Princess Haleigh and the Lions

                                                Princess Haleigh and the Lions

                                                          By Daryl Campbell



         Once, in a land known as Teihzbael, there lived a beautiful princess named Haleigh. Her golden hair and blue eyes were famed through the land and people came from every corner of the kingdom to look at her.

         Teihzbael was wonderful, grown over by pine forests and filled with rivers of blue water. Its flowers, mostly violets and roses, stayed in bloom through the year. Rains came as short showers and the sun shone bright and warm all year. The night skies were always clear, lit by the moon and a million stars. The people of Teihzbael were happy, all of them, but the princess. She became restless as she grew and wanted more than the seclusion the kingdom offered. For you see, Teihzbael, though a lovely place, was hidden in a valley and surrounded by mountains.

         As Haleigh’s eighth birthday neared, the king, wished to see his daughter smile and built a tower. The tower, made with marble blocks and decorated in silver leaves, lifted out of the valley and rose up beyond the highest mountain. At the top of the tower sat a single room with four glass windows so the princess could look out across the rest of the world.

         The day of Haleigh’s birthday arrived and her father took her to his gift. Overcome with joy, she rushed up the winding stairway to the top of the tower. Bits of red and yellow sunlight splashed her face as she entered the room and peered through open windows. For the first time, the princess could see the world and she smiled.

         A year passed and Haleigh was again unhappy. At first, everything was new and wonderful, but as time passed, the princess lost interest in looking out at the world and wanted something from it.

         Haleigh soon learned she could hear distant things if she listened. Sounds and voices came to her, barely more than whispers at first. In time, she began to choose from the voices and listened to those she found pleasant and ignored those she disliked. She learned to sing from these voices and her voice escaped the tower and echoed through the valley. People in the kingdom stood outside each evening, just as the sun and the moon traded places, and listened to the princess sing.

         One day, two lions, a gold one and a silver one, appeared at opposite ends of the horizon. Taken by surprise, Haleigh stopped singing. As the last words crossed her lips, the lions vanished. The princess looked out into the world, but saw only the moon and a handful of bright stars.

         For the next three days, the lions appeared and disappeared each time the princess stopped singing. On the fourth day, Haleigh sent six soldiers to each end of the valley to capture the lions and bring them to the tower. She waited until the lions were caught with thick ropes before she fell silent. The ropes didn’t hold and the lions disappeared. The princess frowned and watched the moon lift into the sky.

         The soldiers tried to bring the lions to the princess three more times, and three more times they failed. Ropes and chains simply fell away. The king, upset that his daughter was unhappy, went to her with an idea. He told her of his plan to create two, gold chains. He assured her that gold would hold the lions. With Haleigh in agreement, he ordered work to be done day and night until the chains were completed.

         Four days later, the soldiers tried again. Haleigh sang and watched as chains were put around the lions. After it was done, she stopped and the lions didn’t vanish as they had before. Haleigh smiled.

         The lions were taken to the tower and left with the princess. They were surprisingly tame, and she didn’t fear them. Their bodies were muscled, covered with thick coats of fur, one in gold and one in silver. Emerald green eyes sparkled in the flame of the room’s single torch. Haleigh ran her fingers through their fur and found the golden one warm and the silver one cool.

         “What a strange world,” the princess remarked. “It's wonderful that part of it could be brought to me.”

         “We belong to all.” the gold lion spoke in a deep voice.

         “You must set us free,” the silver lion, in a soft voice, added.

         The princess stepped back. “You…you can talk.”

         “Yes we can,” the gold lion answered.

         “You must set us free,” the silver lion said.

         “I will do no such thing!” Haleigh snapped. “You’re mine!”

         “We belong to all,” the lions growled. “You don't understand what you've done.”

         “I wanted you and you’re here!”

         “People want what they don't have,” a soft voice remarked. “Be happy with what you have. It's more than most.”

         “I have you already. We’ll talk in the morning.” The princess left the tower.

         As the princess returned to the castle, she noticed that the moon hadn't risen.

         Thunder woke Haleigh the next morning. She ran to the window and looked up into a dark sky crowded with black clouds. The sun was hidden, a thing that had never happened in her lifetime. Confused, she ran to her room at the tower. Both lions greeted her, but neither spoke. She saw through her windows that the rest of the world looked the same.

         “What's happening?” She turned to the lions.

         “The world's mourning,” the gold lion rumbled.

         “What do you mean?” Haleigh asked, but the lions didn’t answer. “I don’t understand.” Still, no answer.

         The princess ignored her fears and spent the rest of the day in the tower.

         The next day it started to rain. The sun was still hidden and short flashes of lightning were the only bits of light Teihzbael received. Haleigh returned to the tower and looked out across the world.

         “What's happening?” she asked.

         “The world is weeping,” the silver lion answered.

         “What do you mean? Please tell me,” the princess pleaded, but got no answer.

         Again, Haleigh spent the day in the tower and sang to her guests. There she stayed until it was time to return to the castle.

         The princess woke the following morning when the castle shook. Haleigh moved to her window and looked out. The sky remained dark and rain poured down across Teihzbael. The castle shook once more and, frightened, she left the castle for the safety of her tower. Rain had made the fields between the castle and the tower knee deep in water and it took her a while to get there.

         “What's happening?” Haleigh burst into the room. “What's happening?” She repeated.

         “The world is angry,” the gold lion growled.

         “What do you mean?” Haleigh asked. ”I don’t understand!”

         There weren’t any answers and Haleigh returned home.

         On the morning of the fourth day, Haleigh woke with the cries of nearby children. They were frightened by the rising flood, the shaking earth, and the darkness that blanketed the kingdom. The princess made her way to her room atop the tower.

         “What's happening?” she asked for the fourth time.

         “The world has given up.” the silver lion answered.

         “What do you mean?” Haleigh was frustrated.

         The princess stayed in the room and sang to the lions. Concerned with events in the kingdom, she couldn't get comfortable. When she thought night had finally come, she went home.

         The air turned sharply cold that night. Haleigh paced her room, dressed, and went to the tower. She waded through waist high water and was cold and tired when she got to the room where both lions waited.

         “What's happening?” Haleigh started to cry.

         “The world is dying,” the gold lion answered in a thundering voice.

         The princess shook her head and fell asleep. Her dreams were warm and filled with joy. She became lost in those dreams, unaware the entire day passed while she slept.

         Bells rang and woke Haleigh from her slumber. Without a word to the lions, she left. At the castle, she was told of her father’s condition. The king discovered his daughter’s bed chamber empty and had went in search of her. Later, he washed up near the castle gates with no explanation for what happened. The dam collapsed earlier in the day and he may have been knock off his horse by the water. Though the king was alive, there were serious doubts he’d survive the night. Worried and uncertain, Haleigh went to her bedroom.

         The king lived through the night, but his weakened condition made Haleigh the ruler while he recovered. During this time, she had a chance to see the damage that had been wrought through the kingdom. Teihzbael wasn’t the beautiful country she remembered. Flood and sickness ravaged the land and left it a shadow of what it once was. All Haleigh truly loved had nearly slipped away and she finally discovered what she really wanted. The princess ruled for ten days. On the tenth day, her father reclaimed the kingdom as his own. That evening Haleigh went to the tower.

         “You must set us free,” the gold lion spoke.

         “You don't understand what you've done,” the silver lion added.

         “I’m happy,” Haleigh replied, though she wasn’t.

         “You took something that didn't belong to you,” the gold lion said.

         “You search for what you already have,” the silver told her. “That which you have here and that in the outside world are the same. The only difference is what you make of the two.”

         Haleigh thought for a moment. “There isn’t anything here for me.”

         “There is everything,” the lions growled.

         “You must set us free,” the silver lion urged.

         “If I set you free, I’ll have nothing,” the princess said.

         “Set us free and all will be as it should,” the lions spoke together.

         Compelled by hope, Haleigh let the chains fall from the lions, and she set them free. They vanished instantly and the princess felt a strange relief. Out of the tower's windows, she could see the soft light of the moon peeking through a break in the clouds. There was hope, she thought as she fell asleep.

         Haleigh smiled when she woke the next morning and looked out the windows. The moon could be seen in the distant horizon as it faded beyond the mountains. Her head turned to the window behind her and golden light trickled across the world as the sun rose.