• “Alright, alright stop pestering me, I will tell you the story!” Nerissa exclaimed. She sighed. She was growing tired of Portia’s children always asking to hear the wonderful (and maybe slightly exaggerated) tale of how she saved their mother from an evil prince with a deceitful nature. It’s odd how children can hear a story one hundred times but still want to hear it told again and again. And in the garden, on a mid-day walk of all places and times! The children cheered and gathered around Nerissa as she sat in her chair. She cleared her throat and entered her dramatic storytelling voice:
    “It was a long time ago, so long ago that your mother only knew your father as a young man from Venice.” The children cheered at the familiar opening. Nerissa paused and smiled for a second, but then continued.
    “Your mother was unable to choose who to marry. You see, your late grandfather’s dying wish had been for her to make any suitor choose from one of three caskets of gold, silver, and lead. Your mother was not allowed to either accept or reject a potential husband. If he chose correctly, he would marry her. If not, they were never to see her again.
    “Many men rose to the challenge. So far, all of them had failed. That was, until Santiago Ortego, the Prince of Andorra, had arrived. My first impression of him was that he looked to be a twisted, clever, and spiteful man. His hair was black (though I suspected it wasn’t natural). He arrived donned in black and red, with cape and scarves and all the cloth he could fit onto his frame. He was a very intelligent fellow, and may have been able to choose the correct casket. Unfortunately, this man wanted to be positive.
    “You see, back in Andorra, Santiago had hired two men for over seven thousand Euros each. Each individual came to Belmont, and tried his hardest to guess wrong. Luckily for Santiago, they did. The ‘prince’ of Morocco guessed gold, and the one from Arragon guessed silver. Santiago now knew that Portia’s heart was encased in lead.
    “However, I knew something was going on. I became suspicious as I noticed that both ‘princes’ were in Ortego’s train. I suppose he did it as some sort of ironic joke. Portia…um… Your mother had never bothered with the people in the train. She just waited for the suitor to guess.
    “I watched him all through supper. His eyes were those of a guilty man. He hardly touched his food. I called the servant over to get me more water. Before he left, I secretly beseeched him to see if the Prince did anything incriminating.
    “What’s incriminating mean?” The youngest child, Stephano, asked right on cue.
    “It means something that will give him away as a bad guy,” the know-it-all, Alisa answered.
    Nerissa smiled in spite of herself. She wished every moment could be like this, so peaceful, so familiar. It warmed her. She sighed and continued:
    “I waited at least twenty minutes. The servant, Enrico, did not come back over. I excused myself and went into the kitchen. The servant was in there, waiting for someone to finish his or her wine so he could come out with the bottle. I asked him what he was doing, and he said he was fetching wine. Enrico was a coward, but not a fool. I asked him if he had seen anything, and he told me he hadn’t. My suspicions did not wade, though.
    “It turns out I was right to worry. The Prince practically led the way to the temple where the caskets lay. He did not even wait for milady to give her speech before he stated ‘lead’ and opened the casket. His eyes lit up when he found your mother’s picture in there, but it wasn’t with happiness. It was with greed.
    “I panicked. I couldn’t let your mother marry him; he was vile. I couldn’t just accuse him, though; I needed proof. I turned back to Enrico. I needed him to stall the wedding. I wished him luck. He would need it.
    “In the absence of your late Grandfather, Enrico helped your mother down the aisle. I had to give him credit, he tried to go as slow as he could, but your mother was getting anxious. She just wanted the whole thing to be over with. So did the Prince. The sooner the wedding, the sooner he would receive the money, he figured. While Enrico stalled, I set off to work.
    “How could he have known which casket it was so certainly? The obvious answer would be to have a shill. Probably even two. The princes of Morocco and Arragon were the two preceding contenders. Perhaps it could have been them. The more I thought about it, the more it seemed to be the only answer. Unfortunately, I still needed proof. There wasn’t much I could do sitting in a pew in the chapel, so I was limited to thought. As the Preacher began his speech, I continued my analysis. The ‘princes’ were both in Andorra’s train. That meant they were working for him anyway. Still, it was hard to trust that the Preacher would believe me. When he asked if there were any objections, half of the attendees stood, including me. No surprise. The Prince was an easy man to dislike. One glare from Ortego shut them up, but I remained standing
    “’Very well, if there are no objections…’ I cleared my throat loudly. The Preacher ignored me still. I cleared my throat even louder and with more intent.
    “’Yes?’ the Preacher reluctantly asked.
    “I presented my evidence to great effect. It wasn’t very strong, but it was enough to stop the wedding that day. The Prince of Andorra was furious at me. As I’m sure you’ve gathered, it was his plan to marry your mother and inherit her fortune, among other things. The Prince was so angry, in fact, that he swore that he would one day get revenge on me…”
    Nerissa stopped short. She fell to the ground, unconscious. The children screamed chaotically. Portia heard the screaming and arrived at the scene, asking what all the ruckus was about.
    Her questions were answered when she saw the dart sticking out of her old friend’s neck. Portia knew that help would be ineffective. In not hurrying, Portia had arrived at the point when the poison had already reached Nerissa’s heart. She picked up a note attached to the dart:
    “I told you so.” That was all that the note said. Portia knew where it was from. She rushed her children inside the house. Before doing anything else, she did a quick head count. One, two, three… wait. Where was Stephano?
    Little did she know, Stephano was in the woods, and he wasn’t breathing.