The Prince of the South
and the Queen of Hartman Castle
By A.M. Cochran
Once upon a time in a not-so-far place
There was a boy with a look on his face.
Now, this look told the tale that I’m about to spill
That made him so sad and ever so ill.
But let’s go back to when this story began
With the very same boy, this charming young man.
It was back in a time when the prince was happy,
And hadn’t a thing to say that was snappy.
Prince Charming was he, on top of his prime,
But the clock was ticking and he hadn’t much time.
You see, one day the king sent a note,
And this you see is what the king wrote:
“My son Prince Ash, I have a request
That you engage in this most noble quest.
I’m sending you away to this realm you see,
In the land we know as university.
I shall send you northeast to the land in the west,
Oh don’t ask me questions – no that’s not a request!
There you shall learn a noble profession
And now my son, spare no confession,
It’s off you go to this land I say,
So pack your bags and go away!”
And so Prince Ash went to his tower and sat.
And there he thought alone there he sat.
Until he decided the king was right!
So he packed his cases and set out to the night.
Alone in a carriage with horses of white
He crossed the whole realm and fought every knight.
He crossed Arkansas and then Tennessee,
Both Virginias and Maryland woe is be!
And then, then Pennsylvania he stopped you see,
For Prince Ash had arrived at university.
He was greeted by a maiden quite fair, so pale,
Who had he been mistaken was quite some female.
“Like a ghost!” He thought when he saw that lass,
Eyes flickering from her eyes to her nose to her sass.
With a torch held lit and papers held tight
She led the way for our charming young knight.
Up long dark stairs and dark windy halls,
She led the prince past dark dusty walls
Unto a door in the south wing she came,
And like all the others, this door was the same.
“This is yours,” she said with a curt little sneer,
And she drifted off leaving our prince in his fear.
But fear be undone warmth swept through the palace,
Trumpets played uplifting her malice.
The trumpets were playing across the land,
For a foreign king was near at hand.
“Son!” said the king in his kingly voice,
“I am proud to see you have made the right choice!”
And so together and with presents galore,
They decorated the palace and down darkness they tore.
But two days came and two days went,
And away went the king for a mission was sent.
And alone was Prince Ash, though not quite so,
For there was one other now don’t you know.
This was Sir Tom of the Philadelphia Shire,
He was, one would say, just a knight to hire.
Together they lived in the tower of Bee
In a land they had declared to be Sector Three.
In Hartman Castle feeling power over his dominion
Sat our Prince Ash and his faithful young minion.
And then one day in a class of science,
Prince Ash stood up and made his defiance.
He met there a maiden so fair and true,
And they became good friends through and through.
Though he did not know it when they first met,
This was the Princess Lisa, and his heart was set.
Now life was perfect for our prince and his friend,
But evil was brewing just around the bend.
For the ghost-like maiden, whose name was Nadine,
Had no sense of warmth and was rather quite mean.
With her lover she sat in the tallest dark tower
And contemplated darkly each and every hour,
“I’m tired!” she cried in angst and evil,
“Of this prince living in my peaceful small bee-ville!”
She paced arms crossed, her lover on her bed,
And together they pondered plans we all dread.
“I’ve got it!” she cried with a laugh like a cackle,
“What is it my love?” asked the lover with a hackle.
“I have a plan, and it just might work
To get rid of this prince who is driving me berserk!”
She came to his ear and whispered with a smile,
And his evil grin grew over that while,
“Ah yes, my love.” He whispered to she,
“That may work my love, we shall wait and see.”
But alas, the prince, did not know she was evil
Or that malice was brewing up above poor old bee-ville.
For another week the prince lived in bliss,
And lived and laughed, and wrote letters to friends he did miss.
Like the Maiden Shelby and the Maiden Megan,
And the Lady he knew as the Princess Lauren.
These were his friends back in Arkansas,
But just out his window a bird started to caw.
One day came and turned to night,
And the prince came back from a victorious fight.
And there at the desk all quiet and alone,
Was the mistress Nadine (read best when in a dark-dreary tone).
Thinking her a friend and certainly not foe,
He crossed his path and to she did he go.
“Oh Nadine!” he said with a laugh and a smile,
“I’m here to entertain you for a while.”
“Oh great,” said the girl with a smile and a groan,
“Though I’d rather be left here all quiet and alone.”
“Not true!” said the prince. “Says you,” said the lady.
“I say!” said the boy, “you are acting quite shady.”
And then upon a book on the table, he spotted,
A magic wand like the ones in the fables long rotted.
“Oh wow!” said the prince, “Didn’t think you a fairy!”
By now old Nadine was looking quite wary.
“Put it down!” she cried with an evil hiss,
“What I am to you is no business.”
“Just a moment,” he laughed and began a spell,
But she screamed, not knowing that the good prince meant well.
“My wand!” she cried, puffing up in height,
To be perfectly honest it was really a sight!
“Get out! Go away! I am busy here!”
Cried the witch casting over her shadow and fear.
“What’s going on?” it was another – Danielle –
She had come to check that all was well.
“It’s fine,” said the prince and the fairy,
“Then how to yelling did this become so un-merry?”
So Ash took his leave to his tower above
Where he would send out letters on both pigeon and dove.
“The maiden’s a witch!” he cried out in warning,
And he sent the birds out all night and next morning.
But down in the depths of Hartman Castle you see,
Was a witch laughing loud in her evil-type glee.
“He fell for the trap!” she cried out in joy,
“And now at last I’ll be rid of that boy!”
And so she snuck to the dungeon so dark and so cold,
To the darkest of dark and the oldest of old.
The biggest and baddest witch of them all,
The witch known as Haley, the queen of H-Hall!
“Dear Queen!” she said with a grin on her face,
“It is time to put the Prince Ash back down in his place.”
The queen didn’t speak, she only smiled back,
For it was now time for she to launch an attack.
The next day Ash was with Tom up in Sector Three
When he got a message from the mighty Queen Bee.
“Come Now, Make Haste, it is urgent we speak.”
Though only she knew what she meant, oh that sneak!
So Ash feeling happy and mighty and well,
Went to the dungeon, but there was Danielle!
The spy of the queen, and they were both there!
What is it she wanted, was it he she could scare?
He closed the door and sat before the queen,
Who was sneering and growling and looking quite mean.
“Ah, so now child you came, I thought you had gone,
Well I want you to know that Nadine has won.
You are banished from the kingdom of Sector Three!
Be gone from this land, it is royal decree!”
She stood and cried out and the lights flickered out
And the scared young prince ran out of the room with a shout.
“The queen is mad!” he cried as he ran,
Until he stopped, and felt less of a man.
He sent word for Lisa and sat in the dirt,
And tears began to drip from his cheek to his shirt.
But she understood and she came for he.
And together they rode just the prince and she.
Until midnight struck and she took him back,
To Hartman Castle for a counter-attack.
But he was weak and rather sad,
So he went to his room for he had been mad –
To mess with the witch, not one but two,
But he still had his friends who would stick to him like glue.
“Princess Lauren, Duchess Megan, I need you my friends,
I have had my life ruined, I must fix amends!”
He spoke to his mirror who cast spells on his mates
And brought them to he like girls on their dates.
“I need more,” said the prince with a smile on his face,
And pretty soon some others had been brought to the place.
Lady Shelby, Princess Lisa, and the Empress Gemini,
To the prince those ladies did fly.
Together their bond of love and devotion
Caused a power so strong it caused a commotion.
The girls and the prince filled with light and love,
Ran down the steps feeling light as a dove.
And then at last to the dungeon they flew
To do as heroes and heroines do.
“Witch, come on out and fight like a man!
Take me oh witch if you think you can!”
That noise was enough, the queen was awoken,
But the love was too strong and her power was broken.
“Oh you boy!” she cried as she fell from her throne,
“You boy!” and this was her only moan.
“Go now witch!” cried the prince, sword aimed at her breast,
“Or I shall thrust this right on through your chest!”
She nodded and turned on her heel and took off to the night,
Taking her black and removing her fright.
“This battle is won!” said the prince with defiance.
“But what of Nadine?” asked one of the alliance.
“Ah yes,” said the boy, sword held in his hand,
“Ah yes!” he repeated to the girls of his band.
“Gather the men of the castle I say,
For we go to war this gayest of day!”
So the trumpets were blown and the warriors were sought,
Bows and arrows were found and the swords were brought.
And then with the prince at their front,
They marched to test if the witch’s defences were blunt.
“Open the door1” they yelled at the tower’s base,
“That the prince and we may see your cowardly face!”
But the witch, she was cunning as we all know,
And amongst all the villagers in disguise she did go.
But the Princess Lauren, wisest and fairest of them all,
Could see through this guise oh so twisted and tall.
She took the prince hand-in-hand,
Straight to the witch in their merry old band.
“There she is!” she cried, the prince aimed his sword at her throat,
But he couldn’t kill her and pushed her instead to the moat.
But she being clever and sly,
Did not really want to die,
But she knew a battle was over,
So she pulled from her pocket a small pouch of ground clover.
She sprinkled a little and vanished forever,
And the likes of her again the prince didn’t see ever.
But the prince knew the end, he knew what was amiss,
So he took the fair Lauren and gave her a kiss!
She smiled into his eyes and held him there,
With no witch or evil she hadn’t a care.
And so they got married in the gaiety and laughter,
And the prince and princess had a Happily Ever After.
The End.
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