Part 38: The First Incredible Adventures Of The Girl With No Shoes
Chapter 7: The King, The Queen, And The Advisor
The sky was a bright blue, much like the sky in her world, except the blues of this world were far more brilliant and it seemed to Anne that there was no beyond past the sky above. It seemed that the sky went on forever as if she wasn’t looking up at the sky but out across it forever. She could see six planets hanging in the sky here and there. Each of them looked like the moon of her world except they were colorful and seemed to shine with their own light. There were mountain ranges in the distance in every direction she looked. There were colorful birds flying here and there above her. They sang with beautiful melodies to each other as they glided along on the wind. There were deer grazing in herds and rabbits hopping on the ground nearby. A pack of wolves were drinking from the river that ran past them a good distance away.
Three beautifully saddled horses were grazing nearby. They looked like horses from her world. One was black with a brown mane, one was a tan color with a white streak of hair down its back, and the other was pure white with a blond mane. Each of their saddles were crimson red and black with gold lining.
Then Anne noticed two men standing not too far away from where she stood before the queen. They were both about the same height as the queen and just as beautiful as her. One wore a simple crown of gold like the queen and the other had a silver band on his head that had a single ruby at its center.
“Hello child.” The king said, waving his hand to Anne. The man with the silver headband said nothing but simply bowed deeply to her.
“I told you she would come,” the queen said to the two men with a smile. “The Light has sent her to us just as He said He would.”
“You did tell us that, didn’t you?” the king answered. He took a few steps closer to Anne, looked her over, then said, “You are simply radiant, Anne Of The Light.”
It was at that moment that Anne realized the ground below her was very far away. Was she flying? No. She was… taller… and she was more… woman now. She took in the unfamiliar sight of her own body now. She was a woman now. All grown up. A grown woman. She kicked her bare feet and saw they were much larger now. She moved them around and rubbed them into the grass. Her hair had grown longer too, and she could see the long, curly locks gliding gently down over her womanly chest. She wore a simple robe of white with a wide belt of gold at her waist. It was a very beautiful robe. Anne ran her hands over the cloth and discovered it was unlike anything she had felt before.
“I’m old!” Anne cried in excitement. “I’m a woman.”
All three of these strangers let out a laugh. “Of course, you are dear.” the queen said, “Here in our world everyone is their own age.”
“Their own age?” Anne asked.
“Yes dear, here in our world there are no children or old people. Everyone is their own age.” the queen explained. “You are your own age when you are here in our world.”
“I see.” Anne said, trying to understand, then asked, “So… what is my own age?”
The queen laughed again and looked at the king for help explaining. He smiled and said, “Anne, here in our world no one is born, and no one dies. People aren’t born here, they arrive here. Despite this being a created world like yours, life doesn’t start here. Life comes here from other places. Most people here died elsewhere, and, as you know, death is always the start of a new journey, but sometimes… yes… sometimes they are called here. Like you were.”
Anne turned and looked back down at the pond’s water. She could only see her reflection in the water now and the rocks of the riverbed underneath. “How did she get here from the pond in her world?” She wondered. “Where was she?”
“Am I dead?” Anne asked aloud, as the question formed in her mind.
“No. No. My dear.” the queen answered. “We called you here. That’s our gift. We can call those we need to this place. Through the waters of this pond, which is a sort of doorway to your world. We need your help desperately.”
“My help?” Anne asked, turning back around to look at the queen. “What can I possibly do to help?… And who are all of you?”
The queen laughed, realizing she hadn’t introduced herself, “I am Queen Romassa of the Realm of Self-Control. And this, here, is my husband, King Lane. We are two of the royals of these lands. You are now standing in the Realm of Self-Control known to everyone as Kevahna. This land is divided into seven realms, and each realm is ruled by a king and queen. And you are Anne Litany Goodford, the girl with no shoes.” The king laughed at the last part, as if Anne wearing no shoes was simply astounding to him. The queen pointed to the man with the silver headband and said, “He is our advisor. Every king and queen of these realms has an advisor.”
Anne looked down at her bare feet again and backed up. She wiggled her toes in the grass. She bowed a curtsy to the king, queen, and their advisor saying, “It’s a pleasure meeting you both, your majesties. And you, Mr. Advisor.”
“Nice to meet you, Anne Of The Light, The Girl With No Shoes.” the king said. He wore a warm smile as he added, “Welcome to our kingdom.” He gestured widely with his hands to the surrounding countryside.
“Do you not have a name?” Anne asked the advisor. The man simply smiled back at her.
“He does not speak.” The queen said, then explained, “You see the advisors here in our realms only speak to the king and queen and they only speak when others are not present. This is just how it is and how it has always been. He goes everywhere with us.”
Anne took it all in. The four of them stood next to the small pond and in the distance she could see a wide, rushing white river with crystal clear waters. The grassy fields stretched out in both directions until they climbed to the foot of the mountain ranges in the far distance. Trees dotted the landscape. Everything seemed to be alive and vibrant. Animal life was everywhere, birds, small rodents, and even some herds of deer grazed the grasslands of the hills. The sky was a brilliant, bluish-pink color.
The queen took a few steps closer to Anne and brushed the hair out of her face, “My dear, I called you here to save the realms of this kingdom, of our world.” As she spoke, the queen motioned out into the distance towards where the river ended. Anne now saw a dark cloud hovering beyond the end of the river. “Do you see that dark cloud?” the queen asked.
“Yes. I see it.” Anne replied.
“That is the beginning of the darkness, and it is spreading out into all of the seven realms of Kevahna and even now it is starting to invade your own world.” Queen Romassa explained.
“Darkness.” Anne whispered. “But what can I do? I’m only seven years old… Well, in my world I am only seven years old. I have no idea how old my true age is here.”
The queen smiled, “You will learn to do all you need to do in time.” With these words the queen pulled a golden chain from her coat. At the end of the chain hung a silver pendant. She handed it to Anne. “Put this on. It is a gift from the Light for you.”
Anne took the chain and looked it over. It was beautifully crafted and glimmered in the sunlight. The silver pendant was round and flat. On one side it had the image of a ram’s horn and on the other side the image of a crown. “What is it?” Anne asked.
“You will learn that also in time. For now, all you need to know is that you should never ever take it off.” The queen replied. She took the chain from Anne and latched it securely around her neck.
The metal of the pendant felt warm against the skin of her neck. “Never, ever take it off.” the queen’s words echoed in her ears. “Why can’t I ever take it off?” Anne wondered.
The queen took Anne’s hands in her own and said, “This is what you must do. You must go from here across the wide lands and through the narrow valley. The valley will lead you to the Realm of Patience. Along the way you will meet a friend who will tell you what you must do to begin to drive back the darkness from our world. We are counting on you, Anne Of The Light.”
Anne tried to take in all she was hearing. Then she asked, “What about my world? What about my family? Won’t they be looking for me?”
“There is no time here my dear. Our world is outside of time within eternity. The moment that you arrive here will be the same moment you return there. Whenever you return there, it will be the same time you left there.” The queen tried to explain. She paused for a moment in thought. Explaining eternity and time was always difficult if you had no understanding of eternity. Anne had no understanding of eternity. Anne knew only of time.
Then the queen smiled wide as she added, “Don’t be afraid. You were chosen because of your heart. Along your journey there will be many helpers. We cannot go with you because we have our part to plan in all this here, but you can go and represent us.”
Anne took it all in: time and eternity, lands and darkness, seven realms, and a journey. This is what she had always wanted, an adventure of her very own. It was as if this was her real life, and her other life was the dream.
Anne nodded and said, “I’m ready.” And with that the king and queen hugged her, wished her well, blessed her, and climbed on their horses and rode away across the grass covered field.
Anne stood alone barefoot on the beautiful green grass. For a moment longer she waited. She watched the king and queen riding away and when they were out of sight she looked around at this wonderful new world. “Eternity,” she thought. Then she turned to face the direction she must go. Far out across the land she could see the mountain pass, the one she must be going to, and far beyond it was the darkness. There was a flash of lightning in the darkness and in a second the sound of thunder shook the ground where she stood. A shiver went up her spine. “Time for an adventure,” Anne thought and then began to walk forward.
Check back tomorrow for the final chapter!
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