Page 12 of Return of the Nutcracker Prince

“You’re not serious.”

“I’m absolutely serious.The Lemonade River sits to the south of the palace, and the Orange Juice River to the north.”He pulled Pepper off to the side of the bridge once they’d crossed and dismounted.“I’ll get us a drink while we’re here.”He knew he had a canteen in his saddle bag somewhere.

The look of consternation on her face amused him to no end.“Do you not drink water?”

“We have a river that is made of water as well.We call it the Sweet River.”

“Is that because the water is sweet?”

“I’ll let you decide that for yourself.Aren’t you thirsty?”

“Well, yes…”

“I’ll return in a moment.”

Klaus bent and caught lemonade from the river below, then handed her the canteen.She lifted it to her lips and took a hesitant sip.“Mm, that’s delicious.”

“Drink your fill.There’s plenty more where that came from.”He watched her drink it down with enthusiasm.

With a shy dip of her head, she handed him an empty canteen, which he refilled for himself, and drank down.Peppermint also took advantage of the break, drinking straight from the river.When he’d had enough, Klaus made sure they had a full canteen for the rest of their trip, then mounted behind Clara once more.

As they headed towards the palace, she relaxed against him.He was enjoying the sensation of her weight leaning into his chest when she asked another question.“Who is the Sugar Plum Fairy?”

“That would be my mother.”

“So, like a queen?”

He nodded.“Yes, but the title is different.The Sugar Plum Fairy rules the Land of Sweets, the Dew Drop Fairy rules the Land of Flowers, and the Snow Fairy rules the snow angels in the Land of Ice and Snow.”

His companion was silent for a moment.“What of your father?”

“What of him?”

“Is he…” she bit her lip.“Is he dead?”

“No, why would you think that?”

“It’s just… usually in my realm, the men rule.Only one country I know of has a queen right now.”

Ah.He had a little knowledge of this from pestering his uncle about the Realm of Waking when he was a child.“Uncle Ludwig said yours was a patriarchal society.But my realm is matriarchal.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, for instance, we are usually ruled by women and not by men.”

She sat up and gave him a strange look.“How come?”

Klaus shrugged.“It’s always been that way.The women are the ones with magic.Except for Uncle Ludwig.And his is not very strong.”

“Women have magic?”

“Yes, and so do you.”

She tilted her head to one side, her eyes narrowed.“What do you mean?”

“The Mouse King has dark magic users at his beck and call.They changed his form and gave him immense power, but at the cost of his soul.Only strong light magic can defeat him, which you did.So clearly, you have magic.”

Her brow furrowed in confusion.“Why is he a king, and not a queen?”

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