The Queen of Swords | Lions & Spiders

Arielle did not fit in well with her family and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

While she weaved gorgeous rugs on her loom, every other rug would inexplicably turn into a spider web. Of course, a ready-made spider web was an invitation for arachnids to move in, which they did.

Unfortunately, everyone in Arielle’s family was an arachnophobe, except her. She was not afraid of spiders in the least. In fact, she kind of liked them.

She had to work, so quitting weaving altogether was out. People paid good money for the rugs that weren’t spider webs.

That evening they had a family meeting and talked about it. The decision was made that Arielle would do her weaving in the forest rather than at home. It was a hassle hauling her loom back & forth every day, but there was peace in the family, and no one was fearful.

There was just one thing that bothered Arielle. She overheard her parents say that she would likely never find a husband. Who in the world would want to live amongst spiders? Her mother went on to say that Arielle didn’t look like anyone in the family. Perhaps they brought the wrong baby home.

She’d show them. Spiders were not necessarily a deal-breaker. There had to be someone out there who could overlook spiders and focus on her.

One day as Arielle was weaving a rug in the forest, a stranger came up behind her and watched for a while. Finally, he spoke, and she turned around, and there stood the most handsome, muscular and gorgeous man she’d ever seen.     

Over the course of their conversation, it was discovered that he thought spiders were cute, and she did not find the lion skin he wore the least bit malodorous. It was a match made in Mount Olympus.

They made a date for that evening, and the rest, as they say, is history.