Page 1 of Return of the Nutcracker Prince

Chapter 1

Clarawashavingthatdream again.Her godfather, Drosselmeyer, must have sent it.He was a magic old clock and toy maker that never seemed to get any older.A good friend of the Stahlbaums, Godfather Drosselmeyer was renowned for his intricate, unexplainable toys.

Mama and Papa never believed her as a child when she said Drosselmeyer sent her dreams.This particular one was far too similar to the dream she’d had that Christmas Eve when she was thirteen.It was the most frightening, and yet, her favorite dream.

In it, a Nutcracker fell from the grand tree in the ballroom.Her spoiled brat of a brother, Fritz, tried to fight her for it, using his new toy sword to smash its jaw when he wasn’t allowed to play with it.Devastated, Clara pressed the piece back into his wooden face, kissed it, then Godfather Drosselmeyer wrapped his handkerchief around it like a bandage.

“Such a brave soldier,”he said in that odd way of his.“He shall never forget this.”

That all had actually happened that strange Christmas Eve.It was the rest that was a repeat of her dream.

Unable to sleep, Clara returned to the drawing room after the rest of the house went to bed, looking for her Nutcracker soldier.But huge, human-sized mice crept into the ballroom, seeking the crumbs left after the party.When she squealed in terror, they attacked.

Just when she was surrounded, the Nutcracker burst into life, coming to her aid with his large wooden head and his sword slashing.Fritz’s toy soldiers marched on the invaders at the Nutcracker’s command, but the Mouse King appeared from beneath the floor and turned the tide of the battle against her and her protector.

“Prince, I have you now!”She shuddered in her sleep at the giant, seven-headed rodent’s hiss.Unwilling to merely sit by and watch as he towered over them, Clara threw her only weapon, her slipper, at his center head.

Miraculously, the slipper not only hit its mark, it reduced the monster to the size of a normal one-headed mouse.Smaller than even his subjects, the Mouse King fled.The Nutcracker gave chase, and she followed him through a strange portal.On the other side, his wooden head had disappeared, and standing before her was a boy.

This was her favorite part of the dream.The prince appeared to be close to her age, with the build of a young soldier.He had dark brown hair and bewitching blue eyes.She could tell it was him by his red and gold uniform.By a frozen lake surrounded by snow, he fell to one knee and took her hand.

“My Lady, I owe you my life.I am Klaus; what is your name?”

“Clara.”

He took her on a tour of this dream kingdom, ending in a celebration of Klaus’s return and the Mouse King’s defeat.This is where the dream got fuzzy, except for the very end.

“Look, we’re under the mistletoe.”

Her cheeks burned hot as she turned her face upwards, spying a sprig of that infamous plant.

“May I?”

It was a dream anyway, right?With wide eyes and a dry mouth, she could only nod.Hesitantly, Klaus leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.A strange tingle buzzed her mouth, and she closed her eyes.This didn’t feel like a dream.This felt… real.

Then, just like the first time she had this dream, she woke up in her own bed, lips aflame and heart racing.

As the red sun set in the violet sky, Klaus ran through the orchard to his uncle’s workshop.He’d told his parents he was retiring early, only to slip from the palace with them none the wiser.Light still shone in the window of the small wooden building tucked at the edge of the Sugar Plum Palace grounds.Thank the Goddess!He hadn’t missed his window.Bursting through the cinnamon wood door, Klaus entreated the old man.“Uncle Ludwig, youmusttake me with you tonight!”

Still bending over his bag, Klaus’s uncle raised his head, his eye patch hiding his one purple eye.Barren shelves surrounded them, the tables strewn with tools and scraps from last-minute revisions.All the toys were in the gray fabric sack in front of the white-haired man standing before him.

“Good evening, nephew.”Ludwig Drosselmeyer chuckled.“Have you discussed this with your parents?”

“There’s no time!The mice are nearly at our door, and we need help.They wouldn’t understand, anyway.”

Uncle Ludwig rubbed his chin in thought.“Are you sure you don’t just want to seeheragain?”

Klaus sighed in exasperation.Ten years before, he’d snuck into Uncle Ludwig’s sack of toys for the children of the Stahlbaum Christmas party.Upon finding him, he’d begged his uncle to hide his wooden Nutcracker form in the tree, so he could see what it was all about.Then Clara appeared.

Fierce, brave Clara, with her soft brown eyes, and softer lips.When the mice attacked, it had beenherwho had defeated the Mouse King, not he.But his parents had never believed him.He’d brought her to his realm and shown her around, then had his first kiss under the holy mistletoe in the Land of Sweets and Toys.According to the legend in his world, that meant Clara was his true love, that fate chose them for each other.But they could only be together if she came to this realm again.He was stuck in his wooden doll form when he traveled to her world.

He’d been a boy then.But the feelings he had for her, the dreams of seeing her again, were still there.Father and Mother were starting to make noises about finding him a princess, ensuring stability for the Sugar Plum kingdom.

Klaus had yet to tell them who he wanted.

“Which answer results in you taking me with you?”

Uncle Ludwig sighed and opened his pack.“Take care not to get caught by the mice this time.Your father will skin me alive if it happens again.”

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