Evelyn

A cheesy fairy tale. :)

Evelyn

            Once upon a time in the heart of Medieval England there was a princess living her life in the middle of a great war between her homeland and their greatest enemy, Scotland. One sunny afternoon near the end of the war and at the graceful age of sixteen she was spending time in the woods outside her castle. On her journey home for the night she heard a great deal of noise coming from her left not far off into the forest. She trembled with fear as a noble knight came stumbling out of the trees holding his side. His hand was coated in blood and his armor had a large hole torn in it.

The knight crashed to the ground and the princess ran over to him and turned him over gently. She tried to stop the bleeding with her cloak but it did not seem to work. The knight yelped in pain as she took off his armor to better see the wound. As she took off the breast plate she spotted a small blue square with a white X covering from corner to corner, she immediately recognized it as the Scottish flag. In horror the princess dropped the piece of metal and began to run but, the knight wailed hoping she would come back to assist him. Being born with a kind heart and keen sense to nurture, she carefully stepped back over to the body and helped him up. Being cautious the princess made sure to leave his armor behind and they travelled back to the castle where he would receive medical assistance.

            Every day the princess would talk with the knight as the gash in his side healed. Every day the love they had for each other grew stronger. The war between the kingdoms ended and it was time for the knight to retire back to his country. Unable to be away from each other the knight and the princess were married and he stayed with her in the castle where they became King and Queen of England. A year after their wedding the princess gave birth to a healthy baby girl whom they named Evelyn.

            Evelyn began to grow displaying the curly dark hair of her mother and the deep green eyes of her father. Every day since Evelyn turned three her father, the knight, would take her out into a field nearby the castle and teach her the art of sword fighting. She became incredibly skilled with a blade and had become almost as good as her father at age ten. At that time England and Scotland were at once again another war. Being King of England the knight went into battle and was killed a year later.

            Evelyn continued to grow and practice the skills her father had taught her, the Queen ruling England with no man by her side. Five years after the King’s death Evelyn had grown to be a beautiful young woman with long dark curls and a face far more beautiful than that of a rose. She was better with a sword than all the knights they had in the army, unfortunately being a woman she was not able to fight.

            On the eve of her sixteenth birthday the kingdom held a ball for Evelyn for the soul purpose that she would be able to find a prince to marry. She wore an elegant red gown with a gold bodice and long sleeves that pointed at the end. After dancing with almost all of the eligible bachelors she decided on whom she was going to marry, Derek the Prince of Ireland. He was incredibly handsome with chiseled features and the ability to care for the one he loved. They announced the betrothal and they danced to one last song before the ball ended and everyone went to bed.

            The next morning Evelyn woke up and went riding into the woods on her horse, Artemis. It was a cloudy day and the sweet smell of rain filled the air. As the sun went down Evelyn took course back home. Being incredibly deep in the forest it would take some time to finally get back to the castle. It became pitch black outside and there was no sign of the castle. She could hear thunder beginning to roll through the clouds. Each explosion of sound would spook her horse slightly and Evelyn would have to calm her down. They travelled deeper and it began to pour and she and the horse were soaked to the bone.

            Evelyn had finally gotten Artemis to calm down before the largest boom sounded and the longest flash ran through the sky. Artemis went up on her back legs and Evelyn tumbled off her back and onto the ground. Looking up off the ground Evelyn could see four white socks running off into the distance. With nowhere else to go she travelled through the forest in hopes she would eventually stumble upon the castle.

            After the trekking through the rain for some time she finally came across a small cottage in the middle of the woods. She saw light inside and knew someone had to be home. Taking many steps into mud puddles she eventually made it to the round wooden door. She knocked gently and a squat and plump woman opened. She invited Evelyn and gave her some dry clothes. After sitting herself in front of the fire for a while she finally was able to feel her toes tingle. She fell asleep beside the fireplace and the woman went upstairs to her own room.

            Late into the night Evelyn heard the front door creak open causing her to wake up. A tall figure stood in the doorway with clothes dripping puddles on the wood floor. Scared as to what had just entered the home Evelyn reached for her sword. The figure made its way into the light and she was able to see it was a young man not much older than her.  She took her sword and pointed it toward him the blade flickered by the firelight. He explained to Evelyn that he was the woman’s son and was only returning after a long journey to deliver something on the other side of Scotland. The woman came down the stairs and confirmed that he was telling the truth and that he was her son, Jack. Apologizing, Evelyn explained how she had ended up there leaving out the fact that she was the princess.

            For many days and nights Evelyn remained at the cottage assisting the woman and her son with farming and chores. As she got to know the young man she discovered he was funny, witty, and clumsy. Although Jack was not as handsome as the Prince of Ireland she found him far more attractive than any prince she had danced with at the ball that one night. After knowing each other for a year Jack proposed to Evelyn and she had to explain that she had been engaged before she ever met him. She told him she was the Princess of England and she was supposed to be married to the Prince of Ireland. They both were silent when around each other both heartbroken over that fact that they would never be married.

            One morning in the middle of summer palace guards had found their way to the small cottage in the woods. They knocked on the door violently and the woman answered. They held up a picture of Evelyn asking if the woman had seen the princess. In shock the woman pointed into the house towards Evelyn and the guards entered the room. They explained to her that her mother had been looking for her for a year and that she must return home immediately to the castle to be married.

            Willingly Evelyn went with them and returned back to her original home in the castle. That night she prepared to marry Prince Derek although she did not love him. That night Evelyn stood outside two towering doors, flowers in hand, awaiting the moment they would open and she would walk down the aisle. Just before that moment arrived a woman came running to her shouting her name guards trailing behind her. The woman was the one she had lived for that year and she came to tell Evelyn that Jack had been taken and she knew not where.

            Dropping the flowers she held Evelyn tore off her veil and ran towards the stables where she found Artemis waiting for her. She tied a sword to the side of the saddle and raced off into the forest. Unsure of where she was going Evelyn knew she would be able to find it. Slowly a trail of green mist formed in front of her leading deeper into the forest. Without hesitating she followed the trail hoping it would lead her to Jack.

            In time, she found herself stopping in front of a tall tower. She dismounted her horse and unstrapped her sword from the side of the saddle. Fear swelling up inside her she made her way to the tower door and pulled it open. Inside she found a winding staircase that was slowly withering away. Carefully she made her way up the tower and into the room at the very top. There she found a slender woman, a witch, with a black cloak draped across her back. In front of her was a tall red-headed young man lying on the floor unconscious.

            Evelyn unsheathed her sword and pointed it at the woman. The skeleton like figure turned around sneering at the sight of the princess that stood before her. Commanding she let Jack go the witch only laughed at her counterfeit courage. She shot a spell at Evelyn pinning her against the damp stone wall above a pit where she could see no bottom. The witch explained that she knew Evelyn would come for the one she loved therefore making it easier to entrap her. With Evelyn holding a confused look on her face the witch was encouraged to explain further. Her intent was to kill Evelyn in order to cause her mother pain and misfortune. Still confused the witch continued to explain that Evelyn’s mother had stolen the very thing she had ever held dear to her heart, the Scottish knight. Before Evelyn’s father had left for battle he was good friends with the witch, before she was a wicked, and they shared many good times. As a young woman the witch had loved the knight and thought he had loved her too. However, as a young woman she received word that the knight had married the Princess of England and had become King of England. Heartbroken, she believed that the only reason the knight had never come back to marry her was because the princess had deceived him into loving her.

            Seeking revenge she found an evil sorcerer that taught her how to channel her anger into magic. After the sorcerer died she spent many years trying to find a way to get vengeance on the princess that had stolen her one true love. Ten years later she had heard that the knight had been killed in battle and that he had had a daughter whom he and his wife loved dearly. Years the witch waited for an opportunity to get Evelyn into her tower with the intention of killing her.

            At the conclusion of the witch’s story Jack slowly began to wake up but, the witch was so focused on Evelyn she did not notice. He picked up the sword that was lying on the ground and killed the witch from behind. Evelyn slid off the wall and toward the pit. She managed to grab the tops preventing her fall and Jack pulled her out.

            They road back to the castle on horseback where she told Prince Derek she could not marry him. With no difficulty he admitted he did not want to marry her either for he was in love with a girl back in Ireland. Evelyn married Jack the next day and they lived happily ever after.

THE END

Author's Note

I won't be correcting grammar so if you find anything wrong with it just let me know and I'll be sure to fix it. And just for the heck of it, what would you think if this were a Disney movie?