Chapter Three

Atta had asked Flik to meet her near the now abandoned throne room. Flik didn't feel particularly great this morning and it seemed that maybe he had overdone the dancing after all. But he was determined to keep his promise no matter how bad he felt. Telling the queen the truth couldn't wait a day longer and Atta couldn't go it alone.

He turned into the next tunnel. Atta was down there with . . . Myrmica! Flik charged over without even thinking. They were both very surprised.

'Hey, stay away from my girl, Myrmica! She's mine!' Flik yelled, clenching his fists.

'Rather over protective, aren't you?' Myrmica replied coldly.

'Flik it's okay; we were just talking,' Atta told him. Flik continued to glare at Myrmica. He didn't trust him one dew drop. 'Flik, really,' Atta giggled. Flik tried to rearrange the expression on his face.

'Shall we go, then?' Flik asked, trying to keep it as casual as possible.

'Yes, I'm ready,' she replied before turning to Myrmica, 'sorry about Flik, Myrmica, he's just a little . . .'

They walked off. Myrmica was furious.

The queen was in the Council Chamber with Cornelius. There were several other groups dotted around including the circus bugs who were discussing ideas for new acts with P.T. Flea. Some of the ants, including Cotton and Carlos, seemed to be interested. They were so deep in conversation that they had not noticed Atta and Flik enter. Atta felt very nervous. She looked at Flik.

'It'll be okay,' Flik assured her, 'I promise.' Atta smiled at him, remembering the promise he had made to her all that time ago.

'But what if she doesn't believe us? Then what do we do?'

'She will, Atta. I know she will.' And Flik did know she would and he also knew that Atta was in for a bit of a shock. Atta shivered. Flik took her hand.

'Mother?' The queen looked up.

'Yes, dear?'

'We, well, I, have something to tell you,' Atta began. Cornelius looked up too.

'Go ahead, Atta,' her mother replied.

'Okay, well you're probably not gonna believe this, but . . .'

'Sounds like that lava's tale,' Cornelius said when they'd finished, 'what's it called again? Hansel & Gretel? Is this some sort of joke? Amadala has enough to think about without . . . Amadala?' The queen had gone quite pale.

'Mother, are you alright?' Atta asked.

'Tell me, dear. This queen ant, what was her name?' Cornelius looked back at the queen with a different expression on his face, sharing her thoughts. Flik braced himself.

'H-Her name was Thistle . . .' Cornelius went pale, the queen got paler. The majority of the other ants in the Council Chamber turned their heads abruptly, a few yelled in panic as if they thought she was right there.

'Atta,' the queen said in shock, 'why didn't you tell me before?'

'I, I didn't think you'd believe me . . .' The queen looked very guilty.

'This is all my fault! Hazel frequently told me to tell you! You were almost killed!'

'Well, if it hadn't been for Flik I would've been. Hang on, you knew about her!'

'Yes,' Amadala admitted.

'We all did,' Cornelius added, 'Including Flik. Probably why he was so suspicious in the first place.'

'But how could you forget about her, Flik?' Atta asked.

'After Hazel's death, it was very difficult for me to access any memories from before it, remember,' Flik explained, 'My memory of Thistle only came back to me when I saw those bodies . . .' Atta shuddered.

'Sorry Atta,' Flik said.

'But I didn't want you to know a maniac was after you!' Amadala told her daughter, 'You would have had such dreadful nightmares! Your nightmares! They were about . . .' Atta nodded.

'But what do you mean 'a maniac was after me'? I don't understand.' Her mother sighed.

'Atta, it's time you knew the truth . . .'

The queen and Cornelius included nearly every detail. Flik noticed they didn't tell her that Thistle was actually her godmother but they probably thought she'd had enough shock for one day.

' . . . And she would do anything to get rid of me?'

'She's obsessed with you, Princess,' Cornelius told her, 'she would be happy to kill herself as long as she was killing you at the same time. Surprising you didn't notice . . .'

'I, I did notice but I just thought she wanted . . . and the fact I was a queen. I didn't realize it was anything personal . . . And she tried two times before?'

'Yes,' the queen replied, 'Hazel was the only ant who seemed to be a real match for her.'

'Flik managed quite well!' Atta retorted.

'To tell you the truth,' Flik said, 'I think Hazel trained me for the situation, like he gave you training for stamina, Atta.'

'And being obsessed with you was probably very tiring . . .' Cornelius added. Atta scowled. Flik seized his chance.

'Some of Thistle's children are still here though!' Flik began hurriedly, 'Myrmica-,'

'Yes, yes, yes. But none of them seem to be much trouble.' the queen said.

'But . . .' Flik interrupted.

'They're Cornelius's children too you know. You know Carlos, he's not nasty. And I think we would've noticed by now if any of them were insane.' she continued.

'Yes, Carlos is nice.' Atta replied. Flik sighed.

'Do you know what surprises me?' said Cornelius, 'That Thistle hasn't tried anything more recently.'

'Yes,' the queen answered, 'And quite worrying. Thistle is not just going to give up.'

'Unless she's dead,' Cornelius said, 'that's the only reason for her not to be planning something.' Atta was looking increasingly fearful. Flik put an arm around her.

'I'll keep you safe, Atta. Don't worry.' Flik whispered to her.

'Nothing will be allowed to happen to you, dear.' the queen told her, seeing her daughter's fear.

'What I want to know is,' Cornelius said, 'is how your experience with Thistle is so similar to that Hansel & Gretel story.'

'What is this story anyway?' the queen asked Cornelius.

'A boy and a girl get lost, a queen offers them shelter but she's actually a cannibal . . .'

'This is impossible! How can it be!' the queen exclaimed, 'It's almost exactly . . !'

'It was my doing,' Atta admitted, 'I told Petal and some other kids who gathered to listen but I told it like a made up story. I took the names from a small memorial we saw; they were the first names I thought of at the time and now that I think about it, it's pretty ironic really . . .'

'Why did you tell Petal and those other kids though?' her mother asked.

'I, I don't know, I guess, I guess I just wanted to get it off my chest without anyone knowing it had happened. It didn't really work though. I think Petal realized ages ago . . !'

'It's okay, dear. It's okay . . .' the queen replied.

'I-I-I d-didn't r-realize how much hold this thing had on me! It's affected everything! I-I mean I-I've always been a panicker but . . .' Atta ended up sobbing on Flik's shoulder with her mother trying to calm her down.

Flik's thoughts flittered back to the event and he could now see that the effects on Atta had been inevitable from the beginning. He couldn't help blaming himself; Atta had thought it could be dangerous. It seemed like it was hours that he stood there with the distressed princess in his arms.

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