The Dungeon of the Potato WItch
Note: This entry should be read after the one directly below.
The various members of royalty, and the carriage driver, looked at each other with expressions of indecision. King Brage thought, being a king instead of merely a prince or princess, he should take the lead. He had no idea what to do, of course, but that had never bothered him before. He had taken courses on faking confidence in king school, and had gotten his highest marks there.
"I think we should head down this hallway," he declared. "We should find the good guard, and then return here with him."
Everyone nodded. It was a good plan. He began to lead the way, pausing when they reached the end of the hall. Another ran perpendicular to it. Both directions looked identical.
"My brother is here," Rover announced while they pondered which direction to go.
"How do you know?" King Brage asked.
"His presence always gives me a headache," the prince replied. "It's worse on the left side."
"Then we go left," Princess Maine decided. "Rufus is allied with the witch, so she's probably that way also."
King Brage didn't like someone else taking the decision making away from him, but he remembered the princess as something of a difficult woman, so he did not argue. The followed the hallway to the left. More decisions about direction had to be made, and they continued following Rover's headache. Eventually they stopped at a wooden door.
"Rufus is definitely in there," Rover declared.
"But is Gus in there also?" the king asked.
"No," said a raspy voice behind the group. "Gus is in the dungeon. I'm going to kill him later. Nice of you all to stop by, so you can die with him."
They turned, and saw several guards surrounding a frightening woman. She was the color of a red potato skin, and instead of two eyes on her head she had several, scattered somewhat randomly around her body. Despite her strangeness, no one stared at her very long, as they were all busy being detained by the guards. Before any of them could think of a response, they found themselves locked in the dungeon. Princess Maine was quick to discover that they were locked in the same cell with Gus.
"Gus!" she squealed and threw her arms around him. "I'm so glad we found you!"
Gus looked less than pleased. He looked positively depressed. Which did not surprise King Brage, considering they were all going to die. He was a bit depressed about that himself.
The one person who did not seem unhappy was the thief. He grinned at Gus, and pulled the orange marker out of his bag.
"Would you like to do the honors?" he asked the guard.
Gus smiled back. "Of course," he said. He took the marker and unexpectedly drew a large circle on the floor. "I've been hearing some interesting noises down there," he said, smiling at Daphne.
He pulled open the trapdoor he had created, and they all peered down into the room below. A loud meow echeod up to them.
"Orville?" Daphne asked. "How did he get down there?"
"Doesn't much matter, does it?" Louie asked. "The real question is, will he help us get out?"
Daphne jumped lightly down and landed on the large animal's back. She whispered in his ear for a while. Eventually she called back up to the others.
"He'll carry us all, but only to the edge of the lake. But he can't go quickly, all together we'll be too heavy for that."
They all lowered themselves down one by one, and climbed up on the cat's back. Slowly Orville took them through underground tunnels, eventually coming out into the night. They all climbed down with relief, and searched for a camping spot out of sight of the castle.
Once they had settled down around a campfire, Prince Vermont turned to Gus. "Why does this witch want to kill us?" he asked.
"I don't know about the rest of you," Gus said honestly, "but she's after me because I'm a potato prince."
Vermont's eyes lit up. "A potato prince! Astounding! But you know you can't ever rule."
"Not if the witch kills me."
"No, not at all. There's no such thing as a potato king. There can only be a queen. Which will be convenient for my sister, should your relationship work out."
Gus blushed. "Well, that is convenient," he said. "I never went to king school, so I doubt I'd be any good at it."
"Then you do intend to marry my sister?"
"Um..."
"Of course he does, don't you Gus?" Maine asked.
"Sure, if you want to be a potato queen."
"I'd like nothing more."
King Brage sighed. "Now I'm short a guard and a princess," he muttered. "All I need now is for my long lost brother to show up and claim the throne.
Will the group escape the potato witch? Will the king's long lost brother be found? Will they ever find their way home? Find out on Halloween night! I know I promised tonight, but Halloween is so much cooler. And we're almost there.
The various members of royalty, and the carriage driver, looked at each other with expressions of indecision. King Brage thought, being a king instead of merely a prince or princess, he should take the lead. He had no idea what to do, of course, but that had never bothered him before. He had taken courses on faking confidence in king school, and had gotten his highest marks there.
"I think we should head down this hallway," he declared. "We should find the good guard, and then return here with him."
Everyone nodded. It was a good plan. He began to lead the way, pausing when they reached the end of the hall. Another ran perpendicular to it. Both directions looked identical.
"My brother is here," Rover announced while they pondered which direction to go.
"How do you know?" King Brage asked.
"His presence always gives me a headache," the prince replied. "It's worse on the left side."
"Then we go left," Princess Maine decided. "Rufus is allied with the witch, so she's probably that way also."
King Brage didn't like someone else taking the decision making away from him, but he remembered the princess as something of a difficult woman, so he did not argue. The followed the hallway to the left. More decisions about direction had to be made, and they continued following Rover's headache. Eventually they stopped at a wooden door.
"Rufus is definitely in there," Rover declared.
"But is Gus in there also?" the king asked.
"No," said a raspy voice behind the group. "Gus is in the dungeon. I'm going to kill him later. Nice of you all to stop by, so you can die with him."
They turned, and saw several guards surrounding a frightening woman. She was the color of a red potato skin, and instead of two eyes on her head she had several, scattered somewhat randomly around her body. Despite her strangeness, no one stared at her very long, as they were all busy being detained by the guards. Before any of them could think of a response, they found themselves locked in the dungeon. Princess Maine was quick to discover that they were locked in the same cell with Gus.
"Gus!" she squealed and threw her arms around him. "I'm so glad we found you!"
Gus looked less than pleased. He looked positively depressed. Which did not surprise King Brage, considering they were all going to die. He was a bit depressed about that himself.
The one person who did not seem unhappy was the thief. He grinned at Gus, and pulled the orange marker out of his bag.
"Would you like to do the honors?" he asked the guard.
Gus smiled back. "Of course," he said. He took the marker and unexpectedly drew a large circle on the floor. "I've been hearing some interesting noises down there," he said, smiling at Daphne.
He pulled open the trapdoor he had created, and they all peered down into the room below. A loud meow echeod up to them.
"Orville?" Daphne asked. "How did he get down there?"
"Doesn't much matter, does it?" Louie asked. "The real question is, will he help us get out?"
Daphne jumped lightly down and landed on the large animal's back. She whispered in his ear for a while. Eventually she called back up to the others.
"He'll carry us all, but only to the edge of the lake. But he can't go quickly, all together we'll be too heavy for that."
They all lowered themselves down one by one, and climbed up on the cat's back. Slowly Orville took them through underground tunnels, eventually coming out into the night. They all climbed down with relief, and searched for a camping spot out of sight of the castle.
Once they had settled down around a campfire, Prince Vermont turned to Gus. "Why does this witch want to kill us?" he asked.
"I don't know about the rest of you," Gus said honestly, "but she's after me because I'm a potato prince."
Vermont's eyes lit up. "A potato prince! Astounding! But you know you can't ever rule."
"Not if the witch kills me."
"No, not at all. There's no such thing as a potato king. There can only be a queen. Which will be convenient for my sister, should your relationship work out."
Gus blushed. "Well, that is convenient," he said. "I never went to king school, so I doubt I'd be any good at it."
"Then you do intend to marry my sister?"
"Um..."
"Of course he does, don't you Gus?" Maine asked.
"Sure, if you want to be a potato queen."
"I'd like nothing more."
King Brage sighed. "Now I'm short a guard and a princess," he muttered. "All I need now is for my long lost brother to show up and claim the throne.
Will the group escape the potato witch? Will the king's long lost brother be found? Will they ever find their way home? Find out on Halloween night! I know I promised tonight, but Halloween is so much cooler. And we're almost there.