(( AN: I figure we only have half a dozen or so more chapters left. ))

26.

The next few days passed for Toby in a blur of new faces and names (apparently, she was supposed to meet and know every semi-important fairy in Avalon), dance lessons, dress fittings, etiquette, and even sword lessons with Georgette. She didn't understand how they were going to turn her into the perfect Princess in only three days but they seemed intent on trying. Toby found, to her delight, that she very much enjoyed her swordsmanship lessons and even had a natural knack for it -- at everything else, however, she was a lost cause.

The night of her official coronation arrived before Toby was even slightly ready. It didn't help that she found herself distracted, her thoughts often turning to what had happened her first night in Avalon and what it might have meant.

Luckily, Verum seemed to have taken Toby's request to heart and when she entered the throne room for her coronation there were only a dozen or so fairies instead of the hundred Toby had seen in her nightmares. The ceremony itself was painfully boring and, as far as Toby could tell, pointless, since she was already a Princess and even already had her tiara. Verum had let it slip that Georgette, according to tradition, had not been supposed to give Toby her tiara, but had done so anyway so that it would help protect Toby against the unknown threat.

Toby thought of the mass of vines that had once been her school and wondered if that'd been such a good idea after all.

After promising to be a good and "proper" Princess, to protect the land of Believe and all its denizens, and to honor the legacy left behind by the previous Princesses (whatever that meant), the Fairy Queen touched Toby's tiara, making it glow with a blindingly bright light before it faded again. There was silence for a moment before someone started clapping, triggering the rest of the audience out of their silence and into applause as well.

Then there was just the Ball to deal with. Well, that and finding a new Princess so she could go back to being boring, unroyal, plain old Toby.

Her dress was a pure white affair, trimmed in lace made out of some material that sparkled irridescent colors. The overall effect was a subtle shimmer and not blaring or dazzling, so Toby didn't object. It was, she thought to herself, the most beautiful dress she'd ever seen in her entire life, though she certainly didn't look forward to dealing with the full, rustling skirts. Like all of her outfits, it came complete with a silken belt to which she hooked Kjavaeos. She'd never bothered to question why she was supposed to have the sword with her at all times; for some reason, she didn't want to be without it, even at a Ball.

A glittering yellow fairy arrived to do her hair, gushing over how pretty Toby was and how long and thick her hair was and how wonderful it was that there was finally a Princess again, seeing as it'd been ever so boring and quiet with everyone asleep all the time. Toby just held still and let the Fairy -- Skisparkle -- babble.

When Skisparkle was done, Toby hardly recognized herself. The girl staring back at her from the mirror had big green eyes and long brown hair that was pulled up at the sides but then tumbled down around her shoulders and back in a mess of deep chocolate curls. The tiara that sparkled from her forehead only accented the slight shimmer of the dress, creating an overall affect that was quite... magical.

"I'm..."

"Beautiful," breathed Skisparkle. Toby couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks."

"It was my pleasure, Princess," the fairy said, curtseying deeply to Toby before gathering her things up again. "Your escort should be here soon, and I dare say as handsome as you are beautiful!" With that twittering giggle, she flitted off and Toby was left staring at a reflection she could barely believe was her own.

Her escort turned out to be none other than the royal Prince Fizzybink himself. He was ethereally handsome in his deep emerald tunic and pants, jeweled sword hanging from his belt, his long pale-green hair drifting around his shoulders as if continually teased by a stray wind.

He dipped in an intricate bow, holding one hand out to her. She felt her cheeks grow hot at the attention.

"May I have the pleasure of your company at the Ball this evening, Princess Tobias?" His eyes sparkled with playful pomp.

"It'd be a terrible shame to send you away when you even went to all of the trouble of putting a shirt on," she teased right back, placing her hand in his. He laughed, squeezing her hand as he straightened.

"I shall accept that jest with composure, Princess, considering you went to all the trouble of looking like a true princess if I've ever seen one."

Toby blew a stray curl from her face. "I'm sure Rosalind was prettier," she commented, off-handedly. Fiz's face froze, then twisted with pain, loss, and longing so intense that it nearly took her breath away.

"It was as if beauty itself had died on her lips and was reborn in her eyes."

Toby gazed at him quietly. "You loved her?"

Fiz nodded, then looked down at Toby, squeezing her hand again. "I did. Very, very much. But come now, such a sad conversation is not fit for this night. Tonight we celebrate -- you, life, and good friends!" His expression lightened again, but Toby's impression of him had changed. To bear such a burden of loving someone so much and not knowing what had happened to them, whether they'd lived or died... Toby couldn't imagine it. It made her chest hurt. So, with newfound respect for the dashing Fairy Prince, she summoned a smile to her face.

"All right, let's get this fiasco over with." He laughed and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. He really was gorgeous, she thought as she smiled back at him.

"I promise to try and make this as painless as possible for you," he said with a grin. She eyed him.

"I think the only way this is going to be even remotely painless is if you hit me over the head a couple of times so I don't have to go and can instead just nurse my poor skull back to one piece."

Fiz laughed, the sound rippling throughout the room. "If that's the case, then this is going to be painful. But hopefully enjoyable nonetheless." He winked at her, then swept the curtain of the door back, leading her from the room and towards the noise and hubbub of the Ball.