I've added this post which is actually the fairy tale in its entirety, so that you don't have to keep clicking back and forth on the separate pieces in the sidebar's Table of Contents. If you're new to this story and just want to read it from beginning to end, please start here! If you're coming back to finish what you've already started, feel free to pick up wherever you left off!
Part 1
The Prologue
To be the "knight of a woman's heart" is not something every man aspires to. Most are happy to go about conquering and plundering, picking the pockets of the recently slain and finding fulfillment in the path of least resistance. To become a true knight is no easy task, for there is plenty to keep a young knight occupied. The ultimate quest dims in the glittering light of innumerable towns filled with willing women and weak men. It doesn't take much to rise above the crowd. Good looks and a little bravery now and again stretch far and wide against the feeble imaginations of the oppressed.
What happens, however, when a young knight suddenly comes face-to-face and heart-to-heart with a beautiful princess who does not immediately succumb to his dashing good looks and candy-store charm?
It is not ignorance that keeps her from swooning. Indeed, his name and his list of conquests has been heralded on the wind. His polished shield gleams and glints in the sunlight, visible for miles, but every princess knows that castle halls are lined with the gallantry of its former knights. The reward for a life of service is to be ensconced in perpetuity, and yet, this outer brilliance is never enough.
I suppose that the king is to blame, at least in part. Were it not for his shining example she would never understand her due. Many a maiden has been ruined for a lesser prize. Instead, she is ruined in reverse. She understands what it is to be the daughter of the king. The treasure is too great to be squandered. Still, the dragon must be tamed, for it is her great adventure not to be easily won.
The moment of choice stands before them both. Shall the young knight dismiss her for a simple prize and proclaim his vanity, or mount the challenge raised by her unspoken question: Are you man enough? Do you have what it takes to win my heart?
The question scrapes slowly across the crust of his pride, sending shards in all directions, until the young knight stands face-to-face with himself, his insecurities, and the question. Always the question.
Now posed, the question remains. No number of miles can silence it. No passing of years will bury it under the sediment of time. It will haunt him forever. He will never again be able to fight it back and plunder it away. It will eat him alive. His true quest has begun. Either he will conquer it or it will conquer him, but the question must be satisfied. His life will show him the path to the answer.
A true knight will never withdraw from the joust. A worthy opponent is a fearsome thing. She is worthy and more. Perhaps too worthy. Only time will tell. His heart cannot help but reveal its truth. The fight is on, and it will test everything.
So begins the toughest climb he will ever make. The road that lies between him and the castle is both long and steep. It is wrought with peril and littered with unnamed fears.
Ambush, is inevitable. Still, he climbs.
Still, she waits...
Part 2
Once upon a time there was a magnificent princess. All the young knights and all the young princes in all the surrounding kingdoms wanted to marry her. When she came of age, an unprecedented announcement came forth from the castle, lifting the absolute requirement of a royal bloodline in favor of a noble heart.
So began a colossal pilgrimage of hopeful young men seeking an audience with the king...
From the farthest reaches of the kingdom they came. By foot and on horseback and in carriages they traveled. Some played their instruments. Some brought books. Others brought gemstones that sparkled in the sunlight. They brought their treasure. They brought all they had. They brought themselves.
From their place on the veranda the king and the queen could see them coming. Unfortunately, a great many of them were woefully unprepared for their mission. Most had been set blindly along the path of life to seek their fortunes and to marry. What little training they received in the ways of men had gone the way of apathy, and disregard led to contempt. A title itself could no longer guarantee proper training. Without understanding and without ownership, an entire generation was coming dangerously close to losing all sense of chivalry. They came anyway.
Ignorant of cause.
Devoid of passion.
Like a gun being shot into eternity the race had begun; a massive throng of masculinity, destined to be tested by men and circumstances. One by one they knocked on the door of the castle, waving their colors, presenting their gifts, and proclaiming their undying love. Boldly they came before the throne, requesting her hand, only to be sent away.
The parade was extraordinary, yet tiring. Surely in and amongst the masses were a few who fit the task. The king and the queen watched, and they waited.
In addition to her beauty, the princess had grown wise and strong, and from her infancy she had been blessed with a visionary gift. She needed only to look a man directly in the eye and in that brief moment she could see his true colors, which were often very different from those displayed on his flags and banners. She saw the path that had preceded his coming and the path that was yet before him.
Wisdom told her to seek The One. It told her that when the time was right, he would come, and on that day she would watch his past and his future converge and then blur into the background, leaving only his eyes, clear and present.
So far she had only given one answer to the line of suitors that relentlessly knocked on the door of her heart. With as much genuine love and compassion as she could muster, she always said:
"No no no no, no no no no, no no no no NO!"
Stories of the princess and her suitors reached the neighboring towns and quickly turned to legend. It was in the midst of these neighboring towns that the road naturally diverged, for not all would choose the journey. It was well-known that only two types of men would dare to knock on the door of such a castle, and even then, only one would be able to draw the sword from the stone. Some traveled anyway. They traveled for a glimpse. They traveled because it was the question that drove them.
One day a curious thing happened. A knight and a prince approached the castle at the exact same time. Each struggled to be the first to reach the door, but the knock sounded in duplicate. When the princess opened the door two men stood before her. The prince was handsome, tall and strong. He came with his arms full of roses and began immediately to list his credentials, spouting tales of his conquests, assurance of his royal bloodlines and of course, his undying love for the princess.
"I feel as if my whole life has been leading me to this moment, fair princess. It has all been for you." The young prince knelt in front of her and presented the ring. "Marry me. Come and we will build my kingdom."
"And what if I do not wish to build your kingdom? Would you come here and build mine?"
The prince was silent as he studied the ground.
She considered him for a moment. "Tell me, what is the color of my eyes?" She was careful to avert her eyes before he looked up.
"They are the color of beauty" he said with a flourish and a bow.
"A frail answer. Do you wish another chance?"
"Yes. Please!"
The princess waited as the prince held his forehead in his hands, trying desperately to remember if he'd even noticed. "Blue?"
"That you should guess rather than acknowledge your ignorance is a true fault indeed. Thank you for coming."
"I will not leave without you, fair princess! I love you and I would proclaim it from the mountaintops if you would only say yes to my proposal!"
"You know nothing of me, and your love is of self. Tell me, once you have conquered me and I am added to your mantle, then what?"
"You are not just any conquest my darling - you are the conquest. The ultimate prize."
"So my head will be mounted higher than the rest, what is that to me? I'm sorry. I cannot accept your proposal."
"Do not deny me! I cannot bear your denial."
"Then neither could you bear my acceptance."
The rose prince did not even bow. He turned away in his rejection and returned to his carriage.
All this time the young knight had been standing quietly off to the side, watching their conversation. His bouquet of wildflowers looked small and insignificant compared to the roses now gracing the delicate arms of the princess.
"Good sir knight." said the princess. "Do you not wish to make a similar declaration?"
"No, I do not."
"What if that prince had whisked me away in his carriage before you'd gotten a chance to speak. What then?"
"Then I would have had my answer."
"To what question?"
"I simply wondered if we might take a walk in the gardens surrounding the castle."
"Again I ask you sir – what is your question?"
"My question is simple, as is it's answer: Will you walk with me?"
The princess blinked several times. Although he looked her in the eye, she could make out neither his past nor his future. Simple blue eyes stared back at her from a face framed in unruly black curls. When he smiled it was warm, and she found herself agreeing to his request.
Part 3
They walked among the gardens for hours, talking and laughing. As the sun began to dip toward the horizon, the young knight spoke quietly. "I must go now."
The princess was playing with the stalks of her wildflower bouquet. She looked up at him, genuinely surprised. "So soon? No – you must dine with us!"
"I'm afraid I cannot, for I leave at first light. My king has sent me on a quest."
"What kind of a quest?"
"The kind that makes men out of boys and true knights out of brave warriors."
"A true quest."
"A quest by any other name would not be one."
The princess considered him for a long moment as the shadows began to fall in the gathering dusk. "How long will you be gone?"
"As long as it takes to accomplish the will of my king."
They walked a while longer until they were back at the gate of the castle. "My princess." The young knight bowed. "I shall never forget this day, for you have honored me by granting this request."
"Wait."
Eyes still lowered, the young knight stopped, and he waited.
Finally the princess spoke. "You knew you were leaving, and yet knew not how long you would be away. I wonder why you took the trouble in coming? Why not wait until your return to seek me out?"
The young knight looked up. "Because I may not return."
"Then you have acted in your own interest."
"Perhaps."
"I find that inexcusable."
"I thought you might."
"Is that all you have to say?"
"My reasons were two-fold: First, that I might glimpse your beauty without shame, before it is promised to another. Second, that the glimpse I have received might sustain my quest."
"And if I do not wish to be the object of your quest?"
"Then you misread my heart, fair princess. I do not wish to make you the object of my quest. My allegiance is to my king. It is his favor I seek, not yours."
"I still don't understand. You have engaged my heart, and now you cannot take it back. This is not a noble thing you have done."
"It was a risk, coming here. You could have dismissed me. But then I would never have known the truth."
"What truth?"
"That there is more to life than I could have imagined. I have much to learn and only a stubborn heart to learn with. It needed to be broken or I could not begin my quest."
"You have come as a martyr, then?"
"No. As half a man."
"Which half?"
"The proud one."
"You have utterly confused me."
"Some day I will come back and I will show you that which I've become. I will show you the better half."
"Yet in your own words you expect my heart to be promised to another."
"You are too beautiful to expect anything different."
"You would not wish me to wait for you?"
"My wishes would betray my quest."
"Is that why you are troubled?"
"No."
"Tell me then, what is it?"
"I thought the truth would liberate me."
"Has it not?"
"Every truth comes with both freedom and bondage."
"Then you believe that this truth has ruined you?"
"In some ways, yes. But I was ruined even before, regardless of my ignorance. Ignorance does not negate the existence of truth. Rather, truth exists outside of our understanding."
"Then go in peace, my friend."
"My heart will know no peace until my return."
The young knight rode away from the castle with a heavy heart as the princess watched from the veranda with the king and queen. For three days she refused food and only took water. At the end of the three days she announced that she would entertain no other suitors for a time that was yet to be determined.
Part 4
It had been many weeks since the princess had taken a walk in the gardens with the young knight. Then one night she had a dream about him. In the dream he was in a fierce battle in which he had fought for many days and finally, exhausted and war-torn, he had to face the greatest enemy of all. She watched him climb painfully to the top of a high hill, already wounded and with blood soaking through the chest of his armor. At the top of the hill he came face-to-face with his greatest adversary. It was his twin.
She woke up troubled and couldn't sleep the rest of the night. Why would he fight his twin? Did he even have a twin? The question plagued her for days.
One night as they walked in the gardens she decided to bring the matter before the king.
"Father" she said. "I've been troubled by a dream I had. You have great wisdom, and I was hoping you might be able to help me to understand it."
"Tell me the dream, my child."
"I dreamed of the young knight– the one I walked with here in the gardens."
"I remember him well. Tell me, what happened in the dream?"
As the princess related the details of the dream, the king slowly nodded his head. "A man often faces his greatest enemy when he is at his lowest - when the battle has taken everything from him and left him with nothing but himself."
The princess looked up, astonished. "Himself?" The king nodded again as understanding dawned. A smile spread slowly across her lips. "Then it is nearly over–this waiting."
The wise king nodded. "A man's last and greatest enemy is always the enemy within. Once he has conquered it, he can be at peace with himself and his world."
The princess reached for her father's hands and danced around him.
"It would seem this is happy news for you, and yet you do not know the outcome of the battle."
She smiled. "Why would I be given this dream if not to encourage me that the time is near its end?"
"Why indeed?"
The king said no more and the princess skipped happily off toward the castle, leaving the king alone in the gardens. His heart was not as light as that of the princess, for he knew what it was to be a man who faced his own reflection. This battle could well claim the life of its participants and bore no favoritism toward those who volunteered for the experience.
A trumpet sounded from the wall of the castle, just above the gates. When the king joined the guards on the wall he found an assembly of warriors waiting at the castle gates, requesting entrance, food and medicine. They carried one of their own on a stretcher. At once the king recognized the emblem on the young knight's shield. He dipped his head low and gave orders to the guards.
"Let them in, see to the wounded, and bring my daughter to my chambers at once.
Part 5
The princess watched from her room in the tower as the entourage brought the young knight through the gates. Her eyes trained on his face, and she willed him to open his eyes, but he didn't move, even as they transferred him to a cart and began removing his armor. The doctor peeked under his chest plate and flinched visibly. "Get him inside, and get the laudanum."
Her countenance fell, and she shrank back from the window as the knock sounded on her door. Hurrying to her father's chambers, her heart seemed to beat in double time.
"I see I am already too late to spare you the news."
Her eyes focused intently on the king. "Does he live?"
"Barely. We must wait until the doctor finishes with him."
"Can I see him then?"
The king took her hands in his and led her to a small couch. "Earlier we were discussing your dream."
"Yes."
"If the young knight has indeed survived this battle, he will need time to adjust his mind and heart regarding the outcome. I will ask this of you as a favor, from one who understands the path of a knight who would be king."
"To let him heal, and to seek me out when he is ready."
The king smiled at his only daughter. "You are wise as well as beautiful. Can you do it?"
The princess did not answer right away. When she looked up at her father, the tears had pooled in her eyes but she willed them back from the edge. She leaned over and kissed his cheek before rising. "Take good care of him."
"We will."
The next several days were warm and the breeze was light. The princess sat in her room near the window and played the flute that had been carved especially for her. Simple melodies flowed out through the open window and she sent them on the wind to the place where the young knight fought the fevers that kept him delirious. She had kept her promise and stayed away from his chamber in the opposite tower, but news of his health circulated amongst the servants. At least he lived.
One night she shot up in bed, awakened by the anguished cries that echoed throughout the castle. She went to the window and worked her hair into a braid as the candlelight from his room confirmed what her heart already knew. She dressed quickly and called for her maid.
"It is time. I must go to him."
"But milady - the doctor has had to open a festering wound. He will be given more laudanum before you even arrive."
"My heart has spoken. I must go now. You will go with me and we will tend to him."
"Your father will never allow it."
"My father will understand."
The two women hurried toward the other tower, only to be met at the door to his room by the king. When their eyes met, the princess told him all he needed to know without speaking a word. The king moved aside as she opened the door, but when the doctor saw her he began to protest. Silently the king stepped in behind her and the old doctor bowed his head and slowly backed away. The young knight writhed in agony atop the cold stone table.
She went to him and felt his forehead. "Have you given more laudanum?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, milady."
"And the wound?"
"It's been lanced and cleaned. Only time will answer your questions and mine."
The princess nodded, sitting next to him and taking his hand in hers. With her other hand on his forehead she whispered in his ear. "There now. The worst is over."
Immediately his thrashing stilled and the young knight struggled awake. Looking up at the ceiling, his head turned ever so slightly toward her voice. His glazed eyes were unable to focus as he attempted to lick the dryness from his lips. The princess motioned to her maid for a wet cloth, which she rubbed gently along the contours of his stubbled face, dribbling tiny drops of water into his hungry mouth. He tried once more to focus on her face but blinked repeatedly.
"Are...you..." Several breaths later he tried again. "Are you...the angel - who's been singing to me?"
The princess blinked back tears of surprise as the doctor quickly came forward and tried to explain. "Milady - the fever has left him quite out of sorts. Do not suppose that he-" She cut him off with her hand and he backed away once more.
The king watched with silent understanding. Her flute had scarcely left her lips these days, and could be heard throughout the castle yards.
Her hand again stroked back the mass of black curls on his forehead. "You are safe. You must not fight your healing. You must-" Her voice broke and the king began to reach for her. She swallowed her brokenness and continued. "You must rest now."
The young knight closed his eyes and nodded. She dipped the cloth in cool water and wiped at the fever that beaded onto his forehead. The princess looked up at her father. "I wish to sit with him tonight. My maid will attend me."
The king nodded and addressed the doctor. "Is there nothing more that you can do?"
"Nothing sire. I have spent both my knowledge and my skill."
"Then you must also rest. Come back at first light and we'll see what news the morrow will bring. It is up to his own strength of will now."
"Yes, sire."
The king kissed the top of his daughter's head and addressed her maid. "See to it she does not wear herself out with worry." The girl nodded.
"And you my dear -"
"Yes, father?"
"I love you."
She expected a reprimand, but saw only love and understanding. "Thank you - for trusting me."
"You are the daughter of the king."
She bowed her head respectfully as the king left her there with him. Lifting the sheet she assessed the chest wound and looked up at her maid. "I need you to take the guard that is at the door, and have him assist you. You must go out the the garden to gather some ingredients for me. Also, have the guard bring more wood to add to that fire."
"But the doctor said he'd done all he could-"
"I know that. But I used to spend many hours in the garden with my mother. She taught me about the healing properties of the plants we grow. Surely that was not for nothing. We will make a poultice to continue to draw the infection toward the surface so that it does not seep inward. At this point, it cannot hurt him and can only help."
The maid bowed gracefully and hurried off with a candle. The princess continued to dab the sweat from his brow as she waited. When he got restless she would hum the tunes she had played for him on her flute and his breathing would calm. She brushed through his hair with her fingers and whispered words of encouragement into his ears as he slept. Her heart was near its limit when her maid returned, flushed with the activity of her errand.
The guard stoked the fire and carefully stacked the extra wood as she set about boiling the ingredients she'd requested. When the poultice was still hot she went to the young man and held his hand, whispering in his ear to rouse him from his sleep.
"I'm packing your chest with a warm poultice. You're going to feel the heat but don't be afraid. It is not the lance again." His eyes fluttered awake and he nodded his understanding. Even still, when the poultice was laid across the wound he sucked in his breath and gritted his teeth against the effort to cry out.
"There now. Just breathe." Her voice soothed as exaggerated breaths escaped his lungs. Slowly his breathing calmed and he slept peacefully. She covered over his chest with a thick blanket to hold the heat of the poultice and sat at his head, rocking and humming in soft, sweet tones.
By the time the first glimpses of light tickled the Eastern sky she had left him in peace and returned to her own chambers, allowing an exhausted but fitful sleep to overtake her at last. She woke to a knock on her chamber door.
The old doctor stood before her with bowed head. Her heart sank as she realized the gravity of his coming. She sat up in the bed, still fully clothed from her all-night vigil.
"What news have you? Has he succumbed to the infection?"
"On the contrary, milady. The poultice you placed across the wound has made all the difference. I've come to ask your method, that I might make another, as this one is full from the drainage of the wound. His fever is broken, and the delirium has left him." He dropped his head further and spoke in low tones. "He continues to ask for the angel that sang to him through the night."
Color crept into the princess' cheeks, but she drew herself up. "And what have you told him?"
"That the laudanum can cause visions, and he must have been dreaming of an angel as he slept."
She nodded her approval and quickly listed the plants she had chosen, explaining the preparation and composition of the poultice.
He backed out of the room. "Thank you. I will see to it at once."
All that day and most of the next she sat in her room by the window playing her flute. She sent song after song toward the tower, allowing her prayers to be carried on the wind. Then, when it seemed right, she began taking daily walks in the garden. The plants used to minister healing to the young knight had been cut back several times, and she hoped it was a good sign.
"It's nice to see you out in the sunshine. You're looking pale, my dear."
The princess looped her arm through her father's with a smile. "Nothing a little walk won't cure." They kept each other's company in silence, neither anxious to voice the questions weighing on their hearts. Finally the king spoke.
"It would seem that your ministrations may have saved the boy's life."
Her face brightened visibly. "He lives then?"
"You did not know?"
She shook her head. "Except for that night, I have kept my distance and closed my ears to the gossip."
"And so you wait."
"I wait."
"For what do you wait, my child?"
"For news of the battle. From his own mouth. If indeed it is for me to know."
Soon they rounded a corner and there, washed and dressed in a soft tunic, the young knight sat smiling back at her.
"This mouth?" The king couldn't help smiling down at her. She flushed crimson but recovered quickly.
"I've been hoping you might wander by." The young knight looked tentatively at the princess, trying to gauge her reaction. "Might I steal a few moments of your time?"
She looked back to find that her father was already gone. "It appears that I am suddenly unengaged."
The young knight gestured to a place beside him on the garden bench. "Won't you sit down?"
Part 6
She sat on the other side of the bench studying him openly.
He chuckled. "I assure you I am no apparition. You, on the other hand-" He took her hands in his own and apologized immediately for the forwardness it implied. "I don't know how to express my thanks. You're the real thing."
"The real thing?"
"My angel."
The color returned to brighten her cheeks. "I am no angel."
"No?" He caught her eyes and probed their depths. "Did you not sing to me?"
"I did."
"And the music that filled my chamber. Did it come from your instrument, day after day?"
She nodded.
"And was it your face I saw when my flesh burned with fever? Your hand that soothed my head and fed my thirst?"
She did not respond.
He squeezed her hands and then let them go. "Just tell me why. Why did you do it?"
The princess took her time in responding. Finally she faced him squarely. "Because a man who has faced his greatest enemy is deserving of mercy."
His furrowed brow betrayed him. "How do you know of my enemies? My battles fought outside this kingdom?"
Again she remained silent.
"Was it my men? Did they tell you how my wounds were acquired?"
"They did not."
His smile grew wide. "Well then. It appears we are left with a mystery." The young knight sat back against the large old tree that had surely provided shelter for many such conversations in times past. He waited. Finally the princess spoke.
"It was told to me in a dream."
He leaned forward, unable to hide his surprise. "Are you a seer then?"
"I only know what I have seen. The rest, like you, I must take on faith."
"And yet you understand the meaning of your dream as well?"
"I understand little on my own. It was my father who gave me the interpretation of the dream."
The prince looked in the direction of the king's departure. "Then the apple has not fallen far from the tree."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It was kindly meant."
"Will you tell me the dream?"
She assessed him for a moment, then focused on a point over his shoulder as she imagined walking through the dream scape in her mind. "You stood on the top of a high hill, having fought for many days, the exhaustion apparent in your face. You had already been wounded and blood was soaking through the chest plate of your armor."
His face went white. "You saw this in a dream?"
"Yes."
"Please, go on."
"At the top of the hill you came face to face with your greatest adversary."
His sigh was audible, his relief palpable. "Your premonition was frighteningly accurate up until this point, but rest assured - I did not face another enemy atop that hill. I was alone and dying. My men came and rescued me from that place. They brought me here-"
"The adversary was your twin."
He looked up suddenly. "What did you say?"
"In the dream - the adversary was your twin."
He blinked back his surprise. "But I...I have no brother."
"Dreams are the language of God and of metaphor. I believe this dream was speaking of the battle within." She smiled, pointing to her own heart. "What you faced on the mountaintop was...something else. Something separate from the physical."
The young knight stood and walked to a nearby tree. Leaning with one arm against the trunk he would not face her.
"My apologies. I should not presume to understand your-"
"No. You're right." He turned slowly. "But how could you know this? Why do you know these things? And why were you the one who was given the dream?"
"Indeed." She stood, brushing the wrinkles out of her dress. "There are many questions left to answer. For instance, why did the last and greatest battle you would fight bring you within miles of this castle? Why when you were mortally injured would your men choose to bring you here?"
He looked up, concern etching his face. "Are you implying that these events were somehow intended?"
"Were they not?"
"I assure you I had no intention of - I... I am many things, but deceiver is not one of them."
"I am in no way implying your guilt."
"By whom then, could this situation have been orchestrated if not by my own hand?"
Instead of an answer, she peered into his eyes and held them captive. Slowly she watched understanding dawn. He dropped to his knees and leaned back on his heels, head resting on his chest. "I don't know how this reality could have escaped me all this time. Of course. It makes so much sense now." He was silent for several more moments before continuing. "I actually made a bargain with God, as I laid there on the hill. I knew that my wounds were likely fatal, and yet-"
She went to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, speaking gently over him. "You needn't explain it to me. This is between you and he."
He looked up with tears pooling in the depths of his bright blue eyes. He stood and took up her hand, curling her fingers into his palm. "No. It is more than that. Much more. Do you remember the last time we walked here in the garden?"
A smile formed at the corners of her mouth at the memory. "Yes. It was when you told me of your quest."
"And you told me that you were not willing to be the object of that quest."
"I'm still not." She smiled again, setting him at ease.
"You asked if I had come to you as a martyr. Do you remember my response?"
She shook her head.
"I said that I came as half a man." He laughed as she too began to understand - to remember.
"The proud half, as I recall."
"Yes. Very much so." He shook his head, as if he could just as easily shake off the man that he had been.
"And did your proud half strike a bargain with his twin, up on that hilltop?"
"One of them was sacrificed that day. I'd like the opportunity to show you the better half."
"I would have ministered to your wounds regardless."
"I know. That's what kept me fighting. Through it all, it was your face I saw; your voice I heard. I didn't understand until just this moment the enormity of it all. But it's true, isn't it? God himself has brought me through to this place, hasn't he?"
She nodded, smiling through her tears as he dropped to one knee.
"Thus far, he has answered all my prayers but one. Would you consider my hand?"
Looking down she beheld a beautiful ring made of precious stones and stood on weak, wobbling legs, barely able to contain the breath that threatened to escape her body. In his eyes, past and future converged to reveal a clear and present blue that earnestly awaited her reply.
"I would be honored to consider your request."
Gently he slipped the ring over her finger and closed her hand into his. "For your pleasure, then. Its beauty is nothing to yours, but each stone in this ring represents something you bring to my heart. If you decide to accept me, I will delight in explaining each one. If you refuse, please keep it, with my thanks. Because of you, I am a better man."
"A man who would be king?"
A frown crept across his forehead. "A man after your heart, not your crown."
A smile tickled the corners of her lips. "Just checking."
The End (at least for now...)
Alas, this is the end of the fairy tale as we know it! I think it could go on, but so far I don't feel led to continue it any further. Rest assured, the wedding is planned and the young knight will become king some day. Until then, I hope you've enjoyed reading through my "rough draft" of this story. I've loved your comments and participation on this blog. Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read along during this process of discovery! If I ever decide to polish and publish (take it from "rough draft" to "finished" and print it in book form) and any of you would like access to it, feel free to email me with your contact info:
madisonrichards 'at' me.com
