Once upon a time...

...There was a princess who was kept locked away from the outside world by the Evil King. She didn't know that the King was evil and she loved him very much. Gradually the Evil King began to allow the princess contact with outsiders, but by voice only. He was confident that no others could steal away the love of his caged beauty.

Then one day a Knight in shining armor came along. Though the princess was still devoted to the Evil King she began to develop a very special connection to the Knight. They would spend hours and hours talking, laughing and enjoying each other's company. This made the princess very happy.

Soon the Evil King began to see the effect that the Knight was having upon his princess and he became insecure and jealous. Unbeknownst to the princess the Evil King decided to have a conversation of his own with the Knight. The Evil King told the Knight that he needed to go away from the princess, to leave her life without a word or the Evil King would ensure that the princess' life was one full of misery and pain. Worried for the princess' safety and unsure of what else to do the Knight disappeared from her life. He knew that if he tried to tell the princess what had taken place she may have listened, but her love for and misplaced trust in the Evil King was so strong that she would not ride away to safety.

The princess, not knowing what had happened to her Knight feared the worst and went on with her life believing her Knight had perished. Of course the Evil King held her and acted in a comforting manner when his princess cried but secretly he thought he had won the battle with the Knight.

The years went by and while the pain of the Knight's loss became less sharp the princess never forgot him or the feeling of love that they had shared. Eventually she began to discover the depth of the King's evil. Though it was difficult and she was full of fear one day she managed to escape his realm into safety.

Over the years the Knight had managed to keep track of the Princess, to watch over her from a distance ever fearful that the Evil King would one day make his threats reality even though the Knight was no longer a threat. The Knight stood ready to rescue the princess should she ever become the damsel in distress in need of his knightly services. When the princess left the realm though he lost track of her and feared the worst. He searched and searched until one day he finally found her! She was safe and she was happy. All along he had known that the princess thought him dead but he couldn't tell her otherwise knowing that if he did the Evil King would take out his revenge upon the poor princess.

Now that she was no longer in the clutches of the Evil King though he could finally tell her! He didn't know what her reaction would be. She might be angry that she had been deceived for so long, but the Knight was brave. He had already sacrificed love, friendship and more for the princess' safety. He would no longer sacrifice truth.

He told her and though she was hurt and confused at first, eventually the anger grew - not toward the Knight but toward the Evil King. You see, while she had come to know what the Evil King was capable of, she had believed that the change in him had been gradual and that he had once been a good King who loved her. She had no idea that his capacity for deception, manipulation and evil had been so great even from the first moments they were together.

In the end it was the Knight and the princess who won, not the Evil King. The connection that the two shared was so great that even after years of absense from each other's lives and after each had survived the pain of thinking the other was lost to this world forever, they were able to resume their friendship knowing that while it would never be exactly as it was it could be just as strong, just as deep and nothing could possibly tear it apart again.