“Tell me the story again,” Ada demanded.
“Well, long ago, this kingdom was once filled with magic. Healers could brew potions that could cure the scariest plagues, magicians could persuade even the most brilliant minds into thinking they were frogs, and magical weapons would never miss their mark. But the magic didn’t last…. It became weaker and weaker, and soon, only the royal family could wield any magic worth using. And finally, only the Queen could summon any magic from within her. To the kingdom’s grief, her daughter, the Princess, was born without magic.”
“My favorite part is what the Queen does next,” Ada said, having memorized the story from start to finish.
“The Queen, worried that peace would be difficult to maintain in a kingdom without magic, took her most prized belongings and transferred the last of her magic into Gifts that would be passed on from generation to generation.”
“Six gifts. The crown, the gloves, the ring, the bow, the staff, and the sword,” Ada dutifully recited as she had learned in her history lesson.
“Each gift had a different type of magic. In an agreement between the royal family, the military, and the temple, the Queen decided to possess the crown, the military the sword, and the temple the staff. The other four gifts would be hidden by the Keepers until there was a person worthy of wielding the Gift without abusing its powers. We called the Gift wielders the Guardians of the Crown.”
Ada wrinkled her brow, confused. She had heard the tale many times before and could recite the entire story by heart, but she had never heard this version before. “The other four gifts…? Clearly you meant to say three, Grandmother.”
Her grandmother laughed. “That’s how most people tell the story. My version has seven gifts in total,” she said.
“Really? Then what’s the seventh gift?”
Eyes twinkling mysteriously, her grandmother raised a slim finger to her lips. “As a Keeper, I’m forbidden to say,” she said with a wink.
Ada burst out into peels of laughter. “You can’t be a Keeper! There are only three in the kingdom at a time.”
“Oh really, and what makes you say I can’t be one of the three?”
“Grandmother, you wouldn’t be able to fight off any bad people who wanted to steal the gift. You talk about your aching knees a lot,” Ada pointed out.
Grandmother chuckled. “Maybe that’s why a certain Granddaughter should stop skipping archery practice so that she can defend her helpless Grandmother if bad people were to raid the town.”
Ada groaned. “I knew this would turn into some kind of lesson.”
Her grandmother leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “Now, off to sleep Ada.”
Comments (0)
See all