Now from time to time the king and his son would take a ride through the kingdom. They did this on their horses and when they did they would take some of their mounted guards with them. On one these trips they passed a small village and the son often noticed some people working in a field. Among the group was a young woman that caught his eye. The son stopped to watch her for a moment and then got off his horse and approached her. He wanted to talk to her but as he approached, the woman quietly bowed to him and remained face to the ground while he spoke. Their chat was simple and brief yet the woman remained face down until the King and his son left to continue their ride. As the son rode on that day his face began to show great disappointment and his father the king noticed it.

When they got home, the King went to his son and asked what was troubling him. The son replied " I am rich and blessed beyond measure he said, yet I have no bride or even friends to share it with. I wish I had someone to be my companion. Someone to spend time with and to love but everyone I meet seems to be afraid of me.

The King the asked, How important is this to you? "Very", said the son, "I often think I would give all I have just to have a bride and some friends". At this the King thought a moment. Then he said, come with me. He led the son down to the stable where the servants kept the horses. Here he spoke for a minute to the head stable keeper and then turned to the son.

Son, he said, as long as you are known to our subjects as my Son, they will do everything you ask. If you ask one to come to dinner he will accept, if you ask another to be your bride she will say yes but all these will agree for one reason. They will agree because you are the son of the king and because they fear my power. If you wish them to truly be your friends because they want to, you must become as one of them. Are you willing to do this for love?. The Son thought for a minute and then with a determined grin said "Yes!"

The king then instructed the son. First take off your royal clothing and put on the clothes of the stable boys. The son did so and said "Ok I’m ready now - lets go", but the king did not move. Instead he said "For the next 3 years you will work here in the stable. Here you will not only start to look like them but also lean what it is like to be like them. And with that the king turned left. The son was shocked," 3 years here!" he said. Yet despite his disappointment he set to work executing the chores given him by the stable master and during the next 3 years the son worked hard. His hands grew callused and he learned what is was like to be tired and dirty and hungry. And each day while he worked he longed for the day to come when he could go and join those subjects who might become his friends. He also dreamed of what it would be like to have a bride.

When three years had passed the king returned and took his son from the stable. He gave him a new set of clothes that looked much like those the poorest of his subjects wore and took him to the field where he had once tried to speak to the maiden.. There he sent him off on his journey to find friendship and love. As he said goodbye, he gave the son one final instruction. When you have found a bride, come back to this field and light a signal fire. Then I will return for you. Then the King left.

Once alone, the son set out walking and by nightfall he found a village. There he found a place to sleep in a small barn. The next day, he noticed some people working in a field and asked the land owner if he could join them. He agreed and he began to work along side them.

Over the next 3 years the son worked and lived in this village and because of his great love for people he made many friends. He worked with them, he played with them and he cried with them and as he did he became close to many. And just as he hoped, he also became friends with the maiden who had caught his eye 6 years before. They spent a lot of time together and she grew to love him even more than his other new friends. One spring day he asked her to become his bride and she joyfully agreed.

The time came for his wedding and he decided to use the occasion to announce to all his friends just who he was. That day the son was so excited he ran all day long back to that field where he had started his journey and lit the signal fire just as his father had instructed him 3 years before. As he laid in bed that night he thought, " Tomorrow would be such a wonderful day for after his wedding he would take all of them back to his palace for the best party he could imagine. Now at last, he mused, I have found love and friendship and all it offered freely for me.. I am so excited, for now I can tell my friends who I really am and take them out of this poverty . As the son fell asleep that night he was full of joy.

The next day, just before the wedding, the son called all his friends together for the announcement. There were and over a hundred noisy gleeful people assembled in the village courtyard and he was just about to make the announcement, when suddenly a great mounted party of riders arrived. It was the procession of the king and all the sons friends suddenly became very quiet. A few of them quickly left the courtyard and others pulled back from the procession and hid themselves in the buildings and a look of fear came over the faces of those who remained. As they watched the kings guard filled the courtyard, the kings then entered, dismounted his horse and walked right up to their friend. To their surprise, their friend embraced the king and spoke something to him. They watched silently, wondering what would happen next.

After a minute or two of speaking to the king, the son got up and stood on the backs of 2 horses. All remained silent as he spoke and this is what he said.. "My friends, I am the son of the King, the Prince. I have spent these last 3 years with you and have found great friendship here. Now that I am to be married, I want you all to go me and live as guests in the palace of my father the king". But as he spoke, he was surprised to see that the faces of his friends were all full of fear. Many more were now leaving the courtyard and the son turned to look at his closest friends. Much to his amazement, even their faces had turned white and turning quickly to his bride, he found her once again face down on the ground.

Seeing this he turned to his father the King and cried "Why is this?, Father, Why do they still fear us?. The King motioned to the captain of his guard and the captain came forward and held out an open book. The son took it and began to read. In the book was a list of names and as he read them he recognized them as the names of each of his friends. Beside each name was crime against the king, a date and a sentence. In every case the sentence was death. As the son read name after name, crime after crime, tears came to his eyes . Now the awful truth became clear, his friends fear him because they knew they had broken the kings laws and now that he was here, they were under the sentence of death. The sons sadness grew as he read name after name until his eyes fell on the name of his bride to be. At seeing it, his heart broke from grief.

The son now turned quietly to the father .. Father he said, I have found great joy in the love of these, is there no way they can be spared? The father saw the son’s grief and his own heart was torn. My son he said, "We cannot break our own laws for they are our word. The penalty for disobedience must be paid. The only way they can be spared is someone pays their penalty for them, but since everyone of them has broken the law there is no one who can take another’s place. The son thought for a moment and then asked, Father, Can I take their place ? "Yes", the King said, but not for all, only for those who believe that what you do is for them.

With that, the son turned to his bride. His strong arms lifter her from the ground and he looked into her fearful eyes. You are all under the penalty of death, yet I love you and my father has given me permission to take your sentence that you might live. Remember me and why I have done this.

The son then placed himself in the arms of the King’s guard. The captain of the guard took him, bound him and right there in the middle of the courtyard put him to death by sword. The King did not speak again but quietly watched his son die. The Kings guard then took the sons body and placed in on horse and the whole kings procession silently left the courtyard.

The people left in the courtyard were in shock at what they had seen yet most felt relieved that they had not been killed. In the next few days they spent quite some hours trying to understand exactly why the king had killed their friend. Ultimately most concluded that their friend must have been a really bad criminal and before long forgot the event had even happened. The fact that no one ever saw the king out riding again made everyone rest much easier and the incident was soon forgotten.

But one person did not forget the incident. One person did not forget their friend. For you see, that maiden who had come to love the son so much could never forget her love for him. Nor could she forget the speed with which this man had given hi sown life for her. No she could not forget and she not only remembered him but loved him freely with all her heart for all her life. For now the fear was gone.