Dorrie, Lucinda, Candice, and Greylock started to leave the room, but Roland stopped them. "Before you go, there's something you need to know about," he started. When they came back, Roland told them about what had just happened.
"Oh my gosh! Is James all right?!" Dorrie asked.
"He'll be fine. He was just frightened for the most part," Roland assured her.
"I followed the instructions to that potion exactly! And I watched as James just took a small sip like he was supposed to!" Candice blurted out.
Roland smiled reassuringly. "I know you did, Candice, and I'm not blaming you for anything. However, I need to know what was in there, so if you make the potion for him again, you know what to avoid, and if you can substitute something for it."
Candice reached into her pocket and pulled out the paper. Roland scanned it, and as he looked over the list of ingredients, he nodded as he saw one of them. "Of course," he murmured, "Pelicant Eggshell Powder. I should have known. From what I remember from Royal Prep's potion class, it normally suppresses headaches and moderate dizziness. But if a person is dizzy already, the feeling multiplies when anything it's in wears off, and balance is sometimes affected as well."
"What's the matter, Rollie?" Miranda asked, leaving James in Penny and Miss Elodie's capable hands as she came over to them.
"It turns out that the potion James took has Pelicant Eggshell Powder in it," Roland replied. "He's not allergic to it, but even as a child, he's always had trouble with it."
"What's it like?" Miranda asked.
"It's colorless, but it has a sour aftertaste that's not noticeable right away. One might notice a strange taste in their mouth a few hours after taking it, but normally it's nothing to worry about," Roland explained.
"I didn't notice that at first, but I felt kind of funny as it was wearing off," James nodded.
Violet, the head maid, and mother to Dorrie and Candice, nodded as she entered, having heard the conversation, and wanting to see if there was anything she could do to help as well. She was grateful that Baileywick had told her everything that was going on, and she loved James' stories as much as everyone in the castle. She put her arms around Dorrie and Candice as she said, "I remember that well, your Majesty. When Prince James was still running himself ragged trying to avoid music, he'd sometimes be up with Cedric cleaning his workshop. That ingredient spilled on him by accident one day, and even though Cedric actually did the right thing and washed it off quickly, Prince James still got so sick."
Roland nodded. That was actually one of a handful of times that he hadn't blamed Cedric for something going wrong, but instead thanked him for leaping into action to help somebody.
Beside him, Sofia spoke up. "Now that you mention it, James had the same problem with that in Royal Prep. A month before he started singing in public again, we were in a potions class, and we had to work with that. He got such a bad headache when he accidentally breathed in a small bit of it that the fairies had to send him home," she looked like she remembered something else. "And now I know why you have that message on Lucinda's and my potion shelf: 'James gets sick when he takes or is exposed to Pelicant Eggshell Powder.'"
"My sorcerer never worked with that ingredient," Magnus spoke up.
"And for good reason, your Majesty, Mister Greylock has the same problem with that ingredient himself," Sofia replied.
Greylock nodded silently as he looked over the list of ingredients in the potion James had taken. "This actually does work, but if you have to make it again, might I suggest a mixture of griffin sweat and crocodile tears in place of the Pelicant Eggshell Powder? It still works the same way," he suggested.
"I'll have to try that," Candice nodded. "Thank you, Mister Greylock."
"It sounds like you're speaking from experience, sir," Penny observed.
"I made a similar concoction for Princess Aileen a while back," Greylock explained. "While I do have the Pelicant Eggshell Powder in my own stores, you know I can't use it. I looked up an alternative for that ingredient, and I learned that a combination of griffin sweat and crocodile tears has the same effect."
"And after doing some more reading, I found a cure for the spell on Amber," Lucinda spoke up, holding her book open to a page.
"We have all those ingredients in our potion cabinet!" Sofia said as she read the list.
"Almost all of them," Lucinda corrected her, "I used the last of my Diamond Dust helping Amber clean her tiaras two weeks ago and I forgot to restock it."
"Well, Princess Lucinda, it's a good thing I always carry extra potion ingredients with me for just such an emergency," Greylock smiled. He set a bag down and rooted through it for a few moments, but at last he found a large gold and white pouch. "Here we go! Diamond Dust! And you can have this. One of my friends gave me several pouches of Diamond Dust a few weeks ago."
"Thank you, Mister Greylock!" Lucinda smiled, "Now, let's go make that antidote!"
"And the rest of us can find Slickwell," Dorrie agreed.
"I'll help too," James spoke up.
"If by that you mean you'll stay here and take it easy, then yes you will," Roland cut in. James started to protest, but Roland continued. "All your stories have helped us come up with ideas to help Amber, and we appreciate everything you're doing. But I remember telling you to rest and take it easy. You don't want to have another reaction to that Pelicant Eggshell Powder, do you?"
"Well, no…" James hesitated.
"So while the girls are helping Greylock with the potion, why don't you and I work together and set up one of the traps you talk about in your stories?" Roland suggested.
"I tried using traps once, and it didn't work," James repeated what he'd said before.
"Maybe you just need a fresh pair of eyes for that," Roland replied. He picked up a random folder from James' 'try again later' box that Candice had also brought down and Dorrie enchanted with the same spell she used to make the stories read to Penny, and he and James listened as the story was read to them.
Magnus was listening along with them. He and Aileen enjoyed mysteries, and now he was in the middle of a real life one. "I'd like to offer my assistance as well," he spoke up. "Aileen and I are avid readers of mysteries, and though some of the authors and detectives are older than your character, we've still learned a few tricks."
As Magnus, James, and Roland started looking through the folders, Greylock, Dorrie, Sofia, Lucinda, and Candice went to Sofia and Lucinda's workshop to start the antidote.
At the same time, Jagger was sniffing around looking for the box. He'd seen Roland drop it when he went to help James, and thought he heard Roland say what it was. He picked the box up in his teeth and started on his way over. However, he stumbled after he'd gone a few paces.
Penny heard him yelp, and she and Miss Elodie came up to him. "Jagger, what's the matter?" she asked. She had just taken the box and was feeling around it when she slipped as well. "Oh!" She gasped. She would have fallen, but Miss Elodie grabbed her shoulder to steady her.
"Are you all right, Princess Penny?" Miss Elodie asked.
"I'm fine," Penny gasped. "I felt something in here, and suddenly it's like I was standing on ice!"
Miranda came over to see if they were all right. She saw a small object on the ground. Not wanting to slip herself, she picked it up in her handkerchief. "A pin-oh!" she gasped before slipping herself just the same.
Baileywick was immediately on the scene. He steadied Miranda as he said, "No one else touch this gold two-headed snake pin!" he ordered, at the same time describing it to Penny.
"You know what this is, sir?" Penny asked.
"Yes I do, Princess Penny, and I was unfortunate enough to be cursed by it as well," Baileywick glared at the pin.
"This is the pin Slickwell cursed you with," Roland recognized it.
"Brilliant!" James grinned. When everyone looked at him, he explained, "If we found that thing Slickwell used, he can't be too far away, right?"
"Exactly," Roland smiled back.
"Excellent! And getting back to business, what about this idea?" Magnus held up a yellow folder. "This story has a trap in it involving a request for a new servant in a castle."
James took the folder and looked at the line Magnus was pointing at. He listened as the story read to him about a villain who was tricked into coming to Jameslandia Castle with the prospect of getting a job. He was cornered in the throne room and the person who was thought to be retired, as well as everyone in the castle, caught the villain in a cage.
"I guess we could try something like that," James agreed. "Even though I rejected that idea, Andrew had such a great line!"
They listened as the book read, "Surprisingly, the trap failed to spring. The cage still hung in midair with the wizard under it, looking puzzled. 'Well?' he asked. Andrew frowned from where he stood next to the chandelier with the axe at his side. 'This always worked in the movies!'"
"Like I said, I didn't like the way this was going," James shrugged.
"It was still an interesting idea," Roland assured him, reading along with the next few lines. "'Watching from above, Chloe aimed her wand at the cage, dropping it on the wizard and trapping him.' At least you had some extra help."
"Yeah, but Lucinda's not here this time," James shook his head.
"Maybe not, but I am," Roland replied. "What would Duke Herbert do in this sort of situation?"
James picked up another folder. "I think I know something! Let's get to work, Dad, and I promise, I will take it easy while we get this set up…"
Author's Notes
Thanks to Niagara14301 for helping with some details for this chapter.
Griffin Sweat and Crocodile Tears are two of the ingredients found in Enchanted Science Fair.
Pelicant Eggshell Powder is based on the Pelicant egg from Dads and Daughters Day.
King Magnus' 'MY Sorcerer' comments can frequently be heard in Cedric's Apprentice.
Diamond Dust was found in The Fliegel Has Landed.
The pin that Penny, Miss Elodie and Miranda encountered, and that Baileywick had firsthand experience with, was the Pin of Klutzenheimer, which Slickwell used in Baileywhoops.
The title of this chapter is taken from the Jem and the Holograms song "Getting Down to Business".