The Fae Princess (The Pacific Princesses Book 2) Ektaa Bali (free ebook reader txt) 📖

they had ever heard, they pulled up the covers of Sonakshi’s bed, and all fell asleep.

The next morning, King Deven took the three of them down the long stairs that led below the castle, into the dark of the dungeons. Rowen tightly clutched onto Kiera’s hand. He had been locked up in Mankini’s dungeon in Fiji for days, and seeing these dungeons reminded him about that awful time.

Sonakshi was thinking about her own feelings. Batuman had helped Mankini do some horrible things, including lie to her and kidnap Rowen. He had also hurt people, including herself and her grandfather. The old bat had cried the entire way from Fiji, mourning the loss of his Mistress. He and Mankini had been together for a hundred years, so it was fair that he would be upset about the whole thing. But Sonakshi wasn’t entirely sure he was deserving of a life imprisonment for his crimes either, there was magic keeping him alive for an artificially long time after all. Mankini might have died, but her magic had lived on. Who knows how long he would live for? Did he deserve forever in this jail cell? They took him out once a day for walks, but he was not allowed to fly. Sonakshi imagined being told that she could never ever fly again and shivered at the thought. There would be nothing worse, she decided. Flying was who she was.

They followed her father down a long dark corridor, past a line of three empty cells. They kept Batuman in the last one.

They found him lying on his tiny bed made of soft linen. He had propped himself up with pillows and was engrossed in an old book. A bowl of water was off to one side, and a punnet of berries. When he saw the group step in front of his cell, he gasped and jumped off his bed, dropping the book to the floor with a clatter.

“Princess Sonakshi!” he cried, waddling up to the bars of the cell. He clasped his hands in front of him, bowing low. “Your majesty.”

The children stood in a line against the bars of the cell, King Devin took a seat on a stool just behind them.

“Oh, little Rowen, and friend too!” he said lightly.

“Hello Batuman,” said Sonakshi in a quiet voice.

Kiera and Rowen remained silent, glowering at him. Neither had quite forgiven him for his part in Rowen’s kidnapping and Sonakshi’s near death.

“Oh, hello Unicorn Princess, Batuman is so happy that you’ve come to see him!” Batuman bounced on the balls of his feet.

“Are you well, Batuman?”

“Oh yes, your Majesty, very well in this dark dungeon. The guards bring me little fruits to eat. And Scotch Finger biscuits. Yes, those are Batuman’s favourites.”

Sonakshi nodded. “Well, we’ve come to see you because we need your help.”

“Oh yes?” He clapped his hands eagerly. “Batuman is happy to help however he can.”

“My father has found something in Mankini’s documents. She mentions the Bunyips quite a bit.”

Batuman’s face fell, the corners of his mouth drooping. He stopped bouncing on his feet and became rather still.

“Oh dear. Yes. That.”

“That?” asked Sonakshi, nervously toying with the metal bar in front of her.

“I mean… Batuman knows nothing!” he squeezed his black lips hard together and shook his head so vigorously back-and-forth Sonakshi thought he might do some damage to his brain.

“Batuman,” she cooed disapprovingly. “Please tell us what you know.”

The old bat sighed, looking at his feet, his tiny round belly expanding like a balloon as he breathed in and out. “Batuman does not know what to say.”

“Start with the truth!” Kiera slapped the bars with a hand, her temper getting the better of her.

Batuman jumped back in shock. “Excuse me!”

“Batuman,” hissed Kiera, fists clenched, turning the colour of a strawberry. “Do not think we have forgotten what you did to Rowen!” She pressed her face against the cold iron bars. “You owe us.”

Batuman burst into tears. “B- Batuman is s-sorry!”

He wailed and threw himself face first onto the floor.

Kiera scoffed and pulled Rowen back to go and stand further away with King Deven, who put a reassuring arm around the little boy.

“Come on, Batuman,” said Sonakshi gently. “Kiera is correct, we have the right to know everything.”

Batuman quietened and pulled himself off the floor with a huff and a rather long groan. He wiped his eyes and sniffed, staring up at Sonakshi.

“Batuman is really sorry, unicorn Princess. He will serve you now.”

Sonakshi nodded and gave him a small smile.

“Now, why would Mankini be writing about Bunyips in her books? They are native to Australia, right? Not Fiji.”

Batuman nodded earnestly.

“Don’t think that a powerful person like Mankini springs up out of nowhere,” he said in a thick voice. “She comes from a long line of dark witches. When witches have children, sometimes they turn out a bit… different.”

“Like a slippery man-eating beast different?” called Kiera from behind Sonakshi.

Batuman ignored her.

“Mankini has two brothers. The elder one happens to be called the Bunyip King.”

An icy fist took hold of Sonakshi’s heart. The Bunyip King.

“But there have not been Bunyips sighted for decades,” said King Deven.

Batuman nodded.

“Ahh, yes. And did anyone wonder why that is?” Batuman held up a fat finger. “How did the Bunyips go from gobbling up humans left right and centre, to just—” he clicked his batty fingers. “Nothing. The answer, your unicorn highness… is. The. Fae.”

Sonakshi frowned. Where was this story going?

“The Fae are the custodians of the land. They keep the balance. When they saw how powerful the terrifying Bunyips were getting, how many humans were getting eaten, they had to do something.”

Sonakshi glanced back at her father, who was frowning at Batuman now.

“With the help of the Queen of the merpeople,” said Batuman, stepping forward. “Princess Vidya’s grandfather, King Fern, rounded up all the Bunyips.”

He paused for effect.

“But the Fae do not harm living things,” he jeered. “So they did the cleverest thing. They locked up the Bunyips and their King, in a cave in the Fae