Zara frowns. ‘You’re what? What’s this about a Lost Prince? What have I missed now?’
‘It’s a legend,’ Yanny says. ‘He is the child of the old fae queen and the king we now call the Shadow King. The Lost Prince was taken from the forest, and will return one day – and when he returns, everything will change in there. He is a symbol of hope.’ He stares at me.
‘Nan made it up,’ I whisper, swallowing hard. ‘I mean, you’re right. I am the Shadow King’s daughter.’ I feel my skin flushing, and the acorn at my throat is warm. ‘I found my mother’s acorn, that first time I came into Winterspell with you, and since then, my magic has been growing. I think that maybe I can help, but I need to know how to get rid of this glamour Nan did so that I can fight, so that I can find the palace—’
‘You already have everything you need!’ Steam drifts from Yanny’s mouth as he speaks. ‘You’re just wasting time, Stella!’
‘That’s harsh, Yanny,’ says Zara with a hard look. ‘You don’t need to shout about it. Stella’s not responsible for everything that happened – she’s trying to help!’
‘Not quickly enough,’ he says. ‘While she’s in here all safe and cosy, trees are dying in Winterspell – and you both know what that means!’ His eyes glitter as he stares at me, and I know we’re all thinking about Thorn. About all he’s lost already. ‘You are the Lost Prince, Stella. Don’t you see that? Even if your nan made up the legend, she made it up about you. So you’re the Lost Princess, instead – who cares what the title is! You’re still the one who could make the difference.’
‘You’re right,’ I say reluctantly, remembering how I was able to get rid of the shadow last night. There’s no more time for waiting; I need to see if I can do the same in Winterspell. I need to get past the shadows to the palace. ‘I should’ve done more, sooner,’ I say, feeling wretched.
‘But what?’ Zara demands. ‘You have to have a plan before you go flouncing off in there!’ ‘No matter who she is, Lost Prince or not, she’s still just one small person, Yanny! You can’t just rush in and save everything, even if you really want to. You have to think about how – and you have to work together . . .’ she looks between us hopelessly. ‘We all have to work together, don’t we? Isn’t that what this is all about? Sticking together, no matter what? Nobody’s got it easy; everybody’s fighting. Even if it doesn’t look like it, even if everything is quiet on the surface, everyone’s got a war going on somewhere. Do we all have to shine like the moon just so that you can see when something hurts? Nobody knows what they’re doing – we’re all just trying our best. And we should be doing that together, not keeping secrets and blaming each other!’
Her eyes are bright with unspilt tears, and I don’t know what to say. What do I know of how her life has fallen apart with her parents’ separation? How have I helped her?
‘I’m sorry,’ I say.
‘Stop being flipping sorry about everything!’ she howls. ‘Just be you!’ She stares between us both, and her eyes are just as fiery – just as stormy – as I’ve ever seen in any fae.
‘So when are you going to do this saving of us all?’ Yanny asks a few moments later. ‘I suppose in the depths of night, when the shadows are at their strongest, and the moon is a crescent in the sky, and all the bells are ringing?’
‘Don’t be silly,’ growls Peg, making us all jump. ‘We’ll do it at dawn. When the centauride calls. That’s the time to do it.’
‘We?’ I ask.
‘Just you try stealing off alone,’ he says, his scales flashing as he rounds on me, eyes ablaze. ‘See where that gets you.’
Teacake jumps off the shelf and sits by him, her chest puffed, so they seem in agreement about that, if little else.
‘But I don’t want to put any of you in danger.’
‘It isn’t up to you,’ Zara says with a sweet, steely smile. ‘It isn’t only your fight. And you aren’t the only one who feels it.’
‘I didn’t mean . . .’
‘Sure you didn’t.’ Yanny sighs. ‘It’s a sprite thing. Superior – always have been. I’ll leave you to your studies – I have to get back. Some of us can’t be waiting around for their magic to just happen.’ He twiddles his fingers in a mock-mystical sort of way.
‘I’m not just waiting!’ I protest. ‘I promise—’
‘Stop reacting to him!’ Zara snaps. ‘He’s being an idiot. And so are you, frankly. You’re both too pig-headed to sort this out, and I’m not hanging around while you two carry on shouting at each other.’ She grabs her bag and bolts out before I can say anything.
Yanny stares at the place where she was. ‘Her parents rowed,’ he says, wincing as the kitchen door slams down below us.
I shake my head. ‘I should have stopped her from going . . .’
‘She probably needs some time out from all this,’ Yanny says, his eyes flashing. ‘I know I do.’
And he too turns and marches out of the door.
‘Oh, Peg,’ I say into the new silence. ‘That wasn’t very good, was it?’
Teacake gives a chirp as I sit down on the bench below the window and bounces into his usual spot in my lap.
‘It’s what happens,’ Peg says, ‘when people care about each other, and times are difficult.’
‘Should I go after them? I don’t know what to do!’
‘Let it be for tonight,’ he says. ‘And in the morning, everything will feel different – it always does. We can fix it.’
‘Can we, Peg?’ I ask, my voice wobbling. He flings over to me, perching on the windowsill and looking me right in the eye. ‘Can we really? Because I want to go in there and find that palace, and make everything better, but I seem to be doing it all wrong already!’
‘I don’t think so,’ he says slowly, still staring at me. ‘I can see adventures. All you need to work out, Stella, is whether you’re ready. If you’re ready, all the rest will fall into place.’
25
In the morning, it doesn’t feel like the sort of day for an adventure to happen. It feels like a staying in and reading sort of day. Cold, brittle rain splashes against the windows, and it’s so dark, I can’t even make out the silver wire fence. Nan watches silently as I force a piece of toast down my throat, and Peg whisks up a hot chocolate that burns my mouth and makes my eyes ache.
For so long, this has been us: my family, my home. And it’s safe, and warm – and out there, it’s wild and wet, and my friends are hurting, and shadows are spreading, and I know I’m going to go in there today, and I’m going to fight with all that I have to find that palace, but I still don’t have the slightest clue how to make any of it better.
It was a night of tossing and turning. My stomach tight; eyes aching from crying; all the conversations of the day rushing through my head. Teacake stayed rumbling beside me for all of it, at one point rubbing her face into mine, drying the tears. I kissed her and thanked her, mainly because it was her hunting time, and she’d stayed in for me.
She’s out there now.
They’re all out there. While I stay in here, with my hot chocolate and my watchful nan.
I pick up the crockery and drop it into the sink with a clatter.
‘I’m going in now,’ I say into the silence.
‘I know I can’t stop you,’ Nan says. And if ghosts can cry, then she is, though it doesn’t show on her face. ‘But you’re still under the glamour, Stella. You haven’t got all of your power yet.’