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Group Story: A tale most cliche

A member-written collaborative effort. Feel free to join in and see where it goes!
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Kveto from Prague
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Group Story: A tale most cliche

Post by Kveto from Prague » Sun August 23rd, 2009, 10:57 am

It was a joyous spring day in the lovely isle called Britain. Wilhemina was awaiting the day when she.....

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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Sun August 23rd, 2009, 1:09 pm

was to be sold into a loveless marriage.
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
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robinbird79
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Post by robinbird79 » Sun August 23rd, 2009, 2:34 pm

She knew it had to happen, that's what daughters were for after all, but she was not ready to leave her family. Her father desperately needed to forge an alliance with a family connected with the new King. He hoped that by doing that his past, possibly treasonous activities, would be overlooked. Wilhemina was aware of all this but she still hated the thought of being used as a pawn on a very large and dangerous chessboard.
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boswellbaxter
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Post by boswellbaxter » Sun August 23rd, 2009, 2:40 pm

"If only I could marry for true love!" she sighed, gazing at her lovely reflection in the mirror. "Why cannot a highborn lady have the freedom that a peasant's daughter does?"
Susan Higginbotham
Coming in October: The Woodvilles


http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/
http://www.susanhigginbotham.com/blog/

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Margaret
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Post by Margaret » Sun August 23rd, 2009, 4:51 pm

Only a short distance away, below the castle walls and down the hill, a peasant girl stared up at the castle window where Wilhelmina's red sleeves fluttered in the breeze. "If only I could marry a prince," Elspeth thought. "It would be so easy to love someone if he could give me furs and jewels and a lovely warm hearth to sit by on winter evenings." It wasn't that she didn't care for Fritz, but she knew she would have to work all the harder after they married, keeping up her labor in the fields, while also taking up all the duties of a wife.
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Thu October 22nd, 2009, 5:11 pm

Twin sighs drifted on the breeze as the princess and the peasant realized that their dreams were unlikely to ever become reality. Elspeth returned to the wash, and Wilhelmina to her needlework.

Many many furlongs away, Prince Gorgeous rode out on his favorite charger Seau. He had no specific destination in mind. He merely wished to clear his head, as riding almost always did. Being rich and privileged was such a trial! He enjoyed the clothes, the banquets, the fawning, having his pick of any maiden in the land, and not having to do much of anything for himself. Yet part of him yearned to chuck it all and follow his dream of being a really well-dressed traveling minstrel.

If only his dear mother were alive to advise him!

Little did he know that his mother would have told him to stop being such an indolent twit and grow up, and finish your porridge for crying out loud! She had died shortly after his birth and what he lacked in knowledge about her he made up for with imagination. No one ever spoke of his mother, and the reason was a closely guarded secret he had yet to divine.

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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Sun May 9th, 2010, 4:05 pm

Suddenly, Prince Gorgeous was pulled from his musings by an utterly divine singing voice. There was a castle in the distance, he thought he could make out a slender figure at the base of a tower and a flutter of red from an upper window.

He spurred Seau to a full gallop. As he neared the castle, it became apparent to him that not only was the figure at on the ground a lady, but also the one in the tower was as well. Which one was singing?

The answer to this one question could determine the happiness of the rest of his life. He knew from reading Fairytale Weekly that princes out for rides who heard angelic singing were supposed to rescue the maiden with the beautiful voice and live happily ever after.

Clearly, there was only one thing for Prince Gorgeous to do...

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LoveHistory
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Post by LoveHistory » Fri August 13th, 2010, 7:56 pm

He would simply have to rescue them both! Then he'd take them home, find out which one had the fantastic pipes and marry her. He'd have to figure out something else for the spare maiden, but before any of that he needed to accomplish his daring rescues.

He put all his brainpower into action to conjure a plan so bold, so genius, it had to work...

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Post by Kate139 » Sun May 29th, 2011, 6:40 pm

Then the brilliant creative thought occured to him... I shall ask both of them to sing a duet together and decide who has the more beautiful voice. Surely that would save a lot of bother.
"Pray, beautiful maidens," saith he. "Sing me a duet."
They both settled on something called "Redsleeves".
Unfortunately, the prince was unable to work out which of the maidens was singing the tune and which the harmonies. This called for a rethink. If only his late mother were around to advise him.

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Margaret
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Posts: 2440
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Interest in HF: I can't answer this in 100 characters. Sorry.
Favourite HF book: Checkmate, the final novel in the Lymond series
Preferred HF: Literary novels. Late medieval and Renaissance.
Location: Catskill, New York, USA
Contact:

Post by Margaret » Sun May 29th, 2011, 11:18 pm

While he was thinking, a haunting but manly tenor voice somewhere in the distance began weaving a third melody into the duet. Shocked by this unexpected competition, the prince ...
Browse over 5000 historical novel listings (probably well over 5000 by now, but I haven't re-counted lately) and over 700 reviews at www.HistoricalNovels.info

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