Young Fleur's adventures around the world Book II. What stars may come. Françoise de Chambord

may come

      ― There is nothing as powerful as a Mother’s Love, and nothing as healing as a child’s soul, – to my Mummy, who was and will be forever in my memory, my consolation in sorrow, my hope in misery, and my strength in weakness.

      My thoughts go out to you, my immortal beloved. I can only live wholly with you or not at all – be calm my life, my all. Only by calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together. Oh, continue to love me, never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved. Ever thine, ever mine, ever ours.

      Ludwig van Beethoven

      Evening was falling and a little Lady with golden hair came to her Mummy and asked in a sweet voice:

      – Mummy, will you read me a fairy tale?

      Mummy looked kindly into the child’s hazel eyes:

      – Surely, Fleur. Kiss Daddy good night, and together we’ll wander on an ocean of adventures.

      Fleur embraced Daddy then ran like lightning up the stairs to her room, leaving the door ajar to hear her Mummy’s steps on the stairs.

      In a minute she heard her Mummys’s warm soft steps.

      Fleur quickly jumped into bed and under the soft blanket, hugging her teddy unicorn toy, and waited. Earlier they had bought a book from the small shop on the corner of the street. It had been written by their beloved author. Carefully they opened together a story which began with a storm raging between the sea and the sky.

      Lightning set the sky on fire and filled the storm clouds with a rumbling deep thunder. When the storm was over just one solitary star was in the sky and from deep within a coniferous forest the star captured the gaze of seven wise men watching from atop an ancient castle.

      The youngest of the seven turned to the eldest and the most experienced and said:

      – Let’s turn the star into a hero once more, a hero who can defeat The Dark Power that attacks our state and destroys our cities and fortresses.

      But the other wise men said with sadness that The Dark Power they feared was unconquerable and the young man was convinced they were right.

      They remembered all too well that when they had called on the sky and the sea for help The Dark Power proved to be stronger.

      – How we relied on that star! – the older wise men said.

      – It’s true, – said the young men, – but when we turned the first star into a hero and sent him into battle, The Dark Power wavered and we were so close to a victory…

      The wise men fell silent and each recalled the battle and how, indeed, a hero star did drive The Dark Power out of the state, but unexpectedly his force became greater and the star defender was thrown down. Then, all of a sudden, they realized the source of The Dark Power’s strength – the more he was beaten the stronger he became.

      But the young sage came back still determined to fight and to turn the star into a hero.

      – We will go to fight in the field together. And we will win. Or we will die, – he said. They came down from the top of the castle to the room with the fire and only the crackle of the logs in the fireplace broke the silence as the wisest sage was deep in thought.

      – So, our enemy knows the secret of multiplying his force, does he? – the first and the cleverest sage reflected out loud

      – How does he manage to do this? – he asked his fellows, searching for an answer in the depths of their eyes.

      But they just looked away and the question hung unanswered in the silence.

      Dawn was near. This one was a pure and fascinating dawn and looked to have been painted in oil by a great artist and was such that its like had never been seen before in these lands and a burning sun shimmered on the horizon.

      Every morning the wise men observed the dawn attentively. It was the part of the day when they acquired the might for the whole day and lapsed into daydreams. But this morning they had to make a pressing decision. As each sunbeam pierced the sky and fell to earth The Dark Power began to destroy roads, bridges, buildings…

      – So what do we do? – the seventh sage asked loudly with more than a touch of panic in his voice. – Will our last star become a hero?

      – No! – the oldest sage blurted out, – our last star will become a beautiful Lady!

      – Who?! – everyone turned to him, their faces full of questions. ― Why?!

      – I think.., – the first sage said, – that I know the answer to our enemy’s power of multiplying his force. That is why our last hope, the last star, will turn into a beautiful virgin.

      They looked out through the window and there in the morning dawn they saw how a star came down on a thin silver thread to the earth and turned into a beautiful Lady. She shook her long shining hair and, a little confused, began to look around her new world with a deep and frightened interest.

      The Dark Power was a big muscled monster in a human shape with a sullen grey face. He was angry that his morning had got off to a miserable start. He was suffering from a headache and a mighty strong thirst.