Thronegarden by Andrew Dickerson (top rated books of all time .txt) 📕

was brought forward by a page. The king deftly opened it before taking out a large golden star with eight points and a rainbow ribbon.

“Let all denizens of Thronegarden aspire to Buttontail’s fine example,” the king pronounced as he pinned the medal upon Buttons waistcoat.

The hall erupted in thunderous applause with the soldiers banging their weapons on the ground to create a rhythm that seemed to last forever. Buttons stood proudly admiring his new medal, which was so shiny he could see his reflection in it.

“Now it is time for a great feast in celebration of our brave hero,” Librarian Scroll proposed.

Buttons, who was the special guest of honour, followed the king to a large table filled with freshly cooked treats; the smell alone was enough to make the brave rabbit

salivate. Around the banquet table were many familiar faces including the king’s brother, Abeldine, Queen Etherelle, Palen, the tutor, Old Nana, Judge Vale and Pariah, the Master of Bells. Amongst these familiar visages, there was one whom Buttons did not know, a young woman with strawberry blond hair that framed her beautiful face and so it was surprising when the maiden spoke to him by name.

“Well done, Buttons,” she congratulated.

“Damselfly,” he replied incredulously, recognising his friend’s melodic voice.

“Yes, it is me,” the princess confirmed.

“What is going on?” Buttons questioned.

“You brought us to the Dreamgarden,” Damselfly answered. “At first I was rather angry, but I do like it here.”

Rather than partaking of the bountiful food, Damselfly was using her cutlery to view her own reflection. Buttons who was slightly disappointed that all this had been a dream managed to comfort himself by devouring an entire trifle.

“Being brave sure builds up an appetite,” he scoffed between mouthfuls.

“I always wanted to be tall and pretty.” Damselfly focused on her reflection. “Do you think I am pretty?”

“You always looked pretty to me,” Buttons responded.

“No, I mean really pretty,” the princess scolded.

Buttons, who did not understand what Damselfly meant, continued his earnest assault on a roast duck before devouring a mountain of chocolate gateaux. As the meal progressed, performers appeared to offer entertainment. Pan began juggling dirty plates while Polter and Geist produced acrobatic flips and tricks to amaze their audience. Lark began singing a warm ballad that flowed across the room like a breeze.

‘How sweet the fruit tastes you will learn,

My fair maiden,

Is how long it takes for the worm to turn,

In the Dreamgarden.’

 

“This place is great,” Buttons crowed. “Why doesn’t everyone stay here?”

After the revelry had come to a natural climax, Pilgrim began telling them a legend to help with their digestion. Damselfly, who was usually enchanted by any story, seemed not to hear or see anything past her own reflection. Even her mother sitting restored beside her appeared lost on the now beautiful princess.

“There is more to life than beauty,” Buttons warned.

“I just wanted to enjoy it for a moment,” Damselfly replied.

“Why should you do that?”

“None of this is real, Buttons. My mother is still sick, Uncle Abeldine is mad and we are neither brave nor beautiful.”

“I don’t know, it is all rather confusing,” Buttons stated.

The gluttonous rabbit decided to ease his concern by tucking into a chocolate éclair. Unfortunately, as he took his first bite, he felt a tooth come loose. Within moments Buttontail’s teeth were falling like rain onto the tablecloth.

“I guess there is still ice cream,” he mumbled.

Damselfly finally chose to look up from her reflection, only to discover Orion facing her across the room and looking extremely angry.

“Buttons, I think Orion is still chasing us,” she warned.

The rabbit, who was trying to glue his teeth back in using blobs of cream, dismissed the idea. This was a dream; how could they come to any harm when nothing around them was real?

That was when Buttons’ medal for bravery metamorphosed into a large spider and began climbing towards his toothless mouth. Damselfly’s fear felt legitimate enough as Orion strode across the hall purposefully, and before Buttons could argue, the princess had grabbed his hand and began running for the exit. Strangely, the door appeared to get further away even as they ran towards it. Orion barely seemed to be moving though he closed the gap on them exponentially, and while Buttons finally managed to free himself from the spider crawling over his waistcoat, there was no escaping the persistent sorcerer.

“I have come to take you home,” Orion called.

Damselfly finally reached the door, only to find it had shrunk and she was unable to fit through it.

“It has not got smaller, you are larger,” Buttons pointed out.

With this information Damselfly willed herself to return to normal, sacrificing her new found beauty and elegance. Orion had passed the table where their family continued to revel, oblivious to any danger that may come to the princess and her faithful companion.

“You’re you again,” Buttons cried.

Damselfly discovered that indeed she was back to her regular size and immediately pushed through the door with Buttons following close behind. They found themselves in a long corridor that seemed to go on forever. With Orion now only a few feet behind them they were forced to flee.

“This corridor has no end,” Buttons stated.

“I wish we could wake up,” Damselfly uttered.

A bank of windows lined the corridor though they could not see anything out of them, only their own reflection as they ran down a never-ending tunnel.

“Quick, this way.”

Amazingly, Rat, the orphan, appeared from a hidden passage to show them the way; however, as Damselfly and Buttontail took the detour, they found the floor beneath them give way and they fell into a sea of darkness.

“Whose dream is this?”

Damselfly and Buttontail found themselves lying by the side of a long road lined with apple trees.

“I hate spiders.” Buttons searched the long