Once, in a far-off country called Horonia, there was a terrible princess. Her name was Patrina, or Patty for short. Patty was terrible because she had such a quick temper and was always having people put to death. This caused great sadness for her father, King Samlin. The king often took Patty aside and explained to her how it was bad business to always be putting one’s own subjects to death, but it never did any good. As soon as something set her off (and it was more often than not something as insignifcant as the drop of a hat), Patty would have someone’s head lopped off.

Now there was in Horonia, a young man named Marco. Marco thought Patty was the most beautiful woman in the world. He would have loved her unreservedly and wholeheartely, and often came close to doing so. Every time he fell in love with her, though, there was a horrible bloodletting. Marco came from a very large family, and his relatives had fallen more than once to Patty’s tantrums.