barely old enough to walk and comforted her when she had been frightened by the large bay horse. He had even allowed her to sit on his throne with him while he heard petitions from his public, and everyone in the court had laughed when she pretended to admonish the wanton landlord on trial. Those recollections brought fresh tears as Damselfly sighed heavily as the weight of her situation pressed down on her. Worst of all, Damselfly felt like she was letting so many people down: her mother Etherelle, the people of Wintergarden, the Matriarch and Delridden, who had all helped so much. A lingering thought struck the princess, one person who might be willing to help that she had not considered until now.
“Uriel would know what to do,” she whispered to herself.
“What was that?” Buttons enquired sleepily.
“We have to speak with Uriel,” Damselfly stated.
“How? We’re locked in and there is a guard outside,” Buttons questioned.
“I don’t know but there must be a way.”
“This is what got us in trouble to begin with,” Buttons warned.
Damselfly shook the nagging feeling of guilt as she assessed everything in the room for an opportunity to escape. There had to be something she could use, something that they had missed. The room was full of books and old toys scattered across the floor in abandon. The princess began searching through the disorganised piles, looking for inspiration. She came across one of Trigger’s old chew toys and felt another surge of regret. After her father had finished his lecture, the Dalmatian had entered the room with his tail wagging madly. Damselfly had been so upset that she had turned away from the animal who had left the room with his tail tucked between his legs. Damselfly swore to make it up to Trigger once she escaped from her current captivity. There were a lot of people that she hoped would forgive and understand the motive behind her behaviour. She could only imagine how furious her father would be if he discovered her missing again.
“There is nothing here,” she cursed, sitting on the floor and leaning against the bed.
“Perhaps it is for the best,” Buttons reasoned.
Damselfly rested her head upon her arms that were balanced on both knees. Something crept into her peripheral vision, and she jumped to her feet in excitement. “My wings,” she exclaimed.
Orion had taken all her possessions, yet he had not known the fairy wings had been enchanted with magic to enable her to fly. Running to the window, Damselfly threw it open, giving her a beautiful view of Thronegarden from the top of the castle.
“We can fly out here and circle back round,” Damselfly suggested excitedly.
“What about your damaged wing?” Buttons pointed out. “Last time we nearly crashed.”
“You’re right,” Damselfly agreed, looking at the hole in her wing from the Sprite spear.
Taking off her wings, the princess disappeared back into the sea of discarded objects and returned holding a roll of tape.
“This will do the job,” she claimed.
Buttontail watched nervously as Damselfly patched up the hole zealously and shrugged back into the wings.
“Come on, Buttons,” the princess urged.
Buttontail struggled between loyalty to his friend and his fear of everything that waited outside this room. With a backward look, the scared rabbit scrambled into Damselfly’s arms, and without any further delay she thrust them out of the window. Damselfly’s wings flapped in the wind, struggling to keep them steady. Buttons held on tight and closed his eyes to avoid catching sight of the terrifying drop below. Damselfly fought determinedly against the elements as she spotted an aperture in a lower level. Pushing them towards the opening, Damselfly stretched for the windowsill, only to find her fingers slip, and almost propelled them down to the ground. With a desperate lurch, the princess managed to drag them safely inside, before they collapsed on the cold stone floor with a piece of tape sticking to Damselfly’s face.
“Let’s not do that again,” Buttons added.
“At least we made it,” the princess registered. “Now we just have to find Uriel without being seen.”
It felt strange creeping around their own home, though Damselfly could only imagine what her father would say if he caught them. Putting that out of her mind, she concentrated on reaching Uriel who would know what to do. It was difficult to judge what part of the story she was most looking forward to sharing with the sorceress. The corridors were eerily silent as they stalked amongst the lingering shadows. There were no signs of habitation and the whole castle felt neglected. As they neared the dungeons’ entrance, Damselfly could make out two high-pitched voices. Even from a distance there was no mistaking who they belonged to.
Celeste and Coral.
The Children of the Moon were the only other youngsters that resided in the royal apartments. As twins they had always ganged up on Damselfly and teased her mercilessly.
Although the princess no longer felt like a little girl and wished to confront her bullies, it would not be wise to reveal herself as no doubt Celeste and Coral would run straight to their mother, Luyna.
“What are they doing?” Buttons questioned.
Damselfly could not make out their words, so she carefully snuck closer to overhear their juvenile conversation. Just as she began to comprehend the girls’ meaning, Damselfly realised they were not alone. Tyten, the Captain of the Guard was standing like a statue before the doorway they would need to enter the dungeon. He stood in full armour which was embossed with the Thrane family crest. The lone tree with an owl perched in the branches. Damselfly remembered the scene
