All I ever wanted was to reach Glendor but it was much harder than I anticipated. I was stuck in the worst of places, Nuroque. Nobody from my area was even considered to get into the Promised Land.  As a child I would always sneak away from the city and try to get under the bridge but I never had any luck.  I came back every year at the same time, it became a bit of a tradition but I was always too much of a coward to get closer than twenty metres away.                                                                           

After sneaking away from my rooftop that I call home I started to wade towards the bridge.  When the water got too deep for me to wade anymore, I started swimming.  There it was in front of me -the bridge; cautiously I crept towards the extremely rusty gates that were stopping me from escaping this hell.                                                                                                                                    

A silhouette crept towards me and stepped into the light. Its skin was as white as freshly fallen snow, the talons on its hands and feet were knives, and its eyes were perfectly symmetrical in the shape of two sideways rhombuses. Amber eyes is quite rare for most people in Nuroque as things go once in a century a child born to one of the ten tribes will  have eyes as amber as the traffic lights that our ancestors used to rant about.  The distinct amber with sapphire flecks eyes looked at me with pure compassion and pity which means something bad will happen to me.   

Behind this magnificent creature the real evil appeared. Eyes gleaming with hatred I realised the inherent dangers of coming here. Suddenly moving towards me its deadly talons seized my neck. The eyes were blood red; its horns looked like they were drenched in poison, the coarse scales stuck out in the shape of parallel pyramids.  I squealed in fear but all of a sudden my breathing hitched. “WHY DO YOU DARE TO ENTER THE PROMISED LAND YOU FILTHY NUROQUIAN!” the creature bellowed.

Slowly stuttering and regaining my breath back I answered “I dare to enter so that I can speak to His Majesty about the conditions they have enforced upon our society and tell him about the tortuous place that Nuroque has become; children are being orphaned and abandoned because their parents get a job in the big city. My people are starving and we get whipped if we steal or step one toe out of line. ” Hopefully that works.  Slowly he let me down and replied “You may see His Majesty but if you fail to speak well for your people then not only you but your whole people will suffer.” Wow no pressure.  He (I think?) pulled the jingly keys out of what I thought was a non-existent hole. The gate creaked open. I peered back at the deadly duo.   The cobbled path showed two signs ‘The Palace’ and ‘Democratic Republic of Glendor’. I swiftly ran towards the palace. Three crystals glittered on the top of the palace.

 Magnificently crafted ice sculptures were scattered across the courtyard. All of it was made of ice, marble and precious jewels. Panting I knocked on the emerald doors which miraculously opened simultaneously within less than a second.   A young boy, no older than five came up to me and said in less than a whisper. “His Majesty will be with you shortly.” I nodded.  He scurried away into the dark abyss of shadows.  I sat there patiently waiting when the doors in front of me burst open revealing what the Glendorians call His Royal Highness. 

 I bowed down low not bothering to look him in the eye when he said “Rise, young one, why have you come to the grand palace of Glendor?” I looked him in the eye and said “If you may ask Your Highness, I have come to ask if you can improve the Nuroquian society by giving adults more jobs closer to their children because parents ditch children making them forced to work and homeless, hungry and alone. If people steal out of hunger or don’t work they get whipped.” His eyes turned white and he rose from his throne. His amethyst cloak draped behind him as he glided towards me and inquired “What is your title, may I ask?”

“I am Miss Ales Geneva of Nuroque, your Highness,” I replied. A look of recognition crossed through his eyes. “Ah, you are Sevin and Ytaska’s daughter; if you are confused they are my royal advisors as they have been for the last twelve years.” He replied.

Really my parents left me when I was five to work for the king of Glendor and left me to fend for myself at five years old. Tears flooded from my eyes and the little boy rushed to my aid. “Don’t cry nice lady,” he begged in his wispy voice.  The King came up to the boy and whispered in his ear. He scurried into the shadows again. “Come, don’t be scared young one, I have a surprise for you.”  Confusion passed through my face when two figures emerged from the shadows. The man’s face resembled the little boy but with my golden eyes, and the woman had the boy’s amethyst eyes but looked like an older version of me. “I present to you Lord Sevin and Lady Ytaska Geneva and this is young Timmy.” The little boy is my brother?  Wait: Sevin and Ytaska - didn’t he say they were…

A twenty metre sprint, I wasn’t built for this but surprisingly I sprinted faster than I ever had before. Across the slippery marble floors into Sevin’s arms that felt like home; which is hopefully where I will stay.  Here safe in the palace with my family and the royals.