Pumpkin Patch Princess

CHAPTER ELEVEN: Excuse Me... HOW Many Dancing Princesses?!

I spent the last night of Trainee Week packing and saying goodbye to my new friends, and by the following morning, I was ready to accompany Maud on my first mission. We would be taking one of the C.A.F.E. carriages, a dainty gold-and-white confection pulled by four dappled grays. It hardly looked strong enough to withstand the cornfields of Indigo, let alone the rocky terrain of Viridian, where we were going.

"Appearances can be deceiving," Maud said brightly, when I told her this. "C.A.F.E. vehicles are much tougher than you think, and so are the horses."

I climbed into the sky-blue interior and wasn't surprised to see Alfonso in his carrier, but he wasn't alone. Muffet lounged on a velvet cushion nearby.

"I've decided to accompany you," he informed me. "Valentine said it would be all right, and a little vacation is just what I need to feel better." He looked as healthy as could be, but I didn't point that out.

Maud finishing securing our bags to the top of the carriage and joined us, taking a seat beside Alfonso. She pounded on the ceiling twice. "Let's go, boys!" she called, and the horses began pulling out of the gates.

"Tell me about this client in Viridian," I said, as we entered traffic. "Is she a princess?"

"He's a prince," Maud replied. "He's in love with a princess, but . . . she needs a little convincing. That's where you and I come in."

I raised my eyebrows. "Are we going to cast a spell on her?"

"Oh, Noelle, no one can do that!" My trainer laughed. "We're just going to help Peter look more like an attractive choice to her, that's all. You'll see when we get there."

She predicted that the journey would take just about an hour, which flew by thanks to the company. Muffet regaled us with tales of his early days at C.A.F.E., though he still avoided mentioning anything about his previous life. My trainer reminisced about her own internship. Even Alfonso seemed to be in a good mood and didn't glare at me once.

Before we knew it, we had reached our destination. The moment I saw Viridian, I realized how silly I had been to think that all of Finale was beautiful and picturesque. Sixteen years of seeing nothing but Indigo had made me romanticize the other kingdoms.

This place looked like a barren brown wasteland. There were a few scraggly trees here and there, but the kingdom appeared to be mostly dirt-covered mountains. I spotted a wooden castle sitting atop one of the peaks, at the foot of which was a somber little village.

"What a depressing place," Muffet remarked. "Someone told me they have excellent catnip here. Maybe they were exaggerating."

"Where are the goblin caves?" I asked, my eyes sweeping the mountaintops.

"Oh, you'll see them before long. They're scattered all over the cliffs beneath the castle. But first, we're going in here." Maud pounded on the ceiling again and the carriage stopped in front of a rundown inn with a rickety, illegible sign. "Peter's waiting for us."

Alfonso and Muffet seemed unwilling to leave the carriage, so my trainer and I entered by ourselves. It was a smoky, low-ceilinged place dimly lit by several fireplaces, despite the humid weather. A couple of questionable-looking characters drank from large tankards and threw unfriendly glances at Maud, who looked more out-of-place than ever in her leather ensemble.

A sullen, straggly-haired woman looked up from the bar. "What can I get you?"

"Nothing, thanks. We're just meeting a friend," Maud told her, gesturing to a booth in the corner, where a boy slightly older than me sat alone. He was in the middle of sipping ale and choked on it when he recognized Maud. He jumped to his feet, sloshing stale beer down the front of his tunic, his eyes darting nervously to me as he shook her hand.