False King.

Made this story up on the spot to tell to my girl, and she rather liked it. Excuse the broken-ness and the punctuation, it was over a messenger. :P

once upon a time there was a king

now this king wasn't an ordinary king

his father had not been royalty, nor his mother

this king was actually totally unrelated to anything to do with the previous kings and queens

one day he was walking through town, and had been pulled aside by the guard

apparently, this man had looked exactly like the old king who had been assassinated the week before

seeking to avoid a panic, the guard and the kings closest advisors found this man and replaced the old king with him whilst the townsfolk remained none-the-wiser

the queen of course objected to this, as she felt it tarnished the reputation of her late husband. so, with the help of her personal escorts and the guard, she faked her death to escape the constraints of her position and left town

the townsfolk grieved her loss, but the king persevered, and they gazed in awe and respect at the man's inner strength

one day, a sickly man on his deathbed asked the kings presence

when he was denied the wish, he cried out in dismay

where was this king who had seemed so strong to his people only months before?

the king, upon hearing of the situation, decided he should grant this man, one who was of no little importance to the small town, a visit before his death

with the king in audience, the dying man asked how the his majesty had been so strong after the passing of his wife

now the king was at a loss

this man wanted his advice to help his family after he had passed, but the king had never experienced anything like he was going through

the woman had not actually died, and she had not truly been his wife in the first place. taking these into account, there had been nothing to grieve

with regret filling his eyes, told the man that he could not help him, and returned to the castle

after two restless and troubled days, the man posing as king received news that the sickly man had passed

another sleepless week passed the king by, his mind unable to forget the sickly man

with a firm resolve, he decided to create words to comfort the grieving family

upon meeting the family, he told them the story of how his wife had looked truly peaceful after her passing, and how it had let him know beyond doubt that, wherever she was, she was not suffering

his telling lacked conviction, however, and the widowed wife looked at him with skepticism

once again returning to his castle, the king felt a slight better about the ordeal and was able to sleep for the first time in a long while

unfortunately, his sleep was far from restful

waking nightmares were replaced by dreams filled with shadows and voices calling out his deceit

with a tired resignation, he returned to the widow, seeking to remedy his conscience

he explained to her how he had come to the town as a traveler, how the previous queen had not died but rather left the realm under a veil of secrecy, to pursue her own end in life and how upon her husband's deathbed he had been unable to help not out of arrogance or reluctance, but because he truly did not know how to be strong

the woman smiled and told the unfortunate king that he did, in fact, know how to be strong. he had just proven it to her. she also told him that his impressive words did nothing to sooth her aching heart compared to the humble words just spoken to her

in apology for his actions, the king invited the widow and her children to live with him in the castle, to assure them a sturdy household in repayment to the sickly man

after a few years, the talk about town of the favored widow had died down considerably, and the kings daily meals and time with the woman led to a fondness that turned into a smoldering affection

when he finally asked her to be his queen, there was no talk of a woman taking the favor of the king, but rather the romantic gossip of a widowed wife and a grieving king that were to become a proper couple

the end.