Princess & Blacksmith 1

The winter had been a harsh one. She gazed out of her window at the top of the highest tower of the castle at the white blanketed country beneath. The courtyard below was busy as usual with traders offering their wares and carts rattling across the cobbled ground. She let out a heavy sigh and wished she could be down there with them, taking in the ambience of a bustling town. Being a princess was not always as much fun as she had hoped. The one saving grace during the past few months had been the poor children she had been teaching. This was one of many reasons she was popular in the kingdom. She believed that all children no matter of noble birth deserved some form of education. The fact that she had taken this task on herself was an annoyance to her father the King, but even he recognised how much the people loved her for it.



She would not see them today, however. No. Today was something else. Something she had been dreading since her 32nd birthday. There was a knock at the door and without waiting it swung open to reveal the Queen and close to twenty hand maidens laden with dresses and shoes. "Come along now dear, we must have you looking your best for the ceremony!" The ceremony in question was to be her betrothal. It was a tradition in the kingdom for a Princess to marry for reasons other than love, and Prince Bartholomew's father was a wealthy and powerful man. A man her father wanted to please. "Look, I agreed to do this for our family, but don't expect me to like it!" she exclaimed. "You know how I feel, and neither you nor father care what I want!" The Queen stopped, turned to the handmaidens who were all sheepishly looking at the ground. "Leave us." The room emptied as quickly as it had filled up. The Queen turned to the Princess, "my darling, I hate you see you unhappy, but you cannot marry him. He's just a blacksmiths son." Tears welled up in the Princess's eyes, "but I love David, and he loves me!"



"Dave! Come over here and grab one end of this will ya" David didn't move, his stare was transfixed on the topmost tower of the grand castle. "Dave!" "Sorry, I was miles away." He looked at Dave with a raised eyebrow. "You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking..." he said warily. He turned to stack some cart wheels and continued his council. "Lads like us are not meant to fraternise with royalty, there is a line between us and them and it exists for a reason. I know you love her, and I'm fairly certain she feels the same, but you cant go messing around with the natural order of things. We are blacksmiths. Besides you wouldn't even make it past the guards at the front gate. Best to let sleeping dogs lie, I met this lovely girl in the tavern last night, most of her own teeth. Here, pass me that hammer." The hammer was not forthcoming. "Dave... get your mind off... Dave..." Dave was nowhere to be seen. Neither was his sword.