The fairy king and queen’s castle. Very few ever see it. I wish I could have gone there without the weight of my friend's possible death on my shoulders, I would have appreciated it more. Although, sometimes, we managed to forget the nature of our errand. It is built completely underwater. Through enormous glass windows you can watch the fish, and sometimes even mermaids swim by. Christmas said I had been brought in unconscious a day ago with bites on my shoulder and ankle. I had been well looked after, it seemed, since my wounds appeared practically healed.
Christmas and I were in different rooms and given access to certain areas. A lady who said she was the housekeeper showed us which doors we could open and which ones we couldn't. We could use our own suite of rooms, the library, and the conservatory among others, but we were forbidden to pass through the door at the end of the main hall unless given express permission. She said that door led to the king and queen’s rooms, and if we opened the door, an alarm would go off. She also said I shouldn't use my left leg too much, or I would strain it, since that was the leg the mermaid had attacked. We weren't sure what we should do after she left. We were spoiled for choice, and in this kind of situation, whatever you choose will feel like the worst option, unless you convince yourself otherwise. We chose the library. After reading aloud to each other for an hour, Christmas touched my arm and said,
“Tag!”
Of course I had to tag her back, but by now she was out of my reach. I leapt from my seat on the floor and ran after her.
We played tag in the library, the art room, the conservatory, everywhere.
Eventually we had to stop, since my shoulder and leg were beginning to hurt. We sat down in the library again to discover it had been an hour and a half by the clock. We decided we were starving and returned to our rooms to hunt for food. The results of this search were a small bowl of chocolate almonds on one of the tables, a small box of shortbread in one of the kitchen cupboards and a bottle of sparkling grape juice in the tiny fridge. Of course the things you’d find in a motel were there too; tea bags, sachets of sugar, coffee, salt and hot chocolate, but they don’t count as food. Once we had finished our quest for nourishment, we treated our limited supplies as if they were our last rations, or at least for the first few minutes. After you’ve eaten one almond, it’s difficult not to eat another. The same can’t be said for shortbread. Soon there were only ten almonds left.
“We should probably stop.” said Christmas, reluctantly.
“Well…” I surveyed the remaining almonds. She was probably right. “Yeah.” I agreed.
“We just managed to stay alive with ten chocolate almonds and one bottle of fizzy between us!” We had found a torch and a wardrobe to hide in until our food came.
“We opened the bottle with great care, so as not to spill it on the clean white carpet we found in this cave.” Christmas said, pretending to remove the lid from the bottle. “But, as one of us looked up, she saw behind her partner… a monster!”
“Oh no!” I turned quickly to look behind me. Before I could turn back, Christmas threw a blanket at me.
“Stunned by the monster, he fell to the floor and died!” I said, falling over carefully.
“And I, being the only one left, will get to lunch first!” Christmas leapt up and sped out of the wardrobe to the sitting room, with me close behind her.
It was weird, that in all the time we spent there, we didn’t think of Star.
We had to come up with a plan to secure the slipper, but we couldn't get through the door to the royal rooms.
“Well, what are our options?” Christmas asked, as we sat in our sitting room after lunch, overlooking the floor of the lake.
“We have access to all these rooms,” I said, pointing to the map we had been given, “and we don't know how to leave. We are going to see the king and queen tomorrow, maybe we could ask to be shown around and take it then.”
Christmas thought for a minute.
“Well, we could just ask them for it.”
I wasn't sure how to answer this, so I remained silent.
The next morning, we were led into the throne room, through the forbidden door. Shortly after, we were led back through it, stunned and confused.
“Well, that was unexpected,” Christmas remarked.
We put the slipper on the kitchen table and looked at it. The queen had just given it to us, saying it was a tradition for her to present visitors with her bedroom slippers. That couldn't be right. People don't do that. That was just weird. It must be a trick, but how would we know?
They had said we could stay until my leg was better, but now we wanted to get home as soon as possible. Who knew what might be happening to Jamal while we wasted our time here.
As soon as we were allowed out we felt better. A servant took us to the edge of the lake through a tunnel, which led up a steep set of dimly lit steps and into a small cave, where he left us. From there we found our own way out into the open, where we were met by Star, patiently waiting for us. We had a joyful reunion, and continued on our way.
Comment if you liked it. Expect more next Tuesday
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