The Innocent

The only child of the king was very pale and sickly from birth. All manner of potions and regimens were perpetrated upon him, and nothing made any difference. He faded away more and more and in his fear and worry, the king put out a call across all the lands for a healer to come forward to save his child. As everything had been tried already, no-one dared answer apart from one, a young woman in an exotic light orange veil from far away. The king was desperate and allowed her in.

She sent away all the many medics and all their harsh potions. She brought beautifully coloured soft blankets for the child and surrounded him in flowers. She sat with him and gently massaged his poor white limbs with precious oils for many days and many nights; she told him beautiful stories and she sang to him. Every morning and every night, a messenger would see the king and tell him that his son was still alive. And then one day, it wasn't the messenger - it was the boy himself, and he came running to his father, and both embraced in greatest joy.