A Blackhill Tale

In the midst of entertaining guests at yet another his wife's painfully boring parties, Prince Volospin Aendyr sensed an uninvited presence enter the grand salon. The intruder was invisible, but a protective enchantment cast by the Master of Air Elementalism notified him of a disturbance in the air currents in the upper landing overlooking the gaggle of society matrons and paltry dilettantes.

Prince Volospin courteously excused himself from the fawning wife of a courtier who had incessantly regaled him with outrageous stories of her goiter and her unsuccessful magical cures (He must remember to punish her for her rudeness!), and strode out of the line of sight of intruder on the landing. With a few whispered words, he was standing right behind the invisible stalker.

At that distance, the air currents delineated a small huddled figure the size of a little child. Prince Volospin, his movements kept silent by another spell of elemental air, slowly approached, his outstretched arms ready to grab the intruder from behind.

"Thylera!" he called out.

A short scream from the girl was followed by a blast of lightning and thunder directed into the pretentious party crowd. Agonized cries of the matrons, like the squeal of pigs at an abattoir, emerged from below, as well as the strangely sweet aroma of burnt Alphatian spider-silk and roast pork.

Prince Volospin saw his five-year old daughter clearly then, her hand still wielding in her tiny hand the wand of lightning  that had fired that less than accidental bolt.

"You're supposed to be asleep!" scolded the doting father gently, picking her up and carrying her to her rooms, not once looking at the ruckus that erupted in the grand salon below.

"But Papa, I want to be at the party."

"When you're older, my little dust devil."

Thylera was on her bed now. She gave her father an adorable pout—one she knew he could not resist.

"Tell me a story when you put me to bed."

It was more of an order than a request.

Once upon a time, there was poor orphan girl who had little food, less money, and no magic. In the daytime, she would tend to cows and clean up their dung just to earn a few copper pennies. But at night, she would dream of attending the elegant and glamorous balls and banquets and parties at the royal palace, held by the Prince and his wife once a month on the night of the full moon.

One day, there was a fair in town and the cattle show was to be judged by the wife of the Prince. Now, the wife of the Prince was a beautiful and exquisite noblewoman named Lady Serena. She had lustrous hair as black as coal, and smooth skin as white as snow, and though she had seen many autumns in her life, with her magic, she appeared as if she had only seen so few springs.

As Lady Serena paraded through the town to judge the cattle in the show, a priceless silver ring had slipped from her delicate finger and fallen into a pile of cow dung.

"Oh, my ring! Who will get it for me?" Lady Serena cried, but the pretty ladies-in-waiting, primped and prinked, did not want to debase themselves with the deed; nor did the genteel gentlemen of the court, all arrayed and attired, want to dirty themselves with the dung.

The poor orphan girl saw the lady's predicament, and she quickly dove into the dung and dug out the ring. After wiping it with her tatters and rags, the girl returned it to the beautiful Lady Serena.

"I shall reward you, little cowgirl," said Lady Serena. "Tomorrow night will be the night of the full moon. There shall be a ball at the palace and you shall be my guest."

"Oh, milady, I am overjoyed! But how can I go when I am dressed in rags and tatters and I smell of cow dung?"

"My magic shall take care of that, my dear. Now go home and prepare for tonight."

When the poor orphan girl reached her humble cottage, there was a messenger from the palace waiting for her, who had brought with him an exquisite full-length silver looking glass.

"Oh, what a splendid mirror! A treasure as magnificent as this would be surely magical."

"Indeed, it is!" explained the messenger. "Lady Serena would like to lend it to you for the ball. With its magic, you can appear to be the maiden you have always dreamed to be."

The messenger gave her Lady Serena's instructions on how to use the mirror. As the full moon began to rise, the girl stood in front of the enchanted looking glass, and pictured herself to be the fairest maiden in all of the land, dressed in a brilliant ball gown, with gloves, a bracelet, earrings and a necklace, a tiara, and the finest dancing slippers. And the magic of mirror transformed her into the beauty she had always dreamed to be.

Joyously, she headed to the palace, and the ball was a fantasy come true. Of all the pretty ladies and all the handsome gentlemen, the poor orphan girl was the fairest of them all, and she was treated like a queen. She was introduced to a count and a duchess, and even had a dance with the Prince!

At the end of the ball, Lady Serena addressed her special guest. "I see you have used my mirror well. Tomorrow night, I will have a royal banquet and you shall be my guest once more."

The poor orphan girl returned home in a state of heavenly bliss. When dawn came, her clothes had returned to tatters and rags and she once more reeked of cow dung, but she had already slipped into a deep sleep where she was dreaming of her night at the ball.

It was evening when the poor orphan girl awoke, and she knew she had to get ready for the royal banquet immediately. As the full moon rose again, she stood before the magic mirror, and dreamed she was the fairest maiden of all the land, decked and decorated in a dress befitting a queen, with gemstones and jewelry adorning her all around. Once again, the looking glass worked its wondrous sorcery so that the poor orphan cowgirl became the dream maiden she had longed to be.

Off she went merrily to the royal banquet, where she sat beside the Prince and his wife, where she ate the finest of foods and most delicious of desserts. She met a viscountess and the wife of a Prince of another land, and she was treated with such dignity and honor that was never ascribed a poor cowgirl.

And the end of the banquet, Lady Serena addressed her special guest. "I see you have used my mirror well. Tomorrow night, I will have a masquerade party and you shall be my guest once more."

So excited was the poor orphan girl that she danced and pranced all the way home, until it was already dawn and her expensive garments had reverted to the rags and tatters that smelled of cow dung. When she returned to her humble cottage, she immediately fell asleep and began dreaming of the royal banquet she had just attended.

The moon had already risen when the poor orphan girl awoke with a start. Its full silver orb illuminated her small cottage, and much to her horror, Lady Serena's mirror was gone! She panicked and searched through the few things in her house. In a frenzy, she ran around her cottage, hoping to find the mirror or perhaps a clue as to who took it, but even beneath the light of the brilliant full moon, she could not find anything.

The poor orphan girl began to feel sick and weak. She felt drained of all energy and strength, and felt hungry and parched all at the same time. Perhaps it was the fear and the worry of losing her patroness' magical treasure. Perhaps it was the realization that her dreams of beauty could never come true again, not even for one last night.

The poor orphan girl headed to a trough of water where the cows and cattle would feed. As she tried to quench her thirst, she saw her reflection in the shiny moonlit water: she was ugly and wretched and twisted, covered with blemishes and pockmarks, uglier than she had ever been as a poor orphan cow girl in tatters and rags and smelling of cow dung.

That night at the palace, while all the aristocrats and nobles came disguised and masked, Lady Serena appeared to them in the best costume of all. She had worn no mask, for her face revealed a fascinating otherworldly beauty. Her lustrous hair usually black as coal was as deep as the darkest of winter nights. Her smooth skin usually white as snow was as radiant as the full silver moon. Without a doubt, Lady Serena was the fairest of them all.

And early the next morning, when Lady Serena looked at her magical silver mirror, she knew that it would be true until the next full moon.