The Ugly Princess

Hopefully to be a future picture book about an ugly princess who saves her kingdom.

In a kingdom of the old world, many years ago, there was an ugly princess. She didn't have water or acid burn scars on her face, or strange deformities from birth, but her family was sure she was the ugliest princess alive. Her older brother, the prince and next in line for the throne, was the most handsome prince in the kingdom's history. The king and queen wanted to make sure that the prince would only be seen by the townspeople and respected.

The young, princess knew she was ugly and did everything she could to hide her face with a veil from the townspeople so they wouldn't have to see her horrible hideousness. The prince though much more good-looking than his younger sibling was not as cruel towards her as their parents. He would save part of his dinner for her when the king and queen would not feed the ugly princess.

As the prince and princess got older, the king and queen started to separate the young prince and princess more and more trying to teach the prince that he is better looking and must behave differently because he is better looking than his younger sister. When the king and queen wouldn't feed the poor ugly princess, the prince stopped helping the princess too. But that didn't stop the princess from being kind to other living things. All while the king and queen were so focused on teaching the prince, the princess made new friends with people of the squalor. These people were the poorest of the poor of the townspeople. Some of them even stole food because they didn't have money to pay.    

She had saved the fruits and vegetables that her older brother had given her and saved their seeds and learned how to grow food in the gardens of the courtyard. She saved bunches of seeds and wrapped them up and gave them away to starving townspeople so they could learn how to grow their own food. The king and queen often punished the princess for being so ugly and made her work in the kitchen, so the ugly princess learned how to bake bread. The head chef of the castle allowed the ugly princess to keep one big loaf that she made all by herself to keep. The very ugly princess ran to her room and sliced up the bread and drew picture instructions on how to bake bread since she knew most poor people couldn't go to school and didn't know how to read.

Soon word got out that the princess was helping the townspeople when the king and queen where being cruel to their subjects. The king and queen were furious! They locked up the ugly princess in the dungeon. They told the guards to starve her for days, so she’d beg for mercy, but the very ugly princess just stayed quiet accepting her punishment knowing that she had helped hundreds of mothers, fathers and children that needed help.

While the princess was held prisoner in the dungeon, a war broke out between her kingdom and another. The king and queen went into battle with the their army and left the very handsome young prince in charge of the castle during the war.

Sadly, war causes a lot of death. They needed many people to help win the war, so people who had different jobs also fought in the war. The tailor fought in the war. The horse trainer fought in the war. The court composer fought in the war. The gardener fought in the war. The head chef fought in the war, and the king and queen fought in the war. None of them came back. The handsome prince was now king!

He was a poor king now. He lost his gardener, so now he has no fruits or vegetables. He lost his tailor, so now he has no new clothes. He lost his horse trainer, so now he has no new horses. He lost his chef, so now he has nothing to eat! He’s a poor man now! He begged for the townspeople to come work for him in his castle, but they refused because he and his parents were always so cruel to poorer people. Oh, what is a poor king to do?

While walking through his kingdom he noticed a very poor pauper hoing and weeding a small garden of his own. The young, poor king walks up to the pauper, “Excuse me, sir.” The king desperate for something to eat, “May I please have one of your vegetables?” The pauper surprised at the request. “Of course, Your Highness.” The young king hastily reaches for a vegetable from the small garden. The pauper watches the young, handsome king eat. “Your Highness, forgive me for asking, but hasn’t the beautiful princess taught you how to grow your food?” Then he remembered! His younger uglier sister, the princess, is still alive and alone in the dungeon and probably more hungry than he. He races back to the castle to look for the ugly princess. He finds the door to the cell, but is afraid to open for the fear of the ugliness that he’s been taught by his parents. He remembers the pauper calling the ugly princess ‘beautiful’. Because of this, it made him curious and more eager to see if she had grown beautiful behind that veil.

The young, poor king slowly cracks open the door to the cell and hears little feet scampering. He shudders, because he knows that only means one thing"It’s too late!

Rodents come down here only when there’s food down here and there’s never food down here when people are alive. The young king holds his breath and looks inside. He sees someone feeding a small mouse next to a fruit bush that grew in the cracks of the stone where the light comes in. The door hinge creaks and startles the princess, who had taken off her veil after all those years, revealing her face. The young, handsome king cringes at first, but then sees the ugly princess’s face for the first time in many years. Flawless, just like her reputation. She is beautiful. The dirt all over her face and hands don’t hide the grace and beauty that shines through. The young king most grateful begs for forgiveness and asks if she would help teach a new gardener and chef for the castle. She accepts.

 

Because the beautiful princess had been so kind to the poorer people of the kingdom, those that learned how to sew, compose, play instruments and train horses agreed to work at the castle for her brother, the king. The king’s first orders ever were to have the tailor, horse trainer, and chef to make the princess the most beautiful gowns she ever got to wear, have the finest horse she ever got to ride and to prepare the finest meal she ever had. The young king learned that he and his parents had made things ugly. It takes a beautiful person to do beautiful things. In the end, they both finally did.