The Loyal Servant
Robert Mitchell
Word Count: 1378 words
‘The Loyal Servant’
Once upon a time in the lands of Gratoma, lay a fairly large kingdom with a Queen of exquisite beauty. Having been abnormally beautiful from the day she was born, the Queen had grown spoilt and egocentric. In her presence, people could not help but oblige to her every wish, blindly granting her favours as if the price to pay for her company, and many favours she did ask. However when she was not around, everyone would join in spiteful conversation about their hatred for the narcissistic queen, and would rue their next encounter with her.
She had however managed to find a loyal servant, a man so ugly and dim-witted that he felt honoured to serve such a dazzling Queen. The servant, whose own name had been long forgotten and replaced with ‘Gruff’, had no wild ideas about his relationship to the Queen, and had accepted them to be as though of a different species. It was true in-fact, Gruff had no wild ideas about any woman. Although he longed for the love of one, he had been reminded time and time again by those around him that there was no woman lowly enough for a man like him, and as the Queen had repeatedly suggested, Gruff had given up on love and instead served a woman through means of his humble service and loyalty. And Gruff did just that, sacrificing his every action and though for the betterment of the Queen, and consequently the Queen became very much dependent on her vulgar servant.
One day, while walking to the Queens favorite bakery, inconveniently the one farthest away from her castle, Gruff was bumped into by a young maiden. She had been so joyfully skipping around that she had failed to notice the gruesome figure of Gruff. Gruff was used to being ignored, so he said nothing, but the young maiden did not ignore him but instead apologetically said “I’m sorry my friend, it is such a lovely day that it is so difficult to pay attention to where I’m going”. She had quite plain features compared to his Queen, but her smile was so infectious that Gruff couldn’t help but let out his own smile, which felt uncomfortable after so many years locked away. She was also going to the bakery, and invited Gruff to join her. Gruff agrees immediately, although as soon as he accepted, he became confused. He didn’t remember contemplating the offer or deciding to accept, in fact if he had made a decision, he was convinced he would have done right by her Queen and speedily done her bidding, as he had always done. He was still not quite himself after an extremely rare friendly encounter with another human, who had not ignored him like everyone else does but instead engaged him in conversation. He blamed his uncharacteristic behavior on the aberrant encounter but stayed true to his agreement. They walked together to the bakery, stopping to observe things that struck the maiden Margaret’s curiosity or follow some obscure trail along the way. When they finally got back to the castle, it all seems to have gone by in a blink of an eye, but Gruff knew that he had just had the best day he had ever had. He said goodbye and thanked the maiden for the wonderful adventure. Gruff turned and walked to the castle gates, and although it was already dark, he skipped as if the sun was shining bright upon a beautiful day.
When Gruff entered the castle, he found the Queen in a fit of rage, which seemed to have exploded even more so the moment she saw him. Gruff only realized that he was late halfway through the Queen scowling him, and was quickly overcome with dread at the thought of having betrayed his Highness. He had had such an incredible day with the lovely maiden Margaret, that he had forgotten all about his Queen. The Queen was not at all happy, and quickly smacked Gruff when he tried to offer an explanation. Gruff became silent and started to brush the Queens hair. He dismissed distracting thoughts of the lovely Margaret, which had caused him to fail in his unwavering loyalty to the Queen, the woman who had so selflessly allowed such an ugly man to serve her. The Queen was expected at a ball, where only the most handsome and perfect suitors would attempt to impress her. While she was quite contempt with her own greatness, she felt that the most beautiful woman in the land needed the most handsome man by her side. Although the party would not start until she arrived, she cursed Gruff for his fault in making her late. That night, like those countless parties before, the Queen failed to find a suitor worthy of her divinity.
Days passed and Gruff had almost forgotten the maiden. So dedicated was he to his Queen that he had barely a thought to spare for Margaret. However, on another sunny day similar to the one when he first met Margaret, Gruff spotted the maiden skipping across a field just south of where the castle lay. Without a second thought, Gruff abandoned his washing duties and sprinted over and joined the maiden in her merry fun. From up in her castle, the Queen could see her servant in his uncharacteristic self, disobeying her orders so he can join a peasant girl in aimlessly jumping around in a field. She was furious and screamed out for someone to bring her her favorite drink, but had only gotten halfway through her request when she realized that the only person who serves her is Gruff. Acknowledging her dependence on her ugly servant and the threat to her interests this lowly girl was, the Queen visited the Enchanter Paol the Charmer, and asked of him a love potion. Although usually a very expensive potion, Paol could not help but gift it the the beautiful Queen, who said nothing and walked out the door. She would use the potion to make Gruff forever fall in love with her, and never spare a thought to another woman again
That night the Queen asked Gruff to dine with her, and insisted that he join her for a cup of wine. The Queen poured the poison into Gruff’s cup, and as soon as he had finished his drink, ordered him to go to bed. The next morning Gruff awoke feeling an unusually strong emotion towards his Queen. Where before lay loyalty, he now felt an unbearable desire and love for her unlike anything he had felt before. He felt as though he needed her to be his wife and no longer just his master. Gruff struggled with his inner thoughts and emotions. He was well aware of the impossibility of a romance with the Queen as she had unrealistic expectations of even the most handsome men in the land, and would maybe die of laughter if Gruff asked for her hand, yet he refused to live on if not as her lover. Irrationally and without the money he knew he needed, Gruff visited Paol the Charmer and begged of him a strong love potion with the Queens name on it. Spitefully recalling his encounter with her Majesty the day before, and now in his senses disgusted by his blind service to her, Paol once again created the love potion and handed it to Gruff at no charge.
That night, while preparing the Queens dinner as usual, Gruff mixed the potion into the Queens wine just as she had done to him just the night before. The following morning, no sooner had Gruff brought in the Queens morning coffee that the Queen was at his knees, begging for him to become her King and allow her to fulfill his every desire. She promised her loyalty and to serve him as long as she lived. So they did marry and lived happy and in-love for the rest of their lives, neither of them ever questioning what it was that bounded their love together. And although the maiden was never seen again, Gruff always feels particularly happy and grateful on sunny days, although he has not thought about Margaret since the day of their last encounter.