Once upon a time in a land that no longer exists there was an elderly king and queen who long once more for a child. Now this couple was no stranger to children, for many years ago they had had three handsome sons. But one night all three of their sons had disappeared, leaving the king and queen inconsolable and they had promised each other to never have another child.
But as time passed the couple realized that the had to have a child to inherit their country, otherwise it would be taken over by a ruler less kind than them. So the queen went out in search of a soothsayer who could tell her how to get with child (for her husband the king had been impotent for many years and she loved him too much to lie with another man). When she finally did find the soothsayer, she asked the young woman her question, to which the soothsayer replied:
"Go home and have two onions brought to you, eat them and you shall have your children." The queen was puzzled by these instructions but was so happy at the thought of having another child that she rushed home, ignoring the soothsayer's shouts to come back.
The moment the queen stepped foot on the castle grounds she sent a servant to the kitchen to bring her two onions. The servant did so, and returned a few minutes later with two onions on a silver platter. The first was the color of the ripest of ripe apples, a dark rich red. The second was the pale gold of a fresh pear. Unable to contain her excitement any longer the queen plucked the red onion off of the platter and began eating it. To late she realized that she should have peeled off the outer layers of skin, because the onion was bitter and very disgusting, but she managed to finish it regardless. The second onion she took her time with and peeled off all of the skin revealing the pale yellow flesh beneath.
As the months passed the queen and king were overjoyed to see the queen growing full with child and when nine months passed and it came time for the queen to give birth the entire country waited with baited breath to see the newborn princes. The king and the rest of his court waited outside of the birthing room, eagerly awaiting to be let it. Many hours later however, they heard a sound. It was not the healthy cries of a baby newly born but a scream of horror from the mid-wife.
The king a some of his advisers rushed in to see a writhing red thing on the floor. It had the body of a snake, but also had two crocodile like legs emerging from its shoulders. The king and his advisers gaped in horror when they realized that it was a Lindorm. The king, however, recovered quickly and grabbed the writhing dragon and threw it out the window as hard as he could, sending it into the forest that surrounded the castle. Once that was done the mid-wife recovered quickly and ushered them all out of the room.
A few more hours passed and this time, when the mid-wife emerged from the room, it was with a healthy baby boy in her arms. The baby had hair the color of the sun and eyes the color of the bluest skies. The king and queen named their son Ladd, and raised him as best they could. And as time passed the Lindorm son was forgotten.
Until, that is, young Ladd had to go and search for a wife. As he rode through the forest towards the country that resided next to the one that would soon be his a red, serpentine head emerged in front of him, causing his horse to rear up in shock. Once he had calmed down his horse he drew his sword and charged at the dragon, intent on killing it. But the head of the dragon was no longer there and instead Ladd was met with the serpent's chilling laugh. He spun his horse around trying to decipher where the sound was coming from.
"Show yourself you monster! And know that I, Ladd, will kill you." The dragon laughed again, but suddenly Ladd found himself face to face with the garnet-colored serpentine head once more.
"No need to kill me little brother, for I wish you no harm." Ladd gaped at the dragon.
"Brother?" the head nodded.
"Indeed, our mother the queen did not hear all the soothsayer had to tell her, and so because of her folly I was born a Lindorm." Ladd had no idea whether to believe the monster or not, but decided to for the time being (if all else failed he could just kill the beast later and take the treasure it no doubt had hidden away in the forest).
"Alright then, brother Lindorm, why have you revealed yourself to me now?" The Lindorm chuckled, and Ladd suppressed a shiver at the inhuman sound.
"I have come to you little brother to tell you that until you find me a willing wife who will love me forever, your own wife will remain hidden from your sight." Ladd wanted to argue with his brother, but knew in the deepest of his hearts that the Lindorm spoke the truth.
And so Ladd returned to the castle and began to search for the woman who could be his brother's wife. Many maidens were sent to the forest, but all were sent back. For they had not been sent to the forest willingly. Month's passed in this manner and soon Ladd discovered that there were no more unwed maidens in the kingdom.
"Brother Lindorm! There are no more maidens in our country for you to woo." The Lindorm just glared at him with ruby eyes.
"Then search the other kingdoms," he rumbled. But Ladd need not have worried, because the next morning a sorcerer came to their fair land, with his children trailing behind him. Ladd spotted them on his way to the neighboring kingdom and commanded them to stop.
"You there! Who is that lovely woman walking next to you and is she married?" The sorcerer glared at the young man with his golden eyes.
"Who are you to demand such questions of me?" Ladd bristled and grew angry.
"I am Ladd, prince of this country. Now answer my question!" The sorcerer continued to glare at Ladd, but answered his question.
"This is my eldest daughter Chane, and she shall never marry any normal man. For what man would choose a mute for a wife." Ladd knew this was his lucky break, for a mute woman couldn't complain and thus could be seen as willing. And he had to admit she was quite beautiful.
"She must come with me, good sir. For my brother, the Lindorm, demands a wife and we have no maidens in our country which will suit him." The sorcerer made as if to curse Ladd for his demand, but then thought better of it, for it would do him no good to anger the monarchs of any country (he had yet to find the elixir of immortality and thus could still die).
And so, with a not so heavy heart (for it would only take a minute's worth of concentration to bring her back to him), he turned to his daughter and said: "Go Chane." Chane stared at her father with her own golden eyes, but did not argue. After climbing onto Ladd's horse the two of them rode off back towards the castle.
Later that evening while Chane was preparing to get ready to meet the Lindorm a woman entered the room she'd been given. The young woman saw the question in Chane's eyes and smiled. "Do not worry so, Chane. I am here to tell you that if you do all that I instruct you will have great happiness and be loved by your future husband for the rest of his life." Chane nodded in response and leaned closer to the soothsayer.
When Ladd left her at the forest's edge he smiled a not so pleasant smile. "Pray you are the one Chane, for if you are not I feel I might kill you in my anger." Chane felt no fear at Ladd's threat and entered the forest, heading towards the Lindorm's lair.
The Lindorm was waiting for her at it's entrance, he seemed to be made of every shade of red and she amazed herself by realizing he was quite beautiful. "I take it you are the one my brother sent." She nodded. "And did you come to me willingly?" She nodded again. There was a pleased gleam in his eye, "what is your name dear one?" For a moment Chane didn't know what to do, but then she tentatively (for she knew the depth of human monstrosity, but did not know what the mind of a dragon might hide) reached out for his mind with her own.
:My name is Chane: The Lindorm laughed, and she was surprised at how human he sounded.
"A novelty among novelties! But I wonder dear Chane, why do you wear so many dresses? It is not that cold out is it?" She shook her head.
:I will take them off if you wish, but for every dress I shed you must shed a layer of your skin: The Lindorm looked at her with one thoughtful, ruby eye.
"This is easily done, I accept your terms." And so she began the slow process of removing each of the dresses she was clad in.
:May I be so bold as to wonder what is your name?: she asked when he reached her fourth dress. The Lindorm nodded.
"I call myself Vino?" She gave him a strange look as she removed her fifth dress.
:Vino?: He nodded again.
"There was a man who traveled through my forest once with two mules, each with a barrel on it's back. I grew curious as to what was in those barrels and so followed him. When he reached a small village on the other side of the forest he unstrapped the two barrels and opened them to show another man that was there. One barrel had a liquid the color of my scales, the other had a liquid the color of my eyes. The man with the barrels told the other man it was called vino. And when the man had sold his vino and returned through the forest with his mules I blessed him with prosperity, for he had given me my name." During the Lindorm's explanation she had reached the final dress. Her hands began to tremble slightly as she began to unbutton it. But she remembered the soothsayer's words and quickly steadied her hands. Now she was naked in front of him and she blushed as she fought to keep her hands at her sides.
Next to her pile of dresses was a pile of the Lindorm's skins and she smiled slightly to see it. But her attention was soon drawn back to the Lindorm himself because he approached her. He began to wrap himself around her and she stamped out the sparks of fear that appeared in her mind and let him do as he would (though she was happy to discover that he was warm and very comfortable instead of slimy and cold as she had first thought). As he wrapped himself around her he began shedding his final layer of skin and a strange red mist began to fill the small clearing.
When the mist finally began to dissipate she was surprised to see that she was no longer being held by the Lindorm, but instead being held by two very human arms. She turned around and was met with the most handsome man she had ever met. His hair was the same garnet color as the Lindorm's scales and his eyes were still the color of rubies, but he had pale golden skin and she blushed when she realized that they were both very naked. He chuckled and a hand rose up to caress her cheek.
"Oh, my dearest Chane." And then he kissed her. She spoke into his mind, and found that it had not changed a bit, as they broke apart.
:Should we return to the castle?: He nodded, though it seemed very reluctant nod. He handed her one of her many dresses and she watched in amazement as he turned another dress into a tunic and yet another into a pair of breeches. When she was finished getting dressed he linked her arm with his and led them out of the forest.
When they reached the castle there was much rejoicing. For the elder twin was now human and could take his rightful place as heir to the throne. And while Ladd was a bit bitter about that, he was more than eager to begin the search for his own bride. But before he set off, Vino pulled him aside.
"Another dragon told me that you bride-to-be lays trapped in the mountains by a wizard's hand, as do the brothers we should have had. You will have to kill the wizard first before you can even hope to reach her or them." Ladd seemed very pleased by this prospect.
"Thank you brother mine." And without another word between them Ladd rode off in search of the wizard. But that is another story for some other time.
Chane and Vino's wedding was celebrated throughout the land, and even the soothsayer was there. And as a wedding gift the soothsayer revealed that none of this would have happened had the queen peeled the first onion.