“Rustam!” Xylaurel shouted as she walked down the long, dark gray-stoned hallway to find her son. She saw servants bustling about for their guests' arrival. Some were putting fresh candles in the chandeliers and candelabras, and in front of the large statues to light up the usually dim halls. Others were dusting off the statues and small tables as a few maids swept the floors. “Where is that boy?”

One of the maids bowed to her. “Forgive me, Your Majesty. I couldn’t help but hear you’re looking for Prince Rustam. I saw him in the library with the court wizard’s granddaughter and Lord Daelyniel a few hours ago.”

The queen shook her head with a smile. “I should’ve known. They’re probably still there. Thank you.” She headed to the library and prayed that her son would be there. 

It’d been ten years since her sons were born. Ten years since the last troll attack. And ten years since her sister became a mother too. She and the others were surprised when Melita came back with a baby Pixie boy in her arms. After explaining that she promised his mother to care for him, Luvern happily accepted the boy as their own. Xylaurel was happy that her sister finally became a mother like she always wanted. Daelyniel was a welcomed addition, even if some Dwarves in the council didn’t like the idea of a Fey being part of the royal family.

Melita would visit often with him so he could get to know his cousins. As the little ones got older, Rexus and Rhodaph would stick together while Rustam and Daelyniel played together. She frowned as she thought about her youngest boy.

Even though he ate the same amount as his brothers and did the same training, he was still much smaller and weaker than them. Oren regularly checked on him and assured her Rustam was healthy. He assumed this was because the boy was so small when he was born. He was already different from his brothers in so many ways. He preferred reading and studying magic with Oren and his granddaughter, Ignacia. Even though she encouraged Padraig to take Rustam with him to council meetings, he rarely did since Rexus was the next in line and Rhodaph was after him. As the third prince, Rustam didn’t have all the responsibilities his brothers had.

“Sister!”

Xylaurel blinked and looked behind her to see Melita rushing over. “If you’re looking for your son, he and Rustam are in the library with Ignacia.”

Melita shook her head as they walked there. “Think they’re reading books about adventure and magic again?”

“Of course,” Xylaurel replied. “Rustam reads during his free time if he’s not bothering Sir Oren. He and Ignacia are unusually bothering the poor old man. He shows great patience even though he barely has a moment of peace.”

“And Daelyniel is usually with them whenever we visit. I’m surprised Oren hasn’t found a hiding place yet,” Melita laughed.

Just as they reached the library, an explosion happened, and the scholars ran out coughing from all the smoke. The two women hurried over to them. “What happened here?” Xylaurel asked.

The scholar coughed a few more times before answering. “I-I don’t know, Your Majesty! All I did was open a note from the court wizard’s granddaughter. She gave it to me an hour and a half ago before they left and it exploded.”

The sisters paled and gave each other knowing looks. “Tell us…did you say something about the girl’s hat or the lime charm that hangs off it?” Melita asked.

“I-I said she should get a smaller hat,” the scholar replied timidly. “The hat she wears is far too big for her!”

“Everyone knows it’s too big for her, you nitwit!” Xylaurel shouted. “But the girl loves it and does this when she feels insulted!” She looked at the approaching guards. “Find Rustam, Daelyniel, and Ignacia!”

Melita sighed as she shook her head. “They’re only kids. Surely they didn't go too far?”

“We were really far from the castle,” fretted Daelyniel. His lilac eyes looked around anxiously as if he expected his mother to appear out of thin air and berate him. “Our mothers are going to kill us.”

“My mother is doing business on another continent,” Ignacia pointed out without looking away from her book as she tucked a strand of her wavy, dark blonde hair behind her ear.

“Mother will kill me if I greet the prince of the Eastern Leaflet and his family like this,” Rustam said and looked at his dirty clothes. He’d meant to change after sword training, but he wanted to find something to give the prince’s daughter when they arrived. Wanting to make the family welcome, King Padraig tasked his sons with buying gifts for them and gave them gold to do so. Rexus and Rhodaph had quickly spent their gold on some little trinkets they found at the market, but Rustam didn’t find anything. He asked Ignacia’s grandmother, who worked at the forge, if she could make three gold circlets that he drew designs for and the woman agreed. The conditions were he would pay her the gold given to him, stop by at the end of the workday to help clean up for the next three months, and find the gems himself. He’d spent the past two months finding the perfect gems and now he’d found the last one. 

“Can’t this thing go any faster, Igy?” Daelyniel asked. When the eight-year-old girl didn’t respond, he looked over at her and saw her reading. He flicked her hat and laughed when she dropped her book and glared at him. “Make this thing go faster, dummy! We’re going to be in so much trouble if they catch us.”

Ignacia readjusted her hat and puffed her cheeks. “We’re already in trouble, you dung head! And no! I can’t make it go faster!”

Rustam looked down at the object they were sitting on and sighed. “Did you…have to make it so big? And did you have to use your lime charm?” He saw farmers looking and pointing at them as they floated by their fields, and other people walking on the path looked up at them in confusion.

“I’m still learning how to control size!” Ignacia snapped and narrowed her peridot green eyes. “And yes! It’s soft and comfortable! What was I supposed to use? A rock? That’s stupid.”

Daelyniel sighed and scratched the back of his head. “Because a giant floating lime plush isn’t stupid?” He put his hand on her head to keep her away as she tried to hit him. Times like this made him grateful for his Pixie-Fairy-Human blood since they gave him longer arms. He just had to keep this up until Ignacia tired herself out.

“RUSTAM SCALE-SINGER!” a voice yelled below.

The kids looked down and saw King Padraig on his horse with Luvern, and Oren on their own horses next to him. There were some carriages behind them with Nymph and Dwarven guards all around them. Rustam laughed nervously as he waved down at them. “Hello, Father!”

“Daelyniel Oaken-Heart, what are you three doing on top of that…is that a toy lime?” Luvern asked in bewilderment.

“Yes, it's a lime! We’re going back to the castle!” Daelyniel shouted. “We’ll see you there!”

“Great job with your magic, Ignacia!” Oren yelled proudly. “Is that the lime charm I bought you?”

“It is, grandfather! Look how big I made it!” Ignacia beamed.

“Excellent work! We'll practice levitation magic more so you can go faster!” Oren told her.

The little girl waved to her grandfather as they floated away. “They didn’t seem too mad.”

Rustam and Daelyniel looked at each other and shook their heads. “You’re not in trouble, but we are,” Rustam said. “Hopefully my father won’t be too mad when I tell him I was looking for a gift.” He pulled a small bag out of his pack and looked at the precious gem they’d found. Rustam felt lucky to have found a rare black opal. Though called a black opal, it looked maroon along the edges with a dark blue center at first glance. But if he moved it around in the light, he could see the multiple colors within it. He just hoped that the Eastern Leaflet royal family loved it.

A strange sound caught his attention as he put the gem back in his pack. He looked around and didn’t see anything unusual. “Did you hear that?”

The other kids shook their heads. “I didn't hear anything,” Daelyniel answered.

“Me neither,” Ignacia replied.

Rustam heard it again, but it sounded closer. “I swear I heard something. It sounded like a roar…” He looked to the right and squinted when he saw something far away in the sky. “What is that?”

They looked where he was looking and saw the mysterious thing. “That looks too big to be a bird,” Daelyniel mumbled.

Ignacia quickly pulled out her small telescope from her pack and looked at the object. She nearly dropped it out when she realized what was flying toward them. “Dragon!”

“A dragon!?” Rustam shouted and took her telescope. A gray dragon that looked like it was covered in some mysterious black webbed material was flying in their direction. He never heard of a dragon that looked like this one.

Ignacia focused on lowering the large floating charm and making it small again. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she concentrated on getting her and her friends down safely. This was the first she had to concentrate on dispelling two spells at once and trying to do it faster than she normally does. 

The dragon roared again as it got closer and locked in on the trio.

“Igy…,” Daelyniel worried.

Rustam watched the dragon open its mouth and fire forming in the back of it. “Igy, get us down faster!”

The little girl gasped as her concentration broke and accidentally dispelled all the magic in her charm. The giant plush went back to its normal size and all three fell just as a large fireball went past them. 

Rustam grunted as he hit the ground and saw his friends fall not too far from him. Luckily, they weren’t too high, but the fall still hurt. Rustam ran over to his cousin and friend just as the dragon flew over them. Daelyniel looked stunned but he was moving, unlike Ignacia, who wasn’t moving at all. “Igy!”

The little girl’s normally fair skin was now deathly pale and her nose was bleeding. Her hair stuck to her sweaty face and she was struggling to catch her breath. Daelyniel attached her charm to her hat, knowing their friend would kill them if it got lost. He grabbed her arms and put them over his shoulders as Rustam helped him wrap her legs around his waist. “Let’s head back to our fathers!”

The two of them ran down the road to where their fathers were. Rustam looked up to see where the dragon was, but didn’t see anything. “Do you think it’ll come after us?”

“We’re not waiting to find out!” Daelyniel exclaimed as a shadow flew over them. “Now, run!”