The Forest Princess

The Ice Kingdom

"What happened next?" the children asked.

"What happened to the little prince and princess?" Tilia wanted to know.

The Ice King took a deep breath before he continued his story.

"The name of the prince was Topaz, and the princess was called Crystal. Their mother died when they were still quite young. Topaz was twelve, and Crystal was five.

When the Queen of Upala died the king couldn't cope with the grief and loneliness. But he didn't feel it because his heart was frozen.

He worried about his children. The thought of them growing up without a mother made him despair, but he couldn't feel it because his heart was frozen.

He also became frustrated and angry with himself. He was feeling guilty about not being a good father. But he couldn't even feel that..."

The king paused for a moment to wipe his nose.

"... his heart was frozen,"  whispered the children.

The Ice King nodded, and tears were flowing out of his eyes again. He didn't try to stop them. "Then the king's mind started to freeze," he continued.

"Everyone he met could feel the frostiness of the king. His words were icy cold. People started to avoid him. All the servants and guards, the cooks and chambermaids left. Nobody wanted to work for the King of Upala anymore. He was now living in the Palace of Upala all on his own with his two children Topaz and Crystal.

The winters became longer every year in the kingdom. The gardens and ponds around the palace remained frozen even in the summer. The people and animals of Upala started moving to other countries. One year the winter didn't stop at all. Everybody who was still there died. The whole country froze. Nobody with a normal warm heart and mind could survive in the frozen kingdom.

Topaz was nineteen years old, and Crystal was twelve. The King of Upala didn't want his children to die. He turned them into snow squirrels because snow squirrels can live in the snow and ice.

The Kingdom of Upala had become the Ice Kingdom, and the king himself turned into the Ice King."

The story ended there. All the children were very quiet. Finally Tilia's mother got up and laid her hand on the king's shoulder. "Tell them why you had to take all the children from their mothers," she begged him.

The Ice King looked at her and nodded. "I couldn't survive on my own," he said. "No kingdom can survive without its children. The Ice Kingdom could only survive on the energy of new children. Every year I had to take some children from other kingdoms in the neighbourhood. There were none left in my country."

A nineteen-year-old boy got up and asked, "How many children did you take?"

"Oh, it doesn't matter now," said Tilia's mother.

"Yes it does matter," the king contradicted her. "Every child matters. I have taken six or seven children every year."

"Thanks, dad," said the young man. "Thanks for telling your story."

Topaz went to his father and put a hand on his shoulder. A twelve-year-old girl got up. She walked to the other side of the king and laid her head on his other shoulder. The king put his arms around his two children, and everyone cried again.