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

“I’m foolish and I’m selfish.

I till the soil and dig the land

And will fulfil your every wish

All the earth I do command

Come at me with your best

And I’ll chop you up

Good and fresh.”

The four kids and Pancake stared at him, then stared back at the lightening sky. How long do they have? Vidya thought. Her mind raced. This was not going to be easy. She had no idea what the answer to the riddle was. And by the looks on their stunned faces, the others didn’t know either.

“By my estimate,” said the Leaf Master, clasping his claws in front of him. “You have fifteen minutes.”

Lotus and the others gaped at each other. Vidya turned her back on the Riddle Master and led them a few steps away, huddling the four of them and Pancake together in a circle.

“How do we get out of this?” hissed Willow. “Does anyone know the answer?”

“I say we just run,” hissed Lotus. “Just bolt up into the air and shoot away above the treetops. He can clearly follow us on the ground, but’ll be much faster in the sky.”

Vidya nodded, considering that plan might very well work.

“But our noses,” said Lily. “We need them back.”

That was also a good point. If they just escaped, they would have to leave their noses behind. But if they got the riddle wrong, or didn’t answer on time, everything was lost and the whole plan fell apart. Vidya imagined Lobey, the triplets, and Daisy waiting anxiously for them back home, all sitting in the library, peering out the window for any sign of their return. She imagined baby Mahiya asleep safe and sound in her cot, blissfully unaware of what her big sister was doing. Everyone was relying on them to come back and get this right. They couldn’t fail, they just couldn’t.

“I say we take him down,” hissed Vidya. “There are five of us and four of them. We could do it.”

She was met with silence.

“You mean attack him?” asked Lily incredulously. “But, Vidya—”

“I agree,” said Lotus. “I think that’s our way out.”

“But how?” asked Willow. “He’s some sort of powerful creature, that’s for sure.”

“Powerful or not, he looks like he can take an arrow just like any other animal,” said Lotus. “Will, how many of the frogs do you think you can take out quickly?”

Willow’s jaw clenched.

“There’s no other way out of this, Will,” she reminded him gently.

“I don’t like it,” he said. “But I’m quick. I can probably do them all within five seconds.”

“No,” Vidya shook her head, changing her mind. “I want Will to focus on the Leaf Master, since he is our best bowman. There are three of us left. Each one of us will take a frog each. I’ll take the biggest.”

The others nodded. Next to Willow, Vidya was the best archer.

“When I give the signal,” Vidya whispered. “Take out your target. Lotus, you’re the fastest on your feet, you and Will get back our noses, and we’ll fly off into the sky.”

“Five minutes left!” droned the Leaf Master behind them, making them all jump.

“I’ve put a few flowers in my bag,” whispered Lily. “And some of the oily liquid. So we don’t have to worry about that.”

Vidya nodded and turned, walking toward the koala. He smiled in an unkind way down at her. Vidya felt Pancake clutching at the inside of her pocket very tightly.

She cleared her throat.

“Why noses?” asked Vidya, trying to buy time.

The Leaf Master gave her a smile that said he knew exactly what she was doing. Then he tilted his chin and answered.

“I collect the noses as taxes from the Yarama. Eating Fae noses is how I’ve lived for so long,” he pulled out a nose from his pocket and gave it an appreciative squeeze. “You can also learn a lot about a person just from their nose.”

Vidya tried to make out whose nose it was, but she couldn’t tell from this far. It could have been any one of theirs.

“See now, this nose, tells me this person is rather fickle minded. Always going this way or that, never in one direction.” He moved the nose to his other claw and fished back into the same pocket, bringing out a slightly smaller one. His eyes met Vidya’s, and he smiled at her meaningfully. “Now this one is a queenly nose, but there is something—” he shrugged, and it put the two noses back into the pocket.

“What?” blurted Vidya, thoroughly embarrassed she’d asked.

The Leaf Master’s smile faded, and he regarded her seriously. “A decision must be made, Fae Queen.” He abruptly turned in his saddle and pointed at the sky. “Decide on your answer, children, or into pieces you’ll become.”

Vidya felt everything suddenly come into sharp focus as she looked into the pink sky the same colour as her mothers’ hair. The Bunyip King would launch his attack in just two nights, the night of the new moon. There was no time. She needed bring the fire flower back to the palace and bring the magic back to the Flower of Awakening. The answer came to her as quick as lightning.

“The answer to your Riddle, is the Bunyip King,” sneered Vidya. “GO!” she screamed.

Vidya darted out of the way and drew an arrow, quickly loosening it at the huge toad. She got him right in the shoulder, and he let out a roar of pain.

The Leaf Master groaned from on top of the toad and slid off it with a thump, Willow’s arrow lodged right smack bang in his shoulder. Two arrows quickly followed, Lily missed her frog, but Willow launched a second arrow, shooting through the frog’s hand so he was pinned to the ground. The other smaller frog had fallen over and was now still.

Lotus’ yellow form darted forward, with Willow close behind. They crouched over the Leaf Master and fished in his pocket.

“You won’t get away with this…” he rasped from the ground, clutching his tummy.

Lotus held the bundle of noses in