The Sapphire Princess Meets a Monster Read online

  For Karen Kay Cody and Princess Gemma

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Map

  1. The Golden Gift

  2. The Blue Lake Monster

  3. Call the Storkz!

  4. Monster Hunt

  5. Sparkle of Light

  6. The Poisoned Pear

  7. The Spirit of Blue Lake

  8. Four Crown Jewels

  Sneak Peek

  About the Authors

  The Jewel Kingdom Series

  Copyright

  “It’s a perfect day for a picnic!” Princess Sabrina said as she sailed across the water in Blue Lake. She was riding in her laurel-leaf boat.

  Gurt the gilliwag sat behind her, paddling the boat. The green froglike creature was a close friend of the Sapphire Princess’s.

  “Princess Sabrina,” Gurt said in his deep voice, “this very golden afternoon matches your golden gift.”

  That morning a golden basket had very mysteriously arrived at the gates of the Sapphire Palace. A card was pinned to the basket. It read, To the Sapphire Princess. Signed, A Secret Admirer.

  The golden basket was filled with bread, cheese, and chocolate. Each piece was wrapped in gold cloth and tied with a sapphire-blue ribbon.

  Princess Sabrina loved the basket. She had invited her three cousins to join her for a picnic that afternoon. Demetra, the Diamond Princess, and Emily, the Emerald Princess, had arrived. While they waited for the Ruby Princess, the three cousins sailed across the lake to Bluebonnet Falls.

  “Let’s have a race!” Sabrina called to the Emerald Princess. Emily was on her knees, paddling a large green lily pad.

  “I’m ready when you are,” Princess Emily said as she pulled up next to Sabrina. “Just say the word.”

  Of the four Jewel Princesses, Emily was the most athletic. She ruled the Greenwood and spent her days climbing trees and riding through her lush green forest.

  The Diamond Princess steered her boat made of white gardenias between her two cousins. Demetra ruled the White Winterland, and everything she wore was glittering white.

  “I think we should wait for Roxanne,” Demetra advised. “Wasn’t she going to join us?”

  “Roxanne is always late,” Emily said with a frown. “If we wait for her, it will be sundown before we get to eat.”

  Sabrina focused her dark brown eyes on the shore. There was no sign of the Ruby Princess.

  “I agree with Emily,” Sabrina announced. “Let’s have a race ourselves.”

  “No, no, no!” squeaked a yellow-and-pink butterfly as she landed on Sabrina’s finger. It was Zazz, Princess Sabrina’s palace adviser and best friend.

  “Princess, if you race in this boat, you’ll lose,” Zazz sputtered. “Or sink. Just look at what we’re carrying. Gurt. That heavy gold basket. The napkins and tablecloths, and all of the royal china.”

  Sabrina put her face nose-to-nose with the tiny butterfly. “Then I’ll just have to get another boat. Any idea where I might find one?”

  Blue Lake was dotted with boats. “I’ll call the nymphs,” Zazz said as she fluttered off the princess’s finger. “They’ll bring a leaf boat right over.”

  “Don’t do that,” Emily called. “Sabrina, hop on my lily pad. We’ll race Demetra together.”

  Sabrina stood up to leap onto Emily’s boat, but something tugged at her arm.

  Sabrina spun around. No one was there. Just Gurt the gilliwag calmly paddling away. She looked at the mysterious golden basket. It glittered in the afternoon sun.

  “Come on, Sabrina!” Emily cried. “Jump!”

  Before Sabrina could make a move, the basket danced across the bottom of the boat and leaped into her hands.

  Emily gasped. “Did you see that?” she asked Demetra.

  “I don’t like this,” Demetra said, shaking her shiny black hair. “Sabrina, you should leave that basket alone. You don’t know where it came from.”

  “Don’t be such a worrywart!” Sabrina stared at the golden basket. “This is a present. A very magical present from a secret admirer. Full of wonderful food.”

  “And I’m starving,” Zazz called from her perch on the boat’s bow.

  “Me too.” Sabrina leaned forward and whispered to the butterfly, “Zazz, let’s not wait until we get to Bluebonnet Falls. Why don’t you and I take a piece of chocolate from the picnic basket right now?”

  Zazz rubbed her little legs together. “I like chocolate. Yes, yes!”

  Sabrina opened the basket. But just as her fingers touched the food, something jolted the boat.

  “Whoa!” Zazz fell backward onto the floor of the boat and bent one antenna. “What was that?”

  “I’m not sure!” Sabrina replied.

  Thunk! Something hit the boat again.

  “I’m afraid something is trying to sink us,” Gurt declared, pulling his paddle into the boat.

  “The water sprites must be playing a joke.” Sabrina peered into the water. She was looking for the ghostly outline of the little sprites.

  “If the sprites don’t want you to see them, Princess, you won’t,” Zazz said as she tried to straighten her antenna.

  “I’ll try calling them.” Sabrina cupped her hands around her mouth. “Hello? Anybody there?”

  Nothing.

  The Sapphire Princess leaned over the side of the boat. She was so close, her nose nearly touched the lake.

  All at once two huge yellow eyes appeared just below the surface.

  Sabrina screamed and fell backward.

  “Sabrina!” Demetra fanned Sabrina’s face with a broad green leaf.

  Zazz fluttered nervously over their heads.

  “Is the princess all right?” the butterfly asked.

  Gurt pointed toward the Sapphire Palace. “Should I swim for help?”

  “Please don’t. I’m fine!” the Sapphire Princess said, pulling herself into a sitting position. “I saw a face, and it surprised me!”

  Emily squinted one eye closed and peered at her cousin. “What kind of face?”

  “A face as big as this boat,” Sabrina replied. “It was under the water.”

  “I’ll go see what it was!” Gurt cried. The gilliwag dove over the side and instantly disappeared from sight.

  Demetra poured Sabrina a cup of honey nectar. “What did the face look like?”

  Sabrina took the cup and slowly sat up. “Well, it was huge and gray. And very lumpy.”

  “Did it have a mouth?” Emily asked.

  Sabrina nodded. “Yes. And its teeth looked razor-sharp.”

  “What about its body?” Zazz asked, perching on Sabrina’s shoulder. “Did you see it?”

  Sabrina sipped the nectar. “I didn’t see its body, but if its head was as big as this boat, then the body would have to be as big as ten boats.”

  Zazz frowned. “There’s nothing that big that lives in the lake except …” Her eyes widened. “The Blue Lake Monster!”

  They heard a splash behind them and everyone jumped. The gilliwag draped his long green arms over the side of the boat.

  “I saw a shadow,” Gurt gasped. “I tried to follow, but it disappeared into the Deep Dark.”

  The Deep Dark was an inky stretch of water where none of the lake folk ever swam. It was very deep and very, very cold.

  Now Zazz’s eyes were as huge as lily pads. “Then it was the Blue Lake Monster!”

  Sabrina tapped Zazz on the top of the head with her fingertip. “What’s all this talk about a Blue Lake Monster? I’ve never heard of it.”

  Zazz shivered. “It’s terrible. Just terrible.”

  “The monster has always been down there,” Gurt explained. “Some
say it is an evil creature left over from when Lord Bleak ruled the land.”

  “Lord Bleak!” Demetra gasped. “How awful!”

  Lord Bleak and his Dreadlings had been banished from the Jewel Kingdom years before. That was when Queen Gemma and King Regal had come to the throne. They had divided up the Jewel Kingdom, giving each of their nieces her own jewel and her own land.

  “If it has anything to do with Lord Bleak, it must be mean and horrible,” Emily said, clutching her cousins’ hands.

  Gurt shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never heard of the monster harming anyone.”

  “Then maybe it’s a friendly monster,” Sabrina said.

  Zazz put her face close to Sabrina’s. “But you said that it was gray and had fierce teeth. That sounds dangerous.”

  “I think you should warn your people,” Demetra advised.

  Sabrina didn’t like to jump to conclusions. She preferred to think things over before taking any action. “I just saw a face,” she said. “It could have been a sprite playing a trick, trying to scare us.”

  Zazz reluctantly agreed. “They have been known to do that.”

  Sabrina smiled at her cousins and friends. “We’re almost to Bluebonnet Falls. We were going on a picnic. So why don’t we eat our lunch and talk about it?”

  She picked up the picnic basket and set it in her lap.

  Suddenly, a huge gray head burst out of the water.

  “The Blue Lake Monster!” Zazz squealed.

  The monster opened its jaws and let loose a terrible roar.

  Sabrina dropped the picnic basket and reached for the purse she wore at her waist. Inside was magic dust that the great wizard Gallivant had given her. She tossed the dust over herself and her guests.

  “From water to air,” she chanted.

  Sabrina, Emily, Demetra, and Gurt all rose into the sky. Zazz fluttered beside them.

  Sabrina extended one arm to the sky. “Higher and higher, let us go.”

  The group flew far above the monster’s head. From her place in the sky, Sabrina could see the dark shadow of the monster beneath the water. The creature was bigger than she had even imagined. Its body seemed to stretch halfway across the lake.

  “What should we do, Princess Sabrina?” Zazz cried. “Where should we go?”

  The Sapphire Princess faced her palace, which sat like a bridge over Blue Lake. “Demetra and Emily, fly back to my palace with Gurt. Zazz, come with me.”

  “But where will you go?” Demetra asked.

  Sabrina pointed to the far shore of Blue Lake. “To the storkz. They’ll know what to do!”

  The storkz lived in the Misty Marsh. It was always damp and always covered in a pale green cloud.

  “Sage is the leader of the storkz,” Sabrina said as they glided into the marsh. “We need to talk to him.”

  Zazz clung to the sleeve of Sabrina’s gown. “I hope we find him soon,” the butterfly mumbled. “It’s cold and scary here. I can’t see two feet in front of me.”

  “Don’t you worry, friend,” Sabrina cooed. “There’s nothing to fear.”

  Suddenly, a creature with long yellow legs and a thin body covered in blue feathers magically appeared out of the mist. Its big round eyes peered at them from behind tiny gold-rimmed glasses.

  “Sage! ” Sabrina gasped.

  “Have you been there all along?” Zazz squeaked, hopping to Sabrina’s shoulder. “I didn’t see you.”

  “We are all here.” Sage gestured with one wing to the clumps of reeds around him.

  Sabrina could see dozens of storkz. All standing tall and still.

  “We hear through the waters that you are worried about our lake creature,” Sage said, staring at her solemnly.

  “That’s no creature,” Zazz cut in. “It’s a terrible monster.”

  “Zazz !” Sabrina tapped the butterfly lightly on her head. “Careful what you say. We’re not sure it’s terrible.”

  “The princess is right,” Sage advised. “Let’s not be too hasty. That creature has lived in Blue Lake a very long time.”

  “Is it older than the storkz?” Zazz asked, wide-eyed.

  Sage nodded. “Much older. It’s been here since the beginning.”

  “That’s why it’s so big,” Zazz whispered in Sabrina’s ear. “With all of that time, what else was there to do but grow!”

  “This creature has not shown itself to humans in eons.” Sage peered over the top of his glasses. “There must be a reason for this.”

  “Of course there’s a reason,” Zazz sputtered. “That awful monster has been sent by Lord Bleak to hurt our princess.”

  Sabrina wanted to say that wasn’t true. But she had to admit, the creature did frighten her.

  “It attacked my boat,” Sabrina told Sage. “And then it leaped out of the water and roared at me.”

  “Hmm … This is not good,” Sage murmured. “I must talk to the other storkz.”

  In an instant, all of the pale blue birds vanished from sight.

  “Do you think the storkz are still here?” Zazz whispered.

  “Yes,” Sabrina whispered back. “I can’t see them, but I feel them all around us.”

  “Go back to your palace, Princess,” Sage said when he returned. “We will try to speak to the lake creature.”

  Sabrina bowed to the leader of the storkz. “Thank you. I will do as you say.”

  “What do you mean, you’ll do as he says?” Zazz demanded as they flew back to the Sapphire Palace. “Sage just wants us to sit and wait!”

  “We must be sure about this creature before we scare our people,” Sabrina explained. “Promise me, Zazz, that you’ll keep this secret.”

  “Too late,” the butterfly said as the palace came into view. “It looks like the secret is out.”

  Sabrina looked down. The shallow water around the palace was crowded with blue-skinned nymphs and gawky gilliwags. They waved huge willow wands in the air. Big-footed striders skated under the drawbridge, clutching oars in their hands. Even the water sprites, pale and ghostlike, had joined the mob.

  “We must all hunt for this monster!” Gurt shouted from the center of the crowd.

  “Find the monster!” the crowd shouted back.

  “And tell it to get out of our kingdom,” Gurt added. “And stay out!”

  Princess Sabrina and her cousins huddled together by her bedroom window. Below they could see the crowd guarding the palace.

  “It’s very sweet that my people want to protect me,” Sabrina remarked. “But I’m worried.”

  “I’m worried, too,” Princess Demetra said. “That monster could destroy all of the willow wands with one swift bite.”

  Sabrina leaned her head against the frame of her open window. She thought about what Sage had told her.

  “Why would this monster, who has lived peacefully for so many years, suddenly appear?” she asked the princesses.

  “Maybe it wants to tell you something,” Emily suggested.

  Sabrina nodded. “That’s what I’ve been thinking. But what?”

  “I think it wants you to go home. Back to the Jewel Palace,” Demetra said. “And that’s what I would do if I were you.”

  Sabrina squeezed her cousin’s hand. “I can’t leave, Demetra. When I was crowned Sapphire Princess, I promised to protect Blue Lake and all of the creatures who live here.”

  “Even that creature?” Emily pointed at the lake. Just below the surface, as big as a ship, was the Blue Lake Monster!

  Demetra backed away from the window. “Sabrina, I’m scared! Why has it come to the palace?”

  Sabrina watched the shadow glide swiftly toward the drawbridge. “It’s after my people,” she gasped. “I’ve got to stop it!”

  “But how?” Emily cried. “You’re just one girl. And that thing is monstrous.”

  “I have to do something.” Sabrina climbed onto the window ledge and peered out. “The gilliwags and the nymphs don’t even see it!”

  Emily caught hold of Sabrina’s a
nkle. “Careful, you might fall.”

  Sabrina’s big brown eyes widened. “That’s it,” she said. “I’ll jump out of my window and distract it.”

  “But it will gobble you whole,” Demetra warned.

  “I won’t land in the water.” Sabrina patted the little purse at her waist. “I’ll use my magic dust and fly across the lake.”

  “Then the monster will follow you,” Emily said.

  Sabrina smiled. “That’s the idea.”

  “Do you have enough magic dust to make it across the lake?” Demetra asked.

  “If I run out,” Sabrina replied, “then I guess I’ll have to swim.”

  Demetra covered her face and groaned. “Oh no.”

  “I’ll lead it near the Willow-That-Weeps,” Sabrina said, thinking out loud. “Then maybe it will get caught in the Spinning Pool and disappear forever.”

  Suddenly, the shadow beneath the water froze. It slowly turned. Two big yellow eyes rose to the surface of the lake.

  It was looking straight up at Sabrina!

  “Sabrina, I don’t like your plan,” Demetra said in a shaky voice. “Please climb down from that window.”

  Sabrina’s gaze was locked with the monster’s. “I can’t,” she whispered. “It’s watching me.”

  Very slowly, Sabrina opened the purse at her waist. She carefully scooped up a handful of magic dust. All the while, she whispered instructions to the other princesses.

  “When I leave, you two go to the courtyard and guard my people,” Sabrina murmured, barely moving her lips. “Tell them to stay on land. That’s one place we know the monster won’t go.”

  The monster raised its head out of the water. Its big, spiky teeth sparkled in the sunlight.

  It’s going to get me! Sabrina thought, nearly falling back into the room.

  “Oh no,” Emily cried.

  “I’m okay.” Sabrina squeezed her eyes closed and willed herself to be brave. She clutched the side of the windowsill with one hand and faced the monster.

  “Sabrina, don’t do this,” Demetra pleaded. “You have to save yourself!”