Once upon a time, deep within a Kingdom of Trees, the Queen watched her daughter, the Princess, playing in the castle garden. A warm sun shone across the princess’s golden hair, causing it to glisten and casting beams of sunlight into the shadows. The Princess was around nine years old now, and for her entire short life, she had grown up watching her mother, the Queen, rule the Kingdom of Trees wisely, kindly, and with good humour. She had known nothing but love from her mother, the Queen. After all, there had never been a King of the Kingdom of Trees. The Princess had never known a King.
Every day, the Queen taught the Princess everything she knew, knowing that one day, the little Princess would grow into a queen herself. So, like all little princesses, especially those of such a young age, she had many difficulties understanding some of the things that went on in the castle. She played with a diablo while the Queen looked on, blinking in the bright sunlight. The Princess tossed the spinning top and jumped high to catch it. Her mother thought as she watched, it seemed the Princess had grown up but she knew she was really still a little girl. The little Princess often pretended to be a queen, and everybody laughed at her jokes and antics; even the Queen smiled.
But the Kingdom of Trees made many demands upon the Queen, and the little Princess did not know or even understand this as she was far too young. The biggest problem the Queen experienced was the loneliness she felt. She often wondered what it may be like to rule the Kingdom of Trees with a king when the Princess was fast asleep in her bed. There had been several suitors from the neighbouring kingdoms for the Queen’s hand in previous years; however, the Queen had always said “No”. She had always said ‘she had no time for such nonsense as she had a daughter to raise and a Kingdom to rule’. But that was then, and this is now.
As the Queen watched the Princess replace the Diablo with a hula hoop, she thought she and the Princess did everything together. The Princess laughed as the hoop spun up and down her body, faster and faster it went. For a long time now, the Queen had very little time to herself, assisting other families, taking holidays with the Princess, seeing to affairs of state relating to the Kingdom of Trees, and the Princess took a part in everything. But the time was approaching when they would need to do things separately and perhaps even spend time apart. The Queen appreciated the Princess knew this; she also knew that she was worried about it as well. But they had not really talked about it, although there had been times when they discussed such things, and the little Princess had shown she was very upset at the mere idea. The Queen knew this because although the Princess didn’t say much, she did have a habit of licking her bottom lip when she was worried.
The Queen had decided whilst watching the Princess hula hooping, to visit Professor Knowitallicus the Wizard. He was a wise old man and would know what should be done. But she wondered if she should take the Princess with her. She decided she would and they would both go after lunch. The Queen sent a messenger to Knowitallicus to let him know to expect a Royal visit that very day.
Lazarus Carpenter - Author 