Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, stood a glorious Kingdom, harmonious, in every possible way. And in this land of plenty and pleasure, a special seed was sown, to heal a Queen whose heart did sadly groan...

HE QUEEN, brokenhearted and herself childless, lived in a castle which sat between the kingdom's two highest peaks overseeing all the land's inhabitants. It was a huge, white castle with at least twenty long, pointed turrets that seemed to almost pierce the sky—a royal dominium taller than the tallest of giants.

In happier days, when the Queen looked out of the beautiful windows of her towers, she would see all kinds of wonderful exotic birds. Reaching her slender arm out, they would come and feed from the palm of her hand. So frequent were their visits that she lovingly named each one of her feathered friends, and her sweet voice, like birdsong, echoed through the valleys.

This was, of course, before she became consumed with grief—when the King was alive and well. The Queen was very beautiful, with the poise of a ballerina. Her hair was as yellow as the sun, and her eyes were emerald in colour.

Fairies acted as servants of the castle. Although tiny, they possessed brute strength and could carry their sovereigns between the innumerable rooms. Each fairy wore a tabard that fitted perfectly around their wings with the royal emblem of a golden star. A coat of arms wasn’t needed in a kingdom where hostility didn’t exist.

Mythical creatures lived together harmoniously—wonderful witches living with trolls in caves. Unicorns came in every colour of the rainbow. The kingdom’s rich forests, freshwater streams, and safe dwellings were idyllic. Seasons arrived and provided. Nature was in balance, and there was food for all. Everybody spoke the same language, enabling all to freely speak with one another, despite their physical differences.

There was nothing to want, nothing to desire that this realm couldn't provide. But now, all lived at the behest of the wicked Queen's sorrow.  No one was really free now, because she wasn’t free from the pain of the king’s death.

Swaying in the waves of her grief, creatures hid their happiness, knowing their smiles cost lives. The Queen roamed the land seeking solace among her faithful, drawing on their goodness, dampening the kindest of hearts. Even the giants trembled at her cruelty.

***

O IT HAPPENED upon a beautiful spring day, as the sun tickled the dew on the petals of the roses in the royal gardens, that an old witch of some eighty years passed through. Almost bent over double, she tilted her head, revealing a nose as long and as crooked as the staff that supported her wretched frame. Withered and mean, she was of no concern to the Queen, as a life of sorcery had wiped the witch’s smile completely away.

“Have you come to smell my roses, old witch?” the Queen asked, in a voice laden with grief. “You may smell them, old woman, but please do not smile at their perfume, as my heart will ache and hang heavier than it already does.”

“Your majesty,” replied the witch in a croaky voice. “You have no threat of joy from me, for my wicked ways have twisted my soul and squeezed the kindness from me. However, I do bring news of hope that may help us both.”

“What is it, witch? Tell me quickly before it consumes me completely!”

The witch told her of a special seed, that if planted by the Queen, would sprout a new kingdom where pain and suffering would not exist. This kingdom would not reveal more than already existed, how could it? Instead, it was concerned with the state of each and every living soul. Particularly for the one that would sow the seed.

“And where may I find this seed?” asked the Queen.

“Argh! A hot tongue shall not scold what joy is hidden.”

It was of course a riddle, which the Queen, being very good at solving, didn't take long to answer. For in the land of plenty, playtime was a gift to be treasured as much as work, and many happy hours were spent playing such games as riddles.

The Queen tilted her head and roared in laughter. “Inside the mouth of a dragon, old woman?”

“It seems it's working its magic already,” the witch smiled. Neither the Queen nor the witch had laughed, or smiled, for many years.

In the valleys and the towns, word quickly spread of this seed.

Tucked away behind the powerful spray of the free flowing water, in caves that reached deep into the earth, the dragons were the first to learn of the special seed. 

The dragons, high peers of the realm, each held dignified positions within the Kingdom. Long ago, the King had decorated them all,  with a pendant of a star that hung on a gold chain around their long necks. It signified a mutual trust and reminded all that real strength thrived in peace and harmony.

They nervously hinged their hopes upon the Queen, wanting to retrieve the special seed in order to restore her happiness. There was even talk, with the special relationship they held, of a dragon becoming King and all whilst perplexed by the potential of the special seed, were giddy with anticipation and beamed in exultation.

Soon, the smallest of the fairies were scanning the mouths of each and every dragon in search of the seed, flying around their sharp teeth. However, not one could find the precious seed, and not one fairy or dragon thought to check the mouth of their young. The dragons, whilst happy to assist, couldn’t help feeling offended by the Queen's  invasive approach.

The Queen, out of character, even in her grief, acted in haste. In her quest to find the seed, she waged an inquest as drastic as any war, by boldly instructing that the giants should escort the dragons to the castle for her inspection. Her grief had perpetuated her vanity.

One by one the thuds of their feet could be heard trudging slowly, through the land towards the castle, along with the long, loud, clapping sound of dragon wings above.

The Queen, possessed with a new found greed to find the seed along with a solution for her grief, unleashed her utmost cruelty, revealing a murderous heart and mind. High in the turrets, the fairies with strength beyond belief, were forced to slay the dragons in order to satisfy the Queen's demands.

All were slain except a baby dragon. A thread of compassion propelled the Queen to shackle his ankles under a twisted willow tree where he nursed his head in his hands. He was very sad and tears fell as he missed his mother.

He was born special, with a magic seed in his mouth.

As the mighty beasts, bearing the stars of dignity, crashed to the ground so did the hearts of the kingdom. A sacred agreement had been broken and no seed was to be found, for it lay still hidden in the tender mouth of the baby dragon.

***

HERE WAS WEEPING FOR DAYS, and the sky grew dark, the heavens opened and the floods came. The earth shook from the mighty thunder. Not a living soul was happy. Some say it was the King that thrust the land into despair, and that the floods were his tears at the Queen's actions. Even the witch was surprised at the Queen's cruelty and the pain she inflicted in her thirst for immediate happiness. Even if the seed could be found and planted, she knew the Queen’s soul would need much cultivation to heal and bear fruit.

Such unrest and division stirred from her destruction. Anger brewed amongst the fairies, and there was a rumor that the old witch may have cast a spell upon the Queen. Some of the trolls were planning to kidnap the Queen and hide her away behind the waterfall in the dragons’ caves.

In the most important town of the Kingdom on a most dreary, wet day, it was the wise words of Reuben, the unicorn, which brought clarity to the turmoil. Decorated with more colours than could ever be imagined, he summoned the crowd.

“Let the seed be her destiny,” he said, shaking his multicoloured mane with authority. All nodded in agreement. His wise words echoed throughout the land, magically infiltrating the Queen's mind.

And, it was at that moment, that the Queen decided that the mouth of the baby dragon should be searched. Upon finding the seed, she merrily tapped the head of the baby dragon, before ordering the rest of the dragons to be buried in the lake under the waterfall. The giants carried each of them, eight in total, and threw them over the falls where they plunged, one by one, into its great depths. The Queen, carried by the fairies to spectate, held tightly onto the silk purse containing the special seed. Shedding a few tears, eight in total, momentarily she felt her grief pass, even in her hand the seed was working its magic, restoring not only her control on grief. 

With the aid of her fairies, she flew to plant the seed retrieved from the child dragon. It was to be planted in the middlemost ground, which, in the land of plenty, was the most beautiful place in the kingdom. From here one could see across the entire realm.

“Dig it deep,” she instructed the garden fairy, as he dug into the land's soil with his strength. “I want to gain its full benefit.”

She tossed the seed into the depths of the ground. In an instant the seed began to grow. Before long a skinny tree burst forth from the soil, with young shoots and tender branches already eagerly sprouting out.

The Queen shuddered at the sight of the tree rapidly maturing. Even she didn’t think its power could work so quickly. It extended its glory through its long knobbly limbs. As the tree grew upwards and outwards, the Queen’s body began to twist and bend over downwards towards the ground,  her silk cape and exquisite garments puddled on the ground, and her dainty crown toppled from her head. She strained to look at the tree, which had grown to full size. It had a strong, sturdy trunk and a full crown laden with dark green leaves. Shafts of light worked hard to break through its many branches.

The tree was indeed beautiful, and in no time at all, woodland creatures of all kinds flocked to see the royal evergreen. Red squirrels and snowy white rabbits scampered around, and even a woodpecker arrived out of nosy curiosity.

From the dizzying heights where she once lived in the castle, her home was now the forest floor amongst new friends. Outwardly her body was bending and closing, yet inwardly her heart was curing and opening. And where her power was once lauded high above, she was now at the mercy of her most lowly subjects.

***

S THE DAYS PASSED, so did her sorrow in the simplicity she now found herself living in. The heartache that once weighed so heavily began to dissipate. One day, not far from the tree, a free-spirited gazelle was painfully tied in brambles and thorns. As the Queen shuffled and struggled upon her hands and knees,  to unbind her subject, she reflected upon herself, and in doing so began to release the chains of her own grief. 

She found a new happiness. The food she ate was from the very ground she crawled upon with the other woodland creatures. Little by little, the tree became her shelter and her new kingdom.

Word spread of the Queen's transformation. Her singing once again could be heard, and some even say they saw her smiling.

In the land of plenty smiles returned, and fear was lost.

Even the fairies, most broken-hearted, soon rejoiced in her new found cheeriness.

On a dewy morning, as the Queen gathered mushrooms from the forest floor, carefully placing them into her pocket that hung down from her skirt, she heard the familiar tap of a crooked staff.

“Is that you, old witch?” she asked.

“Is your majesty pleased with her new kingdom from the special seed?” asked the witch.

“Yes, thank you. I truly am.”

“Very good, your majesty,” the witch croaked. “Shall the woodcutter tear down the tree now? For then your majesty can return to her castle in all its glory.”

“No, the tree is my home now.”

Surprised, the witch paused. “Very well, your majesty.”

The witch banged her staff on the ground, and as she did the Queen disintegrated into dust.

A gentle wind blew the dust towards the tree and the droplets of dew hungrily absorbed them. In that moment, the tears the Queen had spilt over the dragons restored them back to life. The fairies were very happy indeed.

As news spread throughout the kingdom, many sought refuge and solace under her majestic branches as the tree grew as wide and as tall as the castle itself. Her branches touched the silk cloud upon which the King could be seen sitting, smiling.

And everyone lived happily ever after.