As soon as KiwiBonk the desert Aisha heard there was
a new land discovered in Neopia, and that land had a medieval theme, she knew
she was going to be spending a lot of time there. Her owner, a lass of fourteen,
was really into Princess stuff. Sure enough, the very day a bunch of pets stumbled
onto the land of Meridell, Alison brought her four pets there to see what was
buzzing.
Chino the green Aisha wanted to go see Illusen's
Glade, because he worked for an Earth Faerie and therefore really liked them.
MinxJade the White Aisha wanted to go see Ye Olde Petpets. Rumples_Skin_Skin
the speckled Aisha wanted to play Shapeshifter. Alison wanted to go buy some
armour and one of those pointy hats. That left KiwiBonk and her petpet Snuffs
II all alone. KiwiBonk really didn't want to go to Meridell. She had no great
love for people who didn't know what a toilet was.
A large group of pets were gathered around a
platform with a Wocky on it shouting something. "Hear ye, hear ye! Whoever guesses
the weight of yonder marrow
shall win a great prize!" The Wocky handed out smooth pieces of bark and sticks
of charcoal to all the pets, including KiwiBonk. "Usually, the marrow weighs
between 200-800 pounds."
KiwiBonk scribbled down 281 and handed it back
to the Wocky. She noticed her paws were black from the piece of charcoal, and
looked around for someone to wipe them on. A Lupe wearing a really long cloak
strode by. KiwiBonk caught up and was about to clean her hands when he whirled
around and bared his long pointy teeth. "Begone, ye mongrel!" he spat.
She had no idea what a mongrel was, but decided
to 'begone' anyway. Wiping the Lupe spit from her eyes, KiwiBonk spotted a white
sheet hanging from a clothesline. When she was sure no one was around, she snuck
up and began to wipe one of her paws on the already filthy sheet.
"Noooo!!" someone screamed. A dirty little Blumaroo
wearing a threadbare apron appeared and started wringing her hands. "Me best
sheet!"
"Uh...that sheet is full of holes," KiwiBonk
said.
"Begone, ye filthy dwarf, before I washes yer
mouth with pig fat!"
KiwiBonk did know what a dwarf was, and it was
something she definitely was not. But she didn't want her mouth washed with
pig fat, so she decided to leave.
"Here you are," someone said. KiwiBonk turned
around, and saw that a yellow Quiggle dressed in medieval-looking clothes was
holding out a handkerchief to her.
"Oh, thanks."
"You're welcome," said the Quiggle. "Is this
your first time visiting Meridell?"
"Uh..yeah...actually, it is."
"Oh, then you'll want to hear a tale, won't
you?"
"A tale?"
"Yeah, like a story."
"Oh, uh... sure."
Because she had already discovered that the rest
of Meridell consisted of potatoes and dirty cloth, KiwiBonk followed the Quiggle
into a hut made of dried mud and hoped something exciting would happen.
A blue Quiggle was stirring a potful of some
kind of stew over a fire. Two toothless babies were fighting over a rag doll
on the floor.
"Mom, I brought a friend home. This is her first
time visiting Meridell."
"Is it really?" said the blue Quiggle. She smiled
at KiwiBonk and wiped her hands on her apron. "What kind of tale would you be
likin'?"
"Oh, it doesn't matter," said KiwiBonk awkwardly.
"I'll tell ye an interesting tale about a young
Lady who used to live in Meridell ages and ages ago...."
The yellow Quiggle sat on a bench and scooted
over so KiwiBonk could sit. She was a little unnerved about this family's kindness
to complete strangers, but as long as she didn't get spit on her face, she was
fine.
***
Once upon a time, here in Meridell, there was a rich merchant Aisha named
Isaac. He worked hard all his life, and got to the point where he and his wife
were one of the richest families around. They lived in a grand mansion, with
servants to wait on them, and always ate delicious foods prepared by their own
personal chef.
Isaac and his wife Violet had one child, a beautiful
baby Aisha. Her laughter melted the hardest heart and her smiles were sent from
heaven. But she only smiled four times in her infancy, and laughed twice. The
rest of the time she cried. She cried every time she didn't like her food, or
her sheets were too scratchy, or her diaper was too loose. She cried every time
her toys were taken away, or her mother didn't smell right, or her father laughed
too loud. That baby's howls could wake the dead.
When she grew up into a pretty little girl, she
was mean and stuck-up. Not to her parents of course, but to all the little Lords
and Ladies, Dukes and Duchesses, and Princes and Princesses that came to play
with her. She wouldn't share her toys, her food, or any of her belongings. In
her childhood, the little girl smiled eight times and laughed once. The only
child that made her laugh was a little Kacheek with black hair like a raven's
wing. Still, that little girl wouldn't give her companions the steam from her
porridge sprinkled with eight different varieties of sugar.
Then the little girl grew up into a beautiful
maiden. Kings and princes who once tried to play with her came to court her
instead. But the maiden threw their gifts away and broke their foolish hearts.
She told Lumen, her Poogle-in-waiting, all the horrible things she thought about
each suitor who came to call.
"That King of the Shoyrus stinks like rotten
cabbages. Look at the gifts he gave me! I suppose this is supposed to be a dress!"
Lumen picked up the richly embroidered dress
off the floor. "But Lady, he is the richest--"
"I care nothing for riches." Which of course,
wasn't true. "These men don't love me. They don't worship my beauty! I hate
them all! Their gifts are worthless."
And so it continued, for two long years.
Until one night, when the moon was full, the
maiden was awoken by a calling from outside: "Lileiri!" For that, of course,
was the maiden's name.
Lileiri awoke, and ordered Lumen to go tell
the suitor to bug off and let her ladyship get her beauty sleep. The shy little
Lumen had no choice but to go down and tell the unfortunate young man that he
would have to try again later.
It was cold down in Lileiri's garden, and dark,
too, so Lumen could not see anyone, suitors or otherwise. "Hello?" she called
in a trembling voice. "Is anyone there?"
"BRAWWK!!" Indeed, someone was there. A green
Pawkeet encrusted with emeralds landed on Lumen's head. "Lileiri is the loveliest.
Lileiri is the prettiest. BRAWWK!!"
Lumen brought the Pawkeet upstairs. Lileiri
seemed a little curious as to who sent the Pawkeet, but she was too proud to
admit someone had finally given her a gift she liked. "He should have taught
it to say 'Lileiri is the beautifullest.'" She sniffed, and lay down again in
her satin sheets.
Lumen sighed and put the Pawkeet in a golden
chest that was a gift from the Earl of Etta.
The next night, a voice called once again, "Lileiri!"
"Ignore him," she told Lumen. "If he really
loves me he'll stay all night."
The mysterious visitor didn't stay all night,
but he left a necklace draped on Lileiri's window sill. Lileiri gave a tiny
smile when she saw it. It had many more jewels than other piece of jewelry she
was given. But vain Lileiri tossed it into a pile of other rejected gifts. Later
on, when the Lady wasn't looking, Lumen picked up the necklace and hid it in
the chest where the Pawkeet was also hidden.
The next night, the suitor left a bouquet of
the rarest and sweetest smelling flowers in the kingdom. The night after that,
a tiara made of silver and twenty-five diamonds the size of your thumbnail.
The next week, a ruby the size of a pear, a ring made of ivory with a sapphire
in the middle, a golden goblet filled to the brim with opals, a little Kadoatie
encrusted with jewels like the Pawkeet, a sabre covered in so many gems it was
nearly impossible to lift, a bangle with precious stones so shiny it was hard
to look at, and a pink dress covered in pearls, were left. Each time Lumen presented
the gift, Lileiri pretended not to care, and Lumen, sighing, put the gift in
the chest. Lumen noticed that the last gift, the dress, had a long black hair
on it. When she pointed that out to Lileiri, she pressed her lips together so
tight they turned white.
For Lileiri was actually captivated by this
mysterious suitor and his gifts. Every night she dreamed of him, but she was
too foolish and too vain to admit that she was in love.
She had started sending Lumen out to the garden
to wait for him, but he was always too quick and always managed to put the gift
in Lumen's hands without her seeing. Lumen was also mystified with the identity
of this seemingly rich giver of gifts.
That night, he came a little later than usual.
Lumen was starting to get cold, and wondered if she should go back upstairs
to where her Lady was waiting. Just as she started to get up, a black cloth
fell from the tree branch above her head. It was the mystery man's cloak. Lumen
smiled and wrapped herself in it.
"Have you been enjoying my gifts?" a slightly
muffled voice asked.
"Oh, yes, quite," lied Lumen.
"I'm glad....What have you named the Pawkeet
I gave you?"
"Uh...Greenie."
"And what of the Kadoatie?"
"Um...Pinky."
The mystery man laughed quietly. "Very creative
names, Lileiri."
"Oh, I'm not Lileiri," Lumen said.
The man stopped laughing. "You're not? Who are
you, then?"
"I'm Lumen, her Poogle-in-waiting."
"Then why have you been taking these gifts?"
"Don't worry, I give them to her." Lumen decided
not to say that all his wonderful gifts were locked up in a chest.
"Lumen?" Lileiri called. She was so anxious
to get her gift that she decided to come outside.
"Uh oh," Lumen and the mysterious man said at
the same time.
When Lileiri saw her Poogle-in-waiting wrapped
in a black cloak and a dark shadow sitting on the tree branch above her, her
face turned its familiar shade of red that meant she was going to yell. "What's
going on?" she demanded.
"That's Lileiri?" the man said. He dropped down
from the tree, but stayed in the shadows so they could not see his face. "Have
you been enjoying my gifts?" he asked Lileiri.
"Oh... uh...." Lileiri fought over whether she
should stick with her pride, or tell the mysterious man the truth. "What's your
name?"
"I am Komi, Duke of Emshir."
"Show me your face!"
The man stepped into the light. Lumen gasped.
Lileiri gasped. The Kacheek that stood before them smiled nervously.
"A MUTANT!!!!!" Lileiri yelled. "A MUTANT'S
BEEN GIVING ME GIFTS!!! EW!!!!!"
"I-I-I wasn't born like this, it was a potion
that went--"
"GUARDS!!! GUARDS!!! GET THIS GROSS THING OUT
OF MY SIGHT!!" Lileiri screamed, even though she didn't have any guards.
Komi looked at Lumen. She was staring at him,
but not in disgust. She even seemed a little... dazzled.
Komi smiled at her. She smiled back at Komi.
Ignoring Lileiri's shouts, they went inside, gathered all the gifts, Pinky,
and Greenie, and rode to Emshir on Komi's black Uni. Lumen and Komi were married
the next day. Lumen loved Komi for his personality, not his looks. Lileiri eventually
married a handsome Blumaroo prince who loved treasures almost as much as she
did, and knew how to put up with a screaming wife.
***
"And that's the end, so they say," finished the Quiggle.
"Cool!" said KiwiBonk.
"Hee!" Snuffs agreed.
"There's a moral to this story, too."
"We know, we know, don't judge people by their
looks," the Quiggle said.
"No, don't work for snobby brats. Now git, John,
it's time to feed the youngsters."
John walked KiwiBonk outside. "Please come back
again. Mother'll tell you another tale."
"Thanks. I will."
"KiwiBonk!" Alison called.
"Right here, Alison!" KiwiBonk jumped forward
to meet her owner, who looked like a princess in a long dress with puffy sleeves
and a pointy hat. Chino had an armful of Illusen's eye creams and cookies. MinxJade
was decked out in armour like a knight, and Rumples held a bag of Neopoints
he had won from every game.
"Something tells me we're having marrow tonight,"
murmured Rumples.
"Pipe down, before I wash your mouth with pig
fat," KiwiBonk snapped.
The End |