The Key of Fortune

All the fairies, elves and other magical beings inside the Royal castle of Fairyland were silent; some fearful, some confused. Even the Queen, the most beautiful fairy with long black hair and sparkling black eyes, dressed in pure-white with beautiful wings, stood silent, watching her husband, the King of fairyland rage furiously.

"But father, at least listen to me.." it was the Prince, the reason of the King's fury.

"I don't want to listen to anything more!" roared the King, and the Prince shuddered. Wait, he told himself, he was a prince, and hence should not shudder but act bravely. But as he looked at the King's furious eyes, he thought he was being quite brave already, managing not to shiver. "Castle guards! Through him out of the castle!" shouted the King, and several giants, dressed in guard uniforms, walked towards the Prince.

"Hey, listen, you can't do that to me," the Prince protested heatedly, "I am the prince!"

"And this is the King's order," the King said, emphasizing on the word "King" to remind him who had the power.

The prince gulped as several fat hands clutched his arms and legs, their grip so tight they might have intended to hurt him rather than carry him. "That's not fair, I am telling you, I am the Prince.. whoaaaa.." The Prince's protests were ignored by the brutal guards in front of the King's orders. He was thrown outside the castle door.

He fell with a thud, the familiar smell of fresh grass and flowers of the Royal garden filling his nose. Tiny white stars were circling in front of his eyes. His father's voice stormed into his ear, as if a heavy hammer had went right through his ear and had hit his brain. "Don't show me your face again until you have that key, is that clear?"

He frowned and stood up. He had always loved the Royal garden, but for the first time realized how hard its ground was. "What is the use of being a prince if you are going to be treated like that?" he said, knowing there was no one around to listen to his complain, and in case there was anyone, they were not going to be able to do anything to help him. The King was really angry at him this time.

He knew very well that his father, King Albus, had only one major problem in his life, and it was him, Prince Badmaas, his unworthy, irresponsible, careless, good-for-nothing son, as King never failed to remind him.

Badmaas had jet black hair and eyes, just like his mother. He always wore black colored dress and had black wings. His wings were white when he was born, but he had managed to turn them black with the help of some potion, to match his dress, which had annoyed his father very much, so he hid them with the help of a black cloak. Even if most fairies did not prefer black color, it was Badmaas's most favorite color.

But his appearance was the least of the King's worry. Badmaas had been very mischievous from ever since he was a child, and his mischief only grew with him. He spent more time in the castle kitchens and garden rather than in court with his father, and whenever he did attend the court, he was not able to give any good advice. A number of times, King Albus had assigned him some tasks, and not one of them he had managed to do without messing everything up.

A day ago, on request of the Queen, and also because he did not has much option, the King decided to give him one last chance. The task Badmaas was given this time was to ensure the safety of The Key of Fortune.

"You know this is a very important key," the King had warned Badmas, "And there is no duplicate key for it, neither is it possible to make one. This is the Key of Fortune. And this fortune does not only include the material treasures of the kingdom. This is the key to immense powers which only its owner can ever have, and only its owner has enough power to rule the fairyland. The Key must be kept safe. You know very well I always keep it with me, but now I have to go and see the Goblins' King, and I can not take the Key there. Goblins have very sharp minds and one of them will surely try to get the Key from me. Since your mother is also accompanying me in this visit, you are the only option I have to give this responsibility, even if you are an unworthy, irresponsible, careless, good-for-nothing prince!"

Badmaas had patiently nodded to the King's every phrase, once more eager to show he was not exactly as irresponsible as his father thought. Most reluctantly, the King had handed him the Key. It was a beautiful key, made of pure gold. It shone as bright as the sun, with a tiny golden fairy on its top. Badmaas had been sure if he managed to keep the Key safe, for the second time his father would be pleased with him. The first time had been when he had secured good marks in the final test for Fairyland Magic High Academy.

After King and Queen had departed, Badmaas had been able to control himself for a whole hour. However, after that, he had spread his wings and set off to visit the human world. Fairies were not allowed to visit the human world without the King's express permission, but no guards ever dared to stop the prince. And hence, he had flew out of the boundaries and into the human world. He had spent a good time at a lake, a park and a garden.

When he had returned, he was told the King had decided to come early. When the King had asked him about the Key, he had confidently emptied his pockets, but to his horror, the Key had disappeared.

That was the worst rage of King he had ever encountered. "Two days! I am giving you only two days time! If you don't manage to find the Key in these two days, then your new home will be the Dark Dungeons' Prison, for the rest of your life."

Dark Dungeons' Prison was the prison for the worst criminals of the Fairyland. "But father.. only two days?" Badmaas had been horrified.

"Even two days are too long! Do you have any idea what might happen if the Key goes in some wrong hands?" the King had been shaking from rage.

"But - " Badmaas had begin but he should have known better. The King would not listen to any excuses.

The King had even snatched his magic wand and had snapped it into pieces. The magic wand was a high honor to any fairy. Fairies could still do some magic without it, but they never got best results without using a wand.

"How am I going to manage to find the Key without my wand?" Badmaas had tried to plea, but no use. He was only sixteen-year-old, after all.

Now, he stood in the Royal garden. He knew the King meant it when he had warned about throwing him in the prison for the rest of his life. Badmaas could not imagine that. He knew he had to do something instead of standing there and wondering. Once again, he spread his wings and took a flight. He would have to visit all those places he had been to and see where he had dropped the Key.

~~~~~~~

"Lizzy, Lizzy see what I found here!" Tim called his sister Eliza. Eliza, who was two years younger than Tim, came running towards her brother as he called her. "See, isn't these stones beautiful?" Tim had two stones in his hand. Eliza smiled and nodded.

It was a hobby that Tim and Eliza had. They collected all the strange, and apparently useless things, and filled their 'treasure box' with them. It was really a shoe box, painted and decorated with beads by the two children. They managed to see beauty in the things like fallen leaves, stones, broken twigs and birds' feathers. Their most favorite place to collect such things was the garden near to their home.

They had already collected five fallen leaves, two bird feathers, and two stones, and were looking for more. Eliza went to look for something in the overgrown grass. On the other hand, something shining brightly caught Tim's eyes. He narrowed his eyes and walked forward, trying to see what was that thing. The sun rays falling upon it were making it shine. Was it a gold coin or just a broken piece of metal? He bent and picked up the thing. It was a key. A very beautiful key and seemed like it was made of gold. The fairy on the top of it added to its beauty. "Lizzy!" he called again, this time his voice much louder and excited.

Eliza came running towards her brother once again. "Lizzy, see what I found!" Tim held out the key to his sister. Her small gray eyes widened and her moth fell open as she looked at the key.

"It will be the best thing we had ever collected," said Tim.

Eliza, however, did not look as sure about that. "Er.. I don't think we should take it Tim," she said nervously, "What if it is really important key and someone had accidentally dropped it? They will never be able to find it again if we took it."

"Come on Lizz, if the key was so important, the owner would not have been careless about it," insisted Tim, "And it does not seem like an important key to me."

"How can we be sure about that?" Eliza shook her head.

Tim shrugged and looked at the Key. He was fascinated by it and really wanted to take it home for their treasure box.

~~~~~~~

Prince Badmaas flew over the fence around the garden, landing rather clumsily on the ground. Standing up, he looked around the familiar garden. He had been here when he had the Key. "I think I should look around this garden first, since this is the place where I had spent most time," he said thoughtfully. He remembered he had settled on a branch of an apple tree, and had enjoyed eating apples and then had even fallen asleep. He headed towards the same tree. It did not took him much time to find it.

Praying that he would find the golden Key glinting somewhere in the grass around, he started looking for it. But after nearly twenty minutes or circling the tree, he was sure the Key was not there. Frowning, he wiped sweat from his head. He could see two children debating over something not much far away. He turned his gaze away from them. Usually, he would have tried to talk with them as he loved human children, but right now he had more important task of finding the key on his mind.

He climbed the tree, thinking that maybe he would find the key somewhere on the branches, or a bird's nest, but it did not took him much time to conclude the Key was not on the tree. Sitting on the very same branch he had sat earlier, he wiped his forehead again. He should not loose his heart yet. There were two destinations still left to search. Still, he couldn't help but feel disappointed. What if he did not manage to find they key? The Dark Dungeon Prison was a very scary place, he knew it.

He was lost in his thoughts when a flash of gold caught his eyes. He raised his hand to shield his eyes, trying to look what was it. The little boy had just opened his fist and the sunlight had fallen upon - his heart skipped several beats - the Key. It was no doubt the same Key. He could see the gold fairy on the top of it.

Badmaas jumped down from the tree, making Tim and Eliza jump several step backwards, scared.

"No, no, don't feel scared," he said, his voice cheerful and excited.

Tim moved forward. "Who said we were scared?" he said, "Who are you?"

"I am the Prince of Fairyland," Badmaas introduced himself, "And I just want my Key back!"

"Are you talking about this key?" Eliza said, looking at the Key her brother was holding.

"Exactly the same!," grinned Badmaas.

"But its our key!" said Tim, not ready to give away this beautiful piece of treasure, "This is for our treasure collection! And you say you are the Prince of Fairyland? Haha.. sorry, but you don't look like one!"

"Excuse me?" Badmaas raised an eyebrow, "I am the owner of this Key! No, actually, my father is the owner, but you are going to hand it to me! And who said I don't look like the prince of Fairyland? How can you tell that?"

"Our Grandma had told us plenty of fairy tales," said Eliza.

"Yeah," agreed Tim, "And the fairyland princes always have golden blond hair and bright blue eyes. And they don't wear black colored clothes."

"Yeah, that is because fairies consider black as the evil color," added Eliza.

Badmaas frowned harder. "No! True, fairies don't usually prefer this color, but they don't consider it evil!"

"Yes they do!" said Tim forcefully.

"How can you say that confidently?" Badmaas asked, "Have you ever been to Fairyland?"

"No, but as we said, our Grandma had told us many fairy tales!" insisted Tim.

"Well, she doesn't have all the information accurate then!" Badmaas felt his temper rising.

"She has!" said Eliza, "Our Grandma knows everything!"

"Well, good then. Now be good children and give me back my Key!" said Badmaas, not in any mood to argue with them.

"How do we believe it is really your key?" asked Tim, "You look like a liar to us! If you are really a Fairyland prince, where is your wand?"

Badmaas clenched his fists. If only he had his wand, it would have been a lot more easier to get the Key from them. "I had the wand, alright, but my father broke it and.. and he threw it in the dustbin," he had to admit.

"A likely tale!" laughed Tim, "Just because we are younger than you does not mean you can fool us. What is your name, anyway?"

"I am not trying to fool anyone," said Badmaas, his voice rising. However, his voice returned to normal quickly, "And my name is Badmaas. What?" he added, as he saw the look on both children's faces. Tim was again laughing, while Eliza was shaking her head.

"It is a strange name," said Eliza, "Fairyland princes don't have such names."

"Yeah, they should have names like George, or Albert or any such other name," said Tim.

"How do you know?" asked Badmaas through gritted teeth.

"How many times do we tell you?" said Tim, irritated, "We have heard all the fairy tales from Grandma, and never in any story a prince had such a name. Badmaas! Hahaha.."

"Well, its not my fault I have this name!" said Badmaas.

"Please don't be angry," said Eliza, "If you are really a Fairyland prince, then prove it and we will give you the key."

"Fine then," said Badmaas. He would have to use some magic without wand. It would not require exceptional skills to prove these children he really was a fairyland prince. He took out a gold coin from his pocket and stared at it. It soon turned silver. He looked at the children and Eliza looked impressed, so he grinned and flipped the coin in the air. The coin disappeared.

"Now you," he said to Tim, "Check in your pocket."

Tim checked his pockets and the silver coin was there. Badmaas grinned.

"Cool, huh?" he said.

"Not really," said Tim, letting the grin disappear from Badmaas's face. "I mean, seriously, this looks cool and all, but its nothing which the magician in our street can't do," he added, "And he only does all this by some tricks. He isn't really from Fairyland. So how do we believe you are a Fairyland prince when all you can do is this?"

Eliza, who had looked impressed earlier, now seemed to agree with her brother. Badmaas was fuming with anger now.

"Fine then, look at this!" he said. He clapped his hands and about a thousand birds came flying from a small tree, where there had not been a single sparrow a second ago. "And this!" Badmaas added as he again clapped his hands. The clear blue sky was filled by clouds in a second, hiding the bright shining sun. "And this!" said Badmaas, clapping his hands and the flowers in the nearby bush doubled.

"Now tell me, can that magician in your street do this?" he asked, frowning.

"Er.. no," Tim had no option but to agree. "But if you really are a Fairyland prince, where are your wings?" he asked.

"Oh thats not a problem," grinned Badmaas as he threw aside the black cloak which he used to hide his wings. Both of children looked at him with their mouths open.

"You have got black wings?" said Eliza, sounding frightened, "But Fairyland princes, or any good fairies, don't have black wings!"

"How do you know that?" said Badmaas, frustrated, though he thought he knew how.

"Our Grandma told us," said both the children together.

Badmaas gritted his teeth once again. If he ever met this Grandma, he started to think, but before he could conclude what he would do the children were backing away from him.

"Hey wait, where are you going?" he shouted.

"You don't seem like a fairyland prince to us," said Tim, "I.. I think you are some evil wizard. No.. we won't give this key to you ever now, or you will destroy the world with it."

"No wait, my father will kill me if I returned without the Key!" said a horrified Badmaas.

Both children shook their heads and backed away from him. Badmaas was very much worried. He could not hurt the kids or get the Key from them by any ill means, because he had a kind heart, and he could not take the Key away from them by stealing or any such method, because it was against the law of Fairyland to steal from human beings, and he would earn himself more punishment by that.

"Please, give this Key to me, or I will have to spend rest of my life in the prison," pleaded Badmaas, "My father will never forgive me. The Dark Dungeon Prison is very scary.." he had not even finished his sentence when his eyes were filled with tears. He could not help it. The tears fell down from his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. They were silver in color and where they fell on the grass, pretty white flowers grew. Badmaas did not notice that but Tim and Eliza had stopped.

"Tim, see, his tears are of silver color," said Eliza, pointing her small finger at Badmaas.

"Yeah, and flowers are growing where his tears are falling," added Tim.

"Yeah, so what?" said Badmaas, looking up, "Everyone at fairyland has silver tears, and when they fall somewhere in the human world flowers grow. Now don't tell me this is also some evil sign according to your grandmother." He buried his face in his hands, more tears spilling out of his eyes.

"No," Eliza shook her head, "This is a good sign. We remember a tale in which a fairy had silver tears."

"Really?" Badmaas looked up once again, surprised.

"Yeah," smiled Eliza, "And evils never cry. So now we trust you."

"It means you will give the Key back to me?" asked Badmaas, wiping his tears, "You two are the sweetest humans, you know."

Eliza smiled again but Tim frowned. "Yeah, we will give you the Key. But it would have looked really nice on our treasure box and its a loss to us. What would we get in return?"

Badmaas thought for a while before he grinned. "I will send you a basket full of Fairyland candies, my favorite ones! Now what?" he added as Tim and Eliza had exchange another look.

"Fairyland have candies too?" asked Tim, surprised. "Our Grandma never mentioned that in her stories."

"This time you can add something to her information!" grinned Badmaas.

~~~~~~~

"You are back so soon?" The King asked as he looked at his son, "I hope you have found the Key and are not here with fresh excuses!"

"No, father," said Badmaas, still frightened, "I have the Key." He took out the Key from his pocket and held it out to the King, his hand shaking.

The King took the Key and turned it around.

"It is the real Key of Fortune," the King smiled, "Why are you so afraid, then, son?"

Badmaas sighed with relief and smiled.

"It seems every time I assign you a task now, I will have to threaten you with the Dark Dungeon Prison," laughed the King.

"No," said Badmaas quickly, "I have learnt the lesson for the whole life. I will not be an unworthy, irresponsible, careless and good-for-nothing son anymore."

The King smiled appreciatively.

"Er.. father.. I want a basket of fairyland candies," said Badmaas after a pause.

The King frowned. "Back to normal?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, father, I just have to fulfill a promise," said Badmaas.