Excerpt: Chapter 1

I don't remember a day in my life before the age of fifteen when Gran didn't tell me a fairy tale or adventure story. All the brave knights and dragons, wicked witches, the sleeping beauty and Cinder-Ella with their fairy godmothers—they may as well have been oxygen. But I never actually wanted to meet one. I don't think Aliya did either until the day she got jilted. Then I'm pretty sure she would have killed for a wish or two.

I might have killed for one so she'd stop crying to me.

But no fairy showed, and I was forced to be the good sister and sit with her as she sobbed and wailed and bemoaned her fate instead of sitting at Gran's feet, holding her cat Muirne and listening. I didn't mind for the first few days; she was justifiably upset. She was seventeen, and her wedding was a month away. Never mind she'd only met him a few times-she had eagerly and romantically accepted the betrothal Father had planned for her with some prince from somewhere. She'd raved about him often enough that I ought to have remembered the name, but I was fifteen and not romantic at all.

All I could remember from the times he'd come to visit was that he'd looked bored. I was bored too. Everything was so ceremonious and tedious and dull. But he should have taken more interest in his bride-to-be. I thought. She was certainly taking plenty of interest in him, refusing to budge unless he offered his arm, whispering and giggling to him constantly.

Mother thought it was adorable and said so. "You see how sweet and happy your sister is, Sabryn? You could try to be more like her."

I ignored her as I usually did when she pointed out the differences between Aliya and myself. And he looked bored. If that's what sweet and happy will do, no thanks, I thought. And then a month before the wedding, he ran away. Disappeared from his castle without a trace. His father apologized profusely, taking the blame himself, and told our father that as soon as he was found, the betrothal would be back on. But Aliya was devastated.

"He-he'd rather r-r-run aw-way than m-m-marry m-me?" she sobbed loudly into my shoulder.

"Hush, Li, I'm sure it had nothing to do with you," I murmured soothingly. "Maybe he was already secretly engaged to someone else. Maybe he felt he had to go prove himself before he would be worthy of you." I didn't believe a word of it, myself, but it seemed to help. If you'd asked me, which nobody but Aliya did and she didn't listen anyway. I'd have said he probably wanted freedom to marry someone of his own choosing. I would have done the same in his place. Aliya never understood that. When she was first betrothed, she asked me,

"Isn't this a dream come true? Don't you want this?" I told her no, I wanted to fall in love for myself. She laughed her musical laugh. "You do fall in love, silly. I'm head over heels already. Maybe you're too young to understand yet."

Maybe I was, but I think Gran agreed with me. She was strangely silent through the whole debacle, and when I slipped off to her sitting room to complain about Aliya, she didn't disagree with me. She just reminded me that my sister needed me right now, even if it required the smith's will of iron to go back to her. Reminding me of a story helped a little to make up for not telling me any, and gave me something to think about while Aliya was incoherent with grief.

Her heartache passed eventually, as it often does. She lost no bloom of youth or health, so I was sure her real sorrow was not the loss of love but of a dream. She'd seen herself as the princess in one of Gran's fairy stories for her whole life, and why shouldn't she? She was a princess, after all, and she was beautiful. Her hair was lustrous and dark, and her blue eyes were bright. and they glittered when she was excited. She was tall and slender and stunning by the age of ten. She was an adorable child, too, whom everyone delighted in. She was always the beloved center of attention.

Where did that leave me? I wasn't a glowing, delicate, delightful little angel. I might have been cute, but next to Li, who would notice? My hair didn't fall into natural ringlets like hers and refused to be coaxed. My eyes were darker and more gray, my skin was less milky, and my stature less refined. And I rarely showed enthusiasm to anyone but Gran. I learned to be serene when overshadowed by Allya's exuberance, to be intelligent where she had a pleasing personality. I formed my own personality in Aliya's shadow and only Gran noticed.

So I never wondered that Aliya saw herself as a fairy tale princess waiting for true love to come along. She got over her loss eventually, and we all went back to normal after she'd moped for a few months. My sixteenth birthday almost disappeared in the midst of it. I almost forgot the day myself, as I was so caught up in the mess of Aliya's feelings. There was a small, last-minute family party, and Gran made sure there was a cake, but it was nothing fancy. I didn't mind horribly; the bigger the party, the less I enjoyed it, and the more Aliya shone.

Mother felt terrible about the meager party, once Li had been cheered up by her own extravagant eighteenth birthday party, and was determined to make up for it by making my seventeenth something special. I asked Gran to talk her out of it, but when Mother is determined, even Gran's influence fails.

There was to be a party, and it was to be a big one. And they had a special surprise in store. Mother had a new gown made for me, leaf green with gold threads woven in. I didn't like the way gold looked on me, but green was nice, and it was better than pink, which is what Mother wanted at first. But Aliya said she wanted to wear her pink gown, and for once I was glad Li always got her own way. There was a huge banquet in the great hall, and later there would be dancing, during which young men would ask to dance with me when they'd much rather be dancing with Aliya. They'd spend the entire dance staring at her and stepping on my feet. I never looked forward to it.

But before the dancing, I sat on the dais with my family and opened their birthday gifts. I had just unwrapped the last one and was holding Gran's book of adventure stories when I saw her. She minced down the red carpet toward the dais, her bubblegum pink wings looking much too small to allow her to fly. Her voluminous skirts made her look like an enormous, upside-down, frothy cupcake. I stared, open-mouthed. Mother said something about her excitement, but I didn't hear her.

"A real fairy," Aliya breathed beside me.

The fairy opened her mouth and said, in a high-pitched squeak, "For your birthday, your highness, I've come to bestow a gift."

"No, really, you don't have to," I stammered, suddenly feeling very sure that I would have lived my whole life happily if I'd never met a fairy, and now I'd lost that chance,

"I insist" the cupcake squeaked. "1 give you the gift of fair speech: every word you say will be a jewel." She smiled widely, giggled, and disappeared with a small pop.

"Thank…you?" I said. And froze, There was something—two somethings-small and hard in my mouth. "What—?" Three somethings.

Every eye was on me. I spat delicately into my hand. Two emeralds and a ruby lay glittering on my palm. I gasped. So did the rest of my family, all of whom were leaning over me to get a better look. I suddenly felt smothered, breathless, claustrophobic. I pushed Aliya away, picked up my skirts, and ran from the great hall. I didn't stop until I was at the top of the north tower. There, I collapsed on the cold stone floor and gasped for breath. my gasps becoming sobs. I cried until I my eyes felt like they would fall out, then sniffed and hiccupped.

I sat in the tower with my back against the cold wall for hours, hugging my knees and not caring that my new green dress was ruined. At length I could begin to notice things outside myself. The first thing I noticed was the book Gran had given me. I'd been holding it when the fairy appeared, and had carried it with me, unaware. Now I picked it up and stroked the smooth leather cover, tracing the gold embossed letters with my finger. The Book of Adventures. I opened it slowly to the first story: "Halla's Dragon."

"H—" I began, and clapped a hand over my mouth. I had gotten used to reading books aloud to Gran when her voice got tired from telling stories or singing old ballads. I'd even consented to take music lessons so i could sing the songs she taught me, but I never achieved more than passable skill, and I much preferred to listen. But now I could not read my book aloud, and the words seemed flat and empty on the page without a human voice to give them life. I closed the book with a sigh.

When the last hints of the sun were gone from the midsummer sky and I could no longer tell the color of my dress, I got up and opened the tower door. There were no torches on the stairs, so I felt my way down them with one hand on the wall. I hoped my parents were already in their own rooms for the night. I couldn't hide that I'd been crying, and I couldn't pretend to be happy.

But my birthday didn't seem eager to cater to my wishes. Mother and Father were seated on the sofa in my sitting room and looked up as l pushed open the door. Aliya was on the window seat. She jumped up when I entered, all traces of the languishing, jilted bride-to-be gone.

"Oh, isn't it marvelous!" she exclaimed. "A gift from a real fairy! And such an extraordinary one!"

I nodded with as much of a smile as I could manage. Aliya looked at me expectantly. "Incredible," I said. A diamond.

"I'm disappointed with your behavior," Mother said. "Running out like that after our special surprise—it's a good thing your father and I aren't easily offended."

"I'm sorry," I said, and caught these two. I knew perfectly well that Mother was easily offended, so I had to brave the apology. "I was overwhelmed and needed time." Six more.

"We understand, dear," Mother smiled. "It was an extravagant gift."

I nodded.

We'll be dealing with irate nobles now, who finally attended a royal birthday only to see the celebrated princess run away," Father said, but he was smiling. "But no matter. We'll be getting dozens of petitions for your hand once word of this gets out."

The way he said it, I knew he hadn't expected many without added inducement.

I nodded again and hoped they would all go away. They clearly weren't thinking the same thing.

"You don't seem excited," Aliya said. "Why not? It's a wonderful gift."

I restrained a disgusted glare and said only, "I—don't know where to put them." My words became a little garbled as stone after precious stone got in the way. I now had a handful.

"Oh, I have just the thing!" Aliya handed me an embroidered pink silk drawstring purse. "I've been saving it for something special, and I want you to have it." When she smiled, her cheeks glowed and her teeth sparkled white. I barely managed more than a grimace.

Taking the purse, I deposited the stones inside. "Thank you," I said and put these in too. "Now, please, it's been an eventful day..."

"And you're tired," Mother said, rising from the couch. "Of course, dear." She kissed me, followed by Father and Aliya. "Happy birthday."

"Goodnight," I said.

The door shut behind them. I pulled the drawstring closed and tossed the purse onto a chair. I stared at it for a moment, then threw all the hideous pink and purple embroidered pillows Aliya had made for me over the years on top of it. I turned away, struggled out of my dress and climbed into bed.

Gran came in a little while later and set Muirne on my feet. The cat twined her way up to just below my chin, circled, lay down, and began to purr. Gran looked at the mountain of pillows and gave a wry laugh. She sat on the edge of my bed.

"Today's been something, hasn't it?" she said. "No, don't answer. I think it's best if you talk as little as possible."

I nodded in relief.

“Fairies are unpredictable and often thoughtless. We don't know where these stones are coming from, and most likely that fairy hasn't got a clue. But they have to come from somewhere, and I don't like it." She frowned.

"What if—" I said, and mimed talking in my sleep. Then I mimed choking, or tossing and turning on small, uncomfortable rocks. I placed the two new stones on my bedside table.

"Mmm," Gran murmured. "I hadn't thought of that. You don't, do you?"

I shrugged. No one had ever caught me, and I'd never woken myself up.

"Well, let's hope for the best." Gran smiled sympathetically and patted my hand. "You get some sleep now, love. I'll do my best to figure something out. We need to get you back to normal before your father sells you off."

I closed my eyes as Gran left but couldn't fall asleep. I was only dozing fitfully when she came in to wake me up.

"What time—?" I mumbled without thinking and nearly choked. I spat the stones onto my pillow.

"There's a wizard in Grenlac," Gran murmured. She was carrying a scuffed leather bag that I only recognized from her stories. It looked like she'd already started packing it for me. "His name is Mercys. If you leave now, you'll be there in a week."

I pushed Muirne off and sat up. Was I going alone?

"Yes," Gran said, predicting my unasked question. "You're less likely to be followed and found right away if you go alone. Put on your plainest dress—I couldn't get a servant's dress so late without people asking questions."

I silently did as she said. I didn't have many plain dresses. The one I settled on was thick with embroidery and a richer chocolate color than any common person would wear, but it was the best I could do. I took the next plainest, a dark sage, and stuffed it in the leather pack, and added a pewter-gray wool shawl to the pile. Then I dug through my closet to find my favorite, most comfortable, least presentable walking boots and put them on.

While I laced them, Gran sat at my writing desk and scribbled a map onto a blank sheet of paper. When I stood up, she handed it to me. I looked it over, nodded, and slipped the folded page inside the cover of my birthday book. I was taking that with me, since I couldn't take Gran and Muire themselves.

"I don't need to tell you this," Gran said, "but don't give anyone your real name."

I'd heard enough of her stories and read enough adventures to know better than that. There was no knowing who I'd meet, and no one but the wizard needed to know I was a princess. Besides, I didn't want word to get back to my parents until the spell had been lifted.

"I love you, Saby," Gran said, kissing my cheek and giving me a hug. I hugged her tightly back. "Now it's time to go before anyone begins to wake up."

She stole with me through dark, empty corridors to the courtyard and let me out through the small kitchen gate which opened onto a path that would take me directly to the main road. I looked back a couple of times and saw her watching. The third time I looked it was too dark to see her. The sky was blacker than I'd imagined black could be. I shivered and pulled my shawl around me. I was really on an adventure. I thought of what Gran's stories would say if I were in one: And so began Princess Sabryn's quest for a wizard, I thought, with nothing but a map, a book...and a vocabulary of stone.