It was Sunday and it was Nimby fairytale time. My daughter was grinning excitedly.
“I’m ready Momma. Oh, and I promise to stay awake through the whole story.”
“Ok, Lil Lil, I believe you.” I smiled brushing her bangs to one side of her forehead. The change in her posture warned me the moment she saw my bruises. Her little eyes filled with tears, yet she never said a word. She simply smiled up at me.
“Ok, where were we? Ah, yes, Nimby had just asked the King why he wasn’t worried that one of thieves would betray him…” I remembered.
The Thief King laughed loud enough to shake his piles of treasure. He cast aside his cape and revealed a patch sewn onto his shirt. It was a piece of golden cloth shaped to look like a raccoon’s face.
“This is the badge of the Thief King,” he proudly announced. “As long as I wear this, I am the master of every thief that has sworn loyalty to me.”
“Couldn’t one steal the patch?” Nimby politely asked, looking confused and dumb.
“I fear no thief because I am the smartest and most cunning of all!” the Thief King declared. He leaned back in his throne and yawns. “Now, I have my riches to count, so I bid you good day, little halfling.”
Nimby bowed and left the Thief King to count his riches.
That night, Nimby snuck around the castle guards, climbed over the castle wall, and slipped into the Thief King’s bedroom. Without a sound, he cut the Thief King’s patch out of his shirt and disappeared from the castle. The next morning, he was brought before the angry Thief King.
“I know you took my patch!” the Thief King yelled.
“I am but a humble halfling thief,” Nimby declared with a low bow. “I could never steal from someone as cunning and smart as you.”
The Thief King grinned at the halfling’s words because to him they rang true. His pride was too strong for him to see the truth. The idea that another thief could steal from him was ridiculous.
“Though I guess the thieves will be after your treasure now,” Nimby casually mentioned.
“Let them come,” the Thief King said in a powerful voice. “My treasure is protected from all who wish to steal from me.”
“I am sure there is someone that could do it,” Nimby politely argued. He gestured to the piles of coins and gems around the room. “Your treasure is everywhere.”
“This is nothing compared to the wealth in my vault,” the Thief King said. He pointed at a large metal door with a silver lock on it. “That magic lock can only be opened with the magic phrase created by the person who locked it. Only I know how to open it, so nobody will ever take my treasure.”
“You truly are the smartest and most cunning thief in the land,” Nimby praised with a happy grin. “I will leave you to your treasure.”
Nimby hid in a dark corner of the castle, sitting still for hours until the Thief King went to open the door to his treasure vault. The halfling thief snuck closer as the Thief King said the phrase to open the magic lock.
“Ducats and coins are the loves of my life,” the Thief King whispered.
Nimby waited patiently behind a nearby curtain. He stood still for hours waiting for the Thief King to leave the treasure vault. It was dark when the Thief King locked the treasure vault using his favorite phrase. Minutes later, Nimby had stolen the lock and left the castle. Wearing the Thief King patch on his chest, he spread word around Rodillen that the former Thief King’s treasure was defenseless. The thieves silently descended upon the castle and took every coin that they could get their hands on. As before, Nimby was summoned to the former Thief King’s castle the next morning, the lock and patch in his hidden pockets.
I halted the story as I listened to Lily’s steady breathing…she was sound asleep. I curled myself around my daughter allowing myself the luxury of holding her while she slept.
A big “Thank You” to Nimby (aka Charles) for writing this wonderful fairy tale that Vanilla will be telling Lily on their Sunday evenings together. Please make sure to go check out Charles’s blog
