Chapter Nineteen:

What Became of Rachel, and The Queen’s Ploy

Just as Rachel predicted, it was quite some time after she separated from the others that they even noticed she was gone.  The Author and Allura continued to make their way through the castle, but where thwarted at every turn by the lack of stairs.  Allura could fly on by herself, but she was too small to carry both The Author and Rachel, or even just one of them.  Her earlier transportation trick only worked because she knew where she was going to.  With the castle mostly a mystery, they were stuck on the first floor.

Or they would have been, but they encountered a situation similar to the one that landed Rachel in the mess she was in.  They also followed a pair of sprites up a stairwell (Allura stole a pinch of the dust when the sprite took it out of her tunic, and used it on The Author, then hauled his lightened body up after the cart) and found themselves in the same large room, marveling at the same crowd of stiffened creatures.

“I think we hit the jackpot,” The Author hissed to Allura.  

The tiny fairy crawled right up to his ear and whispered, “Stay right here.  I’ll be back in a minute.”  She flew through the crowd, making a tally of how many of the creatures were fairies.  When she reached the front of the crowd, she decided to see what they were all gathered for, and examined the monument.  She found a glass-covered casket with a white-haired girl lying inside it, her eyes closed, and her demeanor one of cool slumber.  “Is this White Glenda?” Allura wondered.  She flew back to tell Anthony (quietly), and as she did, she noticed a familiar face in the back of the crowd.  She nearly gave a squeak of fright, but she managed to stifle it before any noise got out.  Meanwhile, the sprites began to filter out of the room, leaving the stiffs to their involuntary waiting.

Allura flew back to where she had left the Author, but in her haste to tell him what she had seen, she forgot where exactly he was, and flew around wildly until she bumped into him again.  She quickly felt her way up to his neck and then put her head by his ear and whispered, “Anthony!  It’s White Glenda!  And they’ve got Rachel!  She’s right there!” She pointed, forgetting that The Author couldn’t see her invisible fingers.  But he looked around, and although he could only see the back of her head, there was no mistaking it.  The black crop had to be Rachel.

“We need to get back to the others,” The Author said quietly, “We need to make a plan.”  No sooner had he said that than Allura flew around him and the two of them were transported back to the cottage and no longer invisible.

“Oh, good, we were starting to wonder,” Linae said when she saw the two of them standing in the middle of the room.  “Did you find out anything interesting?”

“They got Rachel!” Allura cried out, flying around the room frantically.  “And there were all these people lined up and White Glenda on a pedestal!”

“What in the world are you talking about?” Benedict asked, as Allura’s hysterical raving had sounded like nothing more than a word glurge.

“The inhabitants of the Pearl Kingdom are definitely up to something sinister,” The Author said.  “I don’t know for certain, but it looks like they’ve been kidnapping Losslietians from all the Kingdoms, and even areas beyond, and keeping them in suspended animation for some nefarious purpose.”

“Oh my,” Lynne said, “How can you tell all that?”

“We saw a number of sprites bringing unconscious creatures to a large room, then using their magic dust to stiffen them and stand them up in a crowd, all facing a huge monument.  Allura flew up and saw that White Glenda on the monument, so my guess is that this has something to do with her.  Just what, I don’t know.”

“And they’ve got Rachel!” Allura cried again, still flying around like a mad fairy.  “She was already there when we got there, put in as part of the crowd.”  She finally ran out of energy, and fell out of the air, panting, onto a chair.

“Well, that would get my vote for strange doings,” Linae said.  “Shall we go report to the queen?”

“We can’t just leave Rachel there,” Lynne said, wringing the edge of her dress’ sleeve.

“Yeah, we have to go save her!” Benedict added.

“Don’t be ridiculous, we don’t have any kind of power to save her,” Linae said.  “What would we do, march in and ask them to let all of them go?  Trust me, if movies have taught me anything, it’s that when hundreds of people are gathered for nefarious purposes, it takes more than two girls, one guy, and a kid to save the day.  If we had two guys or even three girls, maybe, just maybe, and only if we had some kind of brilliant plan.  Which we don’t have, do we?” She looked to The Author.

“Not at the moment, but if we all put our heads together-”

“No, Anthony, she’s right,” Allura interrupted him, “We need the Queen’s help.”

“Exactly,” Linae said, “If we’re going to succeed, we need manpower.  Or fairy power in this case.”

“Oh, oh,” Allura was still tired from her self-induced frenzy. “Give me a minute.”

“I still don’t like leaving Rachel there.  Who knows what will happen while we’re off getting help?” Lynne said.

“As Linae pointed out, we have no way of getting her out of there. Even if we went to rescue her now, we would have…” he trailed off, getting a strange look in his eyes.  “Actually, I think we can get Rachel back, if not anyone else.”

His plan was simple.  He and Allura would turn invisible, teleport back to the room (now that the fairy knew where it was, she could easily find it again), and if no one was around, they would teleport Rachel back with them, and then all of them would head to the queen.

“We probably would have done that in the first place if we hadn’t panicked back there,” The Author admitted.  “Do you think you’re ready for this, Allura?” he asked the small fairy.

“I think I am,” Allura said, leaping to her feet. “Let’s get invisible!”

They landed back in the large room in the Pearl Kingdom’s castle.  It was eerily quiet, with not a soul around, by the looks of it.  The Author and Allura walked over to where Rachel was set up in the crowd.

“Can you make her invisible?” The Author asked Allura very quietly.

“Probably,” Allura whispered back.  She flew down to Rachel’s left hand, and took it in her own, but nothing happened.  She turned herself uninvisible for just a moment, and was about to take Rachel’s hand and turn them both invisible, when she heard something.  Someone was coming!

“Quick, over here!” The Author hissed to her.  He was fully visible.

“Oh!” Allura thought, and quickly flew over to him and turned them both invisible again.  She latched onto his neck and he pressed himself against the wall, just in case.

“I’m telling you, I heard something up here,” they heard a voice say.  Two sprites with silver sashes running across their chests flew into the room from a stairwell.

“And I’m telling you, all the entrances to this room are guarded.  There is no way that anyone could have gotten in here without raising the alarm,” the other sprite said.  He surveyed the room quickly, and turned the other sprite physically so that he did the same.  “See?  Everything’s exactly the way it was the last time we checked, all right?”

“All right, I guess,” the other sprite said, and the two of them left.

“That was too close,” The Author said extremely quietly.  “Let’s do this while we still have a chance.”

“Okay, you come over this time, too,” Allura said into his ear.

They both walked over to where Rachel was.  Allura turned them both visible for a moment and then returned to invisibility with Rachel and The Author’s hands in hers.  This time it worked.  The three of them were invisible once again.  The Author reached down to where Rachel’s body was and lifted her out of the crowd.  He noticed that this left a hole in the crowd.  He thought about the guards.  Maybe they wouldn’t notice, but maybe they would.

“Allura, before we go, make a doppelganger to fill the hole,” he said very quietly.

“A what?” Allura climbed to his ear to ask.

“A copy of Rachel.  That way no one will notice she’s gone,” The Author explained.

Allura did as he asked, conjuring up a Rachel-sized doll that was a perfect double -- from the back.  The front of the doll had no face, but they didn’t have the time to try and fix it.  They had to get out of there with Rachel before they had any more close calls. 

“Oh, she looks terrible!” Lynne cried when she saw Rachel.  The Author lay her on the table, as the sprites’ dust was still keeping her stiff.

“She looks like she’s asleep,” Linae pointed out.

“Poor Rachel,” Benedict said, not sure what else to say.

“We’ll take her to the queen, and she’ll know what to do,” Allura said, “Come on, get together already!” She flew to them all, forcefully nudging them all closer together.

“All right, all right,” Linae said, and she and the others gathered together.  Allura flew around them, and suddenly they were back in the Golden Kingdom’s palace.

There was an overwhelming shout of “OH!” at their sudden appearance.  “What are you doing here so early in the day?” a fairy servant demanded.

“We have returned with urgent news for the queen,” The Author told her, “about a nefarious plot in the Pearl Kingdom.”

That got everyone’s attention right quick.  There was a flurry of activity as the queen was summoned from her chambers and the traveling party was forcibly lead into a small meeting room.  Although it was only small in the relative sense.  It was nowhere near as large as the throne room, but it was still large enough to comfortably accommodate the queen, making it quite large to most of the fairies, and simply gigantic to the tiny Allura.  The group was seated on large, plump cushions as they waited for the queen’s arrival.

After a few minutes, the doors to the meeting room opened, and five servants came in to announce the queen’s imminent appearance.  And appear she did, dressed in a flowing robe of golden light.  Standing directly before them, it was only too clear how much she towered over them.  She took a seat on an even larger, even plumper cushion, lowering herself carefully.

“Soo, yoou have news foor us, Anthony?” she asked, her voice echoing through the meeting room.

“I do, my queen,” The Author said.  He stood to address her.  “We have discovered a large room in the Pearl Castle that is currently hosting a multitude of creatures for an unknown purpose.”

“Including a multitude of our very own people,” Allura added.

“I see,” the queen said, drawing a finger under her chin, “Is this all that yoou discoovered?”

“Not entirely, your majesty,” The Author continued, “In the room there was an enormous monument with what we believe to be White Glenda resting in the center.”

“And that’s not all!” Allura burst in, “Just look what they’ve done to our poor friend Rachel,” she fluttered around Rachel’s stiff frame.

“All of the creatures in the room were in the same state,” The Author said.

“Let me have a clooser loook,” the queen said, and reached down to pick up Rachel.  In the queen’s large hand, the woman looked like a doll.  The queen held Rachel up to her face to examine her closer.  It was hard for the others down on the ground to see exactly what was going on, but soon the queen waved her hand and a sudden burst of water fell on the hand that held Rachel, dowsing the girl.  After a moment, Rachel coughed and sputtered, but she opened her eyes.  “There,” was all the queen said, and she placed Rachel back down on the ground by the others.

“Rachel, are you all right?!” Lynne immediate embraced her friend.

“What happened?  Why am I all wet?” Rachel asked.  As her brain cleared up, she remembered what had gone on before her enchantment, and she pushed her friend away to see where she was.  “The room, those creatures!  The strange doings!”

“Yes, we know,” The Author said, “That’s where we found you.”

“The sprites got you!” Allura informed her, “But we saved you, and now we’ll save the others in that room.  Won’t we?”  She looked up at the queen, who was watching the reunion scene with an unperturbed expression.

“It won’t be long!” Rachel said, “I heard them say that before…”

“What else did yoou hear?” The queen asked, gently (although it still had quite a bit of force, due to her size).

“I couldn’t make out very much, but I did hear something about a ritual, and maybe a sacrifice, to awaken someone.”

“Soo it is as we feared,” the queen murmured to herself, which was audible to everyone in the room.  She stood suddenly and waved her hand again.  Instantly, Rachel was dry.  Her servants, who had stayed at the edges of the room, flew up so that they were in the queen’s line of sight.  “Prepare the guard foor a trip too the Pearl Kingdoom.  I must have woords with their Prime Minister.”

“Immediately, your majesty!” the servants said, and flew off.

“What is it you’ve feared, my queen?” Allura asked in her loudest voice.

“Noone of the scoouts that I have sent to the Pearl Kingdoom in the past few weeks have returned,” the queen said.  She seemed distracted.  “I was beginning to suspect that they were being held captive, but I never imagined something like this.”

“So that‘s what it meant,” The Author said suddenly.  “The sacrifice of a thousand souls for the return of White Glenda to consciousness!”

“What?” Rachel, Lynne, Linae, and Benedict turned to The Author out of surprise when he said this.

“Just something from the last time I was here, that’s all,” he replied, “I found a prophecy, and they must have found the same prophecy in the Pearl Kingdom.  That’s why they’re collecting people and have White Glenda set up in front of them.”

“So they need one thousand… ugh,” Linae shuddered when she thought of the implication.

“How many do you think they have now?” Lynne asked.

“They said, ‘not long now,’ so they must be close,” Rachel said.

“But they’ll be low one soul because we left a doll of Rachel in her place,” Allura pointed out, flitting from one traveler to the other.

“Oh, I just hope that they don’t have enough people yet,” The Author said, “If they try to start the ritual with a missing piece, there’s no telling what could happen.”

“Doo yoou knoow what this ritual entails, Anthoony?” the queen asked.

“Not a whit, I’m sorry to say, my liege,” The Author replied.  “But from other rituals I have seen, I know that they require everything to be just so, or else all chaos breaks loose.  Strange that it should be the case.  You’d think that it would just make the ritual fizzle out, not destroy anything.”

“That’s really so reassuring,” Linae said dryly.

But the time for talk was over.  The queen’s servants had returned.  “Your guard is ready and waiting your command, your majesty,” the first said.

“Very goood,” The queen said.  “Please escoort Anthoony and his friends too the Pearl Kingdom with us.  We may need witnesses.”  With that, she left the room.

“Pardon us, please, but this is the best way to do it,” the first servant said to the group.  Each servant went behind a member of the group and grasped them around the waist.  Then they took off flying, each carrying one of the group.  Allura flew behind them.

In the early morning light, the queen shimmered with the colors of the sunrise as she lead the way for her guard, which included over one hundred fairies.   With the fast beating of wings, they made their way out of the Golden Kingdom and soon they were on the outskirts of the Pearl Kingom.  The queen arrived at the Pearl Castle before any of the others.  She landed lightly and stood next to the castle, which towered over even her.  It was quite a strange sight that greeted the sprites that were already awake at that point in time.  The enormous fairy queen, peeking into the windows of the castle as if it were a dollhouse.

“Prime minister!  Coome oout!  I must speak with yoou.”

A head, quite tiny in comparison to the queen’s, appeared in the window closest to where the queen was looking in.  “Great heavens, my lady!  What do you think you’re doing?!” a voice squeaked out.

By this time, the guard had caught up with the queen.  They hovered in the air, far enough away to give the queen and prime minister some privacy, but near enough that they could come to their queen’s aid if she needed them.  Sprites and fairies alike watched with anticipation to see what would come of this meeting.

“Prime minister, I have coome too see foor myself if the rumoors are true,” the queen said to the sprite.  

“What rumoors, my lady?” the prime minister asked, a slight sarcastic hint in his voice.  “All inhabitants for the Pearl Kingdom have kept out of the Golden Kingdom, as per your request.”

“I am noot entirely sure that is true, Prime minister,” the queen told him, “Why have a great number of my subjects suddenly disappear with no trace?”

“My lady, I assure that I have no idea what has happened to any of your subjects.  What call do you have to come here and throw accusations at me?” The Prime minister was quite put out about the whole ordeal.

“Do you think that she can get him to just out and out confess to what’s going on in there?” Linae asked Lynne from their position toward the back of the guard.  They were too far back to hear what anyone was saying except for the queen.

“I don’t see why he would confess to something like that,” Lynne replied.

But the queen’s intention was not to get the Prime minister to confess to anything at all.  She continued to argue with him back and forth, neither making any concession to the other.  It was only once the sun was high in the sky and the sprites watching were starting to hope that the discussion would end soon so they could get some lunch without worrying they would miss something important that the queen let the Prime minister off the hook.

With a smile, she told him, “If we cannoot coome to any coonclusioon, Prime minister, then we must simply agree to disagree.”  And then she took the air and flew off, heading back to the Golden Kingdom with her guard in tow.

Once they reached the Golden Kingdom’s palace again, the queen’s servants took Anthony and the others to a room high in a tower, and left them there without a word.

“Well, that was anticlimactic,” Linae commented.

“I’ll say,” Benedict replied.  “I thought we were going to see a huge battle or something.”

“I’m sure the queen had something up her sleeve,” The Author said, “She didn’t get to be the queen without knowing a trick or two.”

“I thought she got to be queen because she was so large,” Lynne pointed out.

“That may be part of it,” The Author said, “Or rather, she would not be so large if she wasn’t the queen.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that nothing got resolved,” Linae said, “All those whatevers are still over in that castle, and may still be part of the ritual.”

“Rachel, I want to take this opportunity to apologize to you’” The Author said.  “You were put in mortal danger, and it was all my own fault.”

“Yes, it was,” Rachel agreed.

“I should have made sure you were still with us more often,” he continued.

“Yes, you should have,” she agreed again, a little too readily for The Author’s tastes.

“You don’t have to agree that easily,” he told her.

“I figured you wouldn’t say it if you didn’t think it was true,” she replied.

“I suppose,” he agreed, “But just know this, if anything had ever had happened to you, I would never have forgiven myself.  But can you forgive me for putting you through that?”

“I suppose I can,” Rachel said, and gave him a little peck on the cheek.  Before anyone could react to that, a large window opened and they found themselves looking at the large face of Ingot the Fair.

Chapter Twenty:

The Group Leaves Losslieta Before an Imminent War

“I have to make this quick,” the queen told them, “I believe yoou knoow this felloow.”  She put her hand up to the window and sitting on it was a small creature that looked almost exactly like Benedict, only green.

“Rumple, hey!” Benedict said, glad to see his friend.

“You!” Rumple rushed at Benedict and tackled him. “This is all your fault!”

“Ow, hey, c’mon,” Benedict said from his spot on the floor, where Rumple was sitting on him. “It wasn’t all my fault.”

“If you hadn’t been nosing around that machine, this wouldn’t have happened!” Rumple said, before Benedict managed to get free from his friend’s hold.

“Well, you were the one that pushed me out of nowhere!”

“And I wouldn’t have done that if you hadn’t been nosing around something you shouldn’t have!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” The Author stepped in between the two fighting boys.  “I think we need some explanations here.”  He turned to the queen, “Your majesty, where did you find him?”

“He was part oof the group taken by the Pearl Kingdoom,” the queen told him, “We have rescued and reawakened all of them.”

“While you were keeping the Prime minister busy, no doubt,” The Author surmised, “You never fail to amaze me with your cleverness, my queen.”

“They will noot be foooled foor loong,” the queen told him, “I must honor my end of the bargain.  You two,” she said to Benedict and Rumple, “come here and stand before me.”

Benedict and Rumple, suitably cowed by the queen’s commanding tone, did as she asked.  The Queen held her scepter up in front of them, and began to chant inaudibly.  All at once there was a brilliant blaze of light, and the queen put down her scepter once more.  

“Look and see the names you need,” she told them, and the entire group turned to look at the opposite wall of the room.  There, etched onto the very wall, where the words “Helanon” and “Mortaria.”

“Is that where they are?” Linae asked, “The other two?”

“It is,” the queen said with a nod.

“Thank you most kindly, oh queen,” Lynne said with a curtsey.

“You are moost welcoome, friend oof Anthoony,” the queen replied, “But noow yoou must goo hoome.”

“Wait, what about our headsets?” Linae pointed out.

“And my headband?” Lynne added.

“Got ‘em right here!” came a voice from the door of the room, which was in the opposite direction from where they were facing the queen.  Allura flew in, and handed Linae her headset, and then gave Lynne her headband and earpiece.  She flew over to The Author and threw herself around his neck  “Oh, I’ll miss you so much, Anthony!”

The Author gave her a small hug.  “I’ll miss you, too, Allura.”  He gave her a small kiss on the forehead, and she flew away from him.

“Take care, all of you, and please come back and visit soon,” she said, and then she flew out of the room again.

“Okay, if we’re going to get out of here posthaste, then we need to get an agreement on where we’re going to,” Linae pointed out.  “Personally, I think we’d best go back to Rearn.  Don’t you agree, Lynne?”

“It has been a couple of days since we checked in,” Lynne said.  “But maybe we should take Benedict and Rumple back to Anone, first.”

“Yoou will need them oon yoour joourney,” the queen told her.  “They knoow the way too the oothers.”

“Oh, really?” Linae said, very glad to hear that.  She knew the two worlds in question, and she was not relishing the idea of combing them over.  “Well, it’s definitely back to Rearn first, then.  Unless,” she suddenly remembered that The Author was with them, “you want to go back to your museum first.”

“I confess, I’d rather see the world you come from,” The Author said, “But perhaps this lady,” he took Rachel’s hand, “Would like to return to her home?”

“Oh no, I’m fine going back with the others,” Rachel said.  She had a feeling that she might be needed again.  And while she hoped she would avoid some kind of disaster, she knew that nothing would ever be as bad as what she faced in the Pearl Kingdom.

“It’s decided then,” Linae said.  She turned to the queen.  “Thank you very much for the favor you’ve done for us all,” she said, and bowed.

“Yoou have alsoo doone a favoor,” the queen reminded her, “Please feel free to visit any time.”  Everyone in the group bowed or curtsied again.

“Okay, new kid,” Linae said to Rumple,  “all you have to do is hold someone’s hand and when I count to three, step forward with everyone else.  Got that?”

“Yeah, I got it,” Rumple said.

Benedict held out his hand.  “Truce?”

“Whatever,” Rumple said, but he took the hand offered him.  “You owe me when we get back home.”

“Yeah, I know,” Benedict said.  Lynne took his other hand, and Rachel took Rumple’s free hand.  The Author took Rachel’s other hand, and Linae took Lynne’s hand.

“All right, is everyone ready?” she asked.  “On three.  One, two, three.”

And then they were all in front of the Tulin-Walker Travel Agency office.  “We’re still in our fairy clothes, aren’t we?” Linae said.  “Gah, I should have gone to my house first.”

“You look fine, don’t worry,” Lynne told her.  

“It’ll do,” Linae said.  “Okay, this paperwork shouldn’t take too long to fill out, so Lynne, you take the kids, and I’ll take Mr. Author and Rachel.”

And so they split up, with the two agents going to their respective offices.

“What exactly is going on?” Rumple asked Benedict once Lynne had gotten down to work.

“Well, Lynne, that’s her,” Benedict indicated the already busy agent, “and Linae, that’s the one who wouldn’t stop talking back there, can travel to different worlds with just their minds!  I didn’t even know there were other worlds before all this stuff happened, did you?”

“I had heard there was a possibility that life existed beyond our plane of knowledge, yes,” Rumple replied.  Benedict just rolled his eyes and continued.

“Well, since they can do that, they’re helping get us all back together, but since there are a ton of worlds out there, they were trying to find a way to narrow it down, which is how we met that guy.  I think he’s kinda crazy, but being around him makes it easier for me to understand what people are saying, so I guess he’s okay.  Anyway, he thought the fairies could help, so we went to the world where you were, but before they would help, we had to find out what was going on in the Pearl Kingdom, and that’s where you were being kept.  I didn’t see it, but apparently you were being kept in a room with a bunch of other people for some kind of ritual.  What happened to you there, anyway?”

“I don’t even know,” Rumple told him.  “I just landed there, and I saw these things that looked really weird, and then everything went dark until that huge lady back there woke me up.”  He shivered a little, thinking about it again.

“She didn’t give it back, you know,” The Author said to Rachel.

“Give what back?”

“The pendant.  I gave it to the queen for her to use to make a radar, but I guess she found a different way to give us the information we needed.  But now my museum is short an exhibit.”

“I thought your museum was closed,” Linae said, slightly annoyed.  She wanted to get her work done, but the two adults kept talking and she kept getting distracted.

“I close it and reopen it again as I need to,” The Author told her.

“Is there a bathroom I could use?” Rachel asked.

“Down the hall, on the left,” Linae said, getting back to her paperwork.

“Thanks,” Rachel said, and got up to leave.

“I think I’ll use the facilities as well,” The Author said.  “I assume the men’s room is in a similar location?”

“Probably,” Linae said.  Truth be told, she wasn’t sure there even was a men’s room.  She hadn’t ever thought about it, but almost all the agents were women.

“Then we’ll be back momentarily,” The Author said, and he and Rachel left.

Before too long, both Lynne and Linae were done with their post-travel paperwork.  Lynne checked on the reports from both Mortaria and Helanon, and Linae went down to the accounting department to pick up some currency from both worlds.

“With any luck we’ll be able to get to both worlds before the day is up,” she said to the others, “And have these guys home before dark.  Are you all ready to go?”

“I believe so,” The Author said.  The others echoed his assent.

“Are we going to Mortaria or Helanon first?” Lynne asked.

“I figured we’d go to Helanon first.  It’s smaller,” Linae said.  “Okay, hands together.”  They all joined hands as they had before.  “Ready, steady, go!”

“You like to mix it up, don’t you?” The Author said once they were in Helanon.

“Might as well,” Linae told him.  “When you do it as much as I do, it helps to do something different from time to time.  So,” she turned to Rumple and Benedict.  “Which way do we go?”

“There!” the two boys said, pointing at a huge mansion that they happened to be standing outside of.

“Huh.  What are the odds?” Linae commented.

“My fault, entirely,” The Author said.  

“Oh, don’t apologize,” Linae told him, “Anything that makes this whole thing easier is all right with me.”

“Should we just go in?” Lynne wondered.  “I mean, just ring the bell and ask to come in?”

“Well, they’re already doing that, so it can’t hurt to try,” Rachel told her, pointing to Rumple and Benedict, who were indeed already ringing the doorbell.

“Yes?” An middle-aged butler opened the door.

“Is our friend in here?’ Benedict asked.

“She looks like us, only she’s yellow or pink.  And a girl,” Rumple added.

“Yes, as a matter of fact, the mistress is in.  May I ask who is calling?” the butler asked them in a tired sounding voice.

“Tell her that Benedict and Rumple are here,” Benedict said.

“Very good.  I will let her know.  Please come in,” the butler said, moving to stand beside the door and beckoning them inside.

“Well I’ll be darned,” Linae said.  She was always glad when things moved along, but that was a bit too convenient.  “Better keep an eye out for anything funny,” she whispered to Lynne.

“Okay,” Lynne whispered back.  And they all went inside.

The mansion’s insides were even grander than its outsides.  Everywhere they looked, there was some kind of very expensive item on display.  The carpets were so plush that they had to take their shoes off before even thinking about walking on them, according to the butler.  He lead them through an opulent drawing room, and up an enormously grand staircase.  Then he lead them to a row of doors.  He knocked on one and announced, “Masters Benedict and Rumple to see you, Mistress.”  He opened the door and let Benedict and Rumple go in before the others.

They looked in saw Rosamin seated at a small table, set for afternoon tea.  The moment she saw them, her eyes grew quite wide.

“Benedict! Rumple!” She somehow managed to launch herself directly at them, and started smothering them both with a bone crushing hug.  “I was so worried and lonely and lonely and worried and worried and lonely…”

“One-track mind, that one,” Linae commented dryly.

“And I didn’t know what had happened to you or the others, and I was stuck in this horrible place, and they made me wear these fancy dresses and learn how to speak their language and forced me to eat in that huge dining room, and it was just awful!”

“That’s her idea of awful?” The Author wondered aloud.  

“Hush, she’s obviously distraught,” Rachel said.  “How would you like it if you were forced to do something in a strange place, no matter how pleasant it may be?”

“I have done that, and depending on the situation, it can be pretty nice, actually.  If it isn’t, then my captors were usually trying to kill me.”

“Well, I don’t think that’s the case here,” Lynne said, looking around at the elegant room that was evidently Rosamin’s bedroom.

“I missed you so much!” Rosamin reiterated.

“Yeah, we missed you, too,” Rumple said.

“But it’s okay, we’ll take you home now,” Benedict told her.

“Oh, we can’t go before high tea,” Rosamin said.  “You will stay for tea, won’t you?” She looked at them both imploringly.

Benedict looked to Lynne and Linae.  “Can we?”

“I don’t see why not,” Lynne said.

“We made good time finding her, so sure,” Linae echoed.  “I’d like to see a high tea in action, anyway.”

“May I get your names?” the butler asked the humans of the group.  “I will need to announce you before Madame Ludlilly.”

“Yes, of course,” Linae said.  She assumed that this Madame Ludlilly must be the owner of the mansion, and the one who put Rosamin through her ‘torture.’  “I am Linae Banks, if you please.”

“I do,” the butler told her.  “And the rest?”

“Oh, Lynne Zink.”

“Rachel Wright, sir.”

“You may call me Harold M. Genadine, Esquire,” The Author told him.

“Very good.  Someone will send for you soon,” and with that, the butler left.

“Please, you have to be very, very good,” Rosamin said to Benedict and Rumple.  She seemed to be ignoring the others.

“Of course we will,” Benedict told her.

“As a matter of course,” Rumple replied.  “Though you should understand that we still need to get Sunny back, so we may not be able to stay for the entire tea.”

“Oh, Sunny!  She isn’t back yet?” Rosamin asked.

“I don’t think so,” Benedict said.

“It’s highly unlikely that she would be able to get back on her own,” Lynne pointed out.  Rosamin shrank back a little, looking at this interrupter with wide, frightened eyes.  “Oh, sorry,” Lynne apologized, “We haven’t been introduced.  My name is Lynne, and I guess I’m a friend of Benedict’s now.”

Rosamin scurried behind Benedict.  “Why is she talking to me?” she asked plaintively.

“This kid is one weird duck,” Linae thought, but she kept it to herself.

“Yeah, it takes a little getting used to,” Benedict told her, “Lynne’s just weird that way.  But that other girl,” he pointed at Linae, “Can speak our language, too, when she wears a special device.”

“Don’t worry, they’re perfectly harmless,” Rumple said, although he didn’t really know that for sure.  But based on what little he had seen that day, he stood behind his judgment one hundred percent.

“I take that back, all these kids are weird ducks,” Linae said.  Only this time she said it out loud.

“Don’t take it personally, Linae,” Lynne said, although she wasn’t sure whether to be offended by Benedict’s description of her, or just take it in stride.  For the sake of decorum (they were in a fancy mansion after all), she resolved to take it up with Benedict later.

While the agents had their kicks listening in on conversations, Rachel had her own beef to take up with The Author.

“Esquire, huh?” she said, shooting him a sly look.

“It never hurts to have a title in your roster of nome du plumes,” he told her.

“You’re utterly incorrigible, honestly,” she replied.

Chapter Twenty One:

Madame Ludlilly and Rosamin’s Relationship

It was not too long after this that a servant arrived, opening the door slowly.  “Madame Ludlilly requests your presence for high tea,” she said.  “Please follow me.”  She left the room, followed by the others, with Rosamin leading the way.

The servant lead them to a magnificently furnished tea room, where a finely dressed, but rather crotchety-looking old woman was already seated.  The servant announced them all by name, and everyone took a seat as their name was called.

“Such a lot of guests you have today, granddaughter,” the old woman, who was Madame Ludlilly, said to Rosamin.

Had it not been a high tea, and had Madame Ludlilly not exuded such an air of nobility, there would have been a simultaneous exclamation of “GRANDDAUGHTER?!?” by everyone except for the servants and Rosamin at this.  But as it was, everyone had too good manners to make such an outburst.  It should be noted, though, that Benedict was only prevented from doing this by Rumple hastily and covertly pulling his tail, a signal they had worked out long ago, meaning “Benedict, keep your mouth shut.”

“Thank you, grandmother,” Rosamin said demurely, garnering another tail pull for Benedict.  She shot her friends a look that she hoped said “I’ll explain later.”

The rest of the tea was taken up with small talk from all sides, with Madame Ludlilly inquiring after her ‘granddaughter’s’ friends in only the most cursory manner, and with her ‘granddaughter’s’ friends answering, appropriately, in only the most cursory manner.

When the tea was over, and the last of the dishes had been cleared away, Madame Ludlilly cleared her throat, and asked, “Won’t you play something for us, my dear?”

“Oh, of course, Grandmother,” Rosamin said, and excused herself from the table.  There was a piano on the other side of the room, and Rosamin lifted herself onto the piano stool and began to play.

Madame Ludlilly smiled widely at the piece Rosamin was playing, and the others smiled as well, although they were just being polite.  Simply put, Rosamin could not play the piano.  At all.  But they all sat through her piece, and lead by Madame Ludlilly, applauded at the end.

“Lovely, just lovely, my child,” Madame Ludlilly said once Rosamin’s piece was over.  “You may return to your room now, if you wish.”

“Actually, Gra- I, there’s, there’s something I need to tell you first,” Rosamin stammered.  “You have been very good to me over this past week, and all that you’ve asked in return was that I call you ‘grandmother,’ and I’m very grateful for this.  But now my friends have come to take me home.  Please, I hope you can understand, but I must return to my own home now.”

“Sure, make us the bad guys,” Benedict said to Rumple under his breath.  Rumple just pulled his tail again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Rosamin, dear,” Madame Ludlilly said, her voice quite calm.  “You are my granddaughter, and I am your grandmother.”

“I know that you have enjoyed my company, gra- Madame Ludlilly, but I really must go.  Please, try to understand.”

“Granddaughter, you mustn’t speak so,” Madame Ludlilly said calmly, “People might think you were unhinged.”

There was something in the old woman‘s calm that set Linae on edge.  “Should we make a run for it?” she whispered to Lynne.

“I don’t remember the way out of here, do you?” Lynne whispered back.

Any further discussion between Rosamin and her ‘grandmother’ was suddenly cut short by a loud booming sound from somewhere in the mansion.  There was the sound of a flurry of activity, and the voice of a young man.  “Grandmother, I know you’re in here somewhere!”

“Jenkins, lock the door,” Madame Ludlilly said to a nearby servant, but before the servant could even move, the door swung open and a not quite young man with sharp black hair strode in.  

“Grandmother, you’ve gone too far this time,” he said to Madame Ludlilly, his black trench coat still waving behind him from his forward stride.  “How could you harbor my brother?  I’ve told you and I’ve told you again and again…” He suddenly caught sight of the other members of the tea party.

And that's all she wrote.  I'm not planning on finishing this, but I did have an ending in mind.The old lady was just faking because she was covering up for her other grandson, who is evil, and the others were able to sneak out in the ensuing debacle.  Sunny was at a circus in some other world, Linae nearly got eaten by a spiderwoman/acrobat before they found her, but she was saved at the last minute, and everyone got to go back to their own respective worlds, happily ever after.