Fantasia

Chapter 6

The next morning, they cleared the spot where they were camping, and took off for the Elf Empire. They could fly much faster now, since Strokes had made them bigger wings.

They reached the border of the elf empire, and decided to walk from there. They had to cross another market, and there, they saw elves selling cows, goats and horses.

Vicky got an idea. She took out the gold coins they had taken in strokes' house and counted them. They had 30.

She squinted at the sign of the person selling horses and saw that one horse was for 5 gold coins.

'Let's buy some horses. We can travel much faster that way. I am tired of travelling by air anyway.'

Ellie and strokes agreed, and they walked over to the elf selling horses. They went to each and every horse, and seeing which one they should pick.

Ellie stopped at a beautiful horse with silky, brown hair. She placed a hand on her nose, which had a strip of white. The horse neighed and nuzzled her.

Ellie smiled and asked the horse, 'what's you name?'

The elf replied, 'that's spirit. She's a fast horse, and she's seems to like you a lot.'

Ellie turned to her side and saw Vicky approaching a white horse. The horse nuzzled her, and the elf said that her name was Sugar.

Both Ellie and Vicky hugged and nuzzled the horses, and together, they asked Strokes, 'can we take both horses?' Strokes was also nuzzling a horse, a chestnut colored one called chestnut. 'Let's take all three.'

And they gave 15 gold coins to the elf and mounted the horses. Just like the elf had said, all the horses were fast. They got to the castle of Empress Esmeralda in no time.

It wasn't a castle; it was a tree house. It was tall and magnificent, with a huge house on top. There were wooden steps going up the house, and on either side of the double doors of the house, there were pots of roses. The tree was an oak tree, and the branches run over the top and all around the house like a canopy.

There was a balcony right above the double doors, and they could see a tall woman with emerald green hair and matching eyes. Her ears were pointed, and she wore a beautiful crown of roses without thorns. She smiled, and gestured to them to come to her.

'That's Empress Esmeralda.' Strokes muttered, and they sent their horses into the nearby field to graze. They climbed the steps, and an elf with blue-grey hair greeted them with a smile.

'Welcome to the Elf Empire. Empress Esmeralda is waiting for you.' and she took them up the steps and into the throne room on the second floor.

In the throne room, Empress Esmeralda was sitting on her throne. She got up to greet them, and she said, 'Thank you, Lily. Now, I wish to be alone with them now.'

The elf that had escorted them, Lily, bowed and backed out of the room, closing the door behind her. Empress Esmeralda turned to them and took them by the hand to three comfy and cushiony chairs and sat them down.

She then sat down on her throne and asked them with a sweet smile, 'what is your names? And I think this young man is an elf, right?'

Vicky was quick to introduce them, since Ellie would introduce them with their full names, which she hated. 'I am Vicky, this is my sister Ellie and that is Strokes.'

Empress Esmeralda smiled and said, 'it's my pleasure to meet you. What brings you to the elf empire?'

They glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes. Ellie decided that it was safe for them to tell her and they could trust her. They told her how they had landed in the corner forest and how they had to collect the most prized possessions of the rulers of the kingdoms to meet lady Iris. After they had finished, the empress nodded slowly. 'So, you want me to hand over my prized possession which is my crown. But, I am so sorry. I can't just hand over my crown.' Ellie lowered her head and said, 'yes, I know you can't do that, your majesty. But, you can give is a flower from it and I'll give it back to you as soon as we see Lady Iris.'