A Tale of Magic... (41 page)

“Please, Madame Weatherberry,” Brystal said. “I know it’s not what you planned, but I know
this
is what’s best for all of us! And
that
is a promise I can keep forever.”

There wasn’t time to think of a better option. Madame Weatherberry let out a deep sigh that came from the bottom of her weary soul and accepted Brystal’s proposal.

“Look for the northern lights,” the fairy said.

“What do you mean?” Brystal asked.

“The lights will be my signal to you,” Madame Weatherberry said. “As long as there are northern lights in the sky, you’ll know I’m winning the fight. And the minute they disappear, it means the Snow Queen is coming back.”

“All right,” Brystal said. “I’ll watch the lights.”

“Good,” the fairy said. “Now help me to the door in the corner. I’ll sneak out the servants’ corridor before the others find me.”

Brystal helped Madame Weatherberry to her feet and escorted her to the door in the corner of the dining hall. Before the fairy left, she had one final thing to say. Madame Weatherberry grabbed Brystal’s hand and looked into her eyes with a grave expression.

“Listen carefully, Brystal, because this is the most important lesson I will ever teach you,” she said. “Don’t make the same mistakes I made. No matter how cruel or unfair the world becomes,
never
forfeit your happiness. And no matter how poorly someone treats you,
never
let anyone’s hate rob you of compassion. The battle of good and evil isn’t fought on a battlefield—it begins in each and every one of us. Don’t let your anger choose sides for you.”

As Madame Weatherberry slipped into the servants’ corridor, the classmates charged into the dining hall. They were panting and frantically looked around the room in fear, but they were relieved to see Brystal was safe.

“Oh, thank God!” Lucy exclaimed. “I was afraid I’d have to perform the tambourine at your funeral!”

“I’m fine,” Brystal said. “I’m glad you guys are, too.”

“Where’s the Snow Queen?” Xanthous asked.

“She surrendered and fled into the mountains,” Brystal said.

The classmates were overjoyed to hear this and hugged one another in celebration, but Brystal looked to the floor, her face filled with sadness.

“Brystal, what’s wrong?” Skylene asked.

“This is wonderful news,” Tangerina said. “Isn’t it?”

“Wait a second,” Emerelda said. “Where’s Madame Weatherberry? Did you find her?”

Brystal lowered her head and burst into tears. It wasn’t until she was asked about Madame Weatherberry that the truth had finally caught up to her.

“She’s gone,”
Brystal cried.
“She’s gone.…”

In the eastern countryside of Chariot Hills, the storm had been gone for less than an hour when Justice Evergreen received a mysterious knock on his front door. He answered the door in his pajamas and was surprised to see a royal carriage waiting for him outside.

“What’s going on?” Justice Evergreen asked.

“King Champion is holding an emergency meeting at the castle, sir,” the coachman said. “He’s asked for all High Justices and Justices to join him at once.”

Without a doubt, Justice Evergreen knew the meeting was being called to discuss the recent storm. He quickly got dressed in his long black robe and tall square hat and climbed aboard the carriage. By the time he arrived at the castle, the King’s throne room was buzzing with High Justices and Justices alike.

“How is the kingdom going to recover from this?” High Justice Mounteclair asked. “It’s going to take a massive amount of money to rebuild all the damage—and the treasury is low on funding as it is!”

One by one, the other Justices gave Mounteclair their recommendations.

“Perhaps we can ask the king to sell one of his summer palaces?”

“No, His Majesty will never approve that,” Mounteclair said.

“Perhaps we can start a war with the Eastern Kingdom and take their resources?”

“No, it would take too long to stage a reason for war,” Mounteclair said.

“Perhaps we can reduce our salaries until the kingdom is on the mend?”

“Now
that
is out of the question!” Mounteclair said. “Come on, men! We have to come up with
one
decent suggestion before the king arrives!”

The sinister Justice Oldragaid glared at his colleagues from a corner of the room. He scratched the stone wall with his long fingernails to get the men’s attention. The sound sent painful shivers through their bodies and all the Justices covered their ears.

“Yes, Oldragaid?” Mounteclair asked. “What is your suggestion?”

“I believe
now
is the best time to implement the poor tax I’ve been advocating,” Oldragaid said.

Justice Evergreen scoffed loudly at his rival.

“That’s the most absurd recommendation I’ve ever heard,” he said. “The poor have no money to collect as tax—that’s why they’re called
the poor
.”

“Thank you, Justice Evergreen, but I know what
poor
means,” Oldragaid sneered. “But
money
isn’t the only way to fix this predicament. By introducing the poor tax, the poor throughout the Southern Kingdom would immediately be charged with tax evasion. However, instead of sentencing them to prison time, we’ll sentence them to community service, and we’ll have a force of free labor to restore the kingdom.”

The Justices nodded as they considered the tax and then cheered for Oldragaid’s calculating proposition.

“That’s a wonderful idea,” Mounteclair said. “Now how are we going to explain the blizzard to our people? They’ll want to know what caused the strange phenomenon.”

“Perhaps we implore scientists to investigate the matter?”

“No, the last thing government needs is more science,” Mounteclair said.

“Perhaps we frame it as an act of God?”

“Yes, that’s better,” Mounteclair said. “But
why
did God do it? Who should he be mad at this time?”

“Perhaps God is mad at cat lovers?”

“No, that won’t work because I have a cat,” Mounteclair said.

“Perhaps God is mad at vegetarians?”

“No, most of our cattle perished in the storm,” Mounteclair said. “We can’t have people fighting over food in the name of God—we tried that once and it led to complete chaos.”

Once again, Justice Oldragaid scratched the stone wall with his long fingernails.

“Oldragaid, just raise your hand if you have a suggestion!” Mounteclair reprimanded.

“Noted for the future, sir,” Oldragaid said. “I was going to recommend we tell our kingdom that God is mad at
poor people
. If we amend the Book of Faith and make poverty a sin, we’ll save ourselves from any potential backlash for enforcing the poor tax.”

“Another wonderful idea!” Mounteclair declared. “We’ll share your proposals with His Majesty as soon as he—”

The doors leading to the sovereign’s private office swung open and King Champion joined the Justices in the throne room. The men bowed to the monarch as the king crossed the room and sat on his throne. The sovereign was instantly irritated by the Justices around him and he let out a disgruntled sigh.

“Good morning, Your Majesty,” Mounteclair said. “Your timing is perfect, as usual. The other Justices and I have created a plan of action to address the recent—”

“That won’t be necessary,” King Champion stated. “I’ve already made arrangements.”

Nervous whispering broke out among the Justices—they didn’t like it when the king made decisions without them.

“Sir, as the head of your Advisory Council, I must insist you share your arrangements with us before making them official,” Mounteclair said.

“I didn’t call you here to insist anything—I called you here to
listen
,” King Champion stated. “There’s no easy way to start this discussion, so I’ll get right to the facts. For the last several months, the Northern Kingdom has been under attack by a very powerful witch known as the Snow Queen. To prevent global hysteria, King Nobleton kept the matter a secret. By the time he informed the other sovereigns about the Snow Queen, she had destroyed more than half of the Northern Kingdom, but Nobleton wasn’t honest with us about the extent of her destruction. He assured us he could handle the situation, so we did nothing and left it to him. Now Nobleton is dead and all but one village in the entire kingdom has been lost. This week, the Southern Kingdom almost suffered the same fate as the north, but fortunately for us, the Snow Queen was stopped before her blizzard obliterated us.”

The news made all the Justices uneasy and they gazed at one another in fear.

“Pardon me, sir,” Mounteclair said. “But are you saying a
witch
caused the blizzard?”

“Oh good, you’re listening,” King Champion quipped. “Early last week, the Snow Queen’s destruction spread beyond the Northern Kingdom. Not only did the storm seep into our kingdom, but it stretched to all four corners of the continent.”

“But
what
or
who
stopped her?” Mounteclair asked.

King Champion glared at his advisers with a cocky grin.

“Technically,
I
did,” he said. “Several months ago, I was paid a visit by a woman named Madame Weatherberry. She was starting an academy of magic and came to the castle, without warning, and asked for permission to recruit children from the Southern Kingdom. Naturally, I rejected her requests, but then Madame Weatherberry informed me about the seriousness of the Snow Queen’s power. She convinced me her future students could defeat the Snow Queen if the witch ever crossed into the Southern Kingdom. In a moment of what I now consider nothing short of
utter brilliance
, I decided to grant Madame Weatherberry the permission she sought. And it just so happens, those students were exactly who stopped the Snow Queen and saved us all from her icy wrath.”

High Justice Mounteclair led the room into an enthusiastic round of applause for the king. The sovereign rolled his eyes and silenced the men with his hand.

“Although the Snow Queen was stopped, the witch remains at large,” King Champion said. “Madame Weatherberry unfortunately passed away during the ordeal, but her students survived. They’ve agreed to restore our kingdom with magic and continue protecting us from the Snow Queen. However, in exchange for their services, the children had a few
demands
.”

“Demands?” Mounteclair asked. “What sort of demands?”

King Champion turned toward the doorway of his private office.

“Come on out!”
the king called.
“The Justices have been prepared!”

Suddenly, the room of older men in black robes parted as a group of very colorful children emerged from the office. Brystal, Lucy, Emerelda, Xanthous, Tangerina, and Skylene made their way through the room and stood at the king’s side. The Justices were outraged to see members of the magical community in a royal residence. They shouted profanities and insults at the children, but the classmates ignored the men’s outbursts and held their heads high.

It was difficult for Brystal to stand in a room with so many men who had personally tried to oppress her, but she didn’t let an ounce of it show. On the contrary, Brystal made a point to look Justice Mounteclair, Justice Oldragaid, and Justice Evergreen directly in the eye so they knew she wasn’t afraid of them. She had changed so much since her father last saw her it took him a few moments to recognize his daughter. Despite all Justice Evergreen’s efforts, Brystal had become a calm, confident, and dignified young woman, and his mouth dropped open in shock.

“Will the young lady please inform the Justices about the demands we’ve been discussing?” King Champion asked.

Brystal waved her wand and a long, golden scroll appeared in her hand. Inscribed on the document were the demands they had given the king. The classmates passed the scroll around and took turns reading their demands aloud.

“‘Number one,’” Brystal said. “‘Magic will be officially legalized in the Southern Kingdom. All prisoners who have been convicted of non-offensive magic, or who are waiting to stand trial for non-offensive magic, will be released from the prisons and workhouses across the kingdom. This also includes privately owned detention centers such as the Bootstrap Correctional Facility. The Southern Kingdom will create social programs to diminish the discrimination directed at magic; however, if anyone in the magical community would like to develop their abilities, you’ll invite them to join us at the Celeste Weatherberry Memorial Academy of Magic in the southeast In-Between. A knight named Horence will be waiting to safely escort them through the woods.’”

“‘Number two,’” Emerelda read as she took the scroll from Brystal. “‘The In-Between will be divided into equally proportioned territories for the people and creatures living there. The west will be given to the dwarfs, the northwest will be given to the elves, the southwest will be given to the ogres, the northeast will be given to the goblins, the southeast will be given to the magical community, and the rest will be given to the trolls. The Southern Kingdom will also send food, medical supplies, building equipment, and other provisions to those territories so they never fight over resources again.’”

“‘Number three,’” Xanthous read. “‘The Southern Kingdom will establish
education and employment equality
. You will abolish the law prohibiting women from reading, joining libraries, or pursing any profession they desire. Boys and girls can attend any school they wish, including the University of Law and the Chariot Hills School for Future Wives and Mothers.’”

“‘Number four,’” Skylene read. “‘Starting today, the original Book of Faith will be the only Book of Faith that Southern Kingdom officials are allowed to reference. The High Justices will no longer make amendments or manipulate religion to serve their political agenda. Furthermore, attending services at the Chariot Hills Cathedral, or any other place of worship, is strictly optional and no longer a requirement.’”

“‘Number five,’” Tangerina read. “‘All banned books will be reprinted and made available to the public. You will also issue public apologies to the families of all the authors you “silenced” and you’ll make your citizens aware of the means and methods you used to find and terminate them.’”

“‘Number six,’” Lucy said. “‘All rules and restrictions related to creative freedom and artistic expression will be removed from the law. Also, the tambourine will be regarded as the official instrument of the Southern Kingdom and all citizens will be required to play it for a minimum of—’”

Tangerina snatched the scroll out of Lucy’s hands before she went any further.

“She’s making up that last part about the tambourine,” Tangerina told the men. “But the rest is in there.”

Once the classmates finished reading the scroll of their demands, the throne room erupted with objections. The Justices screamed their disagreements and reservations until all the men turned bright red.

“This is outrageous!”

“They have no right to order us around!”

“How dare these
heathens
demand anything!”

“They belong in prison, not in a throne room!”

“We will never take commands from the likes of them!”

Brystal raised her hand toward the ceiling and a bright, thunderous blast erupted from the tip of her wand. All the Justices went silent and cowered away from her.

“All of this is
your
fault!” Brystal shouted. “If you had created a world where everyone was treated equally, a world that valued people’s differences, and a world that recognized the potential in each citizen—
we wouldn’t be having this conversation
! But you’ve spent your careers fueling the hate, the discrimination, and the oppression that
gave birth
to the Snow Queen!
Her frost is on your hands!
So if you expect us to clean up the mess you’ve made, then you
will
follow our demands—and if you don’t, then I suggest you all go coat shopping, gentlemen, because you’re in for a very, very long winter.”