chapter 8 #3 (veruca)

Amira had the strangest sensation. Fear, amazement, curiosity, humor (it took all that she had not to laugh at the woman's stature), and again, that same feeling for Jessan.
"Um... Ms. Waddle-" amira was cut off.
"Aunt Helga, dear." the tiny woman said.
"Right... Aunt Helga-"
"Much better, dearie."
a little impatient, amira said, "If you don't mind me asking, how do you know who we are?"
"Ah... a very good question..."
amira waited for Helga to answer, but she didn't.
"Mhhmm." Amira could tell Jessan and delia were getting impatient. "well...?"
"Oh you don't think I'm going to tell you, do you? Just give away the biggest secret of us Carver elves? I don't think so."
"Wait. Carver elves?" asked Jessan. "What-"
"Now, now... you couldn't have thought that i was just a little old mortal?" asked Helga incredulously, "Being who you are I'd of thought that you would have guessed that by now."
"Sorry, we just never heard of... your type before..." Amira was cautious.
"Well." huffed the Carver elf. she walked over to the shelf containing Great Beasts from A to Z, and pulled out the immense book with a large 'C' on it. flipping through the pages, she was saying, "Oh, come now. I know it's in here somewhere...... ah, here it is." Helga turned the book so that amira, jessan, and delia could she the picture of a flower that looked strangely familiar.
"this is the Ciela flower. Symbol of the Carver elves. i have it on my door..." she pointed past a pile of old candles to the door. 'so that's what it is...' thought amira. "This book says that we like to collect things, we like to raise cats, our favorite hobby is carving, and we don't like to be disturbed by humans. that is unless they are accompanied by a cousin!"
"A what?" asked jessan who was having trouble taking all this information in one blow.
"A cousin. Your friend Delia here is a Forest Elf. or at least part Forest Elf."
Delia was beginning to faze back into her shy self again. she turned her face away and looked at the incredibly cluttered floor. she had refrained from talking most of the time she was at Helga Waddle's house, but now she must speak up.
"I'm sorry. I never told you the whole story. My mother, Princess of Sindalla, about a month or so before she was to be married to the prince of Bethian," delia was speaking quietly as if she didn't want to hear it herself, but Amira noticed that she didn't say 'my father, prince of Bethian'.

"She still had no clue that the reception was about to take place. You know royal marriages. and her parents, my grand parents, had not told her anything. It was to be a surprise. Well, she secretly loved the young wizard apprentice who was about her age... maybe a little older. One day, she accidentally let slip that she had been courted by him to her mother and father. As you have probably guessed, they were outraged! So, she ran away to be with the young wizard."
"What was his name?" asked Jessan.
"...They... never told me. But anyway,... The king and queen of Sindalla had this huge search party to find their daughter...."
all this talking about kings and queens made amira homesick. she missed her father, she missed her mother. she missed reading in the palace library. she missed having school in the courtyard. she was so busy missing things that she missed part of the story that Delia was telling her.
"... and they found her. Then they took her back to her parents who paid the huge sum of reward money they had promised. They asked my mother who she had run away with, but she wouldn't let them know. for fear they might chop off his head. When the time came for her and the prince of Bethian to marry, mother could do nothing but succumb to her parents' orders. she married prince Harold of Bethian, and they never found out until it came. i was born on all Hallows Eve, Vindelia Milshare of Bethian. but i had green eyes, neither my mother nor the king had the same, brown hair, mother had red and the king blond, and, to my father's disgust, pointed ears. no one could believe it... except mother. she knew that the wizard she had run away with had been half elf, had brown hair, and green eyes. the king was so angered that he beat her and made her tell him what had happened. when she did, he denounced me as his daughter, and princess. I grew up unwanted by him, and as an outcast. He never spoke my name. He never even acknowledged my existence. so, mother seeing my misery sent me to live in the nearest kingdom of Gradle. and the rest you know........" Delia was trying to hold back her tears, but did not succeed.
Jessan held out his hand to her and said in a kind tone, "You needn't be sorry. It must have been hard."
this, for some reason, irritated Amira. why did this simple, kind, gesture of friendship make her... annoyed?
"Oh, dearie." said Helga, who had been listening in ernest, was about to cry too.
suddenly, a gust of wind started blowing out side the small cottage. amira quickly tried to change her emotion from annoyed to sad. it started to drizzle.
"Now..." said jessan who was beginning to cram all that information into his head, "time to do what we came here for..."
but before anyone could reply, Catire burst into the room.

chapter 8 #2 (violet)

"I was going to tell you two earlier, but it never came up. after a while i sort of forgot myself. lots of people around my old court used to say that my family is related to some creature. when my ears get wet, they point up." delia was looking like them like she had said something horrible. she obviously hated this part of being herself. amira didn't mind though, and she was sure that jessan thought it was extremely fascinating. what amira didn't like was how many secrets delia had. maybe it was just because she was still getting over being shy. she knew that anything that she hid would upset jessan, so that thought didn't occur to her. she walked over to sit on a rock besides jessan.

"What are you doing?" amira asked him.

"reading about hippotruckles. they're quite fascinating. did you know that they were used as spies because their nature is so mysterious. as we speak, their is only one in existence. " jessan eyed amira as he said this, wondering if she would take it all sitting down. it couldn't be as easy for her as the rest of them, and he knew it.

"So... the only one lives in my land. with my parents. parent. if there's still one left.." amira leaned closer into jessan. this scared her. although she was no longer next in line, it would be obvious to the old one now that the trio in question were out of her spell. they would be a target. there was no way that she would take THAT sitting down. nothing would happen to them.

"you know what this means?" amira said. "we've got to go back," jessan stood up quickly at the thought of that.

"No! the kingdom isn't safe for you, love." he tried to calm himself. but amira hadn't meant that. that's not where she wanted to go back to.

jessan knocked on the door. "Listen to me, you two.. at the first FLICKER of danger, we're going to leave." this was not jessan's favorite plan, but they all knew that it made sense. the little woman that lived in this cottage seemed to know a lot... how to play chess, how to train cats, and a lot, a LOT about magical creatures.

the door creaked open. a little woman came in, holding three kittens in each arm, with a bottle of milk balanced on one foot. jessan choked back a giggle. amira, who jammed him in the ribs, seemed to be the only one who noticed.

"What do you want?" she asked in a sharp tone, looking at their faces. first amira, who she regarded thoughtfully, then jessan who she passed over as a mere stable boy. not only did she look at their faces, but also their necks. when she reached delia's face, she looked at her neck, then back up at her face. she gasped when she came to her ears.

"I'm sorr--" delia was cut off short as she realized that the old woman, about three and a half feet tall, had the same kind of ears. and there was something that looked familliar in the way she started.

"Why come in!!!" the old woman said, all of a sudden very happy to help them. "i don't have much food, but i can offer you tea. the newt kind, you know. i'm sure that you have tasted it my dear?" she looked expectantly at delia. when she saw her confused expression, she sighed, but it was more in disappointment than anything. "i guess we'll just stick with plain old mint then? ah, well, yes." she led them into the room that they had been in earlier. then, she bustled into a room to the right, that seemed to be the kitchen. the trio took this opportunity to talk... or whisper.

"we should give her the book back.."

"we should give her some food for taking it"

"we should be very careful. i don't trust her."

"good grief, jessan, just turn something into food."

delia ran outside to get a rock. amira watched jessan pat his pocket. then the other one.

"IT's not there!" this whisper was broken, worried. scared to death, really. amira didn't have time to panic. the old lady came back.

"here you are. it's just mint drink up!" she said.

"Ma'am" amira started, not sure how to say what she wanted to. "we were here earlier. we found this book." she took out the book and handed it to her. "we wanted to give you food for taking it, since you said that you didn't have any. but, we seemed to have lost the spell. my name is--"

"amira. the princess." the old lady interrupted. she looked jessan over. "You're jessan, the stable boy. her mate." she jerked her head in amira's direction. amira blushed, and studied the floor, even though she couldn't see it. "and you are delia" she talked directly to her. "you all ran away, and i wouldn't believe this story that you have told me if i didn't have this spell of yours." she held out her hand, and delia handed her the rock. the spell was said, and in the old lady's hand laid a golden platter with a splendid ham lying on top of it. "Alright dears. my name is Helga. Helga Waddle. you can call me Aunt Helga, or granny helga. eat up!" she gave them each a fork and sat back to watch.

chapter 8 (veruca)

one evening, when amira jessan and delia were traveling, they came upon a small cottage with a thatched roof and vines nearly swallowing up the entire structure.
"What is that?" asked amira quietly. it was getting on to night and she didn't want to disturb any one's sleep.
"Um, it looks like a house...." answered delia a bit louder. she was riding toward it, the hoses plodding seeming louder than usual.
"Should we knock? What if someone is in there?" asked Amira cautiously.
"Well," said jessan speaking matter-of-factly, "If we don't knock, then we will never know what lies behind that door... and i'm really curious."
and that was that. He walked up to the small wooden door, and noticed that it was intricately carved with birds and trees with some kind of flower that looked like a star in its beak.
"Woa! Come look at this." jessan was thoroughly excited now, and he couldn't tell why.
Delia got to the door before Amira.
"What kind of flower is that? the one the bird is holding in its beak?"
"I wonder..." amira felt as if she was being watched. she turned and peered into the small grimy window. She gasped, stepped backward and stumbled on her dress. Delia yelped and tried to steady her but only succeeded in falling back herself.
"What in the world?" said jessan incredulously catching Delia and Amira in his strong arms. "what was that all about?"
Steadying herself and brushing off her dark purple dress, Delia said, "I haven't a clue! Ask Amira!"
but Amira was already looking through the window again, eyes wide with horror.
"Amira, love, what-"
"Shh-" amira was walking over to the door now. opening it as quietly as she could (which isn't very quiet because it was so creaky) she stepped over the threshold.
"Amira what are you doing?" Delia hissed.
"Shh!"
"Don't do that agai-"
"SHH! just come here!"
and laying in the middle of the small room was Catire. with one look at amira, he seemed to tense up. that was when amira noticed a miniature version of the large cat crawling out from behind a broken mirror in the corner of the room. Purring loudly, Amira guessed it was supposed to be a growl, the mini Catire plodded over to its mother and curled up, and promptly fell asleep.
"What is this?" squeaked Delia, "Shouldn't we get out of here?"
"So, Catire's a girl... How do you think she got all the way here? We last saw her, oh i don't know, two months ago in the forest outside the castle..." amira trailed off.
"Honestly Amira. You are the queerest person i know! You're standing here in the same room with the same cat that tried to kill you, and you're wondering how it got here!" Jessan was admiring Amira's bravery and worried that something was wrong with her head at the same time.
"No offence Amira, but i think we should leave...NOW." Delia was nervously looking around as she was afraid more cubs would come prowling out behind miscellaneous objects. Come to think of it, there were a lot of funny things in that cottage. Amira could see a table set with chipped pieces of china, a pot with a decaying plant, a small musical instrument that looked like a cross between a violin and a banjo, and a shelf stuffed with so many books, Amira could not believe that in one cottage, there was a whole wall dedicated to books.
Delia, forgetting her terror of Catire at seeing the large volumes, walked over and ran her finger along the bindings.
"It must be deserted......" she said, "That's funny, there is a book here missing from the collection 'Great Beasts From A to Z'. It's the letter H."
"Start looking!" said Jessan, "We must find that book!"
they looked, and looked, and looked. None of them could think about how one small book could get so lost in the tiny house.
"Found it!" yelled jessan from behind a pile of nothing but dirty wigs. "Great Beasts from A to Z, Harpies to Horned Vampires."
"Bring it over here!" said Delia impatiently.
Once Jessan clambered over a chess board around a statue of a swan and past a doll house, he sat down and gave the book to Amira, who immediately began thumbing through the heavy, threadbare, book.
"Hags....... harpies..... hell's fire birds....... AHA!! Hippotruckles."
"Well? what does it say??" inquired delia who was getting more impatient be the minute.
"Um... it says here that they get younger, they like jewelry. that would explain why she made all the necklaces that does who knows what to your brain...."
suddenly, they were all interrupted by piercing yowl. the trio looked around and they could see that a little old woman was walking up they path behind the house. the howling was coming from the baby Catire. not stopping to see what all the commotion was about, Amira, Jessan, and Delia stood up and ran to the door by which they had come in. now completely dark, they could just make out their horses. after they got saddled up (which took hardly any time at all) they started riding away.
Amira could barely hear the old woman saying, "Hello there my pet... how is your new son?"


the next night, Amira Jessan and Delia were all sitting around the small fire they had made and were reading the new book that the had just stolen.
"... they also like to be mysterious, but will do anything to live longer. It also says that Hippotruckles are hard to kill." Delia was reading aloud the chapter on hippotruckles by fire light.
"Darn! Is there any other way that someone can... well, dispose of them?" asked jessan who was disappointed at what he had just heard.
Yawning, Amira said "Let's go to bed now. I'm so tired, i could sleep for days... weeks even."
"Amira is right,Jessan. I have been reading this for a while now, and my eyes hurt." agreed Delia.
so they layed down on the thin pieces of fabric which served as mattresses and fell asleep.

Early in the morning, it started to rain waking everyone up to send them scurrying for cover under a large hemlock tree. By the time Amira got there, she was soaked to the bone. as was Jessan who was cursing and swering at the rain for being so cold.
"Where is Delia?" said Amira over the sound of torrential rain.
"I don't... Wait, there she is over by the horses!"
it was true. delia was leading all three of the horses to a different tree and tieing them up. when she finished, she came running across the forest towards Jessan and Amira. But something was different... her sopping hair was plastered to her face and neck, but it was something else.
"sorry. i needed to get the horses safe from the rain." Delia was panting. she leaned up against the trunk of the large tree and rested, eyes closed.
that's it! thought amira her ears are pointed!
"Delia... odd question, but what is with your ears?" asked Jessan who had noticed too.
Delia's face was drained of all color and she looked down grabbing the sides of her head.
"I'm sorry." she said solemnly.

chapter 7 #4 (violet)

"May i name her elva?" asked delia, her old shyness coming back

"Course ya can, she's your horse!" said jessan, amused by her question.

"I've never owned my own horse before! what's yours named, amira?"

"Klea."

"And yours jessan?"

"Demil. and we had better be going." every one mounted their horses and started their ride. they loved to ride together, but delia had always used a borrowed horse, and, like amira had said, they had never gone farther than the clearing. now they were being forced to. they walked, trotted. trotted, and walked. over hills, under trees between rivers. you name a terrain, and they'd gone over it.

the first couple of hours were easy. the next couple weren't too bad. the next three their hips hurt, and the next three was agony. so, after those hours, they stopped. they were eating lunch when, well, nothing. there were nothing. no people. all of the places were shut down. why? oh well.

they were on the road again. they had run out of things to say. they had slowly drifted close enough so that amira and jessan were holding

hands. delia was riding in front of them. they were all going very slowly, but delia was the first to spot the inn. after yelling excitedly, she took

off, far ahead of the others.

"Amira?" Jessan asked cautiosly.
"yes?'
"there is one thing about this quest, that scares me. badly, really. i wouldn't be able to stand it if you were hurt. and i wouldn't be able to
stand it if delia got hurt, because it would hurt you. if anything were to go wrong, i swear..." he trailed off. "i wouldn't be able to make it through

without you. and don't get me wrong. i love delia too. but like a sister, just as you do. just promise me you'll be careful." amira's nod was cut

off though, by delia yelling.

"HEY! are you guys coming? i booked two rooms. one for you two, Mr. and Mrs. Tessle, and one for me." tessle was jessan's last name.
they smiled, and quickened their horses.

after a good sleep in an almost empty inn, the trio was on the road again.

chapter 7 #3 (veruca)

"I have it right here." said jessan, "Thesatous Teasious." suddenly, the saddle he was holding in his other hand turned into a big fat roasted chicken.

"Um... Jessan, i don't think we need that spell quite yet." said Delia playfully. "we should only use it in emergencies."

"Oh al right." said jessan grabbing a new saddle from a hook at the other end of the stables.

"Well... this is it, i guess." said amira sadly. "I haven't been past the clearing since that day i was attacked by Catire."

"We need to get going now." Delia was getting nervous, "By now someone probably got the light back on, and when they see that you aren't there, amira, they will come looking."

amira jumped up on Klea (she was riding bareback) and said,"Delia, you can have that horse over there." she pointed to a black horse. Delia walked over to it.

"what is its name?" she asked

"she doesn't have a name." Jessan said.

"Elva..."

Chapter 7 #2 (violet)

Jessan led amira to her seat by the king, and then went to sit with all of the other staff members. amira's golden dress made her long black hair look very shiny. she glanced at jessan. it was his move now. to get them out safely, he would have to turn off the light. soon. all of a sudden, the room went black. she could here the jester and the tumbler shouting rude knock knock jokes at the sky, and the ladies in waiting falling over each other to get away from them. amira searched for jessan. he had performed his part well, but how was she supposed to find him now?

all of a sudden two big hands were around her mouth. pulling her to the door. had jessan not been the one to perform the job? had someone else gotten there first? then, a feather floated down to her shuffling feet. then she knew what was happening. that had been delia's idea and way to tell amira that everything had gone smoothly and that amira should not worry. all she had had to do was stand there and be present. she took jessans hands off her mouth and held one tightly. he led her out of the frenzy. they met delia outside and ran down to the stables where they had hidden their things, and saddled their horses.
"wait, every one check your pockets! which one of us has that spell? i had almost forgotten!" amira said excitedly. she had been wondering who the paper would choose. jessan was the one to come up successful.

Chapter 7 (veruca)

"A what?!" asked Jessan and Delia at the same time. amira had just gotten down to the room.
"A hippotruckle. they get younger by the year, and i think that the Old One is one of them!" cried Amira, who was nearly screaming now.
"Amira, please shut up." said Delia, I'm sorry to be so mean but people are sleeping and we don't want them to report us to the Old One."
"She's right. you need to calm down..." Jessan said soothingly.
"Calm down!!? The old hag just killed my mother and you are telling me to CALM DOWN!?" this was it. Amira was finally cracking.
"We're sorry, love, but you don't want to get us thrown in the dungeon do you?"
"no... i'm sorry Jessan, and Delia. I should learn to control my temper." amira looked down at the small gold bracelet that her father had given to her as a birthday gift. She knew by now that the braclet contained magical powers. she then looked out the small round mirror at the corner of delia's bedroom (they had decided to meet there). amira saw the last bit of lightning die away and turned toward her two most trusted friends.
"We will have to run away sooner than expected. i know that we weren't supposed to leave for another day, but... we don't know how fast the Old ONe will act. She might be plotting to kill us as we speak."
"I was just thinking that myself." delia's voice was quavering.
"Oh, no!" Jessan hit himself on the forehead...rather hard, "Oh crud! I cant believe i forgot!"
"What is it? you must tell us!"
"As i was walking in the hallway to get to delia's room, i heard someone talking to the king. It was one of the court's judges. He was saying that the Old One was to have her coronation tomorrow afternoon! 'Everyone in the castle must attend' is his exact words. I am so sorry i completely forgot at the first mention of 'hippotruckles'." he winced as if he was about to be hit in the head with a club.
"No, no, no, no, no..." delia was on the verge of tears.
"I have an idea." said amira who was overwhelmed at the information just given to her. "we must sneak out of the Coronation Hall just as she is about to be crowned. Some one will have to create a diversion..."
amira and Jessan looked at delia.
"What? Oh, no, no, no, no..."