Finally, at breakfast time, they went downstairs. The king was there already and they sat down next to him. "These are the rules: The riddling will go on for seven days. Each day, both parties will receive a riddle from the other party and attempt to answer it correctly by the next morning. There will be 30 seconds to explain your answer. Oh, and by the way, it will be me against you one of you on the even days. That means the second, fourth and sixth day. And me and my court against both of you on the other days. The answer shall be written in ink and will be announced at breakfast the next morning. If I win, you both shall die. If you win, well that won't be likely, but if you win, you can do with me as you please. I also decided that a tie means I win."

      "He get's an unfair advantage," whispered Veronishia.

      "Who says we can't beat him? With that so called advantage, we will still win," Kristopheras whispered back.

      The days that followed were sometimes nerve-racking. At the end of four days, the score was 4 to 3, the twins leading. On the fifth morning, the riddle they received was "What is black and white and red all over?"

      "I hate this riddle, it could be anything. It could be a sunburned skunk or a blushing skunk or a skunk that fell face first into a puddle of red ink...,"complained Veronishia. They finally decided on a sunburned skunk. The next morning they discovered that it was a tortured half-dead bleeding skunk hanging off a rope by the feet. "He's such a monster," whispered Veronishia as she shook her head. The score was now tied as the king had answered his riddle correctly. "I didn't know the king knew so much," Kristopheras said to Veronishia. The next day, both teams answered correctly.

      The score was still tied. Veronishia and Kristopheras were nervous now because if they lost, their young lives would end. They decided on this riddle of which they hoped the king could not answer: "What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"

      The next day, they received this riddle:
A young lad and a princess fell in love. The lad asked the king permission to marry the princess. The king did not want his daughter to marry this youth of low birth. However, he had to sound fair. He told the boy that he would lay two pieces of paper on an opaque table the next day. One slip of paper would be written death, the other would be written marriage. The boy accepted and left. On his way out, he overheard the king's adviser saying this to the king 'You are actually giving this youth a chance to marry your daughter?' The king replied 'Be assured, on both papers shall be written death'. The youth went home to think this over. The next morning, he was granted permission to marry the princess. How did he do it?"

      "What a long riddle. How can I solve this one?" Kristopheras thought.

      In his dream that night he found the answer. He was the boy and Veronishia was the princess. When he married her on the spot he was so happy that he rolled of his bed and woke up. "Too bad it was only a dream," he said out loud. He hoped the solution in his dream would work.

      At breakfast, the king's answer was: "A dog that trotted happily until he broke two of his legs and they were amputated in the afternoon. By evening, an artificial leg had been produced so he had three legs."

      "Very creative," thought Kristopheras. The answer was, however, a human. In the early stages of life, a human crawls. The arms and the legs make up the four feet. As a child and an adult the person walks on two feet. When the person becomes old, he walks with a cane thus he has three feet.

      It was time for Kristopheras's answer. He was confident he knew the right solution. The problem was, everyone was looking at him; staring it seemed. He became nervous, and could not remember the answer. "I...I," began Kristopheras as he searched his head for the answer. The last time he was up here he had not felt so much pressure. This answer, after all, was a matter of life and death. "Come on, you must know the answer," Veronishia said to him silently. She looked at him, hoping that maybe somehow he would hear her words. However, he could not. Her pleading look only made him more nervous. "Well?" the now jolly king prompted.

      "Don't give up," Kristopheras said to himself. He knew it was somewhere in the back of his mind but he could not find it. " 9, 8, 7, 6, 5," the very excited king started the countdown. Kristopheras could feel beads of sweat on his forehead as the final seconds were counted off. "2, 1, 0, I WIN!" shouted the ecstatic king leaping to his feet. While several of the king's courtiers and his adviser began shouting, screaming and likewise for the their king's success, all Kristopheras could think of was why and how he had failed.