The Land of Flora

by Marie Springberry

  Then, everything was calm again.

  “What was that about?” said Ken. “Well, whatever it was, I’m glad it’s over. That wind felt kind of hostile.”

  “Yeah, that was strange,” said Meg, but her voice was steady despite the negative comment. Ken hesitated a moment before asking,

  “Aren’t you afraid?”

  Meg’s answer was unexpected. She said,

  “Afraid? What a girl can be afraid when she’s surrounded by romantic roses!”

  “Oh, girls,” muttered Ken to himself.

  ***

  Away from the garden in a castle, a bell started to ring loudly, triggered by the wind. The sound of the bell which most members of the castle had wished they would never have to hear.

  “The emergency alarm has gone off! Someone has intruded the Garden of Peace!” shouted the chief of the guards to group captains in the guardroom.

  “Group A, go to the king’s room right now! Don’t let anybody else in until a message is brought to him by a rosy pigeon.”

  “Yes, sir.” The chief of the group answered.

  “Group B, go and find the prince, he shouldn’t be far away from the castle by now.”

  “Aye, sir.”

  “Group C, D, and E, follow us roseknights and ready to respond to my call near the garden!”

  “Yes, sir.” The three group captains responded.

  “The remaining groups, position yourselves to the designated areas of the castle right now!”

  “Aye.”

  “Roseknights, follow me!”

  “Sir, your helmet!”

  A cute rabbit-like creature tossed a helmet to the chief guard.

  “Thanks, Mithy! Wish me good luck!”

  Then he ran out of the guard’s room with the fellow roseknights, the 12 special agents including himself responsible for especially dangerous jobs. All of them were fully equipped, holding a long sword and shouldering a long bow. All were clad in a shining armor of silver, bringing a shield of pale brown with the crest of a marvelous red rose in the middle.

  ***

  Away from the garden and the castle, an old man cloaked in gray coat sensed the wind passing him. He was sitting on a stump inside a dark forest, but scooped the passing air into a tiny bottle. He then murmured something, and smelled the air. He grinned and said, “Hmm… cherry blossoms and a slight hint of peppermint. Finally. But the kings have become stubborn. I must arrange something.” Then, he stood up, and disappeared into the air.

  ***

  Meg and Ken were walking down the small passage in the rose garden. They still had no idea where they were and how they got there.

  “Why do you think most of the roses here are white?” asked Meg curiously. “You know, I usually see red or pink ones more often.”

  “Don’t ask me about flowers,” said Ken. “Maybe, someone was too lazy to paint them.”

  “It must be,” said Meg, and Ken wondered if she really believed his suggestion to be the case.

  “But they’re still gorgeous. I just love the sweet smell in the air. Don’t you feel that a rabbit dressed in pale blue would appear and give us tea?” said Meg.

  “Ah….” Ken was not sure how to comment.

  “Oh, there is a fountain.”

  “Where?”

  “Over there, surrounded by pure red roses.”

  “I was getting thirsty. Let’s go and have a drink.”

  So they decided to walk toward the fountain. The fountain did not seem to have much water, as it was only making a small sound of running water. They noticed that the closer they approached the fountain, the shorter the roses became.

  “Look!” said Meg, suddenly pointing toward her left.

  “What?” Ken looked left alerted.

  And he saw the roses blooming in the block left side of him changing color from white to pink.

  “This side, too!” said Meg excitedly.

  Ken looked right and he saw this time the color of roses changing from white to yellow.

  Meg was thinking, “How beautiful and magical this rose garden is! It’s the best place I’ve ever been.”

  Ken was thinking, “How strange and mysterious this rose garden is! It’s the creepiest place I’ve ever been.”

  Then, they were suddenly surrounded, by 12 relatively short men clad in silver armor. All of them had their sword pointing at the two.

  Meg screamed.

  Ken readied himself to fight back.

  “You are under the arrest of the roseknights of Rosetta. Surrender yourselves, or you shall die.” One of the armed men issued a warning.

  “What do we owe you?” Ken shouted back.

  “You have intruded the Garden of Peace, and that is good enough a reason.”

  “What do you mean? We don’t understand.”

  “We found ourselves in the garden. We have no idea how or why we came here.” Meg tried to explain.

  “Enough!” One of the armed men threw yellowish powder at them.

  Then everything went dark for the second time that day.

  Chapter 3: At the Castle

  King Raligion was pacing up and down in front of his throne, accompanied by a small fluffy creature that looked like a rabbit. King Raligion was a stout man who looked like in his 60’s. His stature was rather short, and he had long white hair and beard. Indeed, he looked like a large dwarf out of legends of the old. He was wearing a red gown with beautiful embroidery of roses. His crown was in silver, with small roses made out of gold adding gorgeous taste here and there. The sword, which was placed in a sheath of brown leather, had a hilt decorated with rubies curved like roses. In fact, embroiders or carvings of roses decorated almost all of the king’s belongings. He had been ruling the Kingdom of Rosetta from the Rose Castle for over 30 years. Some said he was a wise king, others said he was a despot. He had just received a message from Captain Curlipius, telling the king he had succeeded in capturing the intruders. The message was brought to him by a rosy pigeon, as pigeons were used for the delivery system in the Kingdom of Rosetta.

  “Intruders into the Garden of Peace!” King Raligion was thinking. “Must be the spies of Tulitta! Never expected this would happen in my reign. What a disaster! What a disaster!”

  “Rithy, bring me a pot of herb tea.” The king suddenly stopped and shouted.

  “Yes, your Majesty. What flavor would you like?” The rabbit-like creature, who almost bumped into the king because he suddenly came to a halt, answered in a high-pitched voice.

  “Any flavor will do if it helps to calm my mind.”

  “Yes, Sir.” Rithy ran out, or rather tried to hop out of the room to fetch herb tea for the king. However, as she was in a hurry, she did not notice the door was closed. So, she bumped into the hard door, almost breaking one of the crystal roses attached to it as decoration.

  “Sorry, Sir!” she shouted, opened the door, and this time successfully disappeared into the corridor.

  “A cute little fellow indeed.” The king smiled for a moment, and then started to pace up and down again.

  ***

  Prince Prligion was approaching the city walls. The Kingdom of Rosetta extended far beyond the walls, but the central area called the Rose City was surrounded by tall walls to prevent intruders from entering the area. The prince, for the past two weeks, had been visiting the west borders of the Kingdom for encouraging the soldiers protecting the area. The west borders were at tension these days, with Rosetta and Tulitta holding out against each other over a huge forest. However, as both Kingdoms had not shown any movement for the past half year, the situation was neither improving nor exacerbating.

  Prince Prligion, much unlike the king, was a tall, fair man who looked like in his late 20’s. He had a short black hair, and was clad in silver armor. He was riding a horse-like creature with another rabbit-like creature. He was accompanied by 30 soldiers, and some soldiers were accompanied by rabbit-like creatures just like the prince’s. It was a beautiful day of early spring, with
the sun softly embracing the men marching in the field. The men had been marching for nearly eight hours from early morning, and most of them, including the prince, were feeling drowsy. All of them had concerns in their mind, but the warm spring sunlight had them forget their worries for a while.

  Suddenly, the prince heard a voice whispering into his ears.

  “Prince Prligion, listen to me,” the voice said. “Remember the true story. Do not be blinded by immediate events.”

  “Who is it?” The prince, awakened by the voice, looked around for its source, but did not find anybody talking to him.

  “I am your teacher from your dreams,” the voice continued. “The time has come. Be ready to be worthy of your True Song.”

  “Who is it? Show yourself!” Prligion repeated, feeling puzzled.

  “They have come. They have come by the call of Fair Lady. You are about to see the old legend unfolding in front of your eyes…”

  “Prince Prligion! Welcome back!” The whispering voice was erased by the loud voice of a Captain who came to look for the prince.

  “Thank you,” answered the prince, still wondering what that voice was about.

  “Your Highness, the king is asking you to present yourself at the King’s Court immediately.”

  “Did anything happen?” the prince asked sharply, as the tone of the captain told that something wrong was going on.

  “Yes, Sir. The emergency alarm has been activated.”

  “You mean the alarm of the Garden of Peace?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  “Have you caught the intruders yet?”

  “We are not sure yet, Sir.”

  “Then we will ride back together to the Castle as swiftly as possible.”

  Then he shouted to his men, “follow me,” and together, they hurried back to the City.

  ***

  When Ken and Meg came by, they were in a carriage, tied by thick rope. Their head was ringing, and they could not think smoothly. It was as if they were half asleep and half awake. Beside them were two tough looking men, each pointing a bare blade toward the siblings.

  “Where are we? And who are these scary looking men?” Ken thought, but he could not remember clearly what had happened to him.

  The carriage had a small window, and Meg noticed that it was approaching a pretty castle of European Medieval style.

  “It is like a castle in fairy tales I read somewhere…” She thought, though she could not remember where she saw a similar castle before.

  Then the carriage suddenly came to a halt in front of a small gate. The door opened, and a grim looking man in shining armor peeked in.

  “We will take the intruders immediately to the King’s Court,” the man said.

  On hearing the command, the two men in the carriage each lifted Ken and Meg. They tried to resist half-heartedly, but very soon gave way.

  The brother and sister were taken from the gate through the cozy gardens to the castle. They vaguely noticed that the gardens again only had roses, but this time in various colors. Once they reached the castle, they were blindfolded. They sensed that they turned many corners until they heard a heavy wooden door opening. “Your Majesty, the roseknights have caught the intruders.” Someone addressed. “They were approaching the Fountain of Bara! We did not find any other intruder.”

  Then the two were put down onto the floor in a kneeling position, and the blindfold was taken away.

  Ken and Meg saw a grim King looking down them from his throne.

  “Who are you? And what were you doing in the Garden of Peace?” the king shouted in a harsh voice.

  “I don’t know. I don’t remember…” Ken mumbled.

  “Have you poisoned them, Captain Curlipius?” the king asked.

  “Only the sleeping potion, your Highness. The effect should be fading away by now.”

  The captain, who was standing beside the king, answered.

  “Speak up, intruders!” the king commanded again. “I have every right to punish intruders into the Garden of Peace, especially those who dared to approach the Fountain!”

  “The Garden of Peace? The Fountain?” Meg commented, still feeling drowsy.

  “Yes, Miss. The Garden of Peace! You don’t know what it is? Then, there is no doubt you are outsiders! Who do you serve? Answer me.”

  “We are from somewhere far away, I think….” Ken attempted to answer the kng.

  “Far away, you mean Tulitta, no?” the king said.

  “Tulitta? We have never heard of such a strange name,” said Meg.

  “Don’t you dare fool me, Miss! It is apparent you two are not Rosettalians. Otherwise, the alarm wouldn’t have gone off.”

  “The alarm?” Ken asked.

  “Yes. You dared to enter the Garden of Peace, so the alarm was activated.”

  “You mean the warm strong wind?” Meg said, remembering the unnaturally warm wind they experienced earlier in the rose garden.

  “Yes, you are right. Now, who are you? What evil plans have you been implementing in our Garden?”

  “We were lost.” Ken said.

  “Then how did you get into the Garden?” the king asked.

  “We don’t remember,” said Meg, and Ken nodded in agreement.

  “This is going nowhere. Take them to the jail and use every means to make them speak.” The king ordered, and the scary looking guards re-approached the sister and brother.

  “No, no!” Meg shouted weakly.

  With her voice, Ken remembered that he had determined to protect his sister no matter what happened. Feeling energy coming back into his body, he shouted, “Don’t you dare touch my sister!” and tried to kick the guard coming toward him. The kick did not reach its target, but the sudden movement made the rope loose. Ken stood up, and hit the two guards with all his power. The unexpected attack made the guards fall down. “I will never let you hurt my sister!” He shouted, the effect of the drug now completely fading away.

  “Take them!” The king shouted, and the other guards rushed toward them. Ken reached for one of the guards lying on the floor, and took his sword. He pointed the sword at his neck and shouted, “If any of you approach us, I will stab this man!” and the guards had no choice but to stop.

  “You dare to defy my order, Mr.?” said the king with a tone of mock in his voice. “Give me my small bow, Rithy.”

  “Here you are, Sir.” The rabbit-like creature handed the king a little bow and a matching arrow. Ken was not sure what the king was up to, but he dared not make any movement.

  The king prepared the arrow and said to Ken, “Mr. I am one of the best archers in this Kingdom. Would you like to see which is faster, the time it takes for you to stab that poor man, or the time it takes for my arrow to reach your heart.”

  Ken did not see this coming, and he had no idea what to do. However, he somehow reacted instinctively and said,

  “Don’t underestimate me. I am destined to be a swordsman!”

  The tension was building up. Nobody moved. Nobody made any sound. At that moment, the wooden door opened, and a tall man rushed in.

  It was Prince Prligion. He stopped, noticing the tension in the room.

  “Stop there, Son. I am about to finish off this intruder,” said the king.

  The prince noticed the brother and sister. The blue eyes of Prligion met the brown eyes of Meg. Then he remembered the voice he heard in the field. “Remember the true story,” it said. “The true story….” The prince said to himself.

  “Father! Did you hear of their identity?” he asked the king.

  “No. They do not tell me, and therefore, I take them to be the spies of Tulitta.”

  “But couldn’t they be the siblings we have been waiting for?”

  “What do you mean?” the king asked, still pointing the arrow toward Ken.

  “The Story of Fair Lady that predicts about a brother and sister coming to save the Kingdom of Rosetta. I had given up hope of the arrival of saviors, but somebody reminded me of the Story w
hen I was marching in the field a while ago.”

  “Hah. You mean that Torn Story? Unlikely. It is impossible for anybody to fly into the Garden. Prligion, don’t bother me with impossible ideas.”

  “I apologize for interruption,” Captain Curlipius cut in, “come to think of it, neither the fences nor the gates of the Garden had traces of breaking-in.”

  “Did you notice anything else strange in the Garden?” the prince asked the captain.

  “Well, I found a petal of cherry blossom and a leaf of peppermint beside them in the Garden. I didn’t bring them with me, but I thought it was unusual to see such plants in the Garden.”

  “Could it be possible?” said the king, and then there was a long silence. The king looked at Ken and Meg from top to bottom. He shook his head, and said, “The Story is supposed to be a product of imagination.”

  Then the king lowered the bow and shouted, “Untie them, and bring them chairs and refreshments!”

  Chapter 4: Unexpected Welcome

  Ken and Meg were utterly puzzled. Surprised by the sudden change of state, Ken lowered the sword he had in his hand. Chairs were brought in, and herb tea and sweets were served by some rabbit-like creatures.

  “What’s going on?” Meg whispered to Ken, the effect of the sleeping potion finally disappearing.

  “I have no idea, but it seems we are safe.” Ken whispered back.

  “Thank you for protecting me, Ken.”

  “Don’t mention it. I’m your brother.”

  Then the king opened his mouth again, and said, “It seems we have mistreated you.” The prince, now sitting next to the king said, “We apologize for you inconvenience. But could you open your mind and tell us where you are from.”

  “We are from the States.” Ken answered.

  “The States?” said the king. “There is no place on Flora with that name.”

  “But that’s where we are from. We were on our way to see out father in Japan.”

  “Japan?” the prince asked sharply, “Does it have another name?”

  “I don’t really know. I think the country is called Nihon, or Nippon in their language.”

  “Is that all?”