Once Upon A Tale

Prologue

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, there lived a king and queen. Together they ruled over the beautiful kingdom Charleston, treating everyone with the same amount of kindness and respect. However, they so longed for a child, one they could love and call their own, but it seemed that everything wouldn't come easily for the pair. It was first after almost three years of trying to conceive that the queen learned that she had fallen pregnant. The kingdom rejoiced, streets were filled with dances and singing, lanterns were raised into the sky and together they lit up the kingdom with a golden glow.

Eight months later, the king had been working in his study when he received the news that his wife had gone into labour and had given birth to a little girl. He quickly summoned his messenger and informed him of the princess and the celebrations that would take place all throughout the kingdom this following week. Before long the kingdom was lit up by the lanterns in the sky and the music could be heard in every crook and cranny of the kingdom. Once again, the kingdom was celebrating the joyful news. Everyone gathered around in the streets and together they danced, laughed and sang. Together they celebrated the news of the little princess, who had just been born that night, under the caressing light of the moon, and the chilling breeze of the October wind.

The queen who had been exhausted from the childbirth taking a toll on her petite body, had already fallen asleep when the king arrived at the bedchambers. The king looked down upon his wife before smiling and leaning down to press a kiss light enough as to not awake her, on her forehead. As he rose he looked down at the queen once more, the love and adoration he felt for his wife, the woman who had just birthed him a child and heiress, was truly the love of his life. Speaking of his child, he had yet to see his little princess, and it was as if the little one was thinking the same, as the crying of a newborn filled with silence of the bedchambers.

The king hurried around the bed over to other side of the room where the crib was placed close to the fireplace, where the fire had been lit to keep her warm, as winter was just around the corner. As he stopped before the crib and looked down, his eyes fell upon the second most beautiful creature in the world, with her big doe like eyes that shined like the most precious emeralds and little chubby baby cheeks, she was just the most precious thing the king had ever seen. As he continued to look down upon her, the king could feel his eyes getting a little misty and his vision blurring a bit, as he looked upon his newest treasure.

Even as a newborn, he could see the resembles between mother and daughter and it made him feel over the moon that she had inherited her mother's stunning looks, however it made him worry about all suitors she would have in the future. Having looked at the princess long enough he reached down and gently caressed her cheek, making her giggle and stare up at her father wide eyed and eyes full of laughter. The king knew then that she already had him wrapped perfectly around his finger. And as much as the king would have loved to hold her, her yawning prevented it. The king quickly realized the time as the moon was high up in the sky and it would only be a couple of hours before down broke through, so after he had tucked in his daughter into her crib safely, and as she fell asleep before his eyes, he turned around and walked over to his bed and climbed in besides his wife.

It seemed as time just flew by in the kingdom of Charleston and it was the year running up to the princess fourth birthday. It was a year filled with sadness, as the queen started to get ill and the all the healers that the king could find all said the same. There's no cure. It hurt, for everyone, the queen was dying and there was nothing anyone could do about it. The illness had been spreading fast and before long, it was to the point where the queen couldn't leave her bed as her body didn't have enough strength. Although not understanding what was going on with her mother, the princess stayed positive and remained by her mother's side through everything. As she had just learned how to read, the princess would spend hours upon hours reading her favourite fairy tales out loud to her mother. Meanwhile, the king suffered, he loved his wife dearly and daughter likewise, but it was to much for him to handle and as he watched his love become a shell of who she once was, he did the same. The king started to focus more on the kingdom and grew more isolated from his family, he began neglecting his role as a father and a husband. The princess, who had a heart of gold, loved her father so she made sure to double her efforts in helping her mother, trying to ease the worry from his shoulders. However, the queen didn't have much time left and it was only a couple of months later on October the sixth, that the news of the queens passing reached the kingdom. The princess, who had been out in the gardens picking flowers, daisies, her mother's favourites but as soon as she walked into the bedchambers, she saw her father sitting by her mother's side. Shoulders hunched, head down and as she walked closer, she saw her father's hands holdings her mother's unnaturally pale one in his.