Heart Themed Canvas [UsUk]

A Wish For A Smile [Ch.1]

[ Cormac = Scotland

Pywll = Wales

Finn = Ireland

Deirdre = Northern Ireland ]

In Which Our Story Begins, Once Upon A Time

Once upon a time, in a far off kingdom whose name no one seemed able to remember, there was a great queen. Fair as the dawn she was, and wise as any sage who ever lived, but the poor woman lived constantly with headaches. The cause of this ailment was of no mystery. Indeed, there was not one person in the land who did not, at one point or another, say of the queen, "That poor woman! Small wonder she suffers as much as she does!"

It was many years back, you see, that the king of the land was still alive. He and the queen were very much in love, and from that love came five children. Four were boys, as handsome as one could hope, and the last was a girl, with beauty befitting a princess. All had been well until some war or another broke out. The king won the battle but lost his life, and the queen was left with a heart full of sorrow and five unruly children to look after.

The queen did the best she possibly could. She hired the finest tutors and nannies in all the land, and saw to it that her children had the best possible upbringing. And it did work, in a sense. The princes and princess grew to be intelligent and healthy. What they lacked things not so easily acquired.

Princess Deirdre - for that was the young lady's name - was terribly vain. She spent all morning having her servants tend to her hair, clothes, and jewelry. She spent all evening parading through the castle and the gardens, batting her eyes at any nearby men she deemed handsome enough. Deirdre was warned by her mother to take care and not put off all the men in the kingdom with such behavior, but the girl had too much fun to pay attention. It got to be so bad that the queen despaired of ever marrying the girl off. Lovely as the princess was, there were simply no respectable men who considered her worth the trouble.

The youngest son, Prince Arthur, was a frail boy. He never took an interest in fighting or battles like his brothers did, instead preferring to spend time indoors, studying. Most unfortunately, his brothers saw him as weak and silly for this, and always mocked him. It was not just the other princes who thought this, though. Anyone who met Arthur, even the servants, whispered that he was a sickly thing, and would he be in any shape to care for the kingdom, when the time came? Perhaps it was because of all this whispering that Arthur also grew up to be a very sarcastic boy. There were few things that he did not have a biting remark for, which unsurprisingly did nothing to endear him to his brothers.

Prince Finn, the second youngest, came to blows with Arthur the most. It was not because of a particular grudge or slight, through. Finn was a hot-blooded child. He wailed throughout infancy and he screeched throughout childhood. Almost as soon as he learned to talk, he would quarrel with any who spoke two words with him. Naturally, everyone tried to avoid him.

Second oldest of the princes was Pywll. He was as big and strong a boy as one could imagine. In the gardens of the castle and the privacy of the training rooms, he was able to master the art of fighting. When faced with a foe however, be it lightning, one of his brothers, or even some of the servants, the boy turned to jelly. He was the most timid child one had ever seen. He did his best to fulfill his duties as a prince, but it was very hard to do this when he trembled in fear at most things. Of him, most shook their heads and were grateful he was second-born instead of first.

The oldest child was Prince Cormac. Unlike his younger brothers and sister, he was a very reasonable and well-behaved man. He was not perfect, but he always tried to do right and help anyone in need. Sadly, his good heart was overshadowed by the mischief that his siblings got into. His sweet nature went unnoticed, and everyone was certain that he was a black-hearted troublemaker. After all, with siblings like his, what other kind of a person could he possibly be?