This short story is an entry into the Free Kingdom Lore Contest. The contest is sponsored by Jon Warren. The judges will be three monarch candidates from the Free Kingdom competition: NiHZ, Seele, and Jon Warren. An official list of the lore contest entries will be frequently updated on the Lore Contest thread

Long dead the Mad King had been when the first snows came that year. Slain without heirs; what family of the Mad King survived his reign and insatiable desire for unchallenged power scattered to the winds, too frightened for their own lives at the hands of common folk to place a claim on the empty throne.

It was a cold and bitter winter that year, as if the Mad King himself had sent the many snowstorms and relentlessly biting cold as revenge.

A state of constant war had left many destitute, and without warm food or clothing the resulting death toll was reflected on the haunted, gaunt faces of the starving and the grieving children. Whispers of another war for the empty throne of the free kingdom left it's own mark on the surviving adults who remembered what it had been like knowing nothing but a constant state of war. A war that none of them had believed in. Their eyes held the ghost of the memory. A memory of a time when they watched their loved ones march off to fight in the Mad King's war, perhaps never to be seen again.

The people of the free kingdom lived in nearly constant states of hopelessness and relentless fear back then as their homeland hung in the balance without a sovereign to lead them from the economic limbo pit into wealth and prosperity. Though many campaigned for the task, the bickering only fueled the hushed whispers of oncoming war.

A man who had seen many winters, his hair and beard as white as the snow upon the roofs of the small town in which he lived, saw the hopelessness and grief on the faces of children and parents alike as they slowly starved to death. The sight broke his heart. It was a reminder to the suffering he had personally inflicted in his younger days serving under the Mad King as Duke of one of his many territories, paying for it all with the life of his only son in the final years of the Mad King's war. Regret filled his heart, and in that moment all he wanted was to atone for those actions and see the children's eyes again alight with hope and wonder as a child's eyes should be. He began to plan with his wife for a wonderful event to take place on the night of the Winter Solstice.

For months, the former Duke planned and gathered resources, using every last gold piece to his name for what he had planned.

Then on the night of the Winter Solstice, when all was quiet, the former Duke put on his best robes of red cloth, donning a red cloak trimmed with white fur and decorating every inch of himself with bits of Holly branches. The final touch he placed upon his head was a wreath woven from Holly. He and his wife made their way to the center of town where the giant Evergreen tree stood proud, tall, and defiant. Just as the people had all those years ago under the Mad King. The Duke looked up at the tree and the corners of his eyes crinkled with a wide smile before he quickly set to work.

Hours went by, and the Duke and his wife had climbed every inch of the tree, decorating it's branches with glass-veiled candles, red ribbon, and stars woven from straw. At the very base of the tree, they had placed bundles of blankets, jackets of all sizes, warm cloaks crafted of fur, dry boots, and piles upon piles of salted meats, jams, dried wheat, barley, and other foods meant to last through the winter.

The dancing light from the candles was bright in the town square, and stirred the children sleeping in the alleys awake. They stumbled groggy from the dimly lit alleys up to the tree now dressed in candle light and smiled, their wide eyes filled with hope and wonder. They accepted the warm clothes and food the Duke had offered them, newly dubbing him the Holly King, and quickly ran through the town streets shouting the news of what gifts awaited the townspeople beneath their town square evergreen. Awoken by the sudden commotion, the young and old began pouring from crumbling houses and dirty alleyways to find their way to the evergreen and the Holly King that waited beside it, tears of joy glistening in his eyes.

As more and more people gathered, the Holly King saw more faces come alive with the hope and wonder he had so desperately wanted to see on the faces of those around him, especially the children. And though no gift was wrapped for the Holly King, the lightness and joy he felt in his heart was reward enough that early Solstice morning. For as the sun kissed the horizon with the gentle pink of morning, ending the longest and coldest night of the year, people could look to the future with less dread in their hearts; believing for just a while that the future could hold as many possibilities as gifts that lay under the evergreen tree.

No one knows what became of the man they called the Holly King. Some think the gods rewarded the former Duke for his great act of kindness with immortality, so he may bless the unfortunate children of the kingdom with more gifts each winter solstice. Others believe he was merely a spirit of generosity given form by the gods for one night. Regardless what some may say or believe, the tradition left behind by the Holly King is one that has brought joy to the free kingdom for many generations. For each city, town, and village within the free kingdom's borders possesses a fir or evergreen tree in the city or town center. And each year during the winter season, the people decorate it with glass-veiled candles, red ribbon, and stars woven from straw. The citizens place gifts for friends, neighbors, and loved ones under the tree. Then in the early morning, a man dressed as the Holly King distributes the gifts. A generous act born from regret and a desire to atone, gifting people with hope and happiness through love, kindness, and generosity. Whatever happened to the original Holly King, the free kingdom will never forget him. Never.