“Where do you want to go next?” asked Liam. His horse pawed at the ground, impatient at standing still. Annie’s horse flicked its ears as if listening for her reply.

It was late afternoon, which meant that it was too early to stop for the night, but too late to get very far before nightfall. Annie peered up the road, using her hand to shade her eyes from the sun. “Where does this road go?”

“Southwest,” said Liam. “If we stay on it long enough, we’ll end up in Wryden.”

“Sweetness N Light said that Voracia was either south or west, so I suppose southwest is a good compromise. We can ask if people have heard of her along the way.”

Annie turned her horse to ride beside Liam and sighed with relief. The only sounds she heard were the clip-clop of their horses’ hooves and the songbirds singing to their neighbors. She welcomed the quiet after the unceasing noise in Sweetness N Light’s garden and was about to say so when Liam spoke up.

“Do you know what you’re going to do once you find Voracia?”

“I have no idea,” Annie replied. “But I’m sure something will come to me. It always does.”

“In other words, you have no plan.”

“None!” she said, and gave him her brightest smile.

Liam scowled and looked as if he wanted to argue, but Annie wasn’t in the mood to discuss their options. Instead, she turned her attention to the countryside and let herself relax.

They rode through forest and open countryside without passing anyone and had just entered another, older wood where the trees were taller and the gloom deeper, when a horse whinnied and their two mounts answered. A minute later a man rode up behind them, hailing them as he approached. “Care for some company?” he said once he was close enough that he didn’t have to shout. “This forest is no place to be alone after dark.”

“Certainly,” said Liam. “The more sword arms, the better. What brings you here at this time of day?”

“I’m Prince Cozwald of Bellaroost,” the man replied, positioning his horse so that he rode beside Liam. Even in the gloom of the forest Annie could see that he was exceedingly handsome, with long, blond hair and chiseled features. “An ogre kidnapped the love of my life and I’m going to rescue her. He’s taken her to his castle just over the next hill.”

“You’re going by yourself?” Liam asked.

Prince Cozwald nodded. “I borrowed a magic ax from my father. He got it from his uncle, who got it from his father-in-law, who bought it from someone at a magic marketplace. It’s supposed to kill an ogre with one swipe. I don’t need anyone to go with me as long as I have this ax,” he said, patting the weapon that was strapped to the back of his saddle.

They spoke together in low voices while the shadows deepened, but Annie began to feel uneasy and the young men soon stopped talking as they watched the forest around them. When the road angled uphill, Cozwald tightened his grip on his reins, making his horse prance with excitement.

“The castle is through the woods in that direction,” the prince said as he peered into the gloom. “I was told that a road runs from this one to the castle gate. I’m going to camp in the woods tonight and enter the castle at dawn. Ogres are said to sleep during the day.”

“Then we’ll camp here, too, if that’s all right with you, Your Highness,” Liam said, turning to Annie.

“I think we should,” she replied, certain that he’d called her Your Highness just to let Cozwald know that he wasn’t the only royalty around. It had been days since Liam had called her anything but Annie. “I’m Princess Annabelle,” she said, leaning forward so she could see past Liam to the prince. “I’m from the kingdom of Treecrest.”

“I’m honored to make your acquaintance, Princess,” said Cozwald, taking off his cap and inclining his head. “If I might ask the same question your friend asked me, why are you here at this time of day?”

“We’re looking for a wicked fairy,” said Liam. “We need her to undo a spell.”

“Or at least change it,” said Annie. “Then we have to find some more princes. I’d invite you, but you already have a lady love.”

“What do you need the princes for?” asked Cozwald.

“I need to find my sister’s true love. You might have heard of her. She’s Princess Gwendolyn.”

Cozwald nodded. “The most beautiful princess in all the kingdoms? Everyone has heard of her! Say, I have a cousin who is looking for a wife. He lives close to here. I can introduce you—after I rescue my princess, of course.”

“That would be great!” said Annie.

Liam stopped his horse abruptly and pointed to the right, saying, “There’s a road here.”

Annie couldn’t see anything except a gap in the underbrush, but she followed the prince when he turned his horse in that direction. Liam rode behind her with his sword in his hand. They’d ridden only a short distance into the woods when they smelled wood smoke from the castle’s chimneys. It was dark when they dismounted and tied their horses’ reins to branches. The men kept their weapons close at hand while they all collected wood, but when it came time to build the campfire, the prince kept watch while Liam made a ring of stones and lit the firewood inside it. He cooked their meager supper and was handing it out when he noticed that Cozwald had hung the ax from a loop on his belt.

“Is that your magic ax?” he said. “May I see it?” When the prince nodded and handed him the ax, Liam turned it over, inspecting the carving that covered the double-headed blade and the writing that ran up the handle. He hefted it in his hand and said, “It’s nicely balanced, but are you sure it’s magic? The blade is newer than the handle and looks as if it’s never been tested. Annie, take a look at this.”

Prince Cozwald looked uneasy. “My father said that his uncle swore—”

Annie shook her head when Liam tried to hand her the ax. “You’d better hold on to it,” she told him. Tilting her head, she listened for the sound of some kind of magic, but there was nothing. “I’m sorry,” she told the prince, “but if it ever held any magic, it’s gone now.”

“How would you know?” the prince said, snatching it from Liam’s hand.

Annie sighed. “Because I can hear the presence of magic, and there isn’t any in that ax. Either the magic has worn off or someone lied when they sold it to your uncle’s brother’s … whoever.”

“That’s not possible!” said the prince. “Wouldn’t my father have known …”

“Why would he if no one had ever used it?” said Liam.

Cozwald plunked down beside the campfire and stared into the flames. “If the ax is no good, how will I kill the ogre and rescue my beloved?”

“I’ll go with you,” said Liam. “I’ve had a little experience with this kind of thing.”

“You have?” said Annie. “When this is over, we have to talk. There’s an awful lot I don’t know about you.”

Liam glanced at her, then looked away as if the thought made him uncomfortable. “Go ahead and eat. Our food is getting cold and we’ll need our energy in the morning.”

“You don’t have to go with me,” said the prince as he tucked the ax back into the loop on his belt. “I appreciate your offer, but this is my fight and I can’t expect you to risk your life for a stranger.”

“I said I’d go,” said Liam. “You need my help and I’m willing to give it freely.”

“And I’ll go, too,” said Annie. “After all, I need you to stay alive so you can introduce me to your cousin. We don’t have much time, but the more princes I can take back with me, the more likely we are to take the right one.”

“But … but …,” the prince spluttered. “You’re a princess. You can’t go into an ogre’s castle on purpose. No princess would willingly spend even a moment in an ogre’s company. You would be in great danger!”

“She’d be a big help,” said Liam. “Believe me, I’ve seen what she can do. Besides, I don’t want to leave her here by herself.” Then he turned to Annie. “I think you’d be safer with me than alone in this forest at night. You’ll have to listen to me, though, and stay back unless I say it’s safe.”

“I’ll be good, I promise.” Annie raised her hand as if she were pledging her fealty, then picked up the cup of broth Liam had given her and used it to soften the corner of a rock-hard crust of bread. She was about to take her first bite when a woman’s shriek rent the silence of the forest.

Liam and Cozwald grabbed their swords and jumped to their feet, their eyes scanning the trees around them. “That must have been my beloved princess, Lizette!” said the prince. “She needs me now. I can’t wait until morning to rescue her. Are you with me?” he asked Liam.

“We’re both with you,” said Annie, giving the crust of bread a regretful glance as she set it down.

It took them some time to reach the castle as they stumbled into trees and tripped over roots and fallen branches in the dark, but even so, Annie didn’t regret her decision to go with them until Cozwald announced that they were going to scale the wall using the rope and weighted hook he’d brought.

“I don’t know about this,” she said, watching as the prince twirled the rope in a circle and tossed the hook up to the lowest window in one of the towers. The hook hit the ledge with a clang and fell back to land at their feet.

“I suppose I should have practiced,” said the prince. Once again he twirled the rope over his head and let go. This time the hook held on to the window frame for a moment, but slipped off when Cozwald put his weight on it.

The hook barely missed hitting Liam when it fell. “Here’s your problem,” he said, picking it up to show the prince. “The tip of the hook is broken off.”

Prince Cozwald looked stricken when he wailed, “How will we ever get in?”

“Leave that to me,” said Liam. “I love rock climbing, and this shouldn’t be very different.”

After a quick smile in Annie’s direction, he hung the hook on his belt and strode to the stone wall, where he raised his hands as high as he could reach. Annie was amazed when he grabbed hold of a tiny projection and pulled himself up the wall. With his toes fitting into small gaps between the stones and his fingers gripping edges so small that Annie couldn’t even see them, Liam climbed the face of the tower. Disappearing through the window, he emerged a moment later without the hook.

“Good thinking,” said Cozwald. Turning to Annie, he added, “He’s fastened it to something. See, he’s coming down now.”

Liam held on to the rope and climbed down the wall even faster than he had climbed up. “Now it’s my turn,” said Cozwald. Grabbing hold of the rope, he climbed hand over hand up the wall with the agility of a squirrel.

“I’m not sure I can do that!” Annie said, turning to Liam.

“You won’t have to. Here,” he said, tying a loop in the rope. “When I reach the window, put your foot in this loop, wrap the rope around you like this, and I’ll pull you up.” He demonstrated what he meant until she was sure she could do it. When she was ready, he took the rope in his hand and peered up at the window. “You know, you really don’t have to do this. I’ve fought ogres before without anyone’s help.”

“And did those ogres have magic?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Then I’m coming with you, because this one does. I can hear it from here. It’s faint, but it’s definitely there.”

Liam grinned and bent down. Before she knew what he was doing, he had kissed her on the cheek and climbed the rope, leaving her surprised and breathless. “Ready?” he called softly from the window ledge.

“Give me a minute,” she replied. Since the day the fairy had given her the gift that protected her from magic, no one had kissed Annie. Her parents had never come close enough, the servants wouldn’t have dared, and it hadn’t occurred to her friends. But now Liam, a guard without a drop of noble blood, had actually kissed her.

Annie touched her cheek and would have stood there savoring the warm feeling that left her shaky and confused if Cozwald hadn’t called, “Hurry up or we’ll leave you there!”

Sticking her foot in the loop, Annie wrapped the rope around her waist, then called back, “I’m ready!” A moment later she was gliding up the side of the tower, watching the window as it seemed to grow larger. When she reached the ledge, Liam helped her into the room. The moment she set foot on the floor, Cozwald rushed down the hall, his sword in his hand.

Liam shook his head. “The fool has no understanding of stealth. We should have tried to surprise the ogre, but there’s no chance of that now. I want you to stay behind me,” he said, glancing at Annie. “Just let me know when you sense magic.” He took off running after Cozwald with his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Annie hitched up her skirts and dashed after him, muttering, “How can I tell him if he runs ahead?”

They found the prince waiting for them at a door at the end of the hall. He was about to open it when Liam put a hand on his arm and turned to Annie. “Does this door have any magic?” he asked her.

Annie shook her head. “Not that I can tell.”

Tightening his grip on his sword, Cozwald shoved the door open and dashed inside. Torches flickered and burst into flame, illuminating the room that had been dark until he entered. A table and two chairs occupied the center of the room. The remnants of someone’s supper covered the table, the grease on the trenchers already congealed. Aside from a cat licking a platter, the room was unoccupied.

Annie followed the two young men into the room and paused to look around. It seemed innocent enough, although the floor was dirty and the sticky smears on the table showed that it hadn’t been washed for a very long time. The room smelled musky, and she’d just decided that the smell was probably ogre when Cozwald opened the door opposite the one they had entered.

“Wait!” said Annie. She could hear a faint tune coming from the hallway—five notes playing over and over again. The tune was peppy and didn’t sound like anything bad or evil, but any magic meant that they should be cautious. Cozwald didn’t wait, however, and ran out the door, turning down the hallway that ran past it. Liam swore and ran after him. Annie took only a few steps before the door behind her burst open, although she couldn’t recall closing it. She turned, expecting to see a horrible ogre, and was surprised when Cozwald and Liam ran into the room.

They looked stunned to see her. “How did you get ahead of us?” asked Cozwald.

“I asked you to stay behind me,” Liam said.

“I did stay behind,” said Annie.

There was a soft creak as the door began to close on its own. Cozwald turned so abruptly that his sword hit one of the clay mugs on the table, knocking it to the floor, where it shattered with a crash.

Startled, the cat jumped off the table and ran out of the room before the door had closed all the way. “I tried to tell you that there’s magic around,” said Annie as the two young men headed for the opposite door.

“That cat was probably enchanted,” said Cozwald.

“No, I don’t think that was—,” Annie began, but a loud shriek that seemed to come from everywhere made her stop and look around. The sound was fading away when someone laughed maniacally. Liam and the prince tore out the door.

This time when they disappeared, Annie didn’t try to follow. She had noticed another door covered with the same wood paneling as the walls, as if it was meant to blend in. The floor in front of it was so scuffed, however, that she found it easily. She had started toward the door when Liam and Cozwald burst into the room.

The prince skidded to a stop when he saw her. “You did it again! How do you do that?”

“I haven’t done anything,” said Annie. “You’re the ones who keep running through this room. Haven’t you noticed that it’s the same room every time?”

“She’s right. Here’s the mug you broke,” Liam said, poking the shards with the toe of his boot.

“There’s magic in that hallway,” said Annie. “You’ll never get anywhere if you go that way.”

“Then how do we get out of here?” asked the prince.

“We could try the other door,” Annie said.

The young men seemed confused as their gaze wandered around the room, passing over the hidden seams. “What other door?” asked Liam.

“This one,” said Annie, reaching for the handle. The door opened easily, revealing a staircase going up.

“I told you she could help,” Liam told Cozwald. “Let’s try to be quieter this time. Although I don’t know what good that will do us,” he added under his breath. “We’ve already made more noise than a flock of harpies.”

“Maybe I should go first,” Annie suggested, stepping toward the stairwell.

Both young men rushed to stop her, but it was Liam who planted himself in front of the door. “You can’t go first when we don’t know what you’ll find,” he said.

“I know that there’s magic there, too,” said Annie. She pushed past him and up the stairs. It was plain from Liam’s expression that he wanted to stop her, but wasn’t sure if he should.

Annie could hear the whisper of magic even before she reached the top step. Before setting foot in the hallway, she paused to look both ways. The torches in the hallway at the top of the stairs were already lit. Benches flanked the half-dozen doors that led off to either side. The air was colder here, and smelled stale. Although there were no windows, a light breeze skittered down the hallway, twitching the bottom of a tapestry and dragging clumps of black dog fur that caught at the legs of the benches and puddled in the corners.

“There’s magic, but I don’t know what it is yet,” Annie told Liam in a soft voice.

“We don’t have time for this,” said Prince Cozwald, pushing past Liam and Annie. “My Lizette is here somewhere and she needs me. Look,” he added as he stepped into the hallway and nothing happened. “There’s no magic. You’re both jumping at shadows.”

The prince strode down the corridor, his shadow growing and shrinking as he walked from the light of one torch to the next. Liam gave Annie a quizzical look and shrugged as he passed her, going after Cozwald.

The whisper grew louder as Annie followed the two young men. The fur was thicker the farther down the hallway they went. Clumps of it cluttered the floor as if someone had brushed a big black dog and dropped the fur on the floor to clean up later, except no one seemed to clean much of anything in this castle.

“This stuff is everywhere,” said Cozwald, stopping to shake the fur off his boot. “Keep your eyes open. There must be a big dog here.”

Liam bent down to pick up a small clump. “Or a bear,” he said, rubbing the fur between his fingers.

The shriek was closer this time, the sound so loud that it made Annie jump and everyone turn their heads to listen. She was still looking the other way when she bumped into Liam. “Why did you stop?” she asked, backing away, and noticed for the first time that the black fur seemed drawn to Liam’s and Cozwald’s feet, clustering around them like bees drawn to flowers. There was so much fur around them that they had to struggle to pull their feet free. The same fur seemed to avoid Annie entirely.

“It’s the fur,” she said. “The magic is connected to the fur.”

Cozwald laughed. “We didn’t need you to tell us that.”

Fur flew from the far ends of the hallway, piling up around Liam and the prince. “I can’t … get rid of it!” said Cozwald, his face turning red as he tried to pull his foot free.

“Let me help,” said Annie.

The fur moved aside at her approach, leaving a clear path in front of her. She touched Liam first and the fur fell away. After escorting him to a bench, she went back for Cozwald, who was engulfed up to his thighs in what looked like furry boots. The black covering rippled when Annie touched the prince, then slid off as if he’d been greased. The fur undulated behind her as she walked him to the bench, keeping her hand on his arm until he had stepped onto it.

With Annie in the way, the fur was unable to reach its quarry. Loose strands retreated down the hallway, moving together into a large, seething mass. As clumps of fur piled one on top of another, they took on a roughly man-like shape with long fuzzy fingers and toes. When it was almost as tall as Liam, the figure turned its hollow eyes and gaping mouth toward them.

“It’s hideous!” exclaimed Cozwald.

“It looks like my great-uncle Elgin!” Liam announced. “My mother always said he was the hairiest man she’d ever met.”

“Then I pity your family,” said Cozwald.

The beast roared and dragged one foot toward them. Cozwald tightened his grip on his sword. “What does it want?” he asked, and reached up with his free hand to tuck a lock of hair behind his ear.

“I doubt it wants your hair,” said Annie. “Look out!”

The fur beast had swiped at Cozwald with its massive hand. When the prince stepped back, he nearly fell off the bench.

“A good offense is the best defense!” shouted Liam. Raising his sword, he jumped to the floor and lunged for the man made of fur.

Cozwald followed Liam and together they hacked at the beast, cutting wedges of fur from its body that crawled back and reattached themselves. The beast seemed to be waiting for something as it stood there, letting the young men stab and cut away pieces without even trying to avoid their blows.

Liam seemed to realize this first, because he stepped aside long enough to study the beast. “That isn’t working,” he told Cozwald, who continued to rain blows on the giant wad of fur.

“What did you say?” asked the prince, pausing to glance at Liam.

The fur beast lunged, wrapping its frizzy hands around Cozwald’s throat.

“Mph!” said the prince, his eyes frantic as he tried to hack at the beast with the side of his blade.

“Oh, for goodness’ sake!” said Annie. “Put that thing down before you hurt someone.” When the prince continued to wave his sword around, Annie whispered something in Liam’s ear. He nodded and jumped forward to knock the sword from Cozwald’s hand. The prince’s eyes were beginning to bulge when Annie walked up behind the beast and wrapped her arms around its middle. It made a high-pitched keening sound and collapsed in a shower of fur.

Annie coughed and wiped her face. “That’s disgusting! I got some in my mouth. Pleh!” She spat, trying to get rid of it.

“You’re covered with fur,” said Liam, patting her back and arms. “Come help us, Cozwald.”

The prince backed away. “And get that fur on me? I’m about to rescue my ladylove. I don’t want her to see me looking like I slept in a kennel.”

“But it’s all right for me to look like this?” asked Annie.

Cozwald shrugged. “That was your choice.”

“Be polite to the princess!” Liam growled at the prince. “We’re helping you because we chose to, but we can always choose to turn and walk away.”

Cozwald’s eyes flashed and he opened his mouth as if to protest, but he must have seen something in Liam’s eyes, because his own gaze dropped and he muttered, “Sorry.”

Annie clenched her teeth so she wouldn’t say what she had in mind. Before she could unclench them, a groan drew Cozwald to the end of the hallway. Another loud shriek and the sound of crazed laughter made Liam run through a dwindling cloud of drifting black fur to join the prince. “Here, take the other side,” Liam told him, indicating one of the benches. Using the bench as a battering ram, they bashed in the door and tore into the room.

Cozwald stumbled over a small trunk that had been left just inside the door. He fell sprawling at the dainty feet of the princess, who looked up from her hand of cards and cried out, her green eyes dark with alarm. The ogre seated on the other side of the table looked equally surprised to see the intruders.

Annie was right behind Liam and Cozwald, certain that she should have gone in first, but when she saw what was inside, she wasn’t sure what to think. The room was large and elegantly furnished with a polished stone fireplace and thick rugs in crimson, yellow, and green. A wide bed piled high with warm furs filled one end of the room; the table and chairs occupied the other. The oddly matched couple had been playing cards, and it was obvious that the princess had been winning; a stack of gold coins rested by her elbow, while only a few copper coins littered the ogre’s side of the table. The princess was a beautiful young woman with hair as black as night, but she didn’t look beautiful with her mouth hanging open as she stared at the intruders, the cards in her hand forgotten. On the other side of the table, a wide grin disappeared from the face of the scraggly bearded ogre, whose eyebrows met in the middle over his bleary red eyes. Seated, he didn’t seem to be much taller than the princess, but Annie could see his long legs stretched out under the table.

“Lizette!” shouted Prince Cozwald, scrambling off the floor. “I’ve come to rescue you, my love!” Grabbing the princess by the arm, he yanked her from the chair and shoved her behind him as he turned to face the ogre.

The ogre’s forehead crinkled into a ferocious scowl. “Get your paws off her!” he roared. Shoving the table aside, he sent it crashing to the floor as he heaved himself to his feet. Standing, the ogre was well over seven feet tall and towered over everyone in the room.

“Prepare to die, you foul fiend!” shouted Cozwald, lunging at the ogre with his sword.

The ogre grunted as he tugged a cudgel from the back of his sagging pants. Wielding the nail-studded weapon, he took a step forward and knocked the prince’s sword aside with a clang. The sword flew out of Cozwald’s hand and across the room, leaving the prince defenseless. He looked desperate until he remembered the ax still tucked in the loop on his belt. Flipping his long hair out of his eyes, he stuck out his chin and shouted, “Now you will die, you horrible monster! This is a magic ax made to kill creatures like you!”

Torchlight reflected off the etching on the metal head of the ax, sparkling in a way that might have convinced Annie that it was magical if she hadn’t known better. The ogre saw the ax at the same time and took a step back as if he, too, thought that it was magic. When Lizette sobbed and threw up her hand in appeal, the ogre glanced at her, then back at Cozwald, and he growled. Raising his cudgel high, he swiped it at the prince, who swung his ax at the same time. One of the weapons would have connected if Lizette hadn’t stuck her foot out and tripped Cozwald. The prince went down and the cudgel whistled past his head.

Liam jumped into the fray now, beating the ogre back with powerful blows of his sword. It was obvious that Liam was a much better swordsman than Cozwald, who scooted out of the way as the ogre used his cudgel to ward off Liam’s blows. Annie was so wrapped up in watching them that she almost didn’t notice Lizette take a candlestick from a niche in the wall and sneak up behind Liam.

“No!” Annie shouted as the princess raised the candlestick over Liam’s head.

Annie wasn’t the only one who had seen Lizette, however, because Cozwald threw his arms around her and dragged her away from the fight. “What are you doing, Lizette?” he asked as she struggled to get free. “We’ve come to rescue you!”

“What makes you think I need to be rescued?” she asked, and stomped on his toes. Cozwald yelped and let go of the princess, who turned and brandished the candlestick in his face.

Cozwald backed away, fending her off with his hand. “Your father said an ogre had kidnapped you, yet I find you playing cards with the monster. Do you mean to say that you like it here?”

“He isn’t a monster!” said Lizette. “And I’d rather be with him than with anyone else in the world. I’m happier with Grimsby than I’ve been in my entire life.”

“But he’s an ogre!”

“Yes, and you have a head shaped like a cantaloupe, but I don’t hold that against you.”

“I do?” Cozwald said, reaching up to feel his skull.

“Grimsby is special. He makes me laugh.”

Cozwald blinked. “I know they say that no one has ever heard you laugh, but that was you laughing earlier, wasn’t it?”

“Liam,” Annie called. “I think you should hear this.”

The ogre, who had been busy fighting off Liam’s blade, seemed relieved when the young man stepped back.

“If you’d grown up the way I did, you wouldn’t laugh, either,” said Lizette. “My mother died when I was born. My nursemaid told me that my parents laughed all the time, but after my mother died my father never smiled again. When I was little, he scolded me whenever I laughed. He said that my mother died because of me and I didn’t have any right to be happy. I grew up thinking that laughter was bad. None of my suitors made me laugh, including you, and I thought I was going to be miserable for the rest of my life until I met Grimsby.”

“Where did you meet him?” asked Liam, eyeing the ogre.

“I was out riding with my ladies-in-waiting one day and we ran into Grimsby. He’d gotten pine tar on his hands and picked up a goose, which stuck to him no matter what he did. It was the funniest thing I’d ever seen and I laughed until my sides hurt. My ladies ran away screaming, but Grimsby and I became friends. When I couldn’t stand living at home any longer, the only place I wanted to go was Grimsby’s castle.”

“Does your father know this?”

“He should. Grimsby and I are engaged and I’ve already sent Father an invitation to the wedding. I doubt he’ll come, though. He’s probably embarrassed that I ran away from home to come here. I’ve been living in this castle for three weeks now and I’ve never been happier.”

Cozwald looked disappointed when he asked, “So you don’t need rescuing?”

“No, but thank you anyway,” Lizette said.

“Then I guess our work here is done,” said Cozwald. Bending his knee in a courtly bow, he added, “I wish you both well,” then turned to Liam and Annie. “Come, my friends, it’s time we go. We’ve disrupted their lives enough already.”

Annie glanced back as they were leaving the room and saw that Lizette and the ogre were holding hands. She also saw the way they were looking at each other. It was a warm, tender look and one she’d never seen before, not even on the faces of her parents, who everyone said were madly in love. It’s the look of true love, she thought. If a princess and an ogre can find it, why can’t I?

Once he’d left Lizette, all Cozwald seemed to want was to get out of the ogre’s castle as quickly as possible. “That’s the last time I help a damsel in distress,” he muttered as they hurried down the stairs to the room with the dirty table.

“At least she’s happy now,” said Annie.

“Huh!” said Cozwald. “She’s marrying an ogre! I bet their marriage doesn’t last a month.”

Annie glanced at the prince, noting the sour look on his face. “I’m sure you’re right,” she said. “She was too happy. When she gets tired of being happy, she’ll run back to her father for a good dose of miserableness.”