Disclaimer: Again, I don't own the stories, only the names given to the characters and the way that I interpret the storylines. Ahem.

A/N: Lovely, lovely ... mmyes, mmyes. Quite. Enjoy The Princess and the Pea. And then join me for tea. RHYME!! YAY!! :D:D:D:D sigh ... I'm so strange ...

------------------------------

THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA

Once upon a time there lived a king and queen – let's call them Roderick and Verna, just for fun – and they had a son named Troy.

Troy was very interested in being a good king, but not very interested in getting married.

Queen Verna brought all the eligible princesses in the land to see Troy, but he was not interested in any of them, saying that they were not "true princesses".

One dark and stormy night a new princess came to the door of the palace and asked for a place to stay for the night.

Troy was very taken with her; I suppose this must have been because of her beauty and the wetness of her clothing (ahem).

Queen Verna didn't like the idea of a wet, lonesome princess marrying her son, so she told Troy that the new princess – I think her name was Gillian – was not a true princess either.

Troy did not believe her, but Verna insisted that she be put to the princess test.

That night, Verna put a single pea underneath twenty mattresses, and had Gillian sleep on top of them.

The plan was that if Gillian was so delicate that she could feel the pea underneath all the mattresses, she must be a true princess.

That night Gillian slept on all the mattresses.

The next morning Verna asked Gillian if she had slept all right.

Gillian said that she hadn't gotten a wink of sleep all night long because of a huge bump in the middle of her bed that kept her up.

Verna was forced to admit that Gillian was a true princess.

Troy married Gillian and they lived happily ever after.

And whoever put the boulder inbetween the nineteenth and twentieth mattresses was completely forgotten.

THE END