Moonheal and the Seven Seas

"Red will look great on the Air Palace."

                                                                            ~Chapter three~

Evera

The day her sisters left, Eve lectured Evera one more time, repeating everything she needed to do over and over again even though Evera had memorized the list already since the thousandth time Eve said it — never collect too much tax — never let the Air Palace get polished with a certain type of cleaning water which will damage the marble floors — never let the chef make strawberry pie on Sundays — never forget the Full Moon Festival preparations, which was coming up in the middle of the month — and then a bunch of other things, blah blah, blah. Evera tried her best not to throw up this time. But when her sisters finally left, she felt relaxed and refreshed and excited at the same time — now that she had the whole Continent in her hands, what was she going to do first to steer the kingdoms into the most gloriful future? Everyone would love her, that was for sure — she could just imagine the impressed expression on Moon and Eve's faces when they returned. She would show them that she was more than a second-hand sister who was lovable and wore fancy, cute dresses. There would be a "Queen Evera the Second" and "Queen Evera the Third" — everyone would remember her forever and ever. She would be the symbol of pride and glory. No one would underestimate her by then. So, back to the question — what was she going to do first? Eve had said that the western tribes by the Rocky Mountains were making some trouble these days. She wanted Evera to help them settle down, or at least hold them there while Eve was gone — but of course Evera was going to choose the first option, which was a perfect chance for changing something beautifully. Also, the Air Palace's curtains were too white. Everything in the Air Palace was too white — no one would see it against the clouds on important occasions. So she had an excellent idea. The Air Palace would become more beautiful, more noticeable under her care. She smiled. She liked the color red. Important things first, decorative things last, her mind reminded her. She sighed. Alright. Important things — the western tribes. Hmm. How could she settle them? Well, for instance she could settle them with violence — but the western tribes were already part of the Air Kingdom, and that would almost certainly lower the kingdom's monthly average ranks. So — what else could she do? Could she plead the western tribe into submitting for peace? Why not? She thought about it for a moment. The western tribe lived near the Rocky Mountains — maybe that was why they made trouble, bingo! The Rocky Mountains were so steep, no one would want to settle there. The western tribe only needed a new home! Where was the best place for that? Evera traced her finger along the outlines of the Air Kingdom map. Hmm. Her finger stopped on somewhere marked, The Nomad Villages. Of course! The monks and nomads in the temples used up too much space — certainly a single shrine could occupy more people than only one temple of monks. Yes, she was so, SO brilliant at this! This was sooo easy! "I decree," she wrote majestically in her royal message, "the western tribe moved to the Nomad Villages. One temple can inhabit two monks, one nomad and four tribals. Order sent from Queen Evera of the Fire Kingdom, temporarily queen of the Element Continent, filling in for Queen Eve of the Air Kingdom and Queen Moon from the Water Kingdom." She paused for a moment. Was this message too formal, or too long or something? Oh, yes — not Moon, Moonheal. She quickly scribbled the word, Heal beside Moon. Much better. What else? She tried to recall all of Eve's royal decrees — a sort of royal symbol on the bottom corner, perhaps. She fumbled about Eve's office, but found no secret symbol in her files. Maybe I'm wrong, Evera guessed. She shrugged. It was fine — she could ask Icea later. Okaaay . . . now that she has finished important duties for the day, maybe she'll work on the decorative part. What color was that again? Oh, red, of course. She was almost certain the color red would look beautiful on the Air Palace.