Status Updates From The Enchanted Kingdom (Choo...

Ah...it turns out there's no way to unearth buried treasure at the Standing Stones, no matter where you go in this book.

Note to self: nothing turns out in your favor once Robin Goodfellow appears on the scene.

Leave it to Robin Goodfellow to mar my treasure hunt even though I turned him down!

I'll poke around after the treasure during daytime.

This illustration of the library is phenomenal in every respect. Judith Mitchell has outdone herself again.

The other choice just leads me back to the encounter with the Fair Folk among the Standing Stones at night, so let's check out the library and see if there's more information on a hidden treasure.

Let's go all the way back and ask Betsy Turner at her sweetshop about the Fair Folk in this area.

I see. This just loops around to the Aster story path.

Instead of accompanying the queen to her castle, let's go with the king to his woods.

Not a bad life, as leader of our underground rebel movement. Of course, as we know from the previous ending, the longer I stay in Elfland the older I'll be should I ever find a way home.

Wow. Were we right to seek freedom if it meant most of our rebels would instantly wither and die from old age? We had no way of knowing that would happen, of course, and I stick to my assertion that death is better than a lifetime of slavery in the silver mines.

Tempting as it is to move into a pleasant, light-filled underground cavern with soothing sounds and animal life, I need to get back to the real world. And so I press on searching for a door that leads me home.

An interesting dilemma this ending raises. If you're in a horrible situation, is it better to anesthetize yourself against caring and feeling the horror, or to maintain sharpened senses so you can seek a way out, even if doing so destroys you? Ultimately I wasn't given a choice here.

I guess I'll run from my attacker.

I refuse to medicate myself to the reality of my crisis as a laborer in the silver mines. I won't drink the Brew, so I can focus on getting free...even if it costs my life.

Yet another immersive double-page illustration. Superb.

Let's see if any avenue to reclamation exists within the silver mines.

Wow! This illustration of you morphing into a guard monster is more horrifying than usual for this series. Judith Mitchell's work in this book is some of the finest in all of classic Choose Your Own Adventure.

Neither choice is propitious, but I need to stay close enough to consult with Morgan the Harper if I can get away.

I shall flatter the queen and conceal the nature of my conversation with Morgan the Harper.

I knew better than to doubt Morgan the Harper's solemn word, of course, but I had to find out what happened if I went along with Janet's plan.

Go Janet! She stuck to her guns and trusted your plan, and now you're free from the queen of Elfland and back in your own world.

What a piece of artwork here, of Janet holding you firm while the queen lights your entire body on fire.

No, I'm going to accept Morgan the Harper's prescription for how to save my life. After all, he DID try to warn me from choosing the white horse.

I'm relieved Morgan the Harper spared me a gruesome fate, but I wish the story continued long enough to offer an opportunity to make it home.

Morgan the Harper is the only resident of Elfland who so far appears to be on my side. I'll place my faith in him and decline the horse the queen is offering.

Let's dive back into the pool and see if I can retrieve my new Fair Folk belongings before going home.

Huh. Did Janet the farm girl and I really choose to return forever to Elfland? That's not what I had in mind when I chose to stay and tell her my story.

That illustration of the sprawling farm receding into the distance is bangarang. Judith Mitchell had it going on in this book.

It's a tough one, but I'm going to come clean and admit to the queen that I seek passage home. Flattery might work, but I have to take a chance one way or the other.