
“Hm....” Aunna looked
pensive. She fluttered up to a
shelf and sat on it. “Well, it’s
certainly a possibility,” she said.
“I guess you could be. I
mean, no one else fits the clues like you.”
“That’s kind of scary, you know, how the first time I take someone to
Fantasia she turns out to be a lost princess,” said Russell.
“We
don’t know for sure,” reminded Aunna.
“But it does seem very peculiar.”
She studdied Grace. “You
definitely have a concealment spell on you. I’ve got especially strong fairy magic, Mom says I might be
able to change my size soon. I
know the werewolves had really strong magic, so I guess that spell was put on
you to protect you.”
“Wait, change your size?” asked Grace. “I thought all fairies were small, until I saw your mom.”
“We
fairies can change our size when we are around 25 years old, but I’m just
17. Changing our size helps us
interact with others a little easier.”
“Kids!!” called Christy from downstairs. “Time to eat!!”
“Let’s think about it a little more,” said Russell. “But don’t say anything about it
downstairs. News travels fast in
taverns, and we don’t want Gryzo to get wind of your arrival in Fantasia.”
“Agreed,” replied Aunna and Grace in
unison. They grinned at each
other, and went downstairs to eat.
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Well, there you go. Christy owns a tavern, pretty cool. You'll hear more about her in the next chapter.
~~Zoë Wingfeather
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