Stories of the Crystal Cave

Once upon a time there was a Powerful King and a beautiful Queen. Together they had twelve princesses, but before a male heir could be produced, the queen died of a strange illness! The King raised the princesses to maturity, hoping he could marry them off to princes of neighboring villages but being King did not leave him much time to split between 12 young girls and so they grew.

As the princesses reached their marrying age, all twelve of them began showing symptoms of illness. The King was understandably distraught! He sent forth for the most knowledged of scholars, doctors, magicians, and anyone under the sun to cure the princesses who were so tired all day that they barely left their beds but to eat and bathe. Finally, in his growing grief and trepidation, the king sent forth an edict. "To any man who can find the cure for this sickness, I will let him choose from my daughter's hands in marriage and bestow the kingdom unto him!" For surely, with no heir the one who could save his daughters could rule the kingdom.

Many would-be suitors came and went, princess and kings, even peasants came to try to find the cure to the sickness but to no avail! Then one day, after all others had tried and the king about ready to give up hope; a man appeared, dirty and disheveled from travel and without a penny to his name. The king almost didn't even see him but in his desperation he allowed the young man a hearing.

"Good King," The young man would say in a booming voice that held much more strength than he'd first displayed, "Please grant me the time to find a cure for your daughters for surely such sweet ladies should not be ill!" The king agreed, "But only for four days!" Said the King, for he did not wish a vagabond to waste his time and hope.

And so, the young man stayed at the castle. The first night he cleaned himself, revealing a handsome face and toned muscles beneath the grime of the road. Before he went to sleep, he stopped by the princess' room. The room was kept locked at the night, especially with a stranger in the house but the young man had not been allowed to see them yet and so, out of curiosity he peered through the keyhole.

As the young man looked through the keyhole, to his surprise the princesses were not in bed! Instead, their sleep clothes were tossed on the bed haphazardly and the young man, not wishing to say anything just yet, went to his room. The next morning he went to greet the princesses. They were tired and sore, barely able to get out of bed! He tried to look around for clues as to where they'd been the night previous, to find that their shoes were worn to almost nothing. He later approached the king, asking him about the shoes. The king eyed him strangely, saying that the princesses had been having worn shoes the duration of the illness, and he'd fired good servants over the matter. "Allow me access to their room this night, my King. I will not touch nor harm them, but something is happening in the night and I intend to find out what!"

The young man was given a bed in their room at the far end, for the king was beginning to trust him now that he had cleaned up and had displayed some potential evidence. He posted guards outside the room, and so he stayed in the princess' room. Just before bed the princesses offered him some wine, and he happily took the offer only to wake the next morning in a daze. Hadn't he planned to stay up all night?

The next evening the princesses once more gave him wine, but this time he feigned drinking it. Sure enough soon after he 'fell asleep' the princesses roused from their beds, dressing in fine gowns. They went to a wall with a tapestry, pulling it back and flipping some sort of switch, a secret passage revealing itself. When all twelve princesses had disappeared, he rose and followed, the passage still open and waiting for their return. The princesses used torches in the dark corridor leading down below the castle. He was able to follow them from a distance and after a while they put out the torches, no longer needing them for in the cavern opening before them, the trees glowed!

The trees here had leaves of softly glowing crystal, the silver trunks reflecting the light and filling the room with a dim glow. No wonder the princesses shoes had been getting so worn, walking through caves all night! As he passed, he pulled one of the crystal leaves off a low-hanging branch and continued. In the next room there were brassy trunks with maple shaped rubies, and in the next were boughs full of oak leaf shaped emeralds all aglow, just dim enough to see by. Finally they reached the other end of the journey and up spiral stairs, following after them he found himself in a ballroom behind a curtain.
The young man followed the princesses to find that the reason they were tired and sore all day was because all night they spent DANCING! Twelve princes were there and other people, and the princesses danced in a masquerade. The masked princesses continued well into the night until the first morning light was beginning to settle on the world. He hurried back, barely making it before the princesses followed and changed, pretending to be asleep. They all slept in past breakfast and the young man spoke with the king over dinner, looking worse for wear. "Surely you are not sick too!" the King would exclaim. The man shook his head and put a finger over his lips, to show he was onto something but unable to reveal in front of the princesses. The king would nod and say, "Tomorrow is your last day, use it well."

The young man feigned drinking again this night, and again he followed them though this time he watched for the secret passage's trigger and as he ventured behind them, plucked off a ruby maple leaf. As he watched the princesses, confident that he'd solved the mystery, he eyed them trying to find which he should marry. He hurried back before they did, taking the extra time to take an emerald oak leaf before hurrying back and curling up to sleep with the leaves tucked safely away. The next day the king summoned him.

"My dear boy! Have you solved the illness?" The young man would nod, then shake his head. "No illness, good King. Your daughters are merely too social for their own good. In the night they departed through a secret passageway, and I followed them." He then drew out the leaves. "I was led through wondrous caverns with strange metallic trees that grew gems. When we got to the other side it seems the princesses have been trekking through such caverns each night to dance and socialize. I cans how you the passage if you like." The king of course demanded such, having never heard of such glorious magical trees. After his story was proved the king chastised his daughters for worrying him so, and told the young man to choose among his daughters. He chose a fair haired beauty he'd noticed at the ball seemed more interested in conversation than frivolous things such as dancing. The two lived happily ever after and ruled the castle, and the princesses no longer seemed sick nor disappeared in the night.

THE END