I’m still playing catch-up both on writing and on uploading what I’ve written. Here the story continues.
Train Across the Kingdom of Toys
After a few days journey, the troupe reached the edge of the toy kingdom. A wood and metal railroad track followed the border, marking the toy king’s territory. An engine chugged by with two cars in tow. The train stopped before them.
The engineer stepped out from under the engine roof. He was a wooden toy with a long, round nose, and a white mustache which hid his mouth. He wore a blue cloth hat over his bald, round head, and he wore blue pinstripe overalls. “Hello, travelers,” he said as he stepped down to the ground. “You look weary. Please, join me. I’m going into the border town next.”
The troupe thanked the engineer for his offer, and they joined him on the train. The train continued chugging along the track.
“It’s not every day you see a group of faeries with a Nutcracker Guard escort,” the engineer said. “You must be honored guests of the toy king himself.”
“I sure hope so,” Shannel said. “I wouldn’t mind spending time with the toy king and learning about his magic. Is it true all toys are given life through the king’s magic?”
“It most certainly is,” the engineer said. “Even this train moves on the king’s power. You’re interested in magic, aren’t you, child?”
“Mm-hm. My idol is the Keeper of Worlds, but I’ve always admired what the toy king can do. When we first met Prince here, I was a bit let down since he doesn’t seem to be all together, if you know what I mean, but seeing you’s rekindled my faith in the toy king’s magic. No offense to you,” she said, looking over at Prince. “It’s just, I had such high expectations of the toy king’s magic, that’s all.” She turned back to the engineer. “But you, you I can see the king’s magic in. There’s a vibrancy. There’s life.”
“I actually wanted to ask about that,” Lilia said. “Like Shannel said, so offense to Prince, but he never talks, and he’s always staring at nowhere. We were starting to think all toys were like that.”
“Could it be because he was away from the toy kingdom?” Limlim asked. “In this one story I wrote, a sorcerer gets his power from a magical stone, but the stone cannot be moved. The farther he or his spells move from the stone, the weaker the power is. Is it the same with toys if they get too far from the king?”
“I don’t rightly know,” the engineer said. “Toys never have any reason to leave toy kingdom. I’ve run this border train for more than 40 of your longs and shorts, and I haven’t once in my life stepped across the border. Never had the inclination to, I suppose.”
While the others talked, Payan had been sitting on the back car, surveying the land. Vast stretches of grassy hills, and few trees barely dotting the land. She wondered if it would be difficult to find a comfortable tree to sleep in at night. In the sky above, there wasn’t a cloud in sight.
The train arrived at the town nearest the border. The troupe thanked the engineer, and they left the train.
Toy Town
The houses of the town contrasted compared with the brick and stone houses of the pixies. Toys used wooden blocks to form the build of their homes, and drawn and colored on cardboard cutouts for the exteriors. No two homes looked alike.
In the town’s marketplace, the toy people moving about were even more varied than their houses. Some were made of wood, others of sewn cloth. There were tall toy people and short toy people, round toy people and square toy people. One little toy boy held tight to a string, and on the other end, a pet toy duck, made of wood, followed after.
“It’s splendiferous,” Shannel said, stepping into the crowd. She raised her arms up into the air. “So much magic, bringing life to all kinds of objects. The toy king must be a powerful witch.” She floated back to the others. “Maybe, do you think, maybe the king will be so happy to have Prince safely back home, maybe he’ll teach me a little of his magic?”
“Anything’s possible,” Adelina said. She walked over to the crowd. “Pardon me, can any of you tell me where to find the toy king’s castle?” The toys continued about their business, paying no attention to Adelina.
“Talk about rude,” Shannel said.
“Maybe they don’t understand us,” Payan suggested.
“But the guy on the train understood us just fine,” Shannel said.
“That could be why he runs the train,” Lilia said. “He probably knows the languages of bordering countries. Didn’t you notice how he used a lot of pixy words, but no faery words?”
Adelina thought back. “Now that you mention it, he did speak like a pixy would. I’m so used to hearing Noemi, I didn’t even consider it. We should have asked him where the castle is when we had the chance. Wait, what am I saying? We have Prince with us.”
Prince stood near the group, staring toward them.
“You can speak with them, right?” Adelina asked. She motioned her question, but Prince continued to stare. “If Meri were here, she’d probably know how to communicate.”
“If everyone else here talks as much as Prince,” Shannel said, “we’ll never get anywhere. Hey, look over there!” Shannel pointed toward the far edge of the marketplace.
Adelina and the others turned to look. They could barely see a nutcracker soldier across the way.
“He’s a royal guard,” Adelina said. “Just like Prince. This should be easy. Let’s go.” Adelina took Prince by the hand and led him through the crowd. The others flew over the crowd and met with her in front of the guard.
“Can I help you?” the nutcracker asked in a gruff voice as the faeries and Prince gathered before him.
“We’ve brought back a lost guard,” Adelina told him, presenting Prince.
“A lost what?” the guard said, straightening up, his shoulders lining up flat. “Members of the Nutcracker Guard do not get lost. We find those who are lost. I don’t know who your friend here is, but he most certainly is not a member of the Guard. Look at his uniform. It’s all wrong. It looks like a design the rat king himself thought up. If anyone lost this fellow, it was a rat.”
The guard’s uniform did appear more finely crafted, with his uniform carefully sewn. A silver medallion adorned his uniform.
“Excuse me,” Lilia said, “but what do rats have to do with toy soldiers?”
“This is no toy soldier of the toy kingdom,” the guard said. “He’s a product of rat magic. He’s someone who’s been turned into a toy. Take him to the royal rat family, and they can remove the spell, although that’s unlikely if they’re the ones who cast it on him in the first place. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m on duty. I’m guarding this town from rats. They like to cross the border and cause trouble in these border towns.”
The troupe headed outside of town.
“Is it true?” Limlim asked Prince. “Are you really a person turned into a toy? It’s like a fantasy story. I should use it in one of our ballets.” Prince didn’t respond.
“Doesn’t it explain everything?” Shannel said. “He doesn’t know any of our languages. He can’t even speak to the toys. He must have come from another kingdom, and he was put under a spell.”
“When I first met Prince,” Adelina said, “he was being attacked by a couple of rats. They were dressed like guards. We can take Prince to see the rat king, but what if he doesn’t remove the spell?”
“We won’t know until we get him there,” Lilia said. “It can’t hurt to try, and nothing will happen if we don’t try.”
“What about Noemi and Meri?” Payan asked.
“No problem,” Shannel said. “Lilia and I’ll go back and let them know where the troupe’s headed.”
“I think I’ll stick around here a while longer,” Limlim said. “I want to take in more of the atmosphere. I have a lot of ideas I need to write down.
“Then it’s settled,” Adelina said. “Payan, Prince, and I will cross the border to the rat kingdom first thing in the morning, and you two will head back to get Noemi and Meri. You can meet up with Limlim here, then meet us at whichever town is closest to the rat castle.”
Kingdom of Rats
Adelina, Payan, and Prince crossed the border from the toy kingdom to the rat kingdom. Grassy fields became barren lots, dirt and brush stretching far across the land. The sun’s heat beat down on the dusty ground.
“It certainly isn’t the most inviting place,” Adelina said. “I’ll be right back.” She lifted into the air, looked around, then returned. “The castle and a town are that way.”
“Will we be safe?” Payan asked. “I’ve only heard bad stories about rats.”
“Back in the pixy castle town, there was a girl who spoke poorly of faeries. Let’s not pre-judge people we haven’t even met.”
“Sorry. I just remember all the stories my mother would tell me.”
“They’re just stories. Right, Prince?”
Prince didn’t react. His gaze remained fixed in the direction Adelina had pointed out.
The three continued across the vast expanse of dirt. The only plant life they passed was thorny and often dried-out tangles of weed. From time to time, the fairies flew to relieve their feet from walking on the hot, dry ground, until the sun’s heavy rays weighed them back down.
Upon reaching town, the faeries looked for shade to rest in, but the sun had become positioned straight up above. An older rat stepped out of her broken down house. Seeing the tired group, she spoke to them in a language the faeries didn’t understand, and then she motioned with her gray-furred arms for the them to enter her home.
Adelina started to follow the old woman, but she noticed Payan’s hesitation. “They’re just stories,” Adelina told her. “Stories mothers tell their children to make sure they won’t be naughty. That’s all. Prince and I will be beside you the whole time.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.” Adelina took Payan’s hand. “Let’s go inside.”
The house looked more run-down inside than it did outside. There was a stack of hay high enough to sit on, and near that a rock with a flat surface with random small items on top. The rat motioned for the trio to sit in the hay, and she stepped into another room.
“Did you hear her outside?” Payan said. “Her language isn’t like anything I’ve heard before. Do you think Meri would understand her?”
“She may. When the others get here, we’ll stop by with Meri and thank the lady for her kindness.”
The rat returned, carrying a tray with a filled pitcher and four glasses. She set a glass before each of her guests, and herself. She poured the drink into each cup.
Adelina and Payan looked at the drink in their glasses. Pink. Cloudy. Specks floating through it. Payan gave Adelina a hesitate, uncomfortable stare. Prince stared across the room. The old woman motioned for the girls to drink. She lifted her glass to her mouth and took a sip, showing its safety.
Taking a deep breath, Payan reached down and wrapped her fingers around her glass. “I am thirsty… It’s so hot out.” She placed the warm glass against her dry lips, lifted the end, and started drinking. She didn’t notice the texture or flavor, she only kept drinking. The glass emptied, and she set it back down. “It has a funny after-taste,” Payan said, then she fell over, asleep.
“Payan?” Adelina nudged her. “Are you all right?” She reached over for her glass. Lifting it to her nose, she sniffed. Adelina dipped a finger into the drink, then into her mouth, tasting the drink. “Is this what I think it is?” She slammed the glass onto the table, drink spilling out, then she stood, looking down at the old woman sitting across from her. “You used sleeping berries in this drink! That’s what this cloudy stuff is mixed in.”
The rat backed away, scurrying on her side. She said something unintelligible to Adelina.
Adelina picked Payan up in her arms. “Prince, we’re leaving.”
“I don’t think so,” a rat soldier said from the doorway. He bowed to the woman, said something to her, then turned his gaze to Prince. “It’s true. A false toy in the rat kingdom. The king will want to see you.” He gave an order, and a few more rat soldiers entered the house. Two took hold of Prince. Another grabbed Adelina while a soldier took Payan from her arms.
Prince started to struggle in the rats’ grips. He pushed one rat back, then pushed the other to the ground. As the head soldier gave a command, Prince took the wood sword from the belt of the soldier holding Adelina. The soldier let go of Adelina and backed away.
The head soldier barked an order. The soldier holding Payan dropped her into the hay. He pulled out his wooden sword, and quickly swung it at Adelina. Prince blocked his sword, the two pushing their swords toward one another.
Adelina kneeled beside Payan. She held her friend close, watching as the soldier pushed Prince back. The soldier reached for Adelina’s arm, but Prince hit him in the shoulder with the sword, causing the soldier to drop his own sword.
A few more soldiers entered the house. Prince swung at them, but they grabbed his hands, and forced the sword away from him. Another soldier grabbed Adelina, lifting her over his shoulder. The soldiers wrestled for a tight hold of Prince, and took him out of the house. The soldier with Adelina slowly followed after.
The head soldier He said something to the old woman, then he tossed a small purse onto the table. Gold coins fell from the purse, and the old rat quickly grabbed one up. She bit it, then looked carefully for marks on the coin. “She doesn’t even trust the king’s gold,” the head soldier remarked, his eyes looking into Adelina’s as the soldier carried her outside, then he walked out of the house to join them.
“Where are you taking us?” Adelina asked as the head soldier closed the house’s broken door. “What’s going on?”
“Your friend here is a criminal,” the head soldier said. He set to walking, and the soldiers and their prisoners followed.
“Prince hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Hasn’t done anything wrong? He’s been turned into a toy. This is how we punish criminals. We turn them into toys so they can perform hard labor without tiring.”
“What’re you going to do with us?” Adelina asked.
“I am but a soldier. The king will likely judge this toy guilty of attempt to escape, and put it back to work in a maximum security facility. You’re coming along because you’re still awake. If you had just drank that juice like your faery friend, you’d both be waking up and heading home by nightfall. Your failure to cooperate with the apprehension of a criminal will also be judged by the king. You may become a toy yourself.” The head soldier stopped to adjust his armor. He looked over at Adelina. “Listen, our king is fair and just. All you have to do is answer any questions truthfully, and accept his judgment.”
Tags: NaNoWriMo