5 Word Challenge #37

[October Knight]

5 Word Challenge
Brought to you by: October Knight
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[bg=#006633]This challenge is to help strengthen your vocabulary. You'll learn new words and how to use them in roleplay posts, stories, poems, etc!

Instructions:
1. Aim for a minimum of 1-3 paragraphs. If you'd like to write more than that, then go for it!
2. Make sure you use each word in your post. Be as creative as you'd like.
3. Style the writing like you would for a story. It can be describing a setting, or written from the perspective of a character. Whatever you feel would work the best.
4. Have fun with this, of course!

The Words:
• Irascible (adj.) -Prone to anger.
• Kinglet (n) - A king ruling a kingdom considered small or unimportant.
• Lithesome (adj.) - Nimble.
• Macadamize (V) - To construct or finish (a road) by compacting into a solid mass a layer of small broken stone.
• Pauperism (n) - Dependence on charity.
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[Iliana]

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MOON OF HONEY

"Sir Neohal is here to present the rules of your day, sire. Please remain silent and stationary until he has complete all of the rules off of the list. Your parents would be very upset to hear that you have disobeyed their obedience orders, so I implore you to pay the utmost attention."

"Yes, sir." The tiny prince, Geremy, spoke with a huff behind his tight pink lips. His stubby, fat arms were folded under one another in gruff sigh. He was a plump little thing in his golden and emerald fleece robes. They were chosen by the tailor before the King and Queen departed from the land in a hurry. The Council found it comical when they left in a haste. The shoved the rule list at Neohal, the Prince's Guide, and rushed out the main doors and into the carriage. They were almost positive that they left in a hurried rush because of Prince Geremy. He had begged for hours on in about joining them on their honey moon to the Banks of Benahog, one of the most beautiful lakes the land had ever seen. Geremy was intrigued in the stories of blue upon blue...blue beyond of what the eyes could see! But the answer was always 'no', 'maybe another time', or 'wait until next year.' Geremy just wanted to come with in to see the moon of honey!

"Young Prince," came a voice next to the messenger that had spoken earlier. A man dressed in a lighter and less fabricated silk of emerald green looked down at the golden, curly haired prince. Neohal knew all of Geremy's tricks; he was a lithesome little mouse if there ever was one, and it required both, maybe another pair of eyes to keep track of the little tyke. Luckily for Neohal, all he had to do was read some rules off a parchment and then Geremy would be in the care of the Palace Guides from that moment on. Geremy blinked up at Neohal with large blue eyes while Neohal peered down at the prince.

"While I read these rules, I want you to remain silent and stationary. Do I make myself clear?"

"...Not quite, Neo. Isn't stationary some sort of paper?"he asked in his confused voice that had a dash of forced authority behind it. Neohal, forcing a sigh, did not move an inch.

"Stationery. Different word, same sound, different meaning. This stationary that I am discussing is your mobility. I wish for it to remain still while I go over these rules and regulations. It seems as though you have already failed to abide by the first one at that."

"Which one was that? You didn't even read anything from the parchment yet!"he interjected in a fearful, shrill voice. The prince hated doing bad, but did not like it any better than being told what to do. He was rebellious in his early age and he had not even branched to 10 years yet! Neohal, on the other hand, had not one ounce of irascibility in his body. Calm, cool, and collected he would remain. Under any and all circumstances.

"The first rule was remaining still and stationary while I explain the rules, and you have failed to follow that rule."

"But...that doesn't make any sense! How could the first rule on the rule sheet say that I can't say anything while you are explaining the rules? It is like explaining the rules of explaining the rules! I demand to know the nature of the man who forged these rules! I will have him executed!" There was a twitch behind Neohal's brown eyes and even a snicker from the messenger. Geremy only looked back and forth between the two, clearly upset that neither of them were making a move to find the writer of the rules (who happened to be his mother).

"Even the high King does not have the will to execute on such foolish matters, and you are only the mere kinglet of this very room. You have no authority over us." Neohal responded with no tinge of anger or annoyance masked behind his words. The messenger gave him a slanted look over to Neohal when Geremy gasped and huffed harder in anger.

"I wear the gold and green fleece of the King and Queen which--"

"--were only given to you out of the king's own pauperism. Right now, as the rest of the land cleans the debris of the hay stack explosion and macadamize the road back to the crude normality that it was in at first. That money does not sprout from the atmosphere. Do you, young prince, believe your parent to be so high and mighty as they seem?"

"Neohal!"

"Of course!" Geremy piped in, standing up and unfolding his chubby little arms and revealing his plump belly. "They are going to see a moon of honey!"

"They are going to the beach to have sex. There is no honey involved in that at all!" Neohal snapped in return. The messenger's face burned a deep auburn color and Geremy stood with his cream-puffed arms hanging at his sides, jaw slacking until it fell low to his neck. Neohal cleared his throat and looked back at the parchment in front of him.

"While I read these rules, I want you to remain silent and stationary."​

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[Revision]

It had been the better part of a year since the leaves had fallen. No new ones came in their place. The icy chill had remained in place for months, though, driving through those who worked to macadamize the roads so that the kingdom could expand its imports. It was lucky that they had a few things to draw traders in, though a realm that had only music to offer was in a poor situation, and many bards and crafters were exhausted by the tolls they felt and the tasks they were set upon to ensure trade.

The kinglet of the little realm was near despair. His wife had grown irascible, and she was taking it out on him and his entire council of lords. If only he could explain to her, but his vow with the fae folk forbid it. Almost a year ago to this day, he had traveled to one of their hills, intent upon making a deal to guarantee his kingdom would expand and prosper.

The lithesome creatures had invited him into their court, a beautiful world where castles were inside out and court was held atop beautiful ponds. He gazed in wonder, more determined than ever to win the favor and gift of the fae.

"We normally care little for humans," spoke the Fool of the court as the queen sipped berry wine on her throne. She had not deigned to speak with him, and so the Fool spoke instead.

"However, your circumstances are poor, and the fates of those who live in the between worlds that overlap your land are impacted by those circumstances. Your fruit trees bear tiny, hard apples. Your roads are falling apart and deeply rutted. And your servants wear threadbare robes. So we shall make you a deal."

"If you can live for one year in pauperism, you may have your boon."

"An entire year?"

"Yes, an entire year. And not just you. The entire kingdom must be dependent upon the kindness of your neighbors. You may barter one thing and one thing alone, so you do not fall into disastrous debt. And that one thing is music. You must also use your treasury. Empty it to repair the roads. And there is one final condition. You may tell no one of this. No adviser, no vassal, and certainly not your wife."

So he had returned to the castle. He hadn't expected what had happened next, the ruin that befell the kingdom. It was a little over a week until the spell would end and a new enchantment, one of wonder, would take its place. But it did not seem that things would be content to stay quiet until then.

"I am leaving. I can no longer stand living in such squalor and watching you drive our kingdom into ruins, my husband."

"But my wife! You don't understand!"

"You have said that numerous times, and yet you will not explain. I am leaving."

The king found his heart breaking. She was his love, and he adored her. To see her leave! He couldn't, he simply couldn't. Before he knew what he was saying, he was confessing to the entire deal. The chill deepened. The trees twisted and died, and the roads eroded away.

"So you see, if we would have just waited a week longer, the kingdom would have been prosperous and our people would have remained here."

"Then why, dear husband, did you tell me?" She sounded sad, but curious.

"Because, my wife. The others can find new homes, new allegiances, and new lives, but I would never find such a wife again if I searched a thousand years. A kingdom is a small price to pay to be able to keep you."