Thus it was, Prince Arturo brought Momo to live at his family’s castle along a wide plain, and what a grand castle it was! It had high walls, towers, fountains, and banners floating along the walls. Within the castle, elaborately carved wainscoting, famous artworks and statuary adorned walls and niches. The grand ballroom was large enough for hundreds of well-dressed ladies and gentlemen to enjoy.
The castle was surrounded by beautiful gardens of all kinds: a stroll garden, a rock garden, a miniature garden, a statuary garden, a water garden, flower gardens, and a maze. Each garden blended into all the other gardens in such a way that it was impossible to tell where one kind of garden ended and the others began. All of these gardens were joined by pathways and by streams with waterfalls and fountains. Hidden behind the castle were an herb garden, a vegetable garden, greenhouses, and stables full of fine horses. One of the bridle paths followed a small creek running through the nearby mudflats, and from there to the sea.
Among the clothes Arturo provided Momo was a set of riding clothes. The two of them often went out riding to various places in the kingdom. On one such occasion, they rode to a patch of dry ground along the mudflats, where they laid out a picnic lunch.
It was on that day that Momo learned that Beauteous Kingdom had enemies that would stop at nothing to harm the royal family. A man with a bow and arrows crept from the forest. Unseen by Momo and Arturo, the man moved closer and closer, until he felt close enough to shoot an arrow into the prince.
As he drew back his bow to shoot, a sparrow hawk swooped down from the sky, snatched the hat from the man’s head, and flew away with it. The man’s shriek of surprise caused Momo and Arturo to turn around to look. There they saw the man running after the bird, screaming, “Come back here, you stupid bird!” Of course, the bird had no intention of coming back, and this made the man look foolish. As he ran across the mudflat, a mangrove tree put out one of its roots and caused the man to trip over it and fall face down into the mud.
Covered with mud, the man was angrier than ever. He kicked the tree root and said words that shouldn’t be repeated. Then he turned to look at Momo and Arturo. He shook both fists at them, said something else that shouldn’t be repeated, turned, and stormed into the forest.
Arturo, seeing the questioning look in Momo’s eyes, said to her, “Nobody seems to know what his name is. We call him Ghasan the Assassin. Every few weeks or so, he tries to kill someone in the royal family, but he never succeeds. Mainly, he tries to kill me, since I mingle more freely among the people and roam the woodlands. The living things of the forest always protect me.”
He realized just how odd that sounded, so he further explained, “The creatures and other living things of the forest manage to do things to stop him from doing wrong. You see, assassins have an unwritten rule that they must look presentable when they kill somebody. Mainly, they have to look like someone who can scare people. If something makes them look foolish or awkward, they have to go away and, perhaps, try again some other time. A proper assassin can’t allow himself to be seen falling face down in a mud hole or having pigeon droppings on his coat or having his face covered with bee stings. It’s also bad form to try to commit an assassination after someone has seen you get chased by dozens or squirrels, or if you’re seen screaming and shaking your fist at a rabbit. It’s even worse form to commit an assassination when you’ve been sprayed by a skunk; all the assassin can do then is go home, take a bath, burn his clothes, and try again some other time. I have to give Ghasan the Assassin credit for one thing, though: He doesn’t give up.”
Prince Arturo added, “Our kingdom has enemies in a land far away. They hate us for our happiness.”
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