s capital city. Once there, he began
to make preparations for a long siege, and the first thing he did was to
plan how best to send his wife to a place of security.

The queen, who loved her husband dearly, would gladly have remained with
him to share his dangers, but he would not allow it. So they parted,
with many tears, and the queen set out with a strong guard to a
fortified castle on the outskirts of a great forest, some two hundred
miles distant. She cried nearly all the way, and when she arrived she
cried still more, for everything in the castle was dusty and old, and
outside there was only a gravelled courtyard, and the king had forbidden
her to go beyond the walls without at least two soldiers to take care of
her.

Now the queen had only been married a few months, and in her own home
she had been used to walk and ride all over the hills without any
attendants at all; so she felt very dull at her being shut up in this
way. However, she bore it for a long while because it was the king's
wish, but when time passed and there were no signs of the war drifting
in the direction of the castle, she grew bolder, and sometimes strayed
outside the walls, in the direction of the forest.

Then came a dreadful period, when news from the king ceased entirely.

'He must surely be ill or dead,' thought the poor girl, who even now
was only sixteen. 'I can bear it no longer, and if I do not get a letter
from him soon I shall leave this horrible place and go back to see what
is the matter. Oh! I do wish I had never come away!'

So, without telling anyone what she intended to do, she ordered a little
low carriage to be built, something like a sledge, only it was on two
wheels--just big enough to hold one person.

'I am tired of being always in the castle,' she said to her attendants;
'and I mean to hunt a little. Quite close by, of course,' she added,
seeing the anxious look on their faces. 'And there is no reason that you
should not hunt too.'

All the faces brightened at that, for, to tell the truth, they were
nearly as dull as their mistress; so the queen had her way, and two
beautiful horses were brought from the stable to draw the little
chariot. At first the queen took care to keep near the rest of the
hunt, but gradually she stayed away longer and longer, and at last,
one morning, she took advantage of the appearance of a wild boar, after
which her whole court instantly galloped, to turn into a path in the
opposite di