The Toy Prince

5. Ursula

Konigreich was beautiful.

It was a world that belonged straight out of the 1900's right down to the fashion of the people walking by. Everywhere she looked there were things that boggled her mind and looking at the fashions made her self-conscious about her own modern clothes. In them she stuck out like a sore thumb.

She was the only one who seemed concerned however so she quickly adapted and followed her group to the edge of the street. That was when she noticed that not everything about Konigreich was antiquated but neither was it quite 21st century.

Josephine stuck a hand out in the same way that one would hail a taxi. The thing that stopped in front of them wasn't a taxi. For starters there was no roof, the wheels were bigger more like carriage wheels than car tyres. A man sat in a wide bench like seat with an oversized steering wheel in front of him. He flashed the group a wide smile and tipped the brim of his newsboy cap at them.

"Where're you off to today Miss Josephine?" he asked in a cheerful voice.

"The palace please," Josephine responded, pulling some money out of her pocket. "We need to get there as quickly as possible."

"The palace it is," the driver replied.

Josephine climbed in first followed by Ursula and then Adler. Once they were all comfortably seated the driver pulled off, weaving through the lanes of traffic with surprising speed and skill.

On the way to the palace, Adler pointed out various landmarks. The buildings were all reminiscent of your average town. In fact the layout of the city, which was apparently called Konig, was reminiscent of Nuremburg.

Apparently Axel had come for Nuremburg and used it as a template for Konig. The rest of the kingdom was made up of four different counties – Konig, Zuckerlöcke, Schneeland and Rosenkopf. Axel lived in a palace on the edge of Konig which was where they were headed.

Konig castle appeared on the horizon. Here was the part of the kingdom that wouldn't look amiss in a Disney movie. It rose above them in an icy palette of white stone and black shingles on its various turrets and towers. From her position Ursula could see a set of steps leading up to a cover walkway that overlooked a simple garden with a fountain as the centre piece. To one side there was a raised circular balcony with its own private set of steps leading down to yet another garden.

The driver pulled to a stop just outside of the palace. Ursula was shocked that they were allowed to get so close without some kind of security stopping them. She was imagining guards like those outside of Buckingham Palace in England. Here there was none of that but as there were no stragglers wandering around maybe they didn't need guards? Certainly nobody stopped them as they climbed up the two sets of stairs to what appeared to be the front door.

Josephine knocked on the door. It was opened almost immediately by a man who was wearing a very familiar looking uniform. Ursula jumped back with a small yelp before the logical part of her brain kicked in and told her that the bad guys would not be answering the palace door.

"Are you OK miss?" the man asked.

Ursula covered her embarrassment with her usual fullback position of snark and sarcasm. An annoying character flaw but one that was an effective armour.

"You know you should really think about changing the colour of your uniforms. The bad guys wear theirs like that too."

"They do?" the man asked.

"Yep. That's why we're here by the way. To tell the King about the five people who kidnapped my Oma, Annelie Silber. Can you tell him we're here please?"

She added the last part to soften the effects of her sarcasm. Plus it was always better to be polite in situations like this. Her thoughtfulness seemed to go unnoticed because everyone, including her own group included, were standing in shocked silence. The man in front of her was actually open mouthed in his shock.

"Are you OK?" she parroted his previous words back to him.

The man snapped his mouth shut with a loud clack and nodded brusquely. He stepped to the side to allow them in. Needless to say Ursula went in first. The others took another moment to recover before running to catch up with them.

The man, whose name was apparently Johan, took them to a parlour room that looked so pristine that Ursula didn't dare sit on any of the chairs. Instead she stood by one of the windows that overlooked the city of Konig.

The higher vantage point allowed her a magnificent view of the gothic architecture that gave Konig its character. The simplest word for it was beautiful and was very appealing to her especially when she compared it to the complex world she lived in.

The happy thoughts suddenly gave way to darker thoughts. The worry over her Oma was really beginning to eat at her and she was getting agitated having to wait to get help. Waiting may have been necessary because she had no idea where to start looking for her Oma but she sure as hell didn't have to like it.

At that moment Johan returned. Ursula gladly followed him through the palace corridors until they were back outside. They were on the circular balcony that she'd seen earlier.

There was a small table with a wheelchair next to it. In that wheelchair was an older man whom Johan introduced as King Axel Meiger.

"Come closer please," Axel spoke with a strong voice despite his advanced age.

Ursula walked around the table, taking the chair directly opposite the King. He was supposed to be the man to solve all of her problems but she doubted it. For some reason she didn't expect much from the frail looking man in front of her who couldn't even seem to stand up on his own. Yet when their eyes met Ursula was hit by how alive they seemed. Axel's body may have given up the ghost but his mind was still there.

A soft smile made the wrinkles on his face deepen. The others sat down around them but Axel never spared them a glance. When everybody was settled down and the table was silent Axel finally spoke.

"Johan, bring us some tea please," he said, waving Johan away. "So, Johan tells me that need my help. How can I be of service?"