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danceswithgaryThe Adventure Started Here
Curtseying so low that she could have kissed the stony ground with a tiny stretch, the UDKM made her proposal. "If I might, your most kind and gracious sovereigns, I believe I may have a solution that will benefit you in your quest for respect from your fellow dragons and allow Princess Angeline to return to her parents' loving and royal arms."
Extremely pleased with the UDKM's polite behavior and proper manners when addressing them, particularly after having dealt with two days of pouting, foot tapping, golden curl tossing, and rude words that no princess should know, let alone utter, the two dragons nodded graciously to indicate the UDKM could continue.
"First, I would like to assure you that on Princess Angeline's return to the castle, King Rick and Queen Hannah would be so grateful that they would immediately order the delivery of a baker's dozen of the largest wooden chests available in the entire kingdom." The dragon smiles that greeted this bit of news were quite wide and impressive with the number of sharp teeth showing.
"Second, although I do understand your need for a decorative princess, I believe that Princess Angeline will soon prove to be more trouble that her beauty would be worth. If it is merely a need to be able to point to the princess in the corner during a tea party, then a substitute should work just as well without subjecting you any further to pouting, foot tapping, golden curl tossing, and rude words that no princess should know, let alone utter." The UDKM frowned severely at Princess Angeline, who had made the tiniest sound of protest at the insult to her royal character. At the sight of the UDKM's threatening face, the princess wisely closed her pink mouth and kept any remaining mutters to herself.
The two dragons discussed the UDKM's suggestion, hissing at each other in dragonly whispers, which weren't really very whispery at all so that the UDKM could hear them quite easily, although she still had a little difficulty understanding their low country accent.
"I must admit that I'm sorry that we listened to that monster under the bed and selected Princess Angeline to decorate the cave. This one, who isn't a decorative princess, does seem to be quite an intelligent girl and her solution to our dilemma appears to be quite reasonable, McDuff. Why don't we let her supply the proposed substitute for that horribly spoiled princess?"
"I must agree, Alina, she's quite convincing. Remember, we can always burn her up later if she does something wrong or tries to trick us out of our treasure."
Raising their voices to something louder than a hissing dragonly whisper, Alina and McDuff chorused, "We accept."
Concealing her triumph by sweeping into her lowest curtsy yet, the UDKM thanked the dragons and asked to be allowed to notify to the four brave knights so that they could stop huddling in an attempt to devise a cunning sneak attack or some such knightly solution. They blew sulfurous fumes out of their noses in satisfaction at the UDKM's thoughtfulness and nodded graciously.
Holding her breath, the UDKM backed out of the cave, continuously curtseying and smiling pleasantly until she was outside and could draw a deep breath of relatively fresh air, since it couldn't be truly fresh as long as she was still close enough to the dragons' cave that the sulfurous fumes still lingered. When the UDKM's exited from the cave without any burnt places visible, the four knights stopped huddling and hurried to her side to find out what had happened to Princess Angeline, and whether a cunning sneak attack or other some such knightly solution would be required to free her from the dragons' clutches.
The UDKM assured them that no knightly intervention would be required, although she did require a few objects to help resolve the situation, as well as a baker's dozen of the largest wooden chests in the kingdom, although the chests could wait until Princess Angeline was returned safe and sound to her parents' loving royal arms.
After hearing the UDKM's requests, the knights returned to a huddle before dispersing in three different directions on their chargers to search out the necessary objects. Sir Freddy remained behind on guard, even though he no longer had a sword to swing randomly, and therefore might find it difficult to guard the UDKM from anything larger than a squirrel.
Sir Max returned first. He had been assigned the task that was easily accomplished with a short ride to the woods to find a log the same width as Princess Angeline's waist and her height, minus her head of golden curls. He carried it into the cave and propped it up in the corner at the UDKM's direction, after she had dressed it in Princess Angeline's favorite pink-striped taffeta gown. Of course, that summoned yet another prodigious pout from the princess, which only subsided when the UDKM offered to let Princess Angeline remain behind in the dark cave with the dragons while wearing her favorite dress and second-best tiara.
Sir Eric was next, striding up the mountain carrying the bundle of sheep's wool and a gourd as large as the princess' head. He watched with interest as the sheep's wool was carefully arranged inside the Princess Angeline's favorite pink-striped taffeta gown to imitate her pleasant curves and the gourd was attached to the wooden body with the assistance of a golden knitting needle that the UDKM had located in the center of the pile of treasure.
Sir Joshua took the longest to return since he'd had to locate the closest wise woman who would have the necessary ingredients to paint the gourd with an approximation of Princess Angeline's face. He also had the misfortune to resemble Sir Max after all of his golden curls were shaved off and attached to the gourd with the glue the wise woman had wisely supplied.
The UDKM barely suppressed a smile at the thought that she would only have to deal with one head of golden curls tossing prettily in the sunlight on the return ride.
Standing back with her hands propped on her hips, the UDKM surveyed her handiwork and found it to be good. The dragons soon ooohed and aaahed in dragonly pleasure at the lovely new substitute princess that could not pout, tap a foot, toss golden curls or spout rude words that no princess should know, let alone utter, and agreed that Princess Angeline could be returned safe and sound to her parents' loving royal arms.
Sir Max, Sir Eric and Sir Joshua drew straws to see which knight would have Princess Angeline riding his charger, facing the rear. Sir Joshua lost when he drew the short straw and had to suffer from pouting, golden curl tossing, and rude words that no princess should know, let alone utter. Fortunately, the foot tapping stopped when Sir Joshua's charger broke into a quite uncomfortable trot the first time Princess Angeline tried it on his rear, right above his tail.
~*~*~
After being returned safe and sound to her parents' loving royal arms, the Princess Angeline was bundled off to her room for a hot bath and milk and strawberry jam toast, to be delivered by the temporary UDKM. Her parents were busy hearing about the perilous quest and bestowing the appropriate rewards for the safe return of their beloved, spoiled daughter. They made their way through the four brave knights, granting them gold and lands for their brave deeds. The UDKM fidgeted in the back of the throne room feeling quite invisible until Queen Hannah gestured to her and indicated the UDKM was to stand in front of the two thrones with an imperious finger.
With a regal incline of his royal head, King Rick proclaimed, "We have spoken to Sir Freddy and we are impressed with your intelligent and non-violent solution to the dragons' and Princess Angeline's dilemmas. We did promise you a reward and after careful consideration, we have decided to confer the title of Lady-in-Waiting upon you. The only thing that remains is to find out what your name is for the necessary paperwork to be filled out and filed with the court clerks."
The UDKM had simply been known as the LDKM and UDKM for so long that she needed to think for a minute or two before she could remember the name her parents had given to her the day she was born. With a deep curtsey, she answered King Rick's implied question. "My name is Melisande, your majesties. My mother told me it stood for 'strong worker' and I always thought it quite appropriate to my situation."
Lady Melisande soon proved to be the most diligent Lady-in-Waiting ever appointed to the court. The upper upstair house maid or UUHM never knew how close she had come to being replaced by the UDKM after a carefully planned unfortunate tumble down the stairs while carrying the golden tray with Queen Hannah's breakfast tea and cranberry scones, which she ate in bed each morning, leaving crumbs to keep the royal laundry busy.
The monster under the bed had to move in with the moaning shade that resided in the darkest corner of the garden maze after the Lady Melisande directed the palace carpenter to build a solid wooden platform under Princess Angelina's bed. Once the barrier was in place, there was no longer any room for the monster under the bed and, of course, it was never allowed to lie around on the top of the bed. It spent all of its time crouching in the dark corner of the maze and grumbling about tattletale dragons and spoiled princesses.
The unfortunate mythical creature had learned a particularly hard lesson that it's never a good idea to interfere with the plans of an ambitious UDKM who didn't care to be dragged along willy-nilly on dangerous quests with four brave knights.
She was always certain to return in triumph and show everyone who was really in charge.
The End
Curtseying so low that she could have kissed the stony ground with a tiny stretch, the UDKM made her proposal. "If I might, your most kind and gracious sovereigns, I believe I may have a solution that will benefit you in your quest for respect from your fellow dragons and allow Princess Angeline to return to her parents' loving and royal arms."
Extremely pleased with the UDKM's polite behavior and proper manners when addressing them, particularly after having dealt with two days of pouting, foot tapping, golden curl tossing, and rude words that no princess should know, let alone utter, the two dragons nodded graciously to indicate the UDKM could continue.
"First, I would like to assure you that on Princess Angeline's return to the castle, King Rick and Queen Hannah would be so grateful that they would immediately order the delivery of a baker's dozen of the largest wooden chests available in the entire kingdom." The dragon smiles that greeted this bit of news were quite wide and impressive with the number of sharp teeth showing.
"Second, although I do understand your need for a decorative princess, I believe that Princess Angeline will soon prove to be more trouble that her beauty would be worth. If it is merely a need to be able to point to the princess in the corner during a tea party, then a substitute should work just as well without subjecting you any further to pouting, foot tapping, golden curl tossing, and rude words that no princess should know, let alone utter." The UDKM frowned severely at Princess Angeline, who had made the tiniest sound of protest at the insult to her royal character. At the sight of the UDKM's threatening face, the princess wisely closed her pink mouth and kept any remaining mutters to herself.
The two dragons discussed the UDKM's suggestion, hissing at each other in dragonly whispers, which weren't really very whispery at all so that the UDKM could hear them quite easily, although she still had a little difficulty understanding their low country accent.
"I must admit that I'm sorry that we listened to that monster under the bed and selected Princess Angeline to decorate the cave. This one, who isn't a decorative princess, does seem to be quite an intelligent girl and her solution to our dilemma appears to be quite reasonable, McDuff. Why don't we let her supply the proposed substitute for that horribly spoiled princess?"
"I must agree, Alina, she's quite convincing. Remember, we can always burn her up later if she does something wrong or tries to trick us out of our treasure."
Raising their voices to something louder than a hissing dragonly whisper, Alina and McDuff chorused, "We accept."
Concealing her triumph by sweeping into her lowest curtsy yet, the UDKM thanked the dragons and asked to be allowed to notify to the four brave knights so that they could stop huddling in an attempt to devise a cunning sneak attack or some such knightly solution. They blew sulfurous fumes out of their noses in satisfaction at the UDKM's thoughtfulness and nodded graciously.
Holding her breath, the UDKM backed out of the cave, continuously curtseying and smiling pleasantly until she was outside and could draw a deep breath of relatively fresh air, since it couldn't be truly fresh as long as she was still close enough to the dragons' cave that the sulfurous fumes still lingered. When the UDKM's exited from the cave without any burnt places visible, the four knights stopped huddling and hurried to her side to find out what had happened to Princess Angeline, and whether a cunning sneak attack or other some such knightly solution would be required to free her from the dragons' clutches.
The UDKM assured them that no knightly intervention would be required, although she did require a few objects to help resolve the situation, as well as a baker's dozen of the largest wooden chests in the kingdom, although the chests could wait until Princess Angeline was returned safe and sound to her parents' loving royal arms.
After hearing the UDKM's requests, the knights returned to a huddle before dispersing in three different directions on their chargers to search out the necessary objects. Sir Freddy remained behind on guard, even though he no longer had a sword to swing randomly, and therefore might find it difficult to guard the UDKM from anything larger than a squirrel.
Sir Max returned first. He had been assigned the task that was easily accomplished with a short ride to the woods to find a log the same width as Princess Angeline's waist and her height, minus her head of golden curls. He carried it into the cave and propped it up in the corner at the UDKM's direction, after she had dressed it in Princess Angeline's favorite pink-striped taffeta gown. Of course, that summoned yet another prodigious pout from the princess, which only subsided when the UDKM offered to let Princess Angeline remain behind in the dark cave with the dragons while wearing her favorite dress and second-best tiara.
Sir Eric was next, striding up the mountain carrying the bundle of sheep's wool and a gourd as large as the princess' head. He watched with interest as the sheep's wool was carefully arranged inside the Princess Angeline's favorite pink-striped taffeta gown to imitate her pleasant curves and the gourd was attached to the wooden body with the assistance of a golden knitting needle that the UDKM had located in the center of the pile of treasure.
Sir Joshua took the longest to return since he'd had to locate the closest wise woman who would have the necessary ingredients to paint the gourd with an approximation of Princess Angeline's face. He also had the misfortune to resemble Sir Max after all of his golden curls were shaved off and attached to the gourd with the glue the wise woman had wisely supplied.
The UDKM barely suppressed a smile at the thought that she would only have to deal with one head of golden curls tossing prettily in the sunlight on the return ride.
Standing back with her hands propped on her hips, the UDKM surveyed her handiwork and found it to be good. The dragons soon ooohed and aaahed in dragonly pleasure at the lovely new substitute princess that could not pout, tap a foot, toss golden curls or spout rude words that no princess should know, let alone utter, and agreed that Princess Angeline could be returned safe and sound to her parents' loving royal arms.
Sir Max, Sir Eric and Sir Joshua drew straws to see which knight would have Princess Angeline riding his charger, facing the rear. Sir Joshua lost when he drew the short straw and had to suffer from pouting, golden curl tossing, and rude words that no princess should know, let alone utter. Fortunately, the foot tapping stopped when Sir Joshua's charger broke into a quite uncomfortable trot the first time Princess Angeline tried it on his rear, right above his tail.
~*~*~
After being returned safe and sound to her parents' loving royal arms, the Princess Angeline was bundled off to her room for a hot bath and milk and strawberry jam toast, to be delivered by the temporary UDKM. Her parents were busy hearing about the perilous quest and bestowing the appropriate rewards for the safe return of their beloved, spoiled daughter. They made their way through the four brave knights, granting them gold and lands for their brave deeds. The UDKM fidgeted in the back of the throne room feeling quite invisible until Queen Hannah gestured to her and indicated the UDKM was to stand in front of the two thrones with an imperious finger.
With a regal incline of his royal head, King Rick proclaimed, "We have spoken to Sir Freddy and we are impressed with your intelligent and non-violent solution to the dragons' and Princess Angeline's dilemmas. We did promise you a reward and after careful consideration, we have decided to confer the title of Lady-in-Waiting upon you. The only thing that remains is to find out what your name is for the necessary paperwork to be filled out and filed with the court clerks."
The UDKM had simply been known as the LDKM and UDKM for so long that she needed to think for a minute or two before she could remember the name her parents had given to her the day she was born. With a deep curtsey, she answered King Rick's implied question. "My name is Melisande, your majesties. My mother told me it stood for 'strong worker' and I always thought it quite appropriate to my situation."
Lady Melisande soon proved to be the most diligent Lady-in-Waiting ever appointed to the court. The upper upstair house maid or UUHM never knew how close she had come to being replaced by the UDKM after a carefully planned unfortunate tumble down the stairs while carrying the golden tray with Queen Hannah's breakfast tea and cranberry scones, which she ate in bed each morning, leaving crumbs to keep the royal laundry busy.
The monster under the bed had to move in with the moaning shade that resided in the darkest corner of the garden maze after the Lady Melisande directed the palace carpenter to build a solid wooden platform under Princess Angelina's bed. Once the barrier was in place, there was no longer any room for the monster under the bed and, of course, it was never allowed to lie around on the top of the bed. It spent all of its time crouching in the dark corner of the maze and grumbling about tattletale dragons and spoiled princesses.
The unfortunate mythical creature had learned a particularly hard lesson that it's never a good idea to interfere with the plans of an ambitious UDKM who didn't care to be dragged along willy-nilly on dangerous quests with four brave knights.
She was always certain to return in triumph and show everyone who was really in charge.
The End
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Date: 2007-12-26 03:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-12-26 04:05 am (UTC)