The Southern War

The Life of Queen Ilo and Her Sister

No one really ever knew much about Daisy Janet's parents or why they disappeared so suddenly one night. But Daisy didn't care (oh shock horror!); she was twenty and quite capable of taking care of herself. At twenty five she married a young man named Rowan Julian who lived in Ilon, a town south of the south river.

When they had been married only a year they got a baby from the baby plant and named him Iro.  When he was four they got another baby and named her Illus. Iro was very excited to have a sister and taught her everything he knew and they became very close friends. When Illus was one and Iro was five, their parents got twins and named them Ilo and Laurel. Thirteen years later the old queen Florinda died in mysterious circumstances, leaving the territory to her daughter Rose, who was only twenty and not very good at ruling.  (She had actually killed her mother and had sympathies with the immortals). Rose then made the worst decision ever, declaring friendship with the immortals which was just the excuse they were waiting for to attack. When they started marching over the mountains to Centerton Queen Rose ran away to Across The Border. Everyone was of course shocked but there was nothing they could do to get her back so they opted for self defence. The battle was soon raging to the west of the Eiderdown hills and calls were being sent out for more troops. Iro went but was soon killed on a raid. Illus was stunned and wouldn't talk to anyone outside the family for a month. Even getting a new little sister named Iris didn't cheer her up much. Neither did the news that Ilo had been made part of the council. One day her parents came into her room and told her that they were going away to “help the war effort” and she was not to expect them back for a while. They would leave on the next plane for Curo Village, a small town just west of the Eiderdown hills on the north shore of the south river.

The war had now been going for almost a year and Illus was fifteen.  She had never been apart from both her parents for very long.  Her aunt Jonquil was coming up from Rock Island but the flight was delayed an hour because of contrary winds, as was the flight to Curo Village. As a result the Julians' flight was blown off course then shot down by immortal troops over the Eiderdown hills. All survivors were taken prisoner. The news reached those in Ilon at 1^st 12:45 when most were still in bed. This was terrible news which wasn't helped by the fact that nearly a week afterward the immortals began an attack on the city, during which Laurel and some of his friends were killed. Ilo was so sad she wouldn't leave her bedroom for a week. But she had to move eventually because everyone was moving down to the caves through an underground tunnel. The next step was to get word to Centerton and urge Queen Rose to act, as their communications had been knocked out. Illus volunteered to go to Across The Border with a team of helpers and Ilo was chosen as a representative of the Ilon council to go to Centerton with a guard of three people. They set out three days later and reached the cities in four days, without incident. Illus was chosen to speak to the queen who was in her winter castle. However, they had to wait for a week as the queen was not in the mood for seeing people. The day before Illus went to the castle she and her team received the news that Ilo had been given control of the southern continent and was just one step away from being made queen. Illus was very proud of her sister.

The Queen was sitting on her throne with a very sour expression on her face when Illus entered the room and her expression only grew worse throughout the conversation which followed. 

“Your majesty.” Illus bowed, the Queen nodded, “My name is Illus Julian. I have come to speak to you.” The Queen raised her eyebrows, 

“What do you wish to speak to me about?” 

“About the war, the war which you brought about. You should never have befriended the immortals, you should know how they feel about that sort of thing. You ran away when you should have stayed to encourage your subjects. The people want to make my sister Queen.” 

“Is she the girl who I continually see on the television who cannot talk in a coherent manner?” Queen Rose received a hard slap on her cheek from Illus who had fired up at this speech and was unable to contain her anger any longer. Ilo did stammer but not that much and Illus was very sensitive to criticism of her relations. The Queen slapped her back. 

“So this is your answer?” Illus almost shouted.

“Yes!” 

“Alright then!” She stomped out of the palace. 

The next week the city heard that Ilo had been made Queen. The war carried on in favor of the immortals for two months, but at the beginning of the third month the tide began to turn and they were driven back. To everyone's surprise the immortals didn't seem to mind being driven back very much and when the war was over there was not a sound from them about being beaten. The fairies even began to hope that the old days were returning when the only fighting between the two races had been done with pillows and cushions. But they had no idea what horrors were in store.

On the third day after the war had ended, the prisoners were returned to their families, including Rowan and Daisy Julian. The reunion was a very joyful one but Ilo couldn't be there as she was busy being the Queen. Queen Rose had mysteriously disappeared. Most people, when questioned, said that they didn't know and didn't really care either. Ilo remained Queen for three more years and was then replaced by Queen Daffodil who reigned for many years afterward. When Daffodil was made Queen, Ilo got a job looking after children and plants.  Illus became a space pilot and helped to fly the great big exploration ships.  When little sister Iris was old enough she followed her sister and assisted in testing evacuation ships to see if they were fit to journey in space.  Rowan and Daisy bought a farm and lived a quiet life there.

THE END