The Royal Ruby

• Katie Pilkington, Grade 6, Western Cape College
• Short Story
• 2016

Excellence Award in the 'Top Secret 2016' competition

The Royal Ruby
It was a cold night at the Kingdom of Iceland. Everyone stayed inside their small, grey coloured, brick houses. White snow decorated the tiles of the roof of the castle. Surrounding the castle was a moat full of red, bubbling hot lava. “Mirror mirror on the wall, who shall someday rule them all?” asked the Evil Queen as she paced up and down the gigantic room. “Your daughter, whom is yet to come, will soon be having all the fun!” replied the magic mirror.
Many years later, the Evil Queen’s daughter was 18. “Now, you must go to war and succeed where I have failed.” The Evil Queen said to her daughter, Princess Crystal. “Yes mother, I will not let you down. We will rule the whole land together!” she yelled greedily. The Evil Queen gave Princess Crystal a necklace with a giant ruby as the pendant. “This will give you the extra strength you need.” She told Princess Crystal. “But be warned, if it is broken, all of its magic will be unleashed upon you!”
After many days at war, the Kingdom of Iceland had finally won over all the country. Their flag was raised. The captives were imprisoned. The rivers were red with blood. There was no joy. No laughter. No happiness. Darkness crept over the land. There was only weeping, moaning and sorrowful faces.
One day, a girl named Margarita was found at an abandoned town close by. She was 15 years old and her parents had been killed in the battle. Margarita’s skills and ability in self-defence and sword fighting were amazing. Suddenly, a glimmer of hope came over the whole Kingdom. She trained very, very hard and each day Margarita grew stronger than before. Soon, she was ready.
Margarita went to sleep early and rose at the crack of dawn. She slipped quietly down the street, being very cautious of guards. A large metal nail was tucked safely in her pocket, which was used to pick the lock on the gate of the castle. The guards were asleep, and Margarita tiptoed past them. Up the stairs she went, and softly opened the door to Princess Crystal’s room.
Margarita saw the necklace that was tied to Princess Crystal’s neck and recognised it. She had read about it in one of her books that were given to her as a present. Margarita lunged forward quickly and tore the necklace from Princess Crystal’s neck. She smashed it onto the floor and it broke into million pieces. The fragments of ruby started to glow bright red and Princess Crystal screamed in pain as though she had been stabbed. She fell to the ground and never rose again. The whole country was once again free, and The Evil Queen was locked in the dungeon forever.