\u2018You called, Your Highness?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I called for my knave, not my fool. I should have thought you would have learned the difference by now.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018My most humble apologies, Lady Ririka. It\u2019s just that you have referred to me by so many lovely names, I quite forget who I am supposed to be sometimes.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Well, let me remind you, Ao, my trash-gobbling boot-licking bug-fearing friend. You are a fool. But not just any fool: you are MY fool. Now, stop fooling around and fetch me my knave.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Yes, Your Haughtiness. At once.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Pah. With servants like these, no wonder the House of Rainsford has been brought to ruin. That I have lived to see our once venerable House reduced to employing imbeciles is an affront beyond bearing. Where did it all go wrong, I wonder? Hmm. There was that time I told the Dread Pirate Houshou that her face looked like dog vomit on a droughty midsummer\u2019s day. Surely she couldn\u2019t have taken offence at such an innocuous observation. No, my reputational decay must have had a different genesis. Could it have been that time I unleashed the Sinister Sheep of Watameland on the inhabitants of Shubatown? No. There were no survivors that day. Nobody could possibly know that I was responsible.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Responsible for what?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Knave! How dare you enter my presence unannounced!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I didn\u2019t think to make my presence known, as that is not my job.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Do not try me, knave. Where is my fool, by the way? Why has she not come back with you?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018She fell down a well.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Is she all right?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Define \u201call right\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Is she alive?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Define \u201calive\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Answer me straight, knave. I do not pay you to be clever.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Actually, you do.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Then I shall dock your pay unless you speak plainly.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Only if you double my pay will I speak plainly.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Think not to haggle with me, knave. You have no currency in this exchange.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018No? It seems to me the fate of the fool commands a hefty price as far as you are concerned. But I suppose your pride is more valuable yet. Poor fool. If only you knew what had become of her.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018All right, knave. Have it your way. I will raise your wages as you so unscrupulously demand. Now, tell me, what has become of Ao?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018She kissed her reflection in a mirror and turned into a frog. I carried her over to a well, and she hopped right in. She seemed quite happy, last I saw her. Like she finally found her place in the scheme of things.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Why did you tell me she \u201cfell\u201d into the well when the truth is she hopped into it?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I couldn\u2019t very well have you raise my wages if I told the truth, now could I?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Knave, you are a scoundrel and a cheat.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Actually, my name\u2019s Polka and I run a circus.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Unbelievable. Have I plumbed the full depths of your deception or is there more?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018There is one more thing you should know.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Yes?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018I survived Shubatown.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018\u2026I see.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018You watch yourself, Lady Ririka. You never know when the circus will come to town.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Well, Ririka, Looks like it\u2019s time for a change. Goodbye, House of Rainsford. Hello, town well full of frogs. I\u2019ll be moving in shortly.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n
[kofi]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018You called, Your Highness?\u2019 \u2018I called for my knave, not my fool. I should have thought you would have learned the difference by now.\u2019 \u2018My most humble apologies, Lady Ririka. It\u2019s just that you have referred to me by so many lovely names, I quite forget who I am supposed to be sometimes.\u2019 \u2018Well, let […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_wp_convertkit_post_meta":{"form":"-1","landing_page":"","tag":"0","restrict_content":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fanfiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leifmaplesson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leifmaplesson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leifmaplesson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leifmaplesson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leifmaplesson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=154"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/leifmaplesson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279,"href":"https:\/\/leifmaplesson.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/154\/revisions\/279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leifmaplesson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leifmaplesson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leifmaplesson.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}