Lamplighter and Clockmaker

There once was a humble Lamplighter and her husband, the Clockmaker, who lived on the side of the mountain overlooking a small village. Though they descended into the village to tend to the street lamps and town clock tower, they were avoided by the townspeople. Still, they both tended to their tasks happily together for many years, until the Lamplighter gave birth to a child. At first, life continued on as normal for the small family until one night when the Lamplighter turned to her husband with a pale face and strained expression.
“Beloved, wrap our child in your mother’s wedding veil and take only your grandfather’s finest watch. We must leave tonight.”
Without questioning her, the Clockmaker did as he was asked, bundling their child in tattered white lace and tucking a broken pocket watch into the dark folds of his cloak. The Lamplighter took up her well-worn lantern, and the small family fled just as the sun set.
Within hours, a landslide consumed the small village, wiping all traces of it from history. The Lamplighter and Clockmaker surveyed the rubble from the neighboring mountain and wept for their lost home. Still, they carried on, traveling rocky precipices and moving down the side of the mountain range until they came to the edge of a deep, dark forest.
“My light!” The Clockmaker cried out, holding the babe close to him. “I cannot see!”
The Lamplighter held her lantern up and illuminated the dark forest around them. Comforted by the warm light, the family pushed onwards into the woods, with dense brush and leaves overtaking the sky above them until they lost all sense of time.
When they emerged on the other side of the forest, they were amazed by the lush green plains that spread out before them. Charmed by their new surroundings, the Lamplighter, the Clockmaker, and the Child made their new home just beyond the edge of the woods. In time, other people came to live alongside them, and soon there was a small village in the midst of the meadow.
Time passed. People came, lived, and passed on. Eventually, the village grew larger until it became the bustling centre of the plains, which were amassed into a kingdom as the descendents of the Lamplighter, known for the kindness and leadership she had demonstrated, turned from landowners to local royalty.
They named the city after the Lamplighter, and in time she became more of a mythical figure than person. The castle, built by a skilled stonemason and his family, housed objects that had supposedly once touched her hands. The people lived happily, comforted by her story and hoping that her influence would protect them from tragedy.
Many years later, it came.
The Dread Storm.
The skies darkened, sunlight blocked out by rumbling storm clouds in an instant. Alarmed by the sudden change, the people fled to the castle. The Queen received the storm in the great hall, and was immediately swallowed up by the clouds. Without the leadership of the Lamplighter’s descendent, the Dread King took the throne. The only light that shone on the kingdom was the meager reflection of the moon where it broke through the storm at night.
At first, there was resistance.
The people protested the Dread King’s claim to rule. Many sought to stand up to him, demanding the Queen’s release and his departure. He dealt with them by imprisoning the more outspoken individuals at first, then moved onto families and those rumoured to be against him. Even then, many resisted. A hero appeared, from the very quiet corners of the kingdom. So many were hopeful for their success, that they were completely unprepared for what happened.
The hero fell.
The will of the people crumbled, and unchallenged, the Dread King remained on the throne. The dark, swirling clouds of the storm seemed to be unending.