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I dreamt I stood upon a ledge looking down at a kingdom. It was a small kingdom made mighty by the builders of its land. In the center was a town inhabited by like-minded people, who desired nothing more than peace and quiet in which to study and live ordinary lives. But around the town stood mighty walls built only by the hands of time and the will power of the Queen. Impregnable, the fortress stood in the same place it had for ages, its walls slowly growing with every passing day. Upward and outward, the stones made without tools or hammer blows swelled like a living being. Outsiders would stand at the boundary to admire the sheer impressiveness of such a magnificent façade. But inside the living stones was a terrible, beautiful secret. The stones were living, tissues of the land on which they were founded, and inside them ran the heart's blood of the earth. Pure gold, more beautiful than any ever seen with human eyes, it coursed through the veins of the fortress walls, faster than any flowing river, hotter than the fire of a thousand smiths, and shining brighter than the sun on its closest day. Coveted by all people, this secret was closely guarded by the Queen of that land, who of all people in the world knew of its existence. She guarded the secret jealously, like God with His chosen people. Admirers looking in and the Queen looking out, no one believed such a fortress could ever fall.

Perhaps the Queen's mind suddenly went senile or the jealous guard she had always kept from time immemorial became too much of a burden, but she did the most unlikely thing imaginable. A traveler, a monarch of a separate kingdom, was given an alliance with that mighty fortress. The people of that other land were given access and they mingled with the dwellers of the protected town. Slowly, imperceptibly, the kingdom began to change. Its people danced as well as studied. Its streets were filled with singing and everywhere you looked there were happy people holding hands. Even the Queen had found someone who made her smile and laugh day in and day out. She gave this person her most prized possession, pieces of the heart's blood to adorn her beloved's fingers. For once, the stone walls ceased to grow. It even seemed that they shrank slightly, affected by the effusive joy that was all around them. None of this was to last.

All too soon, the happy alliance dissolved. Whether by fault of the Queen and her people or their ally, no one knew. All that could be seen were the sad faces of the citizens, now that their joy was gone. No one sang or dance. They could not even bring themselves to study, which had once been their favorite past time. The Queen sequestered herself. More than ever she tried to build the walls with the force of her will, swearing in her heart that no one would ever again share her kingdom to ruin its peace. But her will had been broken. She could no longer maintain the solitude that had once been her crowning achievement. Strangers traipsed through her street, making her land just another stop in a long road. Her solitude was broken forever. For the first time in ages, the walls began to lack their vigor. People still gathered to stare at the deep walls, this time for different reasons. Cracks had formed, making joints where once there had been none. And from the cracks seeped the heart's blood, more beautiful than anything that had ever been seen. The kingdom's treasure stood exposed for all to see and the Queen's own heart was wrenched from her chest with each drop of gold that dripped from the painful cracks, no help found to mend the rents in the walls.