Princess in Disguise
Read Princess in Disguise Online
Authors: E. D. Baker
This book is dedicated to Victoria Wells Arms, for her insight and guidance; to Brett Wright, who keeps me on track; to Kim, my research assistant and mapmaker; to Ellie, for her secretarial skills; to Kevin, my techno-wizard; and to my fans, who keep asking for more.
Chapter 1
“I know something you don't know!” an eerie voice whispered in a singsong way.
Annie's eyes shot open and she stared into the dark, trying to see if someone was in the room with her. Enough moonlight came through the window that she could see that her bedchamber was empty. When she spotted the disembodied head that seemed to be floating in the corner, her heart lurched. It took her a moment to recognize the face in the magic mirror. She'd had the mirror moved to the far corner only the day before and wasn't used to seeing it there.
“Oh, it's you,” Annie mumbled, and snuggled deeper under her covers. “Unless the castle is about to fall down around our ears, I don't want to hear about it. I'm getting married tomorrow and I need my rest. Don't wake me again until morning.”
“Well, if that's the way you're going to be!” the mirror declared in a huff. “I won't tell you even if you beg me to.”
“Beg you to what?” Annie murmured, nearly asleep again.
“I'm not saying,” replied the mirror, but Annie didn't hear.
She woke the next morning with the nagging feeling that the mirror had something important to say the night before. For a moment she thought about getting up and asking it, but there was a knock on the door and Lilah peeked in.
“Are you awake?” Lilah asked.
“Just barely,” Annie told her, brushing her hair back from her face. “You're up early.”
“And you should be, too,” said Lilah as she opened the door the rest of the way. She came in bearing a tray, and used her foot to push the door closed behind her. “I thought you might like some breakfast before you're too busy to eat.”
“How thoughtful!” Annie said. “But it looks as if you've brought enough for two. Would you like to join me?”
“I was hoping you'd ask,” Lilah said with a grin.
While Annie sat up and plumped the pillows behind her, Lilah carried the tray over and set it on the bed. Hiking her skirts up to her knees, she climbed onto the high mattress and reached for a biscuit.
Although everyone else thought Lilah was a servant girl, Annie knew the truth. Lilah was a runaway princess who had been hiding in Snow White's castle when Annie found and befriended her. Before Annie had brought her to Treecrest, Lilah had dressed in dirty clothes and smelly furs, hoping to hide her identity. Annie had made her bathe and wear nicer clothes, although Lilah insisted that she still had to hide among the servants.
“Are you sure I can't convince you to change your mind about coming to the wedding?” asked Annie before taking a sip of cider.
“The servants won't be there, and I don't want to stand out in any way. You've done so much for me, and I'll be forever grateful, but I still have to be careful. If anyone recognizes me and word gets back to my father, I'll have to run again. Now that I no longer look like a drudge, I worry that someone is going to recognize me every time someone new comes to the castle. When that silk merchant came from Westerling a few weeks ago, he stared at me so long and hard that I was certain he knew who I was.”
“But he didn't say anything to you, did he?” said Annie. “I'm sure you imagined it.”
Lilah shrugged. “Maybe, but I still don't want to do anything that will make me stand out.”
“If you insist,” said Annie. “Here, have another biscuit. You're too thin for your own good. I think you shouldâ”
Suddenly the door popped open and a figure no taller than Annie's knee skipped into the room. Seeing Lilah, he scratched his head and said, “I don't know much about human customs, but why is a servant sitting on your bed, Princess?”
Lilah scooted off the bed, nearly knocking over the tray.
“I dropped something and she was helping me look for it,” said Annie.
“In your bed?” said the sprite. “Were you looking at your ladybug collection? Or do you collect pretty stones? I collect both and sometimes I sort them while I'm in bed. One time I lost some of my bugs in my bed and couldn't find them for weeks. Of course, my mattress is made of moss andâ”
“Your Highness, if you are finished with your breakfast, I can take the tray for you,” Lilah said, looking flustered.
“Breakfast!” the little sprite said, his eyes lighting up. “I already ate in the great hall, but I could find room for more if you can spare it.”
He looked at the tray so longingly that Annie had to laugh. “Go ahead and help yourself, Squidge.” Glancing at the door as Lilah closed it behind her, she sighed. There was so much she'd like to do for her, if only the girl would let her.
“Mmm,” the sprite said as he swallowed a bite of biscuit. “Yours are even better than the ones downstairs.”
Annie smiled. She had met the little sprite while looking for the dwarf who had turned Gwendolyn's beloved Beldegard into a bear. They had stopped at the Moonflower Glade to talk to the fairy Moonbeam, and met her assistant, Squidge, instead. Shortly after Annie and Liam announced their wedding date, the sprite had arrived at the castle, explaining that Moonbeam was busy with her new husband and didn't need Squidge's help just then. Annie was happy to accept his offer to assist with the wedding. He had proven to be very helpful, and Annie had remarked more than once that he was a lot nicer than he had seemed in the Moonflower Glade.
Taking another biscuit, Squidge slathered jam all over it and crammed the whole thing into his mouth. He chewed it with his eyes half-closed, then glanced at Annie and said, “Why aren't you dressed already? You're not canceling the wedding, are you?”
Crumbs shot out of his mouth as he talked, landing on the coverlet. Annie moved her plate out of the way. “I would get up and get dressed if you'd leave.”
“In a minute,” said Squidge. He ate two more biscuits, gulping them down without really chewing. “As I told you before, I wanted to help with your wedding to thank you for introducing Moonbeam to her new husband. If it weren't for you, they wouldn't have fallen in love and gotten married. I've never seen Moonbeam so happy.” He made a sour face, but when he caught Annie looking at him, it turned into a smile.
“I hope you like everything I've done. I want you and Liam to have the kind of wedding you deserve. I know you've been busy, but I did what you asked me to, plus lots more. I washed all the dogs that live in the castle, I weeded the courtyard, I scrubbed the dungeon steps, I took care of the invitations, I polished the spires on the towers, I entertained the visiting children, and watered the garden every day. Say, are you going to eat that biscuit?” He licked his lips as he pointed at the one on her plate.
“Yes,” she said, and picked it up. “I really do appreciate all that you've done for us.” She took a bite, even though Squidge was staring at her mouth as she did it.
“Apparently not enough to give me that biscuit,” he grumbled under his breath. “Anyway, I came to ask if there's anything else you need me to do. I could polish the floor in the great hall or give baths to all the cats. The weather is going to be beautiful today, so the cats would dry fast.”
“That won't be necessary,” said Annie. “My wedding guests would slip if the floor was polished now, and the cats would all be in very bad moods.”
There was a knock on the door and her friend Snow White called out, “May we come in?”
“Of course,” Annie called back.
The door opened, admitting Snow White and Eleanor, a lovely young woman who had just married Annie's cousin, Ainsley. The two girls were already
dressed for Annie's wedding, and a cloud of perfume entered the room with them. Squidge raised his head to sniff the air. With his face scrunched up as if he'd smelled something bad, he hopped off the bed. “Gotta go,” he said. “Lots to do.”
Annie hardly noticed as he scurried out the door, because Snow White was already talking. “We came to see if you need help with anything.”
“Not really,” said Annie. “I think everything is under control.”
“We could help with your dress or your hair,” offered Eleanor.
Annie shook her head. “Thank you, Eleanor, but my mother wants me to come to her chamber to get dressed.”
“Oh, please don't call me Eleanor. Call me Ella like my father did. Eleanor reminds me of my stepmother. She used to call me Eleanor before she started calling me Cinderella. That goes for you, too, Snow White. I want all my friends to call me Ella.”