The Portal to Elendor

Cindy

I grab Marina from the portal, I hear screams and cries of surprise as she disappears.

"What did you jump for?!" Jo screams at Marina "Why couldn't you just walk through like the rest of us? People saw you!"

"I'm sorry, Jo. I thought I could jump but I missed, I didn't mean it guys. I'm sorry." Marina says almost crying

I give Marina a big hug "It's ok Marina, it was an accident and accidents happen to us all."

Marina hugs me back and says "Thanks, Cindy." And Jo apologises to her too.

Then we run through the meadow as fast as we can. We reach Elendor and Mr Bobbins runs out of his hut, a big grin on his face.
"You're back! Oh welcome back my ladies!" Mr Bobbins cries gleefully "Aperta porta! Oh welcome back."

"Hi Mr Bobbins!" Fran says

"Great to be back." I say

"Mr Bobbins! Mr Bobbins! I got stuck in the portal!" Marina says.

"Stuck in the portal? How did you manage that?"
Marina then proceeds to tell Mr Bobbins about how she got stuck. Now that I think about it her getting stuck in the portal was actually hilarious.
Marina finishes her story and a laughing Mr Bobbins takes us through town. We've almost reached the square when a group of men wearing silver helmets, red tabards and holding shields and pikes appear.

"Swynford Bobbins!" One of them says in a very deep voice

"Crikey, it's the guards!" Mr Bobbins gasps "Can I help you?"

"We are here to escort the outsiders to the castle!" The guard replies "They are not under arrest but their Majesties wish to speak with them."

"You have a Royal family?" Marina gasps "Like a pretty queen? Oh my goodness can I meet them?"
The guards look at each as if to say 'that's a crazy one'.
Marina runs up to the guards "I want to see a beautiful queen!"

Well at least she's enthusiastic. I think for a moment, the guards say that we're not under arrest, the King and queen just want to talk to us. I look at Fran and Jo we nod and walk towards the guards.

We follow them through the town and eventually we reach a stone wall. I look up and see a big  castle on top of a massive hill. One of the guards shouts something and another guard behind the wall shouts something back and the big doors open. We walk through and we see lots of people bustling about. Some are richly dressed, others look more poor. Some people have baskets of cloth, some have trays of bread and cakes, a man walks past being followed by geese! The guards smile and say 'hello' to everyone and the smile and wave back.
We reach another wall with another wooden gate and a hut. One of the guards walks up to the hut and says

"Ikobel! Their Majesties wish to speak with these ladies!"

The man, Ikobel, replies "Right oh, Solon!"

He raises the gate and we enter a beautiful garden filled with roses, daffodils and flowers I don't even recognise. There is a marble fountain in the middle of the garden. We walk towards the big castle and enter a hallway, there is a big, stone staircase facing us. We turn right and enter a very grand room. There is people watching us on either side and at the end of the room there is a man and a woman sitting on thrones and both are wearing glittering crowns, I assume that they are the king and queen. We reach them and the guards bow.

"So you four are outsiders?" The King asks "Not from Elendor or the surrounding lands?"

"Well, I've never heard of Elendor before yesterday and we got here via portal. So uh yeah we're not local." A nervous Fran says

"There's no need to be nervous dearie," The Queen smiles "Tell me, what are your names?"

"I'm Frances but most people call me Fran. That's Marina, that's Jo and that's Cindy."

I nod my head a little as Fran introduces me, honestly I'm not entirely sure what to do I've never met Royalty before.
The King asks for us the queen and members of the council to follow him to another room, so that he may discuss secret matters privately. He whispers something to a servant and they scurry off. We all look at each confused but we follow everyone anyway.
We enter a smaller room and we sit on some stools.

The King stands up and says "As you know evil has been lurking in these lands for a long, long time. Fortunately we have always been able to keep it at bay, however recently a stronger, darker evil has threatened these lands and..."

He stops as a girl of about my age comes in. She has black hair and a medieval snood. She wears a dark blue dress also of medieval style, she has green eyes and a round face.

"You sent for me father." She says

"Yes, Belladonna. Could you please escort these ladies to your study and fill them in on what's been going on please?" The King asks

She curtsies slightly "Of course father, my lady mother."

She smiles sweetly at us and asks us to follow her. Marina looks ecstatic. We follow Belladonna through a hallway and up some stairs.

"Are you really a princess?" Marina asks excitedly "Princess Belladonna! That's a really pretty name, my name is Marina. Oh I love your dress."

The princess laughs a little and says "Please, Marina, just call me Bella. And you can borrow some of my clothes if you want, you all can."

Marina squeals with excitement. Bella opens a door and we enter. Inside are lots of old books and glass bottles, in the corner there is a desk and chair and in the middle of the room there is some sort of altar.

"I'm not sure if magic is common where you come from," Bella says "But here it is relatively common for someone to learn how to do some basic magic using enchanted objects. However those born with magic, like myself, are very rare and we are known as mage's or magi. Some magi are very good with magic after years of studying the it. The High Priestess is in charge of making sure that all magic is used properly and each of the five kingdoms has its own Magi Lord or Lady to teach and protect magic in their own land. However a mage who goes by the name of Violet Méchant, has been trying to take over the kingdoms by using black magic. She has either kidnapped or killed all the Magi Lords and Ladies, the High Priestess has gone into hiding. Yesterday I created a portal, a portal which you discovered. Things are grim and we need your help. Will you help us?"

This has been a lot to take in but without hesitation I say "Of course."