It is a well known fact that all good stories begin "once upon a time." This one does not. It begins, instead, with a question, and I think you will find that that makes all the difference in the world.
"Do you remember what happened last time" asked Daddy.
"Om. I...forgot" said the little girl.
"Then I shall tell you." Her father sat down and began. "Once upon a time, there lived two little princesses in a beautiful kingdom by the sea..."
(Do you remember what happened last time? I forgot.)
Princess Fiena and Daffy woke up one beautiful spring morning, looked out the window of their bedroom high in the castle tower, and watched the sun come up over the sea.
"Let's go to the beach" said Fiena.
The girls headed out, and walked along the surf, letting the waves run past their feet as they walked. As they continued, they came to a rocky section, and had to climb over large boulders strewn across the shore. They soon came to the cliffs, and saw a beautiful grotto at their base.
"Oh, let's go look at it." said Daffy, so they swam in. Inside, the light shone on the roof of the grotto, and the water was calm. They could barely hear the roaring of the breakers behind them, but inside was peaceful and lovely. The girls climbed onto a rock shelf and began to sing, the words echoing off the stone in beautiful acoustic harmony.
At the back of the cave, they heard a cry for help. Rushing forward, they saw a beautiful mermaid princess who had become wedged between two rocks, and couldn't get out. "Help me, I got stuck when the tide went out," she said. The girls lifted her up, and set her in the water. She rested for a bit, and then told them "thank you! I was started to get very dry! I'm so grateful for your help."
The girls played in the water with the mermaid princess, and they were quickly fast friends. The princess invited them to visit her home.
"We can't swim all that way" said Fiena.
"No worries. We'll take a dolphin," said the mermaid princess, and whistled a shrill note. Three dolphins swam up and the three princesses mounted them and rode to the merfolk castle.
"How will we breathe?" asked Daffy.
"You only have to hold your breath until we enter the castle. There you will be able to breathe normally"
The girls spent the rest of the day in the merfolk's castle. Upon returning, they told the king and queen all about their adventures. THe king visited the merfolk the next day, along with his daughters, and the two kingdoms formed a treaty and bond of friendship. They would protect one another's borders, trade, and share information as friends.
The girls invited their friend, the mermaid princess, to the castle. They played in the large fountain in the middle of the courtyard, and the king agreed to have his architects build a large pool in the ballroom so the merfolk could attend parties and events at the castle.
(Do you remember what happened last time? I forgot.)
The princesses went to the beach for a holiday. They brought with them their friend, the fairy princess, who lived in the garden next to the castle.
As they went for a walk on the beach, they passed a sand dune on which was growing a single Sea Daffodil.
The fairy princess was captivated, "I've never seen this flower before. Its beautiful, yet it must be strong to be able to live in this environ."
The girls stopped their walk to admire the unique flower. "Does it have a fairy?" Asked Fiena.
"No. And I have never seen a fairy of this type before." The fairy princess flew home to the garden to consult with the others. When she returned, she confirmed that there had never been a fairy of this flower.
She stood next to the sea daffodil and began to sing a beautiful song that contained within it themes of light and life and beauty. Then she approached the flower and shed a single tear of joy onto it, and kissed it.
From the flower, emerged a tiny fairy baby. The princess caught him up in her arms, and carried him to the others. She smiled and hummed as she held up the newest fairy for the girls to see.
Fiena was captivated by the darling little baby. She wanted to hold him and feed him from her plate, but the fairy princess said he must only be fed on nectar and dew.
The girls collected dew from all the little flowers in the meadow, and the fairies brought sweet nectar from their own flowers in the garden. Nurtured by so loving a crowd, the little baby grew healthy and strong.
He grew so much more quickly than any of the other fairies. The eldest and wisest said it was because he was the first. "The first fairy always grows the quickest" said the old Maple. "He'll need a name soon."
As the sun set over the mountains and the moon rose over the sea, Fiena watched the soft rays dancing over the little flower with the sleeping baby within. "We'll call him Moon" said the girl, and everyone nodded their assent.
The next day, the girls brought the gardener with them from the castle. He dug around, and ever so carefully collected the sea daffodil and put it in a pot to carry to the garden. "He'll be happier with the other fairy maidens nearby to care for him" said the fairy princess.
The king sent a servant to dig a sand box, and the gardener planted to little flower in the center. Fiena and Daffy laid some shells and smooth stones around him so he'd feel at home. The sleepy baby awoke, and the playful fairy maidens took turns holding him. Moon smiled and giggled as he was past from fairy to fairy.
Very soon, he grew into a young lad himself. Dancing around the garden and getting into fairy mischief. Fiena and Daffy loved to play hide and seek with him, but Moon always won by hiding in the garden plants and jumping out to scare the girls when they gave up.
Moon was growing so big that he would soon outgrow his ocean daffodil. Most fairy children would remain in their flowers for decades before moving to a larger plant or tree, but since Moon was the first of his kind, he was already big enough.
The fairy princess thought a seashore tree would be best. She recommended a coconut or palm. There were none in the kingdom, but the king sent his fastest ship to the southern islands to bring some saplings back.
Moon selected a Coconut sapling, and the gardener planted it in the sandbox. Moon moved into it, and the girls pressed and dried the ocean daffodil's last bloom and had the paper smith press it into a piece of fine stationary, on which they painted a beautiful painting of the garden in full bloom, with Moon sitting beneath his Coconut tree.
The new tree did well in its new home, and the garden was all the more joyful for having the newest fairy in their midst.
(Do you remember what happened last time? I forgot.)
The girls enjoyed riding over the fields, forests, and roads of the kingdom. To each of them, the king had given a fine stallion. For Fiena, a coal-black charger of a rare and fine breed, and for Daffy a dappled grey with a mane that blew in the wind and hooves which quickly left if behind.
The girls loved their horseys and rode them everywhere. They would ride up and down the beach, or through the forest behind the castle. The two stallions, in turn, served their mistresses well, and protected them when out on a ride, always delivering them home safe and sound.
One day, the girls got up at first light, saddled their horses, and rode into the forest. "We're going deep into the heart of the forest, where no one has ever been" said Daffy. Whether this was true or not, Fiena didn't know, but she tended to let her younger and more adventurous sister set the scope of their journeys, and she was happy to explore anywhere with her.
As they went deeper into the forest, it grew darker and darker. The trees were older, taller, and almost fully blocked out the sun and the sky.
Soon, however, the girl's eyes adjusted, and they were able to see well, even in the deep shade of the ancient forest.
“we've never been this far before” exclaimed Daffy. The girls were excited, and curious where the path would take them.
Soon, they saw a large creature in the distance. It was hard to make it out, but they saw the shape of a large creature in the middle of the path.
As they approached, the dragon (for it was a dragon) said “If you wish to pass, you must sing a song for me.”
Daffy and Fiena thought that sounded like fun, and they started to sing, a beautiful lullaby. But, soon, a great tiredness came over them, and they began to nod off.
The dragon then said “You must now count to one hundred.”
Daffy and Fiena were tired, and thought that didn't sound as fun, but they wearily began to count. Each number harder than the one before. Now they were almost dozing off, and considered taking a quick nap before continuing.
The two stallions fought valiantly against the dragon's words. They began to prance and neigh, but the girls were too tired to notice. Suddenly, the horses turned around, of their own volition, and galloped away out of the forest. They didn't stop until they reached the sunlit plain.
Daffy and Fiena awoke from their stupor, and realized what happened. “That was a close call,” said Fiena.
“Yes! If it hadn't been for our horseys and their strong horse sense, the dragon would have gotten us for sure!”
They told the king about their close call, and he led a group of valiant knights into the forest. Later that day, he presented to the girls a necklace with a single dragon tooth. “May this remind you both of the dangers of the vile serpents,” said the king.
The girls wore the necklaces everywhere, and gave the stallions and extra treat that night for saving them from their foe.
(Do you remember what happened last time? I forgot.)
The girls went on a long walk up into the mountains. The king sent a faithful knight to accompany them. The girls kept wanting to go higher and higher, and soon they came to the Eagle kingdom. The Eagle princess was overjoyed to have guests, and the knight enjoyed making friends with the valiant Eagle scouts. After that first meeting, the girls and the Eagle princess were the fastest of friends. It took two days for the girls to walk to the Eyrie, but the Eagle princess would fly out many mornings to see them.
This was the start of a great alliance between the two kingdoms. The Eagles had complained that the farmland made it hard for them to hunt, so the Eagle king struck a treaty with the king. They would provide sheep for the Eagles table, and in return the Eagles would maintain an ever present watch over both kingdoms, and immediately alert the Castle of any enemies or other trouble.
The girls only wish was that they could fly with her, but try as they might to jump and stay aloft, they would always fall down. The Eagle princess said that if they wanted to fly, they must grow feathers, but the girls said they could not.
Later that year, for Fiena's birthday party, the Queen held a ball. The ball was held by the lake so the mermaid princess and many merfolk could attend. The Eagles sent many of their lords and ladies, and the fairy princess arrived with Moon and many other young fairy boys and girls (most of whom were older than the king and queen).
The ball was so lovely, and the girls stayed up quite late dancing and eating delicious food that eat race had brought. The merfolk brought fish and sea cucumber salad, and the Eagles brought a delicious hunter's stew. The fairies brought mead and spring wine and fruit platters. The merfolk swam in the lake, the eagles flew in complex formations, and the fairies sang with beautiful voices.
For her birthday, the Eagle princess gave Fiena a parcel of lovely tail feathers that the eagles had saved. The next day, after everyone left, the king asked his craftsmen, Daedalus, to fashion wings for the girls. He labored for many weeks, and finally found a way. The girls strapped on their new wings, and Daffy wanted to jump out the tower window of their bedroom, and soar straight away, but the queen said they must take it slowly. They first jumped and soared a few feet, and eventually learned to push off and stay aloft. Soon, the girls could fly smoothly and elegantly. They launched off and flew straight to the Eyrie. The Eagle princess was overjoyed to see them, and they played all day in the air. Daffy and Fiena grew tired, and spent the night in the Eagle princesses' nest. In the morning, refreshed by the cool mountain air, they flew back and popped straight through their bedroom window in the tallest tower, landing in their beds and fell asleep.
Now, the girls could fly whenever they wanted to, and flew all around the kingdom, visiting the Eagles, and all the places they had previously walked or ridden to.
(Do you remember what happened last time? I forgot.)
Daffy got it in her head that they should fly to the kingdom across the sea. It was the shepherd kingdom, and the prince there was ever so nice. They loved to walk with him and meet the shepherds and hear their tales and drink the lovely milk and curds.
Fiena said it was too far. "Imagine," she said "if we got tired. We would land in the sea, and be unable to launch again."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," said Daffy, "we'll take the Eagle princess with us. Don't worry so much!"
Fiena was still unsure, but found it hard to hold her sister back once she got an idea in her head.
When the Eagle princess next visited, Daffy told her of their plan. "I'm not sure you can fly that far. Maybe you should work up to it," said the Eagle.
But, Daffy just said "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. It'll be fine!"
So, the three princesses set out. They flew west, right over the sea. After about an hour, Fiena started to grow tired. "I'm not sure we can do this. Let's head back" she said.
But, Daffy just said "yeah, yeah. Whatever. It'll be fine."
"We're not even a quarter of the way there" said the Eagle princess, but Daffy insisted they keep going.
After a while, Fiena was struggling to keep up. Daffy grabbed her and pulled her up, so she could soar without flapping for a while. She kept doing this, but eventually both started to tire. The Eagle princess let both girls take turns sitting on her back for a bit. Eventually, the Eagle princess said she saw land.
"Where?" said Daffy. Eventually, a few hours later, the girls could see it too! They kept going, using the last of their strength, and collapsed onto the beech in a heap.
The guard came up and ordered them to state their business. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever" said Daffy, "We're princesses, friends of the king."
"How did you get here?" the guard asked.
"We flew." said Fiena.
"Likely story," retorted the dubious guard. "Well, if you know the king, we'll take you straight there."
The king was happy to see the girls, but when he found out how they arrived, he was very disappointed "you took a big risk," he said "there's so much that could have happened out there."
"Well, we had the Eagle princess with us," retorted Daffy.
"Still, it was reckless. Did you ask your parents?"
"No..." said Daffy sheepishly.
The girls rested that night and walked with the prince to the sheep fields the next day. Then, they wanted to fly back.
"Let us give you a ride in my ship," said the king, "I don't want you going the whole ways again."
"Maybe halfway?" Said Fiena.
So they set out on the ship, and sailed halfway across the sea. Then, the launched off and headed for home. Unfortunately, about an hour or two in, it started to rain. The wings grew heavier and heavier.
"I didn't think about that" said Daffy. "We'll never make it."
"Land here, I'll get help" said the Eagle princess. She flew off at top speed.
The wings were soaking, and the girls couldn't keep them afloat. Reluctantly, they took them off and let them sink. They treaded water for several hours until the king's ship arrived, led by the Eagle princess.
Their father was not happy! He made them take a warm bath and go straight to bed.
"You girls caused absolute mayhem," said the king. You are lucky to be safe and sound. "Why did you do it?"
Fiena said "Daffy was obsessed. She wouldn't stop talking about it."
"Are you the big sister?" Asked the king.
"It often seems like I'm not," pouted Fiena.
The next day Daffy asked the king if Daedalus could make them more wings. "No," said the king. "You are grounded for now. If you show more maturity, we'll see about making more for you."
The girls were sad to not be able to soar with their friend again. But, they walked all the way to the mountains with a knight to thank her for saving their life. They brought her a beautiful gold necklace with a feather pendant that the smith at the Castle had made them.
"We were silly," said Daffy. "I should have listened to both of you."
"Its ok," the two princesses said, "but we should all practice patience in the future! And, Daffy, you must learn to curb your adventurous spirit sometimes and listen to your sister!"
"I know," said Daffy, "I'm sorry I was stubborn and rude. I'll be more careful next time!"
(Do you remember what happened last time? I forgot.)
Daffy and Fiena wanted to go see unicorns. So they asked the king, and the king said if they wanted to see unicorns, they should go east to the kingdom of Unicornia.
So Daffy and Fiena went on the horsies all the way to Unicornia. When they got there, they asked the king, “Do you mind if we see some unicorns?”
The king said, “Sure, go ahead. They’re all over.”
So Daffy and Fiena went for a walk. They walked and walked, and they didn’t see anything.
“I don’t get it,” said Fiena. “We don’t see any unicorns anywhere.”
“The king said they were everywhere,” said Daffy. “This is a where; therefore, there must be unicorns here.”
“They must be invisible,” said Fiena.
“Yep,” said Daffy.
They kept going a little bit more, and finally they saw a farmer. He was plowing in the field.
“Can we see any unicorns?” said Daffy.
“Sure. Sorry, my unicorn’s not for sale,” said the farmer.
“No, we don’t want to buy them. We just want to see them.”
“Be my guest,” said the farmer.
“Where is he?”
“What do you mean?” said the farmer.
“Where’s your unicorn?”
“Right there,” said the farmer, pointing.
Daffy and Fiena looked, but they didn’t see anything.
“I don’t get it,” said Daffy. “There’s nothing there.”
To the girls’ surprise, the farmer got a look of terror on his face. He stood up and began to run away as quickly as he could.
“I don’t get it,” said Daffy. “Is this just one big joke? Everyone pretends like there’s unicorns, but there’s not.”
“I don’t know,” said Fiena, “but let’s keep looking.”
They walked a little bit more, and as they were walking through the woods, a knight came up.
“I’m sorry, princesses, but you’re under arrest. You need to come with me now.”
“You and what army?” said Daffy.
Now, to his credit, the knight did pause for a second. But then he continued to ride forward, hopped off his horse, and went to grab Daffy.
Daffy whipped out her crossbow and aimed it at the knight. A great fear fell over him, and he ran off, leaving his horse behind. Fiena walked up to the beast, and speaking in his ear, commanded “you be off now, you hear? Run on home and return to your master.”
The horse turned and galloped back to the castle.
A little bit later, as they were walking, a whole army came up.
The captain said, “You’re under arrest by order of the king. You must come with me now.”
“You and what army?” said Daffy.
Now, to his credit, the captain looked over his shoulder, looked back at the girls, looked over his shoulder one more time, and then ordered the people to grab the girls.
Now, Daffy and Fiena had been bluffing a little bit, but they weren’t really scared of the army. They threw their wings on, jumped up in the air, and flew up out of range.
“This is getting out of hand,” said Fiena. “Let’s go talk to their king.”
So they flew to his castle.
“Well, this is a mystery,” said the king. “I sent a knight and an army after you, and you just come here of your own accord. Well, be my guest. You’re under arrest.”
“You and what army?” said Daffy.
Now, to his credit, he looked at the girls. He looked back at the archers up in the nooks. He looked at the guards standing beside him. And he looked at the legion of soldiers down in the courtyard. And then he looked back at the girls.
“This one,” he indicated, waving his hand in the general direction of all of them.
Now, if Daffy and Fina weren’t bluffing before, they certainly were now. But, to her credit, Daffy did the only sensible thing she could do. She jumped up on the table and started singing a song.
Unfortunately, it didn’t have quite the effect she wanted. The soldiers came forward to arrest the girls.
“Wait, why are you arresting us?” said Fiena.
“Because you can’t see the unicorns,” said the king. “And we all know what that means.”
“It means your little joke is no longer a secret,” said Fiena. “We know you were faking about the unicorns. But that doesn’t mean you have to arrest us. I don’t know if you realize this or not, but we’re princesses. I rather thought the crown gave it away.”
“Crown or no, you’re still under arrest,” said the king.
So the guards arrested Daffy and Fiena and put them in the dungeon.
The next morning, the trial began.
“Can you see the unicorns?” said the king.
“No. Why does that matter?” said Fiena.
“Everyone knows that the people who can’t see the unicorns are liars and cheats.”
“No,” said Daffy. “You’re the liar and the cheat. You keep saying you can see a unicorn, but you can’t.”
“If you admit you can’t see them,” said the king, “then you’re a liar and a cheat, and you must be kept in prison for the rest of your life.”
“No,” said Daffy. “We get a chance to present our side of the argument.”
“Fine,” said the king. “What do you want to do?”
“Are there any unicorns in this room right now?”
“Yes,” said the king. “There’s one right over there.”
“All right. Give me two volunteers from the audience who can see them.”
Everyone raised their hand.
Daffy picked two people.
“All right. One at a time. You’re going to come up, and I’m going to ask you some questions. Just you and me and the king.”
So she asked the first person, “What color is the unicorn?”
“Pink,” he said.
“And how long is his horn?”
“One meter.”
“And how tall is he?”
“Fifteen hands.”
So then she called up the other person.
“What color is the unicorn?”
“White,” he said.
“And how tall is he?”
“Eighteen hands.”
“And how long is his horn?”
“Six inches,” he said.
“You see,” said Daffy, “everyone’s just pretending to see the unicorns. No one can really see them, but they’re so scared of your law. They’re scared that you’re going to call them a cheat and a liar. You’ve been pretending to see unicorns your whole life, and you’ve made all your subjects do it, too.”
“Well,” said the king, “I always thought that I must be a bad person since I didn’t see them and everyone else did. I was just trying to go along with it, hoping I could figure out how to see them one day.”
“You are a bad king,” said Fiena. “You’ve been lying to your subjects this whole time, pretending to see unicorns and putting people in prison if they admit they couldn’t. But you can be a better king. All you have to do is admit the truth. Be gentle and kind to your subjects, and look out for their good.”
“I’ll do it,” said the king.
So he renamed the kingdom of Unicornia to Nocornia and admitted that he could not see any unicorns. He apologized to Daffy and Fiena for putting them in the dungeon and threw a feast in their honor.
The next day, Daffy and Fiena flew home. They were sad that they hadn’t been able to see any unicorns. But they were happy they had been able to help the kingdom to be a better place and the king to be a better ruler.
The End.