The Lily in the Pot

There is a castle that burns on in everyone's hearts today that once stood many years ago. This castle was beautiful and usually peaceful and full of gleeful citizens, but at one time, the castle found itself in despair. A plague had been going around and many people caught it and didn't live on, for a lack of the proper care and medicine. The only medicine that anyone had was hope.1

One knight, named Tristan, was deeply in love with a beautiful maiden named Ellen. One day, though, Ellen had become another one of the people that fell under the sad conditions of the plague.2

Tristan fell under the despair that the plague caused. He was in the dining room monitoring the gardener planting seeds of roses in a big pot, out of curiosity. A messenger came running in wearing a sad face. He yelled out,3

"Oh, Tristan! Ellen has caught the plague!"4

Tristan became very anxious. He breathed in quick, short breaths, for a small amount of time. Then he asked with a horribly worried face,5

"She is in her bed, right?"6

"Yes, sire. She called for you."7

From there Tristan ran across the entire castle to get to Ellen's room, right on the edge. He saw her in her bed. Ellen was very pale. He ran to her side and looked deeply into her face. He lowered himself to her level. She noticed he was there and looked towards him with eyes that looked pained to stay open. He cried out,8

"How could this happen? How are you feeling?"9

"I promise, I'm ok. Please don't worry," She struggled to say.10

"Why couldn't I have been the one?" Tristan asked.11

"I promise that I will be strong enough to dance. One day, I will jump and sing, and we will dance. We will forever be happy." She tried to reassure him, while still struggling. Tristan eyes filled with tears, regardless of his efforts to stay strong. He couldn't help but feel horrible for it.12

"We will dance. Lilies will surround us, your favorite flower." Tristan said.13

"Yes, lilies!" Ellen spoke out.14

A maiden came in and said,15

"Tristan, I am terribly sorry, but Ellen needs her rest."16

"I'll be out in a few minutes," he said with a heavy voice. The maiden walked out.17

"Please wake up, I beg of you to give me that dance." He said.18

"I promise you that dance," she said, "Goodbye, Love."19

"Goodbye." 20

He walked out and, in a very slow pace, walked to his quarters. He entered the room and lay on his bed. He softly mumbled, "Ellen..." He fell asleep.21

Late that night, the door creaked open. A beautiful maiden walked in and crouched to Tristan's level. She watched him breathe for a bit. She layed her hand on his shoulder. He blinked a bit, blurry-eyed. 22

He yelled out, "Ellen?!"23

She quickly moved her finger to his lips, "Shhh..." She smiled for a moment, "You wanted a dance?"24

Tristan sat up, "You're healthy!" He exclaimed in a whisper.25

She grabbed his hand and pulled him, while showing him the way to the door. They entered the hallway, hands still grasped. Everything seemed dreamlike. They went out to one of the balcony's where a torch was lit.26

"Where are the lilies?" Tristan asked.27

"We don't need the lilies." She said. She layed her left hand upon his shoulder and grasped his right one bringing it up to the air. He grabbed her waist. They began to waltz. After a long while of dancing, Ellen spoke,28

"I must return to my room now."29

"We'll dance tomorrow, won't we?" He asked.30

"Maybe..." She said.31

"Why maybe?" He was confused.32

"I can't explain."33

"Alright then." He walked her to her quarters, holding her the whole way.34

"I thought I lost you..." He said.35

"At least we got the dance." She said.36

"I love you." He said.37

"I love you too." She replied. They were at the door. She stood tiptoed and kissed him before entering the room. "Goodbye." She said.38

"Goodbye." He walked quickly to his quarters and quickly jumped on his bed and sat thinking happy thoughts. He fell asleep again.39

The next day when he woke up, he felt completely worn out as if he were only asleep for minutes. He went to the dining room and sat down in his seat. He was expecting Ellen any minute to come and sit by him. She didn't come. Everyone was there and he asked, "Where's Ellen?" 40

A maiden walked up to him and told him, "Ellen didn't make it through the night..." 41

"I just danced with her last night!" He said in complete distress.42

"I'm terribly sorry sir." She said with a little guilt in her voice.43

He looked away. He saw the pot the gardener worked on yesterday. A lily stood tall in the center of it.44

"I thought there were supposed to be rose seeds in there..." he said to himself.