True peace is founded on the bodies of those who wish to live it. In the end, the greed are also just people, but people who try to take all that they can from the disenfranchised who have nothing to begin with. The moment these "lesser people" have something, namely hope, represented by the golden coins used to fund not only the people themselves but everything that they will come to accomplish, then the greed will endeavor to mercilessly seize it. The dirt-covered vagrants, never daring to leave the relative safety of their camp, cower at the sight of the greed, without any strength to run, let alone fight.
A lone queen to a new land saunters through the woods, probing into the dark, damp foliage squelching under-hoof as her steed plods through the unfamiliar soft ground and moss. A lazy river flows next to her, carrying in it the reflection of a proud and regal figure in a lengthy, lavender dress, a crown, shining with a pure glow, nestled in her silky black hair. The figure focuses determinedly forward, holding the mane of her trusted companion tightly as it carries the queen to her destiny.
The queen realises that she does not recognise the woman in the river.
Her thoughts are interrupted by the sudden pounding of hoof on stone. The queen looks to her surroundings and suppresses a gasp as she notices, hidden in the forest's shadow, the crumbling remains of a society swallowed by nature. It says to the queen, "Kingdom", as she continues her pace past it. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn7pRl6ifiV
The birdsong of the wild echoes against the stony walls, small creatures scurry between the cobblestones and tangled vines wrap themselves possessively around the countless columns; mother nature has finally caught humanity in her web. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kNpoPH1gz
As the queen regains her composure, no longer startled by a minor inconvenience, dismissing the irrational fear of a bad omen, a small stone slips off of a spire reaching into the forest's canopy. The moment it snaps upon the cold ground, the walls quiver, foundation shakes, and a single slab slips, heralding a violent roar of destruction as rocks shatter and crumble. The fair lady retreats into herself, blocking out the noise with her shoulders, willing her composure and strength to remain. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsv9tVojOqi
An ominous bellow unsettles the thicket and birds flee. The sound seems to penetrate into her very being, shaking her resolve. After seconds upon seconds of shaking and shuffling, the vibration disappears, the dust settles and twined vines fall back into place among the trees. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuDRwroqQc4
The Kingdom is no more than rubble on the ground now, jagged edges reaching from the Earth like hands from a grave. Shivering wildly, her hands move to pull at her steed's mane, to flee from the terror that awaits beyond this darkness, her panic enveloping her... but the horse doesn't respond. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOI7C21g8R
Not wanting to harm her companion, she calms her nerves as much as she can manage in order to understand its hesitation. Warily, she leans to the side to catch a glimpse of the horse's eyes and muzzle, but when she makes contact she receives nothing aside from a vacant stare.
A cold breeze touches her cheek, violently jerking her attention towards a ray of light in a clearing that she had not seen before. Enveloped by the sun's embrace floats a spectral shadow, hovering in the sunlight, gazing at the princess, beckoning to her with a single outstretched arm. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpAnQFsK3T
This phantom wears an ethereal crown, a tattered emerald cape wrapped around its body. The spirit gives off an air of regality and wisdom that surpasses a single lifetime, but its appearance is like that of the vagrants which inhabit this land: small and stumpy, unlike the confidant, long and sleek frame of a true ruler. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT3JBbTyWMT
Finally calmed, straightening her posture, the queen continues forth towards the object of the specter's desire. After a short corner turn around a thick oak tree, her heart rejoices at the sight of the end of the gloomy forest. As she beckons her horse onward, a golden glint catches her eye. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xAzikRhkp
On the damp forest floor lies a single gold coin, spinning on its axis slowly in the dimness. A coin of Hope, emanating in reaction to the very same glow of the queen's royal crown. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0qYZVKEd5d
Puzzled by the fate of this solitary coin of Hope, the queen draws nearer. When she and her steed stand close enough to hear the swirl of winds as it spirals on the soil, the queen raises her hand, and the coin heeds her call, eagerly accepting her warm embrace. Its Hope fills her very being, finally coming to a rest in the sheltered purse of her heart. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8JG569Gj9
Steeled with new determination, the queen, at the lead of the spirit, crosses the borderline from the forest into a wide open field. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAlvXCKF4MS
Expecting the purity of the sun to blind her eyes with its greeting, she is dismayed at the scene laid out before her as her eyes, already adjusted to the gloom of the forest, take in the dreary landscape. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTrkwxaZEAQ
Clouds block the shining sun, revealing rolling grassy hills, scattered with forlorn rocky outcroppings, dotting the horizon and forming towers of cold, harsh stone. Her attention lands on a single pair of peasants, shivering in the cold, sheltered from the harsh winds by a wall of stone, cradling themselves by smoldering embers of a long spent fire pit. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpankXrJG3
The queen is overcome with sorrow as she sees these two, a man and women, clutching to their dirty, torn dressings, glaring at each other, wishing for one another but not daring to touch. She now knows where that discarded hope had come from.
Trotting carefully up to them, she approaches the fire remnant, hoping to make contact without startling the pair. They pay no heed. Heartbroken, the queen reaches into her heart and offers the two a gift, shivering at the cold as she pulls it from her being. The two gaze up at her, eyes sparkling in awe. Gracefully she throws a coin of hope to each of them, both clutching it like a mother holds a child.
"Dare to love," she whispers, without audience.
The couple's faces change immediately as they absorb the Hope into every fiber of their being, transforming their depressed, neglected garbs and bodies into colourful and spry youths. They thank the queen silently, vowing their allegiance to her, asking for her protection and guidance. She wordlessly accepts their praise, and revealing even more golden essences from her chest, transforming them into tools. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKT8a3cL6VF
She respectfully hands the woman a leather-bound bow, and the boy a hardy hammer. At a single touch, the followers knew their purpose in life. In the blink of an eye they were no longer the despondent husks that they once appeared as. 846Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCXhy6xAjh
The woman sprinted, with new purpose, away from the now blazing fire's warmth, spotting a rabbit emerge from bushes in the distance. Her hair, tied in a tail, bellowed in the winds. She drew an arrow from the quiver now mounted on her back, pulling a bow from the leather harnesses now strapped around her body, aiming strong and true, snapping every muscle in her arms taut, letting loose a star-marked bow into the pelt of a fleeing bunny. From its hide rises a single coin of hope; the hope that her newfound strength can be used to help others, to defend and provide.
The man, following the guidance of a ghost that he could not see, strikes his hammer against wood with all of his passion and strength, a sweat forming on his brow as he pledges his soul to the creation of something that both he and his queen put their Hope and essence into. Their Hope fuels the creation of a defensive wall, sharpened wooden spikes erected sturdily in the earth, providing protection to a new home. This is now their only home, the home that they would give their lives for, created by a queen that they gave their undying trust to.
The regal lady remained perched proudly in the afternoon winds, surveying the first of her people. They turned to look to her, eyes filled with determination. She was now their strength. She was their proud sovereign, their unbreakable queen, the ruler of a Kingdom.
