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Everyone knows that mysterious old ladies are kind of a big deal.
Yes, anyone who is female (or wraps up in sufficiently mysterious shawls) and old enough could pretend to be a mysterious old lady, but the actual category of the creatures is a different matter, and one can often tell (though it's better to be on the safe side, when identifying them).
Mysterious old ladies can, in a certain sense, do magic - or help you do magic. Sure, if you decide to take the first milking of your new cow and leave it out in a bowl in the backyard with a garland of roses floating on the surface and then drink it all first thing in the morning without stopping to put on your shoes or comb your hair, nothing will happen. But if you do it because a mysterious old lady told you to, and it was a real mysterious old lady, and you followed all of her instructions? Then you will find that you will get whatever result she advertised.
But if you step into your slippers first or tug a knot out of your ponytail or drink the milk early or late or use daisies for the garland, you will get something else.
It's very important to be exact and careful about these things.
Compared to what happens if you disobey a real mysterious old lady, being occasionally made a fool of by some pretender to the title because your eyesight is going or you were too sleepy to note her lack of a proper mysterious aura is nothing.
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spell_eternity
"You were promised agreeable results, and agreeable results you shall have, though they may not be quite the ones you would have expected nor come quite as soon as you would have liked," says the mysterious old woman. "What would you like my advice with, dear?"
"Many things are possible," says the mysterious old woman. "Some are more difficult than others. Advice is not a limitless resource, but you will find it tends to be available when you struggle with important problems. The larger the problem, the more complicated the solution, however."
"Then listen closely," says the mysterious old woman, "and do just as I say. You must build a fountain..."
And constructing the fountain will take just shy of five years and it's a good thing she can probably count on the king of Mahlirou to help because some of the ingredients are expensive and nearly all of the procedures are too complicated for a single person to accomplish alone. It can be done, though. And the mysterious old woman very patiently explains the entire process, and Carrabella does not run out of paper writing it all down.
"If you build it correctly, anyone who drinks the water from the fountain will be cured of all that ails them," she finishes.
And constructing the fountain will take just shy of five years and it's a good thing she can probably count on the king of Mahlirou to help because some of the ingredients are expensive and nearly all of the procedures are too complicated for a single person to accomplish alone. It can be done, though. And the mysterious old woman very patiently explains the entire process, and Carrabella does not run out of paper writing it all down.
"If you build it correctly, anyone who drinks the water from the fountain will be cured of all that ails them," she finishes.
spell_eternity
Well, this isn't going to leave much time for dating anyway. She can just go on being married in the meanwhile.
"Thank you."
"Thank you."
The mysterious old woman smiles a kind, wrinkly smile and walks away.
spell_eternity
And Carrabella goes back inside looking for prince or king, whichever is which and whichever she finds first.
mydarkness
Taphinieu and Erian are both in the throne room again, and Taphinieu is discussing where to get a new crown since the last one disappeared along with the rest of King Antimoun. The tone of the discussion strongly implies Taphinieu will be the one wearing it.
spell_eternity
"Hello," says Carrabella. "I received higher-priority advice than whether or not our marriage should be annulled. Will it be at all inconvenient if we just go on being technically married for the next five years while I work on something else?"
spell_eternity
"I will be building... a fountain. Which will probably do wonders for local tourism, if you need a reason to invest in it besides the fact that it will cure all forms of physical ailment."
mydarkness
"...A fountain that cures all forms of physical ailment definitely sounds like something that I want," says Taphinieu. "How difficult will it be? Can I help?"
spell_eternity
"You can definitely help. I need a lot of things. First I need to copy all of these instructions, perhaps more than once, so that there isn't just one of them. Then I need materials and a place to put it."
mydarkness
A scribe is procured, with plenty of paper. Taphinieu directs him to help Princess Carrabella copy out the instructions.
spell_eternity
And Carrabella copies them out and reads them aloud as she goes, and then there are three copies; and then she goes through and determines the first set of things she will need before she can start and presents Taphinieu with a shopping list.
mydarkness
Taphinieu accepts the list and looks at it and nods.
"Yes, that shouldn't be too difficult to find. It'll probably only take a day or two to get it all. It would be less if there weren't so much else going on, but I really need a crown because until there's a proper coronation people are going to be confused about who their king is and that's never good."
"Yes, that shouldn't be too difficult to find. It'll probably only take a day or two to get it all. It would be less if there weren't so much else going on, but I really need a crown because until there's a proper coronation people are going to be confused about who their king is and that's never good."
mydarkness
Taphinieu nods, and turns his attention back to the many people who need to be told what to do about the miscellaneous problems at hand.
