The Youngest, Part Two

(Part One here.)

The queen mother was not satisfied with these odds, however. "Here," she said, "take this honest woodcutter's son with you, and treat him kindly. And if he should win the prize as his kind are wont to do, let him do so, and rejoice that you yet live and have the hope of another of the princesses." The young prince knew the wisdom of accepting his mother's gift and did so gladly.

The middle brother, more practical, offered the services of one of his most experienced soldiers, knowing that the old foot soldier is one of the most underrated players in this sort of game. As a bonus, he has a wide range of inherently useful skills - the martial sort not least among them. The only drawback was his tendency to speak only in inarticulate grunts, an unfortunate side effect of the severe warnings of the king's council that if he could think of nothing polite to say, he ought not to speak at all.

The adventurers set out at dawn. The prince rode his noble steed, a handsome stallion sired by the wind. His saddlebags were filled with fine food, precious stones, and fancy weapons. The woodcutter's son tagged along in his rags, a bundle thrown over his back and his clever fox by his side. It must be admitted that the bundle contained only a lump of moldy cheese and stale bread, and those would be eaten the first night and figure in to this story no more - but the boy kept the bundle for the show of things. The foot soldier trudged his way behind, guarding their rear with his faithful old hound. The contents of his battered knapsack remain to be seen. Far be it from the narrator to limit herself by expressly detailing all the luggage on this trip. The soldier was very well prepared; we might guess that travel food, water, blankets, rope, a medical kit, a selection of knives, a collapsible trebuchet, matches, kindling, seasonings, a wide array of cooking implements, rain gear, and possibly a spare horse would be contained therein. But shhh. We don't wish to spoil the surprise, and it's not as if it were a magic knapsack after all.


 After a little discussion, the trio decided to travel by way of the Fairy Forest. They knew this forest had a reputation most grim and dire, but mostly due to the fact that people get grumpy and disgruntled when they find themselves magically lost. The prince boldly declared, "We shall go forth into the forest, and we shall win such gifts as will aid us against the fell dragon!" The foot soldier grunted agreement. The woodcutter's son said, "Ooh, look, a pretty robin! Let's follow it!" The fox said, "Been there, done that. See you at the dragon's mountain," and headed off by way of the shortcut.


The woodcutter's son led the way, cheerfully leaving the fox in pursuit of the pretty robin. The prince and his stallion galloped behind, not a little grateful that extensive practice had allowed the stallion to learn to gallop in one place and thereby heroically charge forward without abandoning companions. The foot soldier trudged along behind, keeping pace and thinking resigned thoughts about runners wasting energy. The dog ran for the appearance of the thing until it saw an interesting frog in a nearby stream and decided to retrieve it for its master.