The Queen's Son

Years ago, a messenger raced through this kingdom on the fastest horse he could find. Today I bake, tomorrow I brew... He recited the poem in his head as he galloped toward the castle. As soon as he heard the poem, he knew it was what the queen needed, but he had to deliver the message by dawn and his horse was too weary to travel that far that fast. So the messenger walked a mile or so to the nearest village, waking up person after person until he found someone who could exchange a swift horse for his tired one. Then he raced toward the castle. He watched with horror as the sky lightened. He was still some distance away and drove the horse on at its top speed. He ran through the castle to the queen's chamber, but as soon as he arrived, he knew he was too late.

I was raised by a tiny old man with a crafty twinkle in his eye. We lived in a sod hut just outside of one village, and about twice the distance from the next. There was o problem with my raising. I was always treated with care and kindness. I was well fed and clothed and never mistreated. Not once did the little man harm me. He treated me always like a son. Nonetheless, I couldn't shake the feeling that I didn't belong.

I did not feel degraded by the many chores I did to keep the house running. "Father" was a busy, hard working man. Also, as I grew older, my strength became greater than his own. So did my height. In fact, by the time I was twelve, I was already a over a foot taller than him, and still growing.

I suppose this contributed to my feeling that I didn't belong. It was more than a suspicion that this man was not my real father. He was smaller than me and looked nothing like me. As well as he treated me, I was always curious as to who my parents were and why they had left me with someone else.

Finally, one day I got so fed up with it, I decided to leave. I packed a few possessions and what little money I had in a small bag, but he stopped me at the door.

"Where are you going?" He growled.

I sighed, "to find my parents."

"I'm your father."

"Then where's my mother? I want to find my real parents."

"I'm..."

"No," I was getting impatient, "You're not."

He tried to block my way, but in my anger, I easily shoved him aside. I took our only horse and rode through a few villages. Our horse was old, so I went slowly. I left in the afternoon and there were only a few hours of daylight left, so I stopped pretty early. I reached a village, dismounted, and began to look for a place to stay the night, but before I really had the chance to get started, I heard someone call out to me.

"You there! Boy!"

I turned to see and old man sitting on a stool outside a small, dingy looking house that seemed as rickety as the man himself.

"You're my daughter's son!" He said excitedly.

I never expected to reach my goal so quickly, and my heart soared at the thought. "Whose your daughter?"

"The queen!"

My heart sank again. The notion was ridiculous.

"You look just like her. I'd recognize my grandson anywhere."

I heard laughter and looked up. A much younger man was leaning up against the side of the house. "If your daughter was the queen," he asked, "why don't you live at the castle?"

"I did live at the castle!" The old man raved, "But the king sent me away and blamed me for his troubles. As if his greed had nothing to do with it!"

The younger man shook his head, "Nonsense. You used to be a crazy old miller, now your just a crazy old man." He turned to me, "who are you?" He didn't ask it in a demanding way, more like he was curious because he had never seen me before.

"Just a traveler looking for a place to stay the night." It didn't feel right to tell the truth.

"You may stay with my family." The young man said. He stood up and led me through the village to his own house, which was thankfully bigger than that of the old man. He also had a small barn where I could keep my horse.

The man had a wife and two daughters, about six and eight years old. They were all very kind to me. They told me that the old man used to be a miller, but was now too old to work. They had offered him a place in their home, but he had refused, preferring to live where he always has, so the young man visited him each day to take care of him. About thirteen years previous, he had left town with his daughter and returned a year later without her. Soon afterward he started spouting this crazy story that she'd become queen. He'd always told storie, but this was the crziest anyone had ever heard. The villagers figured his daughter had died and the trauma had driven him to the edge of his sanity. He was harmless though.

I stayed the night with the family and the next morning I was sent off with a bit of money to help me on my journey. About midday, I reached a village and began searching for a place to find food. Finally, I found a baker and bought a few fresh biscuits.

"What brings you here?" The baker asked me.

"I'm just passing through."

He nodded, "Thought you might be another traveler searching for the prince."

"The prince?"

"You don't know the story?"

I shook my head. I felt sort of isolated from the rest of the kingdom. "Father" and I were able to live our life alone, going on the way we did as always. We didn't worry about what was outside of our little hut and the world we created for it. The goings on of the kingdom didn't affect us too much, so I didn't know much about what went on beyond my home.

The man explained, "twelve years ago, the prince was kidnapped, straight from the queen's chamber. No one knows who did it. Right after it happened, lots of people went looking for him, but not so much anymore. Every once in a while though, someone passes through."

"Oh." I nodded, "No, that's not why I'm here." As I said it, the old man's words echoed in my head: 'My daughter's the queen...' I was struck by a crazy idea. What if it was true? The more I thought about it, the more I became sure of it. I set off to the castle.

When I arrived, I was stopped by the guard at the gate.

"Please!" I cried, "You have to let me in! I'm the queen's son!"

The guard looked me up and down. He smirked, "Nonsense. The prince is only twelve years old."

It was not until then that I realized how different I was. Doing chores around home, from a fairly young age had made me pretty strong. I was outdoors a lot, and I never cut my hair, so I had the skin tone, and hair length of an older boy. I was also quite tall. I'd never known any other children my age, but the little man had always said "Perhaps it's for the best, you aren't like them"

I was at a loss for how to explain myself. "It's the truth," I pleaded with him, "If you just let me see her!"

The guard shook his head, "I can't just let you..."

"Excuse me." A messenger behind the gate interrupted him, "Who is this?"

"He says he's..."

"I'm the queen's son!"

The messenger gave me a curious glance. He thought for a moment, and then nodded to the guard to open the gate. I led my horse inside and the messenger found someone to take it.

He brought me into the castle and took me to the queen's chamber. "My lady, this boy would like to speak to you."

She looked up, "Yes?"

I took a deep breath, "Your... your majesty? I believe I am your son.

She shook her head, "That's impossible. You're too old."

"I am only twelve your majesty. I was... I was raided in unusual circumstances."

She was gracious enough to ask me how far I had traveled to deliver this message and offered me a room to stay the night in, but ultimately she disagreed and asked the messenger to take me away.

"I'm sorry." He said as he led me out, "She gave up finding her son years ago. Now, she barely believes he ever existed."

The entire scene seemed to be screaming at me "Give up!" Even if I was the queen's son, there was no way of proving it. Still, I felt sure I belonged here. I was allowed to stay the night at the castle, but had every intention of leaving the next morning. I might have been born the prince, but I was the prince no longer. That was that.

Sometime that night, I was awakened by someone, and when I opened my eyes, I saw the little man!

"I always told you," he said, "never to run away because I would find you, wherever you went."

I shrugged, "It doesn't matter. I'm going back tomorrow."

He shook his head, "No. You've found your parents. Don't turn back on that now."

"You mean I..."

"Tomorrow, go to the queen and tell her who raised you." With that, he disappeared. I didn't understand, but the next morning, I asked to see the queen again.

I bowed to her, "Your majesty, if you ride your fastest horse at its top speed, you will eventually come to a plateau that is deserted but for a lone house made of sod. It was here I grew up, and to here I am about to return. I will stop insisting that I am your son, but I would like you to know I was raised in this house by a... many talented man named Rumpelstiltskin." I bowed once again and turned away, but as I did, I heard the messenger hiss excitedly to the queen.

He was the same messenger who had brought me before her the previous night and seemed to be a confidant of hers. What he said was, "My lady! That's the name! The man who can spin straw into gold!"

Suddenly, I felt myself being whipped around, and the queen was standing in front of me, gripping my shoulders and staring deep into my eyes. Finally, she embraced me, crying "You are my son! You are my son!"

I thought finding my parents would be wonderful, but it was even more wonderful for them. Father realized how much pain he had caused grandfather and brought him back to the castle, to the surprise of everyone else in his village. I tried to return Rumpelstiltskin's horse, but when I arrived, the hut was deserted. Since then, the strange man was faded into nothing more than a legend.

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