Once there was a lovely
. She shared her castle with an
who spent most of his time
and cursing at his subjects and tormenting his wife. When she asked for a new pair of slippers he said "
!", but when he, himself, needed something the
said "
, of course!" He also forced her to spend her days outside, tending his poisonous
and caring for his 100
. Not only did they all smell terribly bad, but the
had a terrible reaction to
, as it always made her naturally
shade
, making her look more like a
than a
. The
and
around the forest took pity on her, shading her with a large
. They were very
of the
.
The kingdom, too, was confused by this
behavior and their support of the
dwindled. Often when they presented their complaints to him he simply
and told them "Better luck next time!" When they petitioned him, he gave a bored
. Even
, the
's son, disliked him, which was hard because he was a bit
and more like an
than anything else.
One day, the court
became aware of a foul plot. The locals had overheard many
goings on and were quite
. Trusting the
, they told him about it. He quickly began
the local papers and listening to gossip, even going as far as to contact
. It seemed that the
had allied himself with the
and was planning on kidnapping and
the
. The
were
and
, much like the
, but it grieved the people that their kingdom might be have gone to the
, so they demanded action.
The
knew there was only one person he could trust: The
. Quickly, he made haste to the castle and gave her his petition. "
," she said. "I just can't. He is
and he complains constantly. Plus, he's always on a
, muttering nonsense. Every time I see him I,
. I would
if he was gone!"
Weeks passed and the day came. The
stood by helplessly as the plan unfolded before him. The
, safely shielded by her
, watched
and the
s storm the castle. She thought she would be
, but she was not. She was
.
her eyes and sighing, she acknowledged that even though he was
, he did have good qualities. He had been a good
once. Even if he was just a big
at heart, she liked him that way. Gathering her resolve, as well as her friends, the
and
, she ran in after
. A mighty
begun.
were biting
.
were clawing
as the brave
sword
back and forth. Even the
and the
helped, as did the
s many
, who were quite fond of their caretaker
and felt bad that they didn't smell very good.
After
into the night,
stood facing the
. "You don't like him, your highness!" He shouted. "Why not just give him to me and we can all be
?" He was so frusterated he
his head upon the wall.
The queen signed. "Even though he is sometimes
, I love my husband. Please don't take him. Our kingdom, such as it is, would be lost without him."
"Alright,"
conceded. "But you must rule. From now on, he should
. He causes too much animosity on his bad days and is not fit for rule of this fine kingdom."
When
left, the
tended to her
and
husband. "I'm such a failure," he said,
his head against the wall.
"
," she ordered. Your behavior is
. She turned her
for emphasis. After calling in the castle
to tend to him, she sat down for a cup of tea.
"You're a wonderful wife," the
said,
ing her. He was
for treating her the way he had and brought her ten new pairs of shoes and some non-poisonous
to prove it. From that day forward he never
on the job. He was never
, and he
her each night before he went to
. The kingdom was saved and the royal pair lived, in
, happily ever after.