Bella's Birthday Unicorn Page 6
“My father worked in the royal stables at Foris Castle,” Ben explained. “He had been training me so I could work in the stables someday too. But he broke his arm a few weeks ago working with a royal unicorn.”
Bella’s long brown hair swirled around her shoulders as she whipped her head around to look at Ben.
“Ouch! I’m so sorry! Is your dad going to be okay?” she asked.
Ben nodded. “He’ll be back in the stables in a couple of months, but he didn’t want me to lose any time. Uncle Frederick has been training and caring for unicorns even longer than my dad, so I’ll be living with him until my apprenticeship is done.”
Bella climbed the white fence and looked out over Crystal Castle’s grounds. She loved watching unicorns frolicking in the lush pastures. But when Bella thought about the unicorns, it reminded her of her upcoming debut with Glimmer. It was going to be here so fast—this coming Wednesday morning! It was especially exciting because it was a holiday and there would be no school.
It was royal tradition that within the first month of a prince or princess being Paired with a unicorn, the pair presented themselves to the kingdom. Bella’s parents had told her that the people of Crystal Kingdom were eager to see the princess and her unicorn. Bella couldn’t wait to introduce Glimmer to the townspeople!
Bella shifted her gaze back to Glimmer as Ben climbed the fence to sit next to her. She’d only been Paired with Glimmer a week ago, but she loved her unicorn more than anything in the entire Crystal Kingdom (well, except her parents!). Definitely more than all of the people in the other three sky islands. Bella had learned in geography class that sky islands were pieces of land that floated high in the clouds. The only way to reach another sky island was to cast a spell to create a rainbow or moonbeam to walk over as a bridge between two islands.
“I can’t believe I got so lucky,” Bella said. Glimmer pointed her cute ears in Bella’s direction. “My eighth birthday was so scary!”
“How do eighth birthdays work for princes and princesses?” Ben asked.
“Well, every royal is born with an aura,” Bella explained. “It’s this kind of light that shows when a royal turns eight and when they are crowned king or queen. It can be any color of the rainbow.” She paused, frowning. “Except for red.”
“So red auras don’t exist?” Ben asked.
“Actually, they do. But if someone’s born with a red aura, it’s a very, very bad sign. Have you heard of Queen Fire?”
Ben nodded quickly. “My uncle warned me about her. He told me never to enter the Dark Forest and explained that Queen Fire was, like, your family’s enemy.”
“Actually, Queen Fire,” Bella said, taking a big gulp of air, “is my aunt. She is the first royal in history to be born with a red aura.” She squeezed her eyes half-shut, peeking at Ben through her lashes. I hope I didn’t scare him by telling him a crazy evil queen is related to me, Bella worried.
“Whoa,” Ben said. “I didn’t know Queen Fire was related to you. My uncle didn’t tell me that part. That must have been scary for you when you waited for your aura to appear.”
“It was!” Bella agreed. “My mom’s is green and my dad’s is yellow. Once I learned about my aunt, I got scared that my aura might be red.”
Ben laughed, his brown eyes twinkling. “I haven’t known you that long, but there’s no way your aura ever could have been red.”
“Thanks, Ben,” Bella said. “Only my best friends, Clara and Ivy, know Queen Fire is related to me. I hope you don’t want to stop teaching me now that you know.”
Ben reached out a hand to stroke Glimmer’s forehead. “No way. No evil queen relative is going to scare me off from helping you with Glimmer.” He grinned, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “You’ve got a lot to learn, Princess.”
Bella laughed. “Oh, really? Well, I’m glad you’re sticking around then.”
“Let’s take Glimmer for a walk, and you can tell me more about being a royal,” Ben said.
Bella nodded, and Ben untied Glimmer, handing the soft rope to Bella.
The three set off down a familiar path that wound through the castle grounds and circled one of the castle’s many lakes.
“My aura appeared during the Pairing Ceremony on the night of my birthday,” Bella explained.
“A Pairing Ceremony is where you’re matched to your unicorn, right?” Ben asked as he walked beside Bella.
“Yes. I got this strange tingly feeling, and a purple fog surrounded me. It was my aura. Your uncle Frederick asked me to walk in front of unicorns that he had picked for me.”
“He told me a little about that part,” Ben said. “Each royal unicorn glowed, showing its aura, and you had to keep going until you found one that matched you, right?”
“That’s right,” Bella said. She, Ben, and Glimmer continued walking through the cropped grass toward the lake. “I was getting so scared that none of the unicorns would turn purple. Then I stepped in front of Glimmer, and it was so magical. She changed from white to purple in seconds!”
“That is so cool! I can’t wait until I’m old enough to help during a Pairing Ceremony.” Ben got a faraway look in his eyes, as if he was picturing himself in Frederick’s place.
“I felt this instant bond with Glimmer,” Bella said. She reached up a hand and patted the unicorn’s neck as they walked. “I’d been dreaming about my eighth birthday my entire life, and Glimmer has made me so happy.”
Glimmer snorted and bobbed her head.
“I think she’s happy too,” Ben said.
Bella, Ben, and Glimmer reached the lake. A spell had been cast on the deep water so it was clear enough that the bottom of the lake was visible. Bella and Ben led Glimmer to the lake’s edge and halted her. Glimmer watched Ben and Bella peer into the water, then turned her own gaze to the lake water.
“Ooh, look!” Bella said. “See those spiky blue fish?” A school of electric-blue fish covered in spikes swam near the water’s edge.
“Yeah! Look over there,” Ben said, pointing. “There’s a huge dog fish at the bottom of the lake.”
Bella’s eyes followed Ben’s finger. It took a moment before she spotted the dog fish. The white fish had dozens of black spots and barely moved as it crawled along the lake’s bottom. It had floppy ears that covered its gills, and instead of a fish mouth it had a dog’s snout. Dog fish were important to lake life—they ate all the dirty algae and helped keep the water clean. Dog fish reminded Bella of vacuum cleaners.
Glimmer pulled on the rainbow line, stretching her neck toward the lake. Ben nodded his okay, and Bella let Glimmer lower her head and take a few sips of water.
“Want to try taking Glimmer for a ride tomorrow?” Ben asked.
“Really? Do you think I’m ready?” Bella asked. She clasped her hands together and tried very hard not to jump up and down.
“Definitely!” Ben said. “I think you guys are ready.”
“Yaaay!” Bella cheered. Glimmer lifted her head from the lake, and water dripped off her chin whiskers. Giggling, Bella hugged her neck. “Silly girl. We get to go riding tomorrow! Our very first ride together.”
“My friends Clara and Ivy are coming over tomorrow,” Bella said to Ben. “They’ll be so excited to see me ride Glimmer for the first time.”
The trio stayed by the lake for a few more moments before starting the walk back to the royal stables. For the rest of the day, all Bella could think about was riding. It felt like her birthday all over again!
Jessica Burkhart writes from her apartment in Brooklyn, New York. It’s not the size of Crystal Castle, but Jess tries to decorate like a princess! Jess’s aura would be hot pink, and she loves glittery things. If she had a unicorn, it would be named Sparkle. Visit Jess at www.unicornmagicseries.com.
Aladdin
Simon & Schuster, New York
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Don’t miss any of Bella and Glimmer’s adventures!
Unicorn Magic
BOOK 2: Where’s Glimmer?
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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This Aladdin hardcover edition August 2014
Text copyright © 2014 by Jessica Burkhart
Jacket illustrations copyright © 2014 by Victoria Ying
Interior illustrations by Victoria Ying
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Jacket designed by Jessica Handelman
Jacket illustrations copyright © 2014 by Victoria Ying
Interior designed by Mike Rosamilia
The text of this book was set in Arno Pro.
Library of Congress Control Number 2014936193
ISBN 978-1-4814-1105-9 (hc)
ISBN 978-1-4424-9822-8 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4424-9823-5 (eBook)