"And now I'm sure you know where this is going," Lorkan said with a cheeky grin.Illa watched him with wide eyes and shook her head 'no'.
The grey male paused, "Oh? Then would it be wrong of me to assume that you've heard few of these sorts of tales in your life?"
"Few if any, if I'm to be honest," Ila conceded.
"Then you are in for quite the story indeed my dear lady. For you see, while the old woman was truly both old and frail as she appeared she was the daughter of a goddess and had inherited from her mother the power of prophecy. She knew the king of the tribe to which they were headed was deathly ill and terrified of death as his kingdom would be passed to his most irresponsible and cruel son. He need only speak the words to ensure his favorite student would take the crown instead but the sickness that troubled him so had stolen his voice from him. The cure was known but it required an herb which had to be added fresh and which no one had yet been able to return with before it wilted and died."
"Well then!" Ila smiled, proud that she had, for once, figured out the direction in which the story was headed. "His whole family has some freaky plant powers do they not? He'll have no trouble getting that plant for the sickly king!"
Lorkan offered her a smile, trying to hide his annoyance at her frequent interruptions. After all... who was telling this story, him or her? "She instructed the herbalist's son on where he could find the herb they needed and he set off. Indeed, as you predicted, he returned not a day later with the needed plant. Which, by the way, was in such good condition that they were able to plant it near the palace so they would never be short of this fine herb again."
"See!" Ila beamed. "Told ya so!"
"You did! You must not be such a stranger to these sorts of tales after all!"
"But I am! Really I am!"
"Within mere days the king was showing signs of recovering and his voice had returned full force. He announced that his prized student would take the crown and implored the herbalist's son to take half of his lands. The herbalist's son declined explaining the contest in which he was engaged and the princess whom he loved so dearly. The king, not content for him to simply leave granted him a traveling party of no fewer then twenty of his best hunters, scouts, and guards. The herbalist's son, ever grateful to the old woman for her help left one of the huntresses behind with her before leaving to attempt to catch up to and surpass the prince.
"Now, while the herbalist's son had been hunting for the old lady and fetching the herb for the king the prince had been making good time and had he not fallen afoul of several misfortunes he may have returned to the waiting princess long before the herbalist's son. As it stood though, his guard had had a bad run in with an aggressive hyena and they had been forced to leave him behind while he rested healed. The prince himself was inherently lazy and rarely lifted a paw to help with the hunting. His huntresses were growing tired and frustrated to have all the responsibility forced upon them when there are so few and the journey was so long. Soon, one had vanish without explanation and a second outright abandon him. The third was more loyal but was injured by her intended prey and fell ill. He left her with a friendly pride and now alone continued onward."
He stretched then looked over at the young lady he'd been speaking too. She'd been so quiet that he'd begun to wonder whether or not she'd fallen asleep. His fear was unwarranted though as he could clearly see her eyes glowing in the fast dimming light.
She yawned, then turned her head to rest it sideways on the branch, "So they've switched places then. Isn't that right?"
Lorkan nodded, "They certainly have. The crux will come when it comes time to see how they behave differently when their fortunes are reversed. Who do you think will return to the king first?"
She hesitated a moment, thinking it through, "Well, if things continue the way they've been going I see no reason why the Herbalist's son shouldn't reach the king first! I do hope he won't go back on his word!"
"He may yet," said the grey leopard with a wink. "See now that the prince had lost his entourage he was in quite dire straights. He had never before needed to hunt for himself and he was quite bad at it. Thus, he was weak and made such slow progress that the herbalist's son caught up with him before seven nights had passed. When the troupe came upon him, battered and ragged as he was, he stayed true to his royal blood and did not beg or attempt to impose himself upon them. The herbalist's son saw his bruised and battered coat and took pity upon him, inviting him to join them. The prince gratefully accepted and traveled along with them at the back of the procession. They continued this way for the remainder of the journey back to the homeland of the herbalist's son and the residence of the princess."
"Well that's awfully silly," Ila scoffed. "Why would he take his rival along with him? If he wanted to be kind all he would have had to do was to leave behind a few of his huntresses as he had with the old lady. They could have kept the prince from progressing at the same rate and made sure he had enough to eat!"
"Perhaps the kind herbalist didn't think of that... or he was too kind to leave his rival stranded."
Ila turned her nose to the sky, "I do suspect this will all end poorly."
1018 words ~ Continued in [SRP] The very best of endings (Lorkan'Tak & Ila'Vamala).
