Tale 23- The Underground Queen

 Walking once more through the forest, the Traveler sat down on a log and pulled back her sleeve, grimacing at the ring of bruises on her wrist. Tracing a hand over them, she stared down. He’d left yet another mark. Bruising wasn’t permanent, and scars would fade, but the trauma seemed as if it would live on forever, festering inside her mind until she eventually died. She trembled slightly. The memories were stirring back up again. Those hands, her confusion, then terror. She took a deep breath, trying to calm down. Surveying her surroundings, she suddenly heard someone yelling for help nearby. Stiffening up, she drew out her sword and ran toward the source of the sound, worried. A little boy stood outside a nearby cave, crying, and turned when he saw her, claiming a monster had got his sister inside. Raising an eyebrow, the Traveler showed him her sword, took a breath and walked into the darkness, finding the little girl almost immediately. A rock had fallen on her foot, not hurting her too much, but making movement impossible. Gently lifting it, despite her wrist throbbing with the bruises, she took the little girl’s hand and led her outside, the boy immediately hugging his sister in relief. He turned to the Traveler, who led them away from the cave and back into a lighter patch of the forest, where he asked how he could repay her for saving his sister from the monster. Smiling a little, the Traveler asked to hear his best story, so the boy told her the story of ‘The Underground Queen.’

‘Long ago, there was a town of people who lived happily together, but often suffered intense shakes from the ground due to their location. Under their town was a lonely queen who lived in pure isolation, wishing for a companion and often peeking out of ravines just to pray to the stars. One evening, though, she was praying to the stars and saw a girl above doing something similar, the queen instantly falling in love. However, due to them living in very different circumstances and lives, she was unable to show her love and go overground to meet the girl, who surely would never step foot in the ravine due to the danger. For the following months, the queen observed the girl from afar, slowly falling deeper in love with her and wishing for a chance to speak to her. However, one fateful night, the queen caught sight of the girl with another, a prince from a far-off kingdom, and watched as he lured her in with false promises and lies. Angered, the queen’s heart shook so violently that an earthquake began, the likes of which the town had never experienced before. The girl slipped and fell into the ravine, the queen barely catching her in time, and they watched as the evil prince also lost his balance, falling into the ravine and eventually dying. Having revealed her existence, the queen explained her love for the girl and how she’d prayed for her safety for a very long time. The girl, touched, decided to stay below ground with the queen, and the two now live in harmony, so there hasn’t been an earthquake in many, many years.’

The little girl and Traveler alike listened, impressed by the story, before the boy realized how late it was getting and hurried off with his sister, the two waving as they ran out of the forest. The Traveler felt a strange warmth as she watched them, they reminded her of the old days of joy from her childhood, and she drew the queen and girl in beautiful detail, her calligraphy as precise and curly as ever. Unable to wipe the slight smile off her face, she tucked her book away and continued walking, far into the distance.

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