Prince Valium (continued)

You assume that whoever is up there will kiss the princess and break the spell, no matter what you do now, and you're resigned to not having her for yourself. So, you make your way to the boy, introduce yourself, and pass the time by in pleasant conversation while you wait for the princess and the mystery person to come down from the tower.

The boy, you find out, is a squire, and he tells you that his master, a prince, asked that he stay down here in case the person who made the path in the brair came by.

"I guess that would be you," says the boy. "He wanted to meet you and ask you how you managed to do that. He figured you must have had an unusually sharp sword because the legend says that nothing could cut through those briars. He was going to use his own sword, which he just got brand new, but he didn't like the idea that it might break if he tried."

You shrug. "An old man gave me this sword. I hadn't planned on using it anywhere else."

Just then, two people emerge from the tower door--a lovely couple. The man is every inch a prince, tall, well-dressed, and proud. The woman...

...the woman is the most beautiful you've ever seen--big blue eyes and rosy cheeks. And she's looking adoringly at the prince, a treasure lost to you.

You sigh.

Oh well, you think to yourself as more introductions get made, at least they get to live happily ever after. It's probably just as well, too. What woman in her right mind would want to be called Mrs. Prince Valium?