Worlds Collide (The Land of Stories #6)(55)

The destruction was a devastating sight. The golden pillars and arches of the majestic palace had been blown to pieces by the Jolly Roger’s mighty cannons. The vibrant gardens surrounding the palace had been burned to a crisp and were covered in debris. In the center of the ruins, Froggy, Rook, and Cornelius found the statues of Rosette, Tangerina, Xanthous, Emerelda, Skylene, Violetta, and Coral. The colorful Fairy Council was just as pale, stiff, and frozen with fear as the people had been in the abandoned mine.

“What kind of monster is capable of this?” Rook asked.

“It wasn’t her fault,” Froggy said. “It was the monsters behind the monster—they’re the ones to blame.”

Froggy jumped down from Cornelius’s back and approached the statues with his bottle of Medusa’s tears. Just as he was about to pour the first teardrop into Emerelda’s stone eye, the sound of approaching footsteps came from behind him. Froggy turned and saw a group of strange men walking toward them.

“Quick,” he whispered. “We need to hide.”

Froggy, Rook, and Cornelius dived behind a fallen pillar—although it was much more difficult for the chubby unicorn to crouch behind it. They watched the strange men as they entered the palace ruins. There were eleven men in total, each wearing the armor of a knight. They inspected the damage with their swords raised. The men also carried large shields, but Froggy didn’t recognize the crest painted across them.

“Who are they?” Rook whispered.

“I have no idea,” Froggy said. “They aren’t from any kingdom I’m familiar—”

“DON’T MOVE!”

Froggy, Rook, and Cornelius cautiously looked over their shoulders and saw that a twelfth knight had snuck up behind them. He was a very handsome and muscular young man. He held his sword just a few inches from their faces.

“I’ve found a couple of scoundrels hiding in the debris!” he called to the other knights.

“I beg your pardon,” Froggy said. “Who do you think you’re calling a scoundrel?”

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” the knight asked.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Froggy repeated.

“I happen to be a king, thank you ever so much,” the knight declared.

“Well, so am I!” Froggy announced.

“Then you must be responsible for damaging the palace!” the knight said, and raised his sword, preparing to strike.

“ARTIE, CUT IT OUT! HE’S WITH US!”

A split second before being sliced open, Froggy was saved by a familiar raspy voice. He looked into the singed gardens and saw an elderly couple approaching the ruins. Froggy recognized the woman the moment he laid eyes on her.

“Mother Goose!” he yelled.

“Hey, Charlie!” she said. “Long time no see!”

Mother Goose gave Froggy a hard but friendly pat on the back.

“Hey, Merlin,” she called to the old man behind her. “This is the guy I was telling you about—the prince who was cursed as a frog, then got kidnapped at his own wedding, and then got thrown into a magic mirror!”

“Oh, my poor tragic fellow,” Merlin said, and vigorously shook Froggy’s hand. “It’s such a pleasure to finally meet you! And my condolences, you know, about your life.”

“Hey, Charlie, how’d you get out of the mirror?” Mother Goose said.

“I escaped,” he said. “It’s a long story—where have you been all this time?”

“Oh, I moved to another dimension,” Mother Goose said. “Alex and I got trapped in the world of Camelot while we were chasing the Masked Man. I took one look at this handsome devil and knew it was time to settle down.”

Mother Goose winked flirtatiously at Merlin, and the wizard kissed her hand.

“Wait a moment, you mean that’s the real Merlin?” Froggy asked in disbelief.

“The one and only,” Mother Goose said. “And this is our squire, Artie—oops, I mean King Arthur! Sorry, Artie, old habits die hard.”

“You’re King Arthur?” Froggy asked.

Arthur became defensive. “Yes,” he said. “Is there a problem?”

“Not at all,” Froggy said. “You just seem so…young. I always imagined King Arthur as an older man with a beard and an unpleasant scowl.”

“Artie wasn’t supposed to be king until he was much older,” Mother Goose explained. “He started having nightmares about Alex and wanted to come check on her. I told him if he finished his training I’d take him to the fairy-tale world to see her. Well, I didn’t think he was serious about it, but the kid pulled the sword from the stone and founded the Knights of the Round Table in just a couple of days!”

“Knights are much easier to persuade when they’re teenagers,” Arthur said.

“We had never heard of a round table, but we didn’t have anything else better to do,” one of the knights said with a shrug.

“Right—what was your name again?” Arthur asked him.

“It’s Lancelot, Your Grace,” he said. “Anyway, a crusade sure sounded like fun—so here we are.”

Rook looked Arthur up and down, instantly intimidated by the young king.

“So you and Alex are friends?” he asked.