Once Upon a Time: New Fairy Tales Paperback

My dear, Ivan’s third apprenticeship is with Captain Wolf in the Northern Mountains. Could you please accompany him and try to keep him from getting kil ed? Love, Mother.

This time, there was no banquet. With the Lady gone, the castle

was quiet, as though it were asleep and waiting for her return to wake back up. They ate dinner in the kitchen with Mrs. Pebbles and the ladies-in-waiting, and then went directly to bed. Blanchefleur curled up next to Ivan on the pillow, as usual. It had become their custom.

The next morning, Mrs. Pebbles gave them Ivan’s satchel, with

clean clothes, including some warmer ones for the mountains, and

his horn-handled knife. “Take care of each other,” she told them.

“Those mountains aren’t safe, and I don’t know what the Lady is

thinking, sending you to the Wolf Guard.”

“What is the Wolf Guard?” Ivan asked as they walked down the

garden path.

“It’s part of the King’s army,” said Blanchfleur. “It guards the

northern borders from trolls. They come down from the mountains

and raid the towns. In winter, especially . . . ”

“Blanchefleur!” Tailcatcher was standing in front of them. He

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? Theodora Goss ?

had stepped out from behind one of the topiaries. “May I have

a word with you?” He did not, however, sound as though he were

asking permission. Ivan gritted his teeth. He had never spoken to

Blanchefleur like that—even if he had wanted to, he would not have

dared.

“Yes, and the word is no,” said Blanchefleur. She walked right around him, holding her tail high, and Ivan followed her, making a wide circle around the striped cat, who looked as though he might take a swipe at Ivan’s shins. He looked back, to see Tailcatcher glaring at them.

“What was that about?” asked Ivan.

“For years now, he’s been assuming I would marry him, because

he’s the best hunter in the castle. He asked me the first time on the night before we left for Professor Owl’s house, and then again before we left for Dame Lizard’s. This would have been the third time.”

“And you keep refusing?” asked Ivan.

“Of course,” she said. “He may be the best hunter, but I’m the

daughter of the Lady of the Forest and the Man in the Moon. I’m not going to marry a common cat!”

Ivan could not decide how he felt about her response. On the one

hand, he was glad she had no intention of marrying Tailcatcher. On

the other, wasn’t he a common man?

This journey was longer and harder than the two before. Once

they reached the foothills of the Northern Mountains, they were

constantly going up. The air was colder. In late afternoon, Ivan put on a coat Mrs. Pebbles had insisted on packing for him, and that he had been certain he would not need until winter.

Eventually, there were no more roads or paths, and they simply

walked through the forest. Ivan started wondering whether

Blanchefleur knew the way, then scolded himself. Of course she did: she was Blanchefleur.

Finally, as the sun was setting, Blanchefleur said, “We’re here.”

“Where?” asked Ivan. They were standing in a clearing. Around

them were tall pines. Ahead of them was what looked like a sheer

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cliff face, rising higher than the treetops. Above it, he could see the peaks of the mountains, glowing in the light of the setting sun.

Blanchefleur jumped down from his shoulder, walked over to a

boulder in the middle of the clearing, and climbed to the top. She

said, “Captain, we have arrived.”

Out of the shadows of the forest appeared wolves, as silently as

though they were shadows themselves—Ivan could not count how

many. They were all round, and he suddenly realized that he could

die, here in the forest. He imagined their teeth at his throat and turned to run, then realized he was being an idiot, giving in to an ancient instinct although he could see that Blanchefleur was not frightened at all. She sat on the dark rock, amid the dark wolves, like a ghost.

“Greetings, Blanchefleur,” said one of the wolves, distinguishable