Queen Coffee's Prologue

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Queen Coffee of Tzu Kingdom tells the story of how Tzu Kingdom began...

About six hundred dog years ago, Shih Tzus only lived in one land. It was in the Far, Far East and they had lived, played and cuddled there for thousands of dog years before that. 

It was a beautiful summer day and they were so happy skipping, jumping and chasing each other about in their palace grounds. 

All of a sudden, from absolutely nowhere, a freak storm began. The sun went into hiding and gave way to intense windy rain, black clouds, thunder and lightning. 

It caught the tzus unaware and they ran for cover and waited for the storm to pass. 

The storm stopped as suddenly as it had begun and the gang ventured out of their hiding place – the adult tzus first for safety, ushering the youngsters out when they knew it was safe. 

Even though the sturdy tzus were unscathed by the storm, some more delicate creatures were not so fortunate. 

As they gathered up their toys, one of the youngest tzus, Leo, heard a faint cry of help. It was coming from the lake. They had never ventured so far before, but now, someone clearly needed their help. 

They ran down the grassy slopes as fast as their little legs could go and found fairies of all colours caught in an enormous fishing net, tired, upset and exhausted. 

They too had been taken by surprise, blown off course by the winds and were now trapped with their intricate wings, and their very lives, in serious peril. 

Without even thinking, Leo divided the tzus in to action teams and they all set to work with their nimble paws and delicate teeth, working in pairs to unhook every fairy and his or her tiny wings. The complicated rescue was eventually completed with all fairies free, unhurt and fluttering once again. It had taken hours, in to the night, but the tzus and their teamwork, patience and skill had saved the fairies from perishing. 

Leo and his friends wished the fairies well and went back to the palace, pleased to be able to help and proud of how they had all worked together. 

The next day, he was surprised to see a small delegation of fairies appear at the gates of their home. They thanked the tzus once again for saving them from such mortal danger and asked if there was anything they could gift to them. The tzus turned to Leo – after all it had been his long ears that had heard their cries for help. 

Leo could only think of one thing after his adventure to the lake...to see the world. 

The fairies then decreed that all Shih Tzus could use their fairy door network to visit new lands...shrinking down to squeeze through with fairy magic. 

After this, Shih Tzus started to spread out through the world, making new friends and settling in new lands. Nonetheless they missed snuggling up, eating and playing games with each other and soon wished they had somewhere to meet up and this time, they asked the fairies for their help. 

The fairies understood and set about setting up a palace within the fairy kingdom where the tzus could meet. They called it Tzu Kingdom on the condition that they would keep it beautiful, they would keep it secret and that they would elect the wisest tzu to be their King or Queen and they would see that it was always used for good. 

 The tzus accepted this offer and were quick to make Leo their first King for his bravery and leadership qualities. 

Over the next few years, Leo made Tzu Kingdom what it is today and laid down the foundations for all future Kings and Queens to keep the promise they made to the fairies as do King Bailey and I...