Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, lived a king and queen who were madly in love. They had two lovely children, a daughter and a son, who would both one day inherit the throne. However, one fateful day made them think that day would be coming a lot sooner than they planned for.
You see, their father, the king, had a sister, and that sister was a witch. When the king found this out, he banished his sister from the kingdom, forcing her to live in the forest away from civilization. So one day, the witch came up with a plan. She would turn her brother into the true beast he was, and would only turn him back into a human when he realized his mistakes and learned how to treat others fairly, no matter who or what they are.
So with that decision made, the sister snuck into the castle late at night when she knew her brother would be out in the courtyard planning events for the kingdom. From a castle window, she told him her plan and then turned him into a beast.
The king, so ashamed, ran into the forest, leaving all his belongings that he had with him that night in the courtyard. In the morning, when the queen did not see the king in his sleeping chamber, she went outside to the courtyard. She saw the king’s belongings and sent out several guards to conduct a full man hunt. When the king was nowhere to be found, people began to lose hope.
Every year, they held a festival. At the end, they would all release lanterns, hoping that one day the king would see them and find his way back home. One day, when the queen’s faithful servant prepared the courtyard for a croquet game for the queen and her family, he heard something rustling in the bushes. When he went to investigate what it was, he discovered a beast walking away.
“Excuse me sir, but you mustn’t come here again. If the guards see you, then they might kill you! See, the king went missing a few years ago, and they might fear you are the one that took him,” the servant said while holding a croquet ball.
The beast turned around to face the servant. “Oh servant, it is I, your king! Here, I will even show you a medallion only I would have for proof that I am the king!” The beast pulled a gold medallion with a ruby stone in the center out of his cloak and held it up for the servant to see.
The servant gasped. “It really is you, my king! Oh, how we have longed for this day since you went missing! Who put this terrible curse on you?! I shall have the guard go find them and punish them for what they have done.”
“No, you mustn’t; if you do I shall remain a beast forever. Servant, you must find a way to get the queen to come outside to the courtyard with some of the things I treasure most, so that when I show up she will know it’s me,” the king pleaded to the servant.
The servant pondered for a moment. “Ah, I know, I will say I am polishing your belongings, and since it’s such a lovely day out, I decided to do it outside. I shall also make your favorite tea and tea biscuits for you two to eat when you arrive. Be at the courtyard tomorrow at exactly noon, when the sun hovers over the east tower. Till then, my king,” he bowed before heading back to the courtyard to finish setting up for croquet.
“Right this way, my queen. I hope you will be pleased with my work,” the servant said, as he led the queen to the courtyard where he had all the king’s prized possessions polished and his favorite tea set out.
“Oh, this is wonderful! The king would be so happy if he were here. Please, leave me be, go fetch the children’s lunch,” the queen said, holding her hands to her chest about to cry.
“Yes, my queen,” the servant turned away to get the children their lunch.
“Oh, how I miss you dear, my sweet king. If only you were here now.” The queen wept, picking up one of the medallions. As she did, the beast appeared from behind a tree. The queen was frightened by this. She went to call for the guard, but then the king stopped her.
“Wait, do not be frightened my queen. It is I, your king.”
The queen stood there in disbelief, but took one look at him and saw it in his eyes. She ran towards him and hugged him greatly, “Oh my dear king, I had thought I lost you! How did this happen to you?!” the queen cried as she pulled back from the hug.
“Well, my dear, it’s a long story, how about I tell you about it over tea?” The king extended his arm to his lovely queen. They walked over to the tea table and sat down, and the king began to tell the whole story.
“Oh my heavens,” the queen said as the king’s sister appeared from behind a bush.
“Hello dear brother, I have been advised by the fairy godmother that I assigned to you that you arre starting to realize your wrong doings. So I came here, and I feel you have learned and grown as a person. So I am here to turn you back into a human again,” the witch walked towards her brother with her wand.
“Oh dear sister! I am so incredibly sorry for how I had treated you in the past! I promise to never jump to conclusions about people just because of what they do or what it may appear that they do!” the king cried.
“You are forgiven, brother,” the witch uttered a spell and twirled her wand, and the once horrid beast turned back into the handsome king he was.
“Oh thank you dear sister, why don’t you come back and live in the castle with us? It would be lovely to have you back.” The king threw an arm around his sister’s shoulders.
“I would love to; I missed you so much, brother.”
With that, the queen, king, and sister walked into the castle and lived happily ever after.
