TEMORA, KAI, AND the Gelert were all sitting in Kai's small apartment sipping
Juppie Coffee. "Oh, thank you soooo much," the Gelert responded while sipping
her hot drink.
Kai finished her drink and washed out the cup.
"No problem."
Temora glanced up at the clock on the wall and
gasped. "Kai, I have to go to my Gelert Girls Club meeting! Doh, I forgot all
about it!"
Kai nodded. "I'll take care of our new friend."
Temora left in quite a hurry. The Gelert smiled.
"She's nice, though crazy, isn't she?" she asked Kai.
"She's my friend anyway," Kai laughed. "What's
your name, I didn't catch it if you had told me already."
"Jewel."
"Oh. Um, don't mind me being rude or anything,
Jewel, but why in the world were you in those woods?"
"I live there."
"But, I thought every Gelert in Gelertia had
a chance to live somewhere nicer than a forest..."
"They do, it's just that..." Jewel couldn't
finish her sentence.
"I'm sorry if I'm a disturbance," Kai apologised.
"Don't be sorry. You saved me. I should be sorry."
"Why?" Kai asked.
"Never mind," Jewel replied as she looked straight
at Kai. And that's when Kai noticed something about Jewel that she hadn't seen
before.
Jewel's eyes were a bright jade green.
Kai fell silent for a moment. "You, you, are
you... a ... princess? Princess Jahladia?"
Jewel shut her eyes and covered her head in
her paws. "Yes, yes..." she sobbed.
Kai sat for a moment in thought. "But, you were
kidnapped? I heard--"
Jahladia cut her off, "No, I wasn't abandoned.
Though small, I was extremely smart. I knew that someday I'd be forced to be
the queen of Gelertia, but I'm not good enough. I knew I wouldn't make it from
the start. So I got some little boy Gelert to tell my mom I had been kidnapped.
I've lived in those woods near the castle ever since, and no one's found me
until you and your friend saved me from the ravine." Jahladia sighed and sobbed.
"So you don't wanna be queen?" Kai asked. "But,
you left your mother..."
"I never loved her."
Kai was stunned. Jahladia continued, "But, I
will present myself in front of the crowd and become queen. It's my duty. I
can't keep running away." Jahladia got up, took another thorn out of her fur,
and left for the palace. Kai still sat in her chair, paralysed. She now knew
the whole secret of the princess. And in that chair Kai sat for hours, still
in deep thought about what she had just heard.
***
Every Gelert in the whole of Gelertia went to the palace courtyard to watch
Jahladia be crowned queen.
The queen stood up tall. "My people! I am proud
to announce that my daughter, the long-lost princess Jahladia, is to be crowned
queen!" Everyone clapped their paws and the queen removed her crown and placed
it on Jahladia's head. Jahladia smiled. She looked very proud to be back home
again. Temora, standing next to Kai obviously, jumped up and down in joy. Kai
stood there and clapped, but thought about her many families she had had.
Queen Jahladia stepped up to the podium to make
a speech. "I would like to say that I'm happy to be back where I belong. I missed
it really, and I wish I could take back everything I had done. Now, I would
like to award someone a special prize. This Gelert had all the courage to help
me out in my time of need and to help me realise that what I had done in the
past was wrong. She has all the makings of greatness that I do not possess.
Since I am now the queen, I would like to hand over my position as ruler to
this very special Gelert." The crowd was moving about, not sure what was about
to happen. Kai's entire body trembled. "I would like to crown Kai the Red Gelert
as Queen of Gelertia!" The crowd went totally silent as Kai walked up the centre
aisle that parted the crowd into two. Jahladia smiled and crowned Kai. Kai stopped
and looked back over the whole of Gelertia. She smiled and breathed in the fresh
air as thousands of paws clapped together. Kai thought of all the dreams she
had ever had and this had topped them all.
Jahladia spoke one last sentence to Kai, "Kindness
always deserves a reward."
And that night, as Kai was lying in her new
bed, she thought about her life. She had left her best friend Fiola. She had
left so many families that hated her. But Kai had survived it all, and the result
was well-worth it. When Kai could've kept walking home, she stopped and helped
someone she didn't even know. And as Jahladia said at the crowning, "Kindness
always deserves a reward."
Epilogue
Kai lived a very long life as queen of Gelertia.
Fiola, her very best Chia friend, had visited Gelertia and decided to stay as
Kai's advisor. Temora never lost touch with Kai either. Jahladia never regretted
giving up her role as queen because she knew Kai would rule Gelertia with the
same kindness that Kai had given her in her time of need.
And all those owners that had abandoned sweet
little Kai? Well, that's another story...
The End | 
