It had become the habit of the Dragon King to tell the High Prince that he had to eat the entirety of his meal for two nights in a row in order to be allowed to have visiting dignitaries during the non business days. Such technique worked in the past, so the Kingdom used it again on this day. "Son, if you do not eat this meal, even though you ate what the Queen made last night, you will not have visitors this weekend and you birthday present will be delayed," said the Dragon King. "I'm heading to manage the kingdom, but I do not want to hear that your mother had issues with you when I return."
The addition of the High Prince's schooling made it necessary for the Dragon King to establish such warnings before entertaining his kingly duties since both would not see each other until the banquet at the end of the day, if they were lucky. "Yes, father. Everything will go as you wish," said the High Prince.
The High Prince and the Dragon King left for the day and the Queen watched over the castle diligently. When it came time to prepare the feast, the Princess of Dragons watched over her shoulder. "I no like you dinner tonight," she said. "You cannot say that until you try it," said the Queen of Night. The Princess watched her work with disdain, "I don't want to eat that." "Then you will go to bed. Just because the High Prince isn't here all day, the rules do not change. Eat this or go to bed," said the Queen of night patiently.
The time came for the High Prince to return but the carriage was late...extremely late. "Can I have a snack before dinner? I'm STARVING!" exclaimed the High Prince. "Me too!" chimed in the Princess of Dragons. The "Spare" Prince added his two cents of gibberish that could only be considered to be in agreement with his siblings as well. "No. We are going home and dinner is going into the oven. You only have to wait 20 minutes."
They continued to whine about being oh so hungry and needing to eat something immediately while the meal cooked. The "Spare" Prince resorted to climbing the shelves of the pantry to try to get something he felt he could open himself. He did not succeed. When the meal was ready, the Queen of Night calmly distributed the food to the banquet table. The "Spare" Prince climbed into the chair eagerly trying to pick up the food while it was still too hot, nearly dropping it onto the floor. The High Prince and Princess of Dragons trudged to the banquet, wishing they did not have to eat this food.
"It actually looks good, mother. Smells good too. What is it?" asked the High Prince. "Mini Lasagnas," replied the Queen knowing that if she said "mini turkey lasagna cups" which meant it contained turkey, they would immediately not want it. She cut it up of eat of their plates to allow it to cool faster and then began shoving the food into the "Spare" Prince's mouth. Saying that he loved it was an understatement. Both the High Prince and Princess of Dragons was given two mini lasagnas which they both struggled to eat, but the "Spare" Prince ate his two and went to the kitchen to get more. He begged the Queen of Night for another which he ate and then asked for yet more. He ate three and half faster than it took his siblings to eat their two.
The High Prince slowly trudged through the food, showing that even though the look and smell met his criteria of liking, the taste did not. Without complaint though, he continued to work. The Princess of Dragons, holding true to her earlier comments, did not want to eat the food. She asked for more cheese even though it was covered. She asked to have anything crunchy removed from it. She tried to take tiny bites. At last the Queen of Night tired of these antics because she knew that eventually the princess would indeed eat it, she sent a timer. "When the bell chimes, you will get a shower and go to bed per the King's rules," she said as calmly as possible. "That goes for you as well my son."
"I'm eating it! Why do I have to have a timer?" he huffed. "If a timer is set, everyone will have to abide by it. Call it a new rule made by me." The Queen was tired of the fighting. It had been a month, and she really felt that things should be easier than they were by now.
The High Prince returned to old tactics with the Princess of Dragons at that point. While he may not want to eat the meal, knowing that his sister not eating would upset the Queen caused him to try harder to get the princess to eat. "I'm winning, dear sister. I'm going to beat you and get all the cookies!" "Mommy, feed me!" the Princess of Dragons screeched. Thinking that the Queen would helped her finish her food faster, the battle between siblings began. The High Prince began taking bigger bites in an effort to make sure he finished first. It was a battle the Queen was happy to have. The High Prince completed his meal first giving him the desired bragging rights and two of the cookies they both sought. The Princess saw him eating the cookies and believed he would consume them all, so she finished her three bites in record time.
No one went to bed early, even though all the children wished to eat more food less than thirty minutes later. It was overall a happy evening since that made two meals in a row that all three kids ate without any major bargaining or fighting.
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