The Goddess Evendra was fair and beautiful and fragile, and the emperor of Sior was so taken with her he called upon his artificers to create the perfect crown. It was crafted of silver and jade and the whispers of hope mothers give to the night while their sons are off to war. After ninety-nine nights the crafting of the Whispering Tiara was complete, and on the hundredth night the emperor left it in Evendra's temple. On the following morning it was gone.
Evendra admired the crown, at the way it set off her eyes, and how it murmured comfort into the ears of any who wore it. But she was the Goddess of Humility, and did not feel that she deserved to bear such a work of art. Always looking for ways to show the other gods that there were things beyond their grasp, she offered the Whispering Tiara as a prize and set forth three impossible tasks. |