Once upon a time, in the land of Jesteria, a wise king ruled over his country with his daughter, a vain princess. He needed to find a suitable husband for her, but no one dared come near her for her vain nature. Then, one fateful day, the princess fell ill. The king was very sad, but he knew about a way to cure her disease by getting the legendary gold chalice and having her drink from it. So the king set up a contest: whoever could bring the chalice to him could marry his daughter and get a share of the kingdom. However, if you returned empty-handed, you would die.
Many hopeful princes and knights attempted the long journey to the chalice, but all failed and were beheaded. The king had all but given up hope. He was sitting upon his throne, his head in his hands, when suddenly, a man clad in iron armor ran up to the throne and bowed.
“I am a knight come from the Kingdom of the West, here to attempt to get the golden chalice and your daughter’s hand.”
“Very well, but you must bring me the chalice by sundown, for that is when my daughter will die.”
So the knight set out on his quest to get the chalice. After traveling for many miles, the knight came upon a large gate. An old woman sat in front of the gate.
“Will you lend me some food, young man?” asked she.
“Why, yes, old woman, I shall share my bread with you,” said the knight.
As he did, the gate opened.
After eating the bread, the knight passed through the gate. Many miles later, he came to a river. The river was flowing at an alarming speed. The knight knew he couldn’t get around it, judging from its length, so he doffed his armor and waded across the raging river. There were many moments when the knight thought he wouldn’t make it.
But then, after crossing the river, the knight came face to face with a demon knight. The demon drew his sword and swung at the hopeful knight. He dodged and kicked the demon, knocking him out. The knight then saw, in all its bejeweled majesty, the golden chalice. The wine that poured from the sacred cup could cure any illness.
With the chalice, the knight ran all the way back to the king’s castle, ten minutes before sundown.
The princess drank from the cup and got better, then said, “Is this my new husband? He is a ragged peasant! I shan’t marry him!”
The knight was so overcome with anger, that he threw the princess from the castle, her bones shattering on the ground below. The knight then took his share of the kingdom, for a promise is a promise. Even if the knight killed the princess, the king still needed to give him some of the kingdom. And the knight had many more adventures, but those are stories for another day.
wow – scary ending! Although I was terrified by the violence of the knight, I was impressed by your ability to capture the style of these kinds of stories!
An exciting story well told. I was pleased the vain princess was thrown out the window. Valentino Sello is clearly a young write with great promise!
This is an awesome story with quite a wonderfully unexpected ending!! I look forward to more from this author.