Prince Dewayne's POV

Prince Dewayne at once felt unprepared like he was at royal court and underdressed. He walked up to the three ladies standing about the oblong stone chanting for some important and formal ritual. He said nothing, not wanting to interrupt their lovely song, with the gentle rhythm, like a tree gently swaying in the breeze, like being rocked in a cradle, in the gentle breeze, ready for sleep to take him in its gentle embrace.

Exhausted Prince Dewayne lulled by the hypnotic chanting

Suddenly, he realized they had stopped chanting and were all looking him up and down, smiling. He knew he should say some greeting, but he feared he might be disrespectful to be the first one to speak.

After a long moment of feeling their gentle eyes undressing him and inspecting him, he felt he had to speak, "I am Dewayne, Prince of Athenia. I mean no disrespect. I just..." He really had no idea what he wanted or what justified his intrusion aside from his own curiosity and pride.

The witch in the middle finished his sentence better than he could, "You just ... answered our summons. You can be of service to protect Athenia tonight."

Protect Athenia? Now, he could not possibly leave until he heard the rest of this story.

Three powerful witches in the moonlight

The youngest of the three raised a cup, "Let us toast to our hero. Oh, shall we pour him a cup as well? Come, hero Dewayne and drink with us."

Dewayne barely noticed that when one of the women was speaking to him, the other two mumbled something just barely too quiet for him to make out, but he felt it was complimentary of him and comforting. Something about gratification and listening attentively.

He stepped forward to the stone they were using as a table, instantly forgiving her for not addressing him with his correct princely title. After all, he had usually felt the title "Prince" was more of a constraint on him than an honor.

They produced a fourth cup, a bit smaller than theirs, and each woman poured half of her drink into it.

He strained to reach across the stone altar to take the small cup, then stood erect again.

They all raised their cups to the moonlight.

The young one (about the same age as the prince) toasted, "We drink to tonight's defeat of the invading armies of the Earl of Banewasp"

Prince Dewayne was shocked to hear this, but he could not not drink to the defeat of their long-time rival.

As they sipped, he took a swallow of the wine, only to find it was much stronger than any he had tasted before, burning his throat with a lasting warmth. He tried to breathe but coughed and sputtered. His knees buckled beneath him a bit as the warm fumes in his throat and lungs throttled him so surprisingly.

The women laughed at his weakness.

What Prince Dewayne thinks he looks like, and what he actually looks like (after taking his first drink of hard liquor.)

The young woman said, "Don't be ashamed if this liquor is too strong for you. It overpowers many men."

He had to restore his manhood in their eyes, so he gulped the remainder of his cup, swishing the fiery liquid around in his mouth before swallowing it, now prepared for its effects. He stifled another cough and breathed slowly, feeling what felt like the ghosts of wild horses galloping in his throat and chest.

"I believe I could acquire a taste for this wine," he said carefully.

"It is not wine. It has no name in this kingdom, but in other realms, it is called distilled spirits."