Short Story 3
'I think this tale would win my daughter, too'
Othello, Act 1, Scene 3.
The shouts filled the hall. The battle cries echoed through the corridors. The most terrible battle the kingdom has ever seen occurred on that dreadful night. The king's men were fighting harder than they knew how. The king hid in the castle. The queen went into labor with the king's twins. The doctor was treating battle wounds outside. Her maiden-in-waiting had to assist the birth. The neophyte was talented at soothing the queen and motivated her to push harder and harder. At last it was over,
Two baby boys came out into the world. One was named Charlie. She fell asleep during the last hours of the battle. She had put both boys in a crib by the window of the nursery. She slept in a rocking chair on the other side of the circular room. A man, dressed in black, came in the window. He must have been one of the enemy's men because he was in black; the kingdom's colors were white and yellow. He stole away into the room, looking for jewels. He spotted the queen. He thought about kidnapping her but at that moment she moved. He hastily grabbed a baby, and dropped out of the window. He jumped on his horse and rode away. The battle was over so he was easily seen among all of the men in white. He rode into the forest and was being hunted down. The baby fell from his arms and he couldn't go back to retrieve him. A woodland nymph found him and brought him to a cottage in the forest where there was an elderly woman who gladly took him in. He lived there for 17 years and was raised by the woman and the nymph as well as the other creatures that lived in the forest. On his 17th birthday She and the nymph told him how they found him. They had heard about the stolen son, and as the nymph witnessed the chase they figured that he was the prince. The old woman had decided to keep him because the queen was clearly to irresponsible if her son was taken on the first day of his life. He got angry, but not at them. He was angry that they had given up the search for him and that he given heavy enough guard to protect him. He wished to be rich and to rule. He wanted gold and silver and diamonds. He was happy with his life but wanted the material goods that he would have had if he were still a prince. He wanted to avenge his abduction and blamed the queen not the kidnapper. He had a gift for story telling and decided to use it to his advantage. One night he stole away through the castle walls and hid until morning. In the morning, he walked to the king's hall and appeared before. He claimed to be a poor wanderer, a nomad, who had no home or money. He asked that he could be hired as a storyteller to the king's children. At this time the king was his brother, but, being fraternal, looked nothing alike. He knew that there was a young princess around the age of two who would enjoy his stories. He told the king a tale about a prince that was kidnapped and slain in battle and about a dragon that protected his body. The king knew nothing of his brother, for all he knew he was an only child. The king claimed that he loved the story and knew that his daughter would enjoy the strange man. He was escorted to the nursery, the same one that he was in, and found the new queen and his mother sitting in rocking chairs discussing an upcoming ball. He introduced himself, they asked his name, he ignored the question. He told them stories as well as to the little princess. He talked into the night and all three ladies fell asleep there. Around midnight, he got up and took the princess. The mothers woke up. They saw him tuck the girl into his cloak. He was about to jump out the window when he heard a scream. He turned around and the mothers were looking right at him. The queen recognized him. "Charlie?" He jumped out the window.
~m