Rose and Lily

          Once upon a time there were twin sisters named Rose and Lily. They lived with their mother in a house by the forest. The mother named her daughters Rose and Lily after the roses and lilies she grew in her garden. She loved roses and lilies as much as she loved her two daughters.

          Rose and Lily were both beautiful and kind girls and loved their home in the forest. Lily loved to spend time in the forest. She enjoyed all the wild flowers that grew and looking at all the animals who lived there. The forest was a real peaceful paradise to her. Rose loved the forest too, but she was more of a staying at home person.

          Lily was happy living in the forest, but sometimes she felt a little bit lonely. In the forest Lily would always see an animal with its mate. That was why Lily felt a bit lonely: she wanted a husband. Rose wanted a husband too. The girls did love living with their mother in the forest, but they wanted a special person by their side, someone to share their lives with forever. Their mother understood; her late husband, Rose and Lily’s father, was important to her till the day he died.

          One summer day Lily was picking berries for dinner when she saw a white horse coming towards her. On the white horse sat a handsome young man. Lily was surprised to see a handsome young man in the forest. People didn’t often visit the forest.

          “Pardon me miss” the man said “but have you seen a man that looks just like me? He’s my twin brother and he disappeared in this forest last winter”.

          “I’m sorry sir” said Lily “but you’re the only man I’ve seen in this forest so far”.

          “Oh well thanks anyway” the man said “if you do see him tell him that I’m looking for him”.

          “Of course sir” said Lily. In a second the man left.

          At dinner Lily told Rose and her mother all about her meeting with the young man.

          “I see, so the young man is looking for his missing twin brother is he?” the mother asked.

          “Yes,” answered Lily “and I haven’t seen him either and I go into the forest everyday”.

          “Oh I hope that he finds his twin brother soon” said Rose.

          Next morning Rose and Lily were out in the forest collecting firewood. They were about to go home, when they both heard a giggling noise coming from behind a bush. Behind the bush was a male pixie dressed in dark purple clothing. Lily didn’t like pixies. Pixies loved to play tricks on people and Lily didn’t like their tricks.

          Rose and Lily were just about to leave when Lily noticed that the pixie was wearing jewels. It was strange that a pixie would have jewels because pixies usually had pixie dust or wands on them, but not jewels. Lily did find it strange but decided not to worry any longer and went home with Rose instead.

          “There’s something about that pixie that I don’t like” Lily said to Rose “a pixie with jewels doesn’t sound right”.

          “I feel the same thing too Lily” said Rose.

          That afternoon Lily was collecting water from a stream when the young man she met yesterday came up to her.

          “Nice to see you again miss” he said.

          “You too sir” said Lily “have you found your brother yet?”

          “No I haven’t” the young man said “and I’ve searched everywhere in this forest for him”.

          “What was your brother doing here in the forest exactly?” asked Lily.

          The young man explained to Lily that last winter his family’s treasure was stolen by someone. His twin brother went off by himself to search for it.

          “Did anyone see who it was that took it?” asked Lily.

          “No, no one saw anything or anyone” the man answered “but we did find something”. He took out a piece of dark purple material from his pocket. “The thief left this behind”.

          When Lily saw the piece of material she suddenly remembered something. The pixie in dark purple clothes she saw this morning had a hole in his shirt and had jewels with him. ‘I wonder if it was him who stole the treasure’ she thought. She told the man all about the pixie.

          “Since you just said this pixie had a hole in his dark purple shirt and was carrying jewels,” he said “it just might be the thief my brother looking for. Where is this pixie now?”

          “Last time I saw the pixie it was in the forest behind a bush” answered Lily “but I’m not sure if he is still there now”.

          “Then we better go look for the pixie now” the man said.

          So Lily and the young man went into the forest to search for the pixie. On the way they met Rose. Lily introduced her twin sister to the young man and asked Rose if she had seen the pixie in dark purple clothes they had seen that morning.

          “Actually I have” said Rose “I saw it near a tree stump and I saw it carrying jewels again. What’s going on?”

          “My family’s treasure was stolen last year and I think that pixie was the one who took it” the young man said “come with us”.

          Rose lead Lily and the young man to where she saw the pixie. He was standing next to a hollowed out tree stump and was putting a bag of jewels into it. Rose, Lily and the young man watched the pixie very carefully from behind a bush. There was no doubt about it; this pixie was the one who stole the young man’s treasure. What caught Lily’s eye was a statue standing next to the stump. The statue looked exactly like her friend.

          “Sir that statue looks like you” she whispered, pointing to the statue.

          “I agree” the young man whispered “I’m not sure about this, but I think that statue is my twin brother”.

          “Since pixies have magical powers” whispered Rose “the pixie must have turned your brother into that statue”.

          The young man was not happy and took out his sword. He was going to fight the pixie.

          “If you’re going to fight it” said Lily “do be careful, that pixie might be dangerous”.

          The young man jumped out from behind the bush. “Hold it right there!” he shouted “you stole my family’s treasure and I have come to take it back!”

          “Ha! Ha! Ha!” laughed the pixie “I don’t give back anything that I’ve stolen”.

          The pixie began to throw pixie dust at the young man, while the young man kept on dodging it. He knew that the pixie dust would turn him into stone like his brother. Rose and Lily were worried. How could they do something to stop the pixie? Then Lily had an idea; she picked up a small stone and threw it at the pixie. That made the pixie very angry; pixies hate having things thrown at them. Because the pixie was distracted by Rose and Lily, this gave the young man a chance to attack the pixie. He ran quickly to the pixie and struck him with his sword. The pixie turned to dust when the sword struck it.

          After the pixie turned to dust the statue by the stump began glowing. Then in a flash of light the statue turned into a human. It was the young man’s lost twin brother!

          “Richard!” shouted the young man “I looked for you everywhere”. The twin brothers embraced each other.

          “I’m sorry for worrying you so much Phillip” said Richard “last year when I went to search for our family’s stolen treasure, I found out that a pixie had taken it. But that pixie found out and turned me into a statue. Now I am free thanks to you”.

          Phillip introduced his brother to Rose and Lily and explained to him that they were the ones who helped him.

          “I am grateful to you Rose and Lily” said Richard, bowing to them, “you have both helped and saved the king’s twin sons”.

          Rose and Lily couldn’t believe what they just heard. Richard and Phillip were actually princes of a kingdom, which was quite far from the forest.

          “We are so sorry your highnesses” said Rose and Lily together “we didn’t know”.

          “There is really no need to apologize” said Prince Phillip “it’s my fault for not telling you that earlier”. Prince Phillip took Lily’s hand. “Lily ever since I met you yesterday I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Would you become my wife?”

          Lily accepted the proposal immediately. Then Prince Richard asked Rose to become his wife; he had fallen in love with her. Rose accepted that proposal as well.

          Before the summer ended Rose and Lily were married to Prince Richard and Prince Phillip and became princesses. Rose and Lily’s mother was happy for her two daughters and moved into the castle with them. She planted her roses and lilies in the castle gardens and beautiful roses and lilies grew every year. Rose and Lily were happy; they had finally found someone special to be at their side always.

Edward and Jane

          Once upon a time a twelve year old boy named Edward was standing beside a tombstone. It was his mother’s tombstone. She died a few years ago and Edward visited her grave whenever he wanted to. Edward felt lonely without his mother around. His father was always out on business and hardly ever spent time with his own son. Edward had a nurse to look after him, but she couldn’t take his mother’s place. Edward missed his mother terribly, he began to cry.

          “What’s wrong” said a voice behind him. The voice belonged to a girl about his age carrying a bunch of wild flowers.

          “Nothing really” said Edward, wiping his tears away, “just visiting my mother’s grave”.

          “My mother is dead too and I’ve picked these flowers for her grave”. She handed some of her flowers to Edward. “Here put these on your mother’s grave”.

          “Thank you” said Edward and took the flowers from her. “My name is Edward, what’s yours?”

          “My name is Jane” the girl answered.

          Jane asked Edward if he wanted to play with her for a while, but Edward said that he had to go home now. Jane understood she promised her father she wouldn’t be long. They quickly said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways for home.

          When Edward got home he told his nanny about Jane. His nanny was happy that Edward had found someone his age to talk to because Edward had never spoken to anyone his age before. Edward asked his nanny if he could meet with Jane again tomorrow. His nanny agreed; Edward had never made friends with anyone and now his chance to make a friend came.

          The next morning Edward went to the cemetery again, hoping that Jane would be there again. It wasn’t far from his house to the cemetery so he just ran there. Jane was there and was happy to see Edward again.

          “Nice seeing you again Edward” said Jane “my father and I are about to go on a walk. Would you like to join us?” Edward accepted the offer.

          Jane brought Edward to her house. Jane lived in a little white church, with a little bell tower.

          “My father is a clergyman and he runs that church” Jane explained to Edward.

          She introduced him to her father and then they both set out on their walk. They walked through a little wood filled with lots of trees, a little stream and plenty of wild flowers. Edward was having a wonderful time. He felt happy being with Jane and her father; Edward had always felt lonely with his mother dead and his father always out on business. But now he had found a friend at last and didn’t feel lonely anymore.

          While admiring the wild flowers Jane heard someone playing a tambourine. She went to investigate. Then she found some gypsies in a field.

          “Father, Edward look here” shouted Jane “it’s the gypsies who put on performances”.

          Jane asked her father if she could go watch them for a while. Jane’s father agreed and gave her a penny. He asked Edward if he wanted to watch them too. Edward wasn’t sure if he wanted to meet the gypsies. His nanny had told him once that gypsies steal from people. But Jane’s father reassured him that these gypsies were nice people, so Edward agreed to join in.

          The performances the gypsies were putting on were marvellous. There were jugglers, musicians and dancers and those doing acts with fire or knives. There was also a fortune teller. The fortune teller sat at a table with a crystal ball and items in front of her. She had charms for good luck and for happiness; she even had charms to protect you from bad dreams.

          Edward and Jane ran over to the fortune teller; they wanted their fortunes told.

         “You two want your fortunes told, yes?” the fortune teller asked.

          “Yes please” said Edward and Jane together.

          The fortune teller looked into the crystal ball. “Ah” she said, looking amazed. “I sense you two have a friendship bond that is strong. So strong it will never break even when you’re apart from each other. I now sense a separation will come your way soon, but it will not break your bond towards each other. Now I sense that in the future your friendship bond will turn into the bond of love.” She picked up two rings from her table. They were both golden with a blue stone; they were a pair. “These rings are rings of love; as long as you have these you will never forget your bond towards each other”.

          Edward and Jane gave their pennies to the fortune teller and took the rings from her. They said thank you and walked away from her. Jane tried on her ring, but it was too big for any of her fingers. Edward’s ring didn’t fit on any of his fingers either.

          “Never mind” said Edward “the rings will probably fit when we have grown up a little”. Jane agreed with him.

          By the time Jane and Edward had finished watching the gypsies it was now the afternoon. Jane’s father told them that it was now time to go home. Edward thanked Jane and her father for a wonderful time and ran for home, promising Jane he would visit her again tomorrow. This day was the best day of Edward’s life; he hoped that he would have happy days with Jane every day.

          But the next day Edward visited Jane with a sad look and sad news. He told Jane that his Father said to him that they were moving to a different town. This hurt Edward very much; Jane was the best friend he ever had and now he was leaving her. Jane felt upset too; she didn’t want Edward to leave either. Edward pulled Jane into a hug and promised her that he would return to her one day. Then he took out the ring that the gypsy fortune teller gave him.

          “I will wear this ring always to let you know that I have returned” he said, putting the ring on his fourth right hand finger. It still didn’t fit him but he did not care.

          “I will wear my ring too” said Jane taking out her ring. She placed it on her fourth right hand finger; it was still too big for her. “And I will always wait for you to return”.

          With tears in their eyes Edward and Jane hugged each other one last time and said goodbye to each other. Edward had to rush back home quickly. While Jane watched him run home; she prayed and wished that Edward would come back soon.

          Ten years went by; Jane grew into a very beautiful young lady. Many men had asked for her hand in marriage but she refused. She was waiting for Edward to return. This sometimes made her father worry about her; he understood that she promised Edward that she would wait for him, but they hadn’t heard from him for ten years. Jane’s father was worried if Edward had forgotten the promise. Jane believed that Edward had not forgotten the promise because of the ring he took with him. Jane had kept her ring on her finger ever since Edward left and had not taken it off once while she was growing up. The ring fitted her finger perfectly now.

          One day Jane got a letter; it was an invitation to a place called Mangiast Hall. The master of Mangiast Hall wanted to meet and talk to her this afternoon.

          “I do hope this master of Mangiast Hall doesn’t ask for my hand in marriage” Jane said to her father.

          “He may not Jane” said her father “but if he does, don’t say anything that will make him really angry. Break it to him gently”.

          “I understand Father” Jane replied.

          That afternoon Jane visited Mangiast Hall. Mangiast Hall was the biggest place Jane had ever been to. She was still nervous about meeting the master. What was confusing the most was that she had no idea who he was. The master of Mangiast Hall didn’t put his real name down on the letter he sent her. Jane introduced herself to the butler and the butler led her to the study where the master was waiting for her.

          The master seemed to be a fine gentleman of society and looked very kind and polite.

          “I welcome you to my home miss Jane” he said bowing to her.

          “I thank you for inviting me sir” Jane replied.

          “I invited you here because I have something to ask you,” the master said “you see it is now time for me to find a wife. And I was wondering if you would like to become my wife”.

          Jane was not surprised that the master would ask her for her hand in marriage. She took a big breath and gave him her answer. “I’m sorry sir, but the truth is I have no plans of marrying anyone. I’m waiting for someone important to me to return”. Jane told the master everything about her childhood friend Edward and about the promise of waiting for him till he returned. The master listened to every word Jane said and smiled at her.

          “This boy Edward you speak of,” the master said “did he leave you any parting gift?”

          “Yes sir he left me this ring I wear on my fourth right hand finger” Jane answered.

          When Jane revealed her ring to the master the blue stone began to glow. Jane couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Then a glow came from the master’s right hand. His right hand revealed the ring he was wearing. Jane saw that their rings were an exact pair. Then she realized something. The master of Mangiast Hall was really Edward!

          “I’m sorry that it took me ten years to return to you Jane” said Edward “but I am now free to stay with you this time”.

          With tears of happiness running down her cheeks Jane ran into Edwards arms. “I always knew that you would return Edward” she sobbed.

          “Now that everything is revealed and I will no longer leave you again” said Edward “I ask you again, would you become my wife?” This time Jane changed her answer to yes.

          “That fortune teller who gave us the matching rings was right” said Jane “our friendship did turn into love”. Edward agreed.

          Edward and Jane’s wedding day was the happiest day of their lives. Jane was happy that Edward was going to be with her forever and never leave her again. Edward was happy that the best and only friend he ever had was now his wife. Now nothing or no one was going to separate them ever again.

The Snake Girl

          Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom, there lived a king, who had three daughters and a son. His wife the queen had died several years ago and his four children were all he had for comfort. His daughters the princesses were older than their young brother the prince and had gotten married to fine young princes. They now lived with their husbands in different kingdoms. There was only the prince living with his father now. The prince hadn’t gotten married yet and that worried his father. The prince was still a young man but his father wanted him to get married. The reason for that was because the king was getting old and had to give his crown to his son soon. He also wanted a queen to be by his son’s side when he became king. This made the prince really fed up. He had no objections to getting married, but he hadn’t fallen in love with any girl yet. The prince wanted to marry for love like his father did when he married his mother the late queen.

          One day the prince was riding his horse into the forest. The forest was the prince’s favourite place to go to for some peace and quiet and to get away from his troubles. What he didn’t know was that trouble was heading straight to him. A black wolf that lived in the forest was hunting for food and had seen the prince. It crept out of the bushes. The prince saw the wolf and grabbed his sword to defend himself. The wolf was just about to pounce on the prince when it suddenly let out a howl. An adder snake had bitten it on the back left leg and the wolf was now limping from the snake’s poisonous fangs. This gave the prince a chance to kill the wolf with his sword. After the wolf died the prince looked at the adder snake that saved his life. The adder snake was green with brown patterns and brown eyes. The prince was about to thank the snake for saving his life but it slithered away into the bushes.

          That evening at dinner the prince told his father all about what happened in the forest.

          “It’s rather unusual for an adder snake to save someone’s life” said the king “but it’s a good thing that it bit the wolf before the wolf bit you”.

          “I agree father” said the prince “I was going to thank it for saving me but it slithered away”.

          “Snakes get frightened easily by humans my son” said the king “but maybe you may see the snake again soon”.

          Suddenly there was a loud scream coming from the hallway. The king and prince ran to see what had happened. In the hallway there was an adder snake slithering across the floor and it was scaring the servants. When the prince saw the snake he recognized it at once. It was the same snake that saved his life from the wolf in the forest. The king was about to ask someone to destroy the snake when the prince stopped him. He walked over to the snake and picked it up with his hands.

          “Father this is the adder snake that saved me from the wolf” he said “and if you please I will like to keep this snake at my side”.

          The king was surprised that his son wanted to keep a snake for a pet, but since it saved his son’s life he agreed.

          “But don’t let it go scaring anyone” he said “or let it slither around the castle alone and make sure that it won’t bite anyone”.

          From that day on the prince kept the adder snake with him at all times. The adder snake would coil itself round on one of the prince’s arms and not let go. Wherever the prince went he had the adder snake with him for company. The servants were frightened of the adder snake whenever they saw it, but the prince just kept it with him and didn’t care. He was attached to the adder snake like a child attached to his favourite toy.

          One evening the prince was sitting in his room, sighing a lot. The adder snake didn’t know what was wrong and slithered to him. The prince saw the adder snake coming towards him and picked it up.

          “I’m sorry if I’m worrying you with all my sighing” he said, stroking the snake’s head “it’s just I have problems on my mind. The truth is my father wants me to get married but I haven’t found the right girl to marry yet. I want to marry for love not for status. Ah adder snake I wish I was a snake so I could have you as my mate. You always listen to what I have to say and you give me great company. I adore you”. He kissed the adder snake on the head.

          Suddenly a glow of light surrounded the snake, then it magically transformed into a human girl. The prince was speechless at what just happened and he was amazed by her beauty. The girl had brown hair and brown eyes and was wearing a green dress.

          “Who are you dear beautiful lady?” the prince asked.

          “My name is Hannah your highness” the girl answered.

          Hannah explained to the prince that some time ago she was turned into an adder snake by an evil witch because she was more beautiful than her. She then said that the spell could only be broken if she found someone who would love her as she was.

          “I’m sorry that I could not tell you as I couldn’t speak when I was an adder snake”.

          “It’s all right” said the prince “since you are a human girl I can have you as my mate, actually as my queen”. He kissed her.

          The prince and Hannah ran to the throne room and told the king what had happened. The king was speechless after hearing that the adder snake was really a beautiful girl, and was more surprised about her being under an evil spell. The prince asked his father if he could marry Hannah. The king agreed and embraced them both.

          A few days later their wedding was celebrated. The prince’s father was relieved that his son had finally gotten married. The prince’s sisters were at the wedding too and were happy that their younger brother had finally found true love. The king then gave his crown to his son and gave his late wife’s tiara to Hannah. Hannah and the prince were now the new king and queen of the kingdom and ruled their kingdom in love and happiness for the rest of their lives.

The Three Birds of Gold, Silver and Copper

          Once upon a time there were two orphaned sisters named Emily and Kayley. Kayley (the youngest) was beautiful and very kind. She was liked by everyone in the village where she lived. Whenever someone asked her for help she would help out right away. Emily (the eldest) was the complete opposite of her younger sister. She was mean and selfish. Being mean and selfish made her look very ugly. Because of the way she was she was very unpopular with the people of the village. No one liked her. This made Emily very jealous of her sister. For her own revenge she did anything to make Kayley’s life a misery; like making her a servant or try to humiliate her. But Kayley still remained kind and helpful.

          One day Emily could not stand Kayley any longer. She told her sister to leave the house at once. 

          “What have I done wrong sister?” Kayley asked. She was shocked by her sister’s sudden outburst.

          “Don’t ask questions just leave now!” yelled Emily. She wanted Kayley out of her sight as soon as possible.

          So Kayley was thrown out of her own house by her own sister. The only thing for her to do now was find a new home. She decided to leave her village and find a different village to live in. Kayley was walking along a path, with a small basket of food, to find a different village when she spotted an old man sitting on a tree stump. The old man looked weak and tired.

          “Is something wrong sir?” Kayley said to the old man.

          “I haven’t had anything to eat since yesterday,” the old man said “may I have some of your food please?”

          “Of course sir,” said Kayley “I have plenty of food for the both of us”.

          Kayley’s small basket contained some pieces of bread with some cheese and a bottle of water. She divided the pieces of bread and cheese between them.

          “Thank you young lady,” the old man said, after finishing his share “where are you heading?”

          Kayley explained about losing her home in her village and looking for another village to live in. The old man told her about a village not too far from where they were sitting now. Kayley thanked the old man and was just about to leave when the old man stopped her.

          “There is something I would like to give to you as a thank you gift” he said.

          The old man whistled. After he whistled three birds appeared. One bird was a golden eagle. The second bird was a silver falcon. And the third bird was a copper coloured hawk. Kayley was amazed these birds appeared just like that. The three birds flew over to Kayley. Kayley stretched out her hands to them. The silver falcon landed on her right shoulder, the copper coloured hawk landed on her left hand and the golden eagle landed on her right hand.

          “These three birds that I give to you as a gift are magical birds,” explained the old man “if you ever need money ask these three birds for some and they will give it to you”. Then the old man left.

          Kayley was puzzled about what the old man just said. Three birds giving money to someone was something hard to believe. To find out what he meant Kayley asked the three birds for some money. The three birds flew up into the air and flapped their wings. Suddenly golden coins came out of the golden eagle’s wings like magic. The same happened with the silver falcon, except silver coins came out of its wings. And copper coins came from the copper coloured hawk. Kayley was amazed! These three birds were magical birds. Kayley was happy to have such amazing birds like them.

          With the three magical birds at her side, Kayley soon came to the village that the old man had directed her to. The village seemed bigger than her old village but Kayley noticed that everyone was looking unhappy. There were mothers holding their children really close and their husbands were comforting them. Old people were praying at the sky.

          “Excuse me madam” she said to an old woman “why is everyone looking unhappy?”

          “This village is in difficult times” said the old woman “we’re in the middle of a drought and our crop fields aren’t doing well. We are barely growing enough food for everyone and if this keeps up this village will be doomed”.

          “Isn’t there any place where you and the other villagers can buy food?” asked Kayley.

          “There is a town near here which has lots of food to sell,” said the old woman “but none of us have the money to pay for it. Our fields are how we get our food”.

          Kayley was dismayed by how much trouble this charming village was in. But she knew exactly what to do. She told the old woman to gather up all the villagers and meet her in the fields.

          Soon all the villagers were in the fields; Kayley was already there waiting for them. She turned to her three birds and asked them to give the villagers money. The three birds flew up into the air and showered gold, silver and copper coins all over the field. The villagers were amazed what they just saw and began to gather up all the coins they needed for food. They were grateful to Kayley and called her a magical girl sent by God.

          Unbeknown to Kayley she was being watched by someone. That person was a messenger from a kingdom nearby. When he saw what happened he raced off on his horse to tell the king at once.

          The king of the kingdom was a wise and good king and was always willing to help his people. The king was now in a difficult position. It was now time for him to marry and so far he hadn’t found the right girl to be his queen. He wanted a girl who was kind, loving and helpful, not one who was mean, selfish and spoiled. When the messenger entered the throne room he told the king about the village girl with three magical birds. After the king heard everything he asked the messenger to bring the girl to him.

          Meanwhile in the village, Kayley was feeding her three birds. She was just about to find someplace to stay when the messenger arrived in a carriage.

          “I’m looking for the village girl with three birds” he shouted.

          “That’s me sir” Kayley said, walking up to him.

          “His majesty the king wishes to see you miss” said the messenger.

          Kayley got into the carriage and both she and the messenger set off to the castle. When they arrived the messenger introduced to her king.

          “What is your name young lady?” the king asked.

          “Kayley your majesty” Kayley answered.

          “I hear that you asked your three magic birds to give money to the villagers” the king said.

          “Yes your majesty” said Kayley “the villagers needed money to buy food because their fields weren’t doing well. I couldn’t bear the thought of those people starving to death and that’s why I asked my three birds to give them money”.

          “It seems that the plan worked Galen” said the king with a smile.

          Standing next to the king was an old man called Galen. Kayley gasped! Galen was the old man who gave her the golden eagle, silver falcon and copper hawk.

          “I can tell by the look on your face that you have a lot of questions to ask” the king said “but to let you know first, your three magical birds are really my pets”.

          He reached out his arms and the golden eagle, silver falcon and copper hawk flew over to him. Kayley was surprised by that and really wanted to know what was going on.

          “I will explain to you young lady” said Galen “you see his majesty has been looking for a bride. But he wanted a kind and caring bride. To find the right girl we came up with a plan. The plan was to see if the girl would help out anyone who needed help and who would use his majesty’s magic birds to help others and not use them for her own greed”.

          “So the golden eagle, silver falcon and copper hawk were part of the plan too?” asked Kayley.

          “Yes” said Galen “and you did a good deed to give the villagers money, even though they didn’t really have a drought”.

          “So you being a starving old man and what the old woman in the village told me were both lies?” Kayley asked.

          “I’m afraid so” said Galen “that old woman is my wife and she and I were chosen to see how kind you were”.

          “We apologize for all the confusion we caused you” said the king “but now we don’t need to do it ever again” He got up off his throne and walked over to Kayley. Then he took her hand. “Dear lady I have found out how kind and caring as well as very beautiful you are. I now ask you to become my wife and queen”. Kayley was surprised by this and replied with a yes.

          A few days later Kayley married the king and became queen. The people of the kingdom and village were happy that their king had found a bride at last. Kayley became loved by her husband and people for the rest of her life. She was even loved by the three magic birds too; they became her pets forever.

          As for Kayley’s mean older sister Emily, she had been forgotten.