Dess and the Magic in the Woods

Chapter 1: Dess meets Demira
    The girl couldn’t hear anyone behind her. As she runs through the woods, dodging bushes, rocks and trees, she thinks about what happened back in the meadow. She had fallen asleep under one of the willow trees late the night before, after long hours of walking through this huge wood. She hadn’t realized there had been a cottage in the meadow when she had stopped. The next morning she had woken up to a lady’s voice. The lady had been singing a strange song in a language she had never heard before. It had sounded almost like wind chimes. As the girl slowed down, she realized she had forgotten her pack in the meadow.
    She doesn’t understand it, how the lady had put her in so much awe of her, yet scared her so much that she had forgotten her pack in her haste to get away from that enchanting meadow. The lady had been like nothing she had seen before; totally wild, yet elegant and sophisticated-looking. She had this look about her, like she was a wild creature who had never been around humans, yet was like a queen of the most eloquent royal court. How could that be? How could she be all of those things in one? All of these thoughts were running through the girl’s head as she weighed the pros and cons of going back and getting her pack. She really didn’t want to have to face the lady again, yet she could never survive in these woods without the pack. It had everything in it that she could possibly need.
    She decided to turn around and head back. It was fairly easy to find her way to the meadow again. As she stepped through the last of the underbrush at the end of the meadow, the first thing she thought was: “this is the wrong meadow, somehow I got turned around and ended up in the completely wrong meadow!” but as she looked around, she spotted her pack under the tree she had slept under. “So it was the right meadow!” she thought. “So then where is the cottage? It couldn’t have just disappeared so completely. And where is that strange lady?” she wondered. The cottage was completely gone. No sign of it or the lady who had so struck the girl. “Did I just imagine it all?” she thought to herself. But, no. she couldn’t have. For, there, at the end of the meadow, exactly where the lady had stood was the necklace that had been around her throat. The girl walked over to it and picked it up. It was a kind of heavy necklace, in the shape of a coiled snake. No, as she looked more closely at it, she realized it was more like a snake eating its own tail. It looked as if it would wrap around your neck, kind of loosely, and clasped it together with the tail in the snake head‘s mouth. “What a very strange piece of jewelry.” she thought. “I saw the lady with this necklace, yet, she is not here and there is no sign of her. Did she leave it here for me to find? What am I supposed to do with it? What now? I can’t just go on like normal when something so weird has happened, can I?” she wondered and asked herself.
    She looked around herself in confusion. Finally, she went over to her pack and picked it up. As she headed to the edge of the meadow, on her way to leaving, she realized that she was once again not as alone as she had thought. There, at the other end of the meadow, was a young girl, about her age, just looking at her with curiosity.
    “Hello” the girl said. “What’s your name? My name is Desdemona, but you can call me Dess, that’s what everyone calls me.” The girl at the other end of the meadow just looked at Dess for a minute, then she slowly started to edge her way into the meadow. “My name is Demira.” said the other girl “I have come to show you the way.” Dess just looked at the girl-Demira- for a moment, confused, then asked “Show me the way? The way where? And why would you be sent to me to show me to someplace. By whom?” Demira just smiled at her. “ By the Queen silly! She has been waiting for you for a very long time, even by our standards! We must hurry though, for the Queen has set up a feast for you, and She doesn’t like being kept waiting. We are going to Her court!” Demira said. She smiled at Dess proudly, like it should have all made perfect sense to her. But then she seemed to realize that Dess wasn’t really getting it. “You Do know who the Queen is, don’t you?” asked Demira, her head cocked slightly to the side, giving the impression of a delicate little bird. Dess looked back at Demira for a moment, then said “uh, noo… why would I know who the Queen is?”
    Demira laughed. “Because she is your great grandmother silly! Wait, didn’t you already know that?” Dess was completely shocked. She stood there with her mouth wide open, unable to utter a single word. Finally, she blinked then stuttered “Wh-what? H-how could she be, be my, my, my great grandmother? You talk as if she’s still alive! But even my grandmother isn’t alive anymore! So how could my great-grandmother?” Dess was confused and disorientated.
    Demira just looked at her a little pityingly, and just said “Come on, I’ll let the Queen explain.” Dess was still so shocked that when Demira took her by her hand and started leading her down a path, that later she was sure hadn’t been there before, that she didn’t resist. She just  clung to the other girls hand and followed down the winding path, deeper and deeper into the woods.

Chapter 2: Dess and the Moonstone Palace
    When they reached the end of the path, it had seemed like they had been walking half the day, yet the sun hadn’t moved at all. Although, Dess hadn’t seen the sun in a while, but the lighting hadn’t changed. Demira and Dess were still holding hands, but Dess wasn’t as dazed as before. Up ahead of them were two stone columns, right in the middle of the woods, like guards. As they walked under the monoliths, Dess noticed that they had strange carvings all over them. They were very detailed and delicate, yet strong and fierce looking. “Like the lady in the woods….” Dess mused to herself, the thought barely reaching the surface.
    They were now walking down a stone path, made of a light gray stone with little flecks of rocks in them that at moments looked  like rich gold,  green, then purple colors as they walked. The path was lined with rowan and ash trees, all big and ancient looking, wild yet tame, as lots of things in these woods seemed to be. Dess looked ahead of them and noticed the path leading to steps made of the same type of stone, which then lead up to a magnificent building, which was like a cross between a small castle and a large mansion.  Dess was struck dumb once again. Never in her life had she seen a place like this before. There were no words to describe it, or to express the total and complete awe that the building struck you with.
  Demira let go of Dess’ hand, for the first time all during their long trek, as they started to go up the stairs and were met by guards. “Go ahead of us and tell the Queen that her great-granddaughter is here, and that  we will freshen up, then patiently await her summons.” said Demira. One of the guards went to tell the Queen. “Now, will you please go freshen up the princess’ room while we stop by to see the seamstress?” Demira asked of another guard who went off to do as bid. “Princess? Who….?” thought Dess, dazed once again. Dess was about to ask Demira what she had meant by princess when Demira looked back at Dess, smiled reassuringly, and lead her by the hand through a number of winding corridors to a large, spacious room, filled with material, dresses, and about ten women, sewing, measuring, and cutting at all sorts of different dresses strewn all over the room.
    As they are standing in the archway of the room, the most eccentric looking of the women turns towards them. “Ah! There you are Demira! And you must be Desdemona! My name is Cordelia, but you can call me Cordie. I am the head seamstress here in the Queen’s court. Now, let’s size you, then I can get started on the dress you will wear when you meet the Queen.” said Cordie. “Oh- um, ok then, but, but call me D-Dess, nobody calls me Desdemona unless I’m in, in trouble. “ said Dess self-consciously. Cordie just laughed saying “Why would you be in trouble? But if that’s what you want us to call you, we will make sure it happens. But right now, we have to get you sized for your dress.”
    “Oh, I already know what size I am. I’m a size 6.” said Dess, happy that she could show them that she knew Something. But once again, Cordie laughed. “Our way of finding out dress sizes is different, honey. We have to measure you to make sure it will all fit in all the right places.” said Cordie, smiling at the girl. “Oh, alright then. But what kind of dress am I going to get?” asked Dess. “Oh, just a simple silk gown. It will just have the usual on it: a bodice, half-sleeves, and a long skirt. Just a simple little thing. We will also have to get you some petticoats and slips and some other undergarments.” said Cordie as she walked over to a table covered with measuring tape, scissors, sewing needles, and spools of colorful string. She picked up one of the many measuring tapes and proceeded to measure Dess’ bust, waist, and hip, also how long the gown would need to be.
    Then she did something strange as the girls watched. She wrote down the measurements on a piece of golden parchment, with a golden quill that somehow made the numbers on the slip of paper glow a green color. She then walked over to a brazier in the middle of the room and put the parchment in the brazier, burning the paper, yet somehow making the words flare purple. Dess looked over inquiringly to Demira, who just smiled reassuringly and said “shh, just watch.” So Dess turned back to Cordie and the brazier in time to see her pull a gorgeous dress out of the fire.
    It was a very beautiful dress with a bodice of royal purple and the gown of a deep, forest green, and as you moved the gown you could see hints of gold in the purple and green, and it was trimmed with gold. Dess gasped when she saw it. Not only was she shocked by how Cordie had just pulled it from the fire and how it had no scorch marks on it, she was generally thrilled that she was going  to get to wear such an exquisite garment. She couldn’t believe her eyes. What was going on here? This had to be a mistake, she would open her eyes any minute and realize that this had just been one big dream. Just one simple big wonderful dream that she wished with all her heart wouldn’t end!
    “Come along, Dess, we have to get you into this dress so you can meet the Queen,” said Demira, breaking Dess out of her reverie. Demira pulled Dess into an adjoining dressing room and helped her into the wonderful dress. “Oh my,” said Dess. “this dress feels like clouds on my skin! This has got to be the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! But, but how did you guys get it so fast? And why did she pull it out of the fire? What’s going on?” asked Dess, almost frantically. “Don’t worry about that right now, Dess,” said Demira. “the Queen will explain everything to you when you meet her. But right now, let’s go to your new room and get some things to break our fast.”

Chapter 3: Dess meets the Queen
    Dess’ room was magnificent. It had a vaulted ceiling with a giant mural of tiny faeries and sprites flying across a scene in a great wood. It had a giant canopied bed, a dresser, a wardrobe, and a bedside table. The whole room was designed to look like it was in a forest, and it was very convincing. There were even birds in one half of the room, separated by a screen with a door in it, so you could go feed the birds. It was probably the most beautiful room Dess had ever seen.
    “Wow,” said Dess. “This room is so amazing! I get to stay here? Do all the rooms look like this? What does your room look like?”
    “Oh, yes. You get this room all to yourself!” said Demira. “Almost all of the rooms look like this. And my room isn’t as magnificent as yours but it is nice. It’s big and warm and cozy.”
    “Can I ask you another question?” said Dess
    “Certainly,” Said Demira. “Ask me whatever you wish and I will try to answer as best as I can.”
    “Well… I was just wondering how old you are? Because you seem to have so much authority and confidence yet you seem young and only about my age.”
    “Oh my,” laughed Demira. “I am 16 summers old. I would never see myself as someone who would give off the feeling of authority and confidence though! I just do as told and I do my jobs here, at the Moonstone Palace.” Demira smiled at Dess as she said this, then walked over to the great canopied bed and gracefully sat on the edge.  “Oh, ok. Well I am 15 years old, but I’ll be sixteen in a couple of weeks,” said Dess, who walked over and sat next to Demira on the massive bed.  Dess still couldn’t get over such a magnificent room. And it was all for her!
    “When am I going to be meeting the Queen?” asked Dess, who was still half in her own world.
    “You get to meet the Queen right now,” said another voice from the doorway.
      Dess turned to the doorway in surprise and stared at the beautiful woman standing there in a dress even more beautiful and magnificent than her own. “Wow,” thought Dess, “how can This be the Queen? She’s so young!” The Woman stood in the doorway, smiling slightly, at looked back at Dess, who seemed to be lost in her own little world. Dess kept being surprised by all that she was seeing.
    The woman standing in the doorway was very imposing and seemed very brisk and all business about everything. She stood at a stature that seemed short compared to everyone else Dess had met so far. The woman was looking back at Dess with startling forest green eyes as Dess looked back at her. Her brown hair was pulled back from her sharp-featured face in a severe bun that looked like it would give anyone else the most extreme of headaches.
    “My name is Sabine.” said the woman. “I am one of the Queen’s counselors. I am here to escort you to Her Majesty. If you will please follow me.” With that she turned on her heel and started to briskly walk down the hall with a look to her posture to say that she just expected them to follow her. Dess looked over at Demira, who was smirking to herself, and stood up and hurriedly followed Sabine down the hall.
    Sabine was walking at a very fast pace and the two girls had to scurry to keep up with her. Sabine didn’t once look back on her charges, almost like saying she couldn’t care less. The hallway they were following was very long and winding back and forth inside of the palace. Dess got so confused by all the twists and turns that she totally lost all sense of direction.
    After what seemed like an hour but was actually barely a quarter of the time, they came to a magnificent arch, like to the pillars that had marked the entrance to the palace grounds. The room they entered through the archway had two gilt trimmed walls and two walls of ceiling length windows. In front of one of those windows that faced west was a raised platform on which a throne was placed. And sitting on that throne was the most beautiful person that Dess had ever seen. She looked unearthly, half-wild, half-majestic, like most of the things in this strange kingdom. She had long, midnight-black hair, electric blue eyes, and pale skin. Well at least now I know where I got my hair from, thought Dess. But that doesn’t really explain my eyes….