**(2nd Place in The Chillin' Awards General Fiction Category)**
Hero's don't have to come in shining armour. They don't have to come with gleaming swords, or muscular sidekicks. They also don't have to be fearless and brave, although it helps to be...
"Topaz? Topaz, what's going on?" Calls Matt, getting up from our crouched position on the floor. "One of King Seth's men," he answers, still driving the lone unicorn as fast as possible across the wide wooden pathways. No sooner does he say that, the wagon stops infront of a large building and Matt and I are escorted into the palace by two younger looking fairy men wearing camo. Through all the rushing, I don't get a good glimpse of what the palace looks like, but I guess I'll see it soon enough. Maybe. Hopefully
Anyways, I do see that we enter through a set of wooden double doors, up a staircase and into a small-ish waiting room clad with soft sofas and gleaming lights. Knock, knock. The taller of the two similar looking fairy men raps on the door standing before us and almost instantly it is opened by a tall figure clothed in a flowing pink gown. "Mathilda!" She exclaims, "Come in, come in. I've been expecting you for days now! Here, sit," she insists. We enter the room and sit on the comfy chairs infront of us. "Jasper, Jaicinth, that'll be all, now. Thank you for your help," and with that, the two fairy men bow and exit to leave us with some privacy. "I'm Queen Pearl, by the way," says the lady, facing me. "But you and Mathilda call me just Pearl. None of that 'Your Majesty' stuff. Queen's orders," she states firmly.
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❇ Queen Pearl❇
"Pearl. Let's get down to business here. King Seth - is or is he not trying to take over Amador and the Amadi folk?" Questions Matt, hands on her knees and sitting on the edge of her seat. Pearl sighs, looks out the crescent shaped window, then back at Mathilda. "Unfortunately, yes. I see you already got a few clues of that. Topaz has informed me about the little incident on the way here. For the past week, all the Amadi folk have been advised to stay in their homes as much as possible, for we know that Seth's men are on the move." She takes a deep breath, then continues, sometimes looking at me, other times Mathilda. "Seth has tried a few sly actions in the last month, but none have quite succeeded," a sudden shadow of distain crosses her pure face. "But he has succeeded in removing the Starfleur from it's place, as well as crushing it. It truly is a miracle that you two even made it here!"
"Eh hem...uh,what is the Starfleur may I ask?" I question, waiting for either Pearl or Mathilda to respond. "The Starfleur is a rare species of flower that grows only in the North Mountains of Amador. It is essentially what keeps the Door in the Tree working properly. With the Starfleur gone, the Door is unpredictable; it could close at any time and not reopen. If you are traveling through the Tree at that time, you could get...stuck," explains Pearl. "But it does more than just that. As long as the Starfleur is on it's pedestal, our army maintains their strength, but if it is absent, as it is now, they are almost powerless." The dismal sound in her voice almost makes my heart break, even though I barely understand what she's evening speaking about. Wait, back up a bit....did Pearl say that, gulp, we could be stuck here? Breathe in, breathe out, in, out. No hyperventilating here. No, not here.
