Inbu’s Heart 10/10

The Kingdom of Pantalon had faced uncertainty. The Government had no idea what to do. Journalists asked a barbell of questions and politicians said the same thing: "We don't know, but more will be revealed as we know it."

With King Baboon's death and with Prince Inbu being s pig, there was an array of successors like King Baboon's grandsons and some of his brothers, but in the end, they let Aunt Matilda take the throne. She was the second eldest, and popular with the crowds. Besides, the other guys didn't want to get turn into pigs. Despite many childhood dreams of being regent of the kingdom, the ones eligible had no interest in the throne. There was such a mess with the trade deals, a lot of them didn't want the pressure as they enjoyed the tax havens and freebies in neighbouring kingdoms.

Queen Matilda sat on the throne and her dark attire blended onto the throne. "Well, first thing we're going to do is ban dog meat. We're gonna raise the legal age of consent to eighteen, all pedophiles must be destroyed and we're going to lift the ban on magic and electricity!"

The elders clapped their hands. The other 68 kingdoms of The Breast Empire had already had these things in place, but King Baboon forbid it due to a cat-fishing incident. Mucky McMuckface was the first to speak up. "Your Majesty, this is wonderful news. All the countries in the world will want to make trade deals with us for sure."

"There's just one thing though..." Queen Matilda stroked her chin. "I turned Prince Inbu and that girl into pigs."

McMuckface nodded. "Yes about that...we've had a few complaints about that."

"Oh?" Queen Matilda giggled as she reached over for a glass of wine. "I'm surprised. Only a few?"

"The Prime Minister received ten thousand complaints this morning." McMuckface brought a bloated sack to the Queen's attention. Sheets of paper flew all over the floor. "Is there a way you can turn them human again before the public start a riot against you?"

Queen Matilda slapped her hands together. "We'll have to bring every pig into the kingdom until we find them."

"Does that mean all the pigs will turn human?" McMuckface asked.

"No." Queen Matilda shook her head and rose to her feet. "If they're truly pigs, the spell won't do a thing."

"So you want us to catch all the pigs into the kingdom, and bring them to you?"

"Yes please!"

"Your Majesty," one of the guards interrupted them. "Samba, the royal jester would like to see you at once!"

"Send her in!"

Samba barged into the main hall, dragging her clown attire.

"What have you done to Prince Inbu and Mei?" Samba's voice was direct and gritty. McFuckface cowered behind the throne. His shivering shoulders rocked the throne. "I swear, if you've burnt them to toast like you with the last king...

"Oh don't worry my dear," said Queen Matilda. Patting her back, Queen Matilda greeted Samba like an old lost friend. "I only turned them into pigs."

"You did what?" Samba roared.

"Yeah," Queen Matilda said, smirking with no shame. "This is punishment for his bad behaviour!"

"Using transfiguration as a punishment is pretty messed up."

"Don't worry, I'm going to turn them back."

"You better do. If you know what's good for you. Wait a minute..." Samba scurried to the door and opened it. "Maybe that's why these two pigs are following me. Could it be them?"

Queen Matilda widened her eyes at the lovestruck pigs that ran around the palace. "I think that is them." She crouched down and smiled. "Aww, don't they look cute?"

Samba went down on her knees. "Okay, which one of you is Inbu?" The chubbier pig stepped forward. "And the other one is...What's her name. I know it starts with an M? Mei?" The other pig oinked as she nodded. "Your Majesty, you gotta do something."

Queen Matilda's fingernail extended over her fingers and into the pigs' direction. Samba held back the resistance to urge with her puffed up face. "You better stand back," Queen Matilda advised her. "My aura can bring nausea if you're too close. Go towards the wall, and you should be fine."

Samba never ran so fast in all her life.

It took Queen Matilda a dozen attempts to get the spell right. On a normal occasion where she turned people into animals, it was a permanent solution. Animals used to go to her sister-in-law to be reverse her changes. On the first attempt, they broke the palace's ceiling because Mei and Prince Inbu got turned into elephants. On the second attempt they became roaring lions. Queen Mei hoped she would be third time lucky, but it was not to be when main hall became invested with peacock feathers.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Samba screamed at the top of her voice. "Why are you turning them into different animals?"

"I'm sorry!" Queen Matilda cried. "I'm good at turning people into animals, but I can never get them into humans again. I just need to keep on trying." Her fingernail scratched the peacocks and they exploded into two white mice. "Oh my God, I'm having a really bad day. Come on, don't run away from me."

Mei and Inbu's next transformation was gorillas. Prince Inbu pulled at his hairy arms with a look of horror.

"That's close," Queen Matilda said.

Cackles of laughter could be heard from the corner where Samba sat. "BUT NO CIGAR!"

"If I keep going, you should become human soon!" After a couple more attempts, Samba and Queen Matilda had seen; fiery phoenixes that turned the tapestries to charcoal; sparkling unicorns that puked rainbows; foxes with nine tails; frogs hopping on walls; wild tigers and graceful doves.

"What is this?" Samba spat out. "Some sort of acid trip?"

By the time Queen Matilda finally managed to get Prince Inbu and Mei to be human again, Samba could only croak like a frog. The young couple had no energy to get up. Prince Inbu's fine attire had so many holes it was a block of Swiss cheese. Mei's dress had stretched so far that it could fit another ten people in.

"Are you okay, Your Majesty?" Mei asked, gasping for air.

"Call me Inbu!" He let out a large sigh and pecked her cheek. He rolled over to Queen Matilda and had one final request for her. "Please, never do that to us again."

It was a promise Queen Matilda had to keep. "Sorry about that, it seems I still have a lot to learn when it comes to magic."