Back at the castle, the gardener entered the throne room with a small wooden box.

“Your majesty,” the gardener said. “I bring you the heart of Anaria, princess of the land and fairest of them all.”

“Bring me the box and you may be dismissed,” the king replied.

After the gardener handed over the box and left, Candarin went to his room. He walked over to his magic mirror and called,

“Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?”

The mirror replied saying, “Princess Anaria is the fairest, my king.”

“How can that be? I have her heart right her in this box.”

“Nay, my king. The heart in the box is that of a swines. The princess is in a cottage deep in the woods.”

After the gardener had given the box to the king, he had left and went to hid in the wood for he feared for his life. When the king found out that he had been tricked, Candarin sent for the royal gardener to be executed. The king’s guards looked everywhere but couldn’t find the gardener for he had hid deep within the forbidden parts of the forest. The king started to devise a way to get rid of Silver Blossom once and for all.

Back at the cottage, Anaria heard people singing outside. Soon the door opened and seven men stepped inside, each had pointed ears and slightly slanted eyes.

“Who are you?” one of them asked.

“How did you get in our house?” asked another.

The man who had let her in the day before stepped up.

“I let her in,” he said. “She was hungry and needed a place to stay.”

“I’m Anaria,” she said

One by one they introduced themselves. There was Anden, Nendar, Bidgre, Endlar, Sonuro, Mendarn, and Ingreto.

“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Anaria said. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

“What brings you this far into the forest?” Mendarn asked.

After she explained why she was there, they all agreed to let her stay with them.

“May I ask why your ears are pointed and your eyes slanted? You look different than any human I have met,” Anaria said.

“We are not humans. We are elves,” Sonuro said in a grupy tone.

For many weeks, Anaria spent her time cleaning, cooking, and helping wherever she could.

Back at the castle, the king came up with a plan. He enchanted a silver blossom that kills anyone who smells it. The only cure was a true love’s kiss.

One day while the elves were gone, an old man stopped by and offered her a silver blossom. Anaria accepted the flower gratefully. When he left, she decided to put it in a vase. While she was searching for a vase, she smelt the flower. As soon as she got a whiff of the flower’s sweet fragrance, she instantly dropped to the floor. The birds that were sitting in the window tried to get her to get up. When they couldn’t, they instantly flew in search of the elves. Soon they found them in a small clearing on their way home.

“Something is wrong with Anaria,” they tweeted. “She is lying on the floor and won’t get up.”

“Maybe she is sleeping,” Ingreto suggested.

“She is not sleeping. There was this old man who gave her a flower. When she smelt it she dropped to the floor,” the birds said frantically.

“Oh no. The king must have found her,” cried Anden.

They all rushed back to the cottage. When they got there, they found Anaria dead on the floor clutching a silver blossom.

“She’s dead,” wailed Endlar.

They scooped her up and took her into the forest where they found a small clearing and laid her upon the ground. They found tons of flowers and laid them around her. After they placed a bouquet of flowers in her hands, they gathered in a circle with their heads bowed. A prince, who had been out hunting, heard the elves crying and went to investigate. When he emerged into the clearing, he saw the beautiful girl lying dead on a bed of flowers.

“What happened? Why are you guys crying?” the prince asked.

“She’s dead. That horrible man killed her,” Nendar replied.

The prince, entranced by Anaria’s beauty knelt down by her side and briefly kissed her. As he was about to get up, Anaria opened her eyes.

“Why is everybody crying?” she asked.

“Anaria’s dead,” Mendarn said.

“I am not,” she replied.

Looking up, Mendarn sees the prince helping Anaria get up.

“Your alive!” he cried.

“Can you keep it down?” Sonuro asked.

“She’s alive!” Mendarn shouted.

Slowly looking up, the elves notice Anaria standing in the bed of flowers.

“The princes kiss must have broken the spell,” Ingreto stated.

“Who are you?” they all asked the prince.

“My name is Osmar. I am a prince from one of the neighboring kingdoms.”

“Hello Prince Osmar. We are in your debt for saving Anaria. Speaking of Anaria, how are we going to keep her safe from now on?”

At that moment, a shriek pierced the air.

“What was that?” the prince asked.

A deer burst into the clearing and walked up to the elves.

“King Candarin is dead,” stated the deer. “The entire kingdom has been invaded. The king was killed and the kingdom is know in ruins. The villagers willingly sided with the invaders. They didn’t like the king any more than we did. A few actually helped assassinate the king.”

“Hurray!” the elves cheered.

“Now where will I go?” Anaria asked.

“You can stay with me,” the prince stated. “I would be honored if you would be my bride.”

With that, the prince took Anaria onto his horse. Together, they bid farewell to the elves and rode into the sunset. They rode until they reached Prince Osmar’s castle where they got married and lived happily ever after.

The End.