King Rudolph’s Duel

It was a cold December’s morning when the siblings Lovisa and Matthias walked down a cobblestone street. They had just gotten back from the market where Lovisa had purchased a new pair of snow boots for herself. Matthias on the other hand was irritated, he had completely forgotten to buy their sister a gift for the upcoming holidays and was unfortunately taking it out on his shopping partner.

“How could you spend that much money on boots! You know you’re only going to wear them for three months before the snow melts. I bet you we could have found cheaper ones at the thrift store.” he exclaimed, walking briskly down the street.

“Oh, don’t say that! I’ve been saving up and waiting to buy these for ages.” She told him, not giving in to his frustration. Matthias grumbled and kicked a stray rock into the busy street. Lovisa, trying to calm him down, suggested they take a detour over the Charles Bridge where Matthias could get something from the street vendors.

“Brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that? See? This is why I brought you along.” He said jokingly to his sister beside him. As they reached the bridge tower guarding the entrance to the Charles they saw that they weren’t the only ones out gift shopping. Matthias ran over to the first bridge vendor he saw; an old lady selling jewelry. Nothing was out of the ordinary, in fact, it was quite common to see old women out there in the cold selling all sorts of crafts, most often handmade. However, what struck the siblings as odd was how every other vendor’s set up was surrounded by a crowd of potential buyers while this woman was all alone. This was especially strange as she seemed to have the most variety of any of the vendors there. Matthias picked out a beautiful ruby necklace that would go well with his youngest sister’s favorite dress. When he asked for the price the old woman went silent.

“All I would like in exchange for this fine piece are those boots your little friend is holding. Nothing more and nothing less.” She said in a low tone. Lovisa gawked at her for a second and refused. Matthias told the old woman that he has plenty of gold and would be happy to part with it. The woman seemed to think about this but suddenly, with speed unheard of from old women, grabbed the boots out of Lovisa’s hands and ran off. Lovisa immediately broke out into a sprint with Matthias lagging behind shouting at the both of them. The siblings follow the old woman down to the street below the bridge on the river bank. All that was left was a single boot on the ground in front of an old ornate door.

“Maybe we shouldn’t go in there, Lovisa. Just leave the old woman alone. I’ll buy you another pair if they mean that much to you.” Matthias tried to compromise, still holding the necklace. She refused and turned to open the door. Click! It was unlocked. How strange. The siblings slowly walked into the darkness that lay behind the strange door under the bridge. All of the sudden, Matthias noticed a light towards the back of the room and called Lovisa over to it. The siblings continue walking and, as if it were magic, a bright light flashed so intensely that they almost went blind.

“What was that!” yelled Lovisa, rubbing her eyes. However, Matthias couldn’t not answer as he was too busy staring at their surroundings. Somehow the door they had entered through had led them to a crowded room. At the opposite end of the enormous room sat a fat, regal looking man on a throne. From the way the other occupants of the room seem to go up to him one by one and do… something, he must have been a king or at least a lord.

“What are they doing?” whispered Lovisa, afraid to interrupt whatever was going on. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed the old lady from before looking quite nervous. The old lady seemed to be trying to do something to Lovisa’s boot, it was as if she was expecting the boot to jump up at her. Matthias, dumbfounded and ignoring his sister, continued to stare. Grabbing Lovisa’s arm he turned around to leave when he realized that the door they had come through was no longer there. In its place stood a strange aristocratic man. His strangeness emanating from the fact that he had bright green eyes and his hair seemed not to be hair at all, it looked more like – moss? “What do you mean what are they doing? They’re performing their act of magic of course! How else will the good King Rudolph accept them into their kingdom. I would suggest moving along, you’re up next.” said the strange moss-man, startling the siblings. They were indeed next.

“My children, what have you prepared for me this evening?” King Rudolph bellowed at the two of them. Lovisa looked to Matthias and then towards the king. Slightly cowering, she informed him of their magical ineptitude. A silence descended upon the throne room quickly followed by the whispers of the king’s guests.

“Well, there is only one other option for you then. If you would like to live in my kingdom.” he said. “That’s the thing, we’re not from here and we aren’t planning on staying in your kingdom. So, if you could just show us how to get back to our world–” “A duel. That’s how we’ll settle this. One of you will compete against my best swordsman.” the king gestured to a knight standing beside him. “If you win, I shall grant you whatever it is you want. But if I win, you will be forced to work as slaves in my castle for eternity.” Without missing a beat, Matthias volunteered to duel the swordsman.

With a magnificent jolt of the king’s golden staff, what was once the room, was transformed into an even greater dueling hall. Matthias is granted a sword as the king’s swordsman steps up onto the piste. Matthias prepared himself and followed the swordsman. One of the king’s men yelled for the duel to start. After a couple of bouts Matthias managed to wear the swordsman down. On the final bout, the swordsman went for the attack but Matthias managed to defend himself. He retaliates by swiping his sword upwards, successfully drawing blood from the swordsman’s thigh earning Matthias the win.

“Well done. So what will it be? What do you want for your reward? I can grant you anything you wish.” the king said to Matthias, quite dumbfounded that he was able to defeat the most skilled swordsman in his realm. Matthias wished for his sister and him to be returned to their world. The king abides and all of the sudden the strange light from before returned and the siblings found themselves whisked back to the street beneath the bridge. The door they had stumbled upon before was now just a stone wall. The siblings glanced and each other and headed back to their town home. They reflected on their adventure and agreed it was best not to tell anyone of it. Strangely, their family members noticed in the coming weeks how the two siblings had ceased their arguing which had been commonplace in the household before that fateful December morning.

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