"And then, Cedric cast the counterspell and James turned back into himself again," finished Sofin, walking beside Charlene.
"Wow," responded the cheerleader. "That all really happened? And your parents never found out?"
"Nope!" said Sofin. "And James doesn't remember it, either. Do you have any stories to pass the time?" he questioned.
"Actually," said Charlene, "we're here." She stopped, and Sofin looked forwards to see the princesses' camp. It sat on a wide clearing of grass right next to a huge lake, big enough that Sofin couldn't see the other end. Tents of all different colors were set up across the grass, and princesses walked through the clearing, chatting with each other. Off to one side, Sofin could see Professor Velova leaning against a tree, watching the princesses. Sofin carefully waved hello to the professor, and she waved back.
"See?" said Charlene, catching the exchange. "I told you she said yes."
Sofin's face split into a grin. Professor Velova was the best! He looked at the clearing once more, and seeing what was in the center of the clearing, his jaw dropped.
Amber was sitting on a throne. No, really, a throne, complete with gold-polished legs and red velvet cushions. It stood perfectly in the center of the clearing, and Amber lounged upon it, eating grapes from a bowl resting on one arm of the throne. She wore a yellow-green explorer's outfit and her signature tiara.
"How did she get a throne?" whispered Sofin to Charlene.
"I have no idea," whispered Charlene back. "Just go with it."
Sofin stepped up to his sister, who looked up from her meal, spotting the prince. "Sofin?" said Amber in confusion. "Charlene, why did you bring a prince to our camp?"
"He's on our team now," explained Charlene. "I asked Professor Velova, and she said he could switch sides."
"Oh!" said Amber in realization. She raised her voice, calling out, "Attention, everyone!" in a loud tone. All around the camp, princesses stopped what they were doing to turn to look at Amber.
"I just wanted to tell everyone that Sofin is part of our team now," she said, pointing at the prince. The other princesses all turned to look at him. Sofin blushed and waved shyly.
"That's all, everyone can go back to whatever they were doing now," finished Amber. The other princesses stopped looking at Sofin, who sighed in relief.
Amber giggled quietly. "Isn't it wonderful being team captain?" she said to Sofin. "I get to tell people what to do, all day long. It's so much fun!" She ate another grape.
"Probably much more fun if you get to sit on a throne all day," whispered Charlene in Sofin's ear, and he had to stop himself from laughing in front of his sister.
"So," continued Amber, "is there anything you wanted to tell me about?"
"No," began Sofin, "I just wanted to say hello…." He trailed off as he spied the edge of the lake, lapping at the ground near the princesses' tents. Sofin's eyes opened wide. He had totally forgotten in the excitement of switching teams and getting to spend the day with Charlene. James and Zandar were planning to redirect a stream to flood the princesses' camp!
"Wait!" exclaimed Sofin. "James and Zandar said they were going to flood the lake with water and raise the water level, to drench the whole camp!"
"What?" exclaimed Charlene. Amber looked similarly shocked.
"Yeah!" said Sofin. "They came up with the plan, I don't know, about half an hour ago. If we don't get out now, we'll all be soaked!"
Amber shook her head, then stood up from her throne. "Princesses, we have an emergency!" she yelled. "I've just learned that the princes are going to try flood the lake and drench our whole camp in water! We need to move our camp now! Everyone, start undoing your tents!"
In a frenzied panic, the princesses moved to collapse and deflate their various tents. Charlene dashed off from Amber towards a red-and-pink tent, and Sofin followed her there. Charlene pulled a stake out from the ground which was holding her tent down. Sofin moved to pull out another stake, and before long the whole tent was freed and then collapsed.
Around Charlene and Sofin, the scene was chaos. Princesses held various tents carried in their hands, in bags, or on their shoulders. To his right, Sofin saw Princess Vivian struggling to pull a stake out of the ground. He ran over to help her, and she gratefully smiled at him. Together, they tugged at once, freeing the loose stake. Sofin helped her fold the tent, which the Zumarian princess slipped into a bag to wear over her shoulder.
Before long, most of the princesses were ready to evacuate. Amber was still standing in the center of the clearing, stubbornly trying to pull on one leg of the huge golden throne, which wasn't budging. Sofin tried to help her pull, but the throne only moved a few inches. He let go with a huff.
"Amber, just leave the throne here," said Sofin. His sister looked ready to argue, but she was interrupted by the distant sound of rushing water, coming from somewhere far upstream.
With a sigh, Amber released her hold on the throne. "Goodbye, Tom," she whispered softly to the throne. Sofin gave her a look like she was crazy. For her part, Amber stood up straight, then walked away with dignity, as if she hadn't just named and said goodbye to a throne.
Sofin shook his head. He could hear the sound of rushing water growing louder. Now was not the time. Sofin took one last wide look around, but it seemed that Amber had been the last princess to be ready to leave. He noticed Professor Velova, who hadn't moved from her spot by the tree. The royal history teacher gave him a wry smile, then hopped to her feet.
"This way!" called Amber, from within the huddled group of princesses. Since she wasn't holding a tent, she was easily able to squeeze her way through to the front of the crowd. Amber led the princesses, including Sofin and Professor Velova, out of the clearing by the lake and into the forest. And they were just in time, too. The moment they left the old camp, the rushing water from the stream finally flowed into the lake, spreading water across the ground, wetting the dirt clearing and soaking through where all the tents had just been. The water continued pooling in the center of the clearing, pooling out to cover the whole space. Even if the newly formed stream stopped flowing, the clearing would be too muddy to ever set up camp again.
Sofin sighed as he watched the water slowly flood in. Why had James wanted to redirect the stream, anyways? Sofin knew his brother liked playing pranks, but this wasn't funny, it was just mean. Within the crowd of princesses walking away from the lake, Sofin could see Vivian morosely following the crowd, her head hung low. Elsewhere, Hildegard and Clio talked to each other in soft, hushed voices. Sofin could barely make out the whisper of "What are we gonna do now?" Sofin clenched his fists. Couldn't James see his prank wasn't funny?
"Sofin?" came Professor Velova's voice. "You're coming, aren't you?"
Sofin shook his head to focus. He hadn't even noticed that the cohort of princesses had all followed Amber into the forest, out of sight. Only Professor Velova, standing at the tree line, was still visible. Sofin turned away from the flooded lake and towards the forest, and jogged to catch up with the royal history professor.
"Sorry," apologized Sofin, catching up to the professor. Her long legs took her farther than Sofin's did, and he had to speedwalk to keep up. "I was just thinking about the princes. I can't believe James tried to flood the whole camp. It's just so…." Sofin struggled for a moment to find the right words. "…so mean!" The young prince sighed. "Thanks for letting me join the princesses' team, by the way."
"Of course!" responded the professor brightly. "Charlene told me you would enjoy being on the princesses' team more than the princes."
"Say," continued Sofin, "what are the 'teams' about anyways? I haven't gotten a straight answer all day. I know it has something to do with royal history, but that's it."
Professor Velova looked a bit confused. "You don't know already?"
Sofin shook his head.
The royal history teacher's face fell. "I'm sorry, Sofin, but I'm afraid that now that we're in the forest, Sir Gillium and I aren't allowed to give help to either team," she explained. "But I'm sure you could ask Charlene—or your sister. They both certainly know what's going on."
"Okay!" responded Sofin brightly. Finally, he could figure out what they were even doing here. "I'll go find Charlene now!" He broke into a steady jog, running ahead towards the group of princesses.
"One more thing before you go," called Professor Velova, and Sofin turned back to face her. She continued, "I can't tell you any of the details about today's activities, but I can give you some friendly advice. About James, try not to forget that although some things can seem mean and cruel, they often have a very good reason behind them. Before you start judging other people on their actions, you need to see the big picture and understand why those choices are made. Sometimes, we see things as bad because of our own perspective, but don't realize that there are other perspectives, too."
Sofin thought for a moment. So Professor Velova was saying that James might have had a really good reason for flooding the princesses' camp that Sofin just didn't know about. And Sofin shouldn't assume James was just being mean without hearing the whole story from James, first. That made sense. "Thanks, Professor Velova!" responded Sofin. "I think I get it!" He turned around once more, jogging to catch up to the other princesses.
Professor Velova looked to the ground, adjusting her hat. "I really hope you do," she whispered, almost too softly for Sofin to hear.
Sofin jogged forward into the group of princesses, who were carrying bags and collapsed tent pieces. The Enchancian prince, who wasn't holding anything, found his way around to Charlene, who was somewhere near the side of the crowd. The cheerleader shifted the pieces of her tent in her arms to one side so that she could wave at him. A stake slipped out, and Sofin lunged to catch it, putting it back into her arms and falling into step beside her.
"Nice catch," said Charlene.
"Thanks," replied Sofin. "What do we do next?"
Charlene sighed. "We have to find a new place to set up camp. Amber will find somewhere for all of us, I guess."
"No, I mean, after that," said Sofin. "I only just joined the princesses' team. What are we doing in Greenleaf Forest?"
Charlene gasped. "You're right, Sofin!" she exclaimed. "Right now, we aren't doing anything at all about our camp getting flooded. We shouldn't just sit around here and run whenever the princes attack us. We need to do something! We need to start a counterattack against them! Great idea, Sofin."
"Huh?" blubbered Sofin. That wasn't what he had meant at all!
"A counterattack!" repeated Charlene. "If Prince James thinks he can come and ruin our territory, then we've got to ruin his right back! Instead of finding another place to set up camp, we should invade the prince's camp and take theirs!"
"What?" exclaimed Sofin, more forcefully this time.
Charlene didn't seem to be listening. "It's the perfect idea!" she said excitedly. "I have to tell Princess Amber!" She broke into a run, trying to push her way through to the front of the group of princesses.
"Wait!" called Sofin, remembering Professor Velova's words. "Are you sure we should try to invade the prince's camp? Maybe James just had a really good reason for flooding the lake!"
Charlene laughed. "A good reason?" she said sarcastically. "They flooded our camp! Sofin, this is war! We've got to attack them back. I'll tell Princess Amber. You spread the word to the other princesses. If we launch a huge surprise attack, there's no way they'll be prepared to stop us!" Before Sofin could stop her, she darted forward through the crowd, towards Princess Amber.
Sofin blinked rapidly, trying to figure out what he had just seen. He knew Charlene was always a little bit bold, but attacking the prince's camp? That was just as mean as flooding the lake! Just because James did something mean didn't mean they needed to retaliate. But it seemed like Charlene was dead-set on invading the prince's camp. And Sofin was willing to bet that Amber would agree to the idea. And then she'd tell the other princesses, and then there was no stopping the plan.
Panicked, Sofin backed away from the huddled group of princesses and into the deep thicket. Then, he turned away from the group and ran, nearly stumbling on a branch. Sure, what James had done was mean, that didn't mean Sofin wanted to attack the prince's camp! Especially without knowing why James had flooded the lake. Charlene was being just as mean as James had been.
Sofin's footsteps thundered across the forest floor, heading straight towards the rocky plateau where the princes had made their camp. If he couldn't stop Charlene from going through with her plan, then he could at least try to warn James and the others that their camp was going to be attacked. Maybe they'd be able to prepare for the princesses coming. And he really needed to get a straight answer from James as to what was going on.
Still running, Sofin leaped over a fallen log, crunching fallen leaves beneath his feet. Around him, a handful of birds flew off in scattered directions away from the loud prince. "Sorry, I'm in a hurry!" apologized Sofin to the birds. He regained his footing and kept running towards the plateau. The faster he could get there, the more time James had to prepare.
Before too long, Sofin broke from the cover of trees, seeing the rocky clearing ahead. He stopped, taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart. Then, with careful steps, Sofin climbed the rocky staircase up to the plateau, which was mostly abandoned. Groups of princes were busy moving rocks and stones to construct a haphazard barrier around the edges of the plateau, but many princes were still missing. In the center of the plateau, James and Zandar sat next to each other, huddled onto a small rock. James was scribbling frantic notes on his clipboard while Zandar spoke in hushed tones.
"James," interrupted Sofin, reaching the pair of princes. Zandar stopped talking, and James looked up from his clipboard to see the bedraggled prince.
"Hey, Sof," said James, sounding a little dejected. He halfheartedly waved at his brother.
Zandar piped up to explain. "James is just sad that our plan didn't really work. The camp did get flooded, but the princesses must have figured out we were going to flood the lake, cause they already left. No clue how they found out."
Sofin carefully avoided saying anything.
"Yeah, sorry Sof," agreed James. "I was just really hoping that was gonna work." The older prince took a deep breath and straightened up in his seat. "Anyways, what brings you here? Any progress on finding those cornflowers?"
Oh. Oops. Sofin had totally forgotten about those. "I found a patch," explained Sofin, "but that's not important. I found out that the princesses are planning on launching a surprise attack on the camp, really soon! I came as soon as I found out." He crossed his fingers, hoping James wouldn't ask how exactly Sofin had found out.
"Huh?" said Zandar in shock. "James, we gotta fight them!"
James looked around at the plateau. Aside from the princes busy building the barrier, the other princes were notably absent—probably off doing some other tasks. "Do you know how many princesses are going to attack?" said James to Sofin.
"Uh," hesitated Sofin, "all of them, I think."
"All of them?" said Zandar, surprised. "How are we supposed to defend against that?"
James shook his head. "We can't," he realized. "We've gotta move somewhere else and regroup." He shot a look at Sir Gillium, who was watching the exchange closely. The flying derby coach made a little mark on his own clipboard. Seeing it, James smiled, looking relieved.
"Yeah," continued James, "we gotta get out of here, fast!" He grabbed Sir Gillium's whistle and blew into it sharply, sending a shrill noise echoing across the clearing. The handful of princes who were still nearby stood, looking towards James. "Hey! Everybody!" called out James. "The princesses are preparing a surprise attack on our base, right now! We've got to evacuate. Break the fortifications so the princesses can't use them against us. We'll stick near the camp until the other princes return."
The mob of princes went totally silent, and for a second Sofin was worried some of them were planning on staying on the rocky plateau to fight. But his fears were unfounded. After a few moments of silence, the princes jumped into action themselves, breaking down the barrier they had just made and preparing to leave.
Sofin felt a hand land on his shoulder. "And Sof, you said you found a patch of cornflowers?" said James. "Get as many as you can, quickly, then come back here." He looked up, seeing the sun had passed the midway point in the sky. "We don't have much time left, but if you get back quickly, you should be back in time for the final battle."
"The what?" squeaked Sofin.
"The final battle, you know," repeated James. "We've got no time to lose! Find those cornflowers and get back here." Before Sofin could stop him, James darted off towards the group of other princes, helping them break the barrier.
"Wait! James!" called Sofin, but his voice was swallowed by the sound of the princes breaking apart the stone barrier. Sofin sighed in frustration. Why couldn't he get one straight answer about what was going on? With an annoyed huff, Sofin turned away from the gaggle of princes and towards the rock staircase. If nothing else, at least he could find those blue cornflowers James wanted so badly.
Crossing his arms, Sofin climbed down the staircase and trekked through the forest. He grumbled quietly to himself. He had been so excited for this field trip to Greenleaf Forest. Spending a whole day out in nature with all his friends from school? It sounded amazing. But instead, Sofin hadn't gotten much time to spend with his friends at all. And it was all because James decided to flood the princesses' camp—for some reason—and Charlene decided to attack the princes' camp—for some other reason. Sofin kicked a nearby stone. What had gotten into them? Both of them were just being so mean to each other!
And despite all that, Sofin still didn't know what the field trip was even about. What was the point of splitting the students up into two teams, anyways? He'd spent most of the day just walking through the forest. And even from the start, the idea of splitting students into princes and princesses—it just seemed dumb to Sofin. Why not just let them choose the teams? Then Sofin wouldn't have had to spend half the day with princes he barely knew. A branch cracked beneath Sofin's feet. He paused, then took a deep breath in and out. Getting mad wouldn't help him here. He just needed to get to these cornflowers, give them to James, and then rejoin Charlene and maybe spend what little time they had left.
As Sofin approached the clearing filled with the blue cornflowers from earlier, his thoughts were interrupted by a quiet call.
"Sofin!" came a familiar high-pitched yell. "Sofin, are you there? Help!"
Sofin broke out into a run, sprinting towards the sound of the voice. Within a few seconds, he made it to the clearing of cornflowers, where the voice was coming from.
"Dexter?" called Sofin in response, searching for the small chameleon. "Dexter, where are you? What's going on?"
"Sofin!" cried out the chameleon. A patch of the blue flowers rippled, then changed color to reveal a tiny green chameleon. "You've gotta help me! My home—it's being destroyed!"
"What?" exclaimed Sofin in shock. "Then we've got no time to lose! Hop on!" He cupped his hands and held them down to Dexter, and the chameleon jumped into the palm of his hand. Sofin straightened up, then started running in the direction of Dexter's home, the pond Dexter had showed him.
"What exactly is happening?" questioned Sofin as they ran through the forest. "Who's destroying your home?"
"It's not who," said Dexter, "it's what. You see, there are tons of creatures which live around the big pond. Chameleons like me, but also frogs and toads, ducks, turtles, all sorts of animals! But not too long ago, the river flowing into the pond all of a sudden just—stopped flowing. The water's gone!"
"Gone?" repeated Sofin.
"Gone!" exclaimed Dexter. "And if we don't bring the water back, the pond is going to evapa—evapet—evopar—"
"Evaporate," finished Sofin.
"Evaporate!" agreed Dexter. "And then all those poor toads and turtles and ducks are gonna have to find somewhere else to stay."
Right then, Sofin finally arrived at the pond that was Dexter's home. Dexter had been right. The stream which had once flowed into the pond had simply vanished, without leaving even a trickle behind. Sofin could see the muddy trail where it used to be. The pond also looked a little smaller, and Sofin could see the markings where the water had once been. Around the pond, dozens of small animals scattered around in a frenzied panic. "Is the water coming back, mama?" whispered one tiny duck to his mother. She placed one fluffy wing around him, saying nothing.
"You're right," whispered Sofin, seeing the animals scurry around. "It's just gone."
"What do we do, Sofin?" said Dexter.
Sofin carefully walked around the pond to where he could see the muddy outline where the river had flowed. "Well," said Sofin, "we could follow the river upstream to see where the water was coming from. Maybe that'll help us fix the river."
Dexter's eyes lit up. "Great idea! Oh, I knew I could count on you to help."
Sofin smiled. Maybe today wasn't so bad after all. "It's the least I could do for a friend," he responded. "Now, come on! Let's find that water!" And with Dexter still resting in the palm of his hand, Sofin began the long walk upstream to find the source of the water.
It took a while, but eventually Sofin and Dexter followed the muddy imprint of the stream to a bend in the river. The river, which would normally flow directly downstream, had been halted by a makeshift construction of rocks and sticks, looking like a small dam. Instead, the water flowed along a different path through the grass, guided by the wall of rocks, and flowed into a different stream, heading down in the direction of the large lake. The second stream seemed to be overflowing with the water from two different paths.
"Oh no!" said Dexter upon seeing the dam. "Someone blocked our water with a huge wall! Why would someone do that?"
Sofin stared at the dam blocking the flow of water downstream, realizing something suddenly. "I think I have a pretty good idea why," he said. This must have been the stream James redirected to flood the lake nearby the princesses' camp. "But that's not important. Right now, we've gotta break this dam and set this water flowing the right way."
"How?" said Dexter. "It's way too big for me to break!"
"Maybe for you," said Sofin. "But the dam isn't that much bigger than I am."
Dexter looked up at Sofin, as if suddenly realizing how tiny he was compared to the prince. "Yeah!" he said excitedly. "You totally can break it!"
Sofin walked up to the edge of the dam, careful to stand out of the way of the water's path. He moved Dexter up to his shoulder, and the chameleon obligingly jumped on. Then, Sofin grabbed onto a piece of stone near the center of the structure with both hands, and with all his might, he pulled upon the rock. It flew out of the structure easily, sending Sofin flying back to hand on his back in some grass. But the one stone was enough. The dam rumbled unsteadily, then fell apart sending the rushing water flowing back down the way it was supposed to go. Sofin pushed up from the ground, watching the water flow back down towards the lake.
"We did it, Dexter!" said Sofin happily. He realized with a start that his chameleon friend was no longer on his shoulder. He must have been flung off. "Dexter? You okay? Where are you?" questioned Sofin worriedly.
"I'm okay!" came a small voice. A green head poked out from the grass, turning to look at the flowing river. Dexter's eyes went wide. "Woohoo!" he exclaimed. "We did it!" He did another little happy dance, spinning around in a circle.
Sofin laughed at the tiny chameleon's antics. "I'm glad your home is safe now," he said.
"Yep," agreed Dexter. "I'm gonna go check on everyone else. Thanks for helping me bring back the water, Sofin!"
Sofin's heart fluttered a little in happiness. "See you soon, Dexter!" he said, waving goodbye. The small chameleon scurried off in the direction of the river, and Sofin rose to his feet, brushing dirt off his pants. Sofin looked up at the sky, seeing the sun had passed quite a ways during his and Dexter's little adventure. James had said to get back quickly, but it was probably already too late for that. With a sigh, Sofin headed back towards the field of cornflowers to pick a few for the day.
After a bit, Sofin finally arrived once more at the clearing full of cornflowers. And this time, there were no princesses or chameleons to distract him. He picked a few handfuls, making sure to leave enough for the plants to grow back. When his arms were full and he couldn't carry any more, Sofin carefully walked back in the direction of the prince's camp, careful not to drop any flowers.
But by the time he arrived, the rocky plateau was totally empty. There was no sign of James and the princes anywhere, nor was there any sign of the princesses who had supposedly arrived and tried to take over the prince's camp. Sofin surveyed the empty plateau carefully, but couldn't find any sign of other Royal Prep students. He looked up at the sky once again. It was getting pretty late. Maybe the students were preparing to leave? Sofin decided to head towards the clearing where they had first arrived to see if anyone was nearby.
As Sofin neared the clearing, he was able to hear the sound of students yelling. His slow walk turned into a hurried run, and Sofin ran across the forest, eventually breaking through the tree line to see the clearing, which was filled with what looked like every student who had come to Greenleaf Forest. Sofin's eyes opened wide.
All across the clearing, students were firing spells out of wands. Some students wore pieces of armor and shields, which blocked the spells whizzing through the air. Other students had only their wands, and Sofin watched as they yelled "Somnibus," casting spells at each other. To Sofin's relief, he recognized the spell as the Minor Sleeping Spell. Each time a student got hit by a spell, they would fall over, fast asleep on the ground. The forest floor was littered with the bodies of sleeping students. But why was everyone casting spells at each other? What had happened?
"Sofin!" hissed a voice from one side. Sofin turned to see Vivian peeking out from beside a tree. "Come over here!" Sofin avoided the horde of spell-casting students and followed Vivian's voice to her hiding place behind the tree. She crouched down, out of view of the other students.
Sofin followed her down, crouching beside her. "What's going on, Vivian?" he questioned.
"Oh, I'm too shy to really fight anyone," she said, looking down at the ground nervously. "So I thought I would just hide until it was all over."
"Until what's all over?" asked Sofin again. "I mean, why is everyone casting sleeping spells at each other?"
Vivian's eyes widened. "You don't know?" she said. "It's because—" But the princess never got to finish her sentence, being interrupted by another voice.
"Somnibus!" shouted a clear voice. Sofin watched in shock as a spell flew out form a nearby wand and hit Vivian on the shoulder, sending her tumbling to the ground. Her wand flew out of her limp hands, and she fell to the floor, snoring softly.
Hugo stepped out from the other side of the tree, twirling his wand and wearing a self-satisfied smirk. He looked down at the sleeping form of Vivian. "Thanks for distracting her, Sofin," he said to the prince, who was too surprised to respond. "Maybe you aren't all so bad." He looked down at Sofin's empty hands. "Lost your wand? Just take hers." He picked up the wand which had fallen out of Vivian's hands and placed it in Sofin's. Then, without another word, he stepped around the tree and back into the fray.
Sofin looked down at the wand in his hands, his mind suddenly jolting out of the shock. Clutching the wand in his right hand, he rose to his feet, looking for Hugo. "Wait, Hugo!" he called, but the prince was nowhere to be seen. Sofin clenched the wand in his hand in frustration, then stepped out from behind the tree and into the clearing once more. He looked around for the field desperately to spot someone he knew who might be able to explain why all the students had suddenly started casting spells. He spied Clio and Hildegard at the opposite end of the clearing, their backs to each other, each holding a wand and firing off spells whenever anyone got too close.
Carefully, Sofin edged his way over to the pair. He kept an eye out for any spells being thrown his way, but nobody seemed to be targeting him. Before he could reach either of them, though, Zandar triumphantly yelled, "Somnibus!" A spell flew from Zandar's wand, hitting Hildegard right in the chest, and sending her slumping to the floor.
"No!" screamed Clio, turning to see her best friend fall. Hildegard's eyes fluttered for a moment, then shut completely. Sofin could see the grief in Clio's eyes.
"Somnibus," cast Zandar again, but Clio moved out of the way nimbly. She opened her eyes, and they were full of fury. Her gaze locked onto Zandar, and with pinpoint precision, aimed her wand at him.
"Somnibus," cast Clio, her voice dark, and Zandar fell to the ground, asleep. She set her eyes on a different prince, next, and cast the sleeping spell again. He fell to the ground too. For the next few seconds, Clio was like an angel on the battlefield, viciously casting spells at any prince that dared to get in her way, until a carefully aimed shot from James sent her falling to the ground too.
Sofin hung back from the slowly thinning mass of students, still casting spells at each other. He held his wand loosely at his side, but none of the others seemed to approach him. Before long, the huge group of students whittled down to ten, then five, then two. Aside from Sofin, who still stood at the edge of the clearing, his wand lowered, only James and Charlene remained standing in the field. With the mass of students gone, Sofin could also see Professor Velova and Sir Gillium, standing right in the trees just outside of the clearing.
James, for his part, was one of just a few princes who had come to the clearing with a shield. He held it strongly in front of him with his left hand, using it to block any of Charlene's spells that got too close. But at the same time, the shield slowed his movements, and he wasn't ever able to get close enough to Charlene to line up a good angle for a spell.
Charlene didn't have any shield, but that seemed to be helping her out more than anything. She easily weaved around any of James's spells, and anytime he got too close, she danced away, circling the clearing to try catch James off-guard. But he was always ready to catch the spell with his shield. Neither of them seemed to be able to land a spell on the other. Effectively, the two of them were at a stalemate.
Charlene and James seemed to notice Sofin at the same time. "Hey Sof, help me catch Charlene!" yelled James, just as Charlene shouted, "Sofin, help me distract James!" The two of them stopped for a moment, confused.
"No, wait, Sofin's on my side—" began James.
Charlene cut him off, "Actually, Sofin's part of my team."
"No, he's not!" argued James, the battle all but forgotten in their argument. Neither of them was moving anymore. He looked at Sofin. "You're on my team, right?" he said.
Charlene turned to look at Sofin as well, taking her eyes off James. "No, you're on the princess's team, Sofin," she said. "Velova agreed, remember?"
Sofin's head whipped between the two of them arguing. All day, James and Charlene had been at each other's throats, trying to ruin the other's camp and firing spells at one another. And now they wanted to drag him into the argument? He was tired of it, and he was tired of not knowing what was going on.
"Will you two please explain what's going on?" shouted Sofin at the top of his lungs, his voice almost breaking. Both James and Charlene went silent, looking at him with wide eyes. Sofin took a deep breath in, then out. The forest was completely quiet.
"Sorry," apologized Sofin. "I didn't mean to yell. I'm just a little tired of not knowing all this about teams and camps and sleeping spells."
James raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you don't know?" he said, surprised. "Charlene, didn't you tell him on the way here?"
Charlene looked confused. "No, he was sleeping the whole time," she explained. "Didn't you go to Greenleaf Forest last year though, Sofin? I thought you already knew."
"Sofin wasn't here last year," responded James.
"Wait, really?" said Charlene. "Sofin, I thought you joined the cheerleading team more than a year ago."
Sofin shook his head. "Nope, I joined the cheerleading team pretty much as soon as I got to Royal Prep. But that was less than a year ago. I haven't been on a trip to Greenleaf Forest before."
Charlene stopped for a moment, dropping her wand and counting carefully on her fingers. Then her face suddenly fell. "Oops," said the cheerleading captain. "I thought you had."
Sofin sighed. "It's okay," he said to Charlene. "Just explain now."
"Well," began Charlene, "each year we go to Greenleaf Forest as a field trip for our royal history class. After all, one of the biggest parts of history is talking about wars. So, once a year, Professor Velova splits us up into two teams, and then those teams have to fight a pretend war against each other."
"Don't forget about the points!" added James. "Each team has a team captain, and then they can make their team do all sorts of war things—setting up a base, attacking each other, making good tactical decisions—to earn points. Then, at the end of the day, there's a battle where we all cast sleeping spells at each other, and before the battle, depending on how many points each team has, Professor Velova gives out stuff like extra armor and shields to each team. And then there's a battle, and one team wins."
"It's one of the most fun field trips we do all year," said Charlene. "Sofin, I can't believe you didn't know about it."
Sofin's mind was whirling. "So," he said, "all that about attacking each other's camps—that wasn't because you just don't like each other? That was all part of the war?"
James nodded. "Yeah, that was all for fun. Both of the teams know the stuff we do today is all for fun, anyways." He stopped for a second. "Oh, did you think I just wanted to flood the princesses camp just for fun? That would be awful! I would never do that! It's only 'cause we're in Greenleaf Forest."
Sofin winced, feeling bad about thinking James had done exactly that. "Well," admitted Sofin, "I might have gone to the princesses' camp and told them you were planning on flooding the lake," said Sofin.
"Oh, so that's how they knew!" realized James.
"And," continued Sofin, "I kinda told the princes about your plan, too, Charlene."
"So that's why you weren't around!" she exclaimed. "I was looking for you. We just waltzed in and took the plateau—but it really didn't matter because the battle was about to start anyways."
Sofin hung his head low. "I guess I just assumed that both of you were being mean to each other without trying to figure out the whole story," he said. "Sorry for ruining today."
But to his surprise, Charlene laughed good-naturedly. "Ruining?" she said. "Sofin, this was the best field trip to Greenleaf Forest we've had!"
"It was?" said Sofin in surprise.
"Yeah!" agreed James. "Coming up with cool plans and making decisions to leave our base—that was so much fun!"
"And running away from the flood was super fun, too!" added Charlene. "We should have spies every year."
Sofin looked up to see Professor Velova break away from Sir Gillium and walk towards them. "I must agree, it made for a particularly entertaining day," she agreed. "I might just add espionage to this field trip in the future."
Sofin's mouth hung open. "So, none of you are mad at me?" he asked again, just to be sure. Everyone shook their heads. There was a brief moment of silence.
"So," said James, hefting his shield once more, "which team are you on, Sof? Cause we've still got to figure out a winner." Charlene picked up her own wand from the ground and brandished it, though neither of them fired off a spell, instead looking at Sofin.
Sofin turned to look at Professor Velova. "I thought you decided I was on the princesses' team," he said to the royal history teacher.
Professor Velova shook her head and smiled softly. "I gave you the option, but it's your choice to decide who you want to be," she said. "So, which will it be?"
Sofin raised his wand, looking between Charlene and James. He finally knew now that neither of them had really been mean to each other all day. The flooding, the counterattack—it was all just part of the pretend war. But, despite that… Sofin's mind strayed to Dexter, the tiny chameleon he had met and befriended in the forest. He thought about the panicked animals living in the pond. Even if it was only pretend for the students, the war really had hurt all the forest animals. With that in mind, Sofin aimed his wand, and made his choice.
"Somnibus. Somnibus," cast Sofin twice, one after the other, first at James, then Charlene. Neither of them had been ready to block or dodge the shot, and both fell to the ground, asleep. Sofin held his wand up. The clearing was quiet. Sofin was the only student left standing.
Professor Velova, who was watching, laughed merrily. "I should have known. But which team do you want to win for?" she said. "The princes? Or the princesses? Or, do you want both of them to lose, and declare yourself the only winner? A war needs to have a victor, after all."
Sofin twirled his wand in his hand, then opened his mouth to speak. "No, it doesn't," he said. "War isn't about winning or losing. It's about all the people who get hurt along the way. No matter what happens in the end, someone still has to pay the price. And that's never worth it," he declared. "So in a war…there aren't any winners."
Sofin twirled the wand in his hands, pointing the tip of it at his chest, and Professor Velova seemed to realize what was about to happen. Her eyes opened wide, and she began to say, "Wait," but was interrupted by Sofin's own cast.
"Somnibus," said Sofin, and the spell flew out of his own wand, striking himself directly on the chest. And then Sofin's eyes closed, and he knew no more.
"Wake up, sleepyhead," came Charlene's loud voice, and Sofin felt her shake him from side to side. He slowly opened his eyes, yawning groggily. Charlene was standing right atop him, trying to wake him up.
"Finally," said Charlene, and Sofin realized with a start that it was just the two of them, sitting in the coach that had taken them to Greenleaf Forest. "You were sleeping like a baby," she continued. "For some reason, Velova couldn't wake you up like the rest of us, so she told me to let you sleep until we got back to Royal Prep."
Sofin wearily rubbed his eyes. "Are we back at Royal Prep?" he asked tiredly.
"Nope!" exclaimed Charlene merrily. "We're about halfway there." She sat back down in the seat opposite Sofin. "But I couldn't just let you sleep the whole time! I have so many questions to ask! Did you really hit yourself with the sleeping spell after both of us?"
Sofin stretched, trying to get as comfortable as he could in the small coach. "Yep," he responded. "I guess I just wanted to prove a point. That, you know, war isn't good."
Charlene laughed. "That is so awesome," she said. "That's almost better than winning."
"Almost?" said Sofin, beginning to feel a little bit more comfortable.
"Almost," repeated Charlene. Her smile stretched into a wicked grin. "I am so getting you back for turning against me. Watch out, Sofin. When you least expect it…"
Sofin laughed, and Charlene joined in. It was good to be back to their normal camaraderie. No weird field trips or flooding lakes to get in the way anymore. Just time to enjoy with one of his friends at Royal Prep.
When she was done laughing, Charlene eventually sighed. "I'm sorry about not telling you about the field trip," she said. "I really thought you already knew."
Sofin smiled. "It's okay, I forgive you," he said. "And plus, I learned an important lesson from today."
"You did?" asked Charlene.
Sofin nodded. "I learned that it's important to think about why people do things before judging them as mean or rude. And that it's alway important to know the big picture when you're dealing with people."
Charlene poked him in the side. "That sounds like a pretty fancy lesson. Maybe you should become one of those people who writes those children's books with their over-the-top morals," she said mockingly.
"Hey!" responded Sofin indignantly, and he poked her right back. The two of them broke out into giggles once again. "I thought it was a pretty good lesson," he defended between laughs.
"It is, it is!" said Charlene. "Who knows, maybe it'll come up again some day. You never know with these life lessons."
Sofin smiled. "Maybe it will," he agreed.
"Or," continued Charlene half-jokingly, "maybe you've already met someone and judged them without knowing the big picture. And maybe that mistake is gonna haunt you forever and then the whole world is gonna be at stake and you'll cry to yourself, 'Oh, no, if only I had remembered that lesson I learned at Greenleaf Forest—'"
"Now you're just being ridiculous," interrupted Sofin.
"Yeah, I am," laughed Charlene. "But it's still just really funny that you had no clue it was a pretend war the whole time."
"I guess it is a little funny," agreed Sofin. It was easier to be lighthearted about it now that it was all over. He stopped for a moment, thinking. "There's still one thing I don't get about all this, though."
Charlene leaned in close. "What's that?" she asked.
"How did Amber smuggle a throne into camp, anyways?" And the two friends broke into silly giggling.
Author's Note: Yeah, uh...I don't know, either. It wasn't in my planning notes it just sort of. Happened.