And then the young witch's cat, who'd spent the last few minutes quietly stalking the druid's squirrel, chose that moment to pounce.

  "Mrrowl!" "Squeak!" "Mr. Chitters!" "Hey! Watch where you're—" "Get off me!" "In the name of the Moon—!" "If you touch Jinkies, I'll..."

  "Enough!" Lady Amberyll roared, forcing all five girls and two pets into silence. "Like it or not, the five of you will be stuck together for the rest of the summer." The headmistress nailed each of them in turn with her sternest glare. "I understand how disappointed you all must be, but you need to live with it. Now, I would suggest that the five of you retire to the parlor on your floor and get to know each other better. Perhaps plan what you would like to do for the holidays."

  A moment later, and they were standing in the cool stone hall of the Academy, with the headmistress's door clicking shut behind them. Ten minutes later, they were sitting around a table in the parlor, just as Lady Amberyll had commanded.

  Flora was handing out cups of her favorite herbal tea, the one made with raspberries. Only Selvi turned down the offer. The barbarian princess was slouching back in an overstuffed armchair. Across the table from her, Gwenevrael was carefully cleaning her knives, but accepted her cup with one thin-gloved hand. Bianca was sitting on the rug, her cat perched atop her shoulder.

  Cassandrella was running into the room with her hands full of clean bed sheets.

  "What are you going on about?" Selvi growled.

  "I heard this in a story! You cut the linens into strips and make a rope so you can climb down from your bedroom window and escape!"

  "We're not confined to our rooms," Gwenevrael pointed out. The ranger princess aimed a thumb at her pack, laid out on the floor beside her. "And some of us actually have rope."

  "Oh..." The cleric dumped the linens on the floor, then sat on them with a whoomph. "Oh! We could make a big balloon out of them and fly right over the walls! Bianca could pull us with her broom!"

  Uncle scribbled a quick note and passed it over to Katelyn.

  "... oh."

  "What does it say?" asked Helen.

  "Flying's not such a good idea," Bianca said, hugging Jinkies. "I tried to fly over the walls once. The gargoyles almost ate me." She shivered at the memory and squeezed tightly. The little black cat rolled his eyes and mewled.

  "Where would we even go?" asked Flora.

  "Anywhere but here," Selvi said. "Spent enough time here as it is. Ain't staying any longer."

  "Let's go to the Moon!" Everyone ignored Cassandrella this time.

  "Has anyone even been out the main gates before?" asked Bianca. The other girls shook their heads. Like all the princesses at the school, they'd always arrived by Wayhouse, and left the same way.

  "Surely one of us knows where we could go!"

  "Okay, time out," said Uncle. "This is the perfect opportunity for a knowledge check. The idea is that just because you don't know something doesn't mean your princess doesn't know it, if you get my drift. So for example, Gwen's got a skill point in knowledge of geography. With her other scores and everything, she's got a good chance of knowing where to go. Ready, Helen?"

  His niece grinned and picked up her big green die, the one with numbers up to twenty.

  "So, the difficulty here is fifteen for full knowledge, but you've got a bonus of seven already. Eight or higher gets it."

  The little lump of green plastic rolled from her fingertips, landing on the tabletop and bouncing once, twice, three times. Gatta-gatta-gatta... The die came up with a 3. Helen stared at the number for a moment, then looked to her uncle with a confused face. "Um, what do we do now?" she asked.

  "We roll with it. Here's what a total of ten gets you..."

  "The Academy's out in the middle of nowhere on purpose," Gwenevrael said with a sigh. "That's why everyone uses the Wayhouses to get here. I'm not even sure where we'd be on a map."

  "So why don't we find one? A map, I mean." Everyone turned to look at Bianca, still sitting cross-legged on the soft carpet. "We've got a library over in the next building, and it's not like they said we couldn't use it for study purposes."

  "But will the librarian let us see the right books?" asked Selvi. "She never lets me touch anything."

  "Probably she was convinced you'd rip all the pages," snorted Gwenevrael.

  "I prefer ripping ears. Pointy ones make for good handholds, too."

  "May the Moon bring peace!" shouted Cassandrella, pushing herself between them. "We'll be stuck here all summer at this rate, unless we can work together at least a little bit! Now let's have a hug..." That got the cleric two sets of glares. "Um, a handshake?"

  Selvi didn't back down, but she didn't push forward either. Folding her arms against her chest, she said, "Okay, until we get out of here, we work together. No longer'n that."

  "Agreed." The half-elf sneered.

  The school library was a single room, though that word hardly did it justice. It was slightly better to say that it had no walls, only shelf after shelf of books that meandered around the open space like a children's game of dominoes. All it would take was one push, and the whole series would come tumbling down. From the look of things, this may have happened in the past, on more than one occasion.

  "You! What mean you here?" the librarian's voice thundered from on high. It was rumored among the student body that Mistress Heyerwif was half-giant by birth, and the woman was in fact taller than anyone else in the school. There was an entire series of shelves set into the ceiling which only she could reach properly. Long blonde hair was pulled back into a bun, and icy blue eyes pinned the gaggle of princesses in place. "Should be home, all of you!"

  "Um, our apologies, ma'am," Cassandrella said nervously. "We, we aren't going home this summer. A problem with the Wayhouses..."

  "And we've already got extra work to do!" Bianca complained loudly. "Can you believe it? We have to do an in-depth report on the school. Like, twenty or thirty pages each!"

  "Ja, ja, that sounds like milady.." Mistress Heyerwif was nodding, and some of the disapproval had vanished from her eyes. "Und so you are needing books, ja? Anyt'ing pertaining to the school?"

  "Yes, please," the five princesses said, more or less as a group. Selvi was scowling at the mere mention of more schoolwork.

  "Um, we're all taking different topics for it," said Bianca. "History, famous students, geography, local animals, architecture, whatever there is."

  "Hm. Let us see what we can find, ja?" The librarian closed her eyes and whispered the words to a spell. Her fingers twisted and turned in complicated patterns, and suddenly tiny blue balls of light danced between them. Mistress Heyerwif cast the lights into the air, and away they went. "Follow the guides," she commanded. "They will find the books you seek."

  The princesses babbled their thanks and rushed off. The tall, blonde woman chuckled as they went.

  "Okay, here we are," Gwenevrael said, pointing to a spot on the map.

  "You sure?" Selvi didn't sound too certain herself. The old chart was a complicated work of art, but it looked like it valued that artistry over accuracy. The section the ranger princess had pointed out included a fanciful picture of a dragon, for one thing.

  "Pretty sure. Here's that mountain to the west, the one with two peaks that you can see from the higher towers. The shape's pretty distinctive."

  "So where does that put us?" asked Flora. She was leafing through a book of animals common to the region.

  "About a hundred miles north of the nearest big city."

  "Pft, that's nothing." Selvi snorted at the thought.

  "It's not us that I am worried about." Gwenevrael nodded to the witch and the cleric, who were curled up on the rug, napping. Jinkies was draped under Bianca's chin like a fuzzy neck-warmer.

  "Hey! Sleeping beauties! Wake up!" yelled the half-orc. Selvi stomped her feet as hard as she could, rousing such a noise that the two girls and the little cat all jumped straight up in the air.

  "That was mean," said Gwenevrael.

  "Don't say you weren't thinkin' about it," the barbarian countered. "I can tell you're wantin' to smile."

  "Am not!"

  "So, um." Bianca yawned. "Where's the fire? Have we figured out where we're going yet?"

  "The city of Himmel's Gate. Or maybe Gote. Goat?" Selvi scratched her head. "Am I the only one havin' trouble readin' this thing?"

  "It is a bit old-fashioned," Gwenevrael acknowledged. "But it's the best we've got. Going to be a long walk," she warned.

  "Oh, that's all right. I've got my broom."

  "Thought that was locked up in the teachers' lounge," said Cassandrella, who was still rubbing the moon-dust of sleep from her eyes.

  "Yup, which is why you're going to help me get it out!"

  "I'm going to do what now?" The cleric shook the last of the fog from her head. "No! That's stealing! As the princess of the Moon I must fight for Truth and Justice, not Petty Larceny!"

  "Aww... but it's not stealing," said Bianca. "It's mine, and I'm just, er, liberating it. Then we can use it instead of our feet, so we won't slow everyone else down as much." The witch hooked her arm around Cassandrella's shoulder and made soaring motions with her free hand. "Just think, flying gently through the night, under the light of a big, full moon...."

  The cleric's eyes much like the moon at that thought, big and round and shiny. "Oooooooooooh......"

  "So the two of you should go do that," said Gwenevrael. "The rest of us will scout the walls to see where we should sneak out. Meet us by the old oak tree in an hour, okay?"

  "In the name of the Moon, we shall be there!"

  "Right-o, Gwen. Um, where'd Jinkies go off to?" There was a pitiful mewling from above. Bianca looked up to find her kitty dangling from the parlor's unlit chandelier. "Jinkies! Get down from there this instant!"

  "Mrrow?"

  "Yes, right now!"

  The witch would later claim that the cat's choice of landing spots was completely out of her control, but Selvi still didn't forgive her for a long time after. If anyone had asked the cat — which of course no one had — they would have learned that the little feline liked the smell of the half-orc's hair. That's why he'd aimed directly for her braided scalp with all four sets of claws leading the way.

  The woods behind the main keep of the Academy were surprisingly large for something found within castle walls. Gwenevrael had often wondered why Lady Amberyll even bothered. The mess of trees and brush would only help invaders if the castle were attacked. Then again, if the maps were right then there was nobody around to attack the school, and as Bianca had discovered firsthand, there were magical defenses in place as well.

  "Wishin' we could just go through the front gate," Selvi groused. "Prolly be safer."

  "When was the last time you saw that way to be open?" the ranger replied. "Everything always comes through the Wayhouse doors. In any case, the heaviest defenses would need to be there as well. Watching spells, guardians, stuff like that. If we sneak over the wall back here, we're less likely to trip something."

  "Mebbe, mebbe not," said the half-orc. "Don't forget what happened to the witchy-girl."

  "Trust me, I haven't. She was flying high over the walls. We won't be."

  "So what are we looking for?" asked Flora.

  Gwenevrael thought about it. "A spot where the trees block the view of the wall, when seen from the keep, and where there's a safe place to climb to on the other side."

  Flora nodded, then cupped her hands. As she held them up near her face, Mr. Chitters hopped on. The druid let out a long string of clicks and squeaks, sometimes puffing up her cheeks to help get the sounds right.

  "Um, she's talkin' to the squirrel again..."

  "Shush; let her do her thing."

  Mr. Chitters was listening intently, with every sign of understanding more of the conversation than either princess. He gave a high-pitched "Chook!" and leapt from his mistress's hands, bounding off into the woods.

  "Follow that squirrel!" shouted Flora. She took off after her pet, leaving the other two princesses to stare at her trail of dust.

  "Look, it'll be easy," said Bianca. "Most of the teachers are off to one place or another, just like the other princesses. The rest are more like Mistress Heyerwif and never leave their part of the Academy 'cept for emergencies. We just need to do this fast."

  The two girls were hiding around the corner from the entrance to the main teachers' lounge, which was tucked into one corner of the third floor. There was no sign that anyone was inside.

  "Alright. Jinkies?" The little black cat perked at the sound of her voice. "Go reconnoiter."

  "Mrow?"

  Bianca sighed. "Go check it out."

  "Mrewl!"

  "Pretty please? With anchovies on top?"

  The cat considered for a moment, then padded away nonchalantly, as if it were by mere coincidence that he was going the way she had asked. He nosed around the door, sniffing and rubbing his chin against the hard wood. With a yawn, he sat down in a pool of sunlight that poured in from a nearby window, rolled over on his back, and stretched.

  "Um... so, is it okay?" asked Cassandrella.

  "It'd better be, or someone's not getting his treat tonight." Bianca tiptoed up to the door and tried the handle. "Locked," she said.

  "Should we go get someone with a key?"

  "You're not quite getting the idea here, Cassie. Only a teacher would have the key, but if it's locked, then at least no one's probably in there." Bianca sighed. "Didn't want to have to do this, but..."

  The witch searched her pockets, coming up with a pin and a thin scrap of paper. Her usual smile had turned upside down.

  "What are you..."

  "Shhh. This is a spell that Gran'Mama taught me, so be quiet before I chicken out." She heard Cassie squeak in surprise right as she stabbed her thumb with the pin. A single drop of blood was squeezed out onto the paper. Bianca pressed the scrap to the door, where it stuck as if glued.

  "By the pricking of my thumbs, something sneaky this way comes," the witch intoned. "Open locks, whoever knocks!" Lightly, she tapped on the door three times, and heard the bolts turn inside it. With a click, it opened.

  She motioned to Cassie, who was staring at her. "Well, shall we?"

  "W... w... that was witchcraft!"

  "So it was. I'm a witch. What of it? Really, the broom and the hat should've been a tip-off."

  "B-but, I thought that was all for show! To be cool or something. Ev-everyone knows witches are..."

  "Can we continue this some other time, when we're not standing in front of doors we shouldn't be going through?" Bianca grabbed the cleric and dragged her into the lounge.

  The room was shabbier than she'd expected, full of threadbare old couches and stuffed chairs. There were cabinets for holding letters or papers, and a flat mirror on one table that she recognized as having a facsimile charm on it.

  "Hold on a moment." She crept over to where the files were stored.

  "What are you doing?" Cassie hissed at her.

  Bianca ignored the cleric. Flipping through the alphabet of labels, she came across her own name and pulled the file. She took a clean sheet of paper and placed it under the mirror, then pressed the main page of her file against the glass. She'd seen something like this before, and the memory rattled through her head like a many-sided die rolling a high number. There was a light buzz of magic at work, and the mirror flashed with a light that wasn't there. When she retrieved the paper from under it, the blank page was filled with Mistress Penskill's crabbed handwriting. Quickly, she copied the second page as well.

  "Always wanted to know what the old bat thought of me," she said.

  "Can we get out of here soon," pleaded Cassie. The poor thing's knees were trembling.

  "Okay, okay, hold your bunnies." Bianca slipped over to the closet door. At this distance, she could feel the presence of her beloved broom within. She pulled at the latch, but it wouldn't open.

  "Are you going to stick yourself again?"

  "I can only do that trick once a day," she answered. "Watch the door, okay?"

  The lock on this door wasn't nearly as good as the one on the main door. Focusing her magic onto her singular lock of white hair, she made it grow and stretch, then directed it to slip around the edges of the door. It took a bit of fumbling, and she could feel her control slipping by the end, but she managed to jimmy the door open.

  And there it was. Her broom. A yard and a half of polished elm wood with a leather saddle running half its length, fitted to allow for two riders if they didn't mind being close. "Yes!" she cried softly, hugging it.

  "Okay, time to go," she said to the cleric. "And I owe you a moonlit ride for coming with me here."

  "Yeah..." Cassie didn't sound too happy about that anymore. Also: "Were you crying?"

  "No!"

  "Only, there's a tear on your cheek."

  "It's dusty in here, that's all..."

  Jinkies blinked as his mistress and her silly friend shut the door and quietly slipped down the hall. Flicking his ears, which was to him what a shrug was to a human, he got up from his comfortable spot in the sun and followed them.

  "Okay, so whaddawe got?" Selvi asked of the assembled princesses. Since they'd already gone through the trouble of making their bags already, it hadn't taken long to put together some basic travel packs. Only Cassandrella had really complained about leaving most of the clothing behind.

  Five packs were gathered under the old oak tree, though one was technically hanging from a floating broomstick. Selvi's own bag was sensibly done, as was the half-elf's, though she hated to give Princess Pointy-Ears any sort of compliment. The others... were serviceable, if hard to understand. Selvi'd never seen anything like some of the things sticking out of them.

 

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