The queen has broken. Unable to hold out any longer, the woman hugged the only closest person she had left. The king, supporting his dear wife, soothingly stroked fragile shoulders. Her Highness, the Queen, formerly renowned throughout the kingdom and beyond for its beauty, in just a few days seemed to have grown old for twenty years.

Looking again at the beautiful face of her only daughter, the ruler waved her handkerchief, after which the transparent cover of the crystal coffin was closed ...

This day was forever remembered not only by the royal family, but also by the common people, who decided to support their monarchs in this grief that was beyond their control. Truly, the princess Talia loved the people, he was proud, honored her and the royal family, praising God.

The sacred rite continued. Accompanying people parted in front of the detachment, which on the route went straight into the forest. The detachment itself consisted of the king and queen, the accompanying guardians, several close servants and a priest. The path went to the forest house, specially equipped for this occasion, where the princess Talia, who had fallen asleep with a restless sleep, could spend eternity.

Everyone, young and old, knew that this day would come when the terrible prophecy of the powerful sorcerer Malagor was fulfilled.

From that fateful day, sixteen years ago, the father and mother of a newborn girl clearly remembered the greedy and cruel look of the sorcerer, who was so passionately craving a girl of royal blood for his wife. How expensive was the price of parental failure! ..

A strong gust of wind blew away the light black hood of the royal robe. The woman, with her head down, pulled back the hood over her head. The king looked in the direction of his wife, but quickly looked away, trying to understand a little the priest's chanting speeches, which did not stop almost all the way. The horses obediently carried their masters and a cart on which was located the most valuable for all crystal coffin with a sleeping princess. The horses walked silently along the paths strewn with dry twigs, stones, sluggish grass and dried leaves. Century trees have not yet dumped their clothes from the leaves, keeping it with them ...

Heard neighing horses. The way is over. The guards climbed down from the noble horses first to bring the coffin directly into the small but solid oak house that stood alone in front of them. The king fell down from the graceful frieze * and helped the beloved queen to fall to the ground. The servants, clad in armor, who stood menacingly at the entrance, bowed to the monarchs, and then again stood still, like statues, observing the order outside.

Passing their faithful subordinates, the rulers of the country depressed watched as their servants opened the coffin, and the old priest, opening a decrepit volume, sang divine prayers over the beautiful blond girl that peacefully slept, without opening her eyes ...

Bitterly sobbing on her husband's shoulder, the queen recalled the clear blue eyes of their dearly loved daughter. More freckles will not shine on a pretty face, eyes will not shine happily, as it was before ...

“Your tears kill me no less than the misfortune that befell our daughter,” the middle-aged man did not cease to soothe his heartbroken beloved woman.

“I don't understand, Harold!” - brushing the tears from the cheeks' flushed cheeks with a handkerchief, the queen said so as not to interfere with the priest's speeches - even after the death of the accursed sorcerer, our beautiful Talia does not wake up!

Tears and grief of the queen reached the hearts of their subordinates. The two who took off the lid, quietly wiped tearing eyes with white sleeves. Not tolerable to watch. Impossible to transfer all this.

- Our girl loved the forest.Let it remain her home, - the ruler's voice quivered, and a tear slipped down her cheek. King Harold closed his eyes in order to try to continue to appear imperturbable.

“You can say goodbye,” said the priest, slamming the book. Coming out of the house, he gave the opportunity to say goodbye to the sleeping princess to her parents. The last thing he saw as a sobbing mother rushed to the coffin ...

For a church minister, this was the only time when it was necessary to bury not the deceased, but a sleeping one who could not leave the Kingdom of Dreams. No one in the whole kingdom dared mention that Princess Talia was dead. In the hearts of the people there was still that little drop of hope that someday their future queen would wake up, and to the joy of everyone would take the throne destined for her ...

***

The sun shone high in the clear sky. The scant leaves on the trees did not prevent the rays of the sun to pass through them. In the summer and in the spring trees are rich with greens, and sun beams can hardly break through leaves of saturated color ...

The young king Ferdinand closed his eyes from the blinding sun. Surprisingly, for winter weather, it shone too brightly today, which gave hope for a good hunt. Why, only the ruler with his retinue wandered deafly through the forest without encountering even a skinny hog. The king had already heard the tired sighs of his subordinates behind his back, but refused to say anything about it.

The forest seemed frozen in silence. No sound or slightest rustling. Monarch listened, looking somewhere away. His hearing was so used to silence that the heavy owl of an owl seemed like a big surprise. Ferdinand started at first, and then turned his head to the source of the sound. He directed the arrow from the bow upwards, where the owl sat on the branch, and let go of the string. The bird deftly reacted, dodging an arrow, and soared upwards.

“I missed,” the king said in hearts, putting the weapon back over his shoulder.

- Owl? In the afternoon? Somehow it is strange, came the voice of one of the guards Ferdinand.

“What's so strange about that?” - quietly answered the king to the servant, without turning around to face, - owls just hide during the day and hunt at night. They do not always sleep in the daytime.

- Look, Your Majesty, over there! - the second servant responded, pointing with his hand to the strange house that stood to the left.

“It is strange that we have not noticed him before,” said the king thoughtfully, urging his horse on.

Following the example of his ruler, his entire retinue also gave the command to their horses.

Having overcome a small distance to the forest house, they finally got off the horses, then tied them to the trunks of the trees. The young king wanted to enter first, but fearing for the life of the monarch, two guards entered before him. After making sure that nothing threatened His Majesty, they politely invited the ruler to come in. As soon as Ferdinand crossed the threshold, he came across a large oak table, on which stood a crystal sarcophagus. At first, Ferdinand did not understand that it was a coffin, as soon as he did not consider it closer. What the king saw behind the transparent cover struck not only the ruler, but also his subordinates: the girl sleeping peacefully seemed like an angel dressed in a dazzling white wedding dress.

The monarch touched a solid cover with his fingertips, holding it over the face of a blond beauty. The silver tiara glittered brightly on her head, and the gems shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow.

“Princess Talia,” the young king whispered protrudingly, lowering his head even lower over the coffin, “I didn’t suppose she was so beautiful,” looking at the pink lips, Ferdinand closed his eyes and gently and gently touched his lips to the cold glass surface. ..

The guards exchanged goggles between themselves, continuing to continue to closely monitor all the actions of the ruler.

“So the king and queen of the neighboring kingdom of Tantalia really left their sleeping daughter sleeping in a cramped house on the edge of the forest?” - appeared in the head of the monarch, when he was still watching the girl.

- Remove the cover! - Ferdinand abruptly walked away from the crystal stones, giving the order.

“But, Your Majesty, she is! ...” one of the servants said.

“I seem to have clearly given the order,” the king said, menacingly ...