Half and Half

The Fairy Godmother was tending to the vegetable garden when Dawn saw her. The Fairy Godmother worked for the Queen and King by tending to the vegetables the other food, and also by curing any of the sick workers, and of course if the King or Queen were ill. She was an old fairy, with her wings ridiculously tiny for her plump figure. She had long, grey curls that hung down her back, and blue eyes that twinkled merrily. She wore an orange-brown dress that was patched and worn. The Queen had offered the Fairy Godmother better clothes, but she always refused. She always carried a satchel with her, filled with things to help her. There were some very large things inside the bag, although they seemed much too big to fit inside. There were paintings and portraits, shovels and forks, plates and cups and knives, as well as an immense supply of food. The Fairy Godmother had no name, so everybody just called her Fairy Godmother.

Dawn walked up to her, careful to not step on the cabbages.

"Hello, Fairy Godmother," Dawn said. The Fairy Godmother looked up from her work and smiled. Dawn and the Fairy Godmother were good friends, and Dawn was glad because she had no friends at school. She was always being teased for her combination of pointy ears and her wings.

"Ah, Dawn!" Fairy Godmother said. She shoved her rake inside her satchel.

"Can you help me?" Dawn asked. Fairy Godmother shrugged.

"That depends on what you need help with, dear," she said. Dawn sighed.

"The Birch Guard won't let me in," Dawn said. She sat down on a bench and buried her face in her hands.

"Now, Dawn, you've been trying to get in there for two years. How would it be any different today?"

"I need to see her!" Dawn said, tears burning her eyes.

"How can I help?" Fairy Godmother asked.

"I need you to sneak me in." Fairy Godmother looked surprised. She had never broken any rules before.

"Now that I can't do. You know better!" She said sharply. Dawn looked hurt.

"I can disguise myself as a servant," Dawn said.

"Not with that hair you can't. You're the only one in Telebone with hair like that. Anybody will be able to recognise you." Dawn took a lock of her bright, yellowish-orange hair in her hands and looked at it.

"You have so many things in your satchel, Fairy Godmother," Dawn said. "You can at least lend me something to help. It won't be breaking the rules. You've lent me things so many times." Fairy Godmother knew she was right. She had lent Dawn many things, like hankies and spare toothbrushes, along with soap and a few snacks.

"Well," Fairy Godmother said, avoiding Dawn's eye. "Fine. But I'm not going to help you sneak inside. You'll do that yourself, and if you get caught, I'm not to blame." Dawn was so happy she threw her arms around Fairy Godmother's waist.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed. Fairy Godmother smiled sightly and then rummaged in her bag, bringing out a scarf and a white dress.

"Tie the scarf around your head just like the cleaners," Fairy Godmother said. Dawn wrapped it around her head, completely hiding her hair. Then she pulled on the white dress over her clothes. Fairy Godmother handed her a pair of slippers, and then she was ready.

She thanked Fairy Godmother once again and walked back to the front of the palace, careful not to stain her dress on the dirt where the vegetables grew.

When she reached the front of the castle, she kept her voice a little lower than usual, and bowed her head so the Birch Guard would not recognise her.

"Why are you at the front of the palace, servant girl?" The Birch Guard asked her.

"I... I could not find the staff entrance, sir," she said.

"It's right there, you know," the Birch Guard said, pointing to a door about ten meters away.

"Thank you," Dawn said.

"Wait," the Birch Guard called her. Dawn's heart skipped a beat. Had he recognised her?

"Yes, sir?" She asked.

"What's your name?" The Birch Guard asked her.

"D--Ursula, sir," Dawn said. The Birch Guard smiled a crooked smile.

"Ah, Ursula. The new girl. The Queen had a message for you. She wants to see you." Dawn nodded and ran off to the staff door. So there was a new girl called Ursula. She had been lucky.

Dawn ran inside and looked at the interior of the palace for the first time. It was massive, and made of stone. She was inside the front hall, and there was nothing but a red, plain carpet inside. On the left wall were the portraits of the previous Queens, and on the right side were the previous Kings. They all were young in the portraits, with gleaming eyes and radiant skin, although Dawn knew that they must have been painted that way on purpose.

She walked down the long hall, and then came to a large oak door. There was the Oak Guard, as tall and thick as an oak tree. He was strong, and his slits were so cat-like that Dawn got a tremendous fright. His roots were long, thick, and knotted. His bark was gnarled and his leaves were dark. He looked much more fierce than the Birch Guard.

"What're you doing here, servant?" The Oak Guard said fiercely. Dawn stammered.

"M-my n-name is Ursula, sir," Dawn stammered. She looked up at the Oak Guard's face, because he would not be able to recognise her, as he had never seen her before.

"And what do you want?"

"The Queen has asked to see me," Dawn said.

"Who gave you the message?"

"The Birch Guard."

"I shall ask him about that!" The Oak Guard dragged poor Dawn by the shoulder back down the long hall, to the front of the palace. Dawn kept her head down so the Birch Guard could not see her face.

The Oak Guard rapped on the wooden door, which the Birch Guard opened.

"Oak Guard, what are you doing to that poor girl!" The Birch Guard exclaimed.

"She says you sent her to see the Queen," the Oak Guard said. The Birch Guard sighed.

"Why, yes I did," the Birch Guard replied. "The Queen asked to see her."

"Very well. Come." The Oak Guard led Dawn down the hall again. When Dawn looked back, she thought she saw the Birch Guard wink at her. She smiled lightly. So he had acted with her. Dawn thought of the Birch Guard as a friend from then on.

The Oak Guard went with her to the Queen's room. They passed the Spruce Guard and the Acacia Guard, but they did not question Dawn as she was with the Oak Guard. The Oak Guard led her up stairs, through halls, and through many fancy rooms. Finally they reached a beautifully decorated door, which was green and covered with moss and vines and flowers. Dawn reached out and touched the handle. It was soft.

"Knock at the door. I must go back to my post," the Oak Guard said. Heart pounding, Dawn nodded. She knocked, and no one answered, so she opened the door and gasped.

It was the most unusual (yet beautiful) room Dawn had ever set her eyes on. It looked like it was inside a forest, although it was only the Queen's bedroom. The floor was covered in soft, spongy grass with pointed tips. There were flowers growing on the floor, pinks and blues and yellows and whites. The walls did not look like walls--either they were very well decorated or Dawn was actually inside a forest. Dawn could see grass fields beautifully painted on the wall, and there was an actual running waterfall attached to it. There were smooth stones large enough to sit on, and in the corner of the room was a bed. A very tall bed so that if you lay down on it you could put out a hand and touch the ceiling, which looked like a blue sky with cottony clouds. The sheets of the bed were mossy green, with blue splotches all over it. Vines wrapped themselves on the posts of the bed. It was all very comforting and breathtaking.

Dawn heard a woman clear her throat. She turned and saw the Queen sitting on a mossy chair. The Queen's face was shaped like an upside-down triangle, with her chin as the point. Her cheeks were rosy pink, and her eyes a sparkling lime green. Her lips turned upwards a little bit, and they were a deep fuchsia colour. Her hair was a gloriously warm chestnut-brown, and it hung about her shoulders as if it was floating. Her skin was dark, almost like a caramel colour. Her eyebrows were bushy and turned downwards, shading her brilliant eyes. She was wearing a emerald-green dress, and a pearl necklace, along with simple black shoes. Dawn wouldn't exactly call her pretty, but there was a certain beauty about her that made Dawn very happy and comforted inside.

The Queen looked at Dawn.

"Who are you?"