The Princess Test

Chapter 9

By dinnertime the flood of princesses had slowed to a trickle.  Around ten o'clock it stopped.  Seventy-nine princesses had come.

Queen Hermione set aside a wing of the castle just for them.  Tonight they would sleep in ordinary beds with only one mattress and no pea.  Tomorrow the tests would begin.  Tomorrow night would be the final exam for those who had passed all the other tests.  The mattress and pea test.  The test that the Chief Royal Chambermaid was sure nobody could pass.

Prince Nicholas was beside himself.  What was he going to do?  And where was Lorelei?

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Lorelei was flat on her face in the forest.  She had tripped over a tree root, and she was too tired to get up.  Too tired to do anything except sneeze.

But she had to get back to the village and form a search party.  She stood and picked up the picnic basket and blanket.  Her gown and face were covered with mud and dead leaves.  Well, the rain would clean off her face.  And the gown didn't matter, since she hadn't had a chance to embroider anything on it yet.

She heard something.  She stood still and fought back a sneeze.  There it was again.  A snuffling noise.  Trudy!  She opened her mouth to yell.  But wait.  What if it wasn't Trudy.  What if it was-

Lorelei had never climbed a tree in her life.  But she climbed one now.  One second she was on the ground.  The next she was twelve feet up.

A bear crashed through the bushes.  She sneezed.  Oh no!  He was going to find her!

But he passed right by, in a big hurry.  He didn't even look up.  He was probably going to his nice warm cave.  Lucky bear.

Lorelei climbed down from the tree and stumbled on.  "Achoo!"  Hang on, Trudy, she thought.  Hang on.  I'm coming.

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Nicholas couldn't sleep.  He paced up and down in his room.  He didn't want to marry anyone but Lorelei.  He didn't care about having a princess for a bride.  As soon as he married her, Lorelei would be a princess anyway.  So what was the difference?

He wouldn't even care that much about becoming a king someday, if Archduke Percy wasn't such a monster.

The wind howled in the forest beyond the moat.  He looked out his window.  Sheets of rain poured down.  Wherever Lorelei had been today, she'd have to be home by now.  He wished he could peek in her window and see her, warm and dry and fast asleep, in an embroidered nightgown.

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Had she seen a light?  Way up ahead?  So much water was coming down, it was hard to keep her eyes open.  "Achoo!"

Lightning flashed, and Lorelei saw a castle.  Towers and battlements, dark against the yellow-gray sky.

Who lived there?  A royal family?  A troll family?  Ogres?  An evil magician?  Maybe she should stay in the forest.  "Achoo!"  No.  She had to go on.  For Trudy's sake.

She hurried across the drawbridge.  "Achoo!"  It would be dry inside.  She'd be out of the wind.  If the owner was an ogre and he decided to eat her, she'd warm up while she roasted.  And if he was a decent ogre, he might even let her take a bath before he cooked her.

She knocked on the thick oak doors.  The Chief Royal Night Watchman opened them.  A dripping muddy maiden stood there.  Another princess?  She didn't look like much.  But he had his orders, and he let her into the great hall.  "Wait here," he barked.

Nicholas had seen the small figure cross the drawbridge.  Another one, he thought.  His parents weren't going to like having to get up in the middle of the night for her.  He grinned sourly.  They'd be sorry they hadn't put in a test for coming in the daytime.

He met his parents on the circular stairway to the great hall where the maiden stood shivering and sneezing.

He couldn't believe it.  It was Lorelei!  What was she doing here?

Lorelei watched them come down the stairs.  They weren't ogres and trolls.  One of them even looked familiar.  It was that nice Prince Nicholas.  Lorelei's heart lurched a little.

She curtsied deeply.  She sneezed and wobbled and almost fell over.

They have kind faces, Lorelei thought, but they looked annoyed.  Except the prince.  He looks glad to see me.  She sent him a special smile.  And then she sneezed.

"Who are you?" King Humphrey boomed.  "Which one are you?"

"I am-achoo!-Lorelei.  You see-achoo!-I got-"

"Another princess," Nicholas interrupted loudly.  "There's always room for one more."  He winked at Lorelei, hoping she'd see and go along.  Hoping his parents wouldn't see.  "Who knows?" he added.  "She might be the one to pass the princess tests."

Lorelei saw the wink.  He wanted her to pretend to be a princess?  She could, if he wanted her to.  But why?

She curtsied again.  "I am Princess Lorelei.  Achoo!"