Once upon a time, in a far away kingdom, there was a king and queen who wished for a child. But they had none. For the queen was barren. King Francis and Queen Jeanne wished and prayed for a child of their own to love and care for.

One day, while King Francis was out on a visit to a neighboring kingdom on a political business trip, Jeanne was having tea in the rose gardens by herself.

"Pardon me, but why do you seam sad?"

Jeanne nearly jumped out of her skin, for she believed herself to be alone. She searched for the voice but she could not find the source. She might as well humor the voice so long as she wasn't going mad.

"I am distraught because my husband and I have longed for a child but now I realize that our dream can never be."

"Cheer up love, you will have a daughter before the year is up as long as you do exactly what I tell you."

The queen agreed. She could not deny that her heart had greatly desired a child, and a daughter no less.

"In three nights, your husband will be home so all of this must be done before he gets back. Tonight, you must drink of the sap from the maple trees and sleep in front of the fireplace. Can you do that?"

"Yes, thank you sir..."

"Arthur. Now I will be here the same time tomorrow to tell you what you must do next."

That night, before Jeanne went to sleep, she drank of the sap from the maple trees and laid down in front of the fireplace, slowly being put to sleep by the warmth of the flames.

The next day at the same time, Jeanne had tea in the rose garden when she heard Arthur's voice.

"Tonight, you must ask the hunter to give you the white bear cub he trapped. You are to give the cub to your daughter when she is born."

That night before dinner, Jeanne asked to hunter to give her the bear cub. The Hunter thought the Queen mad but remained silent as he gave the Queen the white bear cub.

The third and final day, Jeanne had tea in the rose gardens once more before her husband returned to her.

"This is the final task that you must do before you are able to have your child: you must ask the cook to slice one potato into strips and put it on a plate with curds of cheese and cover it with gravy. That is all you must eat tonight if you want a child."

The Queen did as Arthur asked and she ate her dinner despite the protests of the cook saying she must eat more. The Queen refused.

King Francis returned that night.

Nine months later the kingdom rejoiced the birth of their newborn Princess Madeleine.

XXXXXX

Princess Madeleine was a beautiful young lady. She looked like the spitting image of her father but she had her mother's eyes. She was a rather timid girl and often shied away from social events because they either intimidated her or everyone ignored her.

But Madeleine didn't mind. She got to spend an evening in the library with her white bear and a good book. The book she was currently reading was on mythical creatures and fairy tales. The story she was currently one was one that had a dragon. There was a fierce battle between the dragon and the brave knight and as she expected, the knight won the fair princess and the dragon was slain.

Madeleine did not know why she felt such sadness for a creature that was horrible and kidnapped princess. It must be because the dragon was a creature and, to at least to some degree, deserved to live like any other living creature.

"Well Kuma, it looks like the knight wins again."

Kuma placed his head on Madeleine's lap as she started the next story, unaware that her father and mother were deciding her future.

...

Down in the ballroom, King Francis and his Queen were engaged in conversation between the Prince of Okraina, a young man by the name of Dmitri.

"King Francis, Queen Jeanne, I would like your permission to court your daughter and to win her heart and her hand in marriage. I come from a humble kingdom and the most that I could offer is crops and a trade agreement with my brother in Moskal." The tall Prince anxiously awaited the judgement from the King and Queen.

"If we allowed you to marry our daughter, and you followed through on the trade with Moskal, that could potentially be a strong alliance. That is if we gave our blessing for such an arrangement." Francis mused.

"A decision will be made after we discuss it with Madeleine. I do not want my daughter to put into a political marriage like I was." Jeanne told the nervous man before she left to search for her absent daughter.

Dmitri relaxed a little bit while Francis was a bit miffed at his wife's comment. No matter how true it was.

"If you are marrying my daughter for her inheritance, neither of you will be happy. But if it is her heart you are after, I wish you the best. I pray that you show me that you are better than the other suitors that have asked for her hand."

"I will not deny that your daughter's inheritance is desirable. I simply wish to woo your daughter's heart before I win her marriage hand."

Francis stared at him.

Young. Strong. Handsome, but not as handsome as he. Despite having a smaller kingdom than that of his brother, he had the connections to improve Frankrig. He was royal so Madeleine would never want for nothing. He seemed kind.

"My daughter will be the judge and decide whether she wants you to court her. Not my wife and not myself. It is her heart and hers to do with as she wishes."

"I understand."

Then Jeanne waltzed up to her husband and Dmitri with her daughter close at hand. "Prince Dmitri, my daughter Madeleine. Madeleine, Prince Dmitri. He wishes to court and eventually marry you. Whatever you decide will not affect anything." When she said that, Dmitri could feel that she meant that as a threat to him. "He only desires a chance to win your heart."

When Madeleine turned her gaze to Dmitri, he felt like the most important and the most insignificant being in the world. Her gaze held an ice and a fire. The freckles on her nose increased her beauty and her danger. Her shy smile made him feel as if his blood was on fire and his breath disappeared from his lungs. Her submissive stance set off alarm bells in his mind as a warning to watch for her to strike. She was stunning and misleading at the same time. An enigma yet so simple.

Dmitri wanted to win her heart and her hand now more than ever.

Though this sort of thing only happens in fairy tales, Dmitri truly believed that he fell in love at first sight.

Madeleine felt cold. She saw the way that he looked at her. She felt as if she was a doe in front of a wolf. She heard a nagging voice in the back of her mind telling her not to accept. Madeleine was a kind young lady and she hated to see or be the cause of a persons sadness.

Which is why she nearly burst into tears when she told him no.

Okraina is a nickname for Ukraine used by Russians.

Moskal is a nickname for Moscow, Russia.

Frankrig is France in Danish.