I kept having the same dream that a little black dwarf came into my room and carried me to the house of a soldier. He was angry with my father for dismissing him after years of faithful service. He made me do everything he commanded, and then at dawn, when the cock crowed, the little dwarf carried me back to my room.

I finally told my father, and he suggested that I leave a shoe in the house of the soldier to establish whether or not this vivid experience was in fact a dream.

The shoe was found, and the soldier was taken by the king. He’s in prison now, but I sense that he won’t be in prison for long….

The Princess Who Serves a Soldier in The Blue Light, Grimm. Picture by Edward Gorey.