An orange moon hung low over the hidden kingdom, tingeing the snow-capped peaks that surrounded it, protecting it from the prying eyes of the world beyond.
Unmarked on any map, it was as if the kingdom did not exist. Spy satellites swept over it, registering nothing. Nestled deep within a distant mountain range, the kingdom lay untouched, as it had done for eons.
Which was all very well for those who liked things the way they had always been.
But not so great for a goddess-in-training who longed for a bit of life.
Tucked up in her bed, Kumari tossed to and fro. Her silk sheets twisted beneath her as she thrashed around in her sleep. The nightmare was back again, this time worse than before.
“Mamma,” she murmured. The sweat trickled down her face.
She could see her Mamma so clearly in her dream, walking ahead of her, but as fast as Kumari ran she could not catch up.
“Mamma!” she shouted but the words stuck in the back of her throat. However hard she tried to scream, she could not make a sound. And all the time her Mamma carried on walking, blissfully unaware of the danger that lay ahead…
Kumari could see it, knew just what was about to happen. But there was no way she could stop her, as hard as she tried. It was like running in quicksand, yelling into the wind. A great gulf yawned in front of Mamma, ready to swallow her up. And then – her Mamma was gone, falling into the darkness… disappearing into a void from which she would never return.
Kumari woke with a start. She was sitting bolt upright, arms outstretched, empty. I couldn’t reach her, she thought miserably. I failed Mamma. Again.
A tear rolled down her cheek and slid, salty, inside her lips. Her chest ached with emptiness; her heart felt hollow inside. And then she remembered. This was the night of her grand plan. The night she might – just perhaps – kill off the nightmares at last.