For Alexandra, Savannah, Brianna and Ian. May your lives be filled with adventure and wonder.
Once upon a time there was a princess named Alexandra, but everyone called her Alexan. She had long strawberry blond hair and she liked to play in the gardens of the castle where she lived. One day while she was exploring near the stone gate she found an old key. Now Alexan was a very curious little girl and wanted desperately to know what the key unlocked. She tried every door in the castle, but the key did not fit any of them. Alexan had decided she would never find the right lock, but she wore the key on a ribbon around her neck just in case.
The following spring when the fields around the castle were in bloom with bright colored flowers, Alexan ventured into the world to spend the day in the sunshine and warmth of the new season. She had never been allowed to wander the grounds without an escort. She ran through the tall grasses, chasing butterflies and clouds. Picking the smallest white daisies on the hillside, she made a crown of flowers, which she wore in her hair. She heard the church bells chiming the hour, and remembering the words of her nanny, she turned back towards the castle and started her journey home.
The castle was just over the next hill, but as Alexan got closer, a storm cloud appeared on the horizon and it started to rain. The rain came down harder and harder and Alexan could no longer see the castle in the distance. She ran towards a thicket, hoping it would shelter her from the rain. Crawling on her hands and knees, she pushed her way through to a dry spot. The wind was howling and the rains were blowing hard against the hillside. Alexan would be late and her father would be worried. She tried to hold back the tears, but she could feel them running down her cheeks. Alexan lay down in the grass and fell asleep.
When she woke, Alexan knew it was very late. The rains had stopped and the stars were beckoning from the sky. When Alexan emerged from the thicket something looked different although she couldn’t put her finger on what it was. She started to walk again in the direction of the castle, but when she topped the hill the castle was not in sight. "How strange," thought Alexan, "it should be right over this hill." Perhaps she was mistaken and had become turned around in the rain. But there in the distance she saw the river and the great willow tree, that tree should have been right outside the garden gate. Alexan began to worry. Where was the castle?
She walked towards where the castle should be. Then she realized she should be able to see the lights of the village, but they were no where in sight. "Perhaps I am dreaming," thought Alexan. She pinched her arm…"Ouch" she cried. Well she was not dreaming, and she could not explain her predicament. Then in the fields before her, she noticed a small light floating among the flowers. Guided by the moon’s light, she ran into the field. The small light looked as if it was dancing among the flowers. She watched as it settled on a daisy. As she approached, she realized it was not a light at all, but a fairy. Alexan could hear her laughing.
"Excuse me, but I seem to have lost my way," said Alexan.
The fairy was startled by the sound of another voice. "Where did you come from?" the fairy asked.
"I hid in the thicket to wait out the rain, and I must have fallen asleep. But when I awoke, I seem to have lost my way. We are standing where my home should be, the Castle of Stonegate."
"There has never been a castle here, this is the Land of the Fairies. My name is Brianna."
"I am Princess Alexandra" she replied uneasily, realizing she was very lost and uncertain of what to do.
"Well I can take you to the Queen of the Fairies, she may be able to help you," said Brianna.
"That would be wonderful, thank you so much," cried Alexan.
Off they went, Alexan following the little fairy to the edge of the field. As they grew nearer the stream, Brianna began to talk.
"I have never met anyone like you. Tell me about your home."
"I live in a beautiful land, fields of daisies as far as the eye can see, mountains and oceans, forests and meadows, and people that are loving and kind."
"It sounds like a lovely place. What do you call it?"
Tears appeared in Alexan’s eyes, as she whispered "Glendon".
"You have water on your cheeks," observed Brianna.
"Those are tears. I am sad that I may never see Glendon again. Have you never cried?" she asked.
"I don’t know what it means to cry," replied Brianna.
"Well," started Alexan, "crying is something you do when you are sad and sometimes when you are happy."
"No one is ever sad in the Land of the Fairies."
Alexan could not believe what she was hearing. They grew silent as they continued their walk to where Alexan knew not. As they walked along, she could hear the water becoming louder, and in the moonlight she saw a waterfall she had never noticed from her room high above the gardens. Brianna called to her to follow her through the falls. Amazingly she passed through without the water touching her. What was before her was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. The cave glowed in the light of all the fairies. Daisies decorated the walls and floor of the cave, and in the center of the room, a brilliant glow from the most beautiful fairy of them all. The laughter stopped as Alexan entered and whispers were heard throughout the room. The fairy that glowed so magnificently spoke in a soft voice. "Do not be afraid. We have been expecting the Princess."
Alexan was stunned. Expecting her? What ever could she have meant?
"Come sit here beside me Princess and let me tell you a story."
Alexan moved slowly, taking in the brilliant spectacle before her eyes. As she moved closer, she suddenly was not afraid and willingly accepted a seat next to the fairy.
"First I should introduce myself. I am Kara, Queen of the Fairies. We welcome you to our home. I am sure you, as everyone here, would like to know why you have come to this land. Long ago, an evil sorcerer put a spell over the Land of the Fairies and your homeland, Glenedon. It was said a fair princess was the only way the spell would be broken, and you my dear Alexan, are that princess. To break the spell you must find the Golden Chest. It contains a paper that will allow us to reverse the spell."
"I don’t understand," started Alexan, "which spell?"
"In 2 days a great storm will destroy Glendon, it has already begun, that was the rain you were caught in this evening. And to the Land of the Fairies, it will bring an emotion unknown to the fairies, sadness."
"Why would anyone want to put a spell on our lands?" questioned Alexan.
"A long time before you were born, Prince Ian and Princess Peyton were very much in love. They planned to be married, but the King’s magician, the evil Calvin, loved the princess and placed a spell over the land and over the prince and princess. When he placed the spell, he sent the princess to Glendon and the Prince is trapped here in the Land of the Fairies. She is the great willow tree crying to the stream outside your garden gate. He is the waterfall, his tears the water. If we are unable to break the spell, your Glendon will be destroyed, the Princess with it. And the sadness of the fairies will create so many tears the lands will flood and forever more be gone."
"Gracious," cried Alexan, "but what can I do?"
" Once you found a key in your garden, the one you wear around you neck". Alexan felt for the key, it was still there. "That key will guide you along the path to the Golden Box. Along your quest, you will have to use that key to unlock the clues." Kara handed a beautiful blue box to Alexan. "This is the beginning of your journey. The first clue is contained in that box. Use the key to open it, and I will send 2 fairies with you on your journey to help guide you through our land."
Alexan carefully slipped the key from the ribbon around her neck. The room grew quiet with anticipation. Slowly she placed the key in the lock and turned it. When she opened the box inside was a flower, the most beautiful flower Alexan had ever seen. Her brow creased, she looked at Kara.
"I do not understand. Is this the clue? What am I supposed to do with the flower?"
"I can not help you with the clues. You must follow them on your own. I will send Brianna and her sister Savannah to help you unlock this mystery. You three will have 2 days to find the Golden Box and restore our Kingdoms, and bring the prince and princess back together. You must begin your journey at once. We will wait for you to return, may you be successful in your quest Princess."
And with those words, Alexan, Brianna and Savannah were once again in the field of daisies, the waterfall and the Fairy Queen had disappeared. The box had also disappeared, but in Alexan’s hand was the beautiful bloom, only now it was beginning to wilt. Brianna flitted around, while Savannah remained calm, resting on Alexan’s shoulder. Brianna was well known among the fairies to be a wanderer. She loved to travel throughout the Land of the Fairies and knew her way well. Her sister Savannah did not like to explore, but she was very smart, and Kara thought of all the fairies, Savannah would be most likely to understand the clues. The three sat in the field for many minutes in silence.
Brianna spoke first. "A flower, what could that mean?"
"I have no idea" replied Alexan.
In almost a whisper Savannah asked, "Brianna in all your travels throughout our land, have you ever seen a flower like this one?"
"Once when I was playing with a dragonfly, we rested on a bush that had many thorns. We would never have stopped there had it not been for the flower that rested among its branches. It was buried deep among the thorns, but it was the most beautiful flower I have ever seen."
"Could you take us there?" asked Savannah. "Maybe that is the meaning of the clue."
Brianna took the lead; Alexan followed closely behind, Savannah still on her shoulder. The walk was a long one, and several times they had to stop while Alexan rested. More than once she said she wished she could fly like the fairies so the journey would be quicker, but the fairies didn’t seem to mind, and chatted and laughed throughout the night.
In the morning they reached the bush Brianna had described, but there was no longer a flower in the bush. In its place was a red box, glistening in the morning sunlight.
"Savannah you were right," cried Alexan, "and there is the next clue. How will we ever get the box out of the bush? Look at all those thorns."
Brianna sat in the grass teasing the ants that were out for their morning walk. Savannah was thinking as fast as she could, while she reprimanded Brie for her teasing. Savannah thought about what Brianna had said about the flower in the bush. It occurred to her that the flower might help them get the box. She flew to the Princess’s ear and whispered her idea. Alexan nodded that she understood and walked towards the bush with the flower in her outstretched hand. When she neared the bush, the flower nearly wilted began to renew itself. It grew lovely again the closer she came. At last she reached the bush, the flower in full bloom, and then something wonderful happened. The branches began to open. Carefully Alexan reached inside the bush. When she reached the middle, she removed the box and placed the flower back in its rightful place. The thorns closed in again as she removed her hand from the bush. The fairies celebrated by dancing in the wind, as Alexan once again removed the key and opened the new box.
This box contained a beautiful stone, unlike any Alexan had ever seen. It shined in the sunlight creating small rainbows in the dew on the grass.
"Well Savannah any ideas?" asked Brianna. "I have never seen a stone like that one."
"The stone itself is not the entire clue. Look at the ground what do you see?"
Brianna looked around her. The ants had long since finished their march and were building a new home. The grass blew in the breeze, the morning dew…wait a minute, the rainbows. The stone was making rainbows.
"Rainbow Rock" Savannah and Brianna chimed simultaneously.
"What is Rainbow Rock?" asked Alexan
"Rainbow Rock is where all rainbows start. They end in far away lands, much like your Glendon. It is quite a long way from here, but we can be there before nightfall," stated Brianna. The Princess slipped the key back on the ribbon, and picking up the stone, they were on their way. They stopped by the river when the sun was high in the sky and ate berries they had picked, and drank from the cool waters. They quickly became friends and passed the time traveling talking about their lives. Alexan told them stories of exploring in the gardens, while Brianna and Savannah told of playing games among the daisies. Soon they were laughing and skipping, the quest all but forgotten.
As the sun began to set, the girls reached their destination.
"I think we should spend the night here, and wait until morning to discover the next clue in our journey. We are all weary from the travel and we need the rest," said Savannah. Brianna and Alexan agreed and settled into the soft grass. They counted stars and pointed out constellations until they were all asleep. The warm winds and the long day of traveling made all three sleep soundly until morning.
The next morning, Alexan absently ran her fingers through her hair on awakening, and two very sleepy fairies tumbled from her locks. She laughed as they rubbed their eyes and protested having to be awake so early. "We must get started if we are to be able to find the clues and return on time," Alexan stated. The fairies nodded in agreement. Savannah gasped in delight, and the others followed her upward gaze. Above them was a sky full of rainbows, all beginning at the rock they had slept beneath.
"It is the most wonderful thing I have ever seen. But where is the next clue?" asked Brianna.
Once again Savannah whispered in Alexan’s ear. The Princess nodded and picking up the stone started to climb the rock. The fairy sisters flew one in front and one behind, to help guide Alexan to the top. It took an hour to reach the peak. At the top was another smaller rock, a tablet. On the tablet there were words and arrows. Brianna and Savannah waited while Alexan read the words one by one.
"Aster, Bleland, Cierra, Devlin…" The list was long and as she read, she would follow the arrow after each name to one of the rainbows produced by the rock. "Each of these names are lands and the arrows point to the rainbow that ends in that land. I learned all of these countries with my tutor," Alexan cried.
Then she came to Glendon on the list. But there was no arrow, just an odd shaped hole where the arrow should have been.
"There is no rainbow for Glendon because it must still be raining there."
Savannah flew to the stone and investigated the hole. Then her eyes lit up and she announced " the stone, the one we found, it has to be part of the clue. Try and see if perhaps it fits in the hole." Alexan removed the stone from her pocket and tried to fit it like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle, but whatever way she turned it, it did not seem to be correct.
"Wait," cried Brianna, "remember the bush? Perhaps this is the same way."
Alexan stepped back, and holding the stone in her outstretched hands, she walked towards the tablet. As she walked, the most peculiar thing occurred. Not only did the hole in the rock begin to change, so did the stone in her hand. When she reached the rock, the stone had taken the shape of a key, and the hole had become the lock in which it fit. She inserted the stone key and turned it. It turned very slowly and made a great deal of noise. Then Alexan realized it was not the key making the noise at all. The pedestal, on which the tablet rested, opened to reveal the biggest rainbow of all. It burst through the opening and in the blink of an eye the end was out of their sights.
"Now what?" asked Brianna.
"Well," began Savannah, "remember what we are looking for, the Golden Box. What do you find at the end of a rainbow?"
"Gold!" cried Alexan and Brianna.
"Exactly," stated Savannah, " so if we follow this rainbow to its end we should find the Golden Box."
The girls were excited now, and had to be careful in climbing down the rock so as not to fall. Once they were back on the ground, they picked out their rainbow and began to follow to its end. They told more stories as they skipped and giggled, happy and proud their journey was almost over. The girls were directly under the arch of the rainbow so they should be half way to the end. Savannah and Brianna pointed to the flowers and trees as they traveled, telling Alexan their names and stories of how those names came to be given. At last they topped a hill, and below them was the field of daisies where they had begun. In the center of the field was the rainbow’s end. Shining in the setting sun was the Golden Box.
Alexan ran towards the field of daisies, Brianna and Savannah flitting behind her. When they reached the box, Alexan once more slipped the key from the ribbon and turned it in the lock. Inside was a small slip of paper, brown on the edges from aging.
Alexan held it gingerly in her hand and read to Brianna and Savannah. "It says,
A flower so beautiful
A stone so bright
A field of daisies
A circle of _____
Oh no the last word has been torn off! How will we ever save the prince and princess now?" Tears began to form in Alexan’s eyes.
"Do not lose heart, maybe we can figure out the next word," comforted Savannah.
Brianna nodded in agreement. "The riddle rhymes, so the next word must rhyme with bright. Let me see… it could be right, no circle of right does not make any sense. Maybe sight no that is not it. Help me Savannah, please."
"Well there is might, plight, fight, fright, light, flight, spite, there are so many it could be, we may never find the right one," and Savannah sat down feeling defeated.
"We have to think of something, it is twilight and the day is almost over," claimed Alexan.
The sisters glanced at the other, and then at Alexan, then grabbed hands and began dancing in the daisies. Their laughter sounded like bells in the air and Alexan watched in disbelief. How could they be celebrating when they were almost out of time, with no answer to the riddle?
"Alexan you have done it. You have solved the riddle," Savannah exclaimed.
"I did? How did I do that?" asked Alexan, still puzzled.
"Twilight! That is the answer. The Circle of Twilight is a ceremony performed by the fairies each evening, but we must hurry before the sunsets." The girls raced towards the waterfall where the fairies waited. As they came closer, Alexan noticed the fairies were in a circle, Kara in the middle, and they were singing. When they noticed Alexan and the fairy sisters, the singing stopped and silence filled the air.
Kara spoke first. "Have you solved the spell?"
"The last clue was the Circle of Twilight, but I am not sure what we must do," cried Alexan.
"I think I know the answer," said Kara. She pulled from her robes the tiniest box.
"My key will never fit that lock, it is much too big," said Alexan.
"Your key doesn’t unlock this box, dear Princess. This is the box that holds the key. You must return the key to its home, and the spell should be broken." Carefully, Alexan placed the key inside. A brilliant light was released from the box, and with it the love of the prince and princess, their lives restored, and the spell broken. The fairies circled Alexan, Brianna and Savannah and began singing and dancing. Their laughter filled the night air and all was well again in the Land of the Fairies.
She asked Kara later if the box had been in her possession the entire time, why not just place the key there and the spell would have been broken without the journey. "The quest was necessary. By returning the flower, you saved the fairies from sadness. By releasing the rainbow, you brought peace to your Glendon. And by replacing the key, you returned the love and breath of life to Ian and Peyton."
In the morning, Alexan awoke in the thicket once again. She climbed through the branches and stretched. She should hurry home; her father would be worried. What a wonderful dream she had had. The Princess raced through the field of daisies towards the castle. As she reached the garden gate, her father rushed to her, arms outstretched, smothering his little girl in kisses.
"I was so worried about you. I am so happy you are home safe and sound."
Alexan hugged her father tightly. Over his shoulder she noticed the place where the willow once stood was empty. "Father, where is the willow tree? The one that use to be outside the garden wall."
"The willow tree? There has never been a willow tree outside the garden gates. Perhaps you should lie down awhile and rest. You must be tired from your adventure."
"Yes father, I must be." He picked her up to carry her to her room. She laid her head on his shoulder, reaching for the ribbon and key that should have hung around her neck. But in its place, were the daintiest chain, and a charm. She twirled it in her fingers and smiled. The charm was a beautiful daisy and on the back it read, To our new friend, Love Brianna and Savannah.
