There once were two young brothers.
Now, there have many a time been young brothers. What was different about these men was that they were princes.
Again, there have many a time when two young men were also princes. But this time the princes were not of the traditional handsome, dashing and daring variety. They had been born deformed and homely enough to be called grotesque.
Despite this, the king and queen loved their sons dearly and raised them as any other to be strong, brave, intelligent, kind and caring.
As we all know, royalty have always tended to marry royalty. That is not so strange, but in their part of the world the royalty had become so snobbish that they would tolerate no change to the perfect lives they led.
And that was the problem that the young princes of our story faced. For they had reached that age when they should have secured princesses to marry, ensuring the continuation of the kingdom, and they were far from the perfection that the other royalty demanded.
Though they had searched, though they had wooed, they were rebuffed at every turn and the king was beginning to worry.
We have said that their father was a kind king and he was, caring and generous to a fault. It is an unfortunate thing that he was also a frail man, having fallen ill years earlier in the young princes' youth and never truly recovering.
The king was not on death's bed, but knew that his end was nearing.
So he called his sons to his side and spoke with them of things they would need to know to rule the kingdom and live a fruitful life after he had left.
Their talk lasted through the whole of the evening, and towards the late hours the king started growing somber and the princes grew concerned.
They asked their father what was bothering them and the king looked at them sadly and told them that because their kingdom was a small one and not all that wealthy to begin with, his generosities over the years had made it unstable and he feared for its and their continuance.
So it was that he told them that, while every once in a while it was permissible for a prince to find and marry an extraordinarily beautiful peasant maiden, they could not do so. They were to take much of the last of their small kingdom's wealth and travel the world seeking princesses who were wealthy, so ensuring that the kingdom would not fail.
The king told them that if they did not find a suitable brides, they should remain out in the world and make their own way. They should do this because, if they did not, they would be pauper princes in short order and would never wed royalty anyway.
Having said all of that, the frail king took both of his sons' hands in his and stared at them lovingly. He told them that, while he feared for his kingdom and his sons' chances of ever marrying royalty, he first and foremost wanted them to be happy.
So the day came that the princes set out on their own. After cheerfully sending them off, the frail king went back to his throne room and wept with his queen that they might never see their sons again.
The princes ranged far and wide, stopping at every kingdom on their way and visiting with the royalty, learning if there were princesses of marrying age.
There were, but none would speak with them or even deign notice their presence, for as we have said, the royalty of their part of the world was filled with a pomposity the prevented them from seeing the intelligence and nobility of the young men.
So it was that they ranged even further, bringing what wealth they had left with to a pitiful state.
It so happened that the grotesque princes were traveling in the direction of a wealthy kingdom with five beautiful princesses.
While there, they were treated as before. The court itself accepted them because they were royal, but the princesses would not speak with them nor sit at the same table.
That is, the three princesses they saw did not. There were five princesses, but they only heard of and met three.
Except for their attitude, they were fair and graceful to behold. The other two princesses were also beautiful and graceful, full of wit and charm and with voices that would woo the most melodic of birds. But, unfortunately they were blind.
Because of the pompous attitude of the royalty, the king had secured them in a tower of the castle. Not as prisoners, for they were given everything that they needed or wanted. Everything except the chance to know anyone not of the castle.
Being good daughters, they put on brave faces when their parents were present, but they would stay in they room and cry when everyone else was at a feast or party.
In times like those, the only comfort they had was in each other's voices as they sang.
Because of the pompous attitude of the royalty, feasts and parties were places where everything must be perfect and the princesses were not perfect.
Neither were the grotesque princes and they were not invited, although they were castle guests.
This pained them greatly and they would walk the gardens and grounds, listening to the festivities from afar, straining to pick out the beautiful music and laughter.
It was on one such wandering that they heard the blind princesses crying and singing to each other. Even crying, their voices took their hearts with the beauty of their singing, and being such kind men, they could not bear it.
They searched until they found the tower. Finding no entrance, they looked up its walls and decided to climb to find who was in such distress.
As they came to the princesses window, they were so struck with their beauty that they almost lost their hold and they gasped as they struggled to keep from falling.
The princesses heard the commotion and came to the window, asking who they might be.
They came inside and told them their tale and the young women wept silently at the brothers' pain of rejection.
It was then that they noticed that the princesses were blind, but they did not care. They spoke with them through the evening and they grew to love the princesses.
Just before morning, they climbed back down so that none would know that the women had entertained men in their chambers.
That noon, as they were preparing to leave that kingdom they requested an audience with the king to make their farewells.
The king granted their visit and once there, the young men chastised all present for their harsh behaviors and informed them that not only were they princes, but they were both also magicians.
The princes told them that they would cause a rain of plagues on their kingdom for their effrontery unless they gave them each one of the princesses and a sizable dowry.
They let their outrage at the princesses' seclusions fuel their characters and they so frightened the king's court that the king feared everything true.
The princes told them that they would cause a rain of plagues on their kingdom for their effrontery unless they gave them each one of the princesses and a sizable dowry.
None of the three princesses present wanted to go with the grotesque young men and pleaded with their father to not send them. He agreed, then realized that this would be an opportunity for him to marry off his blind daughters. Only men as grotesque as these would agree to any so imperfect.
The king called down his blind daughters and informed them that they were to marry these visiting princes and go with them back to their kingdom. As this was a very wealthy kingdom, he provided coach and horses, stewards and guards and many bags of gold as dowry that the princes might take their daughters and also that they might not curse his kingdom with plagues.
All during this time, the grotesque princes stood silent.
Only once they had helped the blind princesses into the coach did they speak and when they did, the princesses faces lit up with joy that they would be marrying men so kind and understanding.
Thus they returned to the kingdom.
Once home, the frail king and his wife rejoiced that their sons had found brides, lovely and intelligent, blind though they might be, and they welcomed them with open arms.
The next day the king and queen announced a great festival in one week hence that was to end with the weddings.
The day before the festival the two young men called on their father and spoke with him concerning their worries. They were honest young men and it bothered them greatly that they had deceived the blind princesses' father so.
We all know that they had done so out of love of the princesses and anger at the great insults they had been made to endure, but still it played on their minds and caused them great distress.
Their father listened silently and, to the young mens' great surprise, started chuckling once they had finished.
He told them that they should worry no more. They had found two wonderful brides and given them a gift that the young womens' pompous father and mother would have kept from them, the gift of happiness.
The young women would now enjoy rich and full lives and their kingdom would endure, for the sons would require queens to rule.
And as we all know, the ends justify the queens.
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