| The
Story So Far:
In the darkness you perceive two men walking together, swords clanking against their legs. One of them (men, not legs) is pushing a wheelbarrow. "King Richard! Sir Irving!" you say. "How are you doing?" "I'm sorry," says King Richard, squinting in the gloom. "Do we know you?" "Of course we do," says Sir Irving the Explainer. "It's that knight who was on a quest to get a magic stone to save his kingdom, and was on a journey to a castle where he is to battle the dragon guarding the stone." "That's it in a nutshell," you say. "When last we spoke," Sir Irving continues, "you had just emerged from the Forest of Death and Blueberries. I would gather now that your adventures have become far more interesting -- perhaps a run-in with thieves, and then there are the perils of inadequate road construction which may have taken the life of a traveling companion." "I'm not so sure his life was taken," you reply. "It was kind of an iffy thing." King Richard holds up a pocket mini-torch to inspect you. "That's a nice cloak. Green, isn't it?" "On one side," you reply. "Have you found any more to King Henry?" "Why, yes. Another leg." He pats the wheelbarrow. "This is now King Henry the Fourth." "You're traveling on the same road we are," Sir Irving says. "The road to Saint Ives. As you probably know, you can't go anywhere in these parts without answering a riddle, and of course, the most common riddle is -- " Richard tugs on his sleeve. "Henry is signalling that he wants to make a rest stop." "Why?" "Do you have to ask?" "Considering his current state, yes." "Point taken. But let's oblige the old bean, shall we? He's had a rough, rough week, wouldn't you say?" They pull into the rest stop, while you sojourn on alone. |