Ashley waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Waiting, despite heaps of practice, wasn't one of her best skills, especially since she'd been hiding from the seneschal in her rooms for days. Ever since she'd run past his office that day, he'd wanted to talk to her. At least she'd worn a gown over her chemise. Shouldn't that make the man happy?

A week in, she found herself trying to engage the wallpaper monsters in conversation, but their growls and manic laughter grew old. Plus, they never had anything scintillating to discuss. They mostly grumbled about fading, uneven seams, and unsightly peeling.

All this waiting did was disprove the adage "practice makes perfect." Sheer desperation led to an entire afternoon with her ladies, needle-pointing a Siamese cat cushion. It had to be wholly unraveled when the cat came out looking like a naked vampire. For those not familiar with cats or naked vampires, the only thing the two have in common are the fangs.

To the horror of her lady's maid, Ashley reorganized her gowns in The Vault. Three times. Once by color, once by preference, and lastly, by volume.

While eating buttered toast with jam, she reread every issue of Princess Monthly, memorizing all she could about her potential guests. A real low point came when she took the Princess Monthly quizzes, including Which Dragon Will Most Likely Kidnap You? (Red-horned Bluebelly)Who is your spirit animal? (Unicorn – come on, that couldn't be right), and What's Your Superpower? (Taking Princess Monthly Quizzes).

By the end of that week, her ladies' maid had surreptitiously tossed the smudged, greasy issues into the bedchamber hearth. The resultant fire caused so much smoke it set a flock of geese off their path by hundreds of miles, disrupting migratory air traffic for days.

And speaking of birds, she worried about Domino, who had still not returned. In case she showed up, Ashley slept in the window seat with the window open each night despite the racket from the amorous unicorns in the hedges below.

One moonlit night, ten days after sending poor Domino out with six invitations (what had she been thinking?) without getting a single reply, Ashley threw caution to the wind.

Literally.

Perhaps if she took to the skies, Ashley could find little Domino, and in the process, satisfy her husband's wishes that she learn to fly unicorns. If she died in the process, well, at least she'd have been killed for a noble cause. And it was a more honorable death than being poisoned by an evil queen, or baked in a witch's oven, or crushed by a clumsy giant.

But probably equally painful.

Which is how she found herself sneaking out of her window on a rope of knotted sheets. She almost fell to her death three times because her ridiculous skirts got in the way. Halfway down, she wondered if perhaps she ought to have risked waking her ladies sleeping in the anteroom (who surely would've subjected Ashley to awkward questions) and exited the castle like a non-ninja type person. Too late. She didn't have the upper body strength to climb back up. By the time her tiny foot touched bottom, she had no breath, and her arms ached. But she had to be brave. Domino had been.

She crossed the deserted castle grounds, her stomach as knotted as the sheets of her makeshift ladder. But the twisting of her stomach was not only due to the fear of plunging to her death. The odd anticipation that she would see Gerald, the handsome groom, also contributed.

She banned this thought from her mind.

But the stupid idea kept coming back up like overspiced pheasant.

As you already know, unicorns liked to frolic late at night because of the whole 'fetching glow in the moonlight' thing. Ashley's objective was to start her unicorn flight program right after the beasts had eaten but before the frolicking. According to fairy tale lore, this was their most tranquil time.

The unicorn stables occupied the corner of the lower field, bordering the Ever After river on one side and the grazing grounds on the other. Unlike in the castle, Ashley, with one small lantern and the light from a gibbous moon, managed to find the stables without more than a few wrong turns and a half-hour spent in the hedge maze.

The wooden structure loomed ahead—more imposing than a stone castle. As Ashley neared, the wind whipped an icy spray of water from the rushing river, freezing her to the bone. She shivered and tucked her hair beneath the collar of her woolen riding habit. The day Charming presented her with the unicorns, the habit magically appeared in The Vault. While most people would be thrilled if clothes magically materialized in their closets, magic always came with a price in fairy tale lands. And Ashley, being cautious and wise, wanted to know the price she was paying. Unfortunately, magical garments didn't have handy price tags hanging from their sleeves.

A lone light shone from the upper level of the structure. Old timbers creaked as Ashley stepped into the low-lit barn. Ashley took a deep breath, inhaling the familiar scent of manure, hay, and nervous energy. She'd spent many hours in her Stepmonster's barn tending the animals and chatting. The animals made better conversationalists than her human "family."

"Hello?" she called up the stairway leading to the upper level. She thought it rude to burst in on the grooms' private space.

The unicorns, stabled in stalls lining both sides of the bottom level, began kicking at their doors, neighing, and flapping their wings, sending flurries of hay into the air. Wow, unicorns were volatile. How did humans first decide it was a good idea to hop on their backs? Only the arrogance of men could have led them to believe they could control 2,000-pound, winged vessels of energy, racing through the skies with their pointy horns, flying over pointy trees, pointy spires, and pointy mountaintops.

It all sounded way too ... pointy!

Unicorn aeronautics were only slightly safer than falling into the caldera of an active volcano. Which, incidentally, could also happen while unicorn flying.

"Princess," Gerald called as he made his way down the wooden steps, tucking in his shirt. He was as she remembered, that errant black curl still tumbling down his forehead. "Is everything all right?" The unicorns continued their antics, and Gerald neighed, "settle down, you monsters. You'll break a wing."

The unicorns quieted.

It still surprised her he could speak to animals too. "Sorry to bother you, but I'm here to learn how to fly. Is this a good time? I would've sent a message in advance, but I was kind of ..."

"Sneaking out of the castle?" Gerald supplied.

"Yeah. Princesses do not wander the grounds at night, but unicorns sleep during the day, so what choice did I have?"

"None that I can see," Gerald agreed.

"Are you agreeing with me because I'm a princess or because I'm right?"

Gerald merely winked.

Ashley narrowed her eyes, scrutinizing his expression, but all she saw was the calm face of the man she'd first met the day she burned down the breakfast hall. She extinguished her lantern.

"You sure about this, Princess Ashley?"

She loved the sound of his deep, almost musical voice uttering her name. "Of course I'm not," Ashley said. "It's insane. But I must."

"I'll saddle up Louis then?" he said.

"Is he the ..." Ashley lowered her voice, "safest one?"

"Define safe."

"Like the one least likely to cause imminent death or maiming."

"He is the strongest, and since I'm going with you for your first flight, we need the extra muscle power."

Ashley gulped. "We're going together?" Though she knew very little about princessing, she was pretty sure being in such proximity to a handsome man who was not her prince was untoward. Her heart raced.

"What did you think, Highness? That I'd send you off by yourself with no training? If anything happened to you, Prince Charming would have my head."

Charming did have a penchant for punishment. To protect her reputation and Gerald's head, she had to tread with caution. Time for some boundaries. Ashley raised her chin in an imperious manner—the way she'd seen her husband do when he put servants in their place. "Very well, Groom."

"I do have a name."

"I'm sure I don't remember," she lied.

Fifteen minutes later, Louis was saddled and reined. Louisa repeatedly banged on her stall door.

"Is she going to be all right?" Ashley asked. "I fear she'll hurt herself."

Gerald glanced toward the barn. "She doesn't like it when her mate leaves without her. Once we're gone, Louisa will accept it and calm down. Right now, she won't listen to reason. It's her way of showing Louis how much she cares. Don't worry. I know what I'm doing. One might say I'm a unicorn-stable genius."

Ashley felt Louisa's pain and wondered if what she was about to do was the human equivalent of throwing herself at the barn door to show her mate how much she cared. "If you're sure she'll not harm herself, then let's get this over with."

Gerald took Ashley's foot in his hands to help her mount Louis. The unicorn, recognizing a neophyte, scraped the ground with a hoof and shook his giant horned head, causing Ashley to land hard, one leg on either side of the saddle. "Ouch!"

"Sorry," Gerald said. "Normally, ladies ride sidesaddle."

"Are you kidding? That seems unsafe."

"Well, most people have been riding longer than they've been walking."

For a moment, Ashley saw this as a challenge. A princess ought to learn to do things the princess way. But rational thought prevailed. "This will do for now," she said. In one smooth glide, Gerald hopped on Louis's back. "Show off," she grumbled.

He laughed, then reached around her torso and gathered the reins. Fear curled in her stomach, but she would do this.

"Now, the first thing to remember is ..."

"Don't fall?" she said, using humor as a shield.

"Well, that, of course, is the long-range plan. But the first rule is, don't be afraid. Unicorns are highly sensitive creatures. And rather mischievous. If they sense your fear, they are likely to dislocate you from their backs."

"Uh, so how do you hide it?" Ashley asked, fear rising like a swollen river.

"Well, for most people, I'd say spend a lot of time around them first. Care for them. Learn their ways. But since this is a crash course, I'd recommend a conversation."

Ashley turned to glower at Gerald. "Crash? Really?"

"Sorry, bad choice of words. Just speak to Louis."

"What shall we discuss? The weather? Crop yields? Hoof care?"

"Stop dilly-dallying. Just say hi, and tell him you're grateful he will allow you to travel on his back."

"Did you just accuse a princess of dilly-dallying?"

"Apparently."

As much as Ashley was annoyed by Gerald's insufferable behavior, she also enjoyed being treated like a person. "Hey ... um ... Louis. Uh ... thanks for the ride. I hope you're feeling well."

Louis shook his great horned head. "I'm kind of nervous. You smell wrong. Like fear."

"Well, I am kind of scared. It's my first time. But I also trust you. So, I'm going to try and not be scared anymore. Okay?"

"All right."

"Excellent," Gerald said. "I find honesty always works best. Now, hold on to the pommel. I'll pilot to start. Take-offs and landings are the most critical."

"As long as there is a landing, I'm happy." A soft landing, Ashley did not add. She concentrated on controlling her fear, sending it all into her hands, sweaty from gripping the pommel so tightly. She held her breath.

Without warning, Gerald kicked Louis's flanks, and the beast ran, galloping over the field toward the river. Ashley squeezed her eyes closed.

"Open your eyes," Gerald said.

"How did you know they were closed," she yelled to be heard over the clopping hooves and the wind.

"Guess I'm psychic."

Ashley blanched at the idea he might've "heard" her thoughts about how handsome he was. "Really?"

"Naw, but look, we're airborne."

Sure enough, they soared above the river, the vast meadows of wildflowers nearby dazzled even in the moonlight. As the trio gained altitude, the crashing of the water against the rocks quieted, replaced by the flapping of wings and the whistling wind. "You tricked me," Ashley accused.

"I distracted you," Gerald corrected.

Ashley didn't care what he did as long as he couldn't read her mind. Everything became calmer like they were inside a bubble. "It's so beautiful up here. I had no idea." The castle shrunk to the size of a child's toy. The river glowed in the moonlight.

Gerald offered her the reins. "Would you like to pilot? Test it out?"

Not in a million years. "Sure. But full disclosure—I have a terrible sense of direction. We might end up in Atlantis or on the moon."

"I'll navigate."

"Perfect."

He laid the reins over her clenched hands. "You're going to have to let go of the pommel."

"But you said not to," Ashley pointed out primly.

"Are you always this literal?"

"I am when the only thing standing between three-dimensional-me and flattened-like-a-pancake-me is a persnickety equine and a way-too-trusting groom."

Gerald worked the reins into her hands. "You've got this. It's my life too. And I'm pretty fond of it."

Ashley sighed and released the pommel. Gerald held the reins further up. "This indicates a left turn," he said, pulling to the left ever so slightly. "And at the same time, shift your position in the seat to the left as well. Unicorns, like horses, are very sensitive to your movements. It is more your positioning than the reins that communicate your desires."

"Or I could just ask nicely."

"Sure. Do it the easy way."

Ashley did it the hard way, and Louis turned left.

She followed an air current down the mountain toward the village where occasionally a light shone in the window of a house. She thought of all the years she had spent there, yet it had never been home.

The village seemed older, shabbier than she remembered. Rooftops were missing shingles. Litter skittered down the streets in the wind. A strange shrine had blossomed at the cemetery gate; it appeared to be a pile of flowers, toys, and shoes. Ashley shivered. "What's that?" she nodded her head in the direction of the shrine.

"It's for the missing children."

"Children have gone missing?"

"A few. You haven't heard?"

"No." How could she not know something this important? What else didn't she know about her kingdom? "But I'm going to find out what's going on."

"The villagers will thank you," Gerald said. "They think dragons might be kidnapping them. They still have hope they'll find them alive."

"We shall," Ashley declared. "Maybe we should head back to the castle." Learning how to fly a unicorn didn't seem that important anymore. Children had disappeared from their homes. Did Charming know?

She tugged the reins and set their heading back toward the castle. Louis jerked. Ashley yelped, dropping the reins and grabbing the pommel.

"What's that?" Gerald said, reaching for the reins.

"Someone's down there," Louis said.

Sure enough, a procession of horses, archers, soldiers, and carriages twined up the mountain road leading to the castle. In the front of the line, a banner flapped in the wind. Ashley recognized the symbol from the note in the scrapbook. A pair of white wings against a blue background. The flag of Morpheus. Princess Sadira was coming to her sleepover! Ashley's heart lifted.

"We better get back."

Gerald yanked the reins. "At full speed, please, Louis."

"You got it, boss."

They streaked through the sky. Ashley didn't like the streaking as much as the soaring. "Um, could we slow down a little?"

Right before they arrived at the castle, Louis lurched. They hung in the sky for a moment before plunging toward the river, an arrow protruding from Louis's flank. Rainbow blood trailed behind them.

Ashley screamed.

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