Once upon a time in a not so far away land, there lived a little princess. Her life was full and she was content. Her family surrounded her and showed her how much they loved her everyday - they were always there when she needed them and when she woke up crying from a nightmare about a scary dragon attacking her castle, every single person in the entire castle came running to her quarters to comfort her and scare the monsters out from under her bed.
One day she was playing in the castle garden when her oldest brother Prince Patrick came out into the roses where she was play acting a marriage with her dolls. He quietly asked if her could talk to her for a moment. She calmly replied yes, as he seated himself on the low wall overlooking the entire kingdom.
He told this little princess that he was leaving the castle and he wouldn't be coming back. Her little hands went still as she sat trying to comprehend what he had told her. Then as reality hit the little princess, tears ran gold from her eyes, hitting the earth with the soft splash of a raindrop that cleansed the kingdom in spring.
Then as he sat quietly thinking, she looked up at him - eyes brimming with tears and asked him one question, "Why?" she asked. He thought for a moment and asked her if she remembered the Princess from the Kingdom Alpine... "Yes-"she said. "Well, he replied, I am going to be married to her - and her father has offered me rule of his kingdom. I will come and visit on Christmas, but you need to understand that things aren't ever going to be the same." She understood of course, and as he walked away she felt her little heart shattering into a million pieces.
After the marriage that took place the following month, she watched as he packed his things, placed them in his Chariot and rode off to Kingdom Alpine with his bride. Things weren't the same after that - the castle was only half as happy, the sun had went away and the sky wept. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse the snow came and covered everything in a blanket of pure, white snow... but that meant CHRISTMAS!!!
Little did she know only 4 years later she would need that comforter more than ever before. She had been very close to one of the kings men's sons, Brandon. He had been sent out to war for his first battle and on the way home one of the enemies who had survived un-noticed snuck in and killed the slumbering 13 year old child. When the little princess heard this her heart shattered into more than a million pieces and this time she felt as if she would die from the pain. But her comforter came and as they proceeded to the warriors graveyard and she watched the ceremony her heart felt oddly at peace and she knew that someday everything would be ok again, afterall he wouldn't want her to be sad.
Two years later another friend had decided that he had had enough of this life and decided to run away into the sky, and she knew he was never coming back either. She ran into the garden and sat on the low wall asking why, but got no answer. After that her life changed dramatically. She stopped believing in her comforter and felt forsaken. The next two years had its ups and downs- she met new people and they brought hope and sunshine back into her bleak, forsaken life. She felt as she had years before as a child, lost but somehow found in that moment.
Then came the day all the family was called into the castle court for a family meeting. The king sat pale and tired looking in his throne and the queen looked concerned and very tired, dark circles shrouded their eyes as they looked out at the crowd of congregated family and friends patiently waiting to be told why they had been summoned to the court.
The king slowly stood up and addressed the crowd, " Dear friends- I thank you for coming. We have news that is not of the joyous variety. I am in the last stage of kidney failure before death and won't be here much longer. There is really nothing the court doctors or anyone else can do, so soon I must bid you farewell. But please stay happy and optomistic. It would drag me down if I knew you were all in mourning for me." After those words the little princess felt short of breath, her ears heard no more and her eyes poured tears... here is where the story ends, because we don't know the ending yet. After these prophecies come to pass, we will inform you of the mourning families progress. Because there is a light at the end of the tunnel. And they will be just fine.
