As Huinesoron lay chained in the dungeon, he refused to despair. True, he had lost the duel of song, and thus condemned both himself and his companion to imprisonment and torture, but he was an Elf of the highest calibre, and would not be broken!

It had begun not long ago, when Neshomeh had arrived in his kingdom with a token that bought his aid. She was fair, for a mortal; and she had requested his aid on a dangerous quest. He would not have abandoned his kingdom--he was a faithful king!--but for the love he had shared with her mother, VixenMage, whose ring she now bore*. He could not refuse that token, and the promise it represented. And so they had set out on a dangerous journey to claim a Silmaril--a Silmaril that would win Neshomeh the beauteous Phobos' hand in marriage. (The two were in love--such was her tale--but Phobos' parents opposed the match...**) The journey to--and then through--the lands entitled the Bakery had been arduous; when at last they had neared the stronghold, Huinesoron had used his song to disguise them (that is, himself, Neshomeh, and ten faithful warriors***) as cookie cutters, but he had lost the ensuing duel.

"Be of good heart," the ellon said to her now. "We will yet escape this dungeon."

"Dungeon, hah!" Neshomeh proclaimed heartily, and then sighed. "Huinesoron, how do you propose we escape? We may yet loose these chains, but the guards are many. And if we could not defeat the Dread Kaitlyn, who is only the Greatly Feared Pretzel's lieutenant, how may we yet claim a Silmaril from Pretzel's dark crown and escape the Bakery?"

"We shall find a way," Huinesoron assured her, and several of the ten faithful warriors nodded in agreement. "We--"

In that moment, the dungeon's door opened, and the Dread Pirate Kaitlyn walked in. "Well?" she said. "Have you considered your situation? You are alone, friendless, utterly at my mercy..."

Footnotes:

*Mind you, it was not purely his love for VixenMage# that bade him aid her daughter. Not that he hadn't loved her--short as the romance had been, it was strong--but she had saved his life on the field of battle. In thanks, and as token of his love and friendship, he had given her a ring, which her daughter now bore. (That ring, later called the Ring of VixenMage, would one day be worn by Neshomeh's distant descendant...but that's a tale for another time.)

(#Huinesoron was an Elf who had many loves, or at least, several more than was the norm. In the West, long ago, he had loved a fair lady by the name of Lily Winterwood. They had been betrothed, but she would not follow him from their home; and so he set off alone, and would wed no other--well, not until...you'll see.)

**Phobos was the most beautiful Elf in existence, surpassing even Huinesoron and, more importantly, Huinesoron's cousin, Delta Juliette, who had also been given the name 'Well-formed' (and was currently on a long quest to regain the three Silmarils, but that's another tale.) He was the son of Boarders and Shipping, the rulers of the Board, and he had a voice to match his physical form. (Shipping was a Maia, which went quite a ways towards explaining Phobos' sheer gorgeousness.) He had been dancing and singing in the woods when Neshomeh had seen him, thought she was dreaming, and, awestruck, named him Tinuvion--Nightingale. Phobos had hesitated, unsure what to make of the mortal--but then he had fled. Upon their next meeting, however, they spoke more; and, soon, they found themselves in love...Upon declaring said love, however, they found that Shipping and Boarders had reservations. Eventually, Boarders had declared that Neshomeh must prove herself worthy of Phobos; and that to do so, she must bring back a Silmaril from the Greatly Feared Pretzel's dark crown. And so Neshomeh had bid her love adieu, and began the journey to Netilardo to beg Huinesoron's aid...

***Why could only ten warriors journey with Huinesoron and Neshomeh from Netilardo? Well, Outhra and Sergio Turbo, two of Delta Juliette's younger brothers, had earlier settled in Netilardo (along with Sergio's wife, firemagic, and their progeny). They had turned the minds of Huinesoron's people away from him, reminding them of the Greatly Feared Pretzel's terror and making veiled references to the Oath they and their siblings had sworn##. And thus it was that only ten faithful redshirts warriors accompanied Huinesoron and Neshomeh to the Bakery.

(##The Oath. Well, that's yet another tale, but it's one that's too long to be told in a footnote, and so it shall be left for another time. Suffice it to say that it involved threats of violence.)

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