Written by Liz Frisbie of Richard Montgomery
A laugh rang out over the softly lit meadow, shrill and excited. The thumping of feet grew louder as the girl drew closer to where her brother was hiding.
“Hah! I got you!”
The boy lunged out from the rabbit burrow he had concealed himself in, tackling the girl to the ground in a flurry of arms and legs. Furiously, the girl attempted to kick her brother with her short legs, but he danced playfully out of reach before finally extending a hand to help her to her feet. She gave him a glare that could melt the strongest of stones, but he only laughed, delighted that his ambush had worked. With a huff, she brushed the dirt off of her apron, picked up her wicker basket, and looked for the butterfly she’d been chasing.
“You scared it off,” she groaned. Her brother shrugged.
“Another one will come.” He paused to think for a moment. “Eventually.” The girl sighed mournfully.
“Anyway,” the boy said, trying to get her to think of something else, “what’re you out here for?” The girl sighed again and started marching towards the river where the berries grew.
As the two set to work filling up the basket, the girl noticed something glittering in the riverbed. She dug it out of the sand and washed it in the clear, fresh water. She gasped and motioned frantically for her brother when she saw the stone was perfectly round.
“Hey, come look at this!”
“Look at what? It’s just a rock.” He went back to picking berries, barely glancing at the stone. The girl, somewhat deflated, raced home to show her mother what she had found.
“Mom! Mom, look! Look what I found in the river!” she cried, bursting through the front door. She laid the stone in her mother’s open hand, eyes lighting up as her mother smiled proudly at her.
“Tell me a story about it,” she said, snuggling into her mother’s lap.
Her mother thought for a moment as a butterfly alighted on the windowsill. “Once upon a time, there was a queen. Her kingdom was in danger, and she cared so much about her people that she had to go into battle…”
✽✽✽
I squinted into the wind, the thundering of hooves echoing through my ears. As I looked around, light fractured by the thousand helmets riding with me dazzled my eyes and made my heart heavy. We were riding into the sun—a major disadvantage in battle. How many warriors wouldn’t return home? How many shining eyes would be made dull by the battle ahead? I clenched the reins of my horse even tighter, the metal of my gauntlets cutting into my palm.
Suddenly, a breathtakingly beautiful meadow opened up before us. Its soft grass, covered with fresh dew drops, was ignorant of the blood that would be spilled on it. I signaled for the army to stop. Here, in this dream-like landscape, we would either drive off the invaders or lose our kingdom forever. I took a deep breath to calm myself, clasping my fingers around the pendant of my necklace before drawing my sword and thrusting it into the air.
“CHARGE!” I roared as we surged towards the enemy as one, shaking the ground with our steps.
The constant clang of metal striking metal filled my ears, becoming more deafening as I slowly made my way to the enemy’s leader. I looked around. Half of our forces lay wounded, unable to fight the countless enemy soldiers that still remained. Sadness filled my heart. Their sacrifices would have been in vain, our kingdom lost forever.
Suddenly from my right, I heard a harsh cry. Before I could turn to face my opponent, I was thrown from my saddle, my sword tangling in my armor. Desperately, I kicked out my legs, hoping that they would connect with something solid. When I felt an impact, I shoved myself to my feet with a grunt and grabbed my fallen sword. I swiveled around and around, preparing for a fight, but nobody was there.
“Hello, brave queen,” a sage voice called. I motioned with my sword.
“Show yourself!” I demanded. I felt a tap on my shoulder. Spinning around, I swiped my sword, but the owner of the voice, a robed old man, danced away gracefully.
“Wh—who are you?” I stammered. The man looked like a sorcerer from legends, but he wasn’t threatening at all. In fact, he seemed to radiate understanding and trust. I sheathed my sword and slowly advanced until I was an arm’s away from the man.
“Can you help us win? Can you do magic?” I rushed forward and grasped the man’s surprisingly thin shoulders, shaking them. Unfazed, he pried my fists off gently and placed them back at my sides.
“Yes, I can. But it requires a sacrifice.”
“Anything for my kingdom.” I stood up straight, looking the man in his eyes. Suddenly, he thrust his hand forward, hitting my chest with the strength of a man forty years his junior. With an oof that resonated through my skull, I fell backward into darkness.
When I awoke, I found myself in a forest, the sound of a river nearby. One of my most trusted commanders stood over me.
“Di—did we win? Is the kingdom safe?” I flailed weakly for his hand.
“Yes, my queen. The fight is over. Somehow...” his voice trailed off. “Somehow we drove them back. They’re gone.”
I smiled, placing a hand over my pendant, the cold stone soothing my feverish skin. With one last burst of strength, I yanked the stone from around my neck, holding it in my hand as I waited for the end.
✽✽✽
“And when the queen closed her eyes for the last time, a big blue butterfly,” the girl’s mother motioned towards the windowsill, where the butterfly still sat listening, “just like that one appeared. The end.”
The girl looked confused. “If she was a queen, why didn’t she have a crown?”
“Well,” her mother replied, “her stone was like her crown.”
The girl’s eyes widened as she exclaimed, “But if whoever has the crown is the ruler, and her stone is like a crown…am I the queen now?”
Her mother laughed. “Yes, my dear. Now let’s get you to bed, it took a long time telling that story.”
As the girl laid her head down on her pillow, she clutched the small stone and made a promise to be selfless, kind, and caring—just like the queen.
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