I had a dream last night...
I saw the Golden Horse, tossing his white mane in the gardens of the Golden Apple King, as the first stars of the evening sky began to appear.
He was watching a doorway of the castle, when the Prince and the Princess came rushing out with the Golden Bird.
The Princess headed for the horse, letting the bird take to the air as she swung herself up, with the bird ending up on her shoulder.
The Prince had just made it to the Golden Apple Tree, plucking one of its shimmering fruits, when the girl urged the Horse over to him.
Turning around to the girl, the boy bounded up the horse to sit behind her, saying “All right, I’m ready. Let’s go!”
They rode out the front gates of the King’s castle, and saw the Fox sitting beside the roadway.
So they trotted over to him, with the Princess saying “Kind Fox, the Prince’s brothers have been poisoned by the Witch of the Golden Castle.”
And the boy adding “And the Golden Bird has told us that we must all go there to stop her.”
“Of course. Of course.” replied the Fox, hopping up and getting ready to run. “I have been waiting for this very day!”And he motioned for them to follow as he began to run on ahead.
The Prince urged the Golden Horse onward, catching up with the canine, until they were going at full speed. And away they went, flying over stock and stone, until the wind whistled through their hair!
They quickly came up upon the Golden Castle, when the Fox got the others to slow down, looking up at them, and saying “Let’s go around to the back of the castle, I know another way in.”
Coming around to the back, they found a place in the stoney wall where a tree had fallen into it, smashing a small section of the structure, and knocking off the top half of it.
The Fox hopped up onto the fallen tree, slipping into the castle’s courtyard, while the Golden Horse rose into a great leap, stepping off of the enormous log, and landing with a clop onto the brown grass inside.
“We should be able to sneak into the back unseen.” instructed the canine, leading them on closer.
There were large stone blocks littering the ground all around them, along with dark, twisted trees, just laying about.
Once they got close to the back entrance, the Prince and Princess dismounted from the Horse, and led the creature behind them, with the Bird perched quietly atop his saddle.
When there beside the back archway, was the skeleton of some poor fellow, lying half buried in the earth.
The Princess covered her mouth in horror, slowly shaking her head. “No. It can’t be...”
The Prince turned to her, asking “Who? You know who this is?”
“My brother!” she replied. “That witch was the one who killed my brother!”
The Fox looked up at her confidently, saying with an assuring tone “Be still, Princess. This is not your brother, for it is the bones of a woman.” And turning back to the entrance, added “We must keep going, the old woman may already know we are here.”
They all stepped inside, unnerved by the echo of the cloppity steps of the Horse’s hooves, when they looked around at the ruined chamber and saw how beautiful and elegant a place it must have once been.
The Fox ran into the next room, and retrieved a lit torch, taking it to the Prince for him to lead the others through the rooms.
When the boy saw something sparkle in the darkness ahead of them, suddenly fearing that someone was standing there. He whispered to the others “Is that someone? Over there?”
The canine raised his nose to sniff the air, replying “No. I do not yet smell the old woman.”
Leading them all closer to inspect it, the Prince saw that it was the gold trim of a painting, reflecting the torches light, with everyone gathering around to see what it was a picture of.
It was a wonderful scene of a king and queen upon a balcony, with a beautiful golden fairy in mid flight, over the forest, surely wishing them blessings of some kind.
The Princess reached out her hand as if to touch it. “That’s the fairy who saved my grandmother.” she told them. “When my mother was being born.”
“That was you?” the boy asked. “It wasn’t too many nights ago that I heard that tale!”
“It is a true one.” she replied. “It gave my mother and I our golden hair.”
The Fox nodded. “As well as the other creatures and the Apple their shine.”
The Prince began to rub is chin, saying “But in that story, didn’t one of the–” When there was a loud bang that echoed from another part of the castle.
The Fox turned to it, twitching his ears. “That must be her!”
–Charles M Warren
