Young Writers Society

Chapter 1

THE SPOILED PRINCE

In the land of Mayfair, lived a king by the name of Alfred and his wife, Queen Jasline. King Alfred and Queen Jasline had two children, the oldest Prince Harry and his younger sister, Princess Cilla.

Prince Harry was a very happy little prince because you see Harry was very spoiled and rotten. Nobody, absolutely nobody was allowed to say ‘no’ to Prince Harry when he wanted something, or to punish him when he did something wrong or even to criticize him. Whatever Harry wanted to have, Harry had and whatever Harry wanted to do, Harry did and that was just the way it was.

Prince Harry was always getting into mischief, whether it was chasing his sister around the castle with his scary mask or snatching the clothing off the line for the hired help to re-clean them all over again. Harry thought this last was hilarious and he would laugh at all the servants, as he caused their jobs to be much harder as they had to do some of them all over again.

“Please, your Highness,” said the little laundry girl, who was just barely tall enough to reach the clothesline to hang things up. “Please don’t throw the washing on the ground again. My back hurts and I am so tired of washing clothes and hanging them on the line.”

Prince Harry just laughed and grabbing the King’s royal cape off the line he chased the little laundry girl all over the yard until he knocked her down with it, then he dropped it down over her head and of course it was so wet that by the time she got it off from herself she was soaking wet and very, very angry.

“I’ll give him what for,” she muttered to herself and started after Prince Harry with the king’s royal cape tucked under her arm.

“I’ll give him a taste of his own medicine.” The little laundry girl had four brothers and she knew just how to deal with boys when they acted spoiled and rotten.

“No, no, you mustn’t,” cried one of the laundry women, who ran out and grabbed the laundry girl by the arm and pulled her back. “No one is allowed to discipline the prince or even to criticize him, remember? The last people who told King Alfred that his son was spoiled and rotten disappeared and have never been heard from again. Remember, it is strictly against the law to say anything negative about the royal family. I know that boy is trouble on wheels, but you just mustn’t say anything or you’ll be the one in trouble.”

The little laundry girl went with the older woman but the look she gave Prince Harry, well, if looks really could kill, nobody would have had to worry about Prince Harry’s mischief again.

Every day Prince Harry had a birthday party, even though it wasn’t his birthday. And when it was his birthday, well, you can imagine the kind of a celebration they had then. The king and queen wanted to please Harry and stop him from having his tantrums, so they supplied him with a birthday party every day.

They knew that if Harry did not have his birthday party he would be a very unhappy little boy and an unhappy Harry was a terrible thing, a very terrible thing indeed!

Most importantly, the town’s people got tired of it. A birthday party every day for the same person became boring. Prince Harry had everything he could ever want, so every time someone would bring him a gift, Harry would toss it to the floor like a piece of garbage, often without even bothering to unwrap it.

Royalty and high society came from near and far to see Harry, because they knew that someday he would be the king, but when they left, they had a bad taste in their mouths.

“That boy is a spoiled brat!” said Harry’s Great Uncle Claudius to his wife Isabella. “He’s just like his father was at that age.”

“Shhh,” said Great Aunt Isabella, pushing him quickly towards their carriage. “You know better than to say anything like that. It’s against the law to criticize a member of the royal family, remember? What if someone heard you?”

“But I am a member of the royal family,” argued Great Uncle Claudius. “If anyone heard what I said and told, why then they’d be criticizing a member of the royal family so I’m safe, right?”

“I’m not sure and I don’t want to find out,” said Great Aunt Isabella. “Now hurry and get yourself in that carriage before you say something that will get us in trouble.”

“All right, all right,” grumbled Great Uncle Claudius. “But somebody, who shan’t be mentioned, could do with some good old fashioned discipline. A birthday party every day, the idea, such foolishness! His grandfather and I weren’t raised that way!”

“If you’re talking about the royal pain I completely agree with you, your highness,” said their coachman, as he held the door open for them to climb into the coach.

“Reginald!” said Great Aunt Isadora sharply. “I’ll thank you to keep your mouth closed about such things. I don’t want to disappear never to be seen again even if you two wouldn’t mind.”

“Yes Princess Isadora,” said the coachman. He managed, just barely, to keep a straight face but Great Uncle Claudius grinned as he climbed into the coach behind his wife and gave him a big wink.

“It’s a shame, a real shame,” said Great Uncle Claudius when they had driven far enough away from the castle to know that no one was near enough to hear what they were saying. “That boy is totally out of control and his parents just stand by and let him do as he feels fit. Because they are the king and queen, no one is brave enough to say anything. Even the members of the royal family are afraid to speak about Harry’s rude behavior. His parents aren’t doing him any favor. It’s a shame, a real shame.”

Now that you know a bit about the royal family, let me tell you about the land of Mayfair itself and the other lands around it.

Mayfair was one of the few mystical, magical lands left; most of the others had been invaded by the Bots. Actually invaded may not be the right word. The Bots weren’t a warlike group that overpowered nations and took over, in fact, they were really very friendly and kind beings, it was just that there were so many of them, that when they moved into an area, they simply took over and because they were such an advanced society and had so much to offer, most of the residents were glad to have them there.

King Alfred however did not like the idea of having the Bots move into Mayfair. He very much liked being the king and having his own way about everything and he wanted things to stay just the way they were. It is very easy to see who young Prince Harry took after isn’t it?

King Alfred ordered a 100 million mile wall to be built. “It is the longest wall ever built,” he told the people of Mayfair. “I will have guards guarding the wall day and night, thousands of guards lined up to keep watch. They will make sure that none of the evil Bots get into our beautiful land. I will make sure that you are all protected from the evil Bots.”

The king didn’t add that in keeping watch so that no Bots could enter Mayfair, the guards were also keeping watch to make sure that none of the people of Mayfair could leave without the king knowing about it and giving permission and King Alfred was not about to give permission. “I like things just the way they are,” he told Queen Jasline. “And that’s just the way I plan to keep them.”

“Please your majesty,” called Julius, an older man who had lived in Mayfair all of his life, at least so far, as he liked to tell people. “None of us have ever seen a Bot. Could you tell us what the Bots are like?”

“Gladly,” said King Alfred. He held his hands high in the air and curled his fingers so that they looked like claws and made the scariest face he could possibly make. “They look sort of like this only worse,” he told the people. They are huge ape like creatures over fifteen feet tall and they weight over a ton or more. They carry big clubs and they could kill each one of you with one blow of their clubs without even half trying. They came to some of our neighboring lands in armies of hundreds, killing and destroying everything in sight. But you don’t have to worry, we have our wall and as long as you stay right here in our own land, right behind the wall, you will be safe from the Bots but if you go out beyond the wall you will be in danger of being caught and destroyed by the Bots.”

Many of the people were beginning to feel sick of the royal family. “I feel as if we are being held prisioners in our own land,” whispered Andrea, to her neighbor Bettina. “I think the king is just making up about the Bots in order to keep us all here, but on the other hand, what if he’s not? What if he’s really not?”

Many of the people felt the same way but they were careful not to let the king or any of his guards hear them say so because of the law about saying anything negative about a member of the royal family. None of them wanted to disappear in the night, never to be seen again.

There was one old man by the name of Wisker, who always questioned the king, but he was careful to do it underground in his secret tunnel that not even King Alfred knew about. Wisker wasn’t just any old man; he was an old wizard who at one time had worked for the king, performing magical tricks for the king and his royal visitors. The king had gotten sick of Wisker’s same tricks and had thrown him to the side. “You are not a real wizard,” he had told Wisker. “You don’t do real magic, just silly tricks. You are not a real wizard at all!”

Now this wasn’t true. Wisker was not only a real wizard but a very powerful one at that. He was tall, with very pale skin, and he wore a black cape and a black hood to match. He had a magical book, one so very powerful, that he dare not let it leave his hands. “This book is full of magic spells,” Wisker told his friends. “I hate to think what would happen if it ever fell into the wrong hands and someone found out how to open it.” The book was made of pure leather and had a golden lock to which only Wisker himself knew the combination.

One day Wisker went to the royal throne room to confront the king. “You are not ruling the kingdom of Mayfair fairly or wisely,” he told him. “You must change your ways or a punishment is coming upon your land.”

King Alfred laughed. “You are a silly old fool,” he told him. “Now get out of my sight before I have you tossed away where no one will ever see you again.”

King Alfred didn’t believe that Wisker was really a magician but simply a trickster but he wasn’t sure and he didn’t dare have him thrown out into the darkest part of Mayfair where the sun never shone and from which nobody, NOBODY had ever found their way back.

“If he is a real wizard, I might need him to be on my side at some point,” he reflected, so he satisfied himself with just calling Wisker an old fool and letting it go at that.

Wisker began traveling in and out from the land of Mayfair. He would cast a magic spell and the guards would never even notice him as he passed by them. He traveled to this part of the land outside of Mayfair and to that part of the land outside of Mayfair until at last he satisfied himself that he knew what the Bots were really like.

After that Wisker began calling for nightly meeting in the graveyard. Many of the citizens of Mayfair attended and those who were too afraid to attend would get their information about what had been said from their neighbors who had been there.

“The king is lying to you,” Wisker told the people. “For some reason he is keeping the people of Mayfair hostage and not telling them the truth about the Bots.”

“You tell one thing and King Alfred tells another,” said one man. “How do we know what to believe? How do we know who is telling the truth?”

Wisker reached into of his long cape and pulled out a large silver coin. “This will show you that I have been out of the land of Mayfair,” he told them. The coin had a picture of the Bots on it and was crafted from the finest silver available and by the hands of a very skilled craftsman. As the coin was passed around through the crowd for all to see, it began to shine brighter and brighter until by the time it got back to Wisker it was shining brighter than anything any of them had ever seen before.

One man, by the name of Nigel, stepped forward and reached out to touch the coin again. He very carefully laid one finger on it.

“How did you get this?” he asked Wisker, as he gently rubbed his finger over the glowing design on the coin.

“I got it from a Bot,” answered Wisker. “The Bots are mere harmless creatures and the king of Mayfair is not telling his citizens the truth.”

“How do we know that you didn’t make it?” asked Bettina, who together with her friend Andrea was in the crowd. “You are after all a wizard.”

“I may be a wizard, but I could never imagine something like this,” answered Wisker.

The people continued to gaze at the coin and then they began to wonder what it was really like outside of Mayfair.

“Well, how do we get out of here?” asked Nigal. “I for one want to see what it is really like outside of Mayfair.”

“First we must keep this a secret,” said Wisker. “We must take it slow. If the king finds out that we know he isn’t being truthful with us, he will have us all beheaded. I am a wizard and a powerful one, but the king has magic too, by virtue of his position as king and I am not sure if I can defeat him or not.”

“We must be very careful,” called out a voice and the crowd murmured in agreement.

Wisker looked out over the crowd and they all quieted, waiting to see what he would say next.

“I will choose one person to take on my next journey,” he announced.

“Take me, take me,” called out several voices.

“No, take me,” said one skeptical old man by the name of William, raising his hands and demanding to go.

“No,” called out one woman. “You are the town drunk. Who is going to believe you no matter what you say when you come back? Take me, Wisker, take me with you.”

“No,” said William. “I would be the perfect one to go with you. I may be a drunk but you all know me and you all know that I am not a liar. You all know that whatever I would tell you when we came back would be the truth.”

“Yes, you are the one whom I will take with me, William,’ said Wisker. He drew out his magic wand and the group quieted once again, anxious to see what was about to happen. He twirled his wand around in the air above his head. “Dibbldy dobledy wibbldy woo,” he said, in a voice much unlike his usual speaking voice. Then he pointed his wand straight at William and continued. “We’ll go on this trip, just me and you.”

Suddenly the wand let of sparkles of light and within miutes Wiskers and William disappeared. The people looked all around, where had they gone? Suddenly there was a big bang and the underground tunnel began to shake. Lights, the colors of rainbows bounced off the tunnel walls. There was one more big blast and then all was quiet, very, very quiet. Then the people could hear the sound of the soldiers’ foot steps above them.

The people were very fearful. They knew that if they were caught by the royal guards something terrible might happen to them. They quickly put out and the lamps and remained extremely quiet, just as quiet as quiet could be.

After a little while one man whispered, “Someone should go and see if the coast is clear.” Everyone agreed that what he said was true, but no one felt brave enough to be the one to go and look so they all just stayed there together as quiet as quiet could be.

In the meantime, Wiskers and William, were having their own adventure on their way to the city of Bots. They found themselves encased in a light which landed on the ground and they stepped out of it. William was so amazed at Wiskers powers that he began to bow down to him but Wiskers grabbed him by the hands and pulled him back up. “No, you don’t bow to me,” he told him. “I am not worthy of your praises. I am but a man who has been granted special gifts.”

William got up and looked all around. He realized as he gathered his thoughts that he was no longer in Mayfair but in a whole different world. His eyes bulged almost out of their sockets as he looked around. He had never seen anything like this in his life. “This can’t be,” he whispered to himself, then he began to run towards the towns of the Bots.

Wiskers ran after him. “Hey, slow down,” he told him. “You’ll have time to see everything, You don’t have to hurry.”

William stared all around, his mouth open in amazement. Instead of buildings made of wood or stone, he saw buildings made of steel that floated through the air. Instead of horse drawn carriages, he saw vehicles that flew in mid air at the speed of light. Bright lights were everywhere and most importantly there were the Bots. They were robots with huge glass heads, big blue eyes, and white fabricated bodies. They moved as fast as light and as far as William was concerned there had to have been a million of them.

“What in the world are they?” he asked Wiskers as soon as he found himself able to speak.

“They are the Bots I have been telling you about, the advanced civilization. Come on and socialize. I know many of them and I’ll introduce you. When the Bots saw Wiskers it was evident that he was well known and that the Bots loved him. One small Bot ran up to Wisker and jumping high in the air gave him what we in our world would call a high five. “Well hello, Charlie,” said Wiskers

“Well hello to you and your friend,” answered Charlie.

William became very frightened and began to clinch his fists and to hide behind Wisker Charlie the Bot followed William. “It’s alright, I won’t hurt you,” said Charlie, in a baby voice. Benji stared at him, not quite sure what to think.

“It’s all right,” said Wisker soothingly. “The Bots are friendly folks. Charlie here is just a young boy. He’s the same age as our own Prince Harry.

Charlie reached out his hand in peace to William. At first William was afraid to shake Charlie’s hand, but he trusted Wisker when he said that Charlie was not a threat so he extended his own hand in friendship.

Charlie was so glad to make a new friend that he began to do back flips all through the streets, almost getting hit by a car. Wisker spun his magic wand and caught Charlie up in a bubble and lifted him away from the traffic, bouncing him up and down in the air as he did so.

“What a strange creature,” said William.

Wisker smiled. “That is one of the war like apes that King Alfred has been telling us about,” he told him. “I told you there was more to Mayfair than the king wants people to know.”

William nodded, still looking around this way and that in amazement to see a world so different in its advanced technology from what he was used to seeing and here it was, right under his nose.

“Charlie, Charlie, where are you?” called a lady Bot, as she hurried along, sounding rather panicky.

“It’s all right, he’s right here,” said Wisker, as he brought Charlie down from the ball of bubble that he was in. “I was afraid he was going to get hit by one of your vehicles, so I caught him up.”

Charlie’s mother was very upset and it was evident that she did not want Charlie hanging out with the humans. She grabbed Charlie by the hands and quickly pulled him away from Wisker, giving Wisker an evil look as she did so.

“Why was she so angry with us?” asked William, puzzled.

“It’s not us, it’s King Alfred. He declared war on the Bots.

Instead of learning about them he chose to destroy them. He told them they were not wanted or welcomed in Mayfair.”

Wisker pulled William back away from traffic. “We’d better get you to a safer place” he told him. “You’re not used to all this and we don’t want you getting run over. Let’s go have some fun while we’re here.” Wisker took William to an arena where bots were cheering and betting on their favorite racer.

William couldn’t believe his eyes. The arena was larger than any arena he could possibly have imagined. “Wow!” said William as he looked all around and saw the Bot statues everywhere and the huge screens displaying the races going on. “Look, look,” he cried pointing, as he spotted himself on one of the screens in super size. He shook Wisker by the arm as he pointed.

Wisker grinned. He remembered how he had felt the first time he had visited the arena. “I know, isn’t that amazing?” he said. William nodded and continued to stare at the screen.

“Would you like to bet on a team?” asked one of the Bots. Wisker quickly picked and ticket and choose driver number five. It was easy to see that he was an old timer at this. William on the other hand was overwhelmed by what he was seeing and didn’t even take a ticket from the Bot. The Bot finally got tired of waiting and headed off to find some other betters. “Hey Wisker, next time bring someone who is more fun,” he said as he was leaving.

Wisker laughed. “You really need to lighten up,” he told William.

Soon the race started and on the track were race cars, painted in bright mutable colors and each one numbered. The track was so advanced that it floated in the air, giving the audience a 3D feeling. Wisker’s car, number five, was bright and shinny. The driver hopped out of the car and waved at the crowd. He was a tall Bot, wearing blue racing gear and helmet.

“He is the most popular driver of all,” said Wisker to William. “But he has a lot of competition on the track. There are many Bots ready to take his fame away from him.”

“Hi Wisker, my human friend,” called Driver Number Five. The crowd went wild with cheering as one of the big screens showed Wisker waving back.

“They really like you said William.

Wisker just smiled and went on watching the race.

The race started. The engines roared and the Bots screamed. William suddenly noticed that there were more humans in the land of the Bots than he had thought. “I see humans all through the crowd,” he thought to himself.

“Wisker, there are humans here,” he said urgently, giving Wisker’s arm a slight shake to get his attention.

“Why yes there are,” answered Wisker calmly. “Those are humans that managed to escape from the land of Mayfair and found refuge with the Bots. The king is lying to the people when he tells them that the Bots are mean and evil. They are truly great creatures who want nothing more than to be our friends.”

William looked all around at the crowds of people, both Bot and human and was amazed to see that they were all living in harmony.

Suddenly the truth of what he was seeing began to sink in. “You mean the king has lied to us all these years?” he asked.

Wisker just nodded and then turned his attention to the race. “Car number five is in the lead with one more lap to go,” he said excitedly.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven….,” yelled the timekeeper. The crowd went wild as the seconds counted down. The cars flew over the heads of the people and by an inch, number five won.

“Great bidding,” said a Bot, as he paid Wisker and sped off.

“That’s how I got the coin to show the people in Mayfair,” remarked Wisker, as he carefully tucked away his winnings.

William was in a state of shock at what he was seeing as he suddenly began to realize what it all meant. He began to wander through the crown, touching the Bots and talking with the humans who lived with the Bots. “Didn’t you once live in the land of Mayfair?” he asked one couple whom he thought he recognized.

“Yes,” they answered. “But the king is lying to the people and telling them how mean and warlike the Bots are and you can see for yourself that that is not true.”

William began to shake his head in disbelief. “I can’t get over the fact that the king is nothing more than a liar,” he said.

“We must go now,” said Wisker. “It is time for us to go back and tell the rest of the people the truth.”

“No,” screamed William suddenly. “I don’t want to go back. I want to stay here where people can trust each other, humans and Bots alike.” Suddenly William threw his hands up into the air and ran off into the crowd like a crazy man, kicking and screaming.

Wisker waved his wand. “Wibbledy, wobbledy, bibblede de, William, come right back to me,” he intoned.

The magic spell lifted William right off the ground and put him right back with Wisker. “It is time for us to go back to the land of Mayfair and tell the people the truth,” Wisker told him.

“No, I can’t go back, it’s all a lie,” said William. He quickly pushed Wisker down and ran off. Wisker tried to find him with his magic wand but William, zigged and zagged through the crowd and Wisker couldn’t find him anywhere.

Wisker summoned the Bot police, but William was long gone, probably hiding somewhere in the shadows, and they were unable to find him either.

“Now I have a dilemma on my hands,” Wisker told the Bot police. “I need William to tell the people of Mayfair that the land of the Bots is real and now I have nothing. I won’t use my magic to force him to come back, but I’m afraid that he may be in shock from all of the advanced technology he has seen, the speeding vehicles and the speed of light trains. I really need to find him to make sure that he is all right.”

“We will help you look for him,” the Bot police assured him. “Between us we ought to be able to find him.”

Wisker waved his magic wand and flew off, looking for William here, there and everywhere. He conjured up large snakes to help him. He waved his magic wand and pouf, out of thin air, there were the snakes. They were each ten feet in length and very colorful. So colorful as a matter of fact that they glowed in the dark. They each had a great sense of smell and Wisker used his magic to let them know exactly how William smelled. Not that William had a bad smell you understand, but each person has their own particular odor and this would make it easier for them to perhaps find William. “I want you to go quickly and search the grounds and sniff out the city to find William,” he told them. The snakes set off on a mission to find William. They went through the sewers and water drains and under the darkest tunnels. The snakes searched and searched but found nothing. They slithered through the streets, knocking over trash cans, crawling up walls, and looking through windows, but they could not find William. Finally they came upon an old drunken man sleeping behind a trash can. He had the odor of William about him, but it wasn’t very strong. Still, they weren’t sure if he was William or not, so some of them slithered up the man’s body and held him tight, while they all summoned Wisker with their minds.

Wisker appeared within seconds and looked at the man. “This is not him,” Wisker told the snakes and they quickly let him go. Wisker noticed that the man was wearing William’s jacket. “You are wearing my companion’s jacket,” he told the man. “That is why my snake friends picked up the scent. How do you come to have my companion’s jacket?”

The man answered but he was so drunk that Wisker could not understand a word that he said. Wisker asked him again but it was all to no avail, he couldn’t understand a word that the man was saying. “Well,” thought Wisker finally. “It is time to go and I guess I’m going to have to go back to Mayfair empty handed.” Wisker let out a deep sigh. “I know what the truth is and I will tell it to the people but deep down inside, I am afraid that the people of the land of Mayfair will never, never believe me.”

Chapter two

The Liar

“It is time for me to return home,” Wisker told the Bots who gathered around him. “I can no longer wait for William to be found. I will pay you very well to keep looking for my friend. Here is most of the money that I won tonight. I must keep some of it to show to the people of the land of Mayfair as proof that I have been here. If you have not found William by the time that I next return, I will find a way to get more money to pay you to look for him.”

“That will be easy,” called a Bot named Robin. “You will just bet on number Five and you will have all of the money you will need.”

Wisker and all of the Bots in the group laughed. “Someday that may not be true,” Wisker told them. “All of the racers are working hard to improve their skills and someday one of them may even get better than racer number five.”

Wisker looked around. “Well, I guess I’ve got to go home now,” he told them. “I am afraid that when I go back home without William the people will see me as being a liar,” he let out a deep sigh. “Never the less, it is time to go back.” He held up his magic wand and said, “Wibbledee, bibbledee, dibbledee dome, now is the time for me to go home.” A gateway opened and Wisker stepped through it. Soon he was back in the secret tunnel. The people quietly clapped when they saw him.

“The queen’s foot soldiers are out and searching the grounds,” said a man named Jeremy, coming close to Wisker and speaking quietly. “Where is your proof?”

Wisker hung his head low. “My companion William will not be returning,” he confessed. “He loved it so much in the new world, it was so big and shocking, that he decided to stay there and make it his home.”

“You are a liar,” cried Maggie. “William is my husband and there is no way that he would have left me and his family.” She began to cry and to mmoan for her husband.

“But indeed he did,” said Wisker. “I have tried to find him, but he just disappeared.”

“You are a liar, a liar, a liar!” cried Maggie. She pulled her apron up over her face and cried and cried.

The people in the room soon became divided. Some believed what Wisker was saying and others did not.

“Please listen to me,” pleaded Wisker but he had very few listeners now and soon the people began to move out and to shake their heads with disbelief.

“Wisker is just an old crazy wizard who lies to us,” said Nigal sadly.

“Please listen to me,” pleaded Wisker. “What I am telling you is the truth.” But the people didn’t believe him, no matter what treasures he showed them from his recent trip.

“He just used a magic spell to make those things,” cried Bettina. “He isn’t the great wizard we used to believe him to be. Now he is just a crazy old wizard. Who lies to us.”

Soon Wisker was left all alone in the room. I t was completely silent and dark. Wisker began to blame himself for taking Benji with him. “Now there is no way that I am ever going to get anyone to believe me,” he said to himself.

Suddenly Wisker heard footsteps coming through the tunnel. They weren’t just the footsteps of a few people but of hundreds and they were all coming towards Wisker. “Someone has told the soldiers where I am,” thought Wisker. He went to pick up his wand to disappear and found that it had been stolen. “There is no way out,” thought Wisker. I am in very serious trouble.” Wisker quickly hid behind an old table.

“Come out, Wisker,” shouted King Alfred. Wisker raised his head and came out from behind the table.

“You will spend eternity in prison,” King Alfred told Wisker. It was evident that the king was very upset.

“But my lord, you are lying to your people,” said Wisker.

“You fool!!! These low grade humans could never understand what their eyes will be seeing,” said King Alfred disparagingly.

Wisker looked at the king whom he had once protected and served. “I am so very disappointed in you,” he told him sadly. “I can’t believe that you are willing to keep your people in a bubble and not let them know that there is another world out there.”

“Take him to prison,” said King Alfred, pointing at Wisker. “Never let him see the light of day again.”

“I am not going without a fight,” thought Wisker. “You are a stupid fool,” he shouted at the king. “Nothing but a lying, stupid fool!” The guards began to punch and kick Wisker and dragged him by his cape to the prison.

“Please listen to me,” pleaded Wisker to the guards. “Your king is lying to you.” Wisker pleaded with the guards who had once been happy to claim him as their friend, but it was all to no avail. Wisker was put on public display and everyone in Mayfair was there to witness the fall of Wisker.

“You fools, the king will kill you all,” shouted Wisker as he was dragged through the public square.

Many of the people there had once been Wisker’s friends, but now they were his enemies. “It is not safe to be Wisker’s friend any more,” said Jeremy, as he began to clap. “Don’t look sad or you’ll be finding yourself the next one to be dragged off.”

Deep down, many of the people began to wonder if there was something to Wisker’s story, but it was too late to do anything about it, at least right then.

After Wisker had been dragged off, the people of the land of Mayfair went to their homes and found that the front door of each home had a letter nailed to it.

Daniel took the letter off from his door and read it out loud to his family. “If any citizens are caught defying the kingdom of Mayfair and the royal family they will be sentenced to Dragon Island where no one has ever come out alive,” he read.

“The king also wants it to be known that anyone who was a part of Wisker’s secret meetings will be punished.”

Daniel’s family was very frightened. They hurried into their home and quickly locked the door behind them. “The King has found out about the secret meetings and the secret tunnels,” whispered Daniel.

“Will you still try to find out the truth?” asked Dorcus, Daniel’s wife. She just barely whispered the words for fear someone might be listening and overhear what they were saying.

“Yes,” answered Daniel. “We can’t be held prisioners in our own land, we just can’t.”

The people of the land of Mayfair were very frightened and they became suspicious of everyone. The king wanted the names of all the people who had been against him and soon neighbors began to be afraid that other neighbors would tell on them and small fights and even wars broke out, neighbors against neighbors and tribes against tribes.

“This is exactly what I wanted to have happen,” said the king in great satisfaction. He sent out his foot soldiers to gather all the people who had betrayed him and all the people were so frightened that they all told on each other.

Some of the king’s soldiers came out into the courtyard. They played some important sounding notes on their long horns and all the people gathered around to hear what they had to say.

One of the soldiers climbed up to a high platform built into the fence and began to read. “The king is setting some new rules,” he read “The citizens are no longer allowed to celebrate holidays, not even birthdays. The citizens are mandated to work I the fields from sun up to sun down. The king is taking away any money that the people have, any property and anything of value. Anything that has any value from now on belongs to the king. That is just the way it is and just the way it will be from now on”

Many people began to cry and to wish for Wisker. “I wish Wisker was here,” whispered some of the people, but they didn’t dare to whisper it too loud for fear of being over heard and being caught and punished by the king. The king became mean and arrogant. The people were now suffering and there was no one to help them. “Please forgive us, your majesty,” begged some of the people. “We promise to have parties and dancing in the street and never to criticize your majesty again.”

“No!” thundered the king. “The only ones in this kingdom who are allowed to have parties are my son, Prince Harry and his sister, Princess Cilla. You will enjoy the parties, no matter how terrible they seem. Prince Harry and Princess Calla are the only children in the kingdom allowed to receive gifts. The other children in the kingdom are my property, just the same as the cattle and the horses are my property. The only reason they are allowed to come to the parties is so that my son and daughter have other children with whom to play.”

“This country is nothing less than a prison now,” whispered Bettina, to her best friend Abigail, whom she knew she could trust implicitly. “I remember when the king used to say that we were like family to him and it was evident that he really felt that way too.”

“I know,” whispered Abigail. “The king has lost his mind and we are nothing but prisioners now. Some of the people have begun to secretly hatch a plan to get Wisker out of prison but that is going to be very hard. Wisker is guarded around the clock and if any of us were ever caught trying to free him; well I hate to think what might happen to us.”

One morning the people of the land of Mayfair got up to find that by the guard gates there was a bull. Now this wasn’t just any ordinary bull, this was a massive bull, with horns that stretched out for miles. The bull spat out rainbows of fire, which while they were very pretty, they were also very dangerous, scotching trees and walls. “They will scotch us too if we get too close,” said Daniel. “We must be very, very careful.”

Some of the men of the kingdom began to dig a new underground tunnel. Every night they would sneak out of their homes and take turns digging the underground tunnel, trying to break into the prison and free Wisker.

At the same time that the people who lived outside of the palace were working to free Wisker, the palace maids and butlers were also plotting against the king. The maids would fix the king sleeping tonic that would knock him out cold, then they would send coded messages through out the kingdom to tell Wisker to hang on, they were all trying to help him.

One day there was a hitch in the plan. .”There is no way that we can outsmart the king,” thought one of the maids. “Soon he will find out what is going on and God help all of us! I am going to tell the queen what is happening and ask for her protection. Maybe I’ll get a big reward.”

The queen was very angry when she found out what was happening. She called a large group of her own personal guards together. “Go out into the land and revenge the plot on my husband,” she ordered.

The guards went out by the thousands, running through the kingdom, arresting everyone from maids to peasant workers. “Burn these homes to the ground,” ordered one of the chief guards. “These people will have no use for them again; they will all spend the rest of their lives in prison.”

A storm of betrayal went through went through the town, all because of what the maid had started.

The maid was very frightened. She hid herself in the queen’s room and looked out the window. “Oh what if the king doesn’t win and this backlashes on me?” she thought to herself. She saw her village being burned to the ground. She saw people whom she knew being carried off to jail, she saw many being tied and bound and carried off to jail and for the first time she realized what she had done. “Maybe the queen and king will give me pardon,” she thought to herself but it was not so.

“If you will turn against your own people you will turn against me the same way,” the queen told her sternly. “I cannot trust you. You are guilty of treason.” The queen turned to her royal guards. “Haul her off to jail,” she ordered. “She is not to be trusted...”

The people in the prison were very angry with the maid. “We almost had a way out of prison but because of your inability to hold a secret, the plan is now in danger of failing,” they told her. The maid huddled in a corner by herself, trembling and shaking with fear. Many of the people shunned her and called her a traitor.

“Please forgive me,” begged the maid, but none of the people was willing to listen to her. They shunned her and threw stones in her direction and no one, not one single person, felt sorry for her. “You silly woman, you have risked our freedom,” shouted one of the prisioners at her. All the maid could do was cry and hang her head low, but no one felt sorry for her, not one single person.

Overhead the prisoners could hear the footsteps of people running through the land. “Maybe it is people trying to escape or maybe it is the guards marching through the village, taking everyone they can to prison.”

There was only one man who was not affected by this terrible ordeal and this was Sir Porcupine. Actually his name of course wasn’t Sir Porcupine, it was really Thomas, but the king had nicknamed him porcupine because of the way that his hair stood up on his head. Sir Porcupine acted very foolish and made the king and queen laugh at his silly antics. “That Sir Porcupine is a few cards short of a full deck,” King Alfred told Queen Jasline as Sir Porcupine tumbled around on the floor, pretending to try to turn summersaults and failing miserably.

Sir Porcupine and his family was spared and moved into the palace with the king and queen. “This is your very own home space,” King Alfred told Sir Porcupine and his family. “The palace will be your home just as it is mine.”

The king and queen thought that Sir Porcupine was their true friend, even if he wasn’t very bright. If they had only known the truth, Sir Porcupine was extremely bright and he and Wisker were the best of friends, even though they didn’t show their affection in front of the king or queen.

Sir Porcupine kept a close eye on the king and queen and listened to all their private conversations, every chance he got. “I vowed to whisker that I would set him free,” he said to himself. “And I along with many brave citizens of the land of Mayfair am going to do my very best to keep that vow.”

In the meantime, the sleeping tonic that the maids had been slipping to the king had an unexpected effect. It sent him into a very deep comma. The queen was beside herself with anxiety. “I don’t know what to do,” she moaned. “I want my husband to come out of this comma and be well.”

Sir Porcupine continued to keep a close eye on the queen and to listen to every private conversation that she had with the royal guards. One day he heard what he considered to be the ultimate betrayal.

“I want you to bring the guillotine to the public square,” Queen Jasline ordered the royal guards. I am going to get rid of that pest Wisker and his followers.”

Sir Porcupine felt his blood chill in his veins. “I have to get Wisker freed,” he said to himself. “But how am I going to do it? Most of the men are in jail and there is no way that I can dig the rest of the tunnel to release the wizard by myself.”

Sir Porcupine took the long way around to get to the prison, slipping into this place and that place so that he would not be seen and at last he was at the prison and tried to find a way to get in. There was one major problem, a mammoth problem to be truthful, and that was the bull, whom he found waiting for him. The bull began to snort and to kick dirt in the air when he saw Sir Porcupine. Then he blew fire at Sir Porcupine, narrowly missing his face.

“It’s a very good thing I have on a knight’s shield and armor to protect myself from the burning flames,” thought Sir Porcupine. Sir Porcupine thought and thought. “How can I get past the bull and rescue Wisker,” he asked himself.

Finally he had an idea. Sir Porcupine got hold of an extra strong dose of the sleeping tonic that the maids had been slipping to King Alfred. He fed the sleeping tonic to a goat and then he fed the goat to the bull, who gobbled it all up in one bite.

Sir Porcupine hid behind a bush. “I’ll just wait here for the poison to take effect,” he said to himself. He watched and kept track of all the royal guards who entered and who left the prison guards.

Soon there was only one guard at the gate. The bull had finally fallen asleep and the guard stretched his arms out and yawned and sat down on a nearby stool. “I’ll just take a little nap,” said the guard. “There’s no one out there and if anyone should come along, the bull will wake up and he’ll take care of him.” The guard leaned back using his hands for a pillow and soon he was fast asleep.

“I’ll just make sure that the guard will not wake up for a while,” said Sir Porcupine to himself. He took a poisonous dart and shot it straight into the guard. “There, that will keep him sleeping for awhile,” said Sir Porcupine, with evident satisfaction.

Once the guard had slipped into an even deeper sleep, Sir Porcupine snuck in to the prison and ran from cell to cell, looking for Wisker. He found Wisker in the very farthest cell, guarded by a golden harp and a ghost. Sir Porcupine pretended to be a guard, by putting on his armor and face shield.

“The ghost plays the harp when someone is escaping,” whispered Wisker, as Sir Porcupine slipped close to the bars of the cell. “It will wake up anyone who is sleeping. It will even wake up the dead.”

Suddenly the ghost spotted Sir Porcupine and realized that not all was as it should be. He was about to play the tune that would wake up the dead when Sir Porcupine made a dive for the harp and with super human effort, managed to snatch it from the ghost’s hands.

Without the harp, the ghost could not be heard. H ran around the prison, trying to scream, but it did no good. The harp was now in Sir Porcupine’s hands and he was not going to give it up.’

Wisker arose from his state of depression and worthlessness. He had grown old and weary.