Emelyne always
had a curious and determined personality. Emelyne grew up under the protection
of King Humphrey’s, her father, castle. He protected his only daughter by
keeping her in the castle; however, Emelyne longed to travel outside the protected
castle into the unknown. When she was 10 years of age, she stowed away in a
cart that would leave the castle in the morning. She successfully made it out
of the castle and explored the town surrounding the castle until she was
recognized by one of the king’s patrolman who promptly returned her to the
castle. She yearned to go outside the walls since that experience. Her father
forbade it, but after some persuasion from Emelyne’s nurse, Genevieve, he
allowed her to visit the town accompanied by his guards. This became routine in
Emelyne’s schedule. She would walk through the town and greet all the
townsfolk. However, as she neared adulthood, she became more curious.
One day, a
magician came to visit her father and left a “treasure” with him to protect. Of
course Emelyne explored through the entire castle until she found the “treasure”.
It was simply a mirror. She peered into it to find herself staring back except
it wasn’t her. It was her, but much older. Her hair glistened like the sun’s
rays and her beauty was unmatched by any. She saw a figure walk up behind her
older self and wrap its arms around her. It was a handsome man. She peered
closer and her older self disappeared and only the man remained. He wore knight’s
clothing and was strong and majestic yet kind and compassionate. For the next
few days, she spent hours in the room staring at the mysterious knight. Emelyne’s
nurse noticed Emelyne’s personality had changed drastically. When Emelyne didn’t
show up for her regular visit to the town, her nurse looked for her and found
her gazing sadly into the mirror. The nurse questioned her behavior. Emelyne described
the knight and explained she feared she had fallen in love with him though he
was not real. Her nurse was worried for her and persuaded her to go outside the
castle because it raised her spirits in the past. When Emelyne returned in still
in the same mood, her nurse was extremely discouraged. Genevieve decided Emelyne
and herself would visit the magician to remove the spell Emelyne had fallen
under. They ventured out of the town and found the magician who explained to
them the mirror simply shows ones’ future. He explained that this knight was
indeed real and went by the name of Urian. He told Emelyne that if she sought
him, she would find him in the land of the Faerie Queen. The magician gave Emelyne
armor and an enchanted spear to take on the journey.
Emelyne’s
spirits were lifted. She no longer desired to travel outside the castle, but to
sharpen her sword and battling abilities in order to travel to Faerie Queen and
find Urian. When all of the guards proved to no longer be a match for Emelyne,
she decided it was time for her to leave. Genevieve could tell Emelyne planned to
leave soon and informed Emelyne she would accompany her.
They donned
the disguises, Emelyne a knight and Genevieve his squire. They travelled
throughout the lands. Emelyne would stop and assist any person. Emelyne’s desire
to help those in need overpowered her desire to find Urian.
This is how I envision Princess Emelyne.
Emelyne reached
the land of the Faerie Queen and spent months searching for Urian without success.
She decided to enjoy her time and join in the King’s competitions to find the
most skilled knight that deserved the fairest lady. Derric won the first day,
but was defeated by Florence on the second day. On the final day, an unknown
knight appeared and was immediately ambushed. He was able to win against every
competitor he faced. People started calling him “Mysterious Knight”. Finally, Florence
decided he needed to beat this unknown knight. He rode at him and was thrown from
his horse and let out a defeated cry. Another unknown knight appeared and was
equally as skilled as “Mysterious Knight” who decided to show his skill by
beating this new knight. He rode his horse toward the new knight, and the spear
of the new knight hit him, and threw him from his horse. The new knight was
named “Victorious Knight”, secretly Emelyne. “Mysterious Knight” was so angered
by his loss that he left immediately. Emelyne won the hand of the fairest lady
which she refused. “Mysterious Knight” was the next in line, but fortunately,
he had already left because he was none other than Urian in a disguise.
Urian was
so upset by his defeat, he plotted to wait and fight the knight again under
fairer terms. As Emelyne left the town, Urian saw her, but as he and ran at her
to knock her off her horse, she was able to jab him with her enchanted spear and
was thrown from his horse. He jumped up and withdrew his sword to continue
fighting on foot. Emelyne jumped off her horse and fought by sword as well. He
was finally a match for her; however, as the fight went on, she grew tired, but
he only seemed to gain more energy until he hit the guard on her helmet and her
face was exposed. Once he saw the knight was her, he fell to his knees. He
never meant to hurt such a beautiful woman. He told her to punish him for his
foolishness. She held her sword to him still angry until Genevieve convinced
her to have mercy on him. He took off his helmet and Emelyne immediately
recognized his handsome face. She tried to hide her feelings for him, but he
only had eyes for her and pursued her until she finally agreed to be his and
the two were married. They live happily ever after winning every battle and
helping people in need.
Author’s
Note: I read The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser this week. I loved this story so much! I didn’t want to write a story like it, and
it was so hard to write anything because I thought the original was so amazing!
I decided to write a similar story, but without many of the stories and details
in the original tale.
