The Battle of the White King and the Black King,

by J. W. Cassandra

The fairy tale entitled The Battle of the White King and the Black King belongs to my fairy tale book Bluebell Pixie's Tales. Within the book, there is a small coherent string of tales: I wrote three tales about the two kings and their empires, which I will share here one after the other. This tale is the first part of a smaller, coherent series of tales.

The Black King's envy is the reason for bursting of the war between the two most powerful kings: the Black King attacks the White King, who reigns in peace, because the Black King's evil heart envies his happiness. He sets his dragons, evil wizards, and witches in battle order against the White King in order to devastate the other ruler's empire. But the White King's fairies, who guard the empire, are on the watch and warn the ruler of the White Empire of the danger in time. With their advice, they help him wage war against evil, and they themselves engage in a fight against the evil army. How do the magical clouds clash, and how does the White King finally triumph with the help of his fairies? You can find out if you read the tale. And since all is well that ends well, the two empires are united through the marriage of the children of the two rulers, so that evil can no longer be on the loose anywhere in their territory. Until then, however, there is a long way to go, and this will be the subject of the second and third tales, which I will also publish soon.

Bluebell Pixie picked up her spindle-legs in a hilly countryside, and walked and ambled along, sometimes slowly, sometimes faster, until she came to a cottage. The noise of the younger and older children could be heard from afar. As soon as they saw the little pixie, the noise grew earsplitting: they all flocked around her, and each of them wanted the little pixie's bag for himself. During the tug of war, the mouth of the enchanting bag was loosened, and a tale about the White King's empire emerged from it. Listen to it, you also, children!

Once upon a time, beyond the Seven Seas, [1] there was a king whose empire was made up entirely of warm-hearted people, and the king himself was a kind-hearted ruler. The kingdom of this king was enveloped in pure white light rays, and it was prophesied by the benevolent fairies who guarded the empire that it would remain so until the White King, for so he was called after the white light rays, should enter into war.

The White King did not want to make war, and he lived happily with his wife, the Queen, in their palace in the capital of the empire, surrounded by their children: three golden-haired princes and three golden-haired princesses.

The White King governed his country contentedly, and his people were also satisfied with his reign.

Time went past. Far from the White King's empire, but on this side of the Seven Seas, there was another country, ruled by the Black King. But there was no thanks in it! The Black King's subjects had evil hearts, as had the emperor, and evil fairies guarded the borders of the Black Empire. Wicked witches, dragons, and vile wizards lived in the realm of the Black King, who had already turned the subjects into evil, so they were set on new prey.

Once upon a time, the Black King got wind of the great happiness of the White King, and his envy knew no bounds. "Well," he thought, "I will settle him!"

He began to prepare for war with his three evil sons and three evil daughters against the White King's empire. The armies, the wizards, the witches, the evil fairies were prepared, and the black, evil cloud that enveloped the Black King's realm began to move toward the White King's realm. The Black King's army marched against the White King's empire like a black storm: no one could stand in their way; like the flood, they swept everything away.

As soon as they crossed the Seven Seas, they rushed straight toward the empire of the White King. But the black cloud was noticed in time by the White King's benevolent fairies, and they prepared the White King for the enemy's coming, and advised him the following:

"Listen to us, White King, we will fight against the sorcerers and witches, but against the dragons, send out your strongest and bravest warriors on their magic steeds! Do not wait for the enemy to surround you: march against them with your army, divide your soldiers: let there be a strong little troop to stalk the enemy as it is customary for the beast, then let the two smaller ones move on the side of the main army, and first let clash them with the Black King. Thus, his army will be weaker by the time you command the best of your troops against him. Do not be afraid of anything, we will help you!"

And so it happened: the troubled White King sent his bravest warriors, including his three golden-haired sons, against the dragons; divided his troops into three parts, with the middle one, he remained behind, and after the report of a smaller troop of reconnaissance, he brought into action his two wings against the unified army of the Black King. They clashed with the soldiers of the Black King: the battlefield roared with shouts, rang with the clash of swords, but all this was drowned out by the noise of the clash of evil sorcerers, fairies, and witches against good fairies.

One would think that the good fairies could not manage so much evil, but they could do a great deal: they certainly managed to transform them into goodness. Thus, the strength of the Black King's soldiers and of dragons was also weakened. The Black King was in decline: his wickedness diminished, and goodness took its place.

By the time the sun set over the battlefield, the black cloud of evil had dissipated from the white cloud of goodness, the defeated armies of the Black King were running back towards the Seven Seas, and the wounded were lying groaning across the field.

The Black King sent a peace envoy to the White King: let the White King stop the war, for he won, the Black King surrenders himself to him with his sons and army at his mercy.

The White King sat in council with the good fairies. They advised him to do the following:

"Receive the envoy of peace, but as a guarantee of your victory, order the Black King to give to your three sons his three daughters, and you marry your three daughters to his three sons! With this, you can be sure that he will no longer attack you with his army. But remember: from this day on, your reign will be full of troubles, as we have told you some time ago!"

The White King accepted the Black King's olive branch, and a six-man wedding was held for seventy-seven countries: the three Black Princes married the three beautiful White Princesses, and the three Black Princesses married the three beautiful White Princes. After the wedding, the three couples moved to six places: the three Black Princes later took over the reign of the Black King's empire shared, and the White King's reign the eldest White Prince took over later.

And I will tell you about the troubles of the White King's rule in another tale, now even the bravest warrior must rest...

With this, Bluebell Pixie put the tale of the battle back into the bag, and after promising to return with the second tale one day, and she disappeared. Let her be your guest tomorrow!

Written: January 2006, by J. W. Cassandra
Translated: 21 / 07. 2025, by J. W. Cassandra

[1] In the Hungarian folklore and folk tales, we have the expression 'az Óperenciás-tengeren túl', I rendered it here with 'beyond the Seven Seas, in a faraway land' or 'in the Seven Seas'. The Hungarian name of the sea has its origin from German: it was originally 'ober Enns', meaning 'over the Enns (the tributary of the river Danube in Austria).

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