A Riddle For You

A riddle:
.. Once in a land of the first age, there was an angel soldier and a king. A hero, and a princess. The king had many loyal subjects, but the princess, the very mistress of life, was more beautiful than the sunrise. Now this young princess was to be given in marriage to the hero who had secretly won her hand and her vow. And the news disturbed the land

The soldiers of two countries plotted against the union, for it would mean the corruption of their perfect bloodline. A woman with blonde hair, and pale skin said "he is the devil himself my lord, do not let this marriage stand. it is blasphemy". And so the king, was corrupted by this, and he and his angel soldier set upon a course to remove the young lord from the hand of the princess.

He took two cards. On one, was a picture of a golden, shining ring. On the other, was a picture of a blackend cross. And then he and his Angel soldier, quietly took another card with a blackened cross in his sleeve. The King then stood before the court of all the citizens of his golden city and held up the two , saying "Behold, two cards! For one, the marriage of the princess. This other, bearing the black cross shall mean swift, and permanent exile."

"Now, young man, choose". The king then put two cards upon the table, but as he reached down to place them, the angel soldier and the king , quickly replaced the card of marriage with another, bearing the symbol of exile, blackened cross. And so, the young lord looked upon the table to see only two cards that should he turn over either one, there would be for either, a black cross of certain exile. And he turned his back, to the king and the crowd.
Moments later, the hero and the princess stand united, and the the disloyal advisor, and angel soldier, hang their heads low and the young man has won the hand of the princess.
This is the riddle: What did the hero do, to win? How did he win the hand of the princess?

The stakes are set. Your answer can be posted as a comment.

Yes, there should be a hint here. But there is not....

Comments

No. :) there is no third card, only two.

The key is that the king showed both cards to everyone in the room.
Then you should have asked what did the king do....instead, you said:

"This is the riddle: What did the hero do, to win? How did he win the hand of the princess?"
No, because what the king did, did not change the outcome.

In other words, it was the person who selected the cards.

And so, it was what the hero did.
Here , this may clarify things for you.

1. The hero selected a card, in a certain way.
2. After selecting the card, he did something.
3. Everyone saw what he did.
4. He won.


Its the hero, not the king.
So the question is. what did he do?