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

with unimpressed eyes as they came to stand in front of where he sat.

“My King,” said the general. “This is the chief of the Yarama. To thank us for our protection, he has come with a gift.”

The Yarama were trembling with fear as they stood there. He knew that one Bunyip was a scary sight for creatures such as these, and as the King, he was bigger and scarier.

“What is it?” he growled, leaning down to look the Yarama in his beady little eyes.

The little man looked down quickly and gulped. He held the thing up high. The Bunyip King leaned down and sniffed at it, then wrinkled his nose.

“It stinks of the Fae.”

The Yarama mumbled something.

“What did you say?” he asked, aggressively.

The Yarama jumped, then recovered and blurted, “A stolen potion, your kingliness, sir.”

The Bunyip King grunted, feeling irritation boiling within him.

“What does it do?” he leaned back on his throne.

“Strengthens you—”

The Bunyip King grabbed the Yarama chief in one claw and, with little effort, hurled him straight into the trees where he had come from. The other two Yarama shrieked and scattered, running at full pelt after their chief.

Bunyips around him laughed in amusement, gravelly and deep.

A potion to increase strength? What a fool! Only the spindly legged Fae needed potions made of the stinky flowers to make them strong.

But he and his army were already the strongest things in this forest. The secret sat in the cavern behind him, filling the once dark space with golden light. He didn’t even have to look at it to feel it’s magic. It was so powerful that just by holding it; he had been changed for good. The best thing was, those dratted Fae wouldn’t even see it coming. He sure had a few surprises for them.

He had just one problem to solve. Just one big issue. The endless sky. The Fae people had one unstoppable defence. Better than any wall or any army was the fact that the Fae palace sat in the middle of the sky. He could bring his entire army to the edge of that cliff, and they could roar all they wanted. But it would all be for nothing if they could not get across. He had thought of everything. A gigantic bridge, a catapult, some trick or clever way to get the Fae to come to them. But nothing he thought of would work. It made him so angry that this one tiny thing was stopping them. He had every other thing. He just needed the answer to this problem. Heat ran through him. His blood felt like hot lava through his body that was so fierce he wanted to rip up a tree and throw it over that gap to the palace. He wanted to tear down every tree in this horrible place. He wanted every Fae to leave this place. He needed it. It would be his. It was his. He and the Bunyips deserved it.

Every rock, every root, every flower, every bird. Every inch of soil was his. Those ugly tree huggers just didn’t know it yet.

As his body fizzed and boiled with anger and desperation, a pain blasted from his back. He shouted out, roaring in anger. The other Bunyips jumped up in alarm and stopped what they were doing to stare at their King.

He crumpled to the floor with a grunt. The pain faded away. In its place, he could feel something on his back. He stood up from the grass and frowned at the strange sensation. Two things twitched on his back, and he could feel them like he could feel his arms or legs. Then he noticed his people staring at him with shocked expressions.

“What is it?” he barked at his general.

General opened his mouth but nothing came out.

“What is on my back?” he shouted, twisting around to look at it.

Then he saw what had just grown from his back, and he froze. A wide smile spread across his face. Next to him, General collapsed, crying out, clawing at his own back. The Bunyip King watched him as he writhed on the grass, and could barely contain his glee.

“This is it,” he said, stepping forward and addressing his army with his arms up in the air. “We have been given the answer!”

Around him, Bunyips collapsed to the ground, clutching their backs and roaring in pain.

He was right. It was a miracle.

“Victory is ours!” shouted the general, coming to his feet, flexing his new muscles.

“Victory over the Fae!” shouted two more. The bunyips took up the chant in deep voices that shook the ground. “Victory! Victory, victory!”

8

Into the Forest

Magic is the thing that exists between this and that. It is the space between here and there. Magic is the thing that makes scientists weep and makes poets burst with joy. It is the whisper that comes before dawn and the sigh that you hear in the air after dusk.

—The Book of the Fae, Queen Mab the First, 3333 B.C.

Vidya woke up to a sharp tap on her face. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. She had fallen asleep in the library, on top of the book “The Bunyip: Sightings and Stories”. Willow was opposite her, curled up on a chair, and Lobey was sleeping on the floor, using a heavy book as a pillow. Once they had dropped Princess Sonakshi through the portal and escaped with their lives from the attacking Bunyip, they had returned to the palace and researched as much as they could about the creatures. They had gathered up every book they could find on the subject, but the Book Tree only gave them the names of the same two books. But it didn’t matter. Vidya had seen the power of the Bunyip herself. As well as his body, his eyes were strong because he had no trouble seeing them even though they’d drunk the ghostberry potion.

Pancake squeaked next to her, getting her attention.

In his paws was a messenger