the castle in the maze, part iii

the last part

part i ; part ii

he had heard the stories of the maze, of course. but he had also heard her stories. so the helpful prince hesitated only for a moment before plunging into the maze after her. having never been there before,he didn’t even know to be alarmed when she took him off the path.

how do i describe what happened next? the princess had seen many strange wonders in her wanderings there, but she had never really strayed far from the right path. now the thorny maze demanded that the pair of rescuers should search every dead end and corridor before her brother would be found. they encountered horrors, and wild joys scarcely less disorienting than horrors. they encountered puzzles and difficult tests. it took all of their striving to keep going, and still they knew that their striving would not be enough if the maze was not on their side. at first the princess kept count of the days and nights, but she realized that was unnecessary; the sun & moon seemed to slow in their tracks as her deadline approached. they would complete the maze or they would remain in it.

since i can’t do justice to the strangeness they went through, i will move on to the moment that the three of them—the helpful prince, the storyteller, and, finally, after so long, the heir—tumbled out of the maze into the clearing before the castle gate.

there was great celebration as the kingdom’s two lost children returned. and the helpful prince was honored for his chivalry. but for him, no official encomiums could match the honor of that moment before the castle gate when he unveiled the storyteller. seeing her face, so different from the faces he’d imagined, because those were flickering ever-changing fantasies, and this face was solid and real and her.

all three of the maze-wanderers had suffered and changed.

the storyteller was freed of her curse.

the helpful prince was reconciled to kingship. don’t think this adventure made him afraid to adventure again. he had many travels & battles left. but it cured him of the fear of duty that led him on compulsive adventure before, the fear which men had misread as bravery.

and the young heir, whose time in the maze had been so long, had learned great wisdom there, and he became a sage-king unparalled even in a dynasty known for wisdom. but it came at a cost. no outsider could understand it; even the helpful prince & the storyteller had only a partial understanding. its most obvious outward manifestation was that he never wed, and his crown passed to his youngest brother’s son—who, being the seventh child of a seventh child, became a storied king himself.

you won’t be surprised to hear that the helpful prince & the storyteller princess married, and that their marriage was long & happy, and they gave each other many children, and were wise monarchs and judges over their kingdom. but maybe you will be surprised to hear that on their wedding morning, all unnoticed, the sprout of a thornbush sprung up by their castle gate.

the end