The Gift

Once upon a time a very long time ago in a land before there were paved roads and street lights lived a simple girl named Gloria of Winchester. Gloria lived in the city of Simery with her brother, Hunter, her father Alfred and mother Beth.

Glorias mother doted on her and her brother and loved her father more than life itself. Glorias life seemed to revolve around her brother because of his illness. Glorias father traveled far and wide searching for an antidote for her brothers illness .

Glorias brother Hunter was 12 and seemed to be sick all the time. His fevers could reach 102 and sometimes he coughed for hours on end. Gloria would do her best to comfort her brother but sometimes to no avail. He would smile dimly at Gloria saying thanks. Hunter had huge brown eyes and his head was covered in fluffy brown curls. He was simply adorable and Gloria loved her brother almost more than she loved her mother and father. Gloria was happy this day because Hunter was excited because father was due back in just a few hours.

Meanwhile..Alfred, Glorias father was deep in the forest feeling rather sad and gloomy. It was soon to be dark and he was having trouble leading his horse down a rough path. His horse whinnied rather suddenly and stopped. Alfred looked down to see a little old lady in rather garish apparel smiling at Alfred widely. Her apparel was rather ratty and worn. "oh dear thought alfred, i have very little gold on my person." the old lady looked up at Alfred. she eyed him thoughtfully and said in a rather high pitch tone..'why hello dear sir, i was wondering if you could help an old lady out.' alfred looked at the old lady and asked her what kind of help she desired. the old lady looked at Alfred and replied. well dear sir, my name is Lydia of Carpathia and the help i desire is a bit of a complicated sort. see dear sir, i must go to my sister for she is quite ill and i must bring her this antidote which will surely cure her. alfred looked at the old lady lydia and said.'well lady lydia, i have no carriage , how far is your sister from where we are? lady lydia replied , just over the hill...i am so tired though and cannot walk another step so if you will just allow me to borrow your horse to climb the hill i will repay your kindness greatly.' well alfred thought to himself he was quite tired also after traveling for weeks in search of his own sons antidote but could not refuse an old lady so accepted and got down from his horse and helped her onto his noble steed. lady lydia seemed very grateful and alfred said he would lead the horse to her directions and led the horse up the hill and saw the most beautiful castle he had ever seen.

the castle was surrounded by a huge moat and a carriage appeared upon their arrival. the horse was tied to the carriage and they were led into the castle walls to see the castle at moonlight was indeed a sight to behold. the castle was adorned by many flickering candlelights mounted to the outside walls and surrounding large trees overflowing with apples and fruits of all kinds. alfred looked at the apples wanting to pick one because he hadnt eaten but a crust of bread earlier and was quite ravenous. old lady lydia seemed to realize his hunger and told him, ' oh kind sir we will have a lovely supper i am sure and it will only begin to repay your kindness on this very night.' alfred smiled at old lady lydia. they arrived at last at the castle doors and lady lydia opened the door to be greeted by the doorsman Ganford. 'why hello ganford, will you please assist this kind sir to our table where he can be aptly refreshed for he has had a very long journey.' ganford was quite a tall gent and took alfreds coat and led him through a long hallway into a very large dining room. the dining room was flanked by one of the largest fireplaces alfred had ever seen although unlit at the moment because of the summer weather alfred could just imagine the fire it would possess once it flamed to life. alfred looked at the table in all its finery. it was covered in a beautiful tablecloth edged with lace and gold thread running throughout. the table itself was large oak with legs wider than alfreds own legs and covered with foods of all sorts and colors. the doorman ganford led alfred to sit down at one of the large chairs that had a seat cushion made of goosefeathers and alfred sunk in its cushions and looked at his hands which were quite soiled from the long journey. ganford asked alfred at that very moment.'one would like to wash up first, correct sir?' alfred consented with a nod and was led down another long hallway to a room for such purposes, and washed his hands in the large bowl and splashed the water on his face and dried off with a large sumptuous towel hanging right over an indoor toilet which was quite unheard of! alfred was amazed and proceeded to the dining room noticing the large paintings lining the hallway to be greeted by an extremely lovely young lady. she had long brown straight hair and was dressed in a lovely creme gown and said hello ..my name is princess lilly and i am the niece of lady lydia and we welcome you to Carpathia Castle. alfred nodded gratefully and followed the little princess down the hallway to the dining hall. the smells of the food captivated alfreds senses as he was led once again to his chair and he sank into the cushion and let out a sigh of relief and gladness. old lady lydia appeared and started serving alfred quickly. 'oh here dear sir, here is some pea soup and some crusty bread for your dipping pleasure and for our second course we will have leg of lamb with rasberries. she then proceeded to sit down and they ate in haste. oh how delicious this food was to alfred, he was famished to the bones but tried to be as polite as possible as he was served the most divine lamb he had ever eaten. the dessert was an apple pie which alfred was certain had to come out of their personal orchird. alfred ate until his hearts content and they retired to an ajoining room to be greeted by a lady reclining on a large chaise covered in many blankets. alfred thought that was quite odd, the time of summer it was but did not stare at the lovely creature . she had long flowing curly light colored hair and her eyes were the color of the sea. she smiled at alfred and introduced herself as Queen Chloe of Carpathia. Alfred could not believe his ears! This was a queen! he bowed immediately and accepted her kindness. she replied to alfred..oh kind sir you are most welcome and now for your gift for helping my sister, Lady Lydia. She took out a box wrapped in linen and presented it to Alfred. Alfred looked at the box and began to pull off the linen wrapping to open the box. it had a vial of some sort of liquid. he asked the Queen what was inside the vial. the queen proceeded to tell alfred the vial contained an antidote for his son Hunter and would surely cure his demise by the end of the day it was administered. alfred looked at the queen in amazement. 'but how do you know my son is ill? how do you know this is the antidote he needs?' the queen replied to alfred..'oh dear sir because my sister, lady lydia knows many things given to her by the master, the king of kings, the lord of lords! alfred looked at the queen and bowed to her and kissed her hand. he replied well dear queen with your permission, i would like to be granted passage to return to my son this very evening so that i may administer this vial. the queen replied..your wish is granted, of course, but i have one request, that you visit us soon after he is cured. now go! and be in good health.

alfred was escorted to his horse who had been fed and rested and they took off and arrived back to his noble home in record time to be greeted by his son, Hunter.

"why father! it is so good to see you arrive home!' alfred embraced his son warmly and told him of his adventure and showed him the vial. Hunter looked at his father. Gloria ran up and embraced her father and her mother embraced as well and they were hugging each other in a very tight embrace. alfred told them that they had all been invited back to the castle as soon as Hunter was cured. Hunter then proceeded to take the vial and his coloring immediately improved and his cough dramatically disappeared within moments. they celebrated with a dance holding hands together in a circle . they proceeded to visit the castle the very next day . They were served scrumptious delicacies but the greatest treasure was Hunter meeting princess lilly for they fell in love at first sight. Gloria also had a sweet surprise meeting the handsome prince michael who had been away hunting when her father had originally visited the castle. Hunter was married to princess lilly and Gloria was married to Prince michael years later in a double ceremony which was quite unheard of and many from far and wide in the land of Cinder came to view the event! The entire Manchester family then moved into Lancaster Castle and there they lived happily ever after.