Amerie had never seen mornings begin in the star realm and was given no warning by Grandmother Lynzdei, who had awoken her after her nap. Amerie had always loved the sky, but this. This bewitched her. She stood captivated by the dawn.
The stars whizzed around in a frenzy, chiming every time they bumped into each other. They streaked across, painting over the inky night sky with the dusty blue of early morn. The stars were painters, artists, and every morning they created their masterpiece. Amerie thought they put every firework show she had ever seen to shame.
Watching the star-dawn also cooled Amerie’s nerves. The prospect of opposing King Cedrych face to face was putting Amerie off her berries. But the beauty of the heavens above reassured Amerie that the star realm was essentially good, and so was Cedrych. So maybe she wouldn’t be walking straight into a death trap. Amerie tutted at herself. Get a grip.
“Grandmother Lyndzei, I’m going to go now. To the left, right?” said Amerie, trying to sound confident.
“Yes, brave Amerie.”
“Wait, do you mean the left or the left-right because it might’ve sounded like I said ‘left-right’ instead of left?”
It was clear that Amerie’s courage was already crumbling.
“Just to the left, Amerie. Cedrych will be the largest tree there. Take this leaf with you, it is my testament to your good character. But knowing what Cedrych has become, it might not mean much to him.”
“Thank you, Grandmother Lyndzei. It might not be worth much to King Cedrych,” Amerie glowed, “but it means a lot to me.”
Grandmother Lyndzei smiled softly before she said teasingly, “Now off you go, Amerie, before I reach a thousand years old. Don’t worry, young acorn. I have faith in your plan, and you.”
Amerie grinned. “See ya!” she said, exaggeratedly waving her arm behind her.
Grandmother Lyndzei watched her leave. She blamed the dew on the morning mist.
Amerie sang to herself as she walked through the forest, partly to drown out the deafening silence from the magical creatures who were boycotting her and partly because when Amerie was afraid she liked to let out her feelings - opera style.
“Figaro, figaro, figaro, figarooo!” Amerie yodelled. She then considered she was acting against her own best interest. If she was King Cedrych, she would let the tree surgeons hack her to pieces too. But what if - in a twist of fate - Cedrych actually loved opera? Maybe her voice would be enchanting enough to persuade him to let go of Jack and the others? Amerie was content to delude herself with this fairytale and sang on.
Amerie heard King Cedrych before she saw him.
“Who defied my orders by letting a child-human in here, and who allowed it to sing?” King Cedrych boomed.
It then occurred to Amerie that even though the rest of the forest hadn’t spoken to her this whole time, they also hadn’t tattled on her to King Cedrych. She felt slightly grateful.
Amerie walked into his view and curtsied as best as she could in her pinafore. “Um, Grandmother Lyndzei, Your Treeliness. I have a leaf from her,” she mumbled.
The leaf fluttered weakly up to King Cedrych but was immediately struck down by one of his branches. Amerie gulped.
“If Lyndzei has the audacity to defy the King then no recommendation from her can help you! You will suffer in her place. The King orders,” he bellowed, “instant execution!”
“Uh, I’m guessing democracy or parliament isn’t really a thing in the star realm, is it?”
King Cedrych roared with laughter, “if I hadn’t just ordered your execution, I would have you hung for heresy. Of course,” his eyes knotted savagely, “the only authority here is me! It has only ever been me!” he ranted.
Amerie’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. Does King Cedrych not remember the previous king? She remembered that her mother had said that Cedrych had been infected by something. Amerie took in King Cedrych’s appearance. His leaves were alarmingly purple, and the sickly colour travelled down his trunk, discolouring the natural colour of the bark in patches. He wasn’t just a hollow old tree, Amerie realised, he was ill. Ill in a way that any old man might be. His mind was deteriorating, degenerating. It wasn’t just that he wasn’t the tree he used to be, he had been gripped by some type of dementia.
Amerie’s epiphany was broken by a twig scratching her cheek. Less than a quarter a second later, a branch slammed to the ground by her feet. So he’s serious about the whole execution thing. An overcast shadow warned Amerie that another branch had been launched like a missile towards her. She had to think quickly, but her body reacted faster than she did. She fell forwards, escaping the star realm and re-entering the human realm.
She was proudly shocked by her own subconscious ingenuity. Amerie remembered when she had secretly gone to the woods under the ruse of getting her bicycle. She had panicked when coming back to the human realm because she had no idea where the police were in the forest and whether or not they would catch her. But now she could flip the same principle and use it to her advantage. King Cedrych would have no idea where she would reappear in the star realm.
Amerie stepped a few meters to the right and fell back in.
King Cedrych alighted with fury as soon as he saw her, “You charlatan! Trickster!” He lobbed another branch in her direction. But Amerie spun through the ground again.
She reappeared further back, and this pattern continued for a while. Each time King Cedrych tried to smash Amerie into smithereens, Amerie would simply disappear into the ground again. She had a newfound sympathy for the moles in Whack-A-Mole. Being annoyingly elusive was taxing on the body.
“I am not the trickster!” Amerie said between dodges, “It’s Desaraelfrun!”
“Lies!” blasted King Cedrych. But Amerie could tell that he was exhausted and running out of branches.
Either way, she was no longer afraid. She had already outsmarted him. But still, that wasn’t her objective. It was to save the lost children.
“I can prove it!” declared Amerie.
“How?” King Cedrych rumbled distrustfully. But there was something resigned about his stance.
Amerie took her chance. She pulled something out of her bag.
“With this.”
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