By: Amy Liu

The kingdom of Aria, otherwise known as the kingdom of blue, was relatively peaceful. The sun was shining. The birds were chirping. Children were playing without a care in the world.

Townspeople cluttered the streets, buying bread for their families. It was truly an exciting

moment to be alive.

I slowly closed the door of my hut. As the servant of the “Queen of Green”, I

was often kept busy. I was her most trusted advisor, so I needed to be at the palace at all times.

After the guards let me in the palace, I strode calmly to the throne room, where the queen

should have been waiting for me, with my first task in hand. But this was not the case today.

Today, my jaw dropped to the ground, as I desperately looked around.

Where was the queen?

Frantically looking around, I could see nothing but red. Blood slowly dripped from the royal

purple throne, and as I turned around, I saw the queen’s beloved mockingbird, hanging lifelessly from the cage.

Staring in shock, I saw that the queen’s advisors were also gone without a trace. Stepping back, I ran for my life.

Sprinting frantically from the palace, I saw the tiniest flicker of fire in the heart of the

kingdom. Beside it, soldiers from the neighboring kingdom of yellow crowded around it. They

turned to my direction, and I froze.

What was happening?

And then I realized. They were trying to set the town on fire.