Once upon a time, there was a princess named Nokomis. Because she was a princess, she had a great deal of power. With this power, the princess decided to banish two people from her castle. Her choices were her brother, the prince who acted like the court jester, and another boy, named Drew. She didn’t want the boys to take over her kingdom, but all was not well in her kingdom. One of her “loyal” subjects, Diane, decided that one of the boys had to be saved and the princess-in-waiting, Karen, had to put up in her place.

Just outside the princess’ kingdom lived a mythical beast. This beast had the ability to make people speak the truth and was very wise. The beast knew who would be banished from the kingdom and had the ability to enforce the banishments. The beast also had the ability to go to surrounding kingdoms where the banished subjects were sent.

Back inside the kingdom, Diane has to pick her loyalties. Does she vote against the prince or against the princess-in-waiting? She is not sure but she is making the princess very nervous. If Diane votes against the prince and Drew votes against the princess-in-waiting, then the princess gets to decide who goes, and Diane is uncomfortable with that situation. So, in some ways, Diane has more power than the princess and Diane is allowing everyone to think she is on their sides.

The mythical beast, with her magical powers decides it is necessary to talk to Nokomis’ kingdom. Diane isn’t surprised that she has made it as far as she has. The princess-in-waiting doesn’t want to think of the vast riches that can be obtained because she is at risk of banishment. And the prince wants his little prince to follow his dreams.

The princess-in-waiting has been trying very hard to become the queen and ruler of the entire kingdom. She has done many things. She acted like a knave and stayed up late drinking the pixie drink of happiness. She talked about her many interests to try and relate to the rest of the kingdom. She shared her belongings and her skills in food preparation and cleaning. She is trying to be a humble royal so that the people she had a hand in banishing will still love her and allow her to become queen.

Meanwhile, the princess’ reign is coming to an end. The mythical beast, with her truth-telling potion, asks the princess what she thinks of the “loyal” subject, Diane. The princess was surprised and not surprised about what happened. Going back on the magical pinky-swear ceremony surprised the princess but saving the cute man wasn’t so surprising. The princess is only hoping that the princess-in-waiting is still safe because that means that she is safe. The princess also does not talk to her brother, the prince, so she isn’t expecting much from him to save her.

The mythical beast had enough talking to the princess and decided to see the banished kingdom. The scribe, Will, looks good in the new kingdom with his tanned skin, but his insides still hurt. He is happy that the twin witches did not win the kingdom. The witches feel genuinely friendly to the scribe, but he knows that witches are evil. It is obvious that the witches are evil with their supernatural ability to psychically know what each other is thinking and finish each other’s sentences. As the banished watch one of the witches’ incantations while still in the kingdom, the blacksmith, Marvin, walked in. The scribe feels relieved that he is not outnumbered by the witches now. The blacksmith with his uncouth practices orders the witches to get him a drink. The witches reply with a chant of their own. Double, double toil and trouble. . .

The mythical beast, unhappy to see the banished are enjoying banishment, decided that entering the kingdom again could be fun. She decided to let the people up for banishment could speak one last time. The princess-in-waiting wanted to let the subjects know that she was acting naturally and does not think she is better or worse than the prince. The prince let the subjects know that he made many friends in the kingdom and respects the kingdom. The beast, happy with the speeches, told the subjects it was time to choose who to banish. Both Drew and Diane chose to banish the princess-in-waiting.

The beast with her powers then banished the princess-in-waiting. Just as the gate to the kingdom door was slamming behind her, she yelled out to Diane that she did not remain loyal while Diane argued that she did. Diane is angry that the princess-in-waiting called her out and released some vulgar words from her mouth.

The mystical beast watched the princess-in-waiting enter her lair to get some more truth-telling spells used. The princess-in-waiting looks sad and like she is about the burst into tears and her voice suddenly became high-pitched. She felt that the “loyal” Diane was not so loyal and shouldn’t be trusted. Then the mystical beast gave the princess-in-waiting farewell letters. The princess told the princess-in-waiting that she was backstabbed. The prince told her that she would be greatly missed. Drew didn’t want to be the only male in the kingdom. Diane said that she was trying to be strategic and that if it were any other way, it would’ve been the princess and the princess-in-waiting in the end. The mystical beast, using her powers, asked the princess-in-waiting if this would have been true, and she had to reply, “Yes.”

The mystical beast with her controlling powers then decided it was time for a new ruler in the kingdom. She decided to let the subjects compete in an archery contest. If the subjects got a question right, they would get a point and who ever got the most points would win. “Loyal” Diane was not very smart but it was a close match between the prince and Drew. In the end, Drew won the whole contest and for his reward he gets to choose who will be banished next. He is guaranteed to be one of the final three subjects and in a twist can become ruler again, if he wins.

Finally, the mythical beast informed Drew that the decision of banishment will be on the seventh day of the week and the actual banishment (and possible saving) will be on the third day of the next week. The mythical beast, happy with her meddling, lived happily ever after.

Three is the perfect number.