Part 1: The Royals

Chapter 11: The Queen's Children

The Third of June

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I think that it is about time that I interrupt my tale to share with you one of the most popular stories in Spelika. Simply called "The Queen's Children," it takes place long, long ago …

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Back in the days when Spelika was still a young kingdom and magical creatures of every shape and size wandered freely, there ruled a young king and a young queen. The queen was the most beautiful woman in all of the world. Besides her beauty, she was well known for always wearing around her waist six long sashes of different colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple.

Unfortunately for the king and queen, they had difficulties having a child. They sought the help of a fairy who often visited the castle. The fairy only shook her head at the young couple and told them to accept all Spelikans as their children.

"You want us to name someone else's child our heir?" the king asked.

The fairy said no, but did not elaborate. With a quick wave of her hand she disappeared from sight. With no other options left, the king and queen completely devoted themselves to their duties for many months.

Towards the end of the winter season, the queen felt the urge to travel around her kingdom. She gained the permission of her husband and in a few weeks she left The City, the capital of the kingdom of Spelika, and began to head south. She made brief stops in all of the major towns, but kept moving further south for two weeks until she reached the large Spelikan port town of Assispoce. There, the queen was able to look out on the Italico Sea. She could have stood there looking out at the water all day long, but when she heard a child crying from behind her she turned around. The queen approached a little girl who was sitting on the ground, wailing.

"Why are you sad?" the queen softly asked the young child.

Startled, the girl stopped crying and looked up at the beautiful woman in front of her. "I fell down and scraped my knee," the girl said.

The queen picked up the child and asked, "Where are your parents?" The girl pointed in a direction and the queen carried the girl over to where two people were shopping for food. When the two people turned around and saw the queen carrying their daughter the man bowed and the woman curtsied to the best of their abilities. The queen returned the girl to them and the child said to her parents, "The pretty lady is very nice. Can I give her a gift?" The parents nodded and the little girl reached into a basket her mother carried and handed the queen a few oranges.

The queen looked down at the girl and smiled. She took the strawberries from the girl and then said that for being such a little sweet girl she had a gift to give her. The queen untied the purple sash from around her waist, and so that everyone could see, she wrapped it twice around the girl's waist and tied it.

The parents protested, saying that giving their daughter one of the queen's six sashes was too much. The queen only said that as long as the family kept her gift, they could visit her back in The City any time they wanted to. Finally, the parents relented and the queen bid farewell to the young girl.

The queen headed back to The City the next day. Two weeks later, she passed the gate into the capital of Spelika. The people were surprised to see that their queen only had five sashes instead of her usual six. Some people offered her long, purple ribbons, but every time the queen politely declined.

She was still in the outer city, not having reached the ancient gates that surrounded the inner city and the castle, when she heard a child crying. Thinking of the young girl from Assispoce, the queen stopped the carriage and got out. She saw a young boy crying, holding on to a man who must have been his father as a woman who was probably the mother stood behind them.

The queen walked up to the child and the parents saw the queen. Recognizing her from her beauty and sashes, he bowed and she curtsied. The boy stopped yelling and looked at the queen with tears dripping from his eyes.

"Why are you sad?" the queen asked the boy.

"Daddy is leaving!" the boy cried. The father explained that he was leaving to fight as a soldier.

The queen thanked the man for his choice to fight for his kingdom. To the boy she smiled and the boy, liking how the beautiful lady smiled, stopped crying a little. The queen decided to take off her blue sash and wrapped it around the boy. The queen insisted that as long as the family kept the sash, they were welcome to visit the queen in the castle any time they wanted to.

The little boy let go of his father and gave the queen a hug, which she returned before returning to the carriage.

With four sashes left, the queen passed through the gates and into the inner city.

She stopped the carriage when she heard a girl crying. "Why are you sad?" the queen asked the girl, who replied that her beloved pet had died. The queen took off her green sash and gave it to the girl, telling her and her parents (who were next to the girl) the same thing that she had told the other children and their parents.

The little girl wiped the tears off her face and thanked the queen, flashing a toothy smile.

Now wearing only three of her original six sashes, the beautiful queen arrived back home in the castle. She went up to her room first in order to clean up. All refreshed a while later, the queen walked around the castle.

In a hallway, the queen saw a young boy standing next to his mother, who was one of the many people who worked in the castle.

"Momma, I want to help you clean!" the little boy said. The mother shook her head.

The queen thought it was sweet how the boy wanted to help his mother and walked over to the boy. The mother saw the queen, stood up, curtsied and tried to quickly leave, dragging her boy by the arm when the queen told her to stop.

To the boy the queen said, "It is kind that you wish to help your mother. For being such a good boy, you should get a present." The woman tried to shake her head and refuse whatever the queen was going to give her son, but the queen insisted. She untied the yellow sash from around her waist and gave it to the boy. "Keep the gift. That way, if you ever wish to see me personally, you may."

The queen gave the boy a pat of the head and then excused herself.

Down to two sashes, the queen kept walking through the castle until she passed a family of nobles who lived in the inner city. The child was a little girl who looked teary-eyed. The queen approached the family, who all properly greeted their queen, and asked the girl, "Why are you sad?"

"Because Daddy says that we are going on a long trip and I won't see my friend for a long time," the girl said. The queen asked how long they would be gone. "Three whole months!" she told the queen.

The queen told the girl that her friend would be waiting for her when she returned home. The girl brightened up, and the queen, feeling happy and generous, decided to give the girl her orange sash. "Be sure to keep this, and when you get home you can come see me sometime!" the queen told her.

The girl thanked the queen and then she followed her parents away.

The queen, with only her red sash left, kept walking through the castle until she found her husband, the king. The two embraced, having missed the other after such a long time apart. When the king asked his wife what happened to five of her sashes, the queen told him about the children she had given them to. Seeing his wife looking so happy at the mention of the children, the king decided it would be the perfect time to tell his wife about the birth of her best friend's baby.

The wife resolved to visit her friend. She and her husband immediately started walking over to where the friends was staying in the castle. The new mother welcomed the royal couple into the room and showed them her son. The queen congratulated her friend on the beautiful baby and took off her last sash. She held it out to her friend and told her that it was a good luck gift for her friend and the baby boy. The friend graciously accepted the gift and the two friends embraced.

The queen no longer had any pretty sashes to wear, but after seeing the children she had given the sashes away to smile, she was more than content.

A bit more than nine months later, the queen gave birth to a healthy baby girl.

The king and queen decided to have a big festival in honor of their daughter during the last week of the year. The queen was overjoyed to see all of the children she had gifted the sashes to and their families come as special guests. A ball was thrown on the last day of the year to mark the end of the festival. The queen commissioned the making of nice clothes for all of the children and their families to wear to the ball so they could all look like princes and princesses.

Every year from then on, a festival was held on the week of the year with a masquerade ball on the final night. The weeklong festival became famous throughout all of Spelika as the Sash Festival.

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The story also says that the queen had a total of six children, three boys and three girls. Her eldest eventually married her best friend's son. The queen's eldest son went on to become the next king of Spelika.

At the Sash Festival nowadays, everyone wears a particular color sash depending on where they live. There is a children's song that little ones often sing:

All who live in villages and towns

Can wear purple sashes to the festival grounds.

All who live in outer city

Can wear blue sashes to look pretty.

All who live within the inner gates

Can wear green to meet their dates

All who work within the castle

Can wear yellow without hassle.

All who are noble or royal

Can wear orange to show they're loyal

But each royal only chooses one friend

Who to the festival they will send

To dance and have fun at the ball

Wearing red and looking fairest of them all.

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The red ribbons Arvin and Amity were holding out to us were thick enough and long enough for us to tie them around our waists as sashes. They were asking us to go to the ball as the honored guests! If we accepted, we would be two of the five people in all of Spelika wearing the official red sashes.

"Oh gosh, there's no way that we could ever accept them!" I said.

Amity smiled, walking over to me. She took my hand and placed the ribbon in it before I had any idea what she was doing. "It looks like you just did!" she said with a wink.

Mouse dropped the carrot, looking like she was about to cry. "You really want us to go to the Sash Festival ball? This isn't some joke?"

The twins nodded earnestly and Mouse practically leaped forward and tackled the twins in a huge hug. I quickly joined in.

"So I take it that you like them?" Arvin asked, breaking away from our hug.

"Like them? We love them!" Mouse squealed.

Amity laughed. "That's good. Now to buy dresses and masks!"

"Whoa, now. Dresses and masks?" I asked.

Arvin shrugged. Amity nodded enthusiastically and said, "For the masquerade ball! I'll pay for them and you will both look like princesses!"

"No way, you've already done enough," Mouse said and I chipped in, "We'll save up and buy our own masks and dresses."

"Are you sure?" Amity asked with a skeptical look on her face. "Because money isn't a problem for us and I don't want you to cheap out on a night that should be fantastic and perfect."

"Today is the third of June and the ball is on the thirty-first of December," I said logically. "We should have plenty of time."

"Only if you are absolutely sure," Amity said, narrowing her eyes at us.

"Yes!" Mouse and I said at the same time. "We're sure!"

Amity put her hands in the air. "Okay, okay."

"I'll be counting down the days until the ball," Arvin said with a grin. "This year is going to be more interesting with you two there."

"We're going to let you get back to working on your cake," Amity said, giving us hugs. "Put the ribbons up somewhere safe where you won't lose them. I'm sure we'll be seeing you again soon! Ta-ta for now!"

"Thank you!" Mouse and I said as we waved bye to our friends.

"Oh, and Mouse?" Arvin said before he headed out of the bakery.

"Yes?"

"Don't go throwing any more carrots." He winked and then walked out the door.

Author's Note: Many thanks to HauntedApple, Pokemonchen, and Ilikemutemath for reviewing this chapter and to any new reviewers.

Thanks for reading! -Lauren