Queen Joralina of Mahlirou is not very good at following instructions.
She tries. But when the moment comes, she has to close her eyes and spin the bowl around, because the choice between a red rose for a boy and a white rose for a girl is just too hard to make; and then she opens her eyes to find the white rose eaten and half a red petal on her lips, and she thinks of what her husband would say if after all this trying she had only a girl, and she eats the second rose.
The queen gives birth to twins: the younger a perfectly ordinary baby boy, the elder a long green serpent with two tiny scaly arms who escapes out the window while she is busy producing its sibling. She swears the midwife to silence.
Prince Taphinieu is an unexceptional child, quiet and serious, polite and obedient. Nothing about him suggests that he might secretly be a mythical reptile.
When he is eighteen years old, King Antimoun decides it is time for him to marry. Inquiries are made in the neighbouring kingdoms, and a candidate is selected, one of the seven daughters of the king of Enniver. Prince Taphinieu quietly acquiesces, and sets out with his entourage to meet the princess.
Less than halfway to the border, his procession is interrupted by the sudden and calamitous arrival of a huge green serpent with two scaly arms.
"A bride for me before a bride for you!" it hisses.
"Um," says the prince. He takes his entourage and turns around and goes home. The lindworm does not follow.
When the queen reveals that the lindworm is indeed the prince's older brother to the best of her knowledge, the king grits his teeth and goes looking for princesses further afield; if he must marry the beast off, he's not going to waste an advantageous political connection on it. A bride is located and delivered. She marries the lindworm unwillingly, and in the morning there is nothing left of her but a few bloody shreds of her beautiful wedding dress.
The worst of it is, this doesn't even work. When they send out Taphinieu to fetch the neighbouring princess again, the lindworm appears once more on the road and wails its ominous message.
The king, now entirely fed up with the whole business, begins to look elsewhere for brides. Unmarried young women of Dianaevo are invited to the palace and then never seen again, on first a monthly and then a weekly basis. It isn't working, but no one has thought of a better solution, or at least if they have the king has not heard of it.
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She tries. But when the moment comes, she has to close her eyes and spin the bowl around, because the choice between a red rose for a boy and a white rose for a girl is just too hard to make; and then she opens her eyes to find the white rose eaten and half a red petal on her lips, and she thinks of what her husband would say if after all this trying she had only a girl, and she eats the second rose.
The queen gives birth to twins: the younger a perfectly ordinary baby boy, the elder a long green serpent with two tiny scaly arms who escapes out the window while she is busy producing its sibling. She swears the midwife to silence.
Prince Taphinieu is an unexceptional child, quiet and serious, polite and obedient. Nothing about him suggests that he might secretly be a mythical reptile.
When he is eighteen years old, King Antimoun decides it is time for him to marry. Inquiries are made in the neighbouring kingdoms, and a candidate is selected, one of the seven daughters of the king of Enniver. Prince Taphinieu quietly acquiesces, and sets out with his entourage to meet the princess.
Less than halfway to the border, his procession is interrupted by the sudden and calamitous arrival of a huge green serpent with two scaly arms.
"A bride for me before a bride for you!" it hisses.
"Um," says the prince. He takes his entourage and turns around and goes home. The lindworm does not follow.
When the queen reveals that the lindworm is indeed the prince's older brother to the best of her knowledge, the king grits his teeth and goes looking for princesses further afield; if he must marry the beast off, he's not going to waste an advantageous political connection on it. A bride is located and delivered. She marries the lindworm unwillingly, and in the morning there is nothing left of her but a few bloody shreds of her beautiful wedding dress.
The worst of it is, this doesn't even work. When they send out Taphinieu to fetch the neighbouring princess again, the lindworm appears once more on the road and wails its ominous message.
The king, now entirely fed up with the whole business, begins to look elsewhere for brides. Unmarried young women of Dianaevo are invited to the palace and then never seen again, on first a monthly and then a weekly basis. It isn't working, but no one has thought of a better solution, or at least if they have the king has not heard of it.