The Missing Princess

Once upon a time, there was a princess. Of course, she didn't know she was a princess, but a princess she was.

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Breathless, cheeks rosy from her run through the crisp spring morning, she bounded up to the open cabin door. "Mother! Father!" She had a basket from the market and knew breakfast was going to be mighty tasty. But first things first.."Mother? Father!" They would love the fruit, she knew. But why weren't they answering? "Mother! Father!!" She called out as she ran into the building.

Where she froze, dead in her tracks. The place had been torn apart, the belongings strewn recklessly across the place. A couple was laying in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a pool of blood. The woman, dead, the man was dying. Dropping her basket, she knelt by them.

"Child.." the man said, feebly taking her hand. "You have been a blessing to us, we've never regretted taking you in." Noticing the surprise on her face, he continued, "yes, child. We found you on our front step one morning, oh so many years ago. We search far and wide for your true family, but found nothing--no child was missing, noone for many days' journey was looking for a missing baby. Wherever you're from, it must be far, far away."

He paused to cough weakly before pulling her hand to the woman's. As the three of them sat there, her sobs the only thing breaking the silence, she knew that nowhere would be better than living there. But she had nothing there to live for anymore. "You're lucky, you know, my dear," he said, breaking the silence. If these bandits hadn't come, you'd end up having lived here forever--you need to move on, though. You have great things ahead of you. After we're gone, go..go out to the wood shed. When you were found, there was only one thing with you. Not enough to say where you were from, but enough to say that you are very special, very important. Take it with you and find your true home."

With that, he breathed his last and joined his wife. And so, the girl looked in the woodshed and there, behind a pile of wood, she found a crown. Her crown. She gathered together everything the bandits left and began her journey.

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On her journey, of course, she had many adventures. They're mostly unimportant here, and shall be reserved for another time. On one of her myriad of adventures, though, she gained a companion, a wolf that helped her out of a sticky situation, a wolf that grew fond of her and wouldn't leave her side, saving her life more times than she cared to count.

And it was the wolf that led her safely across the ocean, the wolf helping her sneak aboard the ship, as she was unable to afford payment. The wolf that showed her the way around bandits on the road, close enough that they could see the campfire, hear the laughter, but still safe. And finally the wolf that led her to a mountain upon which was a palace on which was a tower in which was a room wherein she had been born.

As they approached the palace, she knew she had been there before, as they grew near she knew that they were finally there. Her search would soon be over, she would soon be "home". She would never again be with her family, but she would be where she knew they wished her to. And so she began the long climb up the mountain to the palace.

There was no village along the mountainside, there were no inns or taverns, no farms or houses. It was simply a rock cliff, with narrow stairs cut into the side of the cliff. Ten stairs, twenty, fifty, a hundred, she quickly lost count and gave up on knowing the distance. Twice she stumbled, twice she almost fell, and twice she was again glad that the wolf continued to help her along. Twice he grabbed her with his teeth, twice he pulled her back from the edge, twice he kept her from tumbling the ten, twenty, fifty, however many stairs she'd climbed. And both times she caught her breath before continuing, proceeding on her long trek skyward.

Finally she made it up the stairs, finally she was at the entrance, the gates to the palace. And when at first she knocked, pounded on the gold-encrusted doors, she wasn't recognized and yet again the wolf prevented her from tumbling down the stairs. But when she revealed her crown, the king, the queen, the guards, and even the stableboys knew who she was, who she must be. Well, after lots of magical tests and a lengthy multiple-choice quiz, anyway.

And so the princess returned home and lived happily ever after. Until the author gets around to the first revision of the story, anyway.