The Gold

Many rich kingdoms had their own treasure but a poor kingdom had the misfortune of being saddled with a rich yet greedy king who loved nothing more than docking his servants' wages and raising his people’s taxes.

There were many kings and queens possessing the wealthiest clothes and jewelry yet the king was satisfied in such belief that he possessed the richest treasure of all, boasting to visiting dignitaries that as rich as they may be they would have his gold.

All agreed there was something very strange going on with the greedy king. Every evening after his supper the king would make his way to the bowels of the castle where he banned his guards and declared he was not to be disturbed lest you wished for a painful end. He’d request food and a change of clothes but always maintained that he had to take it in himself. Then he would visit a chamber that was kept locked from the inside and only he knew the way to open it.

He’d spend the evening in there and return to his comforts once the sun rose. Then he’d repeat the next evening and the next. His reasons remained unknown. The only real clue was that he kept muttering about his gold when he returned. Everyone from squires to smugglers, neighboring kings, and counts discussed the mystery at gatherings and dinners.

Most believed it contained jewels and gold kept separate from the royal treasury and that every night he counted his riches. Among such believers was the king of the land past the river, confessing his beliefs to his wife one such evening. A princess of a border kingdom surrounding both lands who had acquaintanced the greedy king in her youth and remembered the days before. The king had been unpleasant even then as she and her late sister would often catch him leering and sneering but while he was proud he had never been so certain of his riches before.

Only a mere few days later the king collapsed and took to his bed. He grew weaker and weaker and it was clear he was not long for this world. All he could say over and over again was that he had to get back to his gold, that the gold was his alone, that he needed his gold to be brought to him but before he could revoke his silence death came for him.

As he named no heir the kingdom fell into chaos. Before long the king and queen of the neighboring kingdom moved in to claim the lands and the secrets were believed to have joined the greedy king in his grave. But convinced of hidden treasure the king privately investigated, the room kept by the greedy king was barred and windowless, and little way to find out if the room was really locked from the inside. Until the queen sacrificed her fingernail to scoop out a key no bigger than a freckle she noticed hidden within the lock.

Taking it out and opening the door, the king and queen found themselves standing in a bare room with only bare essentials, and in the center, there was a large chest. On a nearby table lay another key and so the king eagerly used it to unlock the chest expecting to find treasure or priceless jewels.

Instead, the chest swung open to reveal a maiden with the shiniest golden hair imaginable, underfed and unwashed yet lovely. She looked upon them with a terrified relief and looking into her eyes the queen gave a cry of disbelieving joy as she recognized her believed deceased sister who had vanished as a young girl without a trace. It was revealed The greedy king had lusted for her until on a political visit he moved to kidnap her and locked her in the chest having had the difficult exit built he then executed those who had helped him create the prison determined to keep his “gold” a secret forever

Within a year of the cruel king’s death, The king and queen returned to their own kingdom having agreed to leave the overtaxed people to form a more democratic way of government with more affordable wages. The King and Queen enjoyed their own treasures and with the chamber that had served as her prison sealed up forever along with her years in the dark, the lost princess was able to walk in the sun at last.