The Town of Rochester

When an enchanted rose puts a princess to sleep, many men come to the town of Rochester to try their hand at pulling a sword from a stone in order to waken her.

 

            Once upon a time, in a far away land, there lived a princess named Aleigha. She was devoid of a father and her mother was bedridden due to a chronic illness. With royal advisors at her throat, Princess Aleigha found it hard to rule the kingdom in her parents' stead. The town of Rochester lay before her palace in ruin and turmoil as each person living there had different ideas as to how the town should be run. Rules were broken and punishments were hardly carried out as the Princess had too kind a heart to punish anyone who caused her misery. Men who stole, murdered, and rebelled were merely given warnings or put into the dungeon for a few  nights, as Aleigha could not bring herself to sentence anyone to death.
            Now, one would think that with such a kind princess in place the town would be content. But, with the crime rates the way they were, it was impossible for anyone to feel safe and happy in their homes and they all knew that something had to be done about Princess Aleigha or else they would all suffer.

            The townspeople held a meeting at the village tavern one stormy evening to discuss what could be done. No one wanted to assassinate the princess, as she hardly deserved that. Most of the townspeople believed that the Princess should find a suitable husband to rule for her - one with enough sense to punish those that deserved it and to be kind and fair to the rest. 
            "The Princess will not marry, as her mind is too occupied with her mother's condition along with the grief over her failing kingdom," stated one villager.
            "She must be forced to marry, or else we will all be doomed!" stated another.
            Then the tavern door flew open, the heavy wind causing it to flap against the wall. Everyone gasped in surprise and turned to see who had entered. A tall, mysterious man entered the room; his hat pulled low over his eyes and his hands in the pockets of his dark jacket. The townspeople looked fearfully at this man they had never seen before.
            "Evening, sir," the bartender said timidly. "What can I do for you this night?"
            The man turned his head in the direction of the bartender and spoke in a deep voice, "I have come to solve your problem concerning the Princess Aleigha."
            "What do you mean, sir?" An elderly woman asked from the far corner of the room.
            The man walked over to the nearest table and from within his jacket pulled out a rose encased in a glass container. He set it down for all to look at in wonderment.
            "This here is an enchanted rose. Someone here will have to give it to the Princess and tell her it is a gift. Once she accepts it, the rose will begin to wilt. If by the time the last petal has fallen and the Princess still hasn't chosen a husband, she will be put into a deep sleep that only a man who is righteous to be king can awaken through a single kiss."
            "But sir, if we tell the Princess what the rose will do to her, she will not accept it!" shouted a villager from across the room.
            "Then we don't tell her. Her advisors must continue to badger her about finding a husband, and if she refuses to, she will fall asleep until a rightful king is found."
            "How will we find this rightful king if she is asleep?" asked another villager.
            "Come outside with me," the man said as he threw open the door and walked out into the pouring rain. Everyone looked at each other in confusion. Then slowly, one by one, the villagers filed outside, covering their heads the best they could from the downpour.
            Outside, in the center of the village, stood an old boulder that no one had noticed before, and protruding from the top of the boulder was a silver sword. 
            "Where did this come from?" asked the bartender in confusion.
            "This sword is enchanted," replied the mysterious man. "He who can pull this sword from the boulder is meant to be the rightful king. However, the sword will not be able to be pulled by anyone until the rose has fully wilted and the princess is in her eternal slumber. Only then can any man try to pull it from its resting place."
            The villagers stared at the sword in amazement. Then, in a blink of an eye, the man was gone. The villagers scratched their heads as they looked around for the tall, dark stranger, but he was nowhere to be found. The villagers all headed back into the tavern to get out of the rain, and the bartender approached the rose encased in the glass container.
            "Well, who will deliver this rose to the Princess? Are we all in approval of this plan?" asked the bartender.
            Everyone stared at each other blankly for a few moments, and then many nods of approval were given.
            "I'll deliver the rose to m'lady," stated the blacksmith. 
            Some more nods and sounds of approval were heard throughout the tavern as the blacksmith approached the rose. He held the container in his hands and stared at it intently. The rose was a beautiful one at that; the deepest red he had ever seen. He knew the Princess would gladly accept his gift. With that, many of the villagers left for the night, hoping that this new plan would work and save their royal princess and their town.

            “Your highness, the Blacksmith of Rochester is here to see you,” stated Aleigha’s royal advisor.

            Princess Aleigha rose from her seat and nodded at the advisor to allow the blacksmith to enter. The man entered carrying a parcel in his hand.

            “M’lady,” said the blacksmith as he bowed to the Princess. “I’m here to present you with this gift. I know times have been rough and I want you to know that you have the support of the townspeople of Rochester.” At this, the man pulled off the wrappings of his gift, revealing the enchanted rose.

            The Princess gasped in surprise as her eyes held the magnificent beauty of the rose. She stepped forward and accepted the rose from the blacksmith.

            “I am truly astounded, I know not what to say except thank-you.” The Princess stroked the glass and then looked back at the blacksmith. “I am trying to do all I can for this town, but right now things are hard. It will get better though, I assure you this.”

            The blacksmith smiled, as he knew that the Princess did not know the double meaning of her words. He bowed again as he made to leave.

            “I’m glad you like it Princess, now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a full day’s work to attend to.”

            “Of course, fair sire. Again I thank you for this lovely gift.”

            The blacksmith left the palace without a backwards glance, hoping that soon all would be well again with the town of Rochester.

 

            Even with the urgings of the Princess’ advisors, the Princess still refused to take a husband. When the last petal of the rose fell from the flower, the Princess collapsed to the floor in an eternal sleep. She was laid in her bed and her physicians could not understand why she could not be woken. When the townspeople heard that the Princess was asleep at last, the men all began to try their hand at pulling the sword from the stone. When nearly every man had tried, and still none had been successful, the villagers began to panic. What if they couldn’t find the man who was fit enough to be king? Would their village go un-ruled?

            Soon men from far and wide heard about the sleeping princess and the sword in the stone to prove their worthiness. Many men were accepted into the town of Rochester so that they could try their hand at withdrawing the sword from the boulder.

            One day, a knight and his squire from the land of Friar Ridge came to try the sword. As expected by the townspeople, the knight was unsuccessful. The knight tried as hard as he could, but he could not pull it from the stone. In anger he cursed the sword and jumped on his horse, yelling for his squire to assist him in packing his things so he could head back home.

            “Wait a minute, sir,” said the blacksmith from amidst the crowd of villagers watching the scene. “Your squire seems to be of age to rule as well and all men are encouraged to try the sword. Before you leave, he should try to unsheathe it.”

            The knight fumed and said his squire was weak and could not be expected to do such a feat. The squire was now interested in seeing if he could in fact pull the sword from the stone, and against his master’s wishes he approached the boulder.

            The squire took the handle of the sword between both hands and with a small yank the sword came free. Everyone, including the knight, stared at the boy and the sword in awe. Then cheers rose up from the villagers as they realized that their new king had been discovered at last! Finally a man with a kind heart was here to awaken the Princess and rule their country with a strong, steady hand.

            The knight was forgotten as the villagers hauled the squire upon their shoulders and escorted him to the palace. The new king was taken aside by some of the villagers who told him the story about their fair princess. The King agreed to awaken the sleeping Aleigha and marry her so that they could rule together.

            The King took the stairs up to the Princess’ chamber. As he gazed upon her beautiful face, he knew that he would be honoured to marry such a woman. Shyly, he kissed the Princess’ lips lightly, and then backed away as he watched her eyes flutter. Slowly, Aleigha awoke. When she was told about how the young man had saved her, and how the enchanted rose and sword came to be, she realized that she could oblige the villagers and her royal advisors in marrying this man so that the town of Rochester could be ruled well and make things easier for her, so that she could spend more time with her dying mother and less time worrying about how she was going to deal with all the impending issues of the palace.

            The next day, the two were married and the Princess knew that she could grow to love this kind-hearted man who had awoken her from her slumber. From that day on, the town of Rochester was ruled to everyone’s delight, and they all lived happily ever after.

 

                                The End