Chapter 14

The prince and the fairy goddaughter rushed noisily through the woods, barely avoiding the trees in their hurry. It was fortunate that the tunnel was so close to Green’s farm, but Sera was still out of breath and covered in leaves by the time they got there. The prince wasn’t much better. Kennard’s tunnel was actually a very neat one, with the dirt packed down and the entrances carefully hidden in bushes.

They emerged inside the castle, just hidden from sight by the shrub there. Sera steeled herself for the task ahead. “You’ll have to do most of the work here. It’s your castle and you know the best way to mess things up. I can distract people and generally cause a ruckus, but you’ll have to do most of the damage.”

“Damage? To what?” he asked.

Sera rolled her eyes. “To the wedding, silly. The more things we can tear down, the harder it will be for your father to hold the ceremony on time. Oh, and I’ll need to leave shortly so I can persuade Green to come and rescue Ruby. Don’t worry about that part,” she added. Kennard looked confused that there was a second part at all but there wasn’t enough time to explain that particular piece of this mess.

“Well, I've got a few tricks I've saved for a special occasion. They're in my chambers. If we're careful it should be simple to get you through the palace.”

The two of them crept through hallways. Servants bustled around, hanging flower garlands and carrying giant trays of shining pastries or silver vats of soup. There were a few arguments over who ought to be seated next to whom at the tables and which napkins were to be used.

More than a few times Kennard had to push Sera behind a tapestry or a curtain to avoid some passing nobles or servants. By the time they reached Kennard's room Sera was thoroughly tired of the dull castle walls behind the cheery coverings. As soon as the door closed she asked, “What are you going to do?”

Kennard had already yanked a black-smudged chest out from under his bed and was haphazardly pulling out an impressive and varied collection of bottles, all full of multicolored liquids and giving off sharp smells. “Smoke bombs. They make everything hard to see so you should be able to do whatever you mean by part two.”

“Wonderful.” Sera said with a grin. “But wouldn't it be so much nicer if they were   more festive than just plain old black smoke? It is a wedding after all.”

Kennard grinned back. “That, Serendipity-called-Sera, is an excellent idea. It'll take a bit longer, though, so why don't you see how many decorations you can take down without getting caught. You seem like you should be faster than most of the people here. If you do get arrested, I’ll make sure you’re freed as soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry about that. Once you start I can duck out the tunnel and find Green. Good luck,” she said cheerfully, and ducked out of the room as Kennard began preparing for his attack.

It took a surprisingly long time for someone to notice Sera. With all the guests arriving for the wedding with their servants, guards, cooks, stable boys and monkey handlers, there was an unusually high number of people who did not belong, making one young girl wandering the corridors all the more invisible, and Sera wished she’d realized this before spending all that time hiding behind things on the way up. She yanked down three flower garlands and knocked over a dessert table before a maid saw her and realized what she was doing. Sera was off and running before the maid could finish calling the guards.

For once in her life Sera was actually trying to cause chaos. She yanked tablecloths, bumped crystal goblets to the floor, tripped up people with trays. The first chance she got, Sera dove outside through an open door where she would have more room to run. By her second circle of the garden Sera had over a dozen people chasing after her. One, a gardener whose violets she had trampled, finally managed to grab her.

Sera began to struggle, but an explosion from the palace distracted the man enough that she squirmed free easily. The open windows began to leak orange and purple smoke, and the closed windows were quickly opened by coughing nobles. Another boom and blue smoke joined the rest. Impressed by Kennard’s creativity, Sera didn’t wait to see more but used the commotion and the cloud of smoke to get back to the tunnel. She was a bit curious as to how the prince got the smoke to be that colorful. In any case, it appeared that Kennard was more than capable of delaying his own wedding, and it was time to find Green.

As she dashed to the tunnel she saw the results of her chaos. Tables overturned in the chase, crystal goblets shattered, a few chefs weeping over a ruined cake. Sera felt a twinge of guilt, and resolved to come back later and repair a few things once she found Phina. Diving into the tunnel, she scrambled through as fast as she could.

She raced for the farm and staggered into the house. At least her uncle was still in his room. Standing outside his locked door, Sera couldn’t decide if it was a good thing or a bad thing. On one hand, she knew where he was. On the other, she had absolutely no idea of how to get him to where she wanted him to be. Still without a plan, Sera banged on the door hard. Nothing happened. She kicked it. No response. Utterly furious, she screamed as loud as she could.

Entirely flustered, Sera decided that enough was enough. “You have to save the princess!” she shouted through the door.

“No more schemes, Serendipity. Go away!”

In years to come Sera always swore that it was the simple use of her full name that did it, as if it was reminding a guardian angel of her intended destiny. Glancing around the room in frustration Sera’s eye caught on the hatchet lying on the kitchen table. Stomping over, she picked it up and stomped back to the door yelling, “I’ve had enough!”

Swinging the hatchet as hard as she could, it hit the lower door hinge with a crash that had the animals in the barn stirring. Sera stared at it wide-eyed. Her stroke had neatly detached the hinge without damaging the door itself. Climbing on a chair, she swung again at the top latch. A final swing at the latch and a solid kick made the door crash down with a terrific thud.

Huffing and puffing, Sera marched in the room to see Green sitting by his bed, hands over his ears and staring out the window fixedly. She jumped on the bed, grabbed the pillow and hit Green on the forehead. The ancient stuffing was hard as a rock, giving a nice solid thump. As he rubbed his forehead she grabbed the back of his shirt collar and yanked him to his feet.

Hopping off the bed and moving to stand in front of him she said, “Uncle Green, Ruby is getting married in less than two hours, and she loves you and the prince loves Phina and if you don’t do something about it I’m going to quit.”

“Quit what?” he asked, confused.

“Quit helping you!” Sera yelled in frustration. “I can get you into the palace, but I can’t do that if you’re going to sit here and mope. Rescue your princess already! It’s not that difficult to understand.”

Stunned, he began to smile dazedly at Sera. “If I’m arrested it’s your fault.”

Sera nodded and began running for the palace, Green close behind. When they approached the palace gate Sera could easily see the results of Kennard’s chaos. The windows were still pouring out smoke in cheery colors and the guards at the gate were missing, allowing the girl and the farmer to slip in the gate without being noticed. The smoke had spread to the grounds, making it hard for Sera to find a door. She nearly crashed into a big heavy wooden one. It was as good as any, so she ran in, pulling Green with her and heading for the throne room.

As they got closer the smoke cleared and soldiers and wedding guests became visible. No one paid any attention to anything beyond their own chaos, so it was simple for Sera and Green to wend their way through. Finally they reached the throne room, where Sera guessed the wedding ceremony would be held. She had guessed correctly, and they had arrived just in time.

Kennard was in chains, surrounded by four burly guards. In addition to the dirt from earlier, his clothes were now stained blue and Sera could almost see the foul odor coming off of him. Ruby only had one guard, but judging by the way he glared at the princess and the state of his nose she resisted almost as much as the prince. Sir Audley stood with the other advisors, the only one not covered in some kind of green paste. The rest of the guests were gasping for air, having just escaped the smoke-filled hallways. Swan Stemley was wailing something about her big day being ruined, for some reason.

King Bertram had just opened his mouth when Green yelled “Stop!” and raced towards Ruby. She ran towards him, the guard ran after her, and Kennard used the opportunity to finish picking the lock on his chains and tackled Ruby’s guard. The prince’s guards charged after him, the wedding guests panicked, and the king bellowed for more soldiers. It was at this point Sera suddenly remembered the one missing piece of her plan: Phina.

Green and Ruby reached each other just as the guard broke free of Kennard’s hold. The prince sprawled to the floor and the men chasing him tripped over his legs and crashed into various noblemen. Sera looked around frantically. Even if she knew where the fairy godmother was, there was no way she could get her to this catastrophe of a wedding in time. Magically transporting Phina seemed to be the only way to fix the disastrous wedding, and magic was something that Sera had no idea how to do.

“Phina, where are you?” she yelled hopelessly.

Perhaps it happened simply because it made no sense, but it was at that moment that something inside Sera clicked into place. In a flurry of purple wind Phina appeared right next to Kennard, who promptly stood up and kissed the surprised woman. Green punched a guard and kissed Ruby. The remaining guards seemed unsure what to do, so they simply pulled their injured companions out of the way and stood to one side.

The wedding guests were astounded. Most of them simply stood with their mouths hanging open, and some of the noblewomen fainted. A few of the younger guests grinned widely. When Sera glanced at the king’s advisors they mostly looked panicked, but Sir Audley caught Sera’s eye and winked at her. She was almost ready to sneak out a back way and let things run their course when she saw the king’s face. His mouth was open in a soundless roar, and his eyes looked about ready to pop from his skull. That was definitely a bad thing.