“The princess was very beautiful, and many knights took up her challenge, but none succeeded. The princess was about to give up hope of ever getting her mom back when the head guard came to her and told her a peasant boy was asking to see her. She almost turned him away, but something told her the boy was special—not many peasants would even dare to approach the palace, let alone request an audience with the princess—and she went to receive him in the throne room.
“The boy stood before her and told her he could slay the dragon. The only problem was his family was poor and he didn’t have a sword. The princess tried to dismiss him. What would a peasant boy know about slaying dragons? He refused to leave until she at least gave him a chance to prove himself. She agreed and had one of her guards give him a sword. She told the peasant boy if he could disarm her head guard, he could take the sword and try to slay the dragon. She didn’t think he stood a chance of disarming her head guard, but she knew this way she would be seen as being fair.
“She watched as the peasant boy made a few practice jabs. She began to notice he was more muscular than any peasant boy should be, and he was clearly good with a sword. He disarmed her head guard within minutes, surprising the princess, as her head guard was the best swordsmen in the land. Or so she had thought.
“She told the peasant boy he may undertake the quest, and that if he succeeded, he would have his prize. He left the palace, and the princess was sure he wouldn’t return. After all, he might be skilled, but the knights of her kingdom were skilled too, and none of them had returned.
“She found herself saddened at the thought, and not just about her mom. She realized she wanted the peasant boy to come back because she wanted to give him her hand in marriage. Days went by and the princess resigned herself to the fact that he was dead. She began to mourn, for both the peasant boy and her mom.
“The palace arranged for a funeral service to be held for the queen and for the princess to be crowned the new queen. As the crowning ceremony began, the doors to the throne room burst open. The princess jumped to her feet as the peasant boy entered, her mom at his side. Tears of joy fell down her cheeks as she embraced her mom.
“She turned to the peasant boy as the queen began to address the crowd. She thanked him and told him she was his prize. She explained that his family would move into the palace and never want for anything again. The peasant boy knelt before her and smiled up at her. He told her that although he appreciated her offer, he could not take her up on it, and if she wanted to reward him, all he would ask was that he be allowed to keep the sword she had loaned him.
“She told him to rise and that the sword was his. She realized she was upset that he didn’t want to marry her. He began to leave, and the princess followed him outside. She asked the peasant boy why he didn’t want to marry her—did he not find her attractive?
“He told her he thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and while he would be honored to have her as his wife, he knew what it was like to be forced into a marriage the person didn’t want. He told her he wasn’t really a peasant. He was a prince from a neighboring kingdom. His father, the king, had tried to force him to marry a princess from a distant land because he wanted to make an alliance with their king. When he had refused, it had been made clear to him that he either did what his father wanted, or he was disowned. He had left and never returned, and he assured the princess he would never claim her as his wife, because she deserved the chance to marry for love.
“The princess smiled at him and thanked him. She told him of the dread she had felt in the pit of her stomach when she had made the offer and how she had felt when each knight stood before her. She told him that when he had stood before her, she had felt differently. That she had been rooting for him, not just to save her mom, but to come back to her.
“The prince was skeptical, sure that the princess was just trying to keep her word. He told her he would only marry her if they shared true love’s kiss. The princess asked him how they would know, and he asked her about the curse on her kingdom. The failed crops. The famine. How there had been no rain there for over a year. He told her true love’s kiss could break any curse. The princess stepped closer to the prince, and he took her in his arms and kissed her.
“As they kissed, the princess felt cold water droplets scattering over shoulders and in her hair. She pulled back from the prince and looked to the sky, laughing in delight at the rain that fell around them. The prince was shocked, but deliriously happy, and he kissed the princess again. He instantly accepted her as his bride. And they all lived happily ever after.”
I finish telling the story, remembering my mom’s version of it word for word, and how after she had finished telling it to me, she would tell me that true love would always find a way, and that it
