The Nutcracker's Queen

Chapter 5

I clap along with everyone else. Then Sugar Plum reached out and touched both mine and Clara's arms. I turned towards Phillip and he nodded, rising and helping me up before we followed Clara and Sugar Plum. "Dear Queen Marie kept Mother Ginger in line but now that she's gone, we're utterly defenseless." Sugar Plum half explains, half complains as she leads us down into a basement room in the castle. 

But it wasn't really a basement as it had large cogs that were churning the water that formed the waterfalls. "You see, we were once lifeless toys, mere playthings for children. Then your mother arrived and changed everything." She explained to Clara as I looked around the room that would soon be mine...as soon as I got my crown back from Mother Ginger and her hooligans. Phillip stayed close to me while he allowed Clara to stray with Sugar Plum.

"Captain, even if you are watching me, Sugar Plum does not leave your sight. Do you understand?" I ask him, looking up at his confused face. Then it hardens and he nods. Of course, there would be certain limitations. "Only when she is around me, do you understand?" I asked him again. "Yes, Your Majesty." He whispers softly before lifting my hand to press a kiss to it. I blush before I rush to see what Clara and Sugar Plum are up to.

They were standing by what almost looked like a telescope, but Sugar Plum called it 'The Engine'. It was the thing that gave everything in the Four Realms life. "This is my mother's invention?" Clara questions her. Sugar Plum nods before explaining that The Engine was the thing that made everything real, giving them feelings just like myself and Clara. "Did you come from the Engine?" I whisper to Phillip.

He nods a little, amused by my child-like questioning. "Everything in the realms seems to have been born from this, but I do have a mother and father like you." He jokes and my face falls a little and I look away. I didn't want to bring up my mother and father because if I did, I was afraid that I was going to start crying. Sugar Plum was still steaming forward, listing the emotions they could feel because of The Engine. 

Happiness, sadness, anger, love. Fear. "So I suppose Mother Ginger can feel love too." I suggest walking over to a box and opening it to find that it was full of Tin Soldiers. Sugar Plum ignores my suggestion though Clara looks over at me, looking slightly upset that I was defending the woman who seemed to be destroying everything her Mother built. But I knew better. Marie wouldn't have left this place if someone irrational was a regent.

If Mother Ginger truly was dangerous, then Marie would not have let this go on. I knew she had a zero tolerance for bullies and people like them. So, why was Sugar Plum lying to us? "There's plenty of that going around." Phillip says softly and I shake my head as I pick up one of the Tin Soldiers. "You're right, sweet Captian." Sugar Plum says to him before she looks over at me. She had to be telling me something important.

"Our spies tell us that Mother Ginger is on a warpath, gathering all her forces." She informs me as Phillip wanders up to investigate The Engine. "The Engine is the only way that we can build an army to defend ourselves." She says, taking the Tin Soldier from my fingers before leading me toward the Engine's main access panel as she tells Clara that if we can't get the Engine to work again then all is lost for the rest of the realms.

All it required was a key. I let Clara go ahead while I stayed back, taking the Tin Soldier back from Clara. They had searched all the keys in the kingdom but it appears that Marie was smart and took the key with her. In an instant, I knew that I had to go back and get Mother Ginger's side of the story because Marie would not have taken a key that would allow the rest of the realms to defend themselves without good reason.

Unfortunately, an awful little mouse took the key that Clara needed not only for her Christmas present from her mother, but to activate The Engine as well. "Mouserinks. He's diabolical." Phillip says to us as he too begins looking through the boxes upon boxes of Tin Soldiers that surround The Engine. "But that means, Mother Ginger has it. Oh, pooh." Sugar Plum exclaims before Clara suggests we go and get the Key back. 

This meant that I needed to get out of the palace and to Mother Ginger before morning and back again. Clara wanted to go into the Fourth Realm and bring it back. I had to end this quickly. I 'accidentally' knocked over a box of Soldiers and gave an apologetic smile. "I'm clumsy when I'm tired." I joke as I place one hand on my stomach and the other on my forehead. Phillip takes the arm that was attached to my stomach and allowed me to lean on him.

"We will continue this discussion in the morning." I tell both Clara and Sugar Plum, who both go to object. "And I will not hear any further war plans tonight." I told them before I allowed Phillip to lead me back upstairs to bed. I waited until there were only a few lights lit in the first realm before I got out of bed. I had dressed in pants and a loose shirt the minute Phillip left me. I pulled on some boots and shoved my hair into a ponytail. 

I reached the entrance to the first realm after I picked up Darla from the stable and rode her to the door to the first realm. "I cannot sleep, I'm going for a ride." I tell the guards who nod and open the gate to the first realm for me. I smile and pull a hooded cloak around my shoulders. I took off giving Darla a nudge and just before I arrived at the entrance to the First Realm, I took a turn to head towards the Fourth. 

I got five minutes in before I tied Darla to a tree. "I'll be back girl, I promise." I whisper to her before giving her an apple. While she was munching on that, I disappeared into the Land of Amusements. "Mouserinks." I call in a whisper I move slowly so as to not step on him. "Mouserinks." I call again. I jump at a sudden squeak and I smile at the little mouse. "Mouserinks?" I question and he squeaks again.

I smile at him before holding out my hands to him. He jumped into my palms and I smile. "Take me to Mother Ginger." I tell him and he nods, jumping from my hands to lead the way. I rush after him until we reach the dark Big-Top dress of the oversized Mother Ginger machine. I duck inside and look around. It smelled of Cinnamon and nutmeg which made me stop and close my eyes. I sighed a little as I heard footsteps. I look up to see her standing there.

I cover my mouth as I stared at her. Her curly ginger-coloured hair looked just like my own locks when curtain lights hit them. Her makeup was immaculate and her clothes befit the status of the Regent for the land of Amusements. But her face...One large, jagged crack raked its way down the right side of her face like the kind porcelain dolls would get when cracked or chipped. A smaller one ran from the left side of her forehead to her left eyebrow.

"My darling...is that you, (y/n)?" She whispers not believing it. "Yes, Mum. It's me." I smile at her.