Four cottages stood on the path to the palace. They were called Rose, Hyacinth, Lily and Iris Cottage. In the village, there were strange stories about the cottages and people said they were haunted.
Long ago, in the palace there lived a King and a Queen who had four beautiful daughters. They were called Rose, Hyacinth, Lily and Iris. The Princesses were known for being good and kind. But one day, the evil King of the neighbouring kingdom saw them and wanted to take one of them away to a far-off land to marry his son. His son too was evil like him and the Princesses were terrified.
The King did not know how to save his gentle daughters from the evil King.
“Tomorrow the evil King is to select the Princess he wants for his son,” said the King to his counsellors, “Can anybody think of a way to save them?”
“There is one way, Your Highness,” said his Chief Counsellor, “Let the Princesses be married tonight to someone they choose. They can hide and we will tell the evil King that all the Princesses died suddenly of a mysterious illness.”
The idea seemed fine to the King and the Queen and they agreed. The Princesses were called in and asked if there were any people they would want to marry. Princess Rose chose the Chief Counsellor’s son. Princess Hyacinth liked the son of the Commander of the army. Princess Lily had fallen in love with the Chief Cook of the palace. And Princess Iris loved the humble Stable-Keeper of the palace very much.
The King got his daughters married to the men they chose. All of them were hidden in the lofts above the stables and four dummies were buried the next morning. There was a great deal of weeping and mourning in the palace.
The evil King was very angry, but he had to leave without a bride for his son. “I shall come after one year to meet you!” he said as he left.
This created a great problem for the Princesses. If he returned and saw them there would be a war!
So, the four cottages were built in the village and the Princesses lived there safely. When the evil King came on a visit, the four families would go away on a holiday and the villagers would say that the cottages were haunted!
