Queen’s Sacrifice #AtoZChallenge

Read previous parts here: one | two

Mary walked out, knowing what her daughter was going through. But she couldn’t tell her what the loophole was. She couldn’t let her go. A beautiful future was waiting ahead for her. If only she had had time when it was her chance, she grimaced as she thought when she lost her mother in exchange for this kingdom. If only she had known the key to freedom before her time was up. But she couldn’t even tell her daughter the answer of this riddle which would only bring her death.

***

Alice knew that she was lied to, else her mother wouldn’t have left abruptly. She picked up the ring and walked out of the room after donning an overcoat and a hat for she didn’t want any attention to herself. On the way she glanced at the huge clock that hung in the dinning Hall. She had only seven hours to do whatever it would take to save her mother’s sacrifice.

After almost half an hour, avoiding every person that stared her way, she reached her destination. She gently knocked at the door to be met only by silence. Her repeated knocks were only met by unbreaking silence. Losing hope, she turned away to go and look for other alternatives.

“Leaving so soon?” Came the hoarse voice following the clanking noise of opening the door.
She turned back to face the speaker. For a minute she couldn’t believe what she saw. A little elf of two feet three inches stood there in crumpled brown cargo trousers and a dark browned colored shirt. Whether it was color or the mud, it was hard to differentiate. His features very much resembled that of any man’s.
“Umm.. Yes.. I mean no..” , she fumbled with words.
“Come and sit”, the elf offered.
She followed him inside but kept looking back at the door.
” I thought you would never come seeking my help”, the elf said.
“You knew I would come?” she asked astonished.
“Yes, I knew it. After all the prophecy had said it, right?”
“Prophecy? What prophecy?”
“Ah! Never mind. You are already on your way to fulfill it.”
“But what does it say?”
He didn’t reply. He offered her the green mint that was brewing in the kitchen, which she politely declined.
Getting no answer to her previous query, she came straight to the business. She didn’t have time to chit-chat about the prophecies at the moment.
“I need to break this curse!” she exclaimed as she pulled out the blue stone ring and showed him”, there was an urgency in her voice.
“Yes, I know why you’ve come”, he said as a matter of fact.
She was by now irritated by this know-it-all-telling-nothing elf. Anger got better of her and she stood up.
“Look, I don’t have time on my hand. If know something please tell me. I am still stuck wondering if there’s a break for this curse then why didn’t my mother say a word about it. She could have at least told me this few days back if not months or years”, she spoke without pausing in exasperation.
“Hold on, Alice!” He spoke with authority, making her shudder. But she hadn’t told her name yet, she thought. It was getting every moment.
“I have answers for your every question”, he spoke gently this time, not to scare the Princess. When he received no reply from her, who was intently waiting for him to continue, he spoke again, ” For why Queen Mary didn’t tell you anything about the cure of the curse can be considered as the act of a sacrifice, on the part of being a Queen and also on the part of being a doting mother.”
Alice gave her a quizzical look.
He continued, “Because as the prophecy says, there will be time when the curse will turn, when a daughter will repay the love of the mother, and then the stone will turn from blue to red“, he paused as he took out a scroll which held the words that he had spoken a minute back.
“Does that mean…” she couldn’t complete her sentence.
“Yes, it does mean. That the love of the Queen can be repaid only by the other Queen’s sacrifice.”