Desdemona

Desdemona’s birthday

The next morning I woke up early so that I could help with the preparations for the party at noon. I quickly ate my breakfast and had my morning tea. I couldn’t stand coffee. It was a vile human beverage. Tea was a more civilized drink. I had brought the decorations and piñata down with me with the help of Kamara and Thundera. We had all eaten together so that we could get the back yard decorated. There were lots of trees for shade. I knew that some humans couldn’t be in the sun too much because their skin would turn red. Sulema had come to help, along with a few other females. We hung streamers from the trees and set tables. Balloons were tied to the chairs and the tables were draped with streamers. We would be sitting at one big table, with separate ones for the food, cake, ice cream, punch, and dolls. There were also goodie bags at each spot for the girls (every other seat had one). We stood back and surveyed our work. I thought that it looked nice. I just hoped that Maggie and her friends liked it. We still had a couple of hours before they would arrive, so we decided to shower and get dressed. I put on a dress that looked like something a princess would wear and put my hair up. Once I had finished, I stood back to see how I looked.

I was pleased. I then headed downstairs and to the front door to wait for my guests to arrive. I had carriages waiting to take everyone to the back yard. Maggie and Liz were the first ones to arrive at 11:30. Soon after, the others started to arrive. Once they had all arrived, I said; “Welcome everyone! Please get in the carriages and we will go to the back yard for the party. I hope that you enjoy the ride.” I felt a gentle tug in my right wing and looked down at Maggie’s sweet face. “Pwincess, will you wide wif me?” She asked. How could I refuse? “I sure will, Mags!” I took her small hand in my talon and walked with her to the lead carriage. I helped her and the others up. Once we were all loaded up, the carriages rolled out. When we got to the back yard, Maggie looked up at me from my lap with wide eyes and said; “This is looks like a pwincess faiwy land!” I smiled at her wide eyed innocence. “I’m glad that you like it, Maggie. I hoped that you and you friends would.” She nodded her head in agreement.

The carriages pulled up close to the tables and the drivers stepped down to help everyone down. We all thanked them for the lovely ride. “Look for your name and that’s where you’ll be sitting.” I just hoped that the girls could read. As a gargoyle, I learned to read at a very young age. I wasn’t sure how old humans were when they learned to read. Everyone found their seats and we all sat down. Maggie was on my right, with Kamara to my left. Just then, the kitchen staff brought out the food. The girls tried to look and see what were having for lunch, but they were too short. Once they saw that it was chicken nuggets, their eyes got big. “I didn’t know gawgoyles like chicken nuggets, Pwincess!” Exclaimed Maggie. I smiled and replied; “It’s actually one of our favorite things to eat, Mags.” I just lied to a child, but I didn’t want to tell her that I had never eaten them. She looked at me in surprise and then looked at Kamara.

“Oh, yeah! We just love chicken nuggets, Maggie!” Kamara told her. She looked at us expectantly. Kamara looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I nodded my head. We both ate a chicken nugget. They were actually really good. I was surprised by the delicious flavor. “Pwincess, you’re apost to dip it in ketchup, like dis!” Maggie said and then proceeded to dip her nugget in ketchup and popped it into her mouth. I dipped a nugget into the ketchup and tried it. It made it even better! I had only ever had ketchup on French fries. It was really good with the nuggets as well. “This is even better! We’ve been eating our chicken nuggets plain this whole time.” I told her. She just giggled. After everyone had fisnished eating, Kamara stood up and announced the games. All of the humans were excited. The dolls for the girls were covered up. I felt a tap in my arm and looked down to see one of Maggie’s friends. I couldn’t remember her name.

“Excuse me, Princess, my name is Amy. I wanted to know what’s over there under the tablecloth.” I looked at her in astonishment. This child called Amy spoke like an adult. Most of the children I knew (human and gargoyle alike) all spoke in a very childish manner. That isn’t meant to be rude. They just spoke like children. I recovered from my astonishment and told her that they were gifts for her and the other girls, but that they would have to wait until after cake and ice cream to get them. “Why do we get gifts? It’s your birthday.” Amy said matter of factly. “In the gargoyle world, the gifts are given to the guests.” Thundera told the child. She can be very initmidating with her brown skin, blacks eyes, huge horns, muscles, and the fact that she always has a sword on her hip, no matter what she’s wearing. Her hair is purple with blonde streaks that humans call highlights. That was just her natural hair color. Amy looked at Thundera in fear and moved closer to me.

“It’s ok, Amy. This is Thundera. She’s the head of my guard. She looks a little scary, but she’s actually quite gentle, especially with children.” I let her know. She looked up at me with doubt in her eyes. “Are you sure she likes kids, Princess?” Amy asked. Thundera knelt down on one knee and said in her growly voice; “I assure you small one, I love children. I just don’t have any of my own.” Amy asked her; “Why don’t you have any children, Thundera? Don’t you want them?” She wasn’t being rude, just genuinely curious. “You see Amy, things are done differently in our world. We can’t just have a baby because we want one. We need to have a special license. First though, we must have our life partner, what you humans call a husband or wife.” This confused Amy even more. Then she shrugged and went to join her friends at the piñata.

I looked at Thundera. She looked crestfallen. She adored children, even human ones. It’s just that human ones tended to be very fearful of her. She was such a sweet gargoyle; very gentle, kind, caring, loyal. She looked fearsome, but it was only because she worked out and trained diligently. She had been an orphan like Kamara. Unlike Kamara, she had been adopted by my parents’ most fearsome warriors. She had been taught the ways of the warrior since she was old enough to walk. She had also learned gentleness, kindness, loyalty, and how to care for others. It was all of those things that made her an amazing warrior. “I just want human children to look at me in adoration like they do with you, Princess. All children love you. They always flock to you like bees to honey. With me, they react the way Amy did.” She lamented. My heart ached for my friend. There was no way to help her be more approachable because it was her appearance.

I just wish that there was some way to help human children not be afraid of her. “Princess, we must attend to our guests. We wouldn’t them thinking that we’re ill mannered creatures.” She was right, as she usually was. I joined arms with her and we walked over to the girls. An idea was forming in my head. “Ok girls, before we get to the surprise under the blanket, I want you to meet my dear friend, Thundera. I know she may look scary, but she’s a lot like me. Her parents, may they find eternal peace, were great warriors and taught her their ways. They also taught her kindness, gentleness, and love. She loves to play all kinds of games. If you ask nicely, she just may teach you her favorite game. Our children love it as well.” They just looked at her, unsure of what to think. Just then, Amy stepped forward, walked up to Thundera, hugged her around the knees, looked up at her and asked; “Will you please be my friend and teach me your game?”

Thundera raised her hand to Amy’s head and gently caressed the child’s cheek. She had tears in her eyes as she knelt down and hugged Amy. It made my heart very happy to see them. “Did I say something wrong, Thundera? Why are you crying? Did I hug your legs too tightly?” Asked Amy with concern in her voice. “Nay, child. You have said everything right. Your hug wasn’t tight enough though. You have made me very happy with your kindness. I shall be honored to count you as my friend and to teach my game.” Amy just hugged Thundera tighter. They stood up and Amy wrapped her legs around Thundera’s waist. I wiped a few tears away myself. “The game is called hide and fly. One person is, while the others hide and fly.” “Um, how are we supposed to fly? We don’t have wings, remember?” Amy asked seriously. We all just laughed. “Easy. You’ll fly on our backs or in our arms. Wanna be my partner, Amy?”

“What kind of silly question is that? Of course I want to be your partner, best friend!” A few of the other females had come to the party. Each child picked one. Maggie picked me, of course. The moms decided to watch. We promised not to go too high as they were human children and not gargoyles. Maggie and I were it first. I led her over to the tree where the piñata had been. She stood in front of me and I wrapped my wings around her so that she wouldn’t try and peek. We counted to 10 and yelled; “READY OR NOT, HERE WE COME!” I gently scooped her into my arms and we took off. We found everyone except Thundera and Amy, which meant that we were it again. We played a few more rounds, but we could never find them. Then again, Thundera was the hide and fly champion for a reason. After the last round, we landed gently in front of the table that held the dolls. We set the girls down and I walked over to the blanket. I asked the girls to cover their eyes, no peeking.

I made sure that everyone had covered their eyes and that no one was peeking. I then snatched away the blanket and told them to open their eyes. When they saw the baby dolls, their eyes got big as plates. “Maggie, you may pick yours first. You can have any doll and her matching accessories that you want.” She looked up at me in disbelief. “Weally, Pwincess? I can have whichever dolly I want? I get to keep her?” I couldn’t help but smile at her sweet innocent face. “Yes, Mags. You can have any dolly that you wish.” She approached the table and looked at each doll carefully. There was a blonde doll, one with red hair, one with brown hair, one with black, and a brunette. Each doll had the hair color of each girl. As I expected, Maggie took the red haired doll, smiled, and said; “Thank you for my new dolly, Pwincess. Is it ok if I name her Des for bestest fwen?” I told her that I’d be honored. Liz helped her to get the accessories that included a stroller, high chair, a back pack with bottles, pretend food, diapers, wipes, and powder, a crib with a pillow, blanket and teddy bear.

Next came Amy. She chose the blonde haired doll that actually kind of looked like her. Her mom, Tiffany, grabbed the gift bag with the accessories. “I’m going to name her Thundera and give her purple streaks in her hair. She’ll be my best friend when we’re not together. Is that ok?” She looked up at Thundera with a question in her eyes. Thundera knelt down again, hugged Amy and told her; “I’m honored that you wish to name your dolly for me and to try and make her look like me. You should have your mommy do her hair though. Ok?” She nodded her head and stayed next to her new friend. Analisa came after Amy. She had black hair and chose that doll. Her mom, Juliette, grabbed the bag with the accessories. After Ana (as she preferred to be called, came Mary, the brunette. Her mom, Sandy, took the accessories. The last girl was Sally. She took the last doll and her mom, Miranda, took the last bag of accessories. Ana walked over to Kamara and asked; “Is it ok if I name my dolly for you? I want you to be my best friend.” Kamara said that she would be honored.

Mary walked over to Sulema and asked her to be her best friend and for permission to name her doll after her. Sulema loved the idea and quickly agreed. Sally walked up to my mom (not realizing who she was and why would she as a human) and asked; “What’s your name please?” “My name is Queen Agnes. I’m Desi’s mom.” That made all of the humans look at my mom wide eyed. “Really?” My mom just nodded. “Is it ok for me to name my dolly Queen Agnes and for us to be best friends?” “I would like that lass. Tell me, what is your name, my new best friend?” She replied that her name was Sally and then she curtsied to my mom. She just giggled and said; “It’s been so long since anyone curtsied to me. Everyone here just bows to me and my husband, King Angus.” “Um, you’re apost to curtsy to a queen. My mommy said so.” She turned to her mom and asked; “Isn’t that right mommy? You’re apost to curtsy to a queen and bow to a king.” Sandy told her that she was absolutely correct.

“She is truly a delightful child! I’m so glad that I decided to attend this party!!” Then she curtsied to Sally. This time, Sally giggled. My mom picked her up and hugged her. I couldn’t wait to have my own child someday. My parents would be awesome grandparents. They loved all of the children, gargoyle and human. I just hoped that there was some way around this human as a life partner thing. After another hour, all of the moms gathered the girls and the gifts and asked if we could take them around to the front so that they could get their cars and take the girls home. I called for the carriages to come and pick us up and take us back to the front of the castle. They arrived in about 10 minutes. We all loaded the girls into the carriages, then got in ourselves. By the time we made the short trip back to the front of the castle and the awaiting cars, the girls were fast asleep.

“I guess the excitement of the day finally wore them out. Hopefully they sleep for a while.” Laughed Liz. I nodded in agreement. “I’m glad that they enjoyed themselves. I made sure that Thundera and Kamara got dolls that looked similar to the girls. I also made sure that they got the decorations and food.” Sandy said; “They had so much fun and really love their dolls. Thank you so much for doing this. Sally said that today was your birthday. Is it a gargoyle tradition to give gifts to your guests on your birthday?” “Actually, it is. Today is also my coronation day, meaning that I become the official ruler of my kingdom. The ceremony takes place in five hours and it’s only for my kind. Things can get a little aggressive and dangerous. We don’t even allow our children to attend because of the aggression displayed and the danger.” I told them.

“What kind of danger? Aggression? But you, your friends, and the queen seem so gentle!” Questioned Juliette. “The aggression comes out when the ceremony starts. I have to fight my mom to prove that I am indeed worthy of becoming queen. It can be very bloody. It’s really the only part of the night that I’m not looking forward to. If I cannot best my mother in an all out battle, I won’t be crowned and I’ll be banished as a weakling and outcast. Simply put, I’ll be considered a disgrace and I’ll be homeless. If I were to ever show my face in the kingdom again, I’d be killed on sight.” I said matter of factly. They all gasped. “This is why children aren’t allowed to attend.” Stated Thundera. “That’s absolutely barbaric and cruel!” Said Juliette. I felt the same way, but it was our way. They all got into their cars and left shortly after. We went to the backyard and began readying it for the ceremony that night.

There was a ring (so to speak) to set up where I would fight my mom and a stage where I would either be crowned or thrown out in disgrace. I absolutely detested the thought of having to hurt my mom and queen, but there was no way around it. I excused myself and went to my room to begin preparing myself. I had to put on my traditional armour. It was lightweight (we had to be able to fly or glide), yet strong. I had a chest plate, greaves (a special type of chainmail gloves), shin plates, and armoured plates and spikes for my tail. I also had a helmet. I got to the east wing and began mentally preparing myself for my upcoming battle. I prayed to my ancestors for strength. I then began putting on the special face and body paint. It would go on the parts of my skin that would be left exposed and unprotected by my armour. Once it had set, I began putting on the armour itself, with Thundera’s help of course. “I hate that I have to fight my mom tonight, but I know that there’s no other way. I wish there was though.” I sighed.

She knew what I was going through. Two years ago, she had battled her own mother for the title of head warrior. I was finally ready and she handed me a sword. “What’s this? It isn’t my sword.” I asked. “This is the sword that you will carry into the arena tonight and hopefully ever after.” Came the reply. I just nodded. We made our way downstairs and outback. The five hours had passed quickly. We walked onto the stage where I would issue the challenge. “AGATHA, QUEEN OF THE GARGOYLES, I HEREBY CHALLENGE YOU TO A FIGHT FOR YOUR CROWN AND TITLE! DO YOU ACCEPT OR ARE YOU TOO SCARED?” I hated having to taunt my mom, but it was how it had always been done. She came out and bellowed; “YOU DARE CHALLENGE ME, YOUNGLING, YOUR QUEEN AND MOTHER? HOW DARE YOU! I SHALL PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE FOR YOUR IMPERTINENCE!!” She made her way to the arena. I followed. Once we were both in my place, I taunted her again. “COME ON THEN OLD ONE! FIGHT ME IF YOU DARE!!” I roared as loud as I could, while my eyes were glowing.

“YOU IMPERTINENT WHELP! I SHALL HAVE MY VICTORY!!” Roared my mother. If she lost, she would declare that I was the stronger of the two. Then we would go inside, get our wounds treated, put on our dresses, and come out for the coronation. I dove at her slashing with my talons. I made first blood. The crowd went wild. She retaliated by giving me a backhanded slap. I fell backwards and she pounced on me. I used my powerful legs to kick her off and then lashed at her with my armoured tail. Again, I drew blood. She came at me with fangs bared and talons at the ready. She managed to scratch the side of my neck. It stung but for a second. I again used my tail. I knocked her legs out from under her. She jumped up and whipped her tail around and caught me across the back. I flinched. I recovered quickly though and lunged at her.

She jumped into the air, hovering above the ground. I went after her and launched an aerial assault. I used tail, legs, and talons in quick succession, knocking her helmet off. She fell back into the arena on all fours. I landed next to her, grabbed her hair, raised her head up and roared; “GIVE UP OLD ONE! YOU CANNOT BEAT ME!!” “NEVER!” She roared back. She slapped me across the face. My helmet absorbed most of the impact. I jumped on her and slashed at her unprotected areas; her stomach, face, shoulders, and thighs. Everywhere I touched, I left blood behind. This went on for over an hour. Finally, after we were both bloodied and beaten, she declared me the winner. Everyone roared in approval. I hugged her and we walked into the castle together to get medical attention for the wounds we had inflicted on each other. “You put up a good fight, lass. I’m proud of you. Thundera taught you well. It will be my honour to serve you.” I had never felt prouder than I did at that moment. Once our wounds were treated with healing herbs, we went to our rooms to get ready for the coronation. When I got to my room, Thundera was already waiting to help me out of my armour. “You did well tonight, my queen.” She told me. I felt even more pride. Once the armour had been fully removed, the healing poultices started falling off, indicating that my wounds were already healed.

I got into my dress and had my hair styled. When I was finally ready, Kamara walked me back down. When we got back outside, I didn’t see my mother anywhere. I saw my father and walked over to him. “Da, where’s mum? I thought she would be here already.” I asked. “She should be right down, lass. She was just getting the last touches put on her hair as I was leaving. I’m so proud of you. You fought well.” He said. My father was a gargoyle of few words, so I knew that it had taken some effort to say so much at once. We waited a little longer for my mom. Finally, she emerged. She looked absolutely radiant in her dress and jewels. My father’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears at her loveliness. Brooklyn, her lady in waiting, held the train on her dress while my mom ascended the stage. Once she had reached us, Brooklyn gently laid the train flat, bowed, and walked off the stage. “MY FELLOW GARGOYLES IT IS WITH GREAT PRIDE THAT I ANNOUNCE MY DAUGHTER, DESDEMONA AS YOUR NEW QUEEN!” The crowd erupted in cheers and roars of approval. I turned to face my subjects. My eyes welled with tears of pride. Just then my parents stepped in front of me and placed the emerald crown over my horns and onto my head.

Then they stepped to either side of me, taking a talon in theirs, walked me to the edge of the stage, my father said; “MY LOYAL SUBJECTS, MAY I PRESENT TO YOU YOUR NEW QUEEN, QUEEN DESDEMONA!” Again the crowd erupted into cheers and roars of approval. I couldn’t believe that I had actually bestes my mom in the battle. Kamara walked over to me and presented me with a cloak of green velvet trimmed in silver that matched my dress perfectly. Thundera then presented me with the sword I had worn during the fight on bended knee saying; “My Queen, I pledge my allegiance and loyalty unto you from this day forward.” I accepted the sword and she placed it around my hips. Then came the fun part; the eating, drinking, and dancing! I might not have my life partner, but I had the respect and admiration of my clan.