A Grimm Warning (The Land of Stories, #3)(10)

Cornelius nodded but Alex could see the self-consciousness in his eyes. He was never good at keeping any emotion to himself—he wore his heart on his hoof.

“Do you know why I chose you to be my unicorn, Cornelius?” she asked him.

The troubled unicorn opened his lips and showed off his large pearly white teeth.

“Yes, I know you have a good smile, but that’s not the only reason,” Alex said.

Cornelius stood on his back legs and moved his front legs in tiny circles.

“Yes, you’re a good dancer, too, but those aren’t what I’m talking about,” Alex said. “I chose you because you are different from all the other unicorns in the Fairy Kingdom. Your horn may be broken and small, but your heart is big and strong.”

Cornelius exhaled a gust of air and turned the other way. Alex had made him blush, the pink showing through his white hide.

“Are you ready to help me grant some wishes today?” Alex asked him. He neighed excitedly. “Good, then let’s get going!” Cornelius bent down and Alex hopped aboard his back. She waved her wand over his head and whispered into his ear, “Take us to someone who needs us, Cornelius.”

Cornelius’s broken horn began to glow, his head jerked northwest, and he started galloping at full speed to wherever it was the magic was leading him. Unicorns ran much faster than normal horses and Alex had to hold on to her headband as they went.

They zoomed through the trees, over a river and two streams, and eventually found a path that led them into the Charming Kingdom. A small and simple village came into view in the distance and Cornelius slowed down. He took Alex into the heart of the village—his horn was guiding him like a hound’s nose. Many of the villagers stopped in their tracks as Alex and the unicorn strode by them.

“Hello, good people of the Charming Kingdom!” Alex said. She awkwardly waved at them. “Don’t mind us, we’re just granting wishes!”

The villagers weren’t as excited as she was hoping they’d be, and went back to their daily errands. Cornelius came to a halt right in front of a tiny cottage with stick walls and a hay roof.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Alex asked. Cornelius nodded confidently and his horn stopped glowing.

Alex hopped down from her unicorn and walked to the door. She knocked lightly but the sticks broke under her knuckles, leaving a small hole in the door.

“Oh dear,” Alex said. She wasn’t off to a good start.

“Who’s there?” a faint voice asked from behind the door. Alex looked through the hole she had just made and saw a pair of eyes staring out at her.

“Hello,” Alex said. “My name is Alex and I’m a fairy! Well—technically I’m a fairy-in-training—but I’ve come here today to grant wishes. My unicorn has led me to this location. Does someone inside this cottage have a wish they’d like granted?”

The wrinkled eyes looked her up and down. Alex knew her introduction was as much of a work in progress as her magic, but to her surprise, the door opened and an elderly woman appeared before her.

“Come in,” the woman said, although she didn’t seem thrilled to have company.

“Thank you,” Alex said. She took a step inside and looked around the small home. It was dirty and dim, as frail on the inside as it was on the outside. “You have a lovely home,” Alex said politely. “What can I help you with?”

“These are my granddaughters. I’m assuming you’ve come to help them,” the woman said. Had she not addressed them, Alex wouldn’t even have seen the identical triplet girls standing against the wall. They were so dirty they blended into the rest of the house.

“Nice to meet you,” Alex said but they wouldn’t shake her hand.

“They need nice clothes for school,” the woman said. She sat down at a table covered in thread and fabric. “We can’t afford to buy new dresses so I tried making them myself, but my hands aren’t what they used to be.” She raised two hands that shook with arthritis.

“Say no more!” Alex said. “I’ll turn their tattered clothes into beautiful dresses they’ll be proud to wear at school!”

The triplets looked at one another with wide eyes—could she actually do it? Alex was asking herself the same question. She raised her wand and flicked it at each of the girls like she was conducting a symphony. One by one, a bright sparkly light circled each girl, transforming her dirty clothes into a vibrant pink dress with a white collar.

The girls looked down at their new dresses in total silence. Alex figured they were shocked from witnessing magic—but she was very wrong.

“Gross, they’re pink!” one of the girls said.

“I hate pink!” another said.

“Can you make them another color?” the third asked.

Alex was taken aback by their ungrateful remarks. She looked at their grandmother, expecting them to be reprimanded.

“Don’t look at me. You never asked them what color they wanted,” the woman said.

“Oh, sorry! My mistake,” Alex said. She raised her wand and flicked it three more times at the girls, transforming the dresses into yellow, purple, and blue.

“Better?” Alex asked.

“I don’t like my collar,” one of the girls said.

“I want green,” another said.