Once upon a time there was a princess who dreamed of one day being queen. All her princess friends would laugh whenever she spoke of it.
"A queen?" they would laugh. "Why would you want to be a queen you already have the luxuries at your fingertips? All the beautiful dresses, all the sweets, and all the glory are yours for free! The duties of a queen just bring wrinkles to your face and hardship into your life".
But the Princess wanted the duties of being queen just as much as she wanted the rewards. She wanted to be queen to rule, not to be pampered or fawned over.
So every day the Princess studied hard so she could be the smartest, strongest, and most regal queen the lands had ever seen, and one day she finally had her chance.
The time had come for her to inherit the thrown, but tradition dictated that the Princess be married before she could become queen. Reluctantly, the Princess allowed suitors to come and ask for her hand in holy matrimony.
The first was her best friend, the artist, who had sought to be at the Princess's side since before the Princess had wanted to be queen.
"Let me be your king" said the artist, "and I will paint paintings in your honor. I will fill entire books with poems chronicling your beauty, and fill the halls of your castle with the most melodious songs every second of every day. Make me your king, and every day will be as if you were in a wonderland of sight and sounds, beautiful enough to make even an angel, such as yourself, weep with joy".
"I cannot let you be my king" the Princess told the girl, "for you are not well trained in Kingly matters. You do not know how to command an army, or manage a treasury. You cannot hold your tongue when meeting diplomats and your free spirit ill fits someone who disciplines the masses.
Instead, stay by my side as my artesian. Your works of art will keep the peasants happy and content, and your skills will help make my castle the most famous and exquisite in all the lands".
The artist agreed and took her place by the Princess's side.
The second was a brave, tall knight who had fought bravely and valiantly in many battles. Almost no one could match his strength, and fewer would even dare to try.
"Let me be you king" said the knight, "and I will protect you with all my might. No assassin's blade will ever pierce your flesh, no rebellion will ever see fruition, no thief will ever steal your treasure, and no army will so much as scratch the stones of your battlements. Make me your king, and you will never live a day of your life in fear again".
"I cannot let you be my king" the Princess told the man, "for you would treat the peasants too callously. If you spent too much gold on weapons, sent too many knights against our own countrymen, put too many guards on the roads, or made speaking to me too difficult, then you would have to fight a rebellion of your own making.
Instead, stay by my side as my shield. With you leading my guards, I know a hundred dragons breathing the fire of a hundred suns could not destroy this fortress".
The knight agreed and took his place by the Princess's side.
The third was a wealthy merchant, with intelligent spectacles on his face and an enormous ledger in his hands. His skin was pale and muscles were weak from all his time in libraries, but his mind was stronger any steel a soldier could come to bear.
"Let me be your king" said the merchant, "and you will never worry about money again. Every trade secret and technique in my book will be yours, all of my workers and shops will belong to you, you will personally own more land than entire kingdoms, and your treasury will be filled with so much gold that not even a mouse could fit inside it. Make me your king, and nothing will ever be too expensive for the queen".
"I cannot let you be my king" the Princess told the man, "for a king cannot rule a kingdom from behind a book. Theories are not practice, and what may seem like a good idea in your head could be disastrous for the peasants in our kingdom. If you were king, then your arrogance would surely lead to all our downfalls.
Instead, stay by my side as my treasurer. Your wealth of knowledge will become our kingdom's wealth in gold, and our treasure will be greater than even the mightiest dragon's hoard".
The merchant agreed and took his place by the Princess's side.
The fourth was an arrogant Prince from a distant northern land, but he arrived at the Princess's castle with a command rather than a proposal.
"Make me your king" said the Prince, "and I will let you keep your head. If you refuse, I will crack all your castles, burn down every village, and defeat each of your soldiers myself. I am the greatest conqueror the world has ever seen, and your kingdom should be thankful that I chose it as my first conquest".
The Prince charged the Princess with his sword raised above his head, but the Princess was able to defeat him without even using her blade.
"I cannot let you be my king" the Princess told the man, "for I bow down to no one. No one is a better swordsman than I, no one is better at subjugating than I, no one is better at conquering than I, and no one, especially not a foolish monkey, is a better ruler than I.
Instead, stay by my side as my general. Your tenacity and strength would make for an adequate conqueror, with practice, and I shall need someone to help spread my rule to all the nations of all the world".
The Prince agreed to take his place by the Princess's side, but he was very confused.
"Why did you spare my life?" he asked the Princess, still lying on the ground in pain.
"Because you helped me realize that I will never find a king worthy enough to marry me" said the Princess. "So I shall be king instead. I will marry myself, and take my rightful place as King and Queen of the kingdom. I shall be both His and Her Majesty, mother and father of this land, and patron and matron of the royal family. And anyone who objects to this union will meet a fate worse than even our most hated enemies".
From that day onward he ruled her kingdom with his four advisors and friends always at her side. His two crowns may have meant double the responsibility, but it also meant double the power; power she used to turn her kingdom to the most prosperous in all the land.
Suitors would occasionally come by and ask for her hand in marriage, but she turned them down every time.
"I'm afraid I do not need a spouse" he would explain to them all, "for I love myself, and to me, that's more than enough".