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| Sunday, 22 February 2004 |
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The king was beside himself. His beloved Queen Titania lay in bed smothered with furs against the cold. Fires crackled around her and Oberon stood at the foot of her bed watching every moment. We have directed Quince to write this part of the story this week because we are just not in a frame of mind to do amything else but watch Titania. Bottom, Puck, Starveling, Snug, Pyramus and Thisbe who were weeping into their 'kerchiefs were quiet and most of the time stood stock still, just looking at the queen whose eyes were closed. But Peace Blossom and the rest rushed here and there doing their bit, burning herbal roots not only to clear the air but to have whatever clinical benefits they may have on the queen. Our culture has also knows the value of ancient herbs and roots for centuries before we came into existence, and we do not hesitste to use them at the proverbial drop of a pin. It will be several centuries before chemical drugs are discovered, but we are quite happy with our old remedies for whatever the ailment. However, we shall have to be vigilant about the queen and see what the treatment will be. She is known to have great faith in our ancient remedies. In fact she washes her hair with a mix of herbs and when her lovely locks dry out, rareherbs are massaged into her scalp by Mustard Seed and friends. The room was quiet and warm. King Oberon remained calm, watching every movement of Merlin's in whom all the king's hopes rested. The owl was quiet, his glowing dark eyes flashing from time to time. Suddenly the queen stirred, muttering something even the king could not hear. So he bent closer to her in case she repeated herself. The fires turned red and the owl made an odd noise. Merlin's face was white even in the fires' red glow, and an expression never before seen on his face made him look different. He went right upto the queen's bed. 'Your majesty, what is it?' 'That... that wine.' 'What wine, your majesty?'Merlin asked. 'That last night,'the queen said. Silence all around. It was strange that the queen should talk about wine, she was so used to it as it is part of our culture and part of daily existence, especially in forest areas. 'Did anyone see the queen actually sipping her wine at that party?' Merlin asked. 'Well, great sage, the queen was sipping her wine as usual,'Bottom said. 'Was there anyone with her?' 'There were so many people around..... 'Answer the question. Was there anyone close to her who was watching her?'Merlin asked in rather stern tones. 'Well... 'Well what, Bottom?' Merlin asked. Actually, Merlin had been watching the whole party from distant Sherwood through his own magical powers and had seen everything that had happened. No one knew that, but he told me, Peter Quince did, that is, under oath. The Sri Lankan night had been pitch dark shortly before midnight and the queen had been enjoying the evening when suddenly Merlin, his antennae glowing, had seen that someone close to the queen was seen to put something into her glass. Bottom and the rest, including Puck, were not to be seen. Probably they had pushed each other into the swimming pool. The next thing Merlin saw was that the queen did not seem to know where she was and was led off into the night by the same person who had put something into her drink, but her silver heels glowed as she was led away. In fact, Titania, who is always full of jokes when she is in company she likes, was heard to say something about her wine just beginning to taste different when she 'went out' and that was all she knew. She does not remember what happened after that. But Merlin had it all stored in his special micro computer and knew that the queen had not kicked off her shoes when she fell into bed. Titania was up later than she usually rises and found that her shoes were off. Off she went for her shower and went through the dew-drenched gardens for breakfast. The queen was in a costume that Starveling had designed for her specially. It was one of the best things he had ever done, and in fact, after the press pictures appeared, had orders he could not cope with. Funnily enough, the dress had wings, but they were ironed down over her shoulders, covering her arms and sparkled with silver and grey sequins. The robe was worn over figure-hugging grey pants entirely coverd with grey sequins so that you could hardly see the colour of the fabric of which the pants had been made. Should pink flowers in her hair to go with the grey. But why grey, Merlin asked himself? The queen of course went straight for her favourite breakfast which was served to her by a strange-looking person who smiled and asked her whether she had slept well. Then Merlin saw it all;the climb up the rock which seems such a long time ago, but to Merlin is only a second away. It was the same person who had put something into the queen's wine the night before. But he had used different make-up in an attempt to hide his identity. But no tricks with Merlin. He saw the queen transformed after taking the first few sips of wine into which something had been added. The funny thing is that in about four centuries, a man called William Shakespeare would write one of the world's greatest love stories, and it would have to do with love potions. The conversation was all about the night before and how the special party had gone. The queen was in her element talking about it, but knew nothing about what happened after she was led to her luxury cottage-something that seemed to intrigue her companion. Merlin felt the queen's pulse. Her majesty would have to be administered an antidote to what her wine had been laced with that night. In the meanwhile, Bottom and party were outside, all huddled up, sipping hot brandy laced with all kinds of things. -Peter Quince |
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