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The Five Dancing Princesses
Prologue of the Lonely King
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The witch had given him five stones that shone with the promise of life, each a rare gem in its own right. She told the king to bury them in his garden where a barren flowerbed lay and pray over the soil, under the full moon. When he woke in the morning, she had said, there upon the ground would be the prayer to his answers.
Desperate as he was, he had done what she told him to do. First he lay down the moonstone, then the amber, followed by the ruby, the emerald, and the sapphire. Still crouching over the newly disturbed soil, he clasped his hands together and shut his eyes tightly. The king prayed and prayed and prayed for what he desired most, what his late beloved could not provide before her passing, what he knew would be the only solace for his barren, lonely soul. He prayed for children.
After an hour of avid wishing and hoping, the man stood, and with one last sad look at the flowerbed, he turned to the castle to retire with the rest of his kingdom in that dead hour. As he slumbered in his cold room he dreamt of things that made the magic in the world. Faeries danced through his mind, gnomes sowed the soil where his stones lay, and druids sang to them.
The dawn awoke him with a snap. The king hadn't even bothered with dressing himself as he tore down the hallway past his puzzled servants and into the gardens within his walls. He didn't stop until he reached the bed but nearly passed it, as it was no longer barren and desolate. Therein the garden where the stones had been grew five colors of roses. Blue, Green, White, Red, and Orange grew in abundance.
Shaking with frightened amazement, the lonely king stepped forward and nearly fainted dead away to find five babes lying in five cradles of roses.
The five sisters grew up in happiness, bringing much joy to their father's life. As he watched them grow into beauty beyond compare, they watched him grow older. It was apparent, with white in his hair that their beloved father would not live forever. It would come to pass that very soon one of his daughters would have to marry to provide the next king for the peaceful kingdom. But which one would he marry?
The king had been thinking such for a very long time, but the way to go about such a thing presented itself when his daughters would wake. It was a curious thing that worried him, this revelation, for you see, when dawn came the princesses, with their shoes at the end of their beds, would be in tatters and holes. It was even more so curious for the fact of the matter was that the king locked their room's door every night, keeping his treasures safe and sound. Where were they going, and what was causing their shoes to become as such?
It was then decreed that the man who found out what the fair princesses were doing, would pick the daughter of his choosing and wed her. That man would then be the next king. However, if the man failed to find out after three days, death would befall him.
Several failed and fell before the ax men's blade, but they still came. The princesses beauty was long sought after and desired, however, the suitors began to thin out for the task seemed to be impossible. Some still came, but still none prevailed. But one man had dreamed of becoming king and making the kingdom golden in prosperity and peace. One man dared to dream that he would be the one to capture the sisters' secret and make one his wife. He was a soldier of the king's army and he was just assigned to replace the soldier who stood guard outside of the princesses' room.
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TR- If you have ever read 'The Twelve Dancing Princesses,' you will some similarity in the story. Like I said, it is loosely based on the Grimm fairytale. I was going to make all of the Senshi princesses, but I thought of Haruka and Michiru. It just didn't seem right that they would participate in the nightly outings when they're in love with one another. Then I thought of Setsuna. She doesn't seem much like the party animal. I wanted to make Hotaru one, but it seemed weird that only one of the outers would be a princess while the others wouldn't be.
4.23.04
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