Transgendered Fairy Tales
by Kaleigh Way

There was another king who was just and kind; so much so that everyone called him "the Good King." One day when he was out hunting, his dogs were chasing a little white rabbit. The rabbit sprang into the king's arms for shelter. The king stroked it gently and said, "Since you've come to me for protection, I will see that no one hurts you."

He took it home, put it in a pretty little house, and fed it all the foods that rabbits like to eat.

That night when he was alone in his room, a beautiful lady appeared before him. Her long dress was white as snow and she wore a crown of white roses on her head. The king was extremely surprised, since he knew his door was closed and well guarded.

She said to him, "I am the fairy Tephaine. I was passing through the woods while you were hunting, and was curious to see whether you are as good as your reputation. I took the form of the little rabbit and ran into your arms, for I know that those who treat their fellow-man badly, treat animals even worse. If you had refused to help me, I would have been sure you were wicked. Thank you for the kindness you've shown me, which has made me your friend forever. Know that whatever you ask of me, I will give you."

"Madam," the king replied, "since you are a fairy, you no doubt know all my wishes. I have but one child, a son, and I love him dearly. His name is Guion. The only favor I ask is that you become his friend."

"Certainly," the fairy replied. "I can make him the handsomest, richest, or most powerful prince in the world: chose whichever you like for him."

"I don't ask such things for my son," he told her. "If you can make him the best of princes, I would be eternally grateful. What good is beauty, wealth, or power unless one's heart is good? Only a good person can be truly happy."

"You're right," the fairy agreed, "but it's not in my power to make a person good unless they want it themselves. If he tries to be good, I will help him. If he goes astray I'll do my best to put him right again."

The fairy's promise made the king glad. When he died several years later, Guion became king in his place. A few days after the coronation, the fairy Tephaine appeared again. She explained to Guion who she was, and put a gold ring on his finger.

"Your father asked me to help you to be good," she explained, "and that is why I give you this ring. It is worth more than diamonds. Every time you do a bad deed it will prick your finger. If you heed its warnings, I shall always be a good friend to you."

The prince was quite astonished by the visit and the gift, and for a long time he behaved so well that the ring never bothered him.

One day, however, he went out hunting but caught nothing. This put him in a very bad temper. As he rode home he felt the ring pressing his finger, but since it didn't prick him he ignored it. When he got home, his little dog ran to meet him, jumping and yapping happily. "Go away!" Guion said gruffly, "I don't want you; get out of my way!"

Of course, the dog didn't understand any of this, and pulled at the young king's coat to get his attention. This made Guion so cross that he kicked the little dog across the room. Instantly the ring gave him a sharp prick, like a pin. He was very surprised and quite justly felt ashamed of himself. But then he thought, "The fairy must be joking. Is there anything wrong with kicking a pesky little animal? I'm the ruler of a great kingdom, but I can't hit my own dog?"

Tephaine's voice answered his thoughts: "I never joke, your highness. I simply wish to point out three things to you: first, you were in a bad temper because you did not get what you wanted, as if all of nature was made for your pleasure; second, you were cruel to a small animal that did not deserve to be ill-treated; third, while it's true that you are far above a little dog, if it were right for the great to ill-treat the small, then I, who am far mightier than you, could beat you or kill you. We both know that such a thing would be very wrong. In the same way, it is wrong to harm your pet. The advantage to ruling a great kingdom is not that one can do all the evil that one desires, but that one has the power to do all the good that one possibly can."

Guion saw that he'd behaved badly, and promised to do better in the future, but he did not keep his word. He had been spoiled when he was young, and was quite used to throwing tantrums. His nanny had often told him that when he was king everyone would be bound to obey him, and as a child he had looked forward to doing whatever he liked.

When he grew older he recognized this attitude as childish, and tried to cure himself of being proud, stubborn, and vain, but old habits are hard to break. He was not really bad at heart and he tried very hard to be good.

However, it soon seemed that the ring was pricking him all the time. Sometimes when it did, he would stop what he was doing at once, but other times he'd ignore it. He found that it gave a light prick for a trifling fault, but if he was truly wicked his finger would actually bleed. At last he got tired of the inconvenience, and stopped wearing the ring altogether. Then he felt free to do whatever silly thing popped into his head, until he was so wicked that no one could stand him any longer.

One day when he was riding in the countryside, he saw a young girl who was so very pretty that he decided at once to marry her. Her name was Celia, and she was as good as she was beautiful. The king imagined that no woman could resist the chance to be his queen, but Celia told him fearlessly, "Sire, I am only a poor shepherdess, but nevertheless, I will not marry you."

"What?" asked the king, vexed at this answer. "Do you dislike me? Do you find me ugly?"

"No, my lord," Celia replied. "No one can deny that you are very handsome indeed. But what good would riches be to me, and all the grand dresses and splendid carriages that you would give me, if I had to witness near at hand all the bad deeds that you commit?"

King Guion was very angry at this speech, so he commanded his soldiers to take Celia prisoner. All that day and the next, he was stung by the memory of what she'd said, but then he would remember her lovely face. He couldn't make up his mind whether to punish her or let her go.

One of the king's favorite companions was his foster-brother, Harenbil, whom he trusted entirely. However, this foster-brother was not a good man at all. He gave King Guion very bad advice and encouraged him in all his evil ways. When he saw the king downcast, he asked what was the matter. Guion told him about Celia. He confessed that he could not bear Celia's bad opinion of him, so he resolved to be a better man in order to please her and deserve her hand. "But it's so difficult to be good," he sighed.

When Harenbil heard this, he told Guion, "It's kind of you to go to so much trouble for this little girl, but if I were you, I'd make her obey me. Remember, you are a king, and if people see you bending over backward to please a penniless shepherd girl, they're going to laugh at you. This Celia would be extremely lucky if you made her the lowest of your servants, let alone your queen. Let her stew a while in prison, and feed her on bread and water. Then, if she still doesn't want to marry you, have her head cut off, to teach other people that kings are meant to be obeyed. Why, if you can't make a girl do as you wish, the rest of your subjects will soon forget that they serve at your pleasure."

"Wouldn't it be awful if I had an innocent girl put to death? Celia hasn't done anything to deserve punishment."

"She defied you," Harenbil calmly replied. "If people won't do as you tell them, they ought to suffer for it. And even if it was unjust, it would be better to be called unjust that to have your subjects insult and thwart you whenever they like."

In saying this, he touched a weak spot in Guion's character. The king was so afraid of appearing weak that he at once abandoned the idea of trying to be good, and resolved to frighten the shepherdess into marrying him.

Harenbil wanted Guion to keep this resolution, so he invited three friends as wicked as himself to have dinner with the king. Their plan was to have him drink a great deal of wine, and then excite his anger against the girl. Harenbil was quite cruel, and had all sorts of torments in mind for the little shepherdess.

However, the evening didn't go as Harenbil planned. As Guion became more and more drunk, instead of getting angry, he became maudlin and sentimental. Harenbil saw this and waved his three friends off, so he could sit and listen to the king. Guion looked out the window and saw some women dancing in the square below. He watched them for a time, but his expression was more of envy than of lust.

"Women are so lucky," Guion said. "They don't even realize what easy lives they've got! We have to toil and sweat, and concern ourselves with war and affairs of state, and endless boring treaties."

"It's true," Harenbil agreed. "All they need to do is look pretty."

"That's their only concern!" the king cried. "Pretty hair, pretty clothes, pretty ways of doing things. Nothing is hard for a woman. All she has to do is smile..."

"And any man will break himself to try to please her," Harenbil continued. "Ah, what an enviable existence!"

The king sighed. "I would give anything to have such a life."

Harenbil was astonished. He never suspected that the king possessed such feelings. He knew the king falsely imagined that women led a paradisiacal life, and did nothing but look pretty all day long. But he never knew that Guion wished to be a woman himself.

Surprised as he was, the false friend's mind moved quickly. For all his flattery, Harenbil's own secret desire was make himself king. But Harenbil knew how to bide his time. He would only act if the outcome was sure. As the king admired the women, Harenbil searched for a way to use this new information. Then it came to him! He had a plan, but it all depended on the depth of the king's desire. If he really wanted to be a girl, then there was a way ... Harenbil could put Guion aside and take the throne himself! He chuckled silently and studied the king's face as he remembered...

Some years past, Harenbil had befriended a sorcerer, a practitioner of the black arts. This sorcerer often boasted of spells that he alone knew, and among them was a spell by which a man and women could trade places. When Harenbil first heard this, he became quite excited an interested, for he hoped that by a stratagem and the spell, he could trade places with Guion. That was a change Harenbil would welcome, for Guion was not only more handsome, but younger and healthier.

However, the sorcerer explained that the spell would not not work for two men or for two women, but only for a woman and a man.

At the time, Harenbil was vexed by the constraint, but now it seemed made to order. Harenbil could devise a trap for the unsuspecting king. A trap Guion would happily, even eagerly, walk into. All that was needed was a collection of lies, carefully arranged around a half-truth.

"My lord," Harenbil said, in a confidential tone. "There is a way that you could taste life as a woman for one day. Or so I have heard."

Guion's head cleared in an instant. "Tell me, then! Is it really so?"

Harenbil was pleased by the king's eagerness, so he went on. "It must be done on midsummer eve. If a man throws a certain type of garland in the Serrigond Fountain, he must choose carefully the next maiden he dances with, for he will take her form when he wakes the next morning. When the sun sets on midsummer day, he will return to his own shape."

The king had many questions: What sort of flower garland? What happens to the girl? What was one to do about clothing? Did it really work?

Harenbil easily handled each question. The garland required special preparation. The girl remained as she ever was, with no inkling that her twin was abroad for the day. Clothing could easily be provided.

"If you like, your majesty," Harenbil smoothly assured him, "I can have such a garland prepared. You can choose the girl who pleases you best, and we can ride off in a coach to one of your pretty little towns, along with plenty of clothes and supplies for your day. No one will ever know, and you will have the pleasure of being a lovely girl for an entire day."

The king's imagination caught fire. He foresaw himself on a string of midsummer days, frolicking in a dress. "But," he asked Harenbil, "how do we know that it really works?"

Harenbil spread his hands. "We can only try. If nothing happens, no harm's done. But if it does work..."

That was enough for the king. He ordered Harenbil to make all the necessary preparations. Midsummer's eve was only six weeks away; six weeks that passed with planning, choosing the town, conferring with Harenbil. The false friend had never seen the king so excited! Guion was nearly in a fever. In his passion, he quite forgot the little shepherdess, who sat in her prison cell, eating only bread and water.

Harenbil occupied himself with the arrangements. Together he and the king visited the pretty little far-off town where Guion planned to spend his girlish day. They picked out dresses and shoes and ornaments. They thought of things to do ... there were so many details to decide!

However, all these plans were nothing but a sham. There was much that Harenbil hadn't told the king, and many plans that none but Harenbil knew.

It was true that the spell only worked on midsummer eve. It was true that a special garland was needed, but the spell had nothing do with dancing, or with changing into a boy or a girl for a day. The truth was, that if any man and woman handled the garland and tossed it in the fountain, they would trade places the moment the flowers touched the water. If a henwife and a bishop handled the garland and tossed it in the fountain, poof! — in that moment the bishop would become the henwife and the henwife would become the bishop. If a man and wife tossed the garland, he would be she, and she would be he, all in the twinkling of an eye.

Once done, the magic could only be undone with another garland on another midsummer eve.

It was complicated and a little dangerous, Harenbil thought, but it could be done. A girl — any girl who had the garland — could become Guion, and Harenbil could be that girl... All he needed was a pretty girl... Harenbil could take her place and hand a garland to Guion. Just that simply, the thing would be done. And he knew just the girl.

He would have two garlands prepared: one for Celia, and one for Guion. If the girl was brought to the fountain, it would be nothing to have her touch the garland so Harenbil could take her form. Then, as Celia, he would give the second garland to Guion. Even if Guion lost heart and didn't throw it in the fountain, Harenbil as Celia could do it herself.

In the end, Harenbil would take Guion's place, Guion would be the shepherd girl, and the shepherd girl would be Harenbil.

Harenbil played it out with chess pieces: he was the knight, Guion was the king, and Celia was a pawn. He touched the pawn to the knight and said poof! Now he was Celia. Then he touched the pawn to the king. Poof! Now he was Guion!

I shall be king! he told himself. Not only that, I'll be younger and better looking, and above all, free to do as I please. In fact, My first official act shall be to order Harenbil's head cut off. I can make up my mind about the little shepherd girl later. He chuckled and sneered. "Much, much later. Perhaps I could even marry her!" With that he roared aloud with laughter, more pleased with himself than he had ever been in his life.

While Harenbil made his plans, delighted with his own cleverness, someone else was watching and making plans of her own. The fairy Tephaine had never abandoned King Guion. Even after he discarded the ring she'd given him, she protected him from harm, and waited for an opportunity to put his feet back on the right path. Now she saw her chance.

Two days before midsummer, Tephaine appeared to the poor shepherdess Celia in her prison cell. The fairy knew as well as you and I that Celia was not a simple shepherd girl at all. She was under an enchantment that Tephaine was powerless to break.

The fairy laid her plans before the girl, and Celia agreed in every point. The fairy then took the girl from her cell and carried her to the fairy's castle, where she bathed and supped and dressed for the festival of midsummer eve.

At the same time, Harenbil emerged from the sorcerer's cave with the magic garlands in his hand. He was already laughing to himself over his easy victory and the foolishness of his foster-brother Guion. Suddenly, he froze in his steps, unable to lift his feet from the ground. "What sorcery is this?" he cried, and struggled in vain to free himself.

A lady dressed in white, crowned with white roses, appeared before him and spoke in a severe voice. "Harenbil, you have had every advantage in life, and could have done great good through your wealth and your cleverness. Instead, you have only served yourself. Now you are only outwardly a man. In reality you are a monster — the horror of everyone who knows you. Like a snake, you have been ungrateful and sneaking, and turned upon those who did you good. I condemn you to resemble the animal you have always imitated."

The fairy had scarcely finished speaking, when Harenbil saw to his horror that her words were fulfilled. He found himself lying on his stomach, without arms or legs, and when he tried to speak, a forked tongue emerged from his mouth. The only sound he could make was a hiss.

The fairy retrieved the magic garlands, and returned to her castle.

King Guion waited anxiously by the fountain, looking in every direction for Harenbil. Many comely women tried to catch his eye, but he was fretful, unable to choose. He hoped that Harenbil would help him make a wise choice.

Suddenly, the loveliest girl he had ever seen was standing by his side. She wore a white dress, decorated with diamonds. It was Celia, but Guion did not recognize her dressed in all this finery.

"My lord," Celia told him, "Your brother Harenbil asked me to give you this garland. He bids you toss it in the fountain and dance with me, if I please you."

Celia more than pleased him, and without a thought Guion seized the garland and tossed it in the water. He took Celia's hand, and the world seemed to spin around him. Up was down, front was back. He felt he was falling, tumbling end over end, and yet he was not moving. When finally the world ceased its whirling, he seemed to be looking in a mirror. He beheld his own face looking at him, and heard his own voice ask, "Is it well with you?"

Guion took the offered arm, and followed himself to a bench where he sat and tried to regain his calm.

"You were misled," his own voice told him. "The garland makes a transformation the moment it touches the fountain, and the change is not temporary. Or, more correctly, it can only be undone on a midsummer eve."

Guion looked down at himself and saw the white dress decorated with diamonds that the lovely girl had been wearing. He moved his arms, and the girl's arms moved. He coughed, and heard the girl cough. "What has happened to me?" he asked, and the voice he heard was high and light and musical.

"You are now the shepherdess Celia," his voice replied, "and the person who was Celia is now you."

"You should know," the voice continued, "that Celia was not a simple shepherd girl. Many years ago, I was a rich and powerful king, just as you were, but a wicked fairy named Ragotte transformed me into the girl you knew as Celia. I was cursed to tend her sheep for five long years, and then I was free to roam the earth, but never — or so I thought — to be king again."

Guion understood. "I locked you in my prison. I cannot blame you if you do the same to me."

"My years of suffering have taught me humility," the king replied, "and revenge is a thing not worth having. I have no desire to see you suffer, but now that fate and the fairy Tephaine have put your power in my hands, I must try to redress the wrongs you've done as ruler. When a year is out, next midsummer eve, we can return to this fountain and retake our former shapes. During that time, I hope you will learn to be good, as your father was before you. If you do not, I cannot in good conscience return the kingdom to your hands. If you persist in doing wrong, you shall be Celia forever."

The new king stood and gave his arm to the newly-made shepherd girl. The Good King went immediately to the prison and with his own hands unlocked doors and chains. With great apologies he freed the unjustly imprisoned. He had them fed and dressed, and restored them to their former state. He called together all the flatterers, thieves, and bad counselors in the court and dismissed them all. "See that you reform yourselves," he said, "for we have new room in the prisons for those who do not walk aright."

The following days were spent restoring lands and property unjustly taken by Guion or by members of the court. Many wrongs were righted, and the Good King searched out the bad and set it straight. He established a time each day when any subject in the realm, no matter how lowly, could have his ear, and tell him of grievances or ask for his aid.

Slowly, King Guion's bad reputation became nothing but a memory, and his people welcomed the change.

Close at hand, a witness to all, was the little shepherdess, Celia. She wished she had done such good when she was king. She saw that this king did well, and she loved him for his strength and goodness. Throughout that year, Celia never left the Good King's side. As often as she could, she took his arm. He treated her with kindness, and as time passed, with trust. Celia's new life taught her humility, and under the strong influence of the Good King she renewed her good heart and tried to do well.

Several weeks before midsummer eve, Tephaine appeared to her. The fairy complimented her on her exemplary behavior and modest demeanor. The girl asked the fairy to do her a small favor, and smiling, the fairy agreed. That evening, a fire was prepared in the king's chamber. Tephaine produced the second garland, and Celia laid it on the flames. Tephaine had kept it, in case the Good King wished to make good on his promise. Now there was no need.

"You are a better king than I could ever hope to be," Celia told him. "My conscience and my sense of duty will not allow me to take that office from you. This land could not find, and could not hope for, a better ruler. And I confess that I am happy in my new state. My only wish is that you will let me be your friend and allow me to stay close by, so I can witness and assist your noble works and profit from your good influence."

The Good King smiled. "Perhaps we can do better than that," he replied. "You once asked me if I would marry you. Now may I ask if you would marry me?"

The happy girl threw her arms around his neck, and two weeks later they were wed.

© 2007 by Kaleigh Way