The King’s Secret

Once upon a time, in the northern parts of Ireland, there lived a king whose name was Maon. This king had one very peculiar habit that no one understood. You see, his head was always covered with a dark and shadowed hood. And that wasn’t the only odd thing: he never had his hair cut more than once a year.

He didn’t even have a royal barber of his own. Every year, he would choose one of his subjects to trim his hair. The greatest mystery of it all was that not one of these barbers had ever returned home. People were pretty certain that it was the king’s doing. That he had gotten rid of every single one of them, but no one knew why. They all wondered, though.

“Perhaps he’s sent them to another kingdom,” thought one.

“Maybe he paid them so well they retired,” said another.

“He’s a good and just king. I’m sure the barbers are all fine,” said a third. “Right?” No one replied.

However, the real reason for the mystery was the king’s ears. They were truly extraordinary – pointed and curled as if he were an elf. King Maon was terribly ashamed of his ears and he would do anything to protect his awful secret. That’s why everyone and anyone who had ever seen them ended up in the dungeon.

One day, it was a young woodcutter’s turn to take on the role of the king’s barber. His name was Liam, and knowing he would never be seeing his home again, he wasn’t happy in the slightest. You might even say he was a little upset. But he went.

Liam’s eyes fell on the king’s unusual ears the moment Moan took off his hood. Now he knew the king’s…