Week 14 Story: The Cloak of a Thousand Furs

Once upon a time, the beloved Queen Aurora and King Philip ruled over a happy kingdom. The people rejoiced when their first child, Prince Adalrico was born and a few years later rejoiced again At the birth of Princess Aurelia.

This happiness could not last, however. Queen Aurora became sick and weak, and on her deathbed, King Philip promised that he would never forget her and would not even marry again unless it was with her unique golden hair.

The kingdom mourned the loss of their queen but soon wished for a new Queen to take on royal duties. King Philip at first was adamant he would not marry, but when his advisers said someone must fulfill the Queenly duties, he remembered his promise to only marry with the unique golden hair of his wife. Reluctant, the advisers searched through the lands for a woman with the same hair as the prior Queen, but none were to be found. This passed on for multiple years and in the meantime the young Prince Philip and Princess Aurelia grew into their teens. When the grieved King Philip met with his children one day, he saw that his daughter Aurelia had inherited her mother's hair and decreed that she must become his bride. Despite the adamant protests of such an abominable act from the royal advisers, the priests, and his children, King Philip was not deterred.

Princess Aurelia understood her father had gone mad. She decided to buy herself time by saying that she would agree to marry her father if he gave her special gifts. Three dresses spun from the light of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, as well as a cloak made from one thousand furs given freely. However, King Philip managed to complete these tasks with the help of the Royal Magicians. In despair, Princess Aurelia was forced to flee into the forests surrounding the castle, only able to grab the three dresses and don the cloak on her shoulders.

Aurelia found a small abandoned house in a rural village and decided to rest there. However, shortly after she arrived, news from her father reached the village. The Mad King claimed that Princess Aurelia had been kidnapped with the help of their prince, who was thrown into the dungeons for his treachery. Any that could find the princess and return her safely would be granted a grand reward, such as a noble title, land, and gold.

And so Aurelia was forced to flee the kingdom and ran for many days through the wilderness into a neighboring kingdom until she, at last, stopped to rest in a hollow tree. A stick poked her awake. It was a royal envoy led by none other than the neighboring King Cedric. Aurelia was asked questions, such as who she was and why she was sleeping in the middle of nowhere.

Aurelia had heard of King Cedric's kindness and wished she could petition him for aid to stop her father and save her brother. However, would King Cedric help her and risk an international conflict or turn her in and be granted a favor. Aurelia knew that the best way to determine one's character is to see how they treat their inferiors. She decided to lie and tell the envoy she had gotten lost on her journey to find work. Out of some intent, more likely pity, Aurelia was hired to work as a kitchenmaid in the palace.

However, the life of a princess did little to prepare her for brunt work. Along with her clumsy attempts to clean the dishes, Aurelia was often scolded for covering the floors with hair from her fur cloak. They become more disapproving when Aurelia was adamant to never take it off. After all, her golden hair was a recognizable trait of her family. When the head kitchen servant petitioned the King to fire her, King Cedric agreed, but not before giving Aurelia another job.

"Your fur cloak is always kept so neat and clean. Why don't you help groom my horse," the king had said.

And so Aurelia began to attend the King's personal steed, with a daily visit from the king. Although the King only stayed for a few minutes, Aurelia took those moments and analyzed the King's true character. Aurelia discovered that King Cedric was as good as the tales claimed, and she resolved to ask him for assistance, not as the servant with the funny cloak, but as Princess Aurelia. And she knew just when to meet with him.

A week-long ball would take place at the castle, which gave Aurelia plenty of time to meet the King. On the first night of the ball, Princess Aurelia donned her sunlight dress. When she entered the hall, heads turned at the golden lady. The crowd part for her and Princess Aurelia made her way to King Cedric. When she asked if they could speak privately, King Cedric asked if they could have a dance first. Aurelia missed her palace life and dancing at balls, so she agreed. The two danced until the night was over, and Aurelia had to return as a servant for the next day of work.

The next night, Aurelia donned the moonlight dress and the night after that the starlight dance. However, each time, Aurelia became so happy to dance with a kind, handsome partner like King Cedric that all of her troubles melted away. However, one the last night, those troubles returned, when she overheard politics at the ball about her father's erratic behavior and the execution of her brother! It was here that Aurelia asked King Cedric to listen to her. However, King Cedric didn't need to be told!

"I apologize, Princess Aurelia, but I already saw through your disguise. Wisps of your golden hair would sometimes fall in front of your face, which is how I recognized you.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid that you would leave. Aside from your excellent company, you sometimes acted like a cornered animal and from the rumors I've heard, I can understand why. A princess wouldn't be working as a servant unless she was afraid of going home. I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would run away and put yourself in danger. Though by the look on your face you have been able to handle yourself this whole time. I apologize for my presumption."

Aurelia and Cedric's conversation continued with a promise from King Cedric to stop Prince Adalrico's execution. With King Cedric's aid, an attack on Aurelia's old home led to the capture of Mad King Philip and the rescue of Prince Adalrico. News of King Philip's madness spread and the people rejoiced when Aldelrico was crowned king. Aurelia stayed in her home country and helped govern but soon she caught herself thinking to kind eyes within a graceful dance partner. King Cedric courted Princess Aurelia for a few years and the two married, living happily ever after.

Author's Notes:

Originally the princess was named Allerleirauh. I decided to change this because I had an idea where only the royal family is allowed to have certain names, such as those meaning "dawn," "gold," etc., which is because of the bloodline's special golden hair trait.

I chose Aurora as the dead queen's namebecause it means "Dawn" and its the name of the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology (though I did hear this name first from Disney's Sleeping Beauty).

Aurelia means "golden" and sometimes "dawn." Both Aurelia and Auroura are named for their golden hair.

Adalrico means noble, powerful and rich.

Cedric means kind and loved.

In the original story, the dying Queen asked her husband to not marry unless he found another woman with the same golden hair she did. I thought this was a strange thing to ask on your deathbed so instead, I decided it would be more interesting if the King had imposed those conditions on himself. Initially, it would mean, I will marry again only if its with you, my Queen," only for the King to twist this intent to marry a woman with the same hair had his prior wife when he has to marry again.

Another change I made was what job the princess had. In the original, the Princess continued to work in the kitchens, but I thought no cook would risk all that animal fur getting into the food. I decided she would work in the stables because animal hair from the horses is already there.

I decided to make the king more of a threat. In the original, the mad king is never mentioned again after the princess flees to another kingdom. I thought, if the people knew the king went mad, they would surely agree that another person should hold the crown. However, I also wanted the princess and neighboring king to get together, which would be difficult if they rule separate kingdoms. For this, I created Aurelia's brother, Adelrico, who would become a king. However, I also thought: Why didn't Adelrico stop his father? I decided to fill this plothole by the King pretending that his son had been killed and that his daughter had been kidnapped and offering a rich reward to anyone who brings her back unharmed. This gives a motivation for the people to find the princess and reason for the princess to flee all the way to another kingdom. This also makes the King a threat so the princess has a motivation to stop him.

Bibliography:

Original Story: "Allerleirauh" from Household Tales by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm (1884), translated by Margaret Hunt. Source.

Image Information: Allerleirauh illustration by Otto Ubbelohde. Source.