Fairest

Aza is blissfully astonished because she never expected anyone, let alone a prince, to kiss her. Ijori tells her that she is “the finest, kindest, sweetest maiden in Ayortha” (172). His kiss gives Aza the confidence she needs to confront the tailor. She warns him that the queen will imprison him and his seamstresses if she learns of the cruel trick he played, and she orders him to prepare a suitable wardrobe for her in time for the Sing. Aza persuades Ivi to let her compose the queen’s song for the event, and she writes about the queen’s love for the king.

Ivi drives all of the castle’s songbirds outside, which infuriates and saddens the court. The tailor gives Aza her new wardrobe and tells her that he now understands that she isn’t to blame for the queen’s actions. Aza tries to reason with Ivi about the birds, but the queen hushes her and gives her magnificent jewelry that pairs with her new dresses. When Aza dons her new ensembles, she is relieved that she looks “less bulky” even if she thinks she’s “still too white and too red and too black” (183).

At the Sing, Ivi grows jealous when Ijori compliments Aza’s appearance. Sir Uellu asks Ivi and Aza to perform a duet, but Ivi asks to postpone the duet to the next Sing. Many of the people who attend the Sing protest the queen’s reign by singing briefly and with little emotion. Aza sings about her desire to be beautiful, and Ijori praises her performance and holds her hand. Ijori’s song celebrates his love for a “dear friend,” and Ivi is furious because she knows that the prince is singing about Aza. When it’s Ivi’s turn to sing, Aza illuses for her. However, a serving maid spills a drink on the queen, and Ivi shouts at her, revealing the deception.

Realizing that her charade has been exposed, Ivi declares that there will be no more Sings in the kingdom and forbids singing of any kind in the castle. Aza follows her, but the queen shouts, “Leave me alone, horror!” (191). The crowd sings the Song of Ayortha in defiance of the queen as Sir Uellu leads Aza, the bailiff, the prince, and the members of the king’s council to the queen’s chambers. The choirmasters already deduced that Aza sings for the queen, but Ijori feels betrayed by this revelation. Through her tears, Aza explains how she illuses. The queen tries to scapegoat the girl by claiming that Aza offered to sing for her in exchange for a noble title. Sir Uellu says that the queen was weak and under “a pernicious influence” (197). He believes that Aza is part-ogre, like many of the finest singers in Ayorthian history.

Sir Uellu accuses Aza of using her supernatural powers of song to mislead Ivi and spark a rebellion and of bewitching the prince so that she could become queen. Aza protests her innocence, but Ijori is horrified that he kissed her. The assembled guards and courtiers lock Aza in the queen’s chambers while they decide her fate. Aza finds the magic mirror, a beauty potion, and a disguise potion among the queen’s belongings. She takes a dose of the beauty potion, thinking that she will spite her accusers when they return for her. Aza experiences burning pain and falls unconscious.

When she awakens, her reflection in an ordinary mirror looks as gloriously beautiful as the vision the magic mirror showed her. Skulni speaks to Aza from the hand mirror, calling her “the fairest one of all” (204). He tells her to drink the rest of the potion so that her transformation will be permanent. He also offers to tell her his “plans for Ayortha and the queen” if she finishes the potion (204). The door opens. Ijori’s dog recognizes Aza and rushes to greet her. Ivi shrieks and strikes Aza’s face.

Oochoo tries to defend Aza, but the guards arrest her. Her noble title is taken from her, but Ijori assures her that her family will not be punished. Guards gag Aza and take her to the dungeon. Her transformation didn’t reduce her strength, and she nearly overpowers the guards before they force her into a cage. With the council back in charge, Frying Pan and Lady Arona are freed from prison.

Aza reasons that her voice should have magical properties if she is part-ogre, and she lulls the prison guard to sleep by humming a lullaby. She removes her bindings and frees herself from the cage. However, when she exits the dungeon, she encounters a guard with a knife.

The guard, Uju, explains that Ivi sent him to take Aza far from the castle. As they ride away, she tries to focus on her lovely new features, but she begins to cry when she thinks of how she cannot return to the inn and realizes “[she] had no home” (217). On the third day of their journey, they see four ogres on a mountain. The ogres hear the humans’ horses, and Aza uses her illusing to make it sound as if the horses are far away from her and Uju.

One of the ogres nears Aza and Uju’s hiding place, and the guard kills him. They imagine music in their minds to block out the persuasive magic of the ogres’ voices, and Aza lures the remaining ogres down the mountain by illusing the voices of two humans in that direction. Uju and Aza cause a rockslide that buries the ogres and their horses.

Overcome with relief and gratitude, Uju confesses that Ivi told him to kill Aza. However, her beauty convinced him that the accusations against her are false. The queen promised to knight him for killing Aza, so he asks for a piece of Aza’s gown so that he can make it look like he did the deed. She asks Uju to tell the prince that she was eaten by “one of [her] cousins” (225). Uju leads Aza to Gnome Caverns.

Master zhamM graciously welcomes the humans, who learn that he is a member of the gnomish aristocracy. Aza bathes, dines with zhamM and Uju, and falls asleep in her guest room. The next morning, zhamM informs her that Uju is on his way back to the castle. Aza asks the gnome to send a letter to her parents, so they know she’s alive and then tells him all about her time at Ontio Castle. When she explains illusing, zhamM manages to acquire the skill. This astounds Aza because no one else has been able to do so. At the end of her tale, the gnome shows Aza a htun rock and expresses his belief that Aza is part gnome, not part ogre.

Master zhamM supports his hypothesis by pointing out the htun highlights in Aza’s hair and the width of her natural build. He invites her to stay in Gnome Caverns as long as she wants, sends a messenger to deliver the letter she wrote to her parents, and dispatches a pair of armorers to the castle to learn how the court reacts to news of Aza’s death.

Aza feels anger and pain whenever she thinks of the prince and the queen, and she distracts herself by composing songs about the gnomes, who adore her music. A gnome commissions a song from her and pays her with a small diamond. She asks zhamM to look into her future again, and he sees her “lying on the ground” while someone stands above her feeling both “[r]emorse and gloating” (251).