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Oh, the relief!

You brace yourself to deal with the furor of a room full of courtiers and guards, let alone the ire of the Chamberlain, who is approaching you. Then you feel yourself being clasped in many grips, and prepare to be led to the dungeon. But then you hear a great cry of acclaim.

"Thank goodness he's gone!" exclaims the Chamberlain. "You have no idea what a time we had trying to make sure that nothing ever happened to him. Why, once Prince Shane came down with influenza and it shut down the entire government for two weeks! Now we can choose a new prince. Say... as you led those birds here to take Prince Shane off our hands, why not you?"

You're not sure you want to be a prince until you think that, as the ruler, you can change all the rules. There could be possibilities in that. You agree to stand for prince. After the council of lords consults with the Chamberlain for half an hour, you are duly elected.

The Chamberlain then says, "Now that you're the new prince, I'm afraid there's one little condition. Maybe I should have informed you of this before we elected you. But Prince Shane was our sixth consecutive human ruler, and we would all vanish into space if we had seven consecutive human princes. You'll have to choose to be some kind of animal. A plant wouldn't do at all. Here is a list of likely suggestions. I'll schedule your transformation for an hour before the coronation, which will be tomorrow precisely at midday. This gives you all night to choose your new form. I shall wait upon you after breakfast. Good night, Your Highness."

The Chamberlain and everyone else bow to you and back their way out of the room. You find yourself alone staring at the list of suggested transformations.


Written by stephan

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