Flying Janesse

Glad you could join us for the next entrancing episode of Elliot’s Adventures. If you’re new here, you can catch up by returning to the beginning, and reading really fast…

Spending his last few minutes in Bog reviewing the responsibilities his deputy would shoulder, Elliot was confident nothing would suffer under Randall’s watchful eye.

“Do you have someone in mind to send with the shipment, sir?” the frog asked.

“No, I’ll leave that to you.”

Their faces a matched set of solemnity, Darwin and Teddy marched in step up the path.

“Halt!” Teddy cried. “Knight Trevor reporting with news, sir.”

“Hey,” Darwin objected, “you were Trevor last time. It’s my turn!”

“All right, but he’s my daddy, so I still get to say the news.”

“Okay,” Darwin agreed leaping with all eight legs splayed, over a knee-high rock in his best imitation of an airborne frog.

“What’s your news, Master Knight?” Randall asked.

Brow furrowed in concentration, Teddy saluted. “The Prince’s Flyer is here, sir!”

Overhead, a member of Fen’s Light of Day Aero Squadron glided through the trees to alight with exquisite grace.

“Janesse!” Elliot rejoiced.

“Your Worthiness, Prince Elliot the Faithful, husband to her Elegance, Princess Cassandra the Secret of Bog, I hear you have become an eager flyer.” Smiling, she bowed before him. “Much has changed since I left you in the Ancient Woods.” 

She radiated the same self-possession and calm that had enchanted him from the moment he first saw her twirling in Lilian’s Pool.

“That’s true for me,” he acknowledged, “but you seem exactly the same.”

Suddenly aware of the three sets of eyes glancing between the Flyer and himself, he shook off the sense of wonder that had descended with his visitor.

“Perhaps we should be on our way,” he said as he ascended the wing Janesse extended. “Randall, I know you’ll serve Bog and King Arnie well in my absence.” 

Settling between her shoulders, the Prince asked, “Might we stop briefly at the Bower in central Fen to see the Princess before you deliver me to the King?”

“I’m sorry, Prince Elliot; his Greatness has ordered me to bring you directly to him, but if you wish me to, I’ll take her Elegance a message on my way to the front.”

“I would be deeply grateful,” he responded as they rose above Bog.

Below them, Teddy and Darwin leaped and jumped trying their best to follow.

To be continued. . .

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