The Legend of Wood Warrior

Long long ago, there was a prosperous kingdom ruled by an ambitious King. Everyone in that kingdom respected the King and equally feared him. He had a little Prince with him who was to succeed him in future and a beautiful Princess was given the responsibility to take care of the little Prince. With years to come by the Prince became Princess’s whole world killing all the desires in her but somewhere inside she was always curious to explore the world out of the Castle.

One day, the King went for a war in the neighboring state with all his powerful army leaving only handful soldier to guard the Castle. So one noon, the Princess decided to go on an adventure. After the Prince slept, she with her couple of private guards went outside the Castle. The Princess always had the fascination towards the woods. She had always heard the stories of beautiful birds and amazing animals there; the careless wild lily there is several times better than the best rose from the royal garden.

She was enamored by the nature’s beauty, as she strolled around the woods. At some time when she realized that it was actually getting late, she found that her guards were missing and she was deep in the woods. She was lost. She was scared, if she had heard all the good things of wood, she had also known the bad facts- the wild and cruel animals, the darkness and the wood warriors. She was helpless and gave up on hopes of finding the way out after failing many times. She sat under a tree and cried. Her little tears rolled down her pink cheeks and tinkled like a pearl in the evening sun. She was so tired that with the sun setting down she felt her eyes being dropped, forever.

It was almost dark when she woke; she still felt clumsy and drowsy but the melodious sound coming from far away gave her some hope. The Princess followed the sound and reached a perch where under a tree, a young man was sitting and playing a mandolin. The music was so soothing that it even attracted the birds and animals which seemed dazed at the young man’s feat. The Princess sat nearby and listened to it merrily.

Once he was done, he stood up and bowed at his little audience. The Princess just couldn’t control herself for applauding him and started clapping. The young man glared at her angrily; of course the Princess wasn’t a person to be welcomed there. The young guy was one those wood warriors who were protecting the wood from the King and his strong army. The Royals were always treated as enemies in the woods and were to be killed immediately. The Wood Warrior pulled his sword and hurled at the Princess. The Princess begged for mercy as the little Prince back at the Castle will die without her.

The Warriors instincts wanted him to knock the Princess’s head down but his heart stopped him. The beauty of Princess was divine; the warrior was charmed by those big eyes, golden hair long hair, small nose and low lips. He put his sword back and offered the Princess to help. The Princess rode his horse while the warrior walked ahead playing his magical mandolin. The Princess was so impressed by his humble and mystic persona that she promised him that she would meet him every night after the Little Prince sleeps.

The Princess came to the terrace of the Castle every night and called the name of the Warrior looking at the woods. He would appear in no time and then sitting at a rock by the river, he would play her the Mandolin. It happened that way for next few months and slowly, the Warrior started to love the Princess with his life. The Princess on her part couldn’t express her feelings to Warrior  for the sake of her responsibilities.

Soon, the King returned and the Castle had its tight security back. The Princess now couldn’t come to meet the Warrior but he waited for her every night at the rock. Days passed by, the love inside the Warrior was growing in desperation and he couldn’t stay any longer away from the Princess. He would get inside the Kingdom and inquire about the Princess which created many rumors in the town that a mad lover of Princess is moving around which actually made the Princess very upset. Might be she loved the Warrior but she knew she could never go to him and by seeing all these crazy acts by the Warrior; she started to regret their love. She would lock herself in her room for hours crying.

The King came to know about the Princess’s sadness and he ordered his ministry to do something about it. The ministry hired four courtiers who tried to mend the loneliness of the Princess. They praised her all time, told her tales of different countries, sang for her and played with her all time. Might be the Princess didn't understand all these were fake, for the fact that the courtiers were being paid for it but gradually, the Princess started to move on.

The Castle saw a celebrations every night and the Warrior watched them from the rocks, his little Mandolin could no longer reach the Princess and the Warrior started to think that he was about to lose his Love forever. One day, the Warrior in the desire to see the Princess, slipped in the Castle. He searched all over the place and finally reached the court where the Princess was sitting with everyone. The Princess was astonished to see the Warrior, might be she feared the King or just cared for the little Prince too much that she refused to recognize the Warrior. The Warrior begged to her but she ran from the court crying. The King ordered his soldiers to catch the Warrior and kill him. However, the Warrior was too swift for the soldiers. He jumped over the wall and disappeared in the woods. The Soldiers hunted for him far long but couldn't find him.

Next morning, the river passing through the Kingdom mysteriously turned red. The soldiers came in to find out the reason. They searched all along the river but didn't find anything except the broken Mandolin on the rocks.

Nobody ever heard about the Warrior again. He just vanished forever. It has been centuries after that. The King’s splendid Castle is now in ruins. But the legend says if ever a girl goes up to the terrace and calls the Warrior’s name; the magical Mandolin is still heard.