Banished as in we can’t go home or see our families again.

Banished as in the whole of Enchantasia thinks we’re criminal outlaws.

Headmistress Olivina dropped us in the middle of a spooky forest where the air is thick with dew and the trees cast such deep shadows I can’t tell if it’s night or day. The ground is wet from a recent rain, and we’re surrounded by the sounds of a lonely wolf howling in the distance (it’s crying about being lost from its pack, poor thing), an occasional low rumble of thunder, and sniffling.

My roommate, Raina, Snow White’s younger sister, is not handling the banishment well. She is curled in a ball on a mound of leaves, holding her white gloves and crying. Her brother, Heath, is… Where is Heath? I don’t see him anywhere. I can see our friend Logan picking edible berries for a possible breakfast. Logan may not be the outdoorsy type, but he knows how to whip up a meal even in the direst of circumstances. My other roommate, Sasha, Sleeping Beauty’s little sister, is fiddling with the mini magical scroll she uses to run her blog to try to figure out our location.

Me? I feel dazed, confused, and quite frankly, angry. But I guess that’s to be expected when your school’s headmistress waves her wand and poof! Banishes you for not going along with her plans. Now the most beloved fairy godmother in Enchantasia is probably telling the kingdom we’re a bunch of traitors when it’s she who is the double-crossing, power-hungry villain.

“Drooping dragons, this is quite the mess we’re in, Lily,” I comment to my bearded dragon. That may sound odd, but she can understand me, just like I can understand her when she flicks her tongue at me in agreement. Communicating with animals is my gift.

Hey, that gift might be able to help us right now!

“Lily?” I call again to my lizard, who is camouflaging herself into the color of the tree trunk she’s climbing. “Could you find a grasshopper or carpenter ant and ask if they know where we could find Little Red Riding Hood?”

“What?” Raina’s response echoes through the early-morning air. She hobbles over to me wearing one shoe and carrying the other, which is missing a heel. Her dark-brown hair has several leaves in it, and her bow is sagging so much I’m sure it’s going to fall off her head at any moment. I don’t dare tell her that. One’s appearance is of the utmost importance to Raina (Princess Rule 2), even if she is banished.

“Are you seriously asking your bearded dragon to help us find Little Red Riding Hood?”

She is pretty worked up, so I’m almost too afraid to reply. I nod slightly to Lily, who hurries up the tree trunk and out of sight to talk to some locals. “Maybe?”

“That’s how you’re going to fix this…situation we’re in?” Raina can’t even get herself to say the word banished. Her eyes are wild. “By searching for a known outlaw to help us?”