The Sleeping Beauty's Prince

Chapter Three

It was known throughout many of the seventeen kingdoms that the fairy Lumbia lived somewhere in Alton Woods in the part where no sun shone through the trees. After all, her important station as a patron fairy of sleep and dreams made it so many people took care to keep track of her.

But Prince Owen still had a problem. He knew where the Alton Woods were, and he knew Lumbia lived somewhere in them, but the place "where no sun shone through the trees" was very vague. He had assumed that it was near the center, where the trees grew the thickest, but he had been riding for hours and had had no luck.

A crow cawed loudly and burst from a tree in a storm of feathers, making Owen's horse pace uneasily. He patted its neck. "It's all right," he said quietly. "We'll find the fairy and be out of here in no time."

He rode on for a while, urging his horse in the direction that he thought the trees grew thickest. But the sun still peeped through, even if just barely spotting the forest floor with specks of light.

A noise reached Owen's ears from behind a group of trees. Something had disturbed the underbrush. He took little note of it, deciding that it had just been a small animal.

A few minutes later, another sound came from bushes to his left. This time, however, he caught a glimpse of something blue flash and then fade into the greenery. He slowed his horse and stared at where the thing had disappeared into the bushes. "Is someone there?" he asked loudly, his voice sounding strange in the still woods. "Are you following me?"

There was movement in the leaves, and a tiny man jumped out. He was only about a foot tall, with a three foot gray beard that trailed on the ground behind him. This he lifted and began swinging around in his hand as he looked up at the prince with a mischievous grin. "Yes, I was following you. Now close your mouth, or I'll pull your tongue out."

Owen clamped his mouth shut immediately. He hadn't realized he had been gaping, though he knew he was surprised. "You're an elf, aren't you?" he stammered.

The elf bared his teeth, a strange collection of dirty white and solid gold. "Here's a clever one. And a royal, by the looks of it. Tell me, princey, what are you doing in these woods?"

Owen had never spoken to an elf before, or any magical creature, really. He had no idea how to deal with them. In the end, he settled on an honest approach. "I wish to find the fairy Lumbia. "

The elf sniggered. "Not the way you're going. You have no clue where she is, do you?"

Owen shook his head.

The elf dropped his beard and walked forward, leaves catching in the gnarled hair, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "I see you need my help," he said.

Owen eyed him suspiciously. The elf had threatened to pull out his tongue earlier. He didn't trust the grinning little man. "I'll be fine on my own," Owen said, taking a firmer hold on his horse's reins.

The elf frowned, his face turning red and wrinkling grotesquely. "No one can find the fairy without a magical creature's help," he stated.

"I think I can manage--"

"NOBODY!" The elf screamed, tearing strands out of his beard. "Stupid prince! If you go on by yourself in this forest, you will never find any fairy! None! And when night falls and the dark creatures come out, they'll tear you limb from limb and devour your spoiled gizzards! You need my help!"

Owen blinked a few times and brushed the graphic image from his mind. "Maybe I do need your help," he allowed. "But what do you want in return?" He had a feeling the elf's adamance was not just caused by a concern for his well-being.