The Duchess of Dread and the Second Prince

A hero's tale

There once was a Prince who wanted to be King, though he had no one to back him up. So he saught help elsewhere, the Duchess of dread, a noble woman with a sinister title. She lived in a castle built by her own money and hard work, she had an army at her disposal who could rival the Royal armys and she monopolized all the salt sold in the kingdom. But no one would ever get close to the Duchess, for rumors told that she was a monster who delighted in torturing humans for fun. The Prince however did not care about rumors, for he needed her help. He sent her countless letters, not all whom asked for aid, yet she never replied.

So the Prince travelled alone towards her castle on the outskirts of the kingdom. It took him two weeks to reach the castle, by then he was tired and hungry. He rode up to the castle gates but no one opened or even glanced outside. He waited patiently by the gates, two days passed as he waited. On the end of second day the Duchess ordered her servants to bring him in, by then he was barely clinging to life. He was nursed back to health before the Duchess came to speak to him. 'Why have you entered the devil's den?' She asked. The Prince chuckled. 'My lady, I am in desperate need of your aid.' The Duchess looked him up and down. 'Indeed you are, but why should I?' She asked. 'I am the second Prince of Soleen and I wish to be King. My brother is not fit to bear the crown, I fear for my country, if he becomes King there will be endless war.' The Prince said resolutely. The Duchess tilted her head to the side. 'What will I get if you become King? What benefit is there?' She asked. The Prince nodded, he expected as much. 'My lady, you will have a sound political standing by the court's side and you will have a final say in state affairs.' The Duchess locked her gaze on the Prince's eyes. 'What if I want war?' She asked. The Prince didn't so much as flinch. 'Then my lady, we are done talking.' He answered. The Duchess smirked. 'Fine, I will help you, but first you must complete 7 trails. After you have completed them, I will aid you with no strings attached. That is my deal.' The Prince seemed relieved. 'I will do anything for my people.' This made the Duchess smile. 'We shall see if you hold true to your word, because you can die at any time.' After that the Duchess left the Prince to his own devices.

The next day he got word of his first trail. 'Survive three days in the castle while being continuously hunted by an assassin.' The Prince showed no hesitation. And so he was kept from sleep while hiding at any sound. There were a few close calls but none so serious, that was until the last day when the Prince was cornered in the pantry along with a maid from the kitchens. The assassin grinned as he came closer to them. 'Seems I'll have to kill two people for the price of one.' He jeered. The Prince stood bravely infront of the assassin, shielding the maid behind him. The assassin laughed. 'So you plan to sacrifice yourself for a mere maid?' The Prince scoffed. 'That is not my plan. I have a county to lead, so I cannot die here and I cannot watch someone die infront of me. I plan to live a long hard life with no regrets.' He stated boldly as he stook a battle stance. 'That's enough ,Prince, you have passed the first trial.' The maid behind him spoke up. It was the Duchess in disguise.

The prince was given two days of rest before he would be given his next trial. He asked the Duchess to stay by his side as he slept, for those three days had been jarring and nerve racking, he needed someone trusting by his side. The Duchess watched over him throughout the two nights. The second trial was this, 'There are seven prisoners in the dungeon, one of them was wrongly accused. Find whoever it is and pass judgement on them.' The Prince spent those seven days talking to the seven prisoners, listening to their stories and pondering alone in his room. On the last day the Duchess came to the Prince. 'Your time is up. Who is innocent?' She asked him. The Prince thought for a bit before he gave his answer. 'None of them are innocent.' This made the Duchess smirk. 'Though one of them was wrongly accused of theft and murder when he had only committed murder.' The Prince added. The Duchess seemed satisfied with his answer since she invited him to have tea with her in the garden.

It was a beautiful rose garden with pure white and blood red roses. 'For your third trial,' the Duchess pointed over to the rows of white roses. 'I want to see all these white roses in the color pink. You have one day' She said. The Prince looked out on the countless white roses. It seemed an impossible request but the prince calmly sipped his tea as he thought and thought and thought again. After a while he asked the Duchess to walk with him through the garden. 'Why are you wasting time like this? Have you given up?' The Duchess asked as they walked. The Prince squinted his eyes at the slowly setting sun. 'Where there is a will there is a way and I have more than enough will.' He simply stated. They passed the time in silence as the sun set. 'Look my lady, the white roses are pink now.' The Prince said as the last rays of sunlight drained away. In the red and orange heu of the setting sun the white roses looked very pink ineed. The Duchess embraced the prince. 'You will be a wise king.'

Yet fate was too cruel to the second Prince, he died during the fourth tial. 'Find the real monster who lurks in the castle.' That was the task. The Prince went missing for those few days, that was untill the Duchess found his body on the stairs leading down to the dungeon. He had managed to crawl up halfway up the stairs before he bled out. This saddened the Duchess greatly, she had truly believed in the Prince. 'Alright, the second Prince has failed the seven trials, however he had shown great love for his country. So I shall honor half of our deal.' The Duchess said to her people.

So she did, by marrying the first Prince. She led him down the right path to becoming a great King. She taught him self-preservation, fairness, patience, endurance, wit, courage and how to have passion for his country. No wars were held during his reign and the land prospered thanks to the brilliant Queen. Though the story didn't end like you would have wanted, it did end in a good way. The second Prince was seen as a hero to the people of Soleen and would be remembered through countless generations, that is...until a new hero

takes his place in history.