That Dancing Princess

Chapter Twelve

 Tommy took Roy to the place where he kept the laurel trees hidden. He thought perhaps it would be better if he showed him the trees first so there was at least a little proof he wasn't insane.

 "Where did you get these from?" Roy asked.

 "Oddly enough, they were given to me in a dream."

 "In a dream?"

 Tommy sighed. "I think I'd better start from the beginning."

 They sat down on the ground together next to the laurel trees, and Tommy recounted his entire story, from the beginning to the present. Roy gave a few skeptical looks during the story, of course, but Tommy got the feeling that he actually believed him.

 As further proof, Tommy had taken and kept with him another little silver branch, which he now showed to Roy, who took it in his own hand and stared at it.

 "I never would have thought they were capable of something like this," he said. "I've been here my entire life, you know. My father was the gardener before me. I have never been witness to anything like this before." He sighed. "Never would have thought." He handed the little branch back to Tommy. "What are you going to do? You're not really going to go with the princesses tomorrow night, are you?"

 "I already told Princess Kobra I would."

 "Tommy, this is something you need to take to the king," Roy said. "If not for the reward, then do it for your own safety, and for the sake of the princesses and whatever men they have hostage."

 Tommy shook his head. "I can't. If I'm going to marry a princess and become a king myself, I have to gain the princesses' trust. At the moment, they don't trust me, and I have to change that. So, I have to go tomorrow night."

~~~~~~

 The two men went back to that spot the next afternoon, where Tommy remembered to first recite, "Dear rose laurel, I have raked, watered, and wiped you. Please, make me a prince."

 After he'd spoken, a little flower appeared on one of the branches. Tommy plucked it from the branch, and stuck it in one of the buttonholes of his shirt. In an instant, his clothes transformed into garments much finer than anything he had ever worn before in his life.

 "Well?" he asked Roy. "Do I look like a prince?"

 Roy nodded slowly. "Certainly like a prince. If I didn't already know it was you, I don't think I'd recognize you."

 "That's good. I don't want any of the staff to recognize me. Now, listen, because I might need your help." Tommy handed him the silver branch. "If I don't come back tomorrow, take this to the king and tell him everything I told you. Under the carpets in the princesses' bedroom, there's a hatch which leads down to the place. If they can find that, then there's a chance at saving me and the others."

 Roy nodded. "Promise. Please do your best to come back, and don't get yourself killed." He clapped him gently on the shoulder. "Now, you go into that castle and make yourself a hero, young man. I'll be keeping a lookout for you tomorrow."

~~~~~~

 Kobra wondered how exactly Stargazer would be arriving. Perhaps he would come as his invisible self again. That was the only thing she could think of.

 But when she entered the dining hall that evening, she had a great shock. She wasn't expecting anymore suitors that night, but there a well-dressed nobleman sitting at the table. When she got closer, she gasped out loud. It was him, disguised as a nobleman.

 She made sure to be seated next to him, and whispered, "What are you doing?"

 "You ordered me to come," he whispered back, "So I came."

 "In the disguise of some nobleman?"

 "A prince, to be exact. From a far-off place no one has ever heard off. I've fooled everyone except you, Princess."

 "It would seem you have," she said. "You know, I was actually hoping you wouldn't show up tonight."

 "Why? Would you have preferred I run away from you?"

 "Perhaps I would have." She turned her head so that they were eye-to-eye. "I believe I would prefer you had run away rather than see any harm come to you while you're here."