Thousands of years ago, there lived a beautiful servant girl called Rose. She had a secret: magical powers! Rose served the Princess Morgana of Camelot. Morgana’s brother was Prince Edward, who was going to be crowned king soon.

Rose was in love with the soon-to-be-king, but no one knew this. One day, she was on her way to Princess Morgana’s chambers when she saw Edward talking to his council members and the knights.

“Your Highness, we have received news that Mourghouse has challenged us to battle,” one of the council members said.

“Mourghouse is one of Camelot’s biggest enemies, Your Highness. We cannot ignore his threat,” a knight advised. Edward nodded.

“In that case, we cannot have my coronation now. I shall be crowned king after we have defeated Mourghouse,” Edward declared.

The next day, however, Mourghouse sent a letter to the court. “I shall only fight a king, not a cowardly prince who is scared of ruling a kingdom as great as Camelot!”

Edward was silent for a moment. Then, he got up from his seat. “Crown me king now!” he declared. The councilmen and the kingdom were happy that their ruler had not given up. After his coronation, as he sat planning for the battle, Rose entered the room with a parcel.

“I am sorry, Your Majesty, but Her Highness, Princess Morgana has sent you a coronation gift,”  she shyly placed the parcel on a table and bowed out.

King Edward smiled. ‘Rose is rather beautiful,’ he thought and stared after her. The councilmen brought his attention back to their battle plan.

Rose walked back to Princess Morgana’s chambers, but the princess didn’t let her in. “I don’t need you anymore for today, Rose. You may go home,” a voice instructed.

“Yes, my lady,” said Rose as she left.

***

Princess Morgana had heard about Mourghouse’s challenge to her brother. She had also heard that he knew how to control magical powers, which she had. After telling Rose to go, she snuck out of the palace, into the dark forest where Mourghouse had set up his camp.

She introduced herself to Mourghouse. “Your Highness, how can I not know about you?” he asked. They spent the night talking and became good friends. Suddenly, Mourghouse stopped talking.

“What is it?” the princess asked.

“Your Highness, I sense some magic in you,” the man replied.

Morgana nodded.

“Do you have any magical relatives?” he asked.

“No, But I keep getting dreams that tell me of the future,” Morgana answered.

Mourghouse sat in silence and then opened a bag. He presented the princess with a bracelet. “This will control your dreams,” he said. As she admired the bracelet, he asked, “We are friends, aren’t we?” Morgana nodded. “Then will you help me? Spy on Edward and tell me of his plans.”

“You have helped me, so I will also help you,” she replied.

***

Later, in the palace, the knights woke King Edward up. “What do you mean the plans are gone?” He asked. “Who took them?”

No one knew the answers to the King’s question. This went on for a few days, but no one knew that it was Princess Morgana who was stealing the battle plans and spying on Edward.

One night, Rose was going home, when she saw the princess climbing down from her window. She didn’t have time to hide when Morgana saw her too.

“My Lady, do you need anything?” Rose asked.

“Oh, no. I was going to take a stroll!” Morgana replied and quickly walked towards the forest.

Rose was suspicious. The princess had never gone for a night stroll, so she followed her. Edward, worried about his kingdom was walking nearby and saw Rose entering the forest. He too got suspicious and followed.

Rose followed Morgana inside the forest. She hid behind a bush when the princess stopped. Edward saw this and did the same. Rose was shocked to see him, but the king put a finger on his lips, telling her to stay quiet.

“Edward plans to attack from the back,” they overheard her tell Mourghouse.

“My sister… was the spy?” Edward was heartbroken. He wanted to take his sword and attack both Mourghouse and the princess, but Rose stopped him.

“No, Your Majesty. Please, we can still talk to Morgana and help her!” she pleaded. Edward agreed and they both returned to the palace.

***

The next morning, Edward called Princess Morgana to the court. “Princess, we have proof that you have been telling our war secrets to our enemy, Mourghouse.” The councilmen gasped.

“No! It is a lie!” the princess cried.

“Your Highness, please tell the truth!” Rose said.

Morgana was angry. “You were spying on me?” she asked.

“Enough. Rose didn’t do anything wrong. Morgana, go away from Camelot! You are no longer our Princess!” King Edward shouted.

Morgana ran to Mourghouse and told him everything.

“It is time we take over Camelot, and crown you queen,” he said.

***

Mourghouse started training Morgana to control her magical powers and together, they raised an army of magical men. They sent these men to attack Camelot and its innocent people.

King Edward couldn’t take it anymore. “I accept Mourghouse’s challenge of war. It will happen in the Land of the Dead,” he declared.

The preparation for the war began. Camelot’s soldiers sharpened their swords and training. The people from Camelot’s villages too joined the army. Soon, King Edward had 1000 men and women ready to fight. Some young girls from the villages agreed to take care of the injured soldiers.

Rose wanted to fight too, but King Edward refused. “You shall take care of the injured soldiers. I will not let any harm come to you,” he told her.

Rose still wanted to fight, so she secretly started training with a sword. Soon, the day of the war arrived, and Rose knew a secret passage to the Land of the Dead. She went there early and got some armour. The war started. Much to Edward and Rose’s shock, their enemies had many more soldiers than them!

There were screams from Camelot’s soldiers as they got hurt. Rose waved her hand over their injuries and cured them. The soldiers thanked her and ran to fight again. She looked at the battleground and saw that Camelot wasn’t winning. She decided to join them.

As she fought, she got closer to Edward. Rose saw Morgana and Mourghouse attack him and that the King was badly wounded. “No!” she shouted angrily.

Rose shouted a curse and stabbed her sword to the ground. A cage trapped Morgana and Mourghouse. They tried escaping but failed.

Rose walked to them, “You will be trapped in this cage for 10,00,000 years. Every year, on this day, 16th January, the sun will burn hot for you both,” she said, cursing them.

Rose helped Edward. “You have magic,” he said, awestruck.

Rose smiled at him and together, they went back to the palace. Soon, Camelot celebrated as their King Edward married Queen Rose, who lived happily ever after.

This story was written as part of the Tinkle Story Creation Workshop. You can also learn to write stories with the help of the Tinkle team, among other fun workshops we conduct. Click here to sign up for one of our workshops today!