Silvia, Princess Silver

2. The Owl

Silvia knew the park well. She was quite sure there was no waterfall. But the boat really did tip and rush and smash and splash over a big wet step. And when she had caught her breath and wiped the spray out of her eyes, she found that there were no more traffic lights or street lights or bright apartment windows. There was no more honking of taxicabs from the roads surrounding the park. There was only the lap, lap of gentle ripples on the sides of the boat, as the water danced with blue reflected stars. Stars, and the moon, reflected twice.

Twice? She looked up, and there, hovering in the sky, were two big yellow moons. "Where am I?" she asked. And that, as it turned out, was a very good question. The boat moved faster now, and the shore hurried by, covered with tall reeds and an occasional willow tree. She realized she was on a river, not a pond. She hoped there would not be another waterfall.

She had been alone on this adventure, but now she was joined by a little owl, flapping low over the water and landing on an arm of the sofa. It looked at her with big eyes, blinked, and said, "Who are you?"

"You can talk?"

"Hi, Youcantalk, it's nice to meet you, but-"

"Oh! Sorry! I'm Silvia. What's your name?"

The owl paused to study her. "I don't think I'll tell you," it said. "Since you keep changing yours." It winked.

"Can you tell me where I am? I'm late and my father is probably starting to worry."

"Good! Then you must be her. You're late for your crowning, Princess Silver. What will the Queen say? She really does want to retire tonight. It's the one-two-three moons, and that's very rare. There hasn't been one since she was crowned twenty years ago."

Silvia looked at the moons again. One was full. One was half full. And then she realized there was also a very thin slice of new moon, almost completely hidden. "What makes it the one-two-three moons?" she asked.

"Just what you see," the owl said. "One is new, one is half, one is full. It's for the beginning, middle and end of the Queen's turn on the throne. Do you think you could go a little faster? You're going to be late."

"I'm not driving it. The boat just picked me up and took me here. And I'm not a princess."

"Here's how to tell," the owl said. "If you're the Princess, you can command the boat with a Word. Do you know any Words?"

"I've been talking to you all along! Of course I know words."

"Then speak one. A Word of Power. Tell it what to do. Tell it to go faster."

"A little faster would be okay," Silvia said, not liking the thought of it rocking and tipping too much. The boat sped up a little.

It was, Silvia thought, most likely just a coincidence.

"This is fun," the owl said, turning its beak toward the breeze so its feathers would not ruffle. "I think I'll ride with you. You can call me Strix."

"Strix? What sort of name is that?"

"It's a name for an owl. You're a funny girl. I thought you'd know a lot more. Didn't your father tell you about being a princess and everything?"

"No."

"He didn't tell you? Strange. You don't have a mother in your world, do you?"

Silvia shrugged. "I have a stepmother." She didn't really want to talk about her real mother. They'd lost her when Silvia was just a baby.