You or one of your men must hear the secret and repeat it to me exactly as I said it."
The lad winked to Sharp-Ears, who had only to prick up his ears to hear the king's secret. The king told his daughter to fetch her wedding jewels from the treasure tower, deep in the mountains.
Off rode the damsel on her fine white horse, racing as though to clear her own mind. Perhaps she hadn't yet decided what she thought of this marriage.
The king pulled his pipe from his pocket, stuffed it, lit it, and smoked it. Everyone waited in respectful silence for the princess to come back. The lad himself was wondering whether they really were going to ring the wedding bells. He didn't yet dare believe himself in paradise.
Time went by.
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Folktales