The Princess and the Changeling by: Laura Knight
Princess Aria ran from the castle and deep into the forest to a small clearing. She plopped down just outside the circle of mushrooms that marked the fairy ring. Untangling her pouch from her dress, she reached in and pulled out her four-leaf clover.
She kissed the clover then said, "Pyrite, Pyrite, Pyrite".
The forest grew quiet, the wind blew her long golden hair in front of her face, and when she pulled her hair from her eyes, a fairy, only two pumpkins tall, stood in the ring.
"The princess has need of me?" the fairy asked.
"Yes, Pyrite, I do. Mother has just given birth to Prince Emery. He's blonde and blue-eyed like me and all the nurses were cooing over him. He'd be perfect for the Good Folk to steal and replace with a changeling like you."
"I would think you'd want to protect your baby brother from being snatched," he said.
"No, I want him gone. Now that a prince is born he will inherit the kingdom instead of me and I want to be Queen,” Aria said in a huff. She took a deep breath then continued. “After the usual three years is up, you can return home and everyone will just think Emery got lost in the woods."
"Very well, Princess, I will meet with my kin and I will return at dusk," Pyrite said. He vanished in a puff of smoke. Aria skipped back to the castle, certain that Pyrite would take her brother's place.
Just before dusk, Aria sneaked out of the castle and ran back to the fairy ring. Within moments, Pyrite appeared in the ring.
"Good evening, Princess. My kin thank you for offering up your brother. We'll switch at midnight," he said and vanished. Aria smiled and strolled back to the castle.
That night Aria went into the nursery to look at the prince. He slept, but when she approached his crib, he awoke and smiled at her. Aria didn't think one-day-old babies could smile. But Emery did and he reached for her. She stroked his tiny hand and he grabbed her finger. She smiled. Maybe having a baby brother wouldn't be so bad. She decided to sit in the rocker and wait for midnight.
The wet nurse came in a couple of times to nurse Emery before midnight. Aria only smiled at her and the nurse left her alone. Then the clock struck twelve and Pyrite and two other fairies appeared. Pyrite climbed into the crib and sprinkled fairy dust on the baby. The other two fairies spirited away Emery. Pyrite morphed into a copy of the prince and winked at Aria before going to sleep.
Aria stayed in the room to see if the wet nurse would notice. The nurse came in shortly and went to the crib.
"My, I think he grows more beautiful by the hour," she said and picked him up. "This babe even smells sweet, like honeysuckle."
Aria smiled. If the nurse were smart she'd know that babies don't smell like honeysuckle, but fairies do. As Aria left the room, the nurse sat down in the rocker. Aria realized she had successfully gotten rid of her baby brother. She walked to her room, but she didn't smile.
She couldn't sleep. She kept dreaming that her baby brother was crying for her. Eventually, she got up and went back to the nursery. The wet nurse was there, nursing the changeling. Aria knew that if she could make Pyrite reveal himself then her baby brother would return.
"Nurse, do you have any iron charms? I want to put one on the baby to protect him from fairies who might want to steal him."
"Oh, child, how sweet. I do carry a couple of iron charms in my pouch." She shifted around so she could reach her pouch and pulled out a charm in the shape of a four-leaf clover and handed it to the princess.
Seeing no string nearby, Aria plucked one long golden hair from her head and strung the charm on it. She bent down to place it around the changeling's neck.
Pyrite remained still up until the last moment. If Aria put the iron charm around him he would lose his magic and not be able to return to Fairyland. Just as Aria was about to touch the charm to his chest, Pyrite sprang out of the nurse's arms, revealed his true form, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The nurse screamed, but quieted when she saw Emery asleep in his crib.
Aria placed the charm on the mobile that hung over the crib, just in case Pyrite tried to come back.
Aria smiled at her charming baby brother. Maybe someday she would marry a king from a distant land and be Queen after all.