and beautiful daughter. She possessed all the characteristics of her mother the Queen, and was very much loved by the royal family. She had an older brother, who as the first born was to be heir to the throne of the king. However, her brother cherished the princess, from the very first hour of
the young woman's birth. He loved her so deeply, and watched over her, and protected her as she grew into maturity. He wanted only her happiness and deep inside he knew he would gladly give his life, to save hers.
Sadly, the King's mortal enemy, who (though he was weak in physical power was nevertheless very cunning), was filled with hatred toward that precious young woman, and knew that to strike at the heart of the King, he must destroy her. He dared not attack the young girl physically, for there was a law, which gave her physical power and protection that the weak enemy simply could not overcome. Moreover, the wretched enemy hated and feared her older brother whose watchful eye seemed to be always upon her. No the enemy knew he could not attack her directly, and so he resolved upon the cunning plan to destroy her from within.
In the weeks, months and years that followed , this cunning enemy persuaded and bribed members of the castle staff, peers and courtiers of the young princess, and even some of her teachers and counselors to lie to her. At every chance they would tell her that she was ugly, in fact hideous, and not worthy of the love and attention of the king or queen. At first the princess rejected those claims, and trusted in the reassurances from her parents and older brother of her true beauty, her talents, and abilities. But over time, the persistence of the enemy and his henchmen began to wear on her. "You cannot trust what the king, the queen or the prince say, for they are family and must tell you things to try to make you happy , but which simply are not so." Most damaging of all the lies these servants of the enemy told, was that she was much less loved, and of much less value than her brother, and as evidence they pointed to the fact that the
prince was heir to the throne, and would one day receive the scepter from the king. "If you were truly beautiful and of any worth, then the king would make you the ruler, and give you His
scepter."
Now, the princes had been taught that one day she would marry a prince from a neighboring kingdom, and that together they would rule in that kingdom, and would receive all the joys, power,
and privileges that came with serving a kingdom in perfect unison with a righteous king, and her talents, beauty, and love would bless generations in that kingdom. At first that truth had been able to sustain her against the insidious and continuous attacks of the enemy, but over time, she began to envy her brother, and to feel the need to take his kingdom, to rule where he was destined to rule, convincing herself, that if she was truly worthy, if she had any real value, her parents would make her queen, in the place of her brother. It mattered not to her that the kingdom she was to marry into was larger, and the people in great and true need of her particular gifs and talents, it began to only matter to her, that she could not have her brother's kingdom, and hold his scepter.
As will always happen, the slow poison of envy began to corrupt the princess. In the mirror, her vision, clouded by jealousy, saw only a hideous face. The envy closed her ears to the truths spoken kindly, lovingly, tenderly to her by her parents and elder brother, and they became as lies to her mind. Her beautiful works and talents began to give way, as she spent more and more time idly longing for what she did not really need, and seeking for that which she could not have, simply because it was not hers to have. What made the king's enemy even more delighted, was that the princess was not content to waste away her divine destiny in a swirling pool of discontent,
but that discontent poured over to her other associates. She publicly questioned the king and queen, and caused their subjects to do the same. She subtly eroded the trust and confidence of the people in the heir to the throne, and spread the plague of discontent and envy among those who were once a prosperous, trusting and happy people.
In time the King and Queen died, and the throne was given to the prince, who took up the scepter according to law and ruled with great goodness. Eventually, though, in order to preserve the kingdom, and those who saw and knew the truth and who had remained uncorrupted by envy, the new king was forced to banish the sister that he had loved and cherished so dearly, along with those who had been poisoned by her bitterness, envy, and jealousy. As he watched her leave, her soul still filled with anger, what disturbed the new king most, is that the poison had so marred the beauty of the princess, to the degree that the image of her mother was no longer to be seen in her countenance, as it had been replaced by the hideousness of greed, selfishness, and lust.
As the once great princess, and her discontented followers left the kingdom, to establish one of their own, the enemy laughed and rejoiced, for he knew he had brought about the fullness of his plan. The king and queen had died with a deep sorrow for their daughter's rebellion, the Prince, had lost many from his kingdom, who were lead after the vain imaginations of their hearts, to believe in the envy based critiques of she who was once his faithful sister, and the beautiful, talented, and goodly princess, had been reduced to a hideous and malcontented nag, who would go to the end seeking for that which she did not need and could never have, at the expense of all she was destined to enjoy.