The Kingdom of the Stars

Chapter 4: The Proposition

 They made their way down the hallway, as several servants stopped to bow to their passing king.

It wasn't until Asha recognized the familiar sight of the west wing's door did she began to feel nervous.

He wasn't going to take her down here, was he?

With a simple gesture, she watched the doors open themselves for the king as he stepped through. For a moment she hesitated, but after a minute or so of reassurance, she quietly followed the king through the doors.

Why was he taking her here? She wondered as she hesitantly followed him past the doors into another quiet room where there were three doors. All like the doors before had strange markings engraved into their frames. Runes, perhaps? She wasn't sure, but something about them felt...different, even ominous.

Beside her, the king stopped, only to spare her a brief look before he said, "Do you know why you're here Asha?"

"Not exactly your highness," she confessed. Part of her was hoping that it hadn't been to unleash whatever secret magical creature he'd hidden down here on her as punishment for her treason.

She held her breath as she watched him push the door open, revealing a large room that was thankfully absent of any mythical creature. Quietly, she followed him toward the room's center. A sense of awe filled her as she took in the architecture of the room. Its tall windows in combination with the beautiful starry sky that had been painted on the ceiling left her feeling breathless.

"Does it look familiar?" he asks, a grin appearing on his face.

"This...this was one of my first star maps," she breathed. "I made it back when my father was still here, and he'd take me stargazing."

"I could tell. You remember showing it to us don't you?" he asked as she gave him a brief nod. "It was always one of Amaya's favorites. So, we were thinking that it was only fair that our apprentice of 5 years got to see the wish room, especially when we'd made her maps one of the more...permanent additions."

"The wish room?" she repeated, feeling stunned as the glowing orbs came into view overhead.

He nods, as she watches the glowing, spherically shaped wishes of various colors slowly descend towards them. Some were bigger than others she noted, as the faint outlines of shapes and figures materialized as they neared. She could hear them, the sounds of laughter and voices talking as the wishes began to surround them. They'd looked just as she'd seen them in the wishing gardens, where people went to distribute their wishes to the king.

To anyone such a sight would've evoked a sense of wonder and beauty, but to Asha, she couldn't help but feel... Skeptical? Disappointed? Maybe even angry?

She wasn't sure how to explain it as she frowned, and quickly stepped out of the way of another wish that had begun to float towards her.

This hadn't been her first time seeing a wish, as she'd remembered asking the king about her Saba's wish a few years ago. It'd been his birthday and she'd wondered whether or not the king would grant his wish that he'd kept for years. So, after mustering up what little courage she could, she'd asked him, and to her surprise, he'd patiently answered. He'd selected her grandfather's wish before promptly telling her that he wouldn't grant it. Of course, she'd been a bit tempted to argue, but the arguments had immediately died down when she'd seen what said wish was.

At first, it depicted her Saba cheerfully playing his mandolin. Something that she'd deemed quite harmless. Then it'd shown her Saba cheerfully playing said mandolin while riding a fire-breathing dragon. Alright, so maybe his wish hadn't been that harmless. She'd unfortunately conceded that point to the king.