The fantasy land

“Did you find the key?” asked Stacy. “Yeah, you were right, it was in Mildred’s room, the second drawer,” replied Steve, pantingly. “I still can’t believe that Mildred murdered your parents.”

“Ya, it’s a little too hard to digest,” said Stacy, with a serious face.

Stacy was a princess, and her parents were the king and queen of the kingdom, Socrates. Stacy had a step sister named Mildred, who was adopted when she was two years old. Stacy and Mildred were inseparable and best friends. But something terrible happened. Mildred murdered Stacy’s parents. Stacy still didn’t know why, and she hadn’t seen her step sister since then.

Stacy and Steve reached the end of the hallway and stood in front of the master bedroom. Steve unlocked the bedroom with the key he had found. As they entered, Stacy’s heart sank. The room was in complete disarray. The bed was messed up, the wardrobes were open with clothes scattered on the floor, the curtains and window were broken, and the study table was a mess with ink spilled all over the notebooks. But the worst part was that the treasure chest was open.

“Oh no, no, no!” cried Stacy. She rushed towards the chest and let out a louder cry when she realised it was empty. “No, no, no!”

“Oh great! You guys found the key,” came Jake’s voice from behind them. Jake was Stacy’s first cousin.

“Yeah, but the chest is empty! Mildred has taken it!” shouted Stacy.

“What?!” Jake exclaimed. “Excuse me, but can anyone please explain what is going on?” asked the confused Steve.

“The chest had the sword and the crown!” said Stacy. “And…” Steve waited for Stacy to complete her sentence.

“Oh my god, I have to explain everything now! Okay, listen carefully. My great-great-great-grandfather, King Andrew Markle IV, was a great ruler. He fought many wars and emerged victory. But his most significant battle was the Battle of 1865 against King Magnus Markle, his half-brother and the ruler of Destonia. King Andrew Markle fought using the sword that was kept in this chest. His crown was also stored here. King Andrew Markle had five children, four boys, and one girl. He couldn’t decide who would be the next ruler as they were all equally skilled and capable. So, he devised a game where he hid the sword and the crown in this chest. He created a set of tough riddles to find the key. The one who finds the sword and the crown first will become the next ruler. My great-great-grandmother solved the riddles and became the Queen. She continued this tradition and created another set of riddles to find the key. However, the riddles were so challenging that no one has been able to solve them to this day. No one knew the key’s location except for my great-great-grandmother. Mildred solved the riddles and found the crown and the sword. If she presents them to the ministry first, she will inherit the throne of Socrates,” explained Stacy, finally catching her breath.

“Well, then that’s fair, isn’t it? I mean, Mildred found them first, so she is the rightful ruler of Socrates, right?” said Steve.

“That witch murdered my parents. Do you still think she is the rightful ruler?” shouted Stacy at the top of her voice.

“No,” replied Steve immediately, raising his hands in surrender.

“Why are we standing here like useless lemons then? Let’s go before Mildred gets there first!” said Jake.

“Hey Jake, you have some ink on your hands,” noticed Steve.

“Oh, I was writing a letter to my grandma,” replied Jake.

The three of them ran as fast as they could and reached the ballroom. The ball was scheduled to start at seven, and they still had thirty minutes. The ballroom was well-lit, with all the tables pushed to the far end.

Stacy suddenly stopped running. She stood still for a moment, and then realisation dawned upon her. Steve and Jake noticed and stopped as well.

“What?” Steve and Jake asked simultaneously. After a long pause, she blurted out, “Where is Mildred, Jake?”

Jake looked dumbfounded. “What?” was all he managed to say.

“Where is Mildred?” Stacy repeated. After a short pause, Jake cried out, “How am I supposed to know? I don’t carry her in my pocket. She’s probably running around the fields like a crazy lunatic, happy that her plan worked.”

“You killed her, didn’t you? You killed her the same day when you killed my parents,” said Stacy, not moving a muscle. There was an awkward silence that seemed to last forever. Finally, Steve spoke up, “Have you gone crazy, Stacy? What did you eat last night?”

But then, he noticed an evil grin forming on Jake’s face. “Took you long enough to figure it out,” Jake said in a tone that sent shivers down Steve’s spine. He took out a remote from his pocket and pressed a red button, which closed the huge doors of the ballroom. Steve moved away from Jake and joined Stacy.

“Well, Miss Einstein, how did you find out?” asked Jake with a roguish tone.

“You said you had ink on your hands because you were writing a letter to your grandma. Your grandma passed away a year ago. You got ink on your hands because you went through the room and spilled ink on the study table,” explained Stacy, her voice cracking.

“Ding, Ding, Ding. You’re correct. You’re smarter than I thought, Stacy. You’re smarter than your sister. She confronted me when I killed your parents. That dumb witch. So, of course, I had to kill her,” said Jake.

“Where are the crown and the sword?” asked Stacy through gritted teeth.

“I’d rather not answer that,” replied Jake.

“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time. And look, the time has arrived,” Jake continued.

“The time to do what?” asked Steve, his voice trembling.

“Time to kill the PRINCESS!” Jake declared and pulled out a revolver. He aimed the gun and pressed the trigger, but before he could shoot, Steve reacted quickly. He jumped in front of Stacy, shielding her from the bullet. The bullet narrowly missed Steve. It was a close call. The bullet was extremely close to hitting him. Any moment now, 3…2…-

“OW! What was that for!” cried Ravi in pain. His younger sister, Priya, had thrown a pillow at him.

“Will you keep that book already, or are you planning to get late for school?” Priya said savagely.

“Jeez, I’m coming. Get out of my room!” shouted Ravi.

Priya stomped downstairs, complaining to their mom as usual. Ravi placed the book on his desk and stretched. “Dad was right,” he said to himself. “Books are amazing. I should have started reading them ages ago.” He returned the book to the bookshelf and went downstairs with his bag.

“Ravi, how many times have I told you not to hurt your little sister?” Ravi’s mom scolded.

“Mom, she’s the one who started it!”