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He had no parents left in life, only two elder brothers, and they travelled between farms and carried out whatever labour was needed for a daily wage, though often there was so little work that they went to bed hungry. His brothers too were unmarried, but they were men of a practical cast who would have had no dreams of marrying princesses, even without the risk of being put to death. When the youngest brother announced his desire to strive for the princess's hand, they tried to dissuade him, but as he wouldn't give up, they mocked him for a madman and said that he deserved whatever was coming to him.\n\nThe youngest brother took what little food he had in his bag and headed out. On the way to the castle, he came upon a foaming river.

The young farmhand arrived at the palace after a long journey by foot, and before being offered to clean himself or even refreshment, a footman came to take him to meet the king and face the test of character that would result in his ascension or death.\n\nAs they walked through the long corridors of the palace, far grander than anything the youth had ever seen, the footman - who seemed no younger than him - struck up a conversation and asked him many questions. The youth was more than happy to put off his fear by speaking of his journey, of his childhood, of his brothers and his memories of his parents.\n\nOutside a door, the footman stopped, without turning to him, and now it seemed to the farmhand that there was a tension in his guide's bearing.\n\n"Though I was ordered to bring you directly to His Majesty," the footman said, "I will get you a goblet of water, so you will at least face your destiny refreshed."\n\nAt that, his voice almost cracked, and he left more hurriedly than was needful, leaving the farmhand in the deserted hall. The farmhand glanced left and right and saw, not far away, a tall window leading out in a garden that again seemed unwatched.\n\nWhat did he do?\n\n[[He stayed|Princess3]]\n\n[[He ran away|Princess3a]]

The farmhand waited, whether because he felt no fear, or because he felt it and conquered it, and soon the door opened as if no hand had touched it. He had to step inside.\n\nBehind the door was a chamber as sparse as a cell. Only the king and his daughter, radiant as a fever-dream, were standing in there, facing him.\n\nThe princess's gaze glinted across his, but what her feelings were, he couldn't discern.\n\nThe king did not pose him a test or any questions. Instead he said:\n\n"To begin, I will tell you a story of a [[prince|Prince]]..."

There was once a knight, not the most handsome or shining of men, but a true, brave and loyal paladin of his king. He sat at table for a great Midwinter feast with the king and his brethren, and their wives and retainers, when there was a knock on the door, so heavy that it seemed the doors and the whole hall were in danger of falling.\n\nWithout showing fear, the king called for the guest to enter. At the word, the gates burst open and a green man rode inside on a horse as green as himself. The man wore evergreen vines draped over his armour, and the horse wore the same vines for a caparison, and vines grew on the man in place of hair and seemed to pour forever from his mouth. And the Green Man was half again as tall as the tallest man of human stock, and his horse was equally greater than mortal horses.\n\nHe rode up to the head of the table and said:\n\n"I challenge any knight here to strike off my head, on the condition that a year from now, that same knight will travel to my northern lands and undergo the same treatment."\n\nThe knights and nobles sat in silence, wondering what this might mean, when suddenly our knight stood up and hefted his sword.

The farmhand fled into the garden, climbed a trellis that led all the way up a wall, and so escaped from the castle grounds unmolested. Fearing that he was being hunted, he made his way out into the countryside through begging and theft, until he came upon a farmer who hired him as a cow-herd and asked no questions about his past.\n\nAfter a few months of that life, a young woman came to that farm asking for him. From the dirt of her simple dress, she had travelled a long time, yet her beauty was rare and exquisite and her manners were not those of a commoner. The youth knew that he would not have forgotten such a beauty, but something in her bearing and her voice still seemed familiar.\n\nThe moment she could speak to him alone, she said: "Thank you for running; I couldn't bear the thought of you dying for me. I have given up all title to my former wealth and power, but if you want me for your wife, you can take me."\n\nWhat more is there to say? The farmhand and the woman who was no longer a princess married as soon as they could make it to the village priest. Though their lives together wer laboursome, and short, and fringed with all the petty troubles and great disasters that the poor and working face, yet if either of them ever believed that they had made the wrong choice, they never told the other.\n\n[[Continue|Ending]]

[[A Fractal Fairy Tale|Semi-barbarian court]]\n\nA hypertext story\n\nBy Christina Nordlander

The retainers sit crouched on the woven sedge mats around the longhouse fireplace, but with more intentness than when they used to listen to Sayin's stories. This time, the wandering judge has pride of place.\n\n"What do you think," he says, "should be done with a storyteller who refuses to give a proper ending to their story?"\n\n"Perhaps he should be suspended!" a young female retainer shouts.\n\nBut through the merriment, gazes increasingly land on Sayin.\n\nSwallowing, the storyteller begins:\n\n"To illustrate the right course of action, I will tell you the tale of [[a king|Princess]]..."

A Fractal Fairy Tale

Christina Nordlander

The judge's gaze lit on Sayin, as the storyteller fell silent.\n\n"And what do you want to have said with this story?"\n\nBut as the storyteller could not answer, soon a stake was built and the storyteller tied to it.\n\nTHE END\n\n[[play again|Semi-barbarian court]]

There was once a king, the ruler of a great realm, who was a widower and had only one daughter. For that reason, he was anxious to find her the most pure-hearted and capable husband, to inherit his throne one day. He sent couriers throughout his kingdom, declaring that any young unmarried man, no matter what his standing, was welcome to travel to the palace so that the king could hold interview with him and determine whether he was worthy of the princess' hand. However, to ensure that none driven by light love of personal gain or pleasure would waste the king's time, the proclamation added that those found unworthy would be immediately put to death.\n\nA young [[farmhand|Farmhand]] heard this proclamation and decided to travel to the capital and seek out his fate.\n\n[[Continue|Princess2]]

There was once a prince, eminent in all virtues, though his kingdom was not rich or powerful, and had many neighbours who might in time turn into enemies. Yet, he set out on a sea-journey to court a king's daughter across the great sea, as she was said to be the most desirable woman in the world. Her father, however, had set up a strange condition for all suitors to his daughter: they had to answer a riddle, and those who failed would die. Therefore, heads and bleached skulls of men decorated the roof of the palace and all its pillars.\n\nThe king and his daughter led the prince to a room - not much different from this, for it was bare so that it would be easily cleaned in the aftermath of the execution. The headsman with his axe took his place behind the fresh suitor, and the prince was told to kneel and close his eyes before he heard the riddle.\n\nWill you look around now? You can look around.\n\nBut when the prince's eyes were closed, as yours should be, the king did not ask him a riddle. Instead, he began:\n\n"I will tell you the story of [[a knight|Knight]]..."