Once upon a time in a land called Fables, there lived a beautiful Princess.
None was so fair or as lovely as she. Because of this, her father,
the King, placed her in a tower. A tower so vast that none could
ever hope to topple it. Her father had decreed that she would marry
the King from a far away land in six months. The Princess agreed
out of duty to the kingdom. While in this tower, she was tended to
by servants. Everyday, servants provided for her every want and need
from cooking, cleaning, entertainment, to whatever else she would ask.
One day, a peasant boy came to the tower to pick up the Princess's laundry.
The Princess, having never seen this peasant boy and feeling somewhat bored,
decided to have fun with the peasant boy by asking him to do all sorts
of foolish and silly tasks. To her surprise, he did as she asked
without once saying a word against it.
The next day, the peasant boy returned. The Princess again asked
him to do foolish tasks. And, again, he did as she had bid him to
do. As the boy was leaving, the Princess asked him his name.
"I am Aaron," the boy said with dignity and then he left.
The following three days the peasant boy did not return. To her surprise,
the Princess realized she missed the boy. So much so that she was
saddened all the while he was gone. On the fourth day, the peasant
boy returned. The Princess angry for his leaving said nothing and
stepped away from him. However, as she began to walk away, Aaron
said, "You are a vision that makes the sun as the moon. You turn
night into day with a smile and back again with a single frown. I
am but a peasant, a fool to the nobility, and worthless to all. I
can give you nothing but the true love that flows from my heart to you."
"I am promised," she replied. "As I have said so must I do."
"Love breaks the chains of this world and knows no decrees, but those of
the heart," Aaron said with profound faith.
Just then, the guards of the tower intervened and arrested the boy.
The boy had taken liberties against the Princess in his proclamation of
love. No one, as the King had commanded, was allowed to speak of
love to the Princess. Aaron was taken before the King and told to
recant and take back all that he had said to the Princess. However,
he only spoke three words.
"I love her," he said softly again and again.
For his folly, the King had the peasant boy severely beaten and would have
surely had killed him then, had it not been for a frightening scream from
outside the throne room.
A terrible dragon stood before the gates of the kingdom. His stature
easily surpassed even the height of the Princess's tower. The dragon
demanded payment for his allowance of this kingdom's existence. The
payment that he wanted was simply the King's daughter. Now, the King
loved his daughter and he asked all of his knights to take up their swords
and defend her honor. Yet, none said a word, for what could defeat
a dragon?
Aaron in his weary state volunteered, but he was only laughed at and mocked.
He was not nobility and therefore, he was not allowed even a voice because
he was worthless to them. However, Aaron was thrown out of the throne
room while the King decided the fate of the kingdom. The boy staggered
away towards the city gates and
the waiting dragon. Upon reaching the fearsome dragon, Aaron screamed,
"You shall not have her!"
The dragon merely laughed at the small peasant before him.
Now the Princess, watching from the tower, rushed down to save Aaron.
She could not believe his foolishness. As she arrived, Aaron cried
again, "YOU SHALL NOT HAVE HER!"
By now, the dragon had tired of the boy's annoyance and decided to remove
the human ant before him. As the dragon inhaled and prepared to breath
fire, Aaron said simply, "What can defeat a dragon?"
Then, the dragon exhaled a mighty flame on Aaron that completely consumed
him in fire. The Princess screamed and began to weep for a love that
she hadn't known she had. However, from out of the fire came a man,
strong and proud, and wearing armor that shined like the stars. The
Knight said again, "What can defeat a dragon?"
"True Love," he answered.
The Princess ran to him and when her hand touched his left hand, a sword
sheathed in lightning appeared in his right. With it, he struck the
dragon, but once, and the dragon now glowing in a blue light screamed.
The dragon screamed and screamed and as he screamed, he began to shrink.
The dragon bellowed in agony until finally, he was simply no more.
After defeating the dragon, the Knight and the Princess went before the
King where the King immediately recognized the Knight as the King from
the land far away. The King of Fables knowing now his mistake decreed
that never again shall someone be considered unworthy because of who they
are or how they are born.
The Knight then took his Princess to his kingdom. Where, like all
good fairy tales, they lived happily ever after.