I hopped down the path as fast as my four little legs could carry me. "Princess! Princess! I shouted. "He's coming!" The guard of the palace placed his staff in my way, bringing me to a halt.

"And who might you think you are, small, furry, rabbit-like creature?" He bent down to examine me closer.

"I am a rabbit, you dimwit!" I spoke angrily to him, even though I knew he couldn't understand me; only the princess could. The Princess was beautiful; the most beautiful girl in all the land! With her long, honey-brown hair, her striking blue eyes and her slim figure, she was the girl that all of the young suitors were after. The animals loved her for another reason. She was the only person in the land of Zynathia that was able to talk to animals. We viewed her as our leader in a way. I liked to think of myself as the royal bunny adviser. Just then, Princess Eudora herself strode gracefully out the front door.

"Leave the poor creature alone, Herbert. He belongs here." With a flip of her long white dress, she walked back into the palace. I followed with a smug look on my face. Suddenly it hit me why I had been so urgent in the first place.

"Princess! The King of Gershon! He's on his way here now! There's a whole carriage of them; the king, the royal horses, everyone!"

Princess Eudora whipped her head around, looking at me as though I had invited the king there myself. "What use have they of coming here? Have you heard?" I shook my head sadly, feeling as though I had let her down. Since her royal cat, Rufina had disappeared over a year ago, she was always on edge. You see, Rufina was like the Princess, in a way. She was an animal, who could speak with humans. With one swift movement of her hand, she brought me back from my thoughts. She gestured to the door. "Well, off with you then! Find out what their business is!"

I had gotten my order, and I was off, running back up the path I had come. It didn't take too much running before I encountered a blockage in the road that was none other than King Frederick of Gershon himself. Oh, what a ghastly creature he was! His greasy, dark hair hung past his shoulders. His figure was one to be coveted; if you were old Saint Nick. I positioned myself undernead one of the royal horses, careful not to be trampled.

"Psst. Hey. Big guy." The black horse glanced down at me with a snobby look on his face. I had forgotten that I was just a lowly Zynathia rabbit; he was a royal Gershon steed. "Why are you traveling the long way from Gershon?"

The steed huffed his breath. "We're going to see the princess of course." That was all I needed to know. Back to the palace I ran, not even bothering with the palace guard this time. The princess was seated on her throne, looking rather troubled.

"Princess. They are making the journey to see you." She grew quiet, her face crinkled with worry. I knew that she was surveying her options. She was the only person who lived in the palace now, other than me, the two guards, the cook, and the maid. We had no army, and we had no weapons. If the king was preparing an attack, then we would surely be useless. No more had this though entered my head, than the guard of the door appeared beside us.

"The King of Gershon wishes to see you, Ma'dam." Princess Eudora nodded her head gracefully, to say "send him in." She turned and positioned herself on her throne. She patted the smaller throne that was beside her. I knew this to be Rufina's seat.

"Come, sit here. You shall be my royal adviser for this meeting. Your intelligence is much needed." I sat proudly on the throne, silently wishing to myself that I had a crown. The King of Gershon appeared before us, a guard on either side. None of the visitors bowed, showing their disrespect toward the princess. The king didn't waste any time.

"I came today to bargain with you. Nearly a year ago now, the royal advisers of Gershon came to your palace, as you remember, wanting to know your secret. We were desperate to find out how you were able to talk to the fauna. When you would not confess your secret, we decided to take matters into our own hands. For the past twelve months we have had your royal Rufina in the Gershon Palace, interrogating her at every point possible. She will not tell your secret either. We have decided now that the only way to find out, is to take you with us as well." From behind the king, I saw the two guards of our palace tied up and being put in the royal carriage. I looked at the princess. Her face was calm, but her eyes were panicking.

"Very well, take me if you must. But you will never unearth my secret. It is between me and the giver of the gift." She stood and walked to the guards, allowing herself to be taken outside. No sooner had she walked outside, she was put in the carriage, and taken away.

"Oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no!" I paced around the throne. The palace seemed so empty now. I had to somehow get to Gershon to rescue the princess. But how? I only weigh six pounds. I couldn't run all the way to Gershon. That's when an idea struck. I couldn't run to Gershon, but I could run to Kasarylia! I set off, making the short journey down the dirt road to the land of Kasarylia.

Kasarylia was much like Zynathia. It was a small land, filled with creatures of all shapes and sizes. The royals here were good, like Princess Eudora. They are the reason that I was travelling to their land in the first place. King Lucian, I knew, had collaborated with Princess Eudora on several occasions. Surely he would help me! Sneaking past the front guards, I made my way into the palace. It was lovely inside, but this was no time to be admiring the handiwork. King Lucian was seated on his thrown, a book on his lap. I noticed he had a smaller thrown beside his seat, like Eudora's. Seated on it was a large, stark black cat. I guessed that speaking to him would be my best bet.
"Royal cat of Kasarylia, I come to you asking for help." I bowed my head to the ground, showing that I was in their mercy. The cat looked down at me and spoke.

"Indeed, young rabbit. Tell me your wishes." I looked up at him, relieved to see that he spoke English. King Lucian was now at attention, too.

"The King of Gershon has taken Princess Eudora back to his castle! He wants to find her secret to speaking in the creature's language." The King looked directly at me, with a distraught look on his face. I realized that he must have the same powers as my princess; he didn't wait for the cat to translate my explanation.

"Jileo. Go tell the guards to saddle my steed. We are going to make a journey." The cat bounded away while the king sat in silence, his hand on his chin.

"Sir, do you have a plan?" I asked timidly.

"Indeed I do! But I will require your help." I again smiled proudly. This was the second time in a day that a royal had asked me help. The king leaned in and told me of his plan. I smiled, full of understanding. Soon after, Jileo returned to the front door, holding a horse's reins in his mouth. The king lifted me up, and put me on the front of his saddle. After he mounted the stallion (which, by the way, was snow-white) Jileo leapt effortlessly onto the horse's back, and we were off.

The journey was but a few minutes by galloping horseback. The king stopped a bit away from the palace, hiding the horse in the bushes. He then came back, holding a basket, and wearing a change of clothes that were torn to near shreds. He had smudged dirt onto his face and hands, making him appear as though he was a poor pauper. He held the basket to the ground, and instructed that I hop in. I did, and was soon covered with a blanket. He then walked to the palace on foot. When we arrived, the guard stopped him.

Lucian held out the basket. "I came to speak to the king. I am just a lowly servant with a request; I mean no harm." The guard nodded and we were let inside to see the king.
`
Today must have been a special day; there was a line leading up to the throne of people that looked very similar to King Lucian in disguise. All of them had baskets just like the one I was peering out of. All of them seemed to have a request for the king. When it was Lucian's turn to speak, I retreated back into the basket, careful not to be seen. I felt him kneel to the ground.

"King Frederick, sir. I bring you a rabbit for your table." He lifted the blanket off of my head. That was my cue. I leapt out of the basket, running as fast as I could around the front room of the palace, as guards tried their best to catch me. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of King Lucian grabbing a sword from the wall. Soon, all five of the kings guards were unconscious. I stopped running and stood beside Lucian. All of the other beggars had fled the palace. Now it was just us and King Frederick. To the side stood Princess Eudora, Rufina by her side. I smiled inwardly that they were reunited.

"How dare you invade my palace, and overtake my guards! How dare you!" King Frederick bellowed. He stood from his throne, as if to make a move toward us, but he instead stayed standing in the spot. Eudora had been slowly making her way toward myself and King Lucian throughout this. Now she was standing behind us. I looked back at her, and she smiled at me, as if thanking me. I smiled back.

"How dare you kidnap the good and fair Eudora! She has done nothing but good to Zynathia, and Kasarylia, and even Gershon! And yet you still are determined to find out why she has her gift of the animal language. I too, have this gift. It was not given to us, nor is it something you can steal. It is aquired when a fairy cat is rescued from a dire situation. Have you not made that connection between Rufina and the princess yet? Are you and your royal interrogators that ignorant?"

King Frederick stood dumbfounded. "Where is your fairy cat then? Has someone kidnapped your precious royal as well?"

King Lucian smiled. "On the contrary." I heard a low growling sound coming from behind us. I realized it was Jileo. Now that I saw him standing next to Rufina, I realized how large he was; at least three times the size of the small calico cat that belonged to my Princess. "Attack!" With that one word, Jileo lunged at King Frederick, latching onto his leg. Lucian scooped me up in one arm, grabbed Eudora's hand with the other, and we were off. Soon we were on the back of his steed again. Me in my spot, the king in the saddle, and Eudora behind him. We sat on the horse's back and waited, until finally Rufina and Jileo emerged from the palace. They walked beside the horse, since we were going at a slow pace now.

I heard Princess Eudora's soft voice behind me. "King Lucian, how may I repay you?" The king shook his head.

"Twas not me that saved you, m'dear. It was young Micajah. If it weren't for him, I would had never know something was astray in the land."

"You will be rewarded, Micajah. But still, King Lucian, there must be something I can do to thank you for your help with this situation!"

I glanced around to look at the King and the Princess. Uh oh. I knew that look. "Well, maybe there is one thing." I smiled, knowing what the happy ending of this story was going to entail.

Epilogue



Eudora sat down on her thrown in the newly build palace. Both the palaces of Kasarylia and Zynathia had been demolished, and the remains of each used to build a much bigger, nicer palace. She looked over at Lucian.

"Are you ready to greet the people of our land, my queen?" He asked, smiling. Queen Eudora reached for his hand.

"Of course, my king."

Jileo smiled from his throne next to the king, and Rufina from her throne at the side of the queen. Me? I smiled from my throne in the middle.