Twelve pairs of worn out shoes. Shoes that only hours before glittered with gems and embroidery. Soft soled dancing shoes, the only type of shoes they would ever deign to wear. Now this wouldn't be so odd, as the wearers were princesses, and after all, with the royal balls, and endless visitors to court, worn out shoes were bound to happen sooner or later. Just not every day; or in this case, night.
The King scratched his head... He just couldn't figure it out... he personally had locked his daughters in their room this time... How the devil did they manage to wear their shoes out? Their living quarters weren't big enough to give 12 energetic young girls the space needed to wear out their shoes in so few hours. They couldn't be that spiteful, could they? Nah...He just couldn't understand it... and his children were not saying a word on the subject besides "Father, we need new shoes."
The King jumped up from his throne, where he had been perched since early that morning, when his Head Councilor, Yohan ad informed him once more of the ever-perplexing mystery of the shoes... thinking back to when this all had started, three long weeks ago...
At first the King had not been informed, after all, shoes were shoes...and not of much importance in the big picture. After a whole week, a chambermaid mentioned it to a cook, who passed it on to a server, who whispered it to a valet, who told the Head Councillor. Yohan then decided he better look for himself...The very next morning...he tip-toed to their chamber, and there lined up neatly outside the door were twelve thoroughly worn out pairs of dancing shoes..."interesting"...the man thought to himself, rubbing his chin in deep thought.. "How can I turn this to my advantage?"...By the time the Head Councillor had determined how to make this odd nightly occurence work in his favor, the second week had flown by, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer began to cast dirty looks in the Princesses general direction.. for their allowance had been awfully large of late...with no explanation what so ever... Yohan chose the time to tell the King carefully.. he needed a neutral time... where all the Princesses and the King would be present... and yet, a time where they would not be alone... The King would have to ask why the shoes were always worn out... and try to do something about it... If the Yohan came up with a way to stop the shoes from being worn out...or even if he discovered how they were getting so worn out, perhaps the King would reward him handsomely..."Hmm...What to do, what to do... That's it! The banquet dinner, tomorrow night...that will do nicely."
The night of the banquet dinner, the Head Councillor made sure to seat himself as near to the King as he could. The King and his bevy of daughters were talking and laughing amongst themselves, as the servers brought in the first course of the meal...
The Head Councillor cleared his throat.. "a-hem"... No one looked... So he cleared it a bit louder.. "A-Hem"... The King without looking up from his plate, sighed, and asked "What now, Yohan?"
"Sire, it has come to my attention that your lovely daughters have somehow been wearing out approximately 7 pairs of shoes per princess, per week.
"Yohan, thats preposterous...thats a pair of shoes every day. How is that even possible? "
"I know nothing, sire... except that every morning, twelve pairs of thoroughly worn shoes are lined up neatly outside the Princesses Quarters.
The King paused for a moment, then slowly turned to face his twelve children. He spoke to the eldest first. " Aglaia, my child, perhaps you can clear up this perplexing puzzle?
"Father, I know naught of how our shoes become so worn in the night..Sisters, have you any knowledge of how our shoes fall into such a state?"
One by one the sisters murmured or shook their head in dissent. When they finally got to the youngest of them all, Xanthe, she piped up... "Perhaps the little people take them and run about? You know, fairies and such?"
The whole court burst into laughter..
After the court began to quiet, the King chuckling, said "Since my daughters themselves seem to not know the cause of this mysterious happening, we shall set a guard at the door. We will find out what is going on within the bedchamber to cause such wear to the slippers. After all, 'tis not the slippers I care about but my children's safety. If they are running about and not sleeping, I'd like to know of it. Though, 'twould please the Chancellor of the Exchequer truth be told.. those flimsy little pieces of kidskin and silk are dear...
The King woke from his reverie.. What to do, what to do? Obviously, posting a guard hadn't worked... the children never left the room.. and still the slippers came out worn the next morning. Locking the door hadn't helped. Placing a maid within the room had done no good. No matter what she had done, she could not seem to stay awake.. and again, the slippers were
tattered fragments of the beautiful shoes they had once been. He paced back and forth in front of a large bay window pondering his dilemma..however woud he get this mystery solved if everyone placed to watch the Princesses either fell asleep or instead they didn't hear or see anything amiss.
As the King was wondering alone in his throne room, in the council chambers directly below, his Head Councillor and other council members were having a secret meeting without him... Yohan being the Head Councillor was first to speak. He asked the gathering, "Whatever shall we do to get the mystery of the shoes solved? What the Princesses are doing is of national importance.. they could be in grave danger." The council members gasped in alarm at this statement.. Yohan smirked.. now that he had them sufficiently alarmed, he had them right where he wanted them. I have a suggestion, Have the King let it be known that there is to be a contest, that the Princesses are playing a "game", and who ever discovers the whole truth of this intrigue, where they go, or why the slippers become worn, shall win the hand of the daughter of their choice, in marriage, plus, half the kingdom now, and inherit the rest on the King's death. I think tis fair since the King has no male heir. Twill be no fighting over a throne, and will end the mystery. The council members squabbled amongst themselves for a few moments, but since no other plans were forthcoming, Yohan's suggestion was agreed upon. They decided to go en masse to the throne room and propose it to the King.