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AABN:  63147
Title: a book entitled, 'Princess Sophronia and the God of Thunder, part 3'

PART 3

Smoke once again erupted from the amulet, engulfing Thor.  'Fare thee well,
Princess Sophronia.  I found our encounter quite enchanting.  Feel free to
call upon me whenever you wish.'

'I will.  Thank you.'  After Thor disappeared, the wind once again resumed
its former intensity.  Sophronia crawled across the ground until the wind
let up enough for her to stand.  Villagers were beginning to gather at the
edge of the orchard to observe the weather spectacle.  Sophronia pushed
through the crowd and started to head for the castle, until she saw the
king and his entourage on their way to the orchards.

'It's terrible, Your Majesty!' one of the villagers cried.  'Our orchards
are being ruined!'

'Guards, search the perimeter and seize the spellcaster!' ordered the king.

Sophronia approached the king, saying, 'Father!  Something terrible has
happened!'

'Yes, I see that.  An enemy agent has destroyed our village's orchards. 
Did you see who did it, Sophronia?'

'Yes, I did.'  Sophronia breathed a heavy sigh before continuing.  'You can
call off the guards, father.  It was me.  I conjured the windstorm using a
wand.'  She removed the wand from the waistband of her dress and showed it
to him.

The king's countenance immediately changed.  His stance softened, and he
spoke to Sophronia with sadness in in voice, 'I don't understand.  Why did
you do this?'

'The kitchen staff told me that there had been a drought, and that there
was no fresh fruit because of it.  I wanted to help the orchard keepers by
making it rain so the fruit would grow.'

The king smiled.  'I see.  Your heart was in the right place, Sophronia,
but there was a good reason we hadn't made it rain using magic.  You see,
the drought is natural part of our land's climate.  We need a dry season
once a in while so that the land can rest and renew itself.'

Sophronia didn't understand.  'But, what about the orchard keepers? 
Without any fruit, they'll have nothing to sell at the market.  How will
they feed their families?'

'We've already prepared for that.  I had them preserve the fruit so we
could ration it during the dry season.'  The king thought a moment and
added, 'I bet that the kitchen help failed to mention that the royal larder
was full of dried fruit.'

'Um, yes,' Sophronia admitted.  'They did not tell me that.'

'I think you owe someone an apology, Sophronia.'

'You're right.  I should not have taken Mister Seedrick's wand.'  She
offered the wand back to the sorcerer, who was among the king's entourage. 
'I'm sorry.  I only used one charge.'

'It's all right, my dear,' Seedrick replied, accepting the wand.  'But, I
will have to instruct you in the proper usage of a control weather wand in
the future.'  He turned to the king and asked, 'May I restore the weather,
Your Majesty?'

'By all means,' answered the king.  While Seedrick worked his magic, the
king went on to say, 'That was very noble of you, Sophronia.  You could
have avoided responsibility if you had said nothing.  I would have blamed
this mess on one of our kingdom's enemies.'

'I couldn't have let someone else take the blame for what I had done, and I
should have spoken to you before acting rashly.  You could have explained
what was going on, and I wouldn't have worried.'

'Quite right,' the king answered as the ambient wind lessened to a gentle
breeze.  'As punishment, you will follow Seedrick's instructions to restore
the village orchards.'  The king paused a moment, and then added, 'And,
you're grounded for a month.'

'Yes, father.'  Sophronia tried not to pout.

CONCLUSION

Having learned her lessons about respecting authority, property and magic,
Sophronia labored under the instructions of Seedrick for many days to cast
the spells necessary to restore the village orchards.  She made good use of
the time spent grounded by learning not only how to properly use a control
weather wand, but even learning how to cast the spell herself.