Chapter 6- The Aftermath

After defeating his enemies, King Stephen took the body of his daughter in his arms. Then he, his son, and his captain of the guard mounted their horses and rode slowly home.

On the way home, he started to get memories of himself and his daughter Mabel bonding. They used to play in the fields. Prancing in the flowery meadows, they would laugh, and Mabel would kiss her father in the cheek.

Mabel used to tell him her jokes so he could laugh away his cares. Stephen would then noogie her head affectionately and kiss her on the forehead.

And King Stephen used to kiss his daughter good night. "Ah, pleasant memories…" the old king thought.

But then, as the old king took Mabel's body into the church, he thought of a particularly painful memory where he said to King Robert, "I would rather see my daughter die by the sword than marry her off to your son." Now, how he wished he never said that! After placing the body of his beloved daughter on the altar, he burst into tears of anguish. "I have killed my own daughter!" he sobbed.

Presently, an old bishop sympathetically approached King Stephen and asked him, "King Stephen, what's the matter?"

The old king looked up to the bishop and moaned, "Your Holiness, I have a confession to make. I have killed my own daughter."

The old bishop was dumbfounded and said, "What?"

King Stephen then said to the bishop, "It all happened six months ago, before the war broke out. My enemy King Robert tried to make me marry off my daughter Princess Mabel to his son Prince Gideon. But I refused, saying that I would rather see my daughter die by the sword than marry her off to my enemy's son. At first, I didn't think it would have any long-term consequences, but this led Prince Gideon to try to force my daughter to kill me. Of course, rather than do that, she confessed everything to me and mailed the dagger off to King Robert and his family, and I sealed in a note for Prince Gideon that said, 'Suck a lemon, little man!' This led to a war that lasted six months and, just tonight, culminated in Mabel's death by the sword! Therefore, I am responsible for the death of my daughter!" And he again began sobbing uncontrollably.

The old bishop then raised his hand and placed it on King Stephen's forehead, and said to him, "You are forgiven, my son."

The old king then raised his tear-stained face and asked the bishop, "Will you at least have a memorial service for the young princess?"

The bishop then said to Stephen, "That can be arranged, my son."

The next day, at the church, a lot of people attended the memorial service for Princess Mabel of Pines. The old bishop stepped up to the casket holding the princess' body and said, "Royalty, nobility, peasantry, thank you all for coming. Will King Stephen of Pines please step up and give a eulogy?"

The old king stepped up to his daughter's casket and said to the congregation, "Princess Mabel was a cheerful young girl who always had a sunny outlook at life. S-she was the light of my life. I loved to play with her and have her for a friend. But now…" Tears ran down his face and there was a catch in his voice as he spoke, "…now those days are over. Those days ended much too soon. She was too good to last in this sinful world. I hope she's happy up in Heaven." After saying these words, he trudged back to his pew where he wept over the shoulder of his sobbing captain of the guard. And King Stephen's son Alexander was grieving for the loss of his sister.

Six months later

Now King Stephen sat alone in his study. He was weeping as he thought, "Now here I am. All these good times I had with my daughter are nothing more than memories. Now it is my son Alexander's turn to rule. May he be a much better king than I." With this in mind, he placed his head in his arms and closed his eyes in deep sleep.

The next thing he knew, King Stephen heard his daughter Mabel calling for him, "Father. Father."

When he opened his eyes, he saw Mabel stretching out her hand to his. King Stephen was overjoyed and clasped her hand. And father and daughter skipped merrily through paradise.

The End