What if Narnia's wardrobe was in a psych unit?
Agatha Stone is not the chosen one--she's the last one. She's thirteen, mentally ill, and whiny, but she's all that's left.
She's not what they were expecting, but she's all they have. Maybe with the...
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The sounds of people making breakfast wakes me from a disturbed sleep. As soon as the tree notices that I'm awake, it spreads its branches to let in the morning light. At least, I think it's morning. The sky is still the same dim purple it was the night before.
Jonah and the two fairies greet me when I stumble into the kitchen. I'm not a morning person, but I manage a polite response. I plop into the open seat across from Jonah, and Hetty promptly places breakfast in front of me.
"Thanks," I manage. This is the second day in a row that people have cooked for and served me. The attention is making me more self-conscious than usual. I don't know how to respond to their kindness. I wish everyone would stop treating me like I'm special. I want to be left alone because at least I know how to handle that.
Hetty places a bowl of cherries in front of Jonah, and a happy grin spreads across his face. He looks like one of Auntie's cats when he does that. His mouth is so large he can almost literally smile from ear to ear—if he has ears, that is. He never drops his hood far enough for me to see.
He carefully picks up a cherry, and after studying it for a moment, he eats the entire thing, including the pit and stem.
After we clear the breakfast dishes, Jonah and I walk back to the platform we were on last night. It's strange that the sky is still the same shade of dim purple and the light is exactly as it was last night, even though a significant amount of time has passed.
The fires continue to burn in the streetlamps, and everything is identical to yesterday except it's deserted. There are no faeries flying around; even the trees are quiet. When we reach the top of the platform, the thrones are gone and in their place are two guards in front of a wall of leaves. When we arrive at the wall, the guards step aside and the tree opens its branches, forming an archway.
The walls are alive, constructed completely out of living leaves in every color imaginable. The leaves attach to a multitude of equally colorful branches passing through the chamber at all angles, like Hetty's home, only much bigger and fancier.
There are doors leading off to other areas, but most of them are closed. The few that are open reveal long ornate passageways that make me want to run down the halls and see how big this place really is.
Our footfalls resonate loudly on the shiny stone floors, and my heart beats faster with every echo. I avert my eyes from the throne in the center of the room and study the few finely-crafted furnishings in the chamber.
The expansive room is practically empty with the exception of the dozens of armored guards and King Ohad, who is even bigger and more kingly today. I draw my eyes up to study the mural made of flowers. It's a faerie killing a dragon in midflight, and it seems to be moving as the plants grow.
I'm so absorbed in the painting and how it can move that I jump when Jonah grabs my sweaty hand and leads me to the dais.
"Jonah," the King says with a stern tone. This is definitely not the same friendly man as last night. "I want you to make sure that Agatha understands what is expected of her before she embarks on the voyage. I want her to know exactly what is at stake."
"Yes, your Majesty," Jonah agrees, not intimidated at all.
"Agatha," the King continues. "Learn all you can from Jonah before your voyage so you make a mindful choice. If you decide to undertake your quest to find the key, know that the odds of you succeeding are slim. You are ill-prepared and too young."
My knees weaken at his words. I was about to confess that I'm not going on any quest. I was ready to thank them for the party and good food, but inform them that they have the wrong girl. I'd anticipated them giving me some nice words before I left, but the King's tone makes me hold my tongue. Maybe he suspects that Jonah found the wrong Agatha?
"No one can properly prepare you for this task because you would not understand what you are told," he continues. "But know this, you will face horrors you did not know existed."
The King waves his hand, and an enormous dinosaur materializes twenty feet to my left. Its squat crimson body stands on four stout legs and is covered in large pink spots. Its stubby speckled head possesses two huge emerald eyes at the top and four massive fangs at the bottom.
The animal is temporarily stunned. But then it lets out a roar so loud it hurts my ears. After a deep inhale, it breathes out a plume of fire right before it charges at me. It's so heavy that the entire room shakes and the reverberations travel up my body, locking me in place.
How am I seeing what I'm seeing? My brain shuts off and makes some kind of humming noise as I stand helplessly when the monster charges.
It's so close, the musky scent of its skin wafts up my nose. Its warm breath blows past my face. A flash of black jumps in front of me. It's Jonah with his staff drawn, ready for battle.
The monster vanishes.
With the danger gone, Jonah spins around to face me. He grabs me by the shoulders and studies my ashen face. "Are you okay?"
My brain switches back on with a rush of sensory information that almost makes me faint. I can't answer because images of what just happened are flashing through my head, with each new scene increasing my terror. Jonah sounds frightened, too. That makes me even more scared, as if him being afraid validates my fear.
"That's a dragon," I manage with a shaky voice.
I want him to tell me that I imagined it, that dragons aren't real, so I couldn't possibly have seen one. When he says nothing, I point to where it was. "That's a dragon."
I shake my head. "I'm not going."
Jonah's grip tightens on my arms. It's painful, so I try to pull away, but my legs have stopped working. In fact, I can't even feel them.
"That's a dragon. I'm not going," I repeat in case he didn't hear me the first time.
Jonah wraps his arm around my waist and lifts me off the ground. He holds me close and strokes my hair with his other arm. This is the second hug in two days. "No harm will come to you," he whispers. "You're in Manahata. You are safe. His Majesty just wanted to show you something that may await you if you decide to search for the key."
He gently puts me down. "Agatha, you're being asked to make a choice. I'm going to take you to the voyage, and that will help you make a decision. No one will force you to search for the key. Do you understand? You're safe. You can leave right now if you want."
I don't believe a word he's saying. I want him to tell me that what I saw wasn't a dragon because dragons aren't real. When he says nothing, I get angry because he's not telling me what I want to hear.
"That's a dragon. Dragons are real. A dragon was here!" The words come out as an accusation, and I'm immediately ashamed. I'm not a confrontational person. I don't want Jonah to be mad at me for being mad at him when the person I'm really mad at is King Ohad for putting me through that. I can't lose Jonah, he's all I've got.
"Agatha," King Ohad calls to me.
I turn my attention to him, glad that Jonah doesn't have the opportunity to respond to my outburst.
"I apologize for frightening you," Ohad continues. "But I want you to be aware that what I'm telling you is true. There is a good chance you could die..."
I'm not listening to this. I shake my head. "I'm not going. I'm going back to Queens, to my bed. I'll wake up and be proud that I can imagine such things."
I know it's rude. I do have better manners, but I'm not the person they're looking for. I haven't even started searching for this key, and I was almost killed. I've never known that kind of fear before.
Jonah puts his arm around my shoulders and walks me a short distance away from the King. He gives me a sideways hug and periodically rubs my back. He eventually convinces me that I'm not in any danger and promises that the King won't make the dragon return.
My fear subsides, and I calm down a bit. Then King Ohad commands, "Agatha, come here."
