BOOK ONE
CHAPTER ONE
There once was a travelling musician named Sasha, who delighted the ears and spirits of all for whom she sang and played. Wherever she wandered, doting innkeepers bestowed free room and board upon her, for when Sasha performed, their patrons stayed all night, ordering ale freely. She won renown under the nickname ‘Sasha the Merry Maker’, a moniker she herself disliked, feeling that it implied something less wholesome than intended.
The Queen of the land, a ruthless ruler but fawning mother, had taken it upon herself to find her beloved son a wife. The Prince, a withdrawn boy, suffered from black moods, and the Queen thought perhaps a beautiful bride would cure his melancholia. But each woman that came his way, though more beautiful and more accomplished than the last, was dismissed from the court as soon as she’d come, each time the Prince declaring, “She cannot make me happy, dear mother. I fear that nothing can!”
After exhausting all of the noble ladies in the kingdom, the Queen, having heard of her great talent for merriment, had Sasha brought to the castle.
“Play at court the next three nights,” the Queen told her. “If you make him smile even once, the crown is yours. Fail and…well, please don’t fail. Guards, escort our guest to her room.” Dismayed at the situation, but confident in her abilities, Sasha prepared that night to play for the Prince, sure she would succeed. When the Prince arrived at court, Sasha played all the merriest songs she knew. The room came to life with dance and high spirits; a smile lit up everyone’s face…everyone except the Prince, that is, who observed the scene with the same polite detachment he exhibited always. His manner astounded Sasha. Never before had someone upon hearing her music failed to take pleasure in it. She stayed up the entire night in her locked bedchamber writing a mountain of new songs more jolly than any she’d written before. The second night at court, the crowd erupted with joy. Masters and servants drank and danced together the whole night through; friendships were made that would last a lifetime! But again the Prince sat in quietude on his throne observing the spectacle with a strange seriousness, though Sasha did see him tap his toe more than once.
That night, Sasha planned to sneak out of the castle. She’d played her absolute best stuff with no success and had to admit she was beat. But when she tried to leave, she found the door locked. She sat on her bed and wracked her brain for what to do. What did the Queen mean, please don’t fail? A feeling of foreboding took over, then, she heard a key clicking at her door. It opened, and there stood the Prince.
“You must leave here at once,” the Prince implored desperately.
“Before I’ve made you smile? I refuse. I saw you tap your toe!” Sasha accused proudly.
“Precisely, I don’t know if I will be able to feign indifference another night, and believe me, if you make me smile, it will be the worse for you.”
“Why?”
“My mother is of a jealous nature and possesses a liberal attitude towards capital punishment. Whenever I have shown interest in a girl before, she is happy for me at first, but soon finds fault with my choice and devises an excuse to have her beheaded. I don’t want the same fate to happen to you. Please, accept my help and escape now in the cover of night. A horse waits for you outside.” And the Prince left.
The next day, the Prince was horrified to find Sasha present at court! When the time came for her to play, the room turned quiet with anticipation. The Prince steeled himself, and Sasha began to sing…
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Let’s drink till our heads hit the ceiling.
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Drink to him, and he’ll be more appealing!
So what if his features make ladies all groan,
Who cares that his knuckles have fur.
It’s no matter his skin has that purplish tone,
Two more sips he’s a good-looking blur!
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Let’s drink till our hands lose all feeling.
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Drink to him, and he’ll be more appealing!
So what if his senses are dim as a cave,
Who cares that his mind’s not first rate.
It’s no matter his faculties all misbehave,
Two more sips and he wins each debate!
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Let’s drink till the walls all start reeling.
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Drink to him, and he’ll be more appealing!
As a singer I’ve travelled all over the county,
And I do not say this for a laugh.
I’d be tempted to give him a taste of my bounty,
But his face makes it too hard by half!
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Let’s drink till we all end up squealing.
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Drink to him, and he’ll be more appealing!
Now, it was well known throughout the land that the Queen tenaciously protected the Prince from all criticism or injury. Everyone knew the story of the pet dog who bit the Prince as a child, and was beheaded for it. And then there was the story of the tutor who gave the Prince a bad grade on a test, and was beheaded for it. And then, of course, there was the story of the court jester who made a joke about the Prince, and was drawn and quartered for it. But Sasha had fallen in love with this lonely young man, and now, having decided not to run, she finished what she believed to be her last song.
Nobody in the room could move or breathe. They all turned to the Queen, who sat in baffled stoicism. Sasha calmly grinned at the Prince who stared back, his breath heavy with anxiety. No one present could overcome the shock of this apparent suicide-by-monarch. Then, Sasha winked a devastating wink, releasing from the Prince the most unbridled and infectious laugh the court had ever heard! The room joined in with laughter, and the Prince ran to his new fiancée, hugging and kissing her with passion. The Queen, her murderous impulses temporarily squelched by her son’s radiant happiness, raised her glass and proclaimed, “To Sasha the Merry-Maker, Queen of musicians and future Queen of the land!” The celebration lasted days.
Not long after that, the Prince’s warning became reality. The Queen’s attitude towards Sasha turned sour, more than sour, she could barely conceal her loathing. The Prince, fearing action on the Queen’s part, came to her and begged her not do anything to hurt Sasha. That if anything happened to his fiancée, he would surely kill himself. The Queen, who loved nothing in the world so much as her son, reluctantly agreed to his terms. He made her swear an oath he had once encountered in a book.
“Fine, fine, I promise I won’t have the girl executed,” the Queen offhandedly vowed. “By the River Styx, I swear it.”
With the wedding date almost upon them, Sasha and the Prince relaxed into romantic bliss, but the Queen discovered a loophole in her promise, and summoned Sasha to the throne room. “The law clearly states that any person not of noble birth who wishes to marry a royal, must raise himself, or in this case herself, to the knighthood by completing three tasks of valor of the reigning monarch’s choosing.”
“That includes people forcibly brought to the castle and offered said marriage by that selfsame monarch?”
“If you would like to give up the engagement, I will allow it,” the Queen responded.
“What tasks would you have me complete, your Highness?”
“First, you must travel to the Mountain of the Purple Dragon. Within its caves you will find a magnificent diamond called the North Star. Bring it to me. Second, there lives in the Forest of El a flock of sparrows made of pure gold. Catch one.”
“But--” Sasha interrupted.
“But what, Sasha-the-Merry-Maker?”
“But…those things aren’t real.”
“At the age of 16, I saw both with my own eyes.”
In the Queen’s youth, the Purple Dragon terrorized the kingdom, destroying villages, ruining crops, and making off with livestock of all kinds. Knights could not slay it; traps could not snare it. To quell the dragon’s appetite, the people sacrificed one virgin after another to no avail. Eventually the King’s advisers divined that the dragon preferred noble blood to common, so the King volunteered his own daughter as a sacrifice. On the day of her 16th birthday, the Purple Dragon took the offered Princess just as it had the others, and this time it never came back. The country celebrated the departure of the dragon, and mourned the loss of its Princess, until years later when, after the King’s death, a company of royal guards found her living in the Forest of El, raising a small child. She claimed to neither know how she got there, nor to whom the baby belonged. Many speculated that the Purple Dragon had fallen in love with the Princess, fathered her child, and resolved to leave humans alone as long as his offspring lived. Of the many things that are well known throughout the land, the highest of these is that you may never bring up to the Queen what happened her 16th year. For her to reference it herself boded very ill for the listener, and though Sasha’s life was safe, her freedom certainly was not.
“As you wish, my Queen,” Sasha replied, her boldness effectively squelched.
“Third, a band of thieves hides in the woodlands near San Crosette. Their leader wears a talisman of mine, a red stone in a black setting above a white stone set in grey. It has a certain sentimental value and I wish to have it back. When you have done all this, you may marry my beloved son.”
All night long, the castle could hear the Prince and Queen fight.
Early the next day, equipped with a servant, two horses, maps, food, water, armor, and her trusty lute, Sasha set off to achieve her tasks of valor, well aware that the Queen intended only for her to die. She remained quiet for most of the first day, her mind heavy with this knowledge. After travelling some distance, her servant asked to rest. To her surprise, Sasha recognized her companion’s voice. The Prince had disguised himself in servant’s garb in order to aid her on her quest! No two happier companions had the world ever seen.
The Queen of the land, a ruthless ruler but fawning mother, had taken it upon herself to find her beloved son a wife. The Prince, a withdrawn boy, suffered from black moods, and the Queen thought perhaps a beautiful bride would cure his melancholia. But each woman that came his way, though more beautiful and more accomplished than the last, was dismissed from the court as soon as she’d come, each time the Prince declaring, “She cannot make me happy, dear mother. I fear that nothing can!”
After exhausting all of the noble ladies in the kingdom, the Queen, having heard of her great talent for merriment, had Sasha brought to the castle.
“Play at court the next three nights,” the Queen told her. “If you make him smile even once, the crown is yours. Fail and…well, please don’t fail. Guards, escort our guest to her room.” Dismayed at the situation, but confident in her abilities, Sasha prepared that night to play for the Prince, sure she would succeed. When the Prince arrived at court, Sasha played all the merriest songs she knew. The room came to life with dance and high spirits; a smile lit up everyone’s face…everyone except the Prince, that is, who observed the scene with the same polite detachment he exhibited always. His manner astounded Sasha. Never before had someone upon hearing her music failed to take pleasure in it. She stayed up the entire night in her locked bedchamber writing a mountain of new songs more jolly than any she’d written before. The second night at court, the crowd erupted with joy. Masters and servants drank and danced together the whole night through; friendships were made that would last a lifetime! But again the Prince sat in quietude on his throne observing the spectacle with a strange seriousness, though Sasha did see him tap his toe more than once.
That night, Sasha planned to sneak out of the castle. She’d played her absolute best stuff with no success and had to admit she was beat. But when she tried to leave, she found the door locked. She sat on her bed and wracked her brain for what to do. What did the Queen mean, please don’t fail? A feeling of foreboding took over, then, she heard a key clicking at her door. It opened, and there stood the Prince.
“You must leave here at once,” the Prince implored desperately.
“Before I’ve made you smile? I refuse. I saw you tap your toe!” Sasha accused proudly.
“Precisely, I don’t know if I will be able to feign indifference another night, and believe me, if you make me smile, it will be the worse for you.”
“Why?”
“My mother is of a jealous nature and possesses a liberal attitude towards capital punishment. Whenever I have shown interest in a girl before, she is happy for me at first, but soon finds fault with my choice and devises an excuse to have her beheaded. I don’t want the same fate to happen to you. Please, accept my help and escape now in the cover of night. A horse waits for you outside.” And the Prince left.
The next day, the Prince was horrified to find Sasha present at court! When the time came for her to play, the room turned quiet with anticipation. The Prince steeled himself, and Sasha began to sing…
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Let’s drink till our heads hit the ceiling.
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Drink to him, and he’ll be more appealing!
So what if his features make ladies all groan,
Who cares that his knuckles have fur.
It’s no matter his skin has that purplish tone,
Two more sips he’s a good-looking blur!
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Let’s drink till our hands lose all feeling.
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Drink to him, and he’ll be more appealing!
So what if his senses are dim as a cave,
Who cares that his mind’s not first rate.
It’s no matter his faculties all misbehave,
Two more sips and he wins each debate!
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Let’s drink till the walls all start reeling.
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Drink to him, and he’ll be more appealing!
As a singer I’ve travelled all over the county,
And I do not say this for a laugh.
I’d be tempted to give him a taste of my bounty,
But his face makes it too hard by half!
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Let’s drink till we all end up squealing.
Raise your glass to the Prince! Hey, here’s to the Prince!
Drink to him, and he’ll be more appealing!
Now, it was well known throughout the land that the Queen tenaciously protected the Prince from all criticism or injury. Everyone knew the story of the pet dog who bit the Prince as a child, and was beheaded for it. And then there was the story of the tutor who gave the Prince a bad grade on a test, and was beheaded for it. And then, of course, there was the story of the court jester who made a joke about the Prince, and was drawn and quartered for it. But Sasha had fallen in love with this lonely young man, and now, having decided not to run, she finished what she believed to be her last song.
Nobody in the room could move or breathe. They all turned to the Queen, who sat in baffled stoicism. Sasha calmly grinned at the Prince who stared back, his breath heavy with anxiety. No one present could overcome the shock of this apparent suicide-by-monarch. Then, Sasha winked a devastating wink, releasing from the Prince the most unbridled and infectious laugh the court had ever heard! The room joined in with laughter, and the Prince ran to his new fiancée, hugging and kissing her with passion. The Queen, her murderous impulses temporarily squelched by her son’s radiant happiness, raised her glass and proclaimed, “To Sasha the Merry-Maker, Queen of musicians and future Queen of the land!” The celebration lasted days.
Not long after that, the Prince’s warning became reality. The Queen’s attitude towards Sasha turned sour, more than sour, she could barely conceal her loathing. The Prince, fearing action on the Queen’s part, came to her and begged her not do anything to hurt Sasha. That if anything happened to his fiancée, he would surely kill himself. The Queen, who loved nothing in the world so much as her son, reluctantly agreed to his terms. He made her swear an oath he had once encountered in a book.
“Fine, fine, I promise I won’t have the girl executed,” the Queen offhandedly vowed. “By the River Styx, I swear it.”
With the wedding date almost upon them, Sasha and the Prince relaxed into romantic bliss, but the Queen discovered a loophole in her promise, and summoned Sasha to the throne room. “The law clearly states that any person not of noble birth who wishes to marry a royal, must raise himself, or in this case herself, to the knighthood by completing three tasks of valor of the reigning monarch’s choosing.”
“That includes people forcibly brought to the castle and offered said marriage by that selfsame monarch?”
“If you would like to give up the engagement, I will allow it,” the Queen responded.
“What tasks would you have me complete, your Highness?”
“First, you must travel to the Mountain of the Purple Dragon. Within its caves you will find a magnificent diamond called the North Star. Bring it to me. Second, there lives in the Forest of El a flock of sparrows made of pure gold. Catch one.”
“But--” Sasha interrupted.
“But what, Sasha-the-Merry-Maker?”
“But…those things aren’t real.”
“At the age of 16, I saw both with my own eyes.”
In the Queen’s youth, the Purple Dragon terrorized the kingdom, destroying villages, ruining crops, and making off with livestock of all kinds. Knights could not slay it; traps could not snare it. To quell the dragon’s appetite, the people sacrificed one virgin after another to no avail. Eventually the King’s advisers divined that the dragon preferred noble blood to common, so the King volunteered his own daughter as a sacrifice. On the day of her 16th birthday, the Purple Dragon took the offered Princess just as it had the others, and this time it never came back. The country celebrated the departure of the dragon, and mourned the loss of its Princess, until years later when, after the King’s death, a company of royal guards found her living in the Forest of El, raising a small child. She claimed to neither know how she got there, nor to whom the baby belonged. Many speculated that the Purple Dragon had fallen in love with the Princess, fathered her child, and resolved to leave humans alone as long as his offspring lived. Of the many things that are well known throughout the land, the highest of these is that you may never bring up to the Queen what happened her 16th year. For her to reference it herself boded very ill for the listener, and though Sasha’s life was safe, her freedom certainly was not.
“As you wish, my Queen,” Sasha replied, her boldness effectively squelched.
“Third, a band of thieves hides in the woodlands near San Crosette. Their leader wears a talisman of mine, a red stone in a black setting above a white stone set in grey. It has a certain sentimental value and I wish to have it back. When you have done all this, you may marry my beloved son.”
All night long, the castle could hear the Prince and Queen fight.
Early the next day, equipped with a servant, two horses, maps, food, water, armor, and her trusty lute, Sasha set off to achieve her tasks of valor, well aware that the Queen intended only for her to die. She remained quiet for most of the first day, her mind heavy with this knowledge. After travelling some distance, her servant asked to rest. To her surprise, Sasha recognized her companion’s voice. The Prince had disguised himself in servant’s garb in order to aid her on her quest! No two happier companions had the world ever seen.