Cinderella approached the knight who was standing by the gate of the large stone castle and said: "Um, excuse me, Mr. Knight. Is this the great wizard Ali Buda's castle?"
Without warning, the knight started trembling all over and muttered some indistinguishable words.
"OMG, why are you shivering, Mr. Knight? Are you cold or something?" enquired the bewildered Cinderella.
"Are....are you the..... the wicked witch that......that casted her spell on.....on this castle?" stuttered the knight, trembling with fear as his teeth chattered.
"What wicked witch? What spell?" queried Cinderella, who was beginning to lose her patience. "Seriously, stop talking nonsense, ok? We're just normal people following the Golden Brick Road to see the wizard Ali Buda, who was said to be living in a castle. Then, we came across this castle and was wondering whether this is it. That's all!"
Only after hearing Cinderella's reassuring words did the knight slowly stop trembling and gradually was able to speak up.
"I....I'm so sorry for angering you, miss," apologised the knight. "I am too cowardly that I am always afraid of strangers. Nay, this ain't the wizard's castle, but I guess I'm in luck today, as I'd like to see the wizard myself."
"What do you want to see the wizard for?" questioned the simple-minded scarecrow.
"Well, obviously to give me some courage since I'm so cowardly," replied the knight.
"And what do you want courage for?" persisted the scarecrow.
"I need courage to defeat the wicked witch who is guarding the door to the princess' bedchamber so I can release the beautiful princess from her evil curse," whispered the knight, in fear of letting the witch overhear him.
"What's wrong with the princess?" asked Cinderella. "Why does she need someone to save her? Can't she just save herself?"
"Well, nay, see, that's the problem," elucidated the knight. "When the pretty princess was still a baby, a wicked witch was so jealous of her beauty that she cursed her. The spell made sure that on the princess' sixteenth year, she would prick herself with a spindle and die. It turned out that the wicked witch's curse half came true after the princess pricked herself, but thanks to the princess' fairy godmother, who softened the curse, the princess only lay down asleep along with the rest of the kingdom until she receives a true love's kiss. My love for the beautiful princess urges me to dash in and save her this very instant, but my lack of courage has prevented me from doing so for 10 years."
"Oh, wow, what a romantic story!" exclaimed Cinderella, remembering Prince Charming's picture in her bedroom, after the knight has explained the cause for his wish to see the Wizard.
"Wait, but if the spell had made the entire kingdom fall asleep, why didn't you fall asleep?" enquired the inquisitive scarecrow.
"That's because I was taking a nap when the princess pricked her finger," explained the knight, scratching his head shyly. "So it turned out that because I was already asleep, I seemed to have somehow become immune to the spell."
"OMG! It's as if destiny has arranged such that only you can be the sleepy princess' saviour!" said Cinderella dreamily.
"Welcome to our group then, Mr. Knight," said the scarecrow as he shook the knight's hand.
~To be Continued~
No comments:
Post a Comment