The Friendly Stranger

Summary

Once upon a time in a small castle lived a young boy named Gerhand. Gerhand was a friendly lad and always loved to play with the other children. Every day he would run as fast as he could around the castle, he even knew of a secret passage where he could get in and out when the gates were closed.
One day as Gerhand was skipping along, he heard a soft voice call out to him. "Psst! Little boy!" Gerhand looked over to where the sound was coming from but only saw bushes, nobody was there. "Psst! Little boy! Over here by the bush!" the voice whispered out again. Gerhand ran over to the bushes and found a grownup sitting behind them. The man smiled a friendly smile. "My name is Valdr," the man said "what's your's?" "Gerhand." the boy answered with a shy smile "Why are you hiding in the bushes?" "I'm just practicing for hide and seek, I'm the best hider in the whole wide world!" "That's not true! I'll bet I could beat you!" the boy snapped back. "Well, If you can beat me, I'll give you this silver ring, it's very expensive, you could buy all the sweets and toys you want with it. But since I know that I'll win, you won't have to give me anything when I do." "You're on!"
Gerhand closed his eyes and counted to twenty. He set about frantically searching for Valdr but couldn't find him. Just when he had nearly given up, he spotted a boot in the big maple tree. "Found you!" the boy shouted "Now give me the ring!" "Not so fast, Gerhand. You found me, but you need to prove you're a better hider than I am." Gerhand grumbled to himself as Valdr climbed out of the tree. The man turned his face to the tree and started to count to twenty. Gerhand paniced for a moment, then he remembered his perfect hiding spot; the hole in the wall he used to move in and out of the castle! Valdr would never find him there! Running as fast as his little legs would carry him, Gerhand rushed to his secret passage. It was nearly ten minutes before he heard Valdr's voice. "Ok Gerhand! You win! Come on out and I'll give you the ring!" Gerhand gleefully skipped out of his passage right up to Valdr, who gave him his silver ring, a pat on the head, and a congratulations before bidding him farewell. The next day the lord of the castle and his entire family were slain by assassins, Including Gerhand's best friend Surok.

Historical Basis

There is almost no evidence that the story is based on true events, though there are numerous cases of castle lords being assassinated, some even involving secret passageways into the castle, it is unlikely that the story is intended to convey a historic event.