“Here you go, sweet little thing,” she cooed to the uncertain expectant mother, whose hair fell over her face in a peekaboo style, as she lifted her into a cage. The sprite took one look at the pile of kale waiting for her and started munching with contented little grunts, her slender horns bobbing as she chewed.
Only the big male was left, but he eyed Ellie and the cage waiting for him with deep suspicion. He was a particularly handsome fellow, but she deduced he wasn’t the brightest intellect among sprites. Even sprite girls sometimes fell for the big, handsome, dumb ones.
“Hey, gorgeous,” she said, holding out apple slices in a fan shape. “I’ve got something special for you.”
The sprite stood on his tiptoes in front, nose high and twitching. Ellie nearly laughed at his expression but wisely stifled her mirth. He took a few steps forward, paused, looked her over with his big eyes, and dared a few more steps. Just as he took the first nibble, someone burst into the ballroom and shouted, “Miss Calmer? Ellie? Are you here?” Then his eyes alighted on her with relief. “I used my wristband. Didn’t it work?”
The big cinder sprite squawked, crackled, and burst into flame. The magic glove protected Ellie’s hand, but the apples sizzled. To her shock, the hissing ball of fire’s glowing red eyes fastened on the encroaching human, and it lowered its horns and charged. Ellie snatched up her spray bottle and shot its backside with the first stream. With one surprised squeak, the sprite melted into a large puddle. Relieved yet irked, Ellie turned on the intruder.
He stood still, eyes twinkling. “Nice shot,” he said before she could speak. “You rescued me.” Only a hint of sarcasm colored that smooth voice. She recognized the blond prince from the riding party. He was dripping sweat and panting.
“What are you doing here?” she snapped.
“Omar told me to get you,” he said, and raised his hands defensively. “Hey, like I said, I tried the wristband button.”
Her attitude crumbled, and her heart jumped to her throat. “Omar! Is he all right? What’s happened?”
“We got back from a run and saw a guy named Tor taking a kayak to the island. Omar went after him, hoping to make him turn back.”
She sucked in a sharp breath. “I’ve got to go after them both. Have you told anyone else?”
“Not yet. Omar told me to find you first.”
Ellie set down the spray bottle and peeled off her gloves. “I must tell the lake supervisor; I can’t just go off on my own. Will you please scoop up that sprite and put it into this cage? Be gentle.”
He looked from the blob of goo to the tiny cage to Ellie. “You’re kidding, right?”
She wanted to laugh at his expression, but the situation was too grave. “Just do it.” And she left the room at a run.
She found Bence at breakfast in the staff dining hall and apprised him of the situation. He leaped to his feet, sent a page to inform Madame Genevieve, then set off running with Ellie. “You say Prince Omar went after him? Then we’re likely to lose two kayaks and have two ensorcelled men on our hands,” he groused. “Take a scooter and see if you can catch up with at least one of them. I would act as backup, but I can’t approach the island. I’ll send help as soon as possible.”
Not even Madame could find fault with Ellie now that she was acting under Bence’s orders. She sprinted down to the dock and was soon skimming across the smooth water on her scooter. The island was shrouded completely in a weird fog, and there was no sign of the two young men. They must have entered it.
“Your Highness!” she called, her voice sounding thin. “Prince Omar?”
Silence. She stopped outside the fog bank and tried to use her magic to discern its nature. She sensed anger in the mist but nothing worse. “Omar?” Saying his name bolstered her courage. Slowly she drove into the fog, calling again, but she heard only waves slapping against rocks.
Then the water around her scooter began to dimple and boil. She scarcely had time to panic before a huge, weedy head rose from the water beside her knee. A yelp escaped before she registered what she was seeing. “Monster! Have you seen Omar or the other prince?”
It waggled its ears and bumped the scooter, shoving her to the right, then submerged and appeared ahead of her. Trusting its guidance, she followed slowly. Rocks loomed out of the fog on all sides. Sharp rocks that could destroy a boat or scooter.
“Omar?” she called again.
This time a male voice answered, muffled in the mist.
“Omar!” Slowly she followed the monster’s spiky head. Every rock made her heart leap; every dark wave looked like Omar’s hair. “Omar, where are you?”
“Here! Ellie?”
“Yes, I’m Ellie. Keep talking so we can find you.”
“Glad to. You have no idea how good your voice sounds to me.”
A moment later the lake serpent submerged, and Ellie saw the prince bobbing in the water, the orange of his lifejacket muted in the fog. “There he is! Oh, thank you for your help, dear serpent!” she called, even though she could no longer see the monster.
Its tail tip flickered above the surface a few feet away.
“Omar, are you all right?” Would he recognize her? Or would he steal her scooter and desperately try to reach the sirens?
He spun about to face her, and his brilliant smile flashed for an instant. “Ellie!” Then he was swimming to meet her. She was so happy that she almost forgot to offer him her hand, but he climbed up easily anyway. He wore running gear, complete with sodden shoes. The seat of her coverall soaked up the streams of water running off him, but she, at least, had had sense enough to change into water shoes.
“Are you all right? What happened?” She half-turned, trying to face him, and the idling scooter bobbed in the water and scraped against a rock. Then something pushed it from below, and they began to slowly move through the water, weaving between rocks. Trusting the serpent, Ellie sat sidesaddle on her scooter and focused on Omar.
His hands gripped her shoulders, and he studied her face as if his life depended on memorizing it. “I’m all right,” he said slowly, “though my head feels weird, as if something is buzzing inside. I think there must be magic in this fog.”
“There is magic, but I don’t think it’s evil. I suspect the siren queen is angry about a human walking on her island.” But Omar was acting . . . strange.
He slowly lowered his forehead to rest on her shoulder and heaved a deep, shaky sigh. “Ellie. Don’t leave me.”
“I won’t, Omar.” She allowed a tiny amount of magic into her soothing voice. ”You’ll be fine now.”
She felt the tension leave his body. “Thank you,” he said hesitantly. “I feel better already.”
“I’m glad.” She should probably have asked him to sit upright, but she didn’t.
A few loops of serpent body appeared behind the scooter. Rocks slid past in the fog; waves from the scooter’s passing lapped against them.
“Did you ever find Tor?” she asked.
“I did. He wouldn’t stop, so I chased after him into the fog. He told me to go away. Said the sirens weren’t calling him; he came to find a friend. But his eyes were dilated . . . He looked seriously crazed.” Omar shook his head. “I couldn’t make him hear sense. When I wouldn’t leave, he tipped me out of my kayak and smashed it over a rock.”
“What?” Ellie gasped. “You mean, he picked it up and—”
“Yes, he did. Dumped me out, hoisted it over his head, and smashed it against a rock until it was in pieces.”
Ellie’s heart raced. “Is he nearby? Did you hear the sirens call?” She kept almost seeing things in the fog. Her eyes flitted from rock to rock.
“I never did hear a siren this time, but the fog makes my head feel thick, like it’s stuffed with cotton. Maybe it affected Tor too. I don’t know what to think. I didn’t see him all day yesterday, and now . . . He looked drugged, but maybe that’s what siren-enchantment does. What man could be friends with a siren?”
If Tor had been enchanted, then why wasn’t Omar? Ellie pulled slightly away from him, and when he lifted his head, she peered directly into his eyes and reached up to touch his cheek, feeling the morning stubble. “You know who I am?”