Death by Riddle

    There once was a prince who was very fond of riddles. He could solve them night and day, and always looked for more. When the prince came of age, instead of having his parents arrange a marriage for him, he decided to hold a contest. Every young lady of age in his future kingdom could try their luck to stump him with a riddle for 24 hours. If they could then they would become the princess, and one day the queen.

As the day of the contest neared, one could see every manner of tents set up in the fields around the castle. The lodges in the nearby villages were also making a good profit. With each passing day the number of people grew until finally, the day of the riddle contest arrived. Every manor of lady showed up, from court ladies, to farm girls, to merchant’s daughters.

    The first girl to step up to the prince was a tailor’s daughter, and shook so hard that her teeth chattered as she squeaked out her question. “What has two legs, but can’t walk?”

    The prince’s reply came not even a minute after, “Why trousers, of course.”

    The next girl to come up was a farmer’s daughter, and was more confident than the last, but still quite scared.

    “What has to be broken before you can use it?”

    The prince’s reply came five minutes later, “An egg! The answer is an egg.”

     The third girl to give the prince her riddle was the court musician’s daughter. “What has many keys, but can’t open a single door?”

        It took the prince ten minutes to figure her riddle out, but solve it he did, “Oh a piano has keys, yes it does.”

        So it went on, the prince being able to answer riddle after riddle, all within the amount of an hour.

        That is, until the day was about to come to a close and a dirty girl stepped into the space before the throne, trailing muddy footprint behind her. This is because she wore no shoes, and had only threadbare dress to keep her covered; behind her, a sour faced court lady glared in disgust.

        In a clear voice the girl stated her riddle, “With no wings, I fly. With no eyes, I see. With no arms, I climb. I am more frightening than any beast, and stronger than any foe. I am cunning, ruthless, and tall; in the end, I rule all. What am I?”

        After the last word left her lips a faint smile appeared. That was because the prince had a stumped look upon his face; his eyes glazed over and introspect. If one looked closely they could see him silently mouth the words of the riddle. The prince stayed in this state for over an hour, and finally his steward came towards the girl, what looked as if she was about to fall asleep on her feet.

        He dismissed the rest of the ladies and girls who had wished to try their luck at the riddle contest, and led the dirty girl away. “Miss, where are your parents so that I may inform them that you will be staying in the palace?”

        With a sleepy chuckle the girl shook her head, “I have no parents.”

        The steward sighed and exited the throne room. Neither of them noticed the death glares being sent their way by the court lady.

        Soon the orphan girl was being pampered by the ladies in waiting assigned to her by the steward. As they lead her into the bathroom the girl looked around in amazement; never had she seen so many fine things or a bathtub large enough to fit so many bodies in. The ladies in waiting bathed the girl until there was not a speck of grim on her, and cloaked her in sweet scents and lotions. Finally they fitted her into a pure white nightgown. The girl fingered the lace around the collar as they lead her into the bedchambers.

        Dreams soon overtook the orphan girl, as she slept soundly for what seemed like the first time in her life, or so she thought. At the stroke of midnight, the sour court lady snuck into her rooms, intent on killing the girl for taking her place in the contest. A lady was supposed to be the one who stood by the prince’s side, or at least that’s what she thought. Even though the lady had many luxuries as a member of the court, she was greedy and could never have enough, always coveting the royal jewels. So, to secure her spot at the prince’s side the court lady got rid of anything that got in her way, including people. So as the new day began to dawn she tipped a pitch black liquid down the orphan girl’s throat.

        Later that morning, when the prince burst into the girl’s room hoping that she would grant him more time, but instead of being greeted by a well-rested girl he found a corpse.

~~~~~~

        Unable to solve the riddle the prince slowly descended into madness. This left the royal blood line without an heir, for the queen was no longer able to have children and the king had died in battle. Without a male monarch, for women were not allowed to rule, the whole economic system collapsed. The court became corrupted, taking everything from the villages and towns all while jacking up the prices for food. That combined with an early frost and a summer drought brought starvation upon the people.

      Seeing the opportunity, neighboring rulers pushed on the borders of the collapsed kingdom. A peasant army tried to fight back, but when it comes down to people with guns vs people without guns, the armed people win. So the rulers just took the villages and farms as they pushed farther into the kingdom. Eventually they reached the palace and it’s surrounding villages. The walls were torn down, and the royal guards were nothing against many armies. These armies slaughtered villagers and court members alike, including the sour faced court lady. The same lady who, many years before, had started the kingdom’s collapse by killing the orphan girl.