A Prince of Beetles and the Apple Queen

        The Beetle Prince and his caravan of bug soldiers decided to head on a long long trip to Gala, the Apple Kingdom. He heard of an important assembly within the Queen’s court, and wanted to ensure no one thought of betraying her. The morning before the trip, he wore his shiniest chest plate and boots. His wings were thoroughly cleaned and shimmery, and his hair was short and neat.  

“What is your scent today, M’lord?” his scent servant asked.

“Something flowery and sweet, no dung musk, please!”

The servant bowed out of the room. The prince turned to his mirror. Everything was sparkling of course, as he highly favored iridescence.

Surely everything was alright with his friend, the Apple Queen. She was known for her benevolence and grace, therefore who’d wish to wrong her?

On his way to the Apple Kingdom, the Prince saw verdant, dewey pastures that stretched farther than the eye could see. Past the hills lay other cities, with their own kings and queens, who were probably on their way to Gala too. The soft gallop of the mushroom ponies and the rocking of his carriage put the Prince to sleep for the rest of his trip.         

“How dare you?” A woman clad in red jewelry slapped her gilded hand on her throne.

“Pardon me, fair Lady. I didn’t mean to offend.” A man too gilded in jewelry groveled at her feet.

“An offer in gold is far too trivial for a woman of your stature.”

“Away with you!” She waved her hand and he was dragged out of the throne room.

She covered her face and slumped down, exhausted from a long day of sitting and dictating others around. The day would be a complete snooze fest if it wasn’t for the court assembly happening in her castle. Finally! Being able to show off her beautiful palace to those royal snobs from the other courts and drowning them in her glory and triumph! O how wonderful it would be to look down on them from my balcony on high! “Please O please Lady Rose won’t you let us in?” They’d beg, on their knees covered in dirt.

“No!” I’d say and laugh in their faces!

O how wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

“M’lady?” A light hand rested on her shoulder.

“Huh?”

“Are you alright? Some of your guests have arrived.” The handmaiden smiled at her.

“Oh yes, yes. Escort them to the round table, please.” The lady clutched her chest, steadying herself.

She straightened out her gown, and started towards the ballroom.

An extravagant, glittery caravan arrived outside the kingdom of Gala’s gates. The Prince was woken up by the abrupt stop by the ponies. They were in Gala alright, soft red silk was draped all over the kingdom. From its flag to the cloth that covered merchant tents to the clothing that covered its people.

A soldier in ornate, silver armor stepped toward the caravan, clanking as he went.

“Who are you?” the soldier barked into the caravan.

“The Beetle King, of course!” he flashed a smile and a wink.

The soldier looked him up and down, sneering at his presence.

“That’s your father, kid. Keep it pushing Latreilli!” The soldier slammed the caravan door shut and signaled the gates to open.

Latreilli was gobsmacked. The utter disregard for high class…No respect, no reverence. The world must be upside down!

The gate in front of them pulled itself away and Gala’s palace opened itself up before them. The main road weaved through a lush garden with hundreds of trees that bore fruit that glistened with diamond-like dew.  Passing through the garden still, Latreilli grew heavily interested in tasting one of these fruits and reminded himself to ask his friend if he could take a few home.

On the Eastern gate of Gala’s palace, a jeweled white caravan strutted to the entrance. The knights guarding the entrance let it through without thorough inspection, as the traveler inside it was well known and highly revered. Once inside the gates, the noble stepped out, covered head to tie in white, elegant armor. A man in similar clothing got out and stood at his side.

“We’re early, aren’t we?”

“Does it matter? I highly doubt she’s ready anyway.” the traveler said.

The pair walked toward the Palace’s main hall, a line of gilded soldiers bowing to them as they went. A fanfare of trumpets followed. From the western wing, a sparkling bright red gown was spotted coming down a flight of stairs. An announcer stood at a podium.

“She’s beauty, she's grace! Gala’s benevolent Queen has blessed us with her presence!” the announcer bellowed.

Her maiden helped her down the stairs, her red glass heels clicking as they went down.  

The Queen stepped up to the podium and cleared her throat.

“Good Morning Gala!”

The crowd roared in applause.

“How fortunate is it that the centennial anniversary of our Kingdom falls on the day Gala’s Palace holds the Royal Court Assembly? We are truly blessed to be gathered here today!”

The crowd cheers again, and the trumpets play a tiny flourish.

“They’ll be some nice drinks and games in the square. Go! Go have fun everyone!” She claps her hands and shoos everyone away. The crowd recedes to the square outside of the palace gates. The queen steps down from the podium with the help of her maiden.

Meanwhile, the men in jewelled white armor entered the palace. A few soldiers escorted them to the assembly hall. Gala’s signature red silk furnished the palace’s ceilings and walls, with gold pillars stretching to the ceiling.  

“She’s really cleaned up the place hasn’t she?” One noble said to the other.

“Hm? Oh it’s pretty nice, sure. Quaint. But where are all the servants? Nothing but footmen running around this place…”

“Amel! Be nice! We’re lucky to have even got an invitation!”

Amel shot him a venomous look.

“Is that really what you think? We earned this invitation. We have the right to be here, Kuhl.”

He raised a finger to his lips.

“Don’t let them see you groveling here. It’ll do nothing but worsen our reputation back home.”

“Ugh.” Kuhl groaned. “Whatever.”

        After an eternity of winding steps and hallways, they reached the round table where the assembly would be held. It was sparsely lit but highly decorative. A vast mural of every country and kingdom in the land was painted on the western wall. At first glance, it seemed like the room was empty, but sinking into a dark corner was a strange looking woman with dissheveled hair. Kuhl hadn’t noticed her. She suddenly moved to stand next to them, and when he looked back over-

“EEK!”

Amel snickered at his shock. The woman was standing in Kuhl’s face, her eyes mulling over his short frame. She reeked of rot and tiny dead creatures, a stench so pungent it could make the paint peel off an elaborate mural.

“Too close? I apologize.” she said, stepping back. Her eyes were wide open, freakishly so. “It’s just that I’ve never seen either of you at an assembly before?” She tilted her head. Her voice was deep but wiry, with the same melancholy of a haunted ghoul.

“Oh Princess Aria! How nice of you to join us.” A light voice rang out.  Someone burst into the room. Lady Rose barreled her way through the hall and went in to embrace her, unbothered by her scent.

“I don’t know how I pulled you out of that swamp! At one point I thought you were ignoring my invitations to hang out on purpose…”  Rose says, pouting.

“Oh, dear Rose!” Aria holds her. “You have a beautiful kingdom. Who wouldn’t want to celebrate Gala, right?” She sounded hoarse. The smile came back to Rose’s face.

Amel and Kuhl had since sat down at one of the few chairs at the table. Rose finally turned to face them.

“Of course, I am honored the renowned White Snakes of Illium are in attendance as well!” She shook their hands individually, and went to sit down when-

“Could we have a moment to speak with you?” Amel said, he stood up from his chair, and motioned for Kuhl to stand too.

“Oh?” She turned around. Aria had taken her seat.

“Alright… it seems like everyone else will be a little late anyway…”

They stepped outside of the assembly hall and she lead them to a quiet corridor that was out of the way.

Latreilli finally managed to make it inside the palace. He had missed the Queen’s address and for what! Because some silly soldiers kept hassling him in the garden? These guys are stupid, he thought.

I’m not posing a threat! I’m helping her!

There were no soldiers to escort him to the assembly hall. He fumbled his way  through numerous halls and corridors. He went past gold pillars and red drapes, they all blended together after a while. Latreilli was starting to sweat, at this point he wouldn’t make it in time for the ceremony! He tried asking for directions. Take the northern corridor then turn right! Or, turn left at the golden apple fountain! It didn’t work. He was caught in a maze of gold and apples and golden apples.

After taking a sharp right turn at an odd hallway, he nearly bumped into a tall, see-through curtain.

“Excuse me.” The curtains said.

Latreilli looked up and met another pair of eyes.

“O-Oh? It’s you!”

This was no mere pair of curtains!

“Oh Lady Synthia! I’m so glad I ran into you… Do you happen to know where we are?”

The lady looked down at him, studying his expression.

“Do you even know where you are? You’ve been milling around this palace like a lost ant.”

He had been wandering for awhile, but how did she know that? Latreilli put this thought aside.

“Was it that obvious? Ha! I wasn’t that lost! Just got mixed around a bit. Nothing too serious.”

Latreilli felt squirmish and small in Synthia’s presence…He really did feel like a lost ant.

“There.”

She pointed down a long corridor to the right of them. At the end of it, two large crested doors boasted their obviousness.

“The assembly hall’s doors are right there.”

“Oh, well. Thank you very much! Very gracious of you to show me in the right direction, well off I go! Goodbye!” He feverishly waved her goodbye and got a few steps ahead before a cruel snag in the carpet caught him. He slipped face first onto golden pavement thinly veiled by red wool.

“OWWW!!!! Who put this carpet here? Sonofa-grngh…”

Some incoherent mumbles later, Latreilli pushed himself off the floor and turned to the hall’s doors.

“Wait.”

Latreilli turned around, a hand on his sore cheek.

“Tell me one thing, beetle.” She closed the distance between them in an instant.

“Do you know what this Assembly is about? Yes, the Assembly is annual, but do you know the subject Rose chose for this year?”

Latreilli thought hard on this question. He didn’t know what they were going to discuss, he was just happy to be included.

“It’ll be reports on welfare, the state of each of their lands and whatnot. Why? Didn’t you know?”

Synthia pulls a slip of paper from behind the coat of her wings.

“The subject of the invitation reads, ‘Discussing the means of harmonious nectar distribution.’ She wants to make sure everyone is drunk on nectar and merry. Across every land, in every forest, swamp, pond, field. Everywhere. That is her highest concern! Worthy of gathering nobles from across the world in one room for, on the exact day her kingdom grows a hundred years old. ”

“Well that is a beautiful thing isn’t it? I was pretty close-”

“You didn’t receive an invitation did you? Rose never intended you to be here.” she said, cutting the air between them.

A servant nearby dropped a glass platter, shattering it into a thousand pieces. Some nearby guards helped her sweep the shards up.

Suddenly the doors of the Assembly felt cold and miles away. Latreilli couldn’t bare to meet Synthia’s eyes again. He stared at her wings instead, light passed through them but they had no color of their own. Almost perfectly clear.

“You don’t belong here.”

The words echoed in his mind. From the slight hassle at the gates to the maze of the palace, he felt unease tugging at his skin. Dragging him out, back home, out of here. He shook the thought away.

“So what? I didn’t come here to be ignored and pushed away. I will have an audience at the Assembly!”

“That Assembly isn’t what you think it’s going to be. There is something far more sinister happening inside these walls.”

Is she trying to deceive me? Latreilli tried to discern her expression. There was nothing about her tone that seemed malicious, her face was the same as it was she first spoke to him. Hard and indiscernible.

 “You can still be of use. Rose doesn’t know you’re here.”

This comment rattled something in his mind.

“You keep speaking of Lady Rose as if she’s a villain! What has she done to garner your disrespect?”

It took everything in him to look Synthia in the face again.

“Nothing but keep the grounds of the Assembly shrouded in mystery. She will not be talking about nectar, that is something I’m certain of.” She looked off at the doors of the assembly hall. \

“How can you be so sure-”

“SHH!”

Synthia quickly whisked them behind a gilded statue. She covered Latreilli with her wings, rendering him invisible.

She pointed at the assembly hall’s doors. Rose walked out with two men in white armor following close behind.

“See? Why would she be leaving the assembly so early?”

Rose and the men walked out of eyesight. Synthia uncloaked the both of them.

“I have no reason to be suspicious of any of them!” Latreilli tried to sound stern.

“Whatever plan you have in mind, stick with it, but I won’t play along. What has caused you so much discontent?”

“I have my reasons. Rose and I never got along too well. Why would she invite me here if not to ruin our standings further?” Synthia turned up her nose. Latreilli nearly smiled.

“So you’re just a cynic? Oh thank goodness. I thought something might actually be wrong here!”

Synthia looked back at him, furious.

“Go on then! See if they’ll let you in!” She pointed at the doors.

“Drink and be merry then, since she gathered all of us here to be so jolly and cordial!”

“I will, thank you. And once the nectar is served I’ll invite you in for a drink or two, eh?”

Latreilli marched on happily towards the Assembly’s doors. Two soldiers stood there now, blocking the gate with their heavy, silver spears. “Good evening to you, lads. I am Latreilli of the Beetle Court. Please let me in!” The guards didn’t move. “Erm, I said please?” The guards still didn’t move.

Synthia walked up behind Latrelli and bowed to the guards. She walked up to the doors and the guards let her in. The color drained from his little brown face. He looked up to Synthia, defeated. The guards crossed their spears again. Synthia squinted at him. “Stay hidden.” she said, and disappeared behind the doors.

“You guys really aren’t letting me in?” Latreilli said, despair spreading across his face like mold on a fruit.