Once A Tale (MXM, BXB)

The Black Jackal

Once upon a time, there were three princes. The eldest was Surna, calm and noble. He was a stellar example of a prince and bore the pride of one as well. The middle son was Emperim, cool-headed and logical with little sense of humour. And the youngest was the playful and inquisitive Alfen, who wished to travel the world and experience something more for himself.

"Have a care you don't wind up at the bottom of a well," Surna often warned him. "You're a tad too adventurous for your own good."

Their father was an overly proud man who waffled over naming a successor. All assumed it would be the capable Surna until, one day, their father declared that he would make whomever could bring him the finest dog in all the lands his successor.

"Father, you are growing too old for pets," Emperim said logically, "not to mention your back. I do not think you would be able to walk it or play with it."

"I know that," the king grumbled in embarrassment. "Stop harping and just go do it! You have a year."

Privately, all three of them thought that it would hardly take a year for them to find a dog, but they took it as a mission of sorts. Perhaps a chance to finally get away from the castle walls. Surna found himself a dog from one of the most renowned breeders in all the lands. It was a sleek and huge beast, yet mild-mannered and tame, keeping to Surna's side even without a lead. He felt confident in his victory, for even Emperim glanced with envy at his dog, until his youngest brother arrived with an acorn in hand.

They thought to laugh, at first, until a little dog leapt from the acorn and did a jig for their father.

"What," Surna and Emperim said as one.

Alfen beamed proudly as his father declared him the winner.

"I think that magic is cheating," Emperim said severely.

Surna agreed but didn't think it too sporting to rain on his brother's parade. In the end, it hardly even mattered for their father hadn't finished making challenges for them yet. He told them that next he wanted them to find the finest fabric in all the lands for him.

"I think that you have enough clothing, Father. You already have an extra bedroom for all of your clothes," Surna told him and he turned beet red and roared at them to just go and do it.

Surna shrugged and did so with his hound loyally following at his side, seeking out the finest fabric eagerly with only a few sparing thoughts toward what his young brother might produce this time. He sent letters by mail and by bird, inspecting each of the fabrics he went to find, consulting experts in every way that he knew how. When he returned he was the one to look in envy at Emperim's fabric, for he had brought the most delicate, gossamer of fabric that even Surna had to acknowledge was a grade above his own. Then their youngest brother arrived with a walnut in hand.

"Oh, not this again," Emperim muttered.

Alfen opened the walnut and revealed a hazelnut, then a cherry stone and, finally, a piece of grain. When he cracked it open, out poured the most beautiful, ethereal piece of fabric that Surna had ever laid his eyes upon.

"Magic is clearly cheating," Emperim said again, gesturing with both hands.

"I never said it wasn't allowed," said the king brightly, happy with his new acquisitions. Surna suspected he might just be getting them to do his errand work for him and this had nothing to do with succession at all.

"Besides, I'm just using what I have," Alfen said. "I mean, you and Surna have all of your knowledge and your connections so I need every little thing I can get in order to win."