Once upon a time there was a glorious kingdom called Vasilia.  The kingdom was a happy and prosperous one, that held markets every day and balls every night.  And the kingdom had a strong but kind young king, named David, who was very handsome and took a beautiful young queen, named Isabella.  Nine months after they were married they had a beautiful baby, a daughter named Julianne, who was known throughout the kingdom as the Princess Lia.  

She was the pride and joy of the king and the queen, and she grew more beautiful and strong every day.  Her dark hair grew to long ringlets, and her dark eyes were large and innocent.  She was graceful and full of laughter, and no one could remember a happier time anywhere.  

But one night, just after the handsome young Prince Michael of Briolot had traveled to Vasilia for the evening’s ball to ask the King and Queen for the hand of their daughter, Princess Lia disappeared.  Prince Michael vowed to find her, and left immediately in pursuit while the ball was still going on, the music was still playing and the people were still dancing.  And it was later that night that nature finally turned on the kingdom of Vasilia.  Instead of the beautiful sunshine and cool breezy night they were used to, the subjects of Vasilia witnessed a storm like no other.  It raged war against the beautiful happy kingdom, and every last thing, every last person, even the King and Queen themselves were destroyed.  

Meanwhile the Princess Lia was stowed safely far away in the dark forest on the edge of Briolot.  Her captor, a beautiful and powerful women, with long straight black hair and eyes as dark as coal.  She brought the Princess to a cabin right in the middle of the dark forest, and locked her into a simple room with a bed and a small window.  And the Princess knew that she had been taken by the Witch of the forest, although she didn’t know why.  She cried until the sun came up, and finally then she dozed off to sleep, knowing only by the pain in her heart that her beloved kingdom had come to some terrible fate.  

The Prince Michael was not fast enough to catch the Witch and the Princess.  He took shelter from the heavy winds in the fair woods of Vasilia and emerged the next morning to a horrifying sight.  He noticed the falling of several trees and rode back far enough to find the castle in the heart of Vasilia completely in shambles.  

Without allowing himself a moment of grief, he rode full speed to Briolot, to fetch help for their fair neighbors, his mind all the while on his love, the enchanting Princess Lia.  He arrived in Briolot, and immediately King Jerome issued command for his best knights and most skilled healers to gather and set out for Vasilia the very next day, in the hopes that someone might be left to be saved.

Prince Michael told his father Jerome of the kidnapped Princess and without even waiting the night, set off that evening with his most trusted friend Sir Jordan, for the dark forest of Briolot.

Meanwhile, within the witch’s cabin, the Princess had been served a full delicious tea and breakfast, which she hardly touched.  Instead she lay on her bed grieving for her family, though how she knew they were to be grieved, she could not say.  The witch checked in on her often, but always the princess pretended to be sleeping.  Finally the witch invited herself into the room to check on the young girl’s health, but the princess’s only affliction was grief.  

The witch tried to comfort the girl, but the princess cringed at the woman’s touch.  The witch saw the girl’s puffy dark eyes and gave her something to make her sleep, but the princess wouldn’t touch it and instead kept awake another night crying until she was out of tears.  

In the forest, Prince Michael was in wonderful spirits.  With Sir Jordan by his side he rode vigilantly and yet fearlessly, for a Prince is at his best when setting out to rescue a beautiful Princess, and in the aftermath of such a strong storm, the sun seemed to smile on the forest and a gentle wind that smelled invigorating and new seemed to push him onward, and he was delighted at the encouragement.

He was, of course, concerned for the Princess, but it was hard to dwell upon when he was certain that in almost no time she would be clinging gratefully to him, trembling while he held her in his strong arms.

Prince Michael and Sir Jordan kept a fast pace, yet as they were not sure of their destination, they attempted to cover more area by zigzagging through the woods, and so their journey was not a short one and they had to camp for the night.

The next morning the princess awoke to the peaceful sounds of birds chirping and winds rustling through the trees.  It took her several moments to realize where she was and since she had in reality only slept a couple of hours, she awoke to a sort of delirium.  

As soon as she rose from her bed, Princess Lia found the persistent witch at her door with breakfast.  The witch asked the Princess how she was feeling, but Lia did not feel like answering.  The witch did not ask again, but simply said that fresh clothes could be found in the wardrobe and left the room.

The Princess noticed that the witch did not lock the door, and out of sheer curiosity, looked inside the wardrobe of the peaceful little room.  Inside she found the most beautiful gowns she’d ever seen, though some quite simple and quite old, but not in a bad way.  She picked an especially nice one the color of red wine and thought of taking a bath.

She opened the bedroom door and was surprised to find a beautiful washroom right next door.  The Princess then bathed and groomed until she felt quite clean and renewed.  She lay down for a nap and did not awaken until late evening, when she felt fresh and rested for the first time in days.  

It was that evening that the Princess and the witch had their first conversation.

Princess Lia was gazing out the window into the dark forest when the witch appeared at her door.  The witch stepped into the room but did not speak and it was Princess Lia who broke the silence.

“Are they all dead?”  Her own voiced scared her a little but she couldn’t help but ask.  

“Don’t you know already?” was the witch’s reply, and she walked closer, watching the girl inquisitively.

It took more than a moment for Princess Lia to regain her speech.  She stared out the window and felt that if she had any tears left, they would have rolled down her cheeks.  The trees seemed to speak to her and she closed her eyes to listen, and only after listening intently for a whole minute did she answer the witch.   

“They are gone, and the kingdom is nothing of what it was.  And father-” but she could not say the words because the pain in her heart had become unbearable.  She jumped out of surprise, not fear, when the witch put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. 

“I know” she said, and looked out the window herself, closing her eyes to the trees.  

And Princess Lia almost embraced her, until she remembered that she was a witch, and that this was the dark forest, and that trees couldn’t speak, and that everything was gone.  And she threw herself upon her bed and shut out the world, and the next time she looked up, the witch was gone from the room.

the kingdom of Vasilia.  I still don’t know how I feel about that name.  But hey, Luke Skywalker started off as Luke Starkiller, so its all good.

Slightly magical me