By Jenn Moffat

Once upon at time in the Land of the Lords, the Lord of Fools, discovered that there would be a masquerade party to which all the Lords would be invited. Delighted with this news, the Lord of Fools spent his days waiting for his invitation to appear and planned the wonderful tricks and jokes that he would play on the other Lords during the party.

He waited and waited, but nothing came.

Telling himself that the invitation just got lost in the mail, he went over to have tea with his friend, the Lord of Illusions, who he called “Illusie”. But when he got to his friend's house, he found out that all the Lords were invited to the party, except for Fool. Illusie rather expected Fool to become angry, but was surprised when he did not.

In fact, Fool calmly asked if Illusie would let him go in the Lord of Illusions' place. At the end of the party, when Fool proved that he could be a good guest, he would reveal his true identity and all the other Lords would be sorry for not thinking better of him.

Illusie agreed and gave Fool his invitation.

When Fool got home he planned what he would do at the party. He really wanted to prove that he could be good. Since the party was a masquerade, he decided what he would wear. He would borrow the Lord of Illusions' favourite mask with the three red eyes; however, he would keep his dress the same as that which he normally wore. He would pretend to be the Lord of Illusions, pretending to be the Lord of Fools - the perfect disguise.

And of course it was. When he was presented at the ball as the Lord of Illusions, every Lord thought his disguise was perfect, and so happy were they with his "costume" that they all starting talking about the Lord of Fools. They called him names, like "Joker", and insulted his work. Trying to keep calm, Fool sneaked away from the chattering Lords and got himself a drink. He wandered over to a dark corner and started grumbling to himself, while planning all the ways he would get back at the bad-mouthing Lords.

But then he saw the Angels. They were entering the Ballroom with their beautiful coloured wings and their silver and golden masks designed to look like tropical birds. All except for one, who seemed different from the others Angels. This Angel had dark red wings and short black hair, which contrasted with the ankle-long hair of the other Angels. He was not wearing a bird mask, but was pretending to be a devil with a mask carved of ruby and tiny horns protruding from his wild short hair.

Fool found himself watching this strange Angel for the rest of the night, understanding that feeling of being different and excluded from the others. He started to wish that he could take that Angel home and talk to him. Surely the Angel would understand his feelings.

But all too soon, the clock struck twelve and the guests began to leave. Fool ran after the Angel, wishing to at least know his name, but alas the Angel had disappeared. He returned home a little sad about how the night had gone. He’d forgotten how mean the other Lords were.

The next day he went to visit Illusie to return the mask and told him about the Angel. Illusie told him that the Angel's was simply called "Angel", because he didn't rule over anything yet - and thus, had no true name. However, so happy was he about gaining Angel's identification that he kissed the surprised Illusie on the cheek and ran out the door without finishing his tea.

"Angel! Angel!" said Fool as he wandered home. He told himself that he must find Angel and bring him to his wondrous home so that he might talk with him. But how would he find Angel? And how could he convince Angel to trust him? He pondered this as he walked. Since the Angels lived up in the Kingdom of Clouds, he had to figure out how to get up there, since he could not fly.

First he tried making red wings, wings that matched Angel’s, but he crashed to the ground. He looked very silly.

Next he made a really big kite, like a glider; however, he could not get high enough to reach the city in the sky.

Then before he could give up, he got an idea and, bowing his head, went to visit the Lord of Wind. At first Wind refused him and demanded to know the reason why he wanted to get to the Kingdom of the Clouds. So he told Wind about Angel and how he wanted to meet him again. Wind looked at Fool carefully and noticed how Fool seemed to sincerely blush when he mentioned Angel’s name. Wind sighed knowingly and had Fool promise to never trick her ever again; and thus, Wind promised to grant him his wish. However, before he went to the city he had to find out where Angel would be. This he had learned from a friend of Illusie’s; the Lord of Secrets. Because Angel was a bit of an outcast, He lived alone but for one friend; his roommate the Angel of Knowledge. Because of his roommate Angel had a love of reading and could be often found in a small wooded-cloud grove (where the lavender and holly grow) reading a book. Knowing this, Fool used one of his magical masks and disguised himself as a black-haired Angel, right down to the ankle-long hair.

Using the giant kite he got the Lord of Wind to push him up into the sky towards the Kingdom of the Clouds. He landed and tied the kite to a tree-shaped cloud. He then snuck into the City of Angels and quietly inquired about a grove where the lavender and holly grow. The Angels pointed the way, warning him to be careful to not go here because of the odd Angel that reads there. "That Angel is rather strange," they told him.

Still disguised as an Angel he visited the grove and spied on the red-winged Angel, who had fallen asleep with book in hand. For a long time Fool hid behind a tree and watched. But when Angel woke up to leave Fool panicked and ducked behind some bushes and watched him go. Believing that Angel would be back the next day, he pulled from within his robes a magical pouch in which he carried his things. He decided to stay the night and wait for him to return.

The next day, when he saw Angel approaching he hid himself away and waited for Angel to get settled. After an hour, he gathered his courage, left his hiding place and walked towards Angel. Angel was startled for a moment, before quickly standing up. "I am sorry," said Angel. And he told Fool that he would leave if the black-haired Angel wanted him to. Fool smiled, for he was still disguised, and told Angel to stay. Angel was confused. "But won't I be in your way. Won't I disturb you?" He asked.
"No," said Fool. "Stay and finish your book."
Finally Angel sat back down and continued reading, but he kept looking up at Fool. Meanwhile Fool pretended to pick holly berries.
"What are you reading?" asked Fool.
"The Mating rituals of the Zaratan..." Angel mumbled quietly.
"The what?" asked Fool. "What a strange book." He sat down beside Angel and started to read. "When a male Zaratan and a female Zaratan love each other very much they decide to have children. Thusly, the male Zaratan positions himself behind the female Zaratan and..."
"Hey!" said Angel. "That's not what it says."
"I know," said Fool. "But this is way more interesting. Don't you agree?" Angel paused for only a moment and then giggled and nodded.
"Ok then, where was I, oh yes, ... and the Male Zaratan pushed inside with his..."

The two continued to make up the "mating rituals of the Zaratan" not noticing that the sun had started to set and they could no longer make out the words on the page, but that didn’t really matter anyway.
"Oh," said Angel. "I have to go."
"Will you come back here tomorrow?" asked Fool.
"Yes, if it's okay with you." said Angel.
"Please do," said Fool and he told Angel to bring a new book for the next day so that they might "read" together again. Angel nodded and disappeared into the trees.

Angel and Fool meet the next day, and the day after that... and the day after that. Occasionally, Angel would bring food for them. And Fool would be there, waiting. This continued for some time.

Meanwhile, back in the Land of the Lords, the other Lords started to wonder where Fool went. Without the Lord of Fools, the Land of the Lords did not seem so funny or entertaining anymore. They went to visit the Lord of Illusions, and while he offered them tea and cookies, he told them nothing about the location of the Joker. At first they thought his disappearance was part of a new prank, but as time passed that idea left their minds.
"Where is the Lord of Fools?" They wondered. "Where is Joker?"

Then one day the Lord of Wind, who had just returned from a long trip, invited her friends over to try some new Lemonade she had found. She invited the Lord of Flame, the Lord of Earth and the Lord of the Sea. During their conversations, the others told her about Joker’s disappearance and the Wind asked what was going on? Thus, the other Lords told her that Joker hadn’t re-appeared.
"Oh," said Wind. "He's not missing. He's visiting an Angel in the Kingdom of Clouds."
"He is?" asked Sea.
"Yep," said Wind. "He has fallen quite in love with an Angel.
"But why do the Angels allow him to be in the Kingdom of Clouds?" asked Flame.
"Don't they know about what he does?" asked Earth.
"Oh," said Wind. "I doubt they know that he is there. I saw him disguise himself as a black-haired Angel."
"He did?" asked the other Lords together. "And they don't know. Oh, but imagine the tricks he is playing on them. They must be warned."
"But!" said Wind. "He's in love.”
"That doesn't matter," said the others. "They must be warned." Shortly after, they sent a messenger to warn the Angels of the danger in their midst.

A few days later, Fool and Angel were enjoying the day with a new book in hand, not a care in the world. Suddenly they were surrounded by a group of armed Angels who pulled Angel behind them and pointed sharp weapons at Fool. The leader of the guard, the Angel of the Gate, walked up to Fool and removed his mask, revealing his true face to Angel who was peering over another guard's shoulder.
"You tricked me," said the Angel, crushed by Fool’s deception. Angel turned and ran away. "But..." said Fool, but it was too late, Angel was gone.
"You should be ashamed Trickster!" said Gate, and they picked up the Lord of Fools and carried him roughly all the way down to the Land of the Lords.
"But I didn't play any tricks on any of you. Why are you tossing me out?" cried Fool.
"Because you are the vile Trickster, the Lord of Fools and thus can't be trusted," said Gate. The Angels promptly flew away, leaving the Lord of Fools.

All alone, Fool sat down and cried. "Now I'll never see Angel. The Lords will not help me and the Angels will not let me go back to the Kingdom of Clouds. Whatever should I do?" And for the first time, Fool didn't know what to do or how to act. And so he went home and sat on his golden throne and was very sad.

END OF VOLUME 1

Continue to Volume 2

Ending Poem
Love is a Fool who is blind to all others,
hopeless and wanting and desired by lovers
Love is an Angel who can forgive any sin,
nameless and smiling to friend and to kin.