The Twelve Huntsmen

Once upon a time, in a kingdom where morning mist danced through ancient forests and golden sunshine blessed fertile valleys, there lived a prince who was beloved by all for his noble heart and gentle nature. He had fallen deeply in love with a princess from a neighboring realm, and she had returned his affection with equal devotion.

Their love was pure and true, and they had pledged to marry when the political tensions between their kingdoms were resolved. The prince wore always upon his finger a ring the princess had given him, set with a stone that changed colors with his emotions—bright blue when he was happy, deep red when he was passionate, and dark gray when he was sad.

But fate, as it often does, interrupted their happiness. The old king, the prince’s father, fell gravely ill. Sensing that his time was drawing near, he summoned his son to his bedside.

“My son,” the dying king whispered, his voice weak but urgent, “I have arranged a marriage for you with the daughter of our eastern ally. This union will secure peace for our people and strengthen our kingdom against those who would destroy us.”

The prince’s heart filled with despair. “But Father, I am already pledged to another. I have given my word and my heart to the princess I love.”

“I understand your pain,” replied the king, his eyes full of sorrow for his son’s anguish. “But sometimes duty must come before personal desire. Promise me you will honor this arrangement for the good of our people.”

Unable to refuse his dying father’s last request, the prince gave his word with a heavy heart. The ring upon his finger turned dark gray and remained so as he sent a letter to his beloved princess, explaining that he could no longer marry her due to obligations to his kingdom.

When the princess received this devastating news, she wept bitter tears for three days. But rather than surrender to despair, her love gave her courage and her grief gave her determination.

“I will not accept this fate,” she declared to her most faithful ladies-in-waiting. “If I cannot have him as his bride, I will find another way to be near him and perhaps win him back.”

She summoned eleven of the most loyal young women of her court—ladies who had served her since childhood and loved her as sisters. To them, she revealed her desperate plan.

“Will you help me in a venture that may seem mad but is born of true love?” she asked.

Without hesitation, all eleven agreed to whatever she asked.

The princess had the court tailor create twelve identical hunting outfits in the finest green cloth, complete with feathered caps, leather boots, and quivers full of arrows. She had learned hunting in her youth and was skilled with both bow and sword, as were several of her ladies who had been raised in the outdoor traditions of their mountain kingdom.

“We shall disguise ourselves as huntsmen,” she explained, “and seek service in my beloved’s court. If I cannot be near him as his princess, perhaps I can remain close as his faithful huntsman.”

The twelve young women practiced walking like men, speaking in deeper voices, and perfecting all the skills of the hunt until no one could tell they were not what they appeared to be.

When they were ready, they traveled to the prince’s kingdom and presented themselves at court, seeking positions in the royal hunting party.

The prince, now crowned king after his father’s death, was immediately impressed by the skill and bearing of the twelve huntsmen who requested to serve him. There was something about their leader that drew his attention—a grace in movement, a nobility in bearing, and eyes that seemed hauntingly familiar, though he could not place where he might have seen them before.

“You shall be my personal hunting party,” he declared. “I have never seen finer huntsmen.”

The disguised princess felt joy and pain in equal measure at being so close to her beloved, yet unable to reveal herself. Every day, she and her eleven companions rode out with the king, excelling in every aspect of the hunt and earning his growing admiration and trust.

Meanwhile, the king’s marriage to the eastern princess proceeded as planned. Though he treated his new bride with courtesy and respect, his heart remained cold. The ring on his finger stayed perpetually gray, a constant reminder of his lost love.

The new queen, observing her husband’s melancholy, began to suspect that his heart belonged to another. She noticed how his attention seemed particularly drawn to the leader of his huntsmen, and jealousy began to poison her thoughts.

“There is something strange about those twelve huntsmen,” she confided to her most trusted advisor, an old woman skilled in detecting deception. “They seem too graceful, too refined for common hunters.”

The advisor, eager to please her new mistress, began to devise tests to discover the truth. “Leave this matter to me, Your Majesty. I shall expose any deception.”

The next day, the old woman scattered dried peas across the floor of the hall where the twelve huntsmen would pass. “If they are truly men,” she reasoned, “they will walk across the peas without care. But if they are women in disguise, they will step carefully to avoid slipping on their flowing skirts.”

But the disguised princess had overheard this plan. She warned her companions, and when they entered the hall, all twelve huntsmen walked boldly across the scattered peas with long, masculine strides, their feet crushing the obstacles underfoot.

Frustrated, the old advisor tried a second test. She placed twelve spinning wheels in a room the huntsmen would visit. “Men will pay no attention to spinning wheels,” she told the queen, “but women cannot resist examining such domestic tools.”

Again, the princess learned of the plan and instructed her companions to ignore the spinning wheels completely. When they passed through the room, not one of them even glanced at the devices.

For the third test, the advisor arranged twelve beautiful flowers in a vase, reasoning that women would surely be drawn to smell and admire them while men would pass by without interest.

Once more, the twelve huntsmen showed no interest in the flowers, though it pained the princess to resist the sweet fragrance that reminded her of her mother’s garden.

The queen was beginning to think her suspicions were unfounded when the old advisor suggested one final test.

“Your Majesty,” she said, “there is a magical lion in the castle’s menagerie, a gift from a far-off land. This lion has the power to see through any disguise or deception. If these huntsmen are truly what they appear to be, the lion will remain calm. But if they are hiding their true nature, the beast will expose them.”

The queen arranged for the twelve huntsmen to pass by the lion’s cage during their daily rounds. As they approached, the magical lion lifted its great head and looked directly at the leader of the group.

The princess felt her heart racing, certain that her disguise was about to be revealed. But in that moment, she deliberately stumbled and grasped the arm of one of her companions for support. As she did so, the ring that the king had given her long ago—which she wore hidden on a chain beneath her hunting jacket—slipped out and fell to the ground with a clear, musical chime.

The lion, seeing the ring, immediately lay down and closed its eyes, recognizing the true love that the token represented.

But the king, who had been following behind the hunting party, heard the familiar sound of the ring falling and looked down to see the precious token lying on the stone floor. His heart leaped with recognition, for he knew that ring as well as his own hand.

“Where did this come from?” he demanded, picking up the ring with trembling fingers.

The disguised princess, knowing her secret was discovered, could no longer maintain her deception. She removed her feathered cap, allowing her golden hair to cascade down her shoulders, and spoke in her own clear voice.

“It came from the one who loved you truly and could not bear to be separated from you, even when duty demanded it.”

The king stared in amazement and overwhelming joy as he recognized his beloved princess. “Can it be?” he whispered. “Have you been near me all this time?”

“I could not accept losing you,” she replied, tears streaming down her face. “If I could not be your bride, I chose to be your faithful huntsman, serving you as best I could.”

The king’s ring suddenly blazed bright blue with joy as he took her in his arms. “Your love and loyalty have proven stronger than any duty or arrangement,” he declared. “You are my true queen, and nothing shall ever part us again.”

The eleven loyal ladies-in-waiting revealed themselves as well, throwing off their caps and letting down their hair in celebration of their mistress’s triumph.

As for the eastern princess who had been the king’s arranged bride, when she learned the truth of the situation, she proved to be as noble as she was beautiful. “True love such as this cannot be denied,” she said graciously. “I release you from our arrangement and wish you both every happiness. Perhaps this will teach our kingdoms that forced marriages serve no one’s interests.”

She returned to her father’s kingdom, where she later married a prince who loved her for herself rather than for political alliance.

The king and his true bride were married in a ceremony that was celebrated throughout both kingdoms. The twelve huntsmen became the royal guard, known for their unmatched loyalty and skill. They served their beloved mistress faithfully for many years, and several of them married noble knights of the court who had fallen in love with their courage and devotion.

The magical lion became a symbol of truth and recognition in the kingdom, and visitors would often seek its wisdom in matters of the heart. The ring that had revealed the truth was set in the royal crown as a reminder that true love will always find a way to shine through any disguise or obstacle.

And so the princess who had disguised herself as a huntsman learned that love, when combined with courage and determination, can overcome even the most impossible circumstances. Her story became an inspiration to lovers throughout the land, proving that those who are willing to sacrifice everything for love will ultimately be rewarded with happiness beyond their dreams.