by Edrei Cullen
Ella didn’t know what to do.
‘It has all been for nothing,’ she heard Don Posiblemente tell Samuel. The sound of his voice made her jump, for it was very close. ‘I endangered the children’s lives, and all for nothing,’ he said.
‘We were wrong to act the way that we did, Filosofico,’ Samuel said. ‘And we have undone all that Ella achieved in the process. We are indeed a selfish and short-sighted race.’
‘Wait!’ Ella’s voice called out.
chapter 30
sacrifices & shame
The Queen paused. Thomas snuck a peek from under his armpit, trying hard not to tip over, for he was feeling very lightheaded and unwell. Ella flew up out of her hiding place and settled herself on the ice between the Giants and the Magicals.
‘Ella,’ the Queen said, momentarily thrown by the child’s appearance. ‘What are you doing here?’ Thomas made to stand up, but the Queen pointed at once to her white elves, who reassembled themselves around him. Thomas ducked down again, huge but compliant. He reminded Ella of an incredibly oversized puppy who had been naughty. She marvelled at the way a tiny, weeny little lady could wield such power over an almighty hulk.
‘I made a promise to the Giants to help them to clear their name, Your Majesty, so I came back to find them,’ whispered Ella. She bowed her head respectfully, awed by the mere proximity of the Queen’s powerful aura.
‘See,’ came a muffled bellow from Thomas. Even hunched up on the ground, he was still massive. ‘She believes we are innocent of the crime you accuse us of.’
‘Then I wish you all well together,’ said the Queen. She looked at Ella with a sorrow in her eyes that wrenched at the child’s heartstrings. ‘I am sorry that you were endangered, Ella, I truly am. And you are a brave child for searching for your friend, one of my citizens, in the face of such danger. But you are clearly too human at heart, for you chose not to inform the Magicals about what was unfolding at any point. I expect more of a Clearheart. But I should have known better. That is why I enforced a Ban between Flitterwigs and Magicals in the first place. You Flitterwigs have no respect for the Natural Order of Things. Time, history and, I suppose, the eventual thinning of our genetic strain, have weakened your legacy. I thank you for helping me in the past, but your loyalties are clearly too selfish, too human, to see properly how the Clearheart should behave. You are supposed to bridge divides, not deepen them.’
Ella quivered. The Queen’s words cut her to the core. Never before had she felt the true responsibility of her calling as much as she did now, in failure.
‘She is only a child, Your Majesty,’ said Samuel from the shadows, very quietly. ‘Blame myself and Posiblemente for drawing her into this fracas, not her.’
‘Too late, Samuel,’ the Queen said gently, although there was a clip in her tone that forbade disagreement. ‘I must protect my people and I cannot do so if I rely upon any other species to help me. My husband is on the loose and my kingdom is under threat. If he had indeed captured the Clearheart, my people would be doomed. The purity of Magus would have been destroyed.’ She turned to Ella. ‘Forgive me, child, if I seem harsh, but it is too late.’ She lifted her head to Wrinkles. ‘It is time for us to go,’ she said, casting her eyes over to her soldiers. One by one, they began to retreat into the Waterway, reluctant to leave their Queen unprotected but knowing better than to disobey her now.
Ella watched in stunned silence. Her hair flared about her and her heart beat hard. Her shoulderblades burned and all down her back she felt the heat spreading. The Queen noticed the traces of cinnamon and rain emanating from her body at once.
‘But I did ask Wrinkles for help,’ she whispered, wondering where on Earth she had found the audacity to speak up. The white elves halted in their retreat and gathered about the Queen protectively.
The Queen looked at Wrinkles. ‘It is true, Your Majesty,’ he said. ‘I paid little heed, for she was worried about a pixie going missing. Pixies go missing every day.’ He looked at the Queen apologetically. She nodded back, understanding.
‘You had many other opportunities to contact us,’ said the Queen gravely. ‘But you were too taken up with your own needs. Whether you are a child or not, I cannot risk such short-sightedness. Of course, I hold your elders far more responsible than you.’ She turned her flashing gaze upon Samuel and Don Posiblemente, who hung their heads in shame. ‘But you are the Clearheart,’ she said, turning back to Ella. ‘You should know better.’
‘Which is why I came back,’ whispered Ella without thinking. She wished she would just shut up. Where was this cheek coming from?
Thomas had had enough. He leapt up off the ground with a roar and gave his brother a harsh shove. He closed his eyes to keep the white elves from Hypnopifying him.
‘Give me just a moment, Your Majesty,’ he bellowed. ‘Please.’
‘No,’ said the Queen firmly, turning and heading for the Waterway.
‘I have white elves stationed by a Mirror of Foreverness to guide you through to Magus, Your Majesty,’ said Wrinkles, appearing out of the Waterway. No-one had seen him come or go.
‘Give us a little time, please Your Majesty,’ cried Ella. ‘With the Giants’ help, I will find the truth.’
‘It is too late. I already know the truth,’ said the Queen, without turning.
‘Do you really, deep down in your heart, or are you just being proud yourself?’ said Ella impertinently. ‘How can it ever be too late to find the truth?’ She was so surprised by what came out of her mouth that she found herself pinning it shut with her fingers, the way Dixon often did.
The Queen froze, startled by the child’s passion and the wisdom in her words.
‘We cannot help you prove our innocence, Ella,’ said a deep voice. It was Thomas, his tone full of resignation. ‘For our sap is depleted and we must return to our slumber.’
‘But I promised to be beholden to you until we find proof of the truth,’ said Ella.
‘Yes, my dear, you did. And that was very kind of you. But there is nothing obliging you to do so, other than your word.’ Thomas shrugged. ‘I just can’t hold you to that by force. Not now.’ He looked at Ella apologetically. ‘The only way we can keep you beholden to us, you see, is to keep you with us. Which would mean Solidifying you and taking you with us underground. We have risked our health too much already being above the ground for so long. We must surrender ourselves to the hopelessness of it all and retreat.
‘Plus,’ and here the Giant looked terribly embarrassed, ‘we are only able to be awake as long as we have recently thanks to the artificial sap Don Posiblemente gave me, and whatever it is the Duke gave Bolgus, but even that comes with its problems.’ The Giant looked down at his feet and shuffled them about uncomfortably, burying them in the snow. ‘Both Bolgus and I are suffering from terrible diarrhoea, I’m afraid. We really can’t keep on consuming the synthetic stuff.’
Don Posiblemente looked up in surprise. Where on Earth had the Duke found a supply of sap? What other Flitterwig had managed—or would even want to try—to fabricate it? And if not fabricated, where had it come from?
There were a few moments of uncomfortable silence.
‘Then I shall go with the Giants under the ground,’ Ella declared, trying not to visualise Giants with tummy trouble. She felt more determined than ever now. For she could feel that the Queen’s decision was wrong, unfair, unjust. Every fibre in her body told her that the Giants were innocent. She didn’t know why, but she had to trust the feeling. ‘I will go and live with them until I can prove their innocence, because that was the promise I made. I have to make good this awful affair, somehow. My word is my word. A promise is a promise. Together, even if it is terribly slowly, we will find the truth.’ Ella wasn’t sure what she was saying, for Charlie had told her that being Solidified was the horriblest thing ever.
Thomas opened his eyes to stare at the child, stunned by her suggestion. The white elves were before him at once.
‘Stop,’ the Q
ueen commanded her soldiers before they could Hypnopify him. ‘Why would you offer such a penance, child?’ she asked, turning to Ella, her face paler than ever.
‘Because if I can prove the Giants’ innocence, you might consider not reinstating the Ban,’ said Ella. ‘How are we all going to save the planet together if we are estranged again?’
‘And you would let the child do this?’ said the Queen, turning to Thomas, hesitating now.
Thomas thought for a moment. He looked at the little girl with the long, honey-coloured hair. Her face so young and innocent, her skin so clear it was almost translucent. He looked at the wings hanging over the top of her oversized anorak and considered the damage that would be done to her once she was filled with rock and stone and earth. He gulped a great gulp.
‘No, I would not, Your Majesty,’ said the Lord of the Gommoronahl solemnly. ‘Not now that I know her. I have watched her closely over the past few days, and I could not squash that free spirit, that plucky courage, those wings she’s just found.’
The Queen flew up and over to Thomas. She looked deep into the Giant’s eyes. Great, fat tears slipped down his cheeks. She could see the anguish in them at the thought of taking the child into the suffocating depths below.
‘Let Bolgus wake up,’ she called over to the white elves. Hesitantly they moved away from his face. Bolgus came to at once. He shook his head to clear it. Grit and soil flew from his red hair in every direction. The Queen flew over to him.
‘YOU MEAN, HORRIBLE QUEEN YOU,’ he roared as he spotted her. ‘YOU LYING MAGICALS!’ He planted his enormous hands firmly on his gargantuan hips and tried to stand firm, however dizzy he was feeling. ‘Your husband told me so many fibs,’ he hollered. ‘And I gave my brother a black eye because of them.’ Everybody turned to look. It was true. Thomas’s left eye was indeed swelling up, black and blue.
‘If my husband has lied then that is his affair, not mine,’ said the Queen, but her voice was chastened by Ella’s selfless offer. She turned to Ella. ‘Tell the culprit, the thief, the one who let your ancestor, the Clearheart of Old, die,’ she said, gesturing to Bolgus. ‘Tell him yourself what you have offered.’
The Queen watched carefully as Ella repeated her suggestion to Bolgus. The Giant’s eyes bulged.
‘Oh no, you can’t do that,’ he said as soon as she paused for breath. ‘When Charlie was with me underground it was horrible,’ he bumbled. ‘He was in so much pain. And he was really, really scared.’
‘But how else can we clear your name?’ asked Ella, swallowing back the bile that collected in her throat at the thought of being a prisoner in the rocks.
The Queen was thoughtful. She hovered before the Giants. ‘So you would remain eternally estranged, forever maligned, rather than cause the child to suffer?’ she asked quietly.
‘Yes,’ said both of the Giants with certainty.
‘And all was not for nothing, Ella,’ said Thomas, peering at the child kindly. ‘At least we have one another again.’ He looked at his brother, his eyes warm with love.
‘And you would give up your freedom, your schooling, your friends, your life, in order to make good your promise?’ the Queen asked Ella.
‘Yes I would, Your Majesty,’ said Ella, her voice a little shaky with the enormity of what she had offered to do. ‘All I can do is try to make amends.’
The Queen shook her head in disbelief. ‘Then I am truly humbled,’ she said, her voice barely audible. ‘And I find myself, once more, too harsh, indeed too proud, too scared to trust those who are not of my kind.’ She settled on the snowy ground and, sitting on the ice, hung her head in shame. ‘I have been so tied up in our plans for the future of the planet, and I am so used to working in the interests of Magus alone, that I was not even aware of all that has played out. But what can we do?’
‘We could start with trying to work through what happened that night, to see if anyone else might have been responsible,’ Ella offered, crouching down to scoop the Queen into her hand. ‘Because I’ve been thinking about things, and that is the only alternative I can come up with.’
‘Me too,’ Thomas chimed in.
‘Then that is the very least that I can do,’ said the Queen softly.
chapter 31
mysteries & meanings
In the light of many white elves, the Giants rested. Their bodies were safely tucked underground, their heads lay on the ice, and an occasional snore escaped from their big, fat lips.
Don Posiblemente, Samuel and Ella sat in a huddle around the Queen, upon Thomas’s outstretched hand, reviewing all the information the peculiar party of Giants and Magicals and Flitterwigs had shared about that fateful night.
‘So if we are to believe that Bolgus’s leg truly was trapped by a root when the whipwailing wind arrived and assaulted the Queen and the Clearheart, then the only person who could tell us whether there was anyone else there to perpetrate the crime is the Clearheart of old, who is dead, or Your Majesty,’ said Samuel.
‘And I did not see anyone come with the wind,’ said the Queen. ‘That is why I was sure that the Giants must be responsible. When Wrinkles and I made our escape, the Clearheart and her Protector were fighting back the wind alone.’
Don Posiblemente had his head deep in a section of the Flitterwig Files, searching for some clue. He had nipped back to Spain to fetch the weighty tome. ‘There must have been someone else in the world of magic with a reason to kidnap the Queen, there just must have been,’ he muttered to himself as he scanned the pages.
The group was hushed by the sound of Bolgus and Thomas waking. Bolgus spluttered as he woke, sending a spray of grit out of his mouth. Ella shuddered and thanked her lucky stars that she hadn’t had to be Solidified. At least not yet. The idea of having her pointy ears and her nose and her mouth full of soil every day made her tummy heave. Gosh, what would her asthma be like under there? She was still anxious, for if the truth could not be found between them somehow, the Queen was convinced that reinstating the Ban and maintaining the breach with the Giants was the only way forward.
‘It is rather nice to see you again, Tirabella,’ said Thomas shyly, rubbing his eyes with his free hand and drawing the group up to his face with the other. ‘Thank you for taking this time.’
The Queen dropped her head. She was giving the Giants a chance, but her heart was still full of uncertainty. There were so many unanswered questions.
Bolgus yawned. Ella was amazed at how dirty his teeth were.
‘What I do not understand, Bolgus, is why you did not defend yourself before,’ said the Queen as soon as he was properly awake. ‘I understand that I had accused you, and that your brother doubted you momentarily, but why, in Magic’s name, did you not try to contact me before now and plead your case?’
Bolgus looked at the Queen a little dopily and sighed. ‘Well for one,’ he said, ‘I was rather upset at the time. Plus, I was having trouble staying awake. Plus, no-one ever asked me what my side of the story was, you all just accused me at once. I was hurt by that. Why should I beg? Why would you be so quick to attack?’
Ella’s hair flared. Her shoulders itched. Her ears tingled. ‘What did you just say, Bolgus?’ she asked, Once again, the Queen noticed a trace of cinnamon and rain coming from the child’s person.
‘I was upset?’ said Bolgus.
‘No, not that bit,’ said Ella, listening to her instincts as they reacted to his words.
‘I was sleepy?’ said Bolgus.
‘No, not that bit either,’ said Ella, focusing on what her body was trying to tell her.
‘No-one ever asked me for my side of the story?’ he said.
Ella’s ears were on fire. ‘No-one ever asked him!’ she cried, leaping about in Thomas’s palm like her deranged pixie friend. ‘No-one ever asked me!’ she repeated. The group stared at her blankly.
‘Ask me!’ she cried. ‘That’s what the Spirit Trees have been whispering to me. Not asquemi, but ASK ME! The Great Gum was there on the night of the attack
. It knows what happened. It wanted me to ask it, though I don’t know why it didn’t just tell me!’ she cried. ‘I was just too stupid to figure out what it was saying!’
‘But Clearhearted enough to make sure you got there in the end,’ said Samuel, full of pride. He stood up and put his arms around Ella, squeezing her in a tight embrace. ‘You wouldn’t know, of course, but the Spirit Trees keep secrets, truths. They can tell these secrets, these truths, to their kin, the dryads and Dryad Flitterwigs (and you of course, we all realise). But only if asked to do so.’
‘Even I am not privy to the secrets of the Spirit Trees,’ the Queen said, her eyes shining with shame and respect in equal measure.
It was cool on the Nullarbor Plain that night. The Queen rested weakly in Samuel Happenstance’s hand as she looked up at the Great Gum of Gommoronahl. The impure air on Earth had started to affect her delicate lungs.
‘I’m so sorry that I couldn’t understand you,’ Ella said to the Gum. ‘You and yours have been whispering to me for so long and I didn’t understand.’
The Great Gum bowed its silver branches to the Clearheart. ‘All in its time,’ it whispered. Although, to be honest, it sounded more like ‘Alinistye.’
And it did, indeed, take quite a bit of time for Ella to decipher the story whispered to her by the Gum. The story of the Ulnuses, an old family of Dryad Flitterwigs, and their plot to kidnap the Queen and hold her to ransom until the hierarchy of Magus was changed so that the dryads had a place in the Royal Court. Of how they sent a whipwailing wind, with Bongled Dryad Flitterwigs within it, to take the Queen by force.
Don Posiblemente slapped his forehead when this piece of information was divulged. ‘So that is why there are so few Moglin Flitterwigs,’ he cried out, more to himself than anyone else, although it did make everybody jump. ‘The Dryad Flitterwigs must have forced Moglin Flitterwigs to Bongle them, and then killed them off so no-one would find out!’