The lost Prince

King Ironguard’s castle was a magnificent edifice to behold, and so high that its turrets scraped against the roof of the sky, occasionally piercing holes into a world beyond where the Blue Fairies lived and they were most displeased. Did the King care? Not a jot.

The castle, steely in appearance, glistened coldly even in the most brilliant sunshine and it was King Ironguard’s most precious possession. He loved it more dearly than his multitude of jewels and riches, more than his subjects and more, even, than his beautiful wife, Queen Shamara.

It seemed the King was unable to appreciate beauty and colour and softness, preferring the angular, the metallic, the dark rocks and stones, the foreboding slits of windows, the cold, soulless emptiness of huge vacant rooms, in short all the things that were part of, or in his castle. Not to mention a lack of appreciation for kindness, warmth and companionship. His Queen was a necessity to bear him a heir and sad to say she was very much neglected. Indeed she spent her days producing tapestries in vibrant colours, almost in the hope that their vibrancy would bleed out from her sewing room and into the King’s heart. Some hope!

Outside the castle, crows, ravens and all manner of black birds sat upon its highest walls. Often they appeared not to move and it was only when a high wind ruffled their feathers that any glimmer of life could be discerned. The King watched them often and rather liked them. They were grim, and dark and their souls cast shadows down the castle walls and fell upon the ground, where the King took his daily walk. Sometimes a servant would accompany him and watch as the King strode out towards his moat to peer into its murky depths, where bones and blood now tainted the once silvery blue water. Once it had been full of colourful fish, sparkling as they sometimes leapt from the water under the mid-day sun – but now the water was lifeless and muddied much like all things in and around the castle.

After a time the Queen found herself with child. The glimmer of joy she felt somehow transferred to the King and for a while, she found herself cosseted and appreciated. For months, the King saw to it that her every need and wish was catered for and she grew used to this attention. He gave her wonderful gifts every day and not only that, saw to it that she received the finest, healthiest food to provide nourishment for her and the ever growing foetus, and there were cuddles and kisses that were unprecedented.

Days were a joy for the Queen at the time leading up to the baby’s birth but come the actual day of the birth, things were about to change.

The Blue Fairies above the hole-ripped sky had been watching and waiting and as the Queen went into labour there came about an ominous silence. The King, who was waiting in a side room, sensed something wrong and looked from the nearest window. Outside, the birds on the high walls had turned to stone and from the murky depths of the moat a black shape rose up and spat slime through to the chamber where the Queen had just delivered her infant. The Queen screamed and pierced the wall of silence, in an agony that could only be felt by a mother whose newly born infant had been attacked in some way.

The King rushed into the side room where the Queen was and saw her attendants and doctors hurriedly cleaning up the mess. He feared the worst but the child appeared to be fine and was soon swathed in a silver shawl.

The King picked the infant up and held it close. A boy! A heir! The monster’s attack had not harmed the lad. Indeed, thought the King, it was a sign, a portent of some kind that this child would grow up to be strong and healthy. A child who he could teach to love the castle as much as he did. To love battle as he did too, and to enjoy casting the bones of those he vanquished into the moat. A moat that was now believed to be bottomless with waters that joined with some diabolical underground river that ventured into eternity.

That evening the Blue Fairies visited the castle. They entered the Queen’s room and looked upon the sleeping Prince with some delight for they knew their spell had worked. The King had wanted a cold, selfish son much like himself and instead he had got a child who was very different. They checked to see if the King was asleep in the side room and then returned to the Queen and took her soul back with them to the roof of the sky. She was given a magic needle and told to repair the splits that the sharp ended turrets had caused – and so in the morning the King found the Prince alone and crying. The Queen had vanished. How? Why? He suspected the Blue Fairies had something to do with this event and went to the topmost part of his castle to search for a sky split to climb through. How dare the Fairies deprive the Prince of his mother. He would kill them. But the splits had been sewn up and the King could not penetrate the fairy-world beyond the sky roof. It was such a shame, he thought, for now he would have to employ a nursing mother to bring up his child. Still this might be a good thing, he thought. The Queen would have brought his child up to be soft and compassionate just as she was, but he would make sure to employ someone on his own wavelength. His anger vanished and so did his love and affection he briefly had for his Queen.

The King’s dreams though, did not quite work out in the way he wanted. The grim-looking battleaxe he had employed to look after his son, turned out to be as soft as...well as soft as the softest thing that could be imagined! Nobody else wanted the job, either, as they knew the King too well. Prince Erugin turned into a sickly-looking child, who had no interest whatsoever in his father’s castle. No interest in swords or battle either. In fact he threw the sword the King had given to him for his fifth birthday into the moat. The only way he took after his father, showed in his constant miserable and sullen expression.

At the age of sixteen the Prince asked what had happened to his real mother as he had never been told, so the King told him the truth, that the Blue Fairies had taken her. The King vaguely expected the Prince to vow to kill the Fairies when he heard this news. But he cried instead. How could this son, this wimp, be his true son? Surely the Blue Fairies had cast some sort of spell on him too? Not content with magicking away the Prince’s mother, not content with the fact that he’d had to employ a new servant to bring up his only child, they had hexed his son into a wet dish rag. A limp weakling who had fainted when given a sword and then thrown it away. A boy who hated the metallic glow of the castle and said he wished it was a pretty colour instead. A boy who wanted a kitten instead of the pet snake he’d given him for his last birthday.
         
Another two years passed and the Prince confided to his father that he wanted to find a Princess so the King sent out this news via messengers on horseback and they travelled far and wide, to many other kingdoms, inviting only the prettiest princesses to come forward.

However, to the King’s surprise they were all rejected. One by one. They were pretty and educated, funny and kind, yet the Prince said none of them were right for him. He said he didn’t know what he was searching for but would know when he found this elusive young woman.

The King became annoyed and declared his son was too fussy and that the ideal Princess did not exist. He told his son that all women had faults and that he must be content with less than his idealised version.

Prince Erugin looked at his father long and hard. Eventually he said: “My real mother told me that my dream Princess does exist but that I have to look in the right place.”

The King laughed. “Your real mother is dead,” he said. “The Blue Fairies took her soul. How can she still exist and give you advice?”

Prince Erugin hung his head. He could not tell his father that part of his mother was still alive as he did not have courage to face his father’s wrath and incredulous disbelief.

“I hope you find this ‘right place’ then," said the King. There was more than a hint of compassion in his voice, for he could see his son was very upset. And that night, the King opened his heart and called out to the sky hoping the Blue fairies could hear him, begging them to help his son find the princess he so desired. But there was no response. Night clouds gathered and thickened over the sky and then thunder and lightning came. He tried to sleep but tossed and turned in his bed all night, hearing anger in the sky. Did this mean the Blue Fairies would not help him? Would they not forgive him for tearing the sky and for being cold and heartless? After this he wept, for he could feel his son’s pain.

In the morning there was no sign of Prince Erugin. The King searched all the rooms and even searched the moat but the Prince could not be found.

There was something strange afoot though, for when the King looked outside he noticed that the birds who had turned to stone were alive again and looking quite perky. The moat looked sparkling and clean, as it had once done many years before and he felt a warmth within the castle that had actually never existed. Had the Blue Fairies forgiven him then?

Yes they had but it was too late to undo all the repercussions from their original spell.

The King searched the castle again but still could find no sign of the Prince. His servants were sent to look and he sent messages to his subjects offering a reward to anyone who could trace the Prince within the castle for he had this strong feeling the prince was still there. Within the dark walls that were now lit with sunshine. Many came forward but nobody could find him.

Days became long after this and the nights even longer, filled with whispers that only the King could hear. Where did they come from? Most of his servants had left the castle, apart from his cook and the one who accompanied him on his daily walk around the castle’s moat. The King became a lonely man, living only with his memories and regrets.

Years passed and the King grew old. He spent most of his time exploring the many rooms of his vast castle. It was like a maze, one door led into another and there were secret doors too. One day he found himself in a small room that he hadn't known existed. On the walls were displayed the many tapestries that the Queen had created. A single ray of sunlight lit the room, so that the colours swirled around him, so beautiful and with a life of their own. The King had never taken an interest in the Queen’s tapestries before – had never known what happened to them after she had completed each one and now he knew she had stored them in this room. A special room that depicted scenes of her life and the people she knew.

There was one tapestry that drew him forward to take a closer look.

He saw three main figures, one of which looked exactly like the Queen and next to her another figure which appeared to be Prince Erugin – and next to him holding his hand was the most beautiful Princess he had ever seen.

All three were smiling...