The Three Lady's In The Cage

“Father, tell us again the story of the Three Ladies In The Cage.” “Do you never tire of that one, my beloved? How about the story of Rumpelstiltskin’s Revenge? I haven’t told you that one yet, and you might like it better.” “Oh please father, please-pretty-please, tell us the story of Cinderella and her stepsisters, you know it’s our favorite! Please Daddy!” “Okay children, tonight I will tell you the story of the three ladies in the cage, but tomorrow night I will tell you about Rumpelstiltskin’s Revenge, and you will not argue.” “Do we have a deal?” “Yes, Daddy, we have a deal.”

“The land we live in was once ruled by a king named Harold The Great. He was a great man, a great king, and was kind and compassionate. He shared his palace and his heart with Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth was also very kind and compassionate but was not healthy. By day, she was virtuous and wise in all her ways. She was a great queen and a great mother to her only daughter, Cinderella. However, by night, she withdrew to her chambers and drank and smoked with wild abandon to relieve her stress and guilt of never providing King Harold with a son. Her hidden bad habits caused her to age much sooner than she might have, and she passed away while King Harold was still young enough to have more children.

The night before she passed away, she summoned Cinderella to her chambers. When Cinderella arrived, Queen Elizabeth ordered all her guards and caregivers to exit the room so that she may have a private conversation with her only child. As soon as they were alone, Queen Elizabeth began by telling Cinderella how much she loved her and how she would always be with her in spirit. The typical things that a mother would tell her daughter when she knows that her time on Middle Earth is nearly over. Cinderella expected this. However, what Queen Elizabeth told her next, Cinderella did not expect.

Queen Elizabeth told Cinderella that there was magic running through her veins. She told her that she had come from a long line of magical women who held powers that Cinderella couldn’t possibly imagine. She told her of events that had passed and events that were to come. She told her that there would be difficult days ahead, but that if Cinderella could keep her heart pure and true, that she too, would one day be queen, and that there would be no limit to her magic, nor to her power.

However, Queen Elizabeth also delivered a warning to Cinderella. She told her that there would be a great darkness that would overtake the kingdom. This was not preventable. It was destined to be. But if Cinderella maintained a thick skin and a soft heart – no matter how hard it was, the darkness would not overtake her. She went on to say that Cinderella could be the light in the dark, or she could cast the shadow even wider. The choice was hers.

To Cinderella, this all sounded like the delirious rantings a woman whose mind was gone and whose body was soon to follow. She loved her mother with all her heart though, so she listened dutifully, pretending to soak up every word as her mother went on with her nonsense.

The last thing that her mother said to her was that she would come back to her in the form of two turtle doves when the time was right. She said that these two turtle doves would guide and protect Cinderella, and that they would be the source of Cinderella’s magic, as long as her heart was pure. Those words were the last words that Queen Elizabeth spoke. After she was done speaking to Cinderella, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep for the last time.

Now, even though King Harold, as well as the entire kingdom, knew that Queen Elizabeth’s time was coming to an end, it was still devastating to face the reality of it actually happening. The entire kingdom was in mourning and there was a great sadness that settled over the land. This was not the darkness that Queen Elizabeth had warned Cinderella about though. It may have seemed like it at the time, but the great darkness had not even begun yet.

Now I have told you that King Harold was a kind and compassionate man. He was not however, very wise when it came to love and power. Nobody in the kingdom knew how heavily he had leaned on Queen Elizabeth for advice and strength in leading the kingdom. Nobody except for King Harold himself that is. He knew that he could not rule alone, for surely, somewhere along the way he would make a foolish choice, and the whole kingdom would suffer for it, and might even fall to their enemies.

This hidden knowledge, along with his longing for a male heir, convinced King Harold to hold a ball to invite other kingdoms to send their best and most beautiful daughters so that he may pick a new wife, and to be allied with the kingdom that she came from.

Since it had only been a few months since her beloved mother had passed, Cinderella was not ready for this and refused to participate. She locked herself away in her mother’s old chambers until the ball was over, hoping that King Harold would see her pain and understand her protest. King Harold was, of course, aware of her pain and protest. He was king though - and had to do what he felt was best for the kingdom.

By the end of the ball, King Harold had settled on a new queen. Her name was Graciella and she was a widow with two daughters of her own. King Harold knew in his soul that she was not his ideal mate, but the kingdom that she came from was nearby, and was great and powerful. He felt that by allying with this kingdom, both kingdoms would grow in strength. He also would be given the chance to have the male heir that he had always hoped for.

Although the night of the ball was a happy occasion for everyone (except for Cinderella of course), that night was the beginning of the darkness that settled over the kingdom. There was much joy and celebration that night, but no one (not even Cinderella) had a clue of just how dark the shadow of evil that was creeping upon the kingdom was soon to become.

As soon as Graciella and her daughters settled into King Harold’s castle, life changed for Cinderella, and shortly after life changed for everyone in the kingdom. Instead of becoming stronger, the kingdom became weaker and eventually became subservient to what King Harold had hoped would become an ally. Cinderella was treated unkindly and eventually became nothing more than a servant whose main job was to clean up after, and apparently, to be bullied by Graciella and her daughters. King Harold had become so blinded by his wish to have a male heir, that he ignored these things. He kept hoping that things would get better when he finally had his male heir, but that day never came.

He passed away a broken man, and Graciella wouldn’t even let Cinderella say goodbye to him while he was on his deathbed. The day after he died, Graciella was pronounced queen and banished Cinderella to the servant’s quarters. As a ‘favor’ though, and (supposedly) in honor of King Harold’s memory, she made Cinderella the lead servant. Although, Cinderella knew that this was just so she would be held responsible for any actions of the servants that Queen Graciella deemed unworthy.

It came to be that the very same kingdom that Graciella had come from was in need of a new queen. As was the tradition in those days, a ball was held for all the eligible daughters who wished to become queen to attend. Graciella sent both of her daughters in hopes to increase her power and influence. Up to this point, Cinderella had dutifully accepted her fate without going against the queen’s wishes. However, she had both reached her breaking point, as well as had spotted a possible way out of her misery.

That night, after the servant’s chores were finished, Cinderella made her way down to the sycamore tree that her mother had been buried by. Although she still doubted the words that her mother had spoken to her on her death bed, a small part of her was hoping for them to be true. And even if they weren’t true, she wanted to come to visit her mother and pray for good fortune before she secretly made her way to the ball. She knew that if Queen Graciella found out that she was going, she would be sure to feel her terrible wrath. However, she was determined to make it to the ball one way or the other - since she felt like this might be her only chance to escape the misery of her current situation.

After kneeling down and saying a prayer to her mother for guidance and protection, Cinderella noticed two turtle doves perched on a branch of the sycamore tree. Her heart skipped a beat as her mother’s words came rushing back to her. She felt her mother’s love and protection embrace her like the warmth of a hug that she didn’t think she would ever feel again. For the first time in what felt like forever, Cinderella smiled.

As she smiled, both turtle doves spread their wings and flew off the branch they had been resting on and landed at Cinderella’s feet. As her eyes followed them, she noticed that the torn and tattered servant’s dress that she had been wearing had been replaced by a beautiful golden laced gown, and her cracked and calloused feet were now resting comfortably inside of elegant, matching high heels. She said a quick prayer of thanks to her mother, and started on her way to the ball, now fully believing every word that her mother had said about magic and destiny.

The prayers had worked. Cinderella won the prince over that night and soon became queen. She would never again sleep in the servant’s quarters. If only she had let good enough be good enough, she might have lived happily ever after, and that would have (and could have) been the end of the story.

But of course, this was just Cinderella’s main course, and she was still in search of what she felt was her just deserts. I suppose that’s the problem with things like power, money, and revenge – too much never feels like enough. Even though Cinderella had been warned by her mother about the choices that she could make, and about keeping her heart pure and true, she had forgotten these warnings and only remembered that there was magic running in her veins. Even though she had already gotten everything that she had once longed for, she still wanted more.

As she sat in her gold-plated royal chair and stared into to her own beautiful reflection in her gold-plated royal mirror while gently brushing her long, blonde, flawless and beautiful royal hair, she finalized her plan to achieve not only unquestioned power over her new kingdom, but unquestioned and unrivaled power over all of the civilized kingdoms of Middle Earth. She decided on the final details as the entire royal family (except for her - of course) was eating the delicious, but poisoned, dinner that she had prepared for them. As the poison began to course through the veins of the soon to be former royal family, a single turtle dove came to rest on the window ledge of Cinderella’s room. Cinderella angrily rose from her royal chair and shooed it away, not realizing the significance of the fact that it was the first time she had seen only one, and not two, turtle doves.

The next morning, Queen Cinderella ordered the town crier to announce the passing of the king and the entire royal family. She also announced a brief morning period, after which she would announce a series of new proclamations and rules that the inhabitants of the kingdom would have to abide by. It seemed fitting to the townsfolk (who were deeply saddened by this news) that the sun did not rise that day. However, as the days went by, and the sun still did not rise, the darkness seemed to not just hover over the kingdom but seemed to envelop it. Even the hearts of the kindest townsfolk had turned dark, and hatred ruled the day where love had once shown the way.

Meanwhile, Cinderella’s former stepsisters had hatched an evil plan to take control from their mother so that they could rule over what was left of their once proud kingdom. They also decided to use poison. However, never having been blessed with the gift of intelligence, or even a hint of magic, they did not make the recipe correctly nor strong enough to kill Graciella. It turned out to be only half as strong as it would’ve had to be to take Graciella’s life. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise though, as it was just strong enough to kill the evil spirit that had possessed her, while leaving the pure spirit that had been trapped inside for all these years.

When Graciella awoke from the deep sleep that the poison had put her body into, she immediately saw two turtle doves land on her windowsill. She would only later realize the significance of this omen. Three things happened that day that changed the course of history, not just for her kingdom, or even for our kingdom, but for every kingdom. The first thing that happened, I have already told you – Graciella awoke. The next thing that happened was the love that she had been missing for so long turned her once cold heart warm again. The third thing was that most of magic that had once flowed through Cinderella’s veins left her, and instead, began to flow through Graciella’s veins. With those three things happening, love and kindness was returned to the hearts of the townsfolk, and a return to greatness for our kingdom soon followed.”

“But you didn’t tell us how Cinderella and her stepsisters came to be in the cage, or what happed with the rest of Cinderella’s magic Daddy!”

“You are very wise my children, you must keep this awareness with you as you grow, it will come in handy one day.

Cinderella was left with just enough magic to allow her and her stepsisters to live forever, so that they could see greatness return to all of the kingdoms - while living in a cramped steel cage over the town square; to serve as a reminder to others to always choose goodness over evil, and kindness over hate. Now it’s time for bed my beloved, we have a busy day tomorrow.”