The Halfling Queen

Avery was uncommon amongst her kind, she was a halfling. Yet, at seventeen years old, she was being made queen of Gelfa, the goblin city. Princess Avery was born into peculiar circumstances, her mother was a goblin queen and her father a human. Both were murdered when she was only six years of age, making her the rightful heir. Whilst she grew until she became old enough to take the throne, her mother's step-brother took the role of King. Like many, he questioned Avery's legitimacy to be a queen. Unbeknownst to anyone, he had sinister plans for the moment Princess Avery was of the age to become the Queen, death by her favorite indulgence.

Princess Avery slipped on her royal gown, golden like the blazing sun. "I am very nervous about today," she said to her friend Malhi. He responded with an exasperated, "you know this is your land, not even Varsha can take that from you." She was as tough as they came, but even she had doubts of her ability to rule a kingdom. Regardless, Varsha had to be dethroned. He was sending their lands into turmoil and she was the only possible answer to a terrifying future.

Avery stepped out of her dressing room and gracefully approached her new responsibilities; all seemed to be going as planned. She strode into the ceremonial hall, which had seen many a king and queen. The crowd of goblins responded to her appearance with thunderous delight. If there was one thing about her kind, they sure knew how to welcome celebration. As she walked amongst her people, she noticed her uncle's face waiting for her next to what would be her throne. His eyes were wicked and spoke dreadful thoughts. She felt the fury he held within him, and knew that she was not welcomed in his heart. As much as she wished for a loving uncle, who could be proud of her moment of glory, she would never receive such a wish.

Even so, Varsha knew he must put on a charade. He applauded his niece as she walked toward him. He then helped her walk up to the throne and ushered her to have a seat amongst the enormous chair.

"We gather here today for the coronation of Queen Avery the third. I have doted upon being a King, but must surrender my crown to the rightful heir. May she long reign our lands. We shall commence into the crowning of our new Queen and she may have some words for our people."

Avery was nervous and her stomach turned into knots. She stood and walked forward to face the people of Gelfa. Her first word stumbled out with no sense of calm.

"To...to day I..." she paused and took a deep breath, and a final exhale. She had prepared for this moment and she would not let her anxious mind ruin it.

With a louder and more assertive tone she began her speech, "I would like to thank all of you for coming here today in celebration of my coronation. I have been preparing for this spectacular moment since the age of childhood. My mind has always been occupied with the needs of our people. I have seen many changes that seem to be threatening the tranquility of our land. My hope is that together we can once again have unity. With your help, we will make necessary changes to our governing and allow for more equality. Today marks the day of great change and our prospects look immensely brighter. If you will, join me in the celebration of a blessed future. I will now ask my uncle, Varsha, to crown me the queen of my people."

Varsha approached with a slowness and faced his niece with a smirk on his face. As he placed the golden crown with intertwining vines atop Avery's head, he whistled with the highest of pitch possible. Everyone in the room went silent, and then whistled along with him. This was tradition, a call to the wild. Some say it would wake the gods and bring forth luck and transcendance to the queen.

Finally, a new Queen was crowned, and the celebrations began. As Queen Avery sat amongst her royal friends, Varsha approached like a snake. "Dear Queen, I have made your favorite sweet," handing her the biggest piece of gooey chocolate cake. Queen Avery sneered and responded, "oh Varsha, very nice of you, but I am on a strict royal diet, I must ready myself for the strict regimen that awaits me tomorrow." "Perhaps, you would like to enjoy this indulgence instead?" Varsha cowered and retorted, "no your majesty, I think I've devoured quite enough this celebration."

"Ah, maybe you would like some of this Horshen stew? The royal chefs made it with much care." Avery knew Varsha would never dismiss Horshen stew, it was a delicacy and only the wealthiest goblin could partake in such a feast. Sure enough he responded with a greedy, "OH yes, I would never turn down my favorite stew. I have this delicacy but once a week." The fact alone that he would admit to such an extravagance showed Avery what little care he had for their people.

Varsha gulped the stew down as if he was starving. So suddenly his supposed fullness had turned into hunger. With the last bite, he lifted his head and Avery could see his skin begin to turn green. His eyes began to bulge and he grabbed for his throat. It would seem Varsha could no longer breathe.

"Oh my uncle, can you not breath? Wait, I forgot to tell you, there was an added ingredient in the stew. It's so strange, the chef's found this bottle sitting next to a bag of flour. It would seem it was something used in the cake you made just for me. Well, I figured if you felt this ingredient was fit for a queen, then why wouldn't it be fit for a king? So, I had the chefs put the special additive into your stew. I sure hope you're not allergic to it. Guards! Bring us the doctors, Varsha seems to be allergic to the stew!"

The doctors came as fast as they could, but by that time Vargas was gone. He had perished to the poison that he had planned to murder Queen Avery with. What he didn't know was that she was a clever woman, no longer a naive girl. She had eyes and ears all over the place, and one of her spies had caught on to Vargas. He was being watched when he plotted to poison the Queen, and that spy went straight to Malhi. From there, they plotted to get rid of Vargas, as he would only ever threaten the life of the rightful heir. They knew he would outsmart them and find a way out of the dungeons. His sudden death was the only way to stop him from harming the Queen and the people of Gelfa. Queen Avery regretted having to take part in the murder of her uncle, but she had to think like a queen, with wit and strength.

Now the virtuous queen could reign and bring about change to her kingdom, but not without others to get in her way. She knew there would be the first of many obstacles ahead, but she was ready for the battle. Her fight would soon begin, one that would be written in history for years to come.