Tale of two towers

The Tales of Two Towers: A Story Summary

In a distant kingdom, two towers rose above all others — one silent yet filled with sorrow, the other deafening with a voice that shook the skies. Together they taught a king, and all who came near, that true treasure lies not in gold or conquest but in kindness, courage, and the stories we carry.

⸻

The Tower of Enchanted Princes

The first tower was a prison of grief. Enchanted by a vengeful witch, thirty princes — the king’s own heirs — were transformed into silent guards who marched endlessly along its battlements. Their father, the king, had once scorned a beggar at his gate, not knowing she was the witch in disguise. In his cruelty, he had sealed his sons’ fate.

Stricken with regret, the king at last learned humility. He began to provide for the poor and listen to the cries of the needy. Yet his heart yearned to restore what he had lost.

A wandering beggar, come from a far land, told of a magic cup and a magic plate that together held the power to free the princes. With desperate hope, the king summoned storytellers to speak tales before the tower, believing stories themselves might awaken the sleeping voices within.

But still the princes marched on in silence.

The beggar pressed further. He spoke of the well of light, where the witch had vanished with the cup. The king sent footmen to retrieve it, but they fell to her sorcery and turned to statues. Only the beggar returned, bearing the cup and new knowledge: the princes themselves held untold stories, and only by hearing them spoken could the spell be undone.

So the king united cup and plate, treasures of air and earth. At last, a new age began — an age of journeys, feasts, and tales shared across kingdoms. When the princes’ hidden stories were finally told, the enchantment broke. Sons returned to their father, and hope blossomed once more.

⸻

The Speaking Tower

The second tower was no prison, but a challenge. It roared whenever a man set foot on its stair, so loudly none could climb far.

The king, greedy for its treasures, devised clever trials. He sent a deaf man, who found fruits that brought endless laughter. He sent a blind man, who uncovered gems of sorrow. A robber he sent next, but the tower consumed him.

Still unsatisfied, the king pressed on. A man of stone climbed and discovered flowers that warned, “Touch us not, or lose your voice.” Yet the king forced him to seize them, and so the stone man returned mute.

Finally came a man of stoves, burning with fire. He endured what others could not, until cold overcame him. Cast among the mute flowers, he was pitied by them and given a drop of wonder honey. His fire rekindled, he climbed higher than all before him, and in that realm of blossoms and light, he found a Flower Princess. Together they rose above the tower’s crown, and the tower, sighing with joy, gave him wings.

The stoveman never returned to the king. He chose happiness over duty, love over greed.

⸻

The Sorceress and the King’s Downfall

But the witch of the Enchanted Tower returned, seeking vengeance. She tried to bend both towers to her will, but the towers had grown wise — filled with stories, laughter, sorrow, and love. Together they cast her down.

The king, stripped of treasures, sat alone in his silent hall. His laughter had faded, his gems brought him no joy, his flowers gave no song. His greed had built nothing. His story ended in obscurity.

⸻

The Legacy of the Towers

Yet the towers remained.

The Tower of Enchanted Princes stood as a reminder of compassion and the healing power of stories.
The Speaking Tower stood as a warning against greed, and a monument to courage and self-discovery.

And so the kingdom remembered: the greatest treasures are not those locked in towers, but those found in kindness, in courage, and in the tales that bind us together.