Bride of the Castle

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In a far-off land, in another time and in another world, dim and distant, there stood a mighty castle. A vast bulk bestriding a high escarpment; its cyclopean walls surmounted by cloud-piercing towers, this formidable stronghold commanded a view of bleak plains and distant snowcapped mountains.

The king, dressed in formal robes of state and wearing a crown of electrum, sat in a high-ceilinged chamber in one of the castle's loftiest towers.

He was pissed off.

"Hell of a way to run a castle!"

"Pardon, sire? To what do you refer?"

His Serene and Transcendent Majesty jabbed a finger at the pile of loose paper on his desk. "This flummery. Didn't I computerize this operation?"

"Sire, some of your subjects do not have computers. In fact, in most of the realms in which you reign-"

"Never mind, I know, I know. Low-tech, most of them."

"Correct, sire."

The master of Castle Perilous breathed a heavy sigh. "We're really behind in our paperwork, aren't we, Tremaine?"

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