PRECIOUS

The great king Kai had been looking down at the garden for a long time now, he couldn't help admiring his princess anytime she was in the garden playing with her cat, she so much reminded him of his late queen, oh how great was his love for kaira (for that was the princess' name), she was too dear to him and he could not bear losing her, and seeing her play happily around the garden was the happiest thing his eyes could ever behold, for his princess had been a very cheerful and sweet child, but ever since her mother died she was so traumatized she could hardly speak and it had only been a few months since she recovered, and thanks to her little companion Kim(the cat) she was becoming more alive as the days went by, oh, how he adored this little princess of his she was so glorious and pure in looks and her heart was made of gold even at such a tender age she was just so good and sweet to every one around her, she always took everyone's need before hers and was so given to making everyone happy that she some times forgot she had to make time for her own self, king Kai couldn't help but thank God for this wonderful gift , she was just so so so precious to him!!

"Hey, Daddy why don't you come join us", King Kai was startled out of his world of imagination as Kaira called out to him, "Oh no honey you know this old man here is quite stressed out right now, maybe some other time," the king said " exactly father you've been in your study all day and you need to get a little exercise to flex your muscles, mom once told me that learning without playing makes jack a dull boy, and father you know exercise is good for your health and brain too please daddy, I promise you, we will have lots of fun pleassssse" she continued begging until her father finally gave in, "alright, alright, anything for my little princess", he said as he left his study to go down to the garden. The princess gave a charming smile of triumph as her father gave in to her plea, she sat down to wait since she knew he might take sometime, the kings' study was on the same side of the palace as the garden but a few floors up so he had to take at least 10 minutes to get to the garden, kaira was still smiling for she was so excited to be able to play with her father after so long, looking at her now you would have thought she was an angel or some sought of a fairy of beauty, kaira was the most beautiful little girl anyone could ever dream of seeing, with golden hair, fair skin,  fresh orange lush lips and rosy cheeks, she looked more majestic than the goddess of beauty herself, the whole kingdom adored their little princess, because she had such a golden heart, and did good to anyone that came her way, she was so loving, and humble but mischievous too, for her father never wanted her to leave the palace saying it was too dangerous, but from time to time she will sneak out of the palace in a disguise to see some poor people, she usually brought them lots of gifts, at 7 she was known by all the poor in the kingdom as an angel sent from God, and though she tried so hard to hide her identity, she was left with no choice when one day all the people she helped were so hellbent on discovering who this little angel really was..

"if only I had another friend," said the princess, then things would have been a little different around here, Kim what do you think? it will be so much fun to have other people we could play and study with, that way I won't have to eat all by myself, Dad is always so busy" she complained in a disheartened tone. "and why is my sugar bunny looking so sad?" the king asked "Dad! you're here" Kaira ran over to her father and jumped on him, he immediately caught and they both fell to the ground "Oh it seems my little princess has gained so much weight, you've broken my poor hands and now I can't write, so what will you do about this huh?" the king said, the little Kaira couldn't hold back her laughter, she quickly got up and started running away "I didn't add any weight, your majesty, you just happened to have become weaker, my handsome father is now cranky," Kaira said out merrily, "Hey, how dare you say the most handsome man in the whole of this kingdom is cranky, now I'm really mad and you'll get in serious trouble for your words," her father said sarcastically, he got up too and started running after her like a child "just wait till I catch you!".

****

Meanwhile, after the borders of vanilla stood an old house which was a little hidden from humans, just a sight of it will make one wonder how it was still standing because it looked very old and worn out, the only thing holding this house was magic, it was owned by the witch who was once chased out of vanilla when the queen was still alive, Veronica had been a terror throughout the kingdom, killing young maidens for her charms and spells, this Made her feel invincible and their blood made her younger. her actions didn't go unnoticed by the council and she was soon trapped and sent out of the kingdom, taking her daughter along, she would have been killed immediately by being burned alive but the queen wouldn't hear of it, so it was decided that she should be chased out and no longer be under the protection of the Vanilla kingdom. Vero had nowhere to go so she decided to build a little hidden place just outside the kingdom for herself and her daughter. For years she lived there with Emerald and felt nothing but hatred for the kingdom and most especially the entire royal family. they had made her life miserable and she would never rest until they were all gone "Emerald, get ready, it's time to pay your little friend a visit" she said in a squicky whisper. "Now don't worry about anything for your mama has got you covered, you'll be a good girl and stick to what we have planned for so long and we'll finally be able to destroy vanilla before I take my rest, Era, think of yourself walking around the streets of Vanilla again, not having to hide from anything or anyone" Era's eyes lit up and all she could think of was the face of a very little and beautiful girl that saved her once, she had wanted so badly to be friends with her little saviour and had tried looking for her but unfortunately for little Era, her mother did a lot of bad things and they were sent out of the kingdom " mother but how is that possible, you have tried for so long and I thought we were not allowed to go back to our true home because you were a bad witch and did a lot of terrible things to people" Emerald told her mother innocently Vero started to get irritated by her daughter's silliness, she had explained her plan to her daughter several times, though not in details but she didn't know why her daughter was still oblivious of the whole situation, she reasoned out that Emerald was still too young so she might not be able to understand, but she was the most vital person for this plan so whether or not she understood, she would do it anyway and Veronica had gotten the sign so there was no other perfect time to start their mission but now. " My little penguin, you know what to do, right? leave everything to me, I'll sneak you into the kingdom from here and then to the royal castle, if everything goes as planned then you have nothing to worry about, according to my theory, the person most likely to find you is one of the guards or the princess herself" Veronica explained again for the umpteenth time " if the princess finds you it's even better" she thought as her mouth began to twist to reveal an evil smile, her nails grew longer and she began to see her child as if she were Kaira, she suddenly grabbed her neck and her fingers were sinking into Era's body, the scent of blood made her wild, she wanted to dig into Kaira's guts and remove all it's content. " mother what are you doing?" Era asked loudly as she winced in pain. her mother heard her voice and jolted back to her senses, what was she thinking, she was so overwhelmed and her emotions had gotten the best of her, she had almost killed her own child.