When Reuben and Corin reached the castle, they were received with sorrow by the servants, but the king rejoiced to see such a fine young man as Reuben come to help him with his wayward daughters. For indeed, the princesses’ behaviour gravely troubled the king, for a reason known to none but him.
The king, when first he came to the throne, had had a sister. She was much younger than he and more beautiful than a summer’s day, or the snows in winter. And although his mother had died bearing her—or perhaps, indeed, because of this, for he sorely needed someone to love—the king had doted upon her and indulged her every whim. What this sister loved best of all was to dance. She danced every night, and the people of the kingdom loved her for it, for she would dance with everyone: rich or poor, n
