Prince Hew and the Three - Legged Race Content . " Hafzi ! " Prince Hew called as he burst into my office . " Is everything ready for the Festival of Blades ? " I stood , trying to cover Corvus Direnni ' s " Principles of Conjuration " with a parchment . The Prince ' s eyes flashed . " Reading Direnni again , eh ? You know how I feel about magic in the palace , Petty - Vizier ! " " It . . . it isn ' t mine , Your Highness ! I confiscated it from Jengesh the page boy . " I smiled unconvincingly . " Hmph . And why aren ' t you wearing your official petty - vizier turban ? " I glanced at the awful magenta - and - green headwear on the corner of my desk and tried not to make a face . " It ' s too warm to wear a hat , Your Magnificence . " " Nonsense , it ' s the middle of First Seed ! But I want to know if preparations for the festival are on schedule . You know how much my people love a good party ! " I shook my head . " They ' re Redguards , Your Highness . They don ' t really go to parties much . Or at all . " " That ' s about to change ! Now , are we prepared for pin - the - tail - on - the - camel ? " " Yes , Your Highness . Or we will be , once Morad gets back from having the splint put on his leg . " " Bobbing for gorapples ? " " The tubs , fruit baskets , and towels are all lined up in the west courtyard . " " The Town - Guards ' three - legged race ? " I cleared my throat . " Well , there we have a problem , Your Sublimity , because none of the Guards have signed up for the event . They ' re . . . reluctant , because they remember how you punished Corporal Zaqudh after last year ' s race . " " He was cheating ! I had to punish him ! And after all , he still has most of his toes . " " Even so , I don ' t believe they ' ll do it . " " Hmph . " The Prince tugged on his moustache irritably . " What if you can assure them that I know they won ' t cheat by untying their legs , because they won ' t be able to ? " This was bad . It meant the Prince had an idea , and it was always bad when the Prince had an idea . " What do you mean , ' won ' t be able to ' ? " I asked warily . " Ha ha ! Dhorlun , come here , " he called . His bodyguard ducked his head under the lintel and came in from the hallway . " Hafzi , stand in front of that Yokuda n urn , " Prince Hew said . " Dhorlun , stand next to the Petty - Vizier . " I shrugged , and we took our positions , Big Dhorlun at my side , topping my height by a head and a half . Prince Hew raised his hands in an arcane gesture and I realized , to my horror , that he was about to try to cast a spell — but before I could protest , it was done . The spell was invoked , the magicka surged over me , and I felt my left leg weld itself to Dhorlun ' s right . " No ! " I cried . " Highness , what have you done ? " The Prince gave his moustache a self - satisfied twirl . " Did you think you were the only one who could read Corvus Direnni , Hafzi ? I stripped the binding clause out of Koron ' s Peremptory Summons , and discovered I could use it to bind other things than the will of a Daedra ! Impressive , isn ' t it ? " I just gaped at him . Meanwhile , Big Dhorlun looked down at our magically - bound legs , grunted , and then tried to step forward . I had to grab his arm to keep from falling over , and even then I nearly dragged both of us down . Dhorlun shook his head . " This is bad , Master . Don ' t like it . Make it go away , Master . " " Oh , very well . Unbind ! " the Prince said , and reversed the spell , but added an inadvisable gestural flourish that funneled far too much magicka into it . Dhorlun and I flew apart , hurled to opposite sides of the room , and the anciend Yokudan urn behind us shattered explosively . Suddenly a swirling cloud appeared above the shattered jar , and a hollow , ringing voice cried , " Free ! FREE ! After an eon bound in that stinking jug , I ' m free ! " The cloud rapidly coalesced into an armored floating torso with a helmed head and four arms , each of which gripped a huge scimitar . " Now I take my vengeance on the world of mortals ! " The scimitars began to whirl menacingly . I glanced at Dhorlun , but he ' d gone head - first into my marble bust of Morwha and was still stunned . " Highness ! " I cried . " Use your spell ! Bind that thing before it chops us into hors - d ' ouevres ! " Prince Hew ' s eyes goggled with horror . " I c - can ' t ! The unbinding spell drained all my magicka ! It ' s up to you , Hafzi ! " I ducked as two scimitars whistled over my head , and dashed behind my desk . The thing was between me and the door — it WAS up to me to bind it , but I hadn ' t cast a spell in months . Prince Hew shrieked as a scimitar slashed the tassels off his golden fez . " Koron ' s Prison , Hafzi ! It ' s our only chance ! " " But that needs a container , and the urn is smashed ! " " Use this ! " And the Prince tossed me the magenta - and - green petty - vizier turban . Three scimitars came down on my desk , smashing it to flinders , as I inverted the turban and cast Koron ' s Perdurable Prison . " NOOO ! " the demon cried as it dwindled into the hated hat . " I loathe the scent of hair oil . . . ! " And then it was gone . I was still trembling , but Prince Hew blinked , took a deep breath , and smiled . " Well , that didn ' t end so badly , did it ? At least , not as bad as the Iron Regatta , or that business with the pet toku gava ! Now , where were we ? " I helped Big Dhorlun up out of the marble dust of the shattered statue . " We were canceling the Guards ' three - legged race , remember ? " " I suppose you ' re right , Hafzi . You usually are . " He brightened . " I have it ! After the gorapple bobbing contest , we ' ll have them use their crossbows to shoot the fruit off the heads of the losers ! Oh , and . . . just get rid of that turban . "