A Fairly Tale

Once upon a time in a faraway village in the African hinterland, there lived two children a boy named Jose and a girl named Mary. They grew together and continued to love each other as their parents promised them that they would get married when they were grown ups. They loved each other so much that they were barely waiting the day they would get married and start staying together.

Unfortunately, life is not always easy as it may seem sometimes. As the girl grew up, she became more and more beautiful and Jose would not wait to have the best ever wedding so that they could settle down and start their own family. As they were planning all these, Jose was recruited to join the army and so the wedding was put off. Jose went to train in the camp but promised his sweetheart that he will be back soon to make her his wife. As promised to the girl, Mary stayed home hoping that one day John will be back to marry her. In the meantime, word about the girl's beauty reached far and wide. The king of the land got wind that in that village, their lived a young and wonderful girl who was not only beautiful but also very intelligent.  

The gullible king immediately set off to see this beautiful Mary. He was really amazed at how such a simple normal girl was created a queen. Her eyes shone like the sun's rays, her teeth were as white as snow, and her smile moved mountains, as her long hair reached the back of her back. He swore that he had never seen such a beauty in his life time and was determined by all means to make her his fifth wife. So badly did he want o marry her that when he heard that she was engaged, he nearly passed out but vowed never to give up, otherwise he was the king and who else called shots in the village apart from him.

He promised himself that he will have to marry Mary by all means. Everyday, he brought her beautiful flowers and expensive gifts mainly to show her that he was the wealthiest man in the village. He hoped that this will ward off her engagement to Jose and call off their engagement so that she will be available for him. The more the king tried to impress her, the more he made her love Jose the more; she definitely knew that this was not love as the king will at another time find another beautiful girl and forget about her, after-all he already had four wives. She new that the king only loved her because she was beautiful, but he will never rival her fiancé in the way he treated her. Jose used to wake her up with a sweet kiss, something the king will not do everyday, not with all the women he was married to. She knew that the king could not give her love, especially his crown for their love.

The king on realizing that things were not so rosy for him, he decided that the best thing to do was to kill Jose so that he will have the beautiful Mary by himself. So he secretly went to the camp himself and asked for Jose. He warned him that if he continued dating Mary, he risked his life, otherwise he was the king and who dared challenge the king. On sensing danger, Jose who by now was almost complete with his training sought refugee in the next village. There, he worked hard and was subsequently promoted to be in charge of the army. He was a strong and intelligent character who worked tirelessly to make his now new village safe. He used to send word to his fiancé that he will never ever leave her and that he loved her more.

Meanwhile the king continued to pester the girl to marry her promising her that Jose will not come back as he had a pole position in the neighboring village and will find another girl there and marry her. But Mary was now used to the king's antics and she resolved to solve the matter once and for all, she promised to let the king know her feelings in a polite way. Although she did not want to hurt the king, basically because she feared for her life, she decided to let the king know her stand. The girl then arranged an appointment with the king at her place but alerted her parents to keep vigil incase of an abduction plan by the king. She needed to talk to the king so that he will know her stand and stop pestering her, and that the king will allow his fiancé to be back so that they will marry. During this time, the girl was suffering from fake smallpox, a disease that made her face covered with pimples while her hands had spots all over.

The girl wore a hood to cover her face and a sweater for her hands when the king arrived. As she uncovered her face and removed the sweater, the king was shocked. She explained that it was due to the recent smallpox outbreak that made her look that way and asked the king whether he was still interested in marrying her as time was running out for her to get married. The king was too scared of her face that he was left dumfounded and could not utter a word. Meanwhile, her fiancé who she also invited was outside and turned up at the entrance. On seeing his sweetheart, he immediately ran to her, hugged, held and made out passionately not minding about how she looked. She then took off the all the fake smallpox pimples that she had planted on her face and hands. The king on realizing her trick threatened the two lovebirds and insisted that he still wanted Mary.

Jose took his sweetheart with him to the neighboring village where he was now the commander of the army. When the king of that village died, Jose was chosen to be the successor and he was made the king. Due to his skills in the army, he attacked and defeated his former gullible king and thus was the ruler of the two villages. He married his childhood sweetheart and they lived happily thereafter, him as the king and he as the queen.