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Once upon a time, there lived a Huntsman. Now, this Huntsman was no ordinary huntsman, but rather the son of the Lord of the manor, although neither of them knew it. For you see, the Huntsman had been born while the Lord was away at war, and his mother died shortly after his birth. The Lord quickly married a woman whose husband had died while on a dangerous mission, and she was sent from the front to the Lord’s manor, where it quickly became evident that she was pregnant. As soon as she arrived, she ordered one of her servants to do away with the Lord’s other son, because she wished to ensure that her own child would inherit his manor, and so guarantee a life of leisure for her two other children. Her servant abandoned the child in the woods where the child was found by the Lord’s Gameskeeper, who brought the child to his wife to raise as their own.
And so the Huntsman learned all their was to know of the woods and the animals that lived inside. The Lord’s Manor was on the edge of a great forest, and few knew that forest better than the Huntsman. As a child he would accompany his father as he led the Lord and his eldest step-son out hunting, and by time he was fourteen he was leading the hunts himself, often being more successful than any of the others. And much to his mother’s dismay the young Heir was far more fond of the young Huntsman than any of his brothers, often accompanying him into the woods as the Huntsman did the sort of things huntsman do when they are not leading hunts.
And so life continued peacefully, until the day of the Royal Twins’ twentieth birthday. The King had decided that a grand ball must be thrown to celebrate the occasion, if spouses were found for the Princess and Prince during the events, all the better. The Princess was the heir to the throne, having been born moments before the Prince, and while she was more than capable of taking over the Kingdom at any moment, the King despaired of the Prince, who was more fond of spending long amounts of time in the woods hunting than any serious efforts. The King believed a beautiful wife would set the Prince straight, and finding a husband for the Princess now would give him time to adjust to being secondary to his wife before she became Queen. And so a royal ball was decreed, and all the young men and women in the realm were to attend.
When the news came to the manor, the Lady immediately began coaching her second (and favorite) son on how to win the Princess’ heart. The only thing that distracted her from her goal of having a Princess as a daughter-in-law was when her youngest son asked if the Huntsman could come along as well. Now, the Huntsman was far more attractive than her second son, and what’s more, she had long suspected that the Huntsman was in fact the Lord’s first son, and so she forbade the Heir from ever seeing the Huntsman again, saying that he was too old to go gallivanting about the woods anymore. She returned her attentions to her second son, and ignored the fact that some of the clothes the Heir was ordering were in fact several sizes too large for him.
The night of the ball, the Lord, his wife, and the three sons set off together to the palace. However, shortly after leaving, the Heir realized he had forgotten his gloves, and after apologizing profusely, returned to the manor alone, telling the others he would meet them at the palace. There he met with the Huntsman and gave him the extra clothes he had ordered, and they set off to the ball together.
Once there, they entered to find the Heir’s mother in quite a state. Her eldest son was off discussing military tactics with an old general while her second son was off attempting to talk to the Prince, who looked rather bored. Seeing that her youngest son had arrived, she immediately dragged him over to the Princess and introduced them, hoping to salvage the night in any way possible. The Huntsman, left to his own devices, wandered over to the food to see what was available.
“I killed the deer myself,” said the Prince, as he came up besides the Huntsman, who had just filled a plate with venison.
“Tastes delicious,” said the Huntsman, “Although there’s not quite enough of it. Should’ve brought down a bigger buck.”
The Prince shrugged and said, “I get what I can. Are you a fan of hunting?”
“I do quite a bit of it,” the Huntsman said, “So I suppose you could say so.”
And with this began a long discussion between the Prince and the Huntsman on the finer points of the hunt, a conversation the second son was quite left out of, never having been hunting in his life. When the clock struck midnight, the Huntsman excused himself and left the ball, knowing that he needed to be home before everyone else so they would not suspect he had been there at all.
As it turns out however, the Princess was quite taken with the young Heir, and vice versa, and very soon after their engagement was announced. A ball was held to celebrate the engagement, and again, the Heir feigned forgetting his gloves, not wishing his best friend to miss the festivities. Once at the ball, the Prince immediately began to talk to the Huntsman again, ignoring the second son, who was quite in love with the dashing Prince. And again, at midnight the Huntsman excused himself, although the Prince tried to get him to stay longer, or at least reveal his name or where the Prince could see him again, but the Huntsman refused to reveal himself, even though he too had fallen quite in love with the Prince.
The night before the wedding between the Princess and the Heir there was a third and final ball at the palace. Once again, the Heir was late getting the Huntsman ready, and once again, the Prince immediately began conversation with the Huntsman that lasted up until the stroke of midnight, when again the Huntsman began to excuse himself. This time however, the Prince would not allow the handsome man to leave quite so easily, and the Huntsman was forced to flee, with one of his exceedingly large boots falling off as he ran down the stairs of the palace. The Prince found the boot, and deciding it was as a good a way of finding the man he loved as any other, swore to make every man in the kingdom try on the boot until he found the man it fit.
Now, the Lady had by now realized that her son was quite in love with the Prince, and that the mysterious young man the Prince was quite taken with was in fact the Huntsman. Determined to let each of her sons have a happy ending she contrived to keep the Huntsman busy for the entire day of the wedding, which was happening at the manor, so that he would have no chance to see the Prince, and that after the wedding she would have him sent off to some far off kingdom where they could never see each other again, in hopes that then the Prince might love her son. Her plan worked perfectly, with the Prince even chatting companionably with the second son, up until he produced the boot. The second son tried it on, but it was much too large, and the Prince lost interest and wandered off into the woods to be alone.
It was there he found the Huntsman, who had just killed a twelve point buck and was preparing to carry it back to the kitchen. The Prince thought there was something familiar about the man, not quite recognizing the Huntsman in his normal clothes. They talked as they returned to the kitchen, and the Prince fell in love all over again. After dropping off the buck, the Prince pulled the Huntsman back into the woods and produced the boot. The Huntsman blushed, and tried on the boot, which was a perfect fit. Overjoyed the Prince kissed the Huntsman, then realized he was needed at the wedding and ran off, his heart full of joy. The Huntsman merely returned to hunting, convinced that nothing more would happen between him and the Prince.
However, after the wedding, the Lord and his wife moved into the palace, alongside their son. The second son came with them, while the eldest son became an aide to the top general in all the land. The manor became a Royal Estate, and indeed, the Prince spent most of his time there, enjoying the hunting and everything else the Huntsman could offer him. And they all lived happily ever after.