The Gowns Of Light

CHAPTER – 1

GOODBYE, GRANDMA!

A cold evening, it was. Today, I, Amber was looking out of the window at my parents’ tombs. They died in a car crash. Everything happened so fast that I barely had any time to realize what was happening.

Tomorrow, I would be going to China. Grandma would be alone. “Ready?” grandma called out. “Five minutes,” I replied. I packed my bag and came down.

The next afternoon, I picked up my bag and left for the airport. There, I checked in and got inside the plane. I was seated in my booked place. The flight landed when it was the next day in China.

My uncle was waiting for me and took me home to his family in a village called Darchen. My uncle is Morgan and aunt is Poppy. My cousins are Morg and Jasmine. Morg showed me my room.

I sat on the bed, opened my phone and looked at a picture of Emeria and Sapphiara. They are identical twins and my best friends. How I wish they were with me now! They are very hard to differentiate except for their eyes! Emeria has emerald green eyes and Sapphiara sapphire blue eyes after which they are named.

Next picture was of my parents chatting with me. I don’t need any picture to remember them though. My name reminds me of them. The day I was born, the sun was of the colour of amber, I am told. Both my parents were thinking of the same thing and shouted together, ‘Amber!’. Thus, I was named Amber.

CHAPTER 2

A NEW HOME

“Amber!” Jasmine called me. She invited me to see Mt. Gang Rinpoche. I went with her. On my way, I see Emeria and Sapphiara. I am surprised but very happy to see them. They tell me that they are on a vacation in China. Our families decide that they will let us stay together for some time. We plan to go on a picnic this evening.

In the evening, we all go to the place Aunt Poppy suggested. They are brought locket for all three of us. Sapphiara has a sapphire, Emeria an emerald and for me an amber. Just then, I remember something and open my purse. I give Emeria a pair of emerald ear-rings and Sapphiara a pair of sapphire earrings.

We hear music played from harps, guitars, and keyboards. Dragon dance was being performed on the front as well. A person on a horse introduces himself as the princes’ royal messenger. He announces that the “Princess Academy” is opening for teenaged girls. Girls from village Darchen, Nevada city (near Sierras) and Alice Springs (near Uluru) shall be competing for entry into the academy. The girls could also be future princesses if they could manage a hard task which is assigned at the end of the training. He added even visitors can also attend the academy. And he went.

Sapphiara, Emeria and I jumped with joy. They spoke to their parents and I, with my uncle and aunt. We informed them about the academy and they agreed to let us participate.

So we entered the carriage which took us to the Princess Academy. The ride was full of beautiful scenery and we enjoyed it. The academy building looked majestic and as we entered we were dazzled by the light!

Next day, our lessons began. We had two main subjects – Etiquette and Diplomacy. Art, craft and library classes were conducted twice a week. The total stay in academy was for 20 days. The last 3 days were for a ball with the princes.

The days went fast. Sapphiara, Emeria and I excelled in the course. On the 20th day, the teachers announced that the girls who have done exceedingly well will be grouped into three’s. Each group would have to succeed a hard task. The group who cracks the task will have the privilege of getting married to the princes.

**Mt. Gang Rinpoche – Chinese name for the mountain we call Mt. Kailash

CHAPTER 3

THE IMPOSSIBLE TASK

The ball is on the lawns of the Princess Academy. One day is left for the ball as well as the task. “The Princes have a secret between them and the task is to find out the secret,” announced the Headmistress. “But we have two clues”, she continued, “and they relate to Mt. Gang Rinpoche.” She also revealed a poem.

       Camouflaged with snow,

       With four to know

       The secret of magic awaits

       So to know, get on your skates.

We were told to get into groups of three and of course, Emeria, Sapphiara and I were a team. The above poem was given to us on a piece of paper.

CHAPTER – 4

A GOOD START

So, we first went and started looking at Mt. Gang Rinpoche. I could notice one area was glittering brighter than others. I showed it to my friends. We thought it matched our clues. So we decided to climb up that side of the mountain.

CHAPTER – 5

AN EXHAUSTING CLIMB

First, we had to get through a forest. The floor of the forest was slimy and we kept on slipping. The whole area was covered with moss and the trees branched out on the top making it hard to see even the mountain in front of us. At last, we were through the forest area.

Next, we had to start rock climbing. We were good at rock climbing and this didn’t seem to tough for us. It was hard for me due to the pain and wound I got in the forest. My left foot had a swelling as well. We managed to climb this still and reached the snowy areas.

Emeria and Sapphiara applied some snow on my swollen ankle. It slowly felt better. We continued climbing ahead.

CHAPTER - 6

SNOW

We were soon standing in front of a great, big mansion made out of white marble. One could not make out any difference with snow but for the marble having more glitter. In the front was a banner near the gate which read –

S  N  O  W

The windows were shut. The banner meant that the ‘SNOW’ was the mansion’s name. ‘It does suit!’, said Sapphiara.

CHAPTER – 7

INSIDE SNOW

Inside the mansion, it was pitch dark. The living room had a large chandelier. There were two rooms. The whole place was full of dust. We had to wipe the name of the room on the doors. The first one read -

M  A  G  I  C

And the second one read -

G  O  W  N  S

We were wondering what kind of magic was there inside the room of MAGIC and what was special about the GOWNS.

CHAPTER – 8

THE MAGIC

We went inside the room of magic. There, we saw a book, needles and a spool of thread. We read the book. It read that the needles and thread were magical. We went out and decided to venture into the other room.

CHAPTER - 9

THE GOWNS

Inside, there were 4 gowns. They looked as though they had been woven from light. One was green, one was aqua blue, one chocolate brown and the last was surprisingly, black. We took turns to read about the gowns.

CHAPTER – 10

GOWNS OF LIGHT

I read aloud:

GOWN OF FAUNA

The wearer gets to control animals and know about unknown animals.

It was the chocolate brown gown.

Emeria next read:

GOWN OF FLORA

The wearer gets to control plants and know about unknown and unique plants.

It was the green gown.

Sapphiara then read as below:

GOWN OF AQUA

The wearer gets to control water and know about unknown water sources.

It was the aqua blue gown.

We all read together below:

GOWN OF 3 TIMES

The wearer will know the

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE.

It was the black gown.

CHAPTER – 11

THE TRUE KINGS AND QUEENS

Suddenly, there was a loud crack. The princes appear in front of us. They cried, “The others are so worried about you. Climbing up a mountain like that. We had to use the second last source of magic to come here.”

 

“So what!” I shouted back, my eyes having a faint twinkle of anger. I continued in a loud voice, “I suppose that’s your secret!” pointing at the gowns.

The three princes looked at each other and nodded in agreement. They asked if we wished to marry them.

Sapphiara replied that our parents/elders would have to agree and permit us to do so. The princes agreed to speak to them.

Then we calmed down, we began stitching the magical thread with the needle to go back home.

Once home, we explained our adventure to our folks. They agreed to the princes’ proposal and we were married to the princes.

Soon we began ruling China, the princes gave us the gowns, I got the chocolate brown, Sapphiara got the aqua blue and Emeria got the green. We decided that if the black gown is brought, it might bring trouble. Popularly known as the ‘Jewel Queens’, we were the last people to rule China.

The End