Disclaimer: I do not own Characters, places, etc, from either "The Two Princesses of Bamarre" or "The Enchanted Forest". I also do not own the magic book, which was taken out of "Ella Enchanted".

Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait for this chapter, the 4th chapter will follow it shortly.

Chapter 3 – In Which Shiara reads other people's letters and diaries

Shiara sat in a large arm chair in her room feeling happy, she had a plan. She set her backpack next to her chair and opened it. Inside, sitting on top was the letter Cimorene had written for Shiara so that she could show it to anyone who questioned why she was in the forest and it would let her into the castle if they happened to be away at the moment. Shiara frowned. Where did they think she had gone? Did they notice she was missing yet? Or did time just freeze while she was here?

She puzzled this for a few moments before opening her backpack again and rummaging through it, searching for the book on the caves of fire and ice that Cimorene had written. Cimorene had once read the original book on the subject and had announced it to be much too boring for such an interesting thing, so she wrote her own version, which Shiara was finding to be quite interesting so far.

Shiara's hand felt a book and pulled it up. It was not the book of the Caves of Fire and Ice. It wasn't one that she had ever seen as a matter of fact. It's cover was a plain brown, but had gold cursive letters across the front reading "The Magic Book". Real creative name, Shiara thought, though she didn't really care about the simple title, what she wanted to know what was inside. A bright, forest green ribbon stuck out of about the middle of the book, acting as a bookmark. Shiara shrugged to herself and opened to that page.

A piece of paper that had been folded into thirds fell out. The seal upon was Kazul's, which made Shiara all the more curious. She opened it and recognized the writing as Cimorene's, though the letter was signed Kazul, so Shiara guessed that Kazul had asked Cimorene to write it for her. It read:

Shiara,

Thank you for your help so far in my cave. It isn't easy being king of all the dragons. Your help has been much appreciated. So, I have decided to give you this book, which I am sure, is perfect for you. Do not think that I have given you an ordinary book. No, this one is magic, as you may have guessed from the title. The book is filled with fairy tales that change often, so that you never run out of things to read. There is also other things in its pages as well, which you are sure to find out soon enough.

Happy reading,

Kazul, King of Dragons in the Mountains of Morning

Shiara eagerly began scanning through the book. What had Kazul meant by "other things"? She didn't have to wait long to find out.

After passing a fairy tale about Cinderella, she found a letter, which was actually more of a note. She quickly read it:

Kazul,

Shiara hasn't arrived yet and it is evening. We were expecting her by mid afternoon.

Has she decided to wait until you can bring her directly to the castle?

Just wanted to make sure everything is ok.

Thanks, Cimorene.

P.S. You must come to the castle as soon as possible. We've added a new tower that goes higher than all the rest and the top is big enough for a dragon to land on. It has a spectacular view of the forest (whatever part we happen to be in) and sometimes you can see the tips of the Mountains of Morning. We thought Shiara would enjoy seeing it as a surprise, so don't tell.

Shiara laughed at the last part added, but her laughter quickly died. Time did not freeze when she was here as she had thought. Also, Shiara hardly knew where she was, let alone how to get back. She sighed and put her book back into the pack. Shiara went to bed and quickly fell asleep.

Shiara woke early and dressed. Stepping outside her room, she noticed the halls were quiet and empty except for a yawning maid, walking sleepily toward the stairs.

Apparently too early, Shiara decided. She stepped back into her room and shut the door behind her as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake anyone. Shiara sat in the armchair that she had sat in last night pondering how to pass the time.

The book, of course, Shiara thought, and pulled it out. She opened it and found a Bamarrian fairy tale. Eagerly, she read it. It was about Bamarre's last known fairy godmother. Shiara found it to be way to short and felt unhappy it ended to fast. Turning the page, she saw no illustration, but a picture. It showed Daystar, Mendanbar, and Morwen, all around Cimorene, listening as she read a letter out loud. Their expressions varied from surprised, to confused, and worried. She could only make out that it was from Kazul and one sentence: Shiara left yesterday morning.

More sad news, thought Shiara unhappily. She turned the pages again and found two diary entries, the first scribbled out hastily in fast written print and the second had small precise letters.

Dear Diary, Journal, or whatever your preferred name,

The most extraordinary thing has happened. A girl from another world has come! Her name sounds very exotic; different from the names we have here, Shara, Siera… Shiara! That was it. I'm sure she's eager to explore this world and I might be able to convince Addy that we'd be perfect for the job. It'd be so much fun! I might even have my very first real adventure! Maybe we'll run into a monster I have to defeat it! I wonder if I could sneak along one of the spare swords… oh well, I'm getting ahead of myself, not that there's anything wrong with that, but I should be getting a head start on something. Maybe talk Addy into the tour and start looking for a nice sword…

Well, that's it for now,

Meryl

Dear Diary,

A girl arrived at the castle today by the name of Shiara. She says she's from another world, but how is that possible? Possibly she's confused. Meryl's getting all excited, I'm sure she'll be in any minute to ask if we can show her around the country, while secretly hoping to meet up with some monsters. That's Meryl for you. We got to talk to her a while tonight, but we didn't get too far before we were had it was time for bed. We haven't yet discussed creatures. I wonder if there are monsters in her world. Uh oh, I hear a knock. It's Meryl.

I'll report back soon with news,

Princess Addy

Shiara grinned. This was going to be an interesting time indeed.