CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
SENDING THE SWANS
Mother Goose stood by the railing of the grand balcony and watched the skies as she waited for Lester and the twins to return. Emmerich and Bree were standing a little ways from her, having the most fascinating conversation with Froggy and Red.
“So there are six kingdoms, two territories, and one empire?” Emmerich asked, wrapping his head around the lesson Froggy was teaching them on the fairy-tale world.
“Precisely!” Froggy said. “And the leaders of the six kingdoms, including the Fairy Council, make up the Happily Ever After Assembly.”
Red cleared her throat. “There used to be six kingdoms, but now there are five kingdoms and one republic.”
Bree almost went cross-eyed from all the information. “So Red used to be the queen of her own kingdom, which used to be part of the Northern Kingdom until the C.R.A.B. Revolution, was it?” she asked.
“The C.R.A.W.L. Revolution,” Red corrected her. “It stood for Citizen Riots Against Wolf Liberty. The Evil Queen was in power in the Northern Kingdom at the time and she did nothing to stop the wolves terrorizing the farmers’ villages. So we revolted and I got my own kingdom.”
“Which you just lost in the election for queen,” Bree pieced together. “But now the kingdom is a republic because the new queen changed the government. Can she do that?”
“Evidently,” Red said, and pursed her lips at the thought of it.
“In our country we have a Congress and a House of Representatives to keep the president from doing things like that, I guess,” Bree said.
“Yes, well, I thought I did, too,” Red said with flared nostrils. “I hand selected representatives so I couldn’t be blamed for my biased decision making and the whole kingdom still turned on me. I don’t know where I went wrong.”
“But who is the queen of your country now?” Emmerich asked.
“Little Bo Bimbo,” Red replied without a hint of sarcasm. “She’s the ugliest, most horrendous creature to ever live in the Red Riding Hood Kingdom and she scared all the villagers into voting for her.”
“Now that sounds like politics in our world,” Bree said.
“I’ve never heard of Little Bo Bimbo,” Emmerich said, and shivered at the thought of her.
“Then you’re a very lucky man,” Red said. A small smile appeared on her face; it was very therapeutic for her to make things up about Little Bo Peep. She only wished she had done it during the election.
“They’re back!” Mother Goose said, pointing to the sky.
A shadow passed over the balcony and they looked to the sky and saw Alex and Conner descending on Lester’s back. They landed on the balcony and their friends eagerly approached them.
“Well, what did you find?” Mother Goose asked.
“The army recruited the prisoners!” Conner said as he hopped down from the giant goose. “The soldiers were training them for combat when we flew above their camp—there are thousands of them!”
Mother Goose placed a hand over her heart. “Oh dear,” she said. “What should we do next?”
“I’m thinking,” Alex said as she climbed down from Lester. “In the meantime, Mother Goose, please see that all the Fairy Council members gather in the hall as quickly as possible. Conner, go with her and tell the other fairies about what we’ve seen. The first thing I need to do is get the kings and queens to the Fairy Palace as quickly as possible so they can join in the conversation. This isn’t a Fairy Council matter; it’s an issue the entire Happily Ever After Assembly needs to discuss.”
Mother Goose and Conner nodded and headed inside the palace. Alex raised her wand in the air and then cracked it like a whip six times. A series of shimmering lights flashed around the balcony and six enormous swans the size of Lester magically appeared in front of her. Alex spun the tip of her wand above the palm of her hand and a stack of papers appeared. She rolled the papers and put one in each swan’s mouth.
“What are those?” Froggy asked.
“Invitations,” Alex said, and handed Froggy an extra copy to read.
To the members of the Royal Families,
An emergency has occurred and all members of the Happily Ever After Assembly and their families must report to the Fairy Palace immediately. We will provide details of the matter upon your arrival.
Thank you,
Alex Bailey, Acting Fairy Godmother
“I need you to take these to the kings and queens of the Corner Kingdom, the Charming Kingdom, the Northern Kingdom, the Eastern Kingdom, and the Bo Peep Republic as quickly as possible and bring the rulers back,” Alex instructed the first five swans, then turned to the sixth. “As for you, I have other acquaintances I’d like you to deliver this invitation to.”
She whispered further instructions into the swan’s ear so the others couldn’t hear.
“If they don’t cooperate, you have my permission to persuade them however you can,” she said. “Bring them back by the ankles if you must—these invitations are not optional. Now go.”
All six swans bowed and then launched into the air one at a time. They flew off in opposite directions at speeds birds had never flown before.
“Now what?” Red asked. “Do you think the kings and queens will take your message seriously?”
“We’ll have to wait and see,” Alex said, hoping with all her heart they would.
After a few hours of waiting, Red and Froggy took Bree and Emmerich inside to give Alex some time to think alone. She paced back and forth so many times she almost left a mark on the floor. When she was studying wars in History in school, Alex had never imagined that one day she would be in one, let alone leading it. Was she equipped to lead the Happily Ever After Assembly into a war against a general of an empire?
She prayed her strengths of common sense and logic would be enough to make up for her lack of battle strategy. She kept thinking about the great war heroes from her world, like Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. What would they have done if they were in her shoes? What sort of plan would they have created? What would her grandmother have done if she wasn’t ill?
Alex heard a commotion from above and looked up to the evening sky. One by one the swans came into view as they returned to the palace, bringing the kings and queens from opposite ends of the Land of Stories with them.
Alex sighed with relief as they all glided to her—she was so glad to see none of them had rejected her invitation.
Five swans landed on the balcony one after the other. The first swan carried King Chance, Queen Cinderella, and their two-year-old daughter, Princess Hope, from the Charming Kingdom. The second swan carried Queen Sleeping Beauty and King Chase from the Eastern Kingdom. The third swan carried Queen Snow White and King Chandler from the Northern Kingdom. The fourth swan carried Queen Rapunzel and her husband, Sir William, from the Corner Kingdom. And the fifth swan carried Queen Little Bo Peep.
All the rulers appeared befuddled by their unexpected journey. Queen Little Bo Peep looked a tad intimidated at being among the legendary rulers on the balcony. It was the first time she had been called to participate in the Happily Ever After Assembly.
“Hello, Your Majesties,” Alex said. “Thank you all so much for coming.”
“Alex, I’m sure we’d all like to know: What is the meaning of this?” Cinderella asked. “And what happened to the Fairy Godmother? Why didn’t she send for us herself?”
“Because she’s fallen ill,” Alex informed them. The royals took the news exactly as the twins had—they didn’t even know it was possible for the Fairy Godmother to fall ill. “It’s only one of many problems we face, I’m afraid, so if you please, quickly follow me into the hall so you can join our discussion.”
She led the parade of monarchs into the Fairy Palace and down the stairs into the hall where Conner, Mother Goose, and the other fairies waited. They were all very surprised to see Conner there, especially Cinderella, who had witnessed the Fairy Godmother close the portal to the Otherworld right in her own kingdom. It didn’t take them long to understand something was seriously wrong.
Froggy, Red, Bree, and Emmerich came down the stairs to see what all the fuss was about. Although Bree and Emmerich had never met any of the kings and queens in person, it didn’t take them long to realize who they were looking at; Snow White’s pale skin and Rapunzel’s long flowing hair were dead giveaways. They stopped in their tracks and sat at the top of the stairs, admiring all the beautiful royals.
Red’s first instinct was to join them, but seeing Little Bo in the group of her former peers was a painful reminder that she didn’t belong anymore. She sat next to Bree and Emmerich on the stairs and glared at her nemesis from afar.
Froggy rushed down the stairs to say hello to his Charming brothers.
“Charlie, what’s happened to you?” Chandler asked.
“Why are you a frog again?” Chance asked, just as curious.
“It’s a long story,” Froggy told them. “We’ll explain everything, I promise.”
Alex decided to explain before any more confusion filled the room. “The Fairy Godmother is very sick and her magic is fading,” she told everyone. “Her spell on Prince Charlie has worn off and the portal into the Otherworld has been partially re-opened. An army from our world has crossed over and plans to dominate this world, but I’ll let Conner tell you about the army since he’s seen them up close.”
Alex gestured for her brother to take the floor but Mother Goose suddenly rose from her seat.
“No, I’ll do it,” she said. “It’s my fault they’re even here, after all.”
Alex and Conner looked at each other—they were impressed that she was willing to take responsibility in front of the entire Happily Ever After Assembly.
Mother Goose informed the kings and queens about the Grande Armée and how it was her fault that they had traveled through the portal into the fairy-tale world. She told them how they had raided Pinocchio Prison and recruited its criminals. And last, Mother Goose had the unfortunate task of telling the royals they could be at war very soon.
Alex sat in her chair as the monarchs were informed. She continued thinking of the horrors the future might bring and how they could best be prepared for them.
“So this army of five thousand men now has hundreds of additional soldiers—criminals that we put behind bars?” Snow White asked with a hand over her mouth.
“Correct,” Mother Goose said. “And we have a suspicion that it will inspire all the criminals on the loose in the Dwarf Forests and throughout the other kingdoms to join the Armée.”
“And how many criminals total would we say are currently unaccounted for within our kingdoms?” Sleeping Beauty asked.
“We’ve estimated around three thousand or so,” Emerelda told the room.
Rapunzel quickly did the math in her head. “Then that gives the Grande Armée a total of close to nine thousand,” she said. “That’s more than all our armies combined.”
“How many soldiers are in your armies?” Conner asked.
“The Northern Kingdom has an army of two thousand men,” Chandler said.
“The Charming Kingdom has one thousand,” Chance said.
“Many of the Eastern Kingdom’s men perished trying to fight off the Enchantress’s curses,” Chase said. “We only have around one thousand five hundred soldiers left.”
“The Corner Kingdom’s army is very small as well, consisting of only five hundred men,” Sir William said.
Little Bo Peep was the only one who hadn’t responded. “I don’t know the exact number, but I would say somewhere around—”
“Eight hundred and twenty-eight men!” Red called down from the top of the stairs.
Little Bo shot her a nasty look. “Yes, thank you, former Queen Red Riding Hood,” she said.
The twins were shocked by the low numbers.
“Unlike your world, we’ve never had a real reason until now for large armies,” Mother Goose said.
Conner added these numbers in his head. “So that means with all your armies together the Happily Ever After Assembly has roughly five and a half thousand men. That’s five and a half versus a potential nine thousand—the Armée could grow up to twice the size of our forces!”
“And that’s still not including the armies of the Elf Empire and the Troblin Territory,” Mother Goose reminded them. “If General Marquis manages to convince them the way he convinced the prisoners, then it’s over. We’ll never win this war.”
“Then we’ll have to get to them first.” Alex joined the discussion for the first time. “We need to do whatever it takes to make sure the elves and the troblins are on our side. They may not have a great relationship with the Happily Ever After Assembly but I doubt they want to see the world taken over by the Armée any more than we do. Does anyone know how large the elf and troblin armies are?”
“The trolls and goblins have an army of seven hundred, I believe,” Tangerina said. “And the elves have a thousand soldiers.”
“Then that’s good news for us,” Alex said. “After we convince the troblins and the elves to join us, that will raise our army to much better odds of survival. Plus, we have the fairies on our side; we can’t forget to include them.”
All the fairies behind the podiums objected at once but Xanthous was the loudest. “Fairies can’t go into battle; it’s against the Happily Ever After Assembly code of magic!” he protested.