A/N: This AU story is sort of a blend of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" and "Kate Crackernuts." Inspiration struck; what can I say? ;)

This story is dedicated to the Javelin and the Lance. Love you two!

{You know the drill; I neither own Nancy Drew nor The Hardy Boys. ;) }

Queen Laura stared out the window and sighed.

Her sons.

Her brilliant, wild sons were somehow escaping the bounds of the castle and coming back every morning tired and with muddied shoes. All of them: Frank, Joe, Biff, Phil, Chet, Tony, Bert, Dave...even Ned.

She had asked them where they were off at.

They diverted the conversation. This had gone on for a fortnight.

She trusted them enough to believe they weren't off doing anything to soil their honor, but she was getting very worried.

Ned, her eldest, the heir to the throne, was growing paler by the day. Something was wrong. The other boys didn't seem to notice. Well, except Frank, and perhaps Joe (those two missed nothing, though).

And so she had issued the challenge - she had no other choice.

~NN~

"I'm going to do it!"

Bess sighed. "Yes, well, Nancy -"

"What? It's duty. I am certain I can discover where they go, and the queen needs assistance."

George rolled her eyes. "And we aren't saying you cannot, but be reasonable. Ladies far older than you have failed."

"And when has that pitiful excuse ever stopped me before? I am the daughter of the best scout in the kingdom and I…" Nancy trailed off, realizing how over-confident she sounded. "I mean…"

"You mean you are the best there ever was or shall ever be?" Bess teased. The cousins exchanged a glance and then smiled knowingly at Nancy.

"You better go answer the challenge," George said, grinning.

~NN~

Nancy bowed deeply before Queen Laura. "I thank you for granting me audience, your majesty."

The Queen gave a tired nod. She was a beautiful woman, her face kind and lively and her figure barely even hinting at the nine children she had bore. But still, it was clear that the past days had taken a toll on her spirits.

"I am here to accept the challenge of discovering where it is your sons disappear to at night."

Queen Laura's delicate eyebrows came up. "Are you, my dear?" Her voice was kindly, but she was obviously surprised.

Nancy nodded immediately. "I am."

"And do you know how many have tried and failed at this task?"

"Not the exact number, your Majesty, but I understand it is quite a few." For the first time, Nancy wondered if George had a point.

"More than a few. Nearly a dozen. And they were all much older than you." Though her words were condescending, her tone was not - she sounded almost...hopeful.

Nancy smiled, giddy with the thrill of a challenge.

~NN~

Nancy was dressed in a grey maid's gown that was slightly too big for her. Queen Laura had given it to her as a disguise. And she indeed felt like a different person in it, it was so different than the cheery yellow gowns she normally wore. The grey made her feel mature.

She waited by the door to the princes' enormous chambers. The queen had explained that the princes each had their own bedchamber, but they all connected to a center chamber where they spent most of their indoor time.

She had also been given a master key to all the west wings' chambers, which she had no inhibitions in using. She had always liked snooping. And it was for a good cause!

She unlocked a door across the hall from their rooms and waited until the laughing and loud brotherly chitchat died down (some) from the center chamber. Then she slipped out and pressed her ear up against their thick door and listened.

Their voices were hushed. Too hushed to really make out what they were saying.

Then...a sound so strange that she blinked (as if that could clear her hearing).

It...it sounded like sparkling.

Then, loud, boyish footsteps, and then...more sparkling...and then silence.

Nancy wasted no time. She wrenched the key into the lock and burst through the heavy door - and nobody was in the room.

Nobody. At all.

She pivoted around the chamber - there were the doors to the bedchambers, of course, but she knew in her gut that they hadn't stomped of into any of those rooms. How could this happen...? She took a step back, thinking hard - and stumbled over a golden scepter.

Her gaze trailed from the scepter to the flagstones and back again.

She hesitated no more than half a second before she picked the scepter and gently tapped the scepter to an abnormally large flagstone.

Nothing.

She laid in on top and held her breath.

Nothing.

Then she squinted.

Smiled.

And took the scepter, slowly traced the outline of the large flagstone and waited.

The outline began to sparkle. Golden, glittering, undeniably magic.

"I guess it was locked," she murmured.

~NN~

Nancy couldn't believe what she saw.

After descending the stairway that appeared in the midst of the sparking magical opening, she found herself in a magic forest. Silver trees, jeweled trees, gold trees...emerald grass...it was an enchanted forest.

She had caught up to the princes - they hadn't strayed from the golden path. She stayed back far enough that they couldn't see her unless they knew to look. A golden-haired prince, Prince Joe, she realized, glanced back like he suspected something, but he only did it once. She dared not get any closer when the princes got into sleek little boats and rowed away.

She would surely be seen if she tried to follow them now.

So she turned back. She would have to some up with a plan.

~NN~

Bess beamed. "Finally, you're asking me for fashion advice!"

Nancy tried to calm her friend down. "Only because I need to remain unseen - "

Bess whipped a cloak out of her mahogany wardrobe. It was a gorgeous, deep blue. "Now, why anyone would want to be 'unseen' by the nine most eligible young men in the kingdom, I shall never know." She shot Nancy a pointed look. "But since you are my dear friend, I suppose I will loan you my family's prized invisible cloak."

"Thank you," Nancy said archly.

Bess grinned and swung the cloak around Nancy's shoulders.

She laughed and gave Bess a warm, grateful, invisible hug.

She was prepared now.

Review if you're enjoying! :) It may be a few days until I update - school and work are taking up a lot of time - but this will update. ;)