beautifulsandals.

Queen Lily stood in the midst of the garden. It wasn’t her garden, but that never stopped her. She felt the warm grass under her bare feet and let out a dreamy sigh. What could feel better?

The texture of the soil drying on her tiny fingers, oh the joy. Lily felt peaceful sitting among flowers and would often talk to them. It looked silly, but she didn’t mind. Flowers kept the best secrets and most of the flowers already knew half the secrets to her Kingdom.

The castle guards were already looking for Lily. They looked comical as they poked through bushes and peered over fences into people’s gardens. Hearing the guards call her name, Lily knew it was time to go. The duties of being a Queen would always beckon her, and she was all too happy to oblige…but the escape into the wild would always be her joy. She took one last deep breath, delighting in the untamed aroma of the dew-drenched blades of grass, the leaves waking to the sun, the subtle presence of tree bark and the countless flowers around her. To Lily, these were not just a scent. They were each a story.

Trying to recover her slippers, Lily fumbled through the bushes. As she peeled back the leaves she saw the glimpse of an unexpected stranger. Two magnificent black beady eyes peered back at her through the thick leaves. She caught her breath. She carefully pulled back the canopy of leaves and there before her was a creature she had never seen before. It was shaped like a tear drop and was no bigger than a penguin. In fact it looked like one but was all manner of adorable. As are penguins, of course, but this one more so. It had tiny fluffy arms and cute flat feet like bunnies. His silly hair shot into the sky…or were they feathers? Lily couldn’t tell.

His eyes grew wide with fear and his breathing quickened. Suddenly he bolted, scrambling to make his daring escape. But it was too late, Lily had already scooped him up and was giving him snuggles.

“Oh, you poor little thing,” Lily said. “Have you lost your way?”

After multiple failed attempts, the poor little thing quickly understood it could not free himself from the royal embrace… but, eventually, that didn’t matter. He was now actually enjoying the warm snuggles and the unmerited and seemingly unending affections being freely lavished upon him.

“Abebe!” Lily called the captain of the guards, excited to show him the new friend she just made.

“Your Highness,” he responded very cordially, “I see…you have no shoes…again”

“Look!” She held him proudly so Abebe could examine the marvelous thing in her hands that was now somehow purring much like a cat. “What do you think this is?”

“Your Highness, the Malka Oshana has arrived and awaits you at the court,” he said looking at the strange thing she carried. “Allow me to…water this…thing…while you tend to royal duties”

“Silly Abebe, this is not a plant in need of watering, and tending to his needs are my royal duties” Lily said while tickling her new friend. It laughed like a bird was coughing.

“I seem to have lost my slippers, though”, she said, staring at her feet.

“Of course, your Highness", Abebe said while brandishing a new pair of shoes. He was obviously prepared for this scenario.

Feyal bowed low to let Lily and her new friend mount. Then with amazing effortless grace he pranced off to the Castle. Feyal was a gift from the Wise King- the same Wise King that appointed Lily as Queen and protector of her kingdom. Like many of the Wise King’s children, Lily was adopted and raised as his own daughter. Feyal was a gift on the day of her anointing and oh what a beautiful beast he was. He was a gazelle but he stood taller than a horse. His coat was soft and glazed and is colored in ways that betrayed his origins as a descendant of the ancient first Kingdom. His only flaw, if you could call it that, was he never said no to the adventures of Lily. She would point him in a direction and he would gallop with no questions asked. As such he has trod into a den of snakes looking for a lost cub or into a wild bush fire to save a rare rose.

And now he rides carrying his Queen and what he thinks can only be an inflated hamster. At least that was his best guess as he had never seen such a thing before.