He's my King and I'm his Queen

Chapter 32

Azalea's POV: 

            “This cannot be possible."

            “Never have you wondered of the beginning of the kingdom?"

            “I never knew I needed to."

            “Then perhaps I should tell you now."

He led me into his little hermitage and we sat at his small table as he served me some herbal tea. In his hand was a scroll which he handed to me.

            “This is?"

            “Before King Leonard died, he wrote his last thoughts in a journal entry. The entry was to contain material which the story The Fire Ruby did not possess. It was entrusted to King Leonard’s trusted advisor who also happened to be my ancestor. If anyone was to know of the past, he would come to my family line. This is the entry; I think it is best for you to read it."

I eyed him.

            “Are you sure you want to trust me with such an important artifact?"

            “Should I not entrust the Daughter of Pyrus?"

So he did know who I was.

He pointed to the scroll, motioning me to read it, and so I did.

            After taking in this disease, I can feel my life shorten. As my days are getting shorter, I shall write this for my future descendents who wish to know about their past.

            Ever since I was young, I loved to explore the areas around country. The forests provided me much comfort and adventure. Though I wanted to be an explorer inside, I knew I could never live that dream. My mother and father were farmers and since my eldest brother was a sailor, I knew I would have to take up the family lineage as a farmer. During my twenty second year, a horrible drought hit our country and my family land was decaying. Months passed and food grew scarce.

Taking up the mantle of our family, I was determined to find a way for our family to survive. I only saw new land as an option so I set off on a small fleet with my brother and his sailor mates. That is when we came across a peculiar island. As soon as we stepped onto the bay of the island, the men on the ship wanted to leave right away upon seeing the emptiness of this land. Unlike the other men, I felt there was potential to this island, and like a madman, I ventured this barren land as if looking for gold. The earth was dead as well as the trees. Just as I was about to surrender my venture, I discovered spotted a small cave atop a hill. Just as in the story I wrote, it is no fiction that I found the phoenix- a truly magnificent creature.

After seeing the island’s spectacular metamorphosis, the crew decided to claim this island for our country. We sailed back to the homeland to bring our families and poverty-stricken neighbors to our new home. Believing me to be god-like for magically and mysteriously “reviving the island, Ethe men decreed me as their leader. The island, to me, was much too large to rule alone, so I divided the land into three sections: the coastal region, agricultural region, and the mountainous region. I appointed Pyrdo, my eldest brother who was a sailor, to rule the coastal region. I gave my eldest sister, Cardina, the mountainous region which my brother-in-law ruled. I myself kept the agricultural region and lived with my parents who proudly farmed the new land.

Time passed and the kingdom soon flourished. I married my beautiful bride, Marissa and we lived a peaceful life in our new kingdom. After I grew older and felt my body weaken from age, I decided to visit my old friend in that cave forty years ago. The cave was located in a forest where my sister lived. I found the cave and the Fire ruby. Just like I have before, I summoned the phoenix and we had a short talk.

It is this talk that upped my resolve to write this entry for I could never forget what the phoenix told me that day. The day when the phoenix transformed the island, the fire ruby it resided in became tied to the island. If the Ruby is destroyed, so does the island. I fused my blood with the phoenix that day so only my descendents may be able to summon the creature. Whoever reads this, protect the Ruby. Do not search for it; do not reveal its location, for if anyone tries to destroy it, our beautiful home will be destroyed.

King Leonard

I put down the parchment and faced the old man with disbelief.

            “Is this true?"

            “Your majesty, please…"

            “Do not tell me to calm down!"

My frustration and fright was overwhelming me. I was frightened of the possibility that what the letter conveyed was true. There was no such thing as a mystical bird with flaming wings. There was no such thing as the power to destroy the world- our world. I did not want to believe it. I did not want to question the motives of the rebels with the flaming bird insignia on their armor. I wanted desperately for the hermit to tell me it was not real but a bad dream.

            “I will ask once more. What is written down in this letter, it is true?"

            “I am afraid so."

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