going to visit the school on Covered Street today, Finney,” she told to the driver of her carriage handing the thin, balding man in a teal uniform two baskets of flowers for the teachers. “Did you bring the box of sweets for the children?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he replied to the Queen as he helped her into the carriage. “Have some good stories to read to the children today?
“Certainly do,” she smiled warmly as she watched Finney take his place at the front of the carriage. Leaving the castle grounds, they rode through the city passing pristine white stone houses, some revealing exquisite beveled glass windows. Exteriors of the houses were decorated with an abundance of bountiful flowering bushes and beautiful sculptured gardens. Continuing along the route there were many houses displaying windows of magnificent designs in colored glass.”
The streets were filled with people walking about and visiting shops. Queen Suri smiled and waved to them as her carriage passed by. She was much beloved by everyone and they eagerly returned her wave and smiled back at their queen.
Myadora turned to Winston; “She knew everyone in the kingdom by name and occasionally would have Finney stop the carriage to talk with some of her subjects. Wishing them a happy birthday if appropriate or acknowledging some other occasion. The Queen was always very thoughtful and caring.”
The scene he had watched vanished from his sight in a puff and was replaced by the Queen reading to a group of children.
As she was finishing the third story for the younger children, a teacher for the older children interrupted, “The children are ready for you on the boquent court.”
“Thank you Merrilina, I’ll be there momentarily,” Queen Suri replied as she handed out sweets to the young children and invited them to watch her play boquent tag with the older children.
Winston watched as the Queen and three children paired up into two teams. Hundreds boquent flies of various colors, with tiny oval wings, flew around in the enclosed court.
Holding her soft open racquet first in her left hand and then shifting it to her right hand Suri passed a purple boquent fly through the hoop, then went for two flies, three flies and when she finally was able to get four flies to pass through racquet at the same time she scored. Then she turned and tagged her partner, a stout dark-haired boy on the shoulder who then took his turn. There was cheering as players scored. One of the flies got tangled in the curly red hair of a young player, her partner a thin short boy ran to her rescue. He carefully released the unharmed fly from the young girl’s hair. Children on both teams giggled with delight to be playing one of their favorite games with their Queen.
“Wow it’s hard to believe she’s a queen, she acts like such a regular person,” Winston commented.
In the blink of an eye the scene changed. Far off in the distance was a figure of an elegant dressed man in a purple jacket, white pants and black boots. He was riding a sable horse on what seemed to be a road in the countryside. As the rider came closer, Winston noticed his shoulder length blonde hair and his full beard. “Wait, stop!” Winston abruptly interrupted. The vision instantaneously froze, resembling a luminous three-dimensional colored photograph. Staring in awe at the sight before him, “That looks like The Ancient One.” Winston stressed in absolute wonderment, “It is The Ancient One, but, but he looks the same as he does now, Myadora how’s that possible?”
“Yes Winston, it is King Shadel,” she replied as she took the young boy’s trembling hand in hers. “The Ancient One is immortal. Part of being immortal is the physical appearance doesn’t change,” she said calming the boy as the vision continued.
Shadel noticed a farmer with his clothes, hands and face covered in mud standing in the field next to a plow. The ox pulling the plow was stuck in a ditch. The king rode towards farmer. “Are you having trouble with your ox, William?” Shadel asked the farmer who looked startled by his visitor.
“Yes, Sir,” the farmer replied, “my ox stumbled into the muddy ditch as I was plowing the field. He seems to be stuck and I haven’t been able to get him out.”
“Perhaps if the two of us try,” Shadel said as he dismounted his horse and removed his jacket. “We’ll put a rope around the ox’s middle and attached it to my horse. He’ll pull as you and I push the animal from the rear.”
“But Sir, the mud,” the farmer said baffled by the thought of his King getting dirty on his account.
“Come on William, a little mud never hurt anyone,” Shadel replied as he jumped into the mud filled ditch. The King sunk into the mud completely covering his black leather boots and part of his white trousers. “There’s a lot of fields to plow so let’s get this ox out of here,” he said as William now joined him in the mud. The two began to push on the ox’s rear as the King’s horse tugged at the front. The ox grunted. As they continued pushing, they both kept slipping down into mud. It took the two men a short time to free the ox. Climbing out of the ditch, the King looked at William and began to laugh at the sight of his companion covered completely in mud.
William looked down at his mud-covered body and then at the King, who was a sight. He put his hand up to his mouth, “Oh my! Sir, umm, your clothes! Your hair! Your beard!” The farmer stood frozen gazing at his mud-covered King laughing and not knowing what to do.
“It’s ok William,” the King said still laughing as he walked over to the farmer and put his arm around the bewildered man’s shoulder. Both men were now laughing.
Winston captivated by the phenomenon he was experiencing, watched the vision change. He now observed a tall, thin man with black hair and a long straight nose seated at a dining room table. Next to him was a woman wearing a gaudy red dress, her black hair piled high atop her head. At the head of the table were Shadel and Suri. As the King lifted his glass to make a toast, Winston inquired, “Who are those other two?”
“That’s the King’s younger brother and sister, Avadon and Angeen, they’re twins,” Myadora answered giving her eager young audience a brief overview of what was coming up. “The King loves them. Unlike Shadel and Suri, the people only tolerated his younger siblings in the kingdom because of their relationship to their rulers. Unfortunately, they were not pleasant. They were arrogant, egotistical and treated people with contempt. There was one wish they knew the King would never grant them. That was to rule the kingdom. Avadon and Angeen were jealous of the way the people adored Shadel and Suri and wanted that adoration for themselves.”
The scene changed and Winston watched Avadon and Angeen walking down a wide path in the forest that led to a clearing.
“When I am king AND, someday, I will be king,” Avadon touted confidently, as he conveyed his habitual arrogant attitude to his twin, “things in Luminatia will change. I will be a powerful king unlike my brother who is weak. He only wants love and peace for his people,” he mocked. “Well, as their new king these people will obey my every command or there will be consequences.”
“And when I’m queen, they will all see how beautiful I am, the women will envy me,” his sister sneered as she pulled a small looking glass from her purse, admiring her image. “The men in the kingdom will beg for my attention. But how is this going to happen? Our brother will never step down.”
“By magic, my sister, by magic!” he snickered. “There’s book hidden somewhere in the tunnels beneath the castle called “Secrets of Dark and Evil”. It’s a book of spells! Magic spells! Our brother hid this book long ago because he claimed he didn’t want evil in the kingdom. I’m sure in reality he wanted make certain no
