Twenty Won

Words: 868

In a big chamber right at the center of the palace, twelve fairy queens were gathered. They were dressed in their frilliest, fanciest, most festive outfits and their wings gleamed golden and their tiaras gleamed sliver. The very light in the chamber shimmered in anticipation.

It was the day of the Swayamwara of the twenty-one eldest princesses of the fairy kingdom, the daughters of these twelve queens.

The Swayamwara was the most important thing in the life of a fairy. She would, on this day, choose the wizard she wanted to marry. By law, nobody was allowed to interfere or try to influence her decision. The only thing allowed was advice, if she sought it. The choice had to be hers, and hers alone.

From far and wide the wizards gathered, for the fairy kingdom was a powerful one. Being allied to the fairy king was something to be aspired to. Every unmarried wizard who could be there was there. There were young wizards and old ones, handsome ones and ones whose looks did them no credit. They were tall, short, thin, fat ... they were all there.

They gathered in the huge clearing that had been created adjoining the palace. Some talked, some sang, some showed off their tricks. Others stood or sat in silence, observing their fellows or lost in their own thoughts.

In a high tower, also dressed in their best, twenty-one fairy princesses peered through the windows. They could observe without being observed. They could watch as the wizards waited for the competitions to start. They could decide, each one, which wizard's fortunes she would follow most closely as the day progressed, which one she might ultimately choose to be wedded to.

The competitions were designed to test each wizard mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. There were simple tasks and tricky ones, arduous ones and quick ones, ones that involved strategy and ones that pitted sheer muscular force against sheer muscular force.

As various competitors failed, they were eliminated and left. These would never marry, as per the conditions of the event. The fairy princesses watched, some delighting in the victory of a particular favourite others disappointed in the elimination of a hope-worthy candidate.

At 7 PM, the Chief of the Fairy Army announced that the best forty-two aspiring grooms had been identified.

The fairy queens moved out of the center chamber to the clearing, flying just under the tree-tops. The wizards on the ground raised their eyes, and then bowed low.

The king took his place atop the highest tree.

And then a hush fell.

The twenty-one princesses entered. They flew in daintily, at the eye-level of the waiting wizards who gasped at their beauty. Each fairy princess carried a garland made of flowers and magic beads. It was with this garland that she would indicate her choice.

The forty-two wizards stood to attention as the fairy princesses hovered, looking into each face and then moving on. For the first forty-two minutes, there was suspense.

Then, the youngest fairy princess made her choice. Her choice was the Wizard of Kamalapura, who had won the spell-brewing competition earlier in the day. Cheers went up as she garlanded him. Her mother began to cry with joy.

One by one, the princesses chose. As each garland found its recipient, the cheers went up.

Till twenty princesses had chosen, and only the twenty-first was left.

Twenty-two wizards waited.

Twenty-one of them were going to have to leave.

Only one could be chosen.

Twenty-two heartbeats could be discerned, quickening.

The princess, with her garland, hovered at the center of the circle the twenty-one aspirants formed.

Then, she flew to each one in turn. She looked deep in to each's eyes. She spoke to a few of them. Then she flew back to the center of the circle, garland still in hand.

Her mother, whose other two daughters had already made their choices, was growing impatient. She knew which of the men she'd have her third child choose, but she wasn't allowed to say so. She whispered to her co-queen. "I wish she'd hurry. I wish she'd choose ----"

The moment she whispered his name, though nobody but her co-queen heard, the wizard of Rajaland disappeared. The queen was aghast at what she had done. How could she have forgotten the consequences of breaking the law?

"Did you want me to choose him, Ma?" her daughter asked, immediately understanding what had happened.

"I'm sorry, my daughter, I'm sorry, everyone," her mother gasped.

"It's okay. I was going to choose him myself. I'll go find him now." With that, the twenty-first fairy princess disappeared.

"My daughter! Princess! Oh, where is she?"

But she was never found. Nor was the wizard of Rajaland ever found. The palace rejoiced in the twenty weddings and mourned the loss at the same time.

It was only the youngest princess, the one who had been first to make her choice, who had an inkling where her cousin might be. In a solo flight to the moon one day, exactly half-way there, she had seen a small house. The house had been named "TWENTY WON".

The youngest princess smiled. She knew her cousin's style. It was her house.