I had a dream last night...
I saw the Prince, sleeping beneath a small tree as the dawn quickly approached. The Princess' castle was to my back, and the valley that the hill had blocked was laid out before me.
And as the sun began to rise, something on the other side of the valley started to glisten and sparkle with a golden light.
Out came the Princess' father, who couldn't believe what he was seeing. He pointed the light out to his servants, saying "Look! There it is! The Golden Castle!"
The Prince sat up from the tree he had been lying under, and wandered over to the king, as the Princess was finally allowed to come out. She ran over and threw her arms around the Prince.
"You've done it!" she exclaimed.
But the Prince didn't seem to understand what was going on, when he noticed the overturned earth beneath his feet, and realized that the Fox stayed true to his word.
The king's wife came out next, appearing more concerned than amazed, stuttering "Oh... n-no."
The Princess hopped over to her father, kissing him on each cheek and saying "You promised, Father. Now he is free to go, and has gained my hand."
Yet the king could saying nothing in reply.
The princess then went over to her mother, giving her the same kisses. "Do not worry, Mother, this is what I want, and what was meant to be."
The queen just slowly shook her head, knowing she could do nothing. But when she saw how joyful the girl was, returning to the boy who had tried to take her, she felt comforted that her daughter would be happy.
So the Prince and the Princess set out on foot, passing through the front gate, and finding the Fox, sitting there waiting for them.
The Fox bowed to the Princess, "You are looking as lovely as ever, princess."
The girl glanced at the Prince, then curtseyed to the little creature. "Thank you." and asked "Do I know you, little one?"
"Yes." replied the canine. "But that was a long time ago. We have other matters to attend to."
The girl turned to the boy, "A friend of yours?"
The Prince nodded as he crouched down, "Most certainly so. He was the one who helped me remove the hill last night."
The Fox nodded, "But let us now make haste, for though the Princess is certainly the most precious of the golden creatures, you can also obtain the Golden Horse, for it really belongs to her."
"What must we do?" asked the Prince.
"I will take you both to the Rider's estate, but I can only carry one at a time. So the Prince will go first, with the Princess in the safety of her castle gates, so that I may drop the boy off to wait alone in the forest while escorting the Princess."
So the Prince sat onto the Fox's tail, and away they went, flying over stock and stone, until the wind whistled through their hair!
The Fox dropped the boy off near the estate, and went to get the girl, soon returning with her on his tail, so that they were all together again.
The Prince helped the girl up off the creature, saying to the Fox "Don't tell me we're just going to give the Rider the Princess."
"There is much more to it than that." he replied. "Once everyone is cheering over your success, proceed to shake the hands of everyone around you, offering the gesture to the Princess last of all, only to swing her up onto the horse behind you!"
proceeding to tell them the plan.
The Prince walked up to one of the estate's guards, and told him "I would like to see the man of the estate. I have come for the Golden Horse."
The guard went to deliver the message, spreading the word of what was going on, and causing a huge crowd to form at the front of the estate.
Finally, the Rider emerged. So the Prince walked up to meet him, leading the Princess by the hand.
When everyone realized that the Golden Princess was before them, they began to cheer and shout
The Rider's face brightened when he saw what everyone was excited about, saying "O how wonderful. how wonderful! You've come to deliver me my bride!"
The Princess tried not to show her disgust, as the Rider continued to look at her longingly.
"Now where is the Golden Horse?" asked the Prince.
The Rider snapped his fingers, and the creature was led out, with the golden saddle atop his back.
The Prince escorted the girl to the Rider's arms, nodding at her in assurance, before swinging himself up onto the horse's back. "Thank you, kind sir." he said, reaching out his hand for a congratulatory handshake.
The Rider, keeping his left arm tightly around the Princess, held out his right hand to complete the gesture.
The Prince continued to shake the hands of everyone around him, glancing at the Princess as he moved forward on the saddle to make room behind him, noting how tight the Rider's arm was around her.
The girl looked up at the Prince with concern, fidgeting in the Rider's arms to try and loosen his grip on her, when she seemed to have an idea. She turned to look at everyone, "All hail the Prince, for gaining the Golden Horse, and delivering a princess to her most deserving groom!" raising her hands above her head, and leading them all into a celebratory clap.
The Rider couldn't resist applauding his good fortune either, lifting his hands to clap in the air.
The Prince nodded in thanks, reaching out to shake a few more hands, before offering his palm to the Princess.
They grabbed onto each other by the wrist, and he swung her up behind him, spurring the horse to dash away in a moment, flying faster than the wind, away from the Rider's estate!
–Charles M Warren
