A Story
A Story
By E. M. Areson
“Long ago in a world like our own; a giant king, Sedah, reigned underground. He, like all the giants of his clan, were small giants and stood only a foot or two above the common man. His city was great and beautiful, carved out of pure marble and bejeweled with all manner of wealth. The giant king kept an alliance his forefathers had made with a human line of kings who ruled the land above the giant’s kingdom.
The human king traded the safety of Sedah’s kingdom for the great wealth the giants mined in the city. Every year Sedah went up to the surface world, even as a child with his parents, so the giants and the humans could feast over their friendship. And every year Sedah saw the daughter of the human king and marveled anew at her beauty. As children, they had played as normally as any other friends. Yet, as it often happens to humans, she grew repulsed by his size and manor.
They appeared, near opposites. He was a giant with broad shoulders; she was about normal human height and petite. His skin was a light gray with hints of white; her skin was warm and sun-kissed. He wore the dark colors accustomed to his people, always seen in full armor and skull decorated jewelry. She wore bright colors and never wore jewelry.
In the third year of Sedah’s reign, he traveled to the surface world and sought the king’s counsel. It was not the time for the feast and the human king was alarmed, greed had long since poisoned his heart and he didn’t want to lose the alliance. Servants joked in secret that their king would sell his own children for the right price; they were not far from the truth.
Sedah appeared before the human king and offered him great treasure, all he wanted in return was the honor of marrying the king’s daughter. The human king loved his daughter, but he loved gold more. The king, thinking he could trick Sedah, excepted the bride price; the only condition was that since the princess loved the outdoors, Sedah must build the most beautiful garden in the world before he could claim her as his bride.
Sedah saw the same problem the king had intended, the plants of the surface world wouldn’t grow in the dark caverns of his home. After returning to his own land he sent for all the best artisans his kingdom and had them start construction on the garden. Then he gathered his servants and commanded them to search all the kingdom for plants.
Within a month the garden was ready. Beautiful fountains, gazebos, benches, and arches filled the garden. Many pathways lead around the garden, but best of all was the plants. Sedah realized the human king could only keep his daughter if Sedah couldn’t build the most beautiful garden in the world. Sedah’s garden of glowing trees, flowers, and mushrooms could never compete with gardens of light on the surface world. However, it was the only one inside the world.
One month from the day he had asked to marry the princess he returned with many gifts, greater than the first set of gifts and presented them to the king and asked he and the royal court came to see the garden. The princess was outraged that her father had agreed to marry her to Sedah, but being a lady who knew her duty, did not run away like she wanted.
The king and his court marveled at the garden. The princess was utterly enchanted by it, everything was perfect in her mind. She remembered the friendship she had once shared with Sedah and realized how much he must love her. On the fifth day of the stay in the garden, a young giant found the princess alone in the garden. He was wearing simple clothes without adornment and had the dirt of the garden on his hands.
He asked how she liked the garden and she told him how much she loved it, but she knew her father would say it was not the most beautiful in the world. The garden asked what she thought of Sedah and she replied she remembered how much she had liked him when they were children. And that any person, giant or man, who made such a wonderful thing for her must love her. And anyone who loved her that much deserved a chance.
The gardener then revealed himself to be Sedah, showing his royal ring as proof. She asked why he deceived her and he explained her father wouldn’t allow him to see her. He agreed with her that the garden, though wonderful, couldn’t compare with those on the surface world. But he told her that if she gave him permission, he could still marry her anyway. The princess, charmed by the lengths he went for her agreed.
That very night the human king and his court, including the princess appeared before Sedah. The king told Sedah that his garden could not compare to the ones he had seen in the Emperor’s city. Sedah then asked if any of them had been underground. The human king, stunned, said that he had never seen any garden underground besides Sedah’s. Sedah then asked if any of the court had seen another underground garden. No one had.
Sedah then told the king that he would like to marry the princess as soon as possible, but the king refused saying he had not made the most beautiful garden in the world. ‘But,’ Sedah then told the king. ‘Not one of you has seen any other garden in the world. For all the ones you have seen are on the world.’ The human king released his folly but consented to Sedah’s marriage to his daughter.
The king returned home with the rest of the court and vowed never to let his greed cause such heartache again. As for Sedah and the princess, they lived many happy years underground in the garden. They still visited the human king every year for the feast but were content to be home in their garden. And when they died they were buried in the garden and for many generations after that, giants considered gardens and plants to be the best bride price because to find a flower or tree in a world without sun is truly an act of love.”
The story-teller took a breath and looked down at me sitting on the stool in her room. “Now you tell a story young E. The stories are in you too. You are a story-teller. Now tell me your story.”
So I took a breath and started. “Long ago in the forgotten history of people to come there was-”
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