[strike]A loosely told story...
Many years ago, centuries and even more, there was the great house of a noble who's name has long been forgotten. A castle, more magnificient than any other castle ever been seen, stood high up on a cliff, admired by all those who lived around it. It was lovely there. Flowers and roses everywhere, chattering birds nesting in the trees... the sound of the soft waves brushing against the cliffs. A paradise, some might say.
The people lived in peace and harmony and those who ruled were fair. But... The wife of the noble was barren. They thought all those knowledeable in the art of healing... priests and priestesses from various churches. Old wise men and woman from the most obscure corners of the world... Those who tend to dance around fires with very little clothes and do their mumbo-jumbo magical rituals... all was for naught.
But then, one day, there would come a merchant travelling to the castle. A one that looked like any other, smelled like any other, talked like any other. Your average everday merchant who just happened to pass by. And believe it or not, he promised that he knew how to undo their miseray. For a small insignificant price, of course, as everything tends to have a price.
In exchange for the small bottle of crystal clear blue liquid he had, he wished to have the opportunity to select one single thing of his choice to bring with him. Smiling, he gave the noble and his wife this little bottle of liquid, them nodding and gladly accept his cost. They offered him gold... wealth beyond imagination... relics and ancient books... but none seemed to catch the interest of him. Instead, he said, he was going to think about it. And so he left.
And now, it comes that this happy man and his wife did get their so wanted child. First... a young boy... the sort of boy every single parent would be proud of... well, every single dwarven and human parent. The noisy sort of boy. A one with a great heart, but even greater strength. A one that was destined to be a knight, as you could expect! He had the looks too, I may add...
Anyway, and there was the second child... they surely were not content with a single one after all their trouble! A girl in this case. Even being so young, she showed great promises of becomming one of the fairest in the world. Clear eyes and a smile that could change the hearts of even the most self-diciplined guard.
The third bith were the twins... a much greater disappointment than the first two, but regardless deeply beloved by the parents. A quiet young boy with a mind sharp as a dragon's teeth, but a health fragile as a vase. A schoolar was his path when he grew up. And a little girl. While looking quite cute still, she was all but a wilting flower compared to her older sister, sharing none of her charm. Quiet and staying just with herself... Well, in all honesty, the parents did not know what she would become when she grew older. So lost in her own minds was she!
For years, they lived happily together. Sometimes going to the lake nearby to fish like any other normal common family... sometimes a game of hide and seek in the forest... you know, like any other normal family! They had the opportunity to... they were of different ages, so.... but becomming teenagers. And then, one day, the merchant came back. The parents were of course overjoyed over his reappearance, gladly giving him hugs despite the fact that they were nobles and him... well... a merchant! After all, he was directly responsible for their joy, was he not?
As graceful as one could expect, he smiled and asked for a talk in private. Of course the two parents agreed on that! They entered the room and stayed there for some hours... when they came back out... The parents were no longer smiling.
There was never a mention of what he asked for, but clearly, it was something that could not be given to him. The parents offered him just about anything else... but he refused and still insisted on that particular thing. In rage of his lack of manners, they throwed him out of the castle, telling him that he was no longer welcome there anymore. And he left.
Life continued on again, with the whole matter quickly forgotten. The parents of course felt a little bit bad about it at first... But their bad subconcious feeling soon subdued, as after thinking it over, what he was for was truly outrageous... whatever it was. And so it would come one day when the oldest child would finally become a man. Celebrations lasted long into the night and everyone was quite... well.. drunk when going to bed.
At the next morning...
The castle was gone.
Where the castle had stood before, there was just empty ground.
There are rumours of the four children walking the lands. Sighted at one place, to never stay long enough for anyone to discover the truth. Of course, no one can truly say if the children were the children in the story, but in the longer story, they resembled them.. The children have never been seen together, only asking for something that no one knows what it is or where to find it... It is said that the castle really has existed, and was not destroyed or otherwise imploded during that day. Instead, merely that it was taken as payment, as a retribution for the parents refusal to fullfill their part of their bargain.
A story for a child? A rumour of the truth?
I do not know...[/strike]
[SIZE=10]This story is now deprecated... please see the "A Girl's Dream" forum for the new complete one instead.[/SIZE]
