"A gift for Her Majesty, from the High Queen," the vassal said, sweeping a low bow. "She hopes you will take good care of it."
The Queen of the Valley was not fooled by his display of deference. She felt rage mixed with despair at the sight of the High Queen's gift. Behind the bars of the cage that contained it, she could see the unmistakable pallid tentacles that emanated from a tightly furled bulb. As she watched, the High Queen's envoy carefully unloaded the cage from the wagon and left it there in the courtyard for everyone to see: an immature white tentacula.
The High Queen had many different ways of keeping her territories in check, and this was probably one of the worst and most humiliating. With this, she was reprimanding the Queen of Valley for testing the bounds the past year. This was because the only way to feed the white tentacula was with the bodily secretions of a full blooded royal. Disguised in the vassal's message was a threat: someone from the Queen of the Valley's direct bloodline must be sacrificed, or else the High Queen would use that as an excuse to destroy her and her kin.
But who to choose? What a terrible decision now lay with the queen. The Queen of the Valley had seven children. The eldest daughter was already being trained as her successor, and the next four eldest sons and daughters were promised in marriage. Of her youngest children, her daughter had already demonstrated potential for becoming a remarkable scholar. So then this left...
"Let me, Mother," her youngest son said quietly, stepping forward. Just a few years into adulthood, he smiled at his mother and gently took her hands. "I am the only one you do not need. I will take care of the creature and make sure the High Queen is satisfied."
"Oh, my son..." The Queen's eyes filled with tears of remorse and gratitude. "Thank you."
And so, every night her youngest son would enter the stone chamber where the white tentacula was kept. The Queen instructed guards to stand outside in case he should ever shout for help, but he never did. The guards outside would wince and cringe at the sounds that emanated from the chamber: wet, slurping sounds....moans of what could have been pain or ecstasy...and, then, a stuttering gasp followed by silence. Every night the youngest son would emerge from the chamber some hours later, his hair tousled and his clothes in disarray, his cheeks flushed and eyes unfocused like after a night of unrestrained debauchery. He would stumble his way back to his rooms on unsteady legs, and no one would see him again until the next morning.
True to his promise, the white tentacula thrived. When it first arrived, it was no larger than a potted fig tree. After nearly two months of care from the youngest prince, it was large enough to fill the chamber with its curling, probing tentacles. The guards would open the door to the chamber using a long pole with a hook, recoiling in disgust at the thick, slimy fluid that oozed out across the stone floor as though the plantlike beast were salivating over the prince's arrival. They could not understand how the prince could walk right up to the chamber door, shoulders back and head held high, perfectly calm over his terrible duty.
Six months later, the High Queen herself came for a visit. The Queen of the Valley buried down the hatred in her heart and showed her the chamber where the white tentacula lived.
"You have done well," the High Queen said approvingly. "The creature is fully grown now and can be released into the wild to mate." She turned to the youngest prince. "Thank you for looking for my gift with such consideration. I can see the effects it has had on you."
Indeed, just as the white tentacula looked as healthy as ever, so did the youngest prince. His nightly encounters had given him a youthful glow that would never fade, and his stamina and endurance far surpassed that of his older brothers and sisters.
The High Queen lifted the youngest prince's chin with a long, delicate finger. "Will you serve me as faithfully has you have my gift?"
"Yes, my queen," answered the youngest prince, and he meant it, for the High Queen was very beautiful despite her cruel reputation.
And so the white tentacula was released into the wild and the High Queen brought the youngest prince back home to live happily ever after.