Annie had to admit, the castle in Greater Greensward was lovely. Tall towers rose above the weathered gray stones, while green banners fluttered from the spires. The drawbridge was open across the moat, where water lilies bloomed and small fish darted just below the clear water’s surface. It was so much like the castle at home that a lump formed in Annie’s throat and she felt truly homesick for the first time since leaving Treecrest.
“No dragons yet,” Liam said, studying the sky and the land behind them.
Annie cleared her throat and said, “They probably live in caves. I’m sure I would if I were a dragon.”
The postcard had brought Annie and Liam to the road at the end of the drawbridge. Although they had appeared in full view of the guards standing on either side of the portcullis, neither one reacted to their sudden arrival. When a witch flew by on a broomstick, landing inside the castle wall, neither the guards nor the people crossing the drawbridge looked up. Annie wondered if magic was so commonplace in Greater Greensward that people barely acknowledged it.
Liam took Annie’s hand as they joined the people entering the castle grounds. They were partway across the drawbridge when they heard a sudden loud whooshing overhead. People cleared the courtyard, but no one panicked when two large dragons landed in front of the castle steps. One of the dragons was white tinged with blue, the other was green and more delicate looking than the first. Even from the other side of the courtyard, Annie could hear their magic. Unlike most of the other magic she had heard, this sounded like music with its own complex melody.
“Get back!” Liam shouted, shoving Annie behind him.
She stumbled on the uneven surface of the drawbridge and landed on her knees. “Ow!” she cried.
Liam had already reached for the sword on his hip when he remembered that it wasn’t there. Even so, he stood between Annie and the dragons, prepared to fight. He was as startled as Annie when the light around the dragons shimmered and they both turned into humans. The green dragon was now a beautiful young woman with blond hair and vivid blue eyes, while the blue-and-white dragon had become a handsome young man with silvery white hair.
A woman passing by was helping Annie up when the two dragon people stalked toward Liam. Annie could still hear their magic, which grew louder as they approached.
“Why did you push that girl?” the young man asked Liam, sounding angry.
Liam was so surprised that he didn’t seem to know what to say. “I, uh . . . what?”
“You knocked her down for no reason. Why would you do such a thing?” demanded the young woman.
Liam glanced behind him to see who they were talking about. When he saw Annie brushing off her knees, he turned back to the dragon people and said, “That isn’t a girl. That’s my wife. I was trying to protect her from, uh, well . . . you.”
“That’s true,” Annie said, coming up to join him. “My husband works under the mistaken belief that I can’t take care of myself.”
“Really?” said the girl. “I know someone just like that.” She turned and cast the silver-haired young man a look that made him shrug and give her a rueful smile.
“How did you turn from a dragon into a human?” asked Annie. “Are you both powerful witches?”
She could hear their magic more clearly now. One of them had a sweet melody with another, simpler melody running through it. The other’s music was more strident and had a harsher tone. The dragon-people also had distinctive scents, although the girl’s was fainter than the boy’s. The girl’s scent reminded Annie of burned toast, while the boy’s was sour, like a piece of fruit that was starting to decay.
“Neither of us are witches,” the girl said with a laugh. “My mother is a witch, though, and can turn into a dragon whenever she wants. I can, too, because she turned into one so often when she was expecting me. My husband is a dragon who had to learn how to change into a human. All dragons can do it if they learn how.”
“We saw dragons like you in East Aridia,” said Liam. “They were attacking the city in pairs; one exhaled gas and the other lit it with a flame.”
“The dragons are at war with King Beltran. They’ve learned that they’re much stronger when they pair an ice dragon with a fire-breather,” said the girl. “I understand why they do what they do, but I could never try to hurt someone. It makes me ill just to think about it. You must be new around here. I’m Millie and this is my husband, Audun.”
“Princess Millie, if you really want to know,” Audun added.
“This is my wife, Princess Annabelle of Treecrest, and I’m Prince Liam of Dorinocco.”
“Where are Treecrest and Dorinocco?” asked Millie. “I’ve never heard of either one.”
“No one has lately,” Annie said with a sigh. “We’re far from home and want to get back, but we don’t know how.”
“We just got married and are on our grand tour,” said Liam. “A woods witch gave us—”
“There you are!” cried a voice from the top of the stairs. A little woman with white hair waved to Millie and Audun as she hurried down the steps. “I went inside to ask where I could find you. I need your help. I have to go back to my castle to fetch something I left behind, but my eyes still aren’t very good, so I can’t go alone. I’d ask Mudine, but she’s been having tingling in her fingers and toes, elbows and nose lately. She doesn’t mind, except the tingling in her nose makes her sneeze, so she’s gone off to find the witch doctor who treated her the last time she was ill. Oculura and Dyspepsia are away as well. Their cousin is getting married in Soggy Molvinia. She’s holding the wedding in a swamp at midnight, so of course Oculura and Dyspepsia want to be there. Her bridesmaids are will-o’-the-wisps, and you know what they’re like!”
Annie turned to Liam with a surprised look. “Dragons and will-o’-the wisps are real here! I wonder what else is real that isn’t at home.”
The little white-haired woman glanced at Annie and raised one eyebrow. “And who, may I ask, are you?”
“Princess Annabelle and Prince Liam, I’d like you to meet Azuria, the Blue Witch,” said Audun before turning to the white-haired woman. “They aren’t from around here. As far as I can tell, they aren’t from any of the known kingdoms. They were telling us how they came to be here when you arrived.”
“You were on your grand tour . . . ,” prompted Millie.
“Oh, right! We were going to go by ship until we heard that a nasty wizard was after us. A woods witch gave us some postcards . . .” Annie glanced at Liam, who seemed surprised that she’d mentioned the cards. “We might as well show them, Liam, if we want them to help us. Anyway, she gave us the cards to use for our grand tour, then my mother’s fairy godmother said we should use them while she took care of the wizard. The only problem is, the woods witch didn’t give us a card that will take us home, and the wizard has been traveling ahead of us, trying to turn people against us!”
“I guess the fairy wasn’t very successful at getting rid of the wizard for you,” said Audun.
“If the wizard was traveling ahead of you, he must know where you’re going. Are you sure he wasn’t in disguise and gave them to you himself?” asked Azuria.
“We thought of that,” said Annie. “We had never met the woods witch before. But I don’t think so for a number of reasons. And looking back, I didn’t hear any magic when we were talking to her, and I would have if it was the wizard in disguise.”
“You can hear magic?” asked the Blue Witch, looking surprised.
Annie nodded. She noticed that while Audun looked interested, Millie just smiled.
“Annie has a special talent,” Liam said, sounding proud. “Magic doesn’t work on her. If anyone is near her, their magic fades and goes away if they touch her. She can also hear magic, good or bad.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing!” cried the Blue Witch. “Imagine, magic can’t touch her. I’m tempted to try a spell on her just to see what happens, but that can wait until later.” She turned to Millie and Audun. “If the wizard is going ahead of them to talk to people, has he come to see you?”
“It’s possible,” said Millie. “Audun and I were out, and Mother and Father took my little brother, Felix, to visit my grandparents in Upper Montevista, so someone could have stopped by when no one was here.”
“There’s another problem,” said Liam. “If we do find a way home, what’s going to stop the wizard from following us there and causing even more trouble?”
“Good point,” said Millie. “Maybe we can help you with that. I wouldn’t want to confront him here with so many innocents around, but we could face him at Azuria’s castle. There’s no one there but some eagles.”
“And the abominable snowmen,” said Liam. “Didn’t we hear that they took over the castle after the Blue Witch left?”
“They did indeed,” Azuria replied. “Which is another reason I need your help. I still have a problem seeing white, and they are snowmen.”
“We’d be happy to go with you, wouldn’t we, Audun?” said Millie. “What did you forget, Azuria?”
“My map to the Magic Marketplace. I didn’t notice it was missing until I wanted to go. I’ve run out of supplies for some potions and I need to stock up again. When I couldn’t find it, I remembered that I’d left it on my bedchamber wall in the castle. Oh, dear! I just thought of something. What if the snowmen get their mittens on it and go to the marketplace? I’ll be responsible for whatever havoc or mayhem they wreak. I could get my witching privileges revoked, and then where would I be? I need to get the map back as soon as possible!”
“Then we’ll leave right away,” said Millie. “Annie, Liam, the wizard is probably keeping track of what happens to you on each stop. If he finds out that you’ve gone to the castle with us, he might follow.”
“But how will he know where we’ve gone?” asked Liam.
“I’ll write a note and post it on the front door,” Millie told him. “Just give me a few minutes and we can go. I need to tell the captain of the guard and then find you some warm clothes. Audun and I can carry you and Azuria. It shouldn’t take more than a day to reach the Icy North.”
“We could use the postcards,” said Annie. “We have one for the castle and we’d get there in seconds.”
“You have a postcard for my old castle!” said Azuria. “Well, I’ll be! Imagine that! I’ve never traveled by postcard before. I wonder what they’ll think of next!”