My fairy tale

All this talk about fairy tales inspired me to post my own fairy tale that I made a few months ago. I was actually inspired to write this when I was swimming in my pond back home. I have a great love for fairy tales that has gone back since I was a kid. I hope you all enjoy it.

The Prince and the Lady of the Water

Once upon a time there was a old king who ruled a mighty kingdom. Yet with all his might, power and wisdom he had no children and could not hope for any, for his wife was barren. As the years past and the king grew older, he sought out all the finest magicians in the land so they might, with their magic, allow the queen to have a child. But as time went on, the king had nearly given up all hope. No magician’s spell could help the king and so he spent many of his days riding the countryside dwelling on his pain. On one of these rides, he came across an old woman sitting by the road and strumming a lyre. The king was amazed at her skill and that what she played was the most beautiful song he had ever heard. As he marveled at this, the woman gave him a toothless grin and called to him.

“Surely his majesty’s manners are better than this! To stare as you do can be considered rude!”

The king recovered himself and asked. “What is that song you play?”

The old woman grinned all the wider. “Its name I cannot reveal but it is a song of great power. It is a song that can bring mountains to their knees, that can calm the raging storm, that can melt a cold heart and that can make the sun shine brighter each day.” 

“If it can do all that,” the king mumbled to himself. “Can it bring me a child?” 

The old woman stopped strumming and looked to the king. “His majesty wants a child. I have but to play this song and your wife shall bear a son before the year is out.”

The king was stunned. He thanked the old woman greatly but as he excitedly spoke she held up her hand. “I have but one request,” she said. “When your son is born I must be the one to raise him until his twenty fifth year. Then he shall return to you and become your heir.”

The king’s face became grave. Surely she would not ask that! He offered her gold, land and power but she shunned them all. She simply repeated her first request. The king was heartbroken but he had very little choice. He requested the condition that the child would stay with him until he was a year old. The woman agreed and the king rode off to tell his wife the news. As he rode the old woman called to him.

“Remember! I must raise the child! If you forget your promise then you shall never see your son sit on your throne.”

As she agreed, the woman played her song to the queen as she slept and as she promised a child was born before the year was out. It was a time of great rejoicing and celebration. It seemed that time passed so quickly for the prince was nearing his first birthday. As the day grew closer the king grew sadder and sadder. The queen, tired of her husband’s sulking, went to him and said, 

“Look at what the mighty king does! He sits and glowers at his son’s birthday! Are you not the king? Can you not stop the woman from coming for him? What could she do against such a man as you?”  When the king heard this, he smiled. Surely his wife was right. What could an old woman do against his armies and his castles? So on the eve before the prince’s birthday the queen sent her son to one of the lesser castles in the king’s land until his birthday was over. 

At noon of the prince’s birthday the old woman came to court and said. “Here I am, O mighty king! Where is your son? Have you forgotten our arrangement?”

The king and his court laughed at her and he said to her. “Foolish woman, what you asked was impossible to give. Take the gold I offered before and let us be done with you!” 

The old woman looked into the king’s eyes and said, “because you have done this you will never see your son sit on the throne.” When she had gone the king and his subjects feasted and laughed in honor of the prince’s birthday, but in his heart, the king knew what he had done was wrong. Before the day was through, a messenger burst into court crying, “O my king! Your son has been taken! We have searched everywhere for him! He has vanished!” 

At these words the king’s heart broke. He sent his armies to scour the lands but he knew that they would never find the woman or his son. They had vanished completely. Not long after this the king died of sorrow, leaving the kingdom without a king and the throne empty. 

Deep in the forest of a distant land the old woman raised the prince. Raising him as her son the old woman taught him to read and to write but most importantly how to sing and play the song that could bring mountains to their knees. The boy soon grew into a handsome youth who was beloved by all although none, not even the prince himself, knew he was of the royal blood. When his eighteenth year came he asked his mother to let him make his way in the world. The old woman proudly said that it was indeed time for him to make his own way. She gathered him food and supplies and gave him her lyre for him to play. With a fond farewell the youth walked out into the forest ready to take the adventures that would come to him. 

One day as he walked along, he saw a clear, cool pond that was fed by a spring. He sat by it and after eating he began to pluck his lyre and sing the song his mother taught him. In the depths of the pool a water woman listened. She was one of the strange creatures who lure travelers to their deaths by pulling them into the pond. Indeed she had already done this with countless others who had come by that way. But as she heard the song and when she saw the youth her hard heart melted and she fell in love with him. She went deeper into the pool and told her father and sisters of this man. Her father looked upon the man and said, “this man is a human and all humans are greedy and wicked. He will leave you with a broken heart. Look to your own kind.” But his daughter persisted until finally her father gave in. “He must be tested.” Declared the water man. “Go to him and do as I say.” After the water man had given his instructions to his daughter, she swam to the surface and lifted her head above the water for the young man to see her. 

When the young prince saw her he knew that he would never see such beauty again as long as he lived. He kneeled closer and asked for her name. 

“What would you do with my name?” She asked mischievously.

“I would cherish it in my heart and not a day would go by that I would not whisper it in the winds for all to know who the most beautiful creature in the world is.”

Inside the water woman squirmed with delight but her face was calm. 

“Because you have said so,” she said. “I will grant you three wishes. But remember this! Only one can be the recipient of that wish!” The youth was taken aback, but he saw that the woman spoke the truth and answered. 

“There is very little I want, I must think about this.” So the youth sat next to the pond singing and talking to the water woman as he thought of his first wish. As the day went on, a young boy came walking down the road not far from where the youth sat. The boy had no coat nor any shoes to speak of. He looked sickly and tired and without much hope. When the youth saw him he said to the water woman, “I wish I could help that boy.” 

Instantly next to the youth a pair of fine shoes and clothes appeared along with a whole feast, enough to feed seven men. Delighted the youth called to the boy, gave him the fine clothes and let the boy eat all he could of the food. The boy happily went on his way looking better than he ever had in his life. As the youth lay back and thought about the happiness the boy now had the water woman went to her father and told her what happened. “Surely a selfish, wicked man would not do that!” She cried. The water man shook his head. “It is too soon to tell. He may have spoken wishfully and forgotten that it would come true. We must see what else he will do.”

But it was not for a very long time that the second wish would be made. The youth had now become a young man of twenty. He had built a home near the pool so that he might visit his lady everyday. Word soon reached him that a great war was brewing against the kingdom he lived in against another who sought to invade them. When he heard of this he told his lady of it and sighed. “I wish only that I could protect those whom I love.” On hearing this the water woman sadly granted his wish. The young man had suddenly become a soldier fighting against the accursed enemy of the kingdom. In the army, he was loved by all and respected as a wise and merciful warrior. As the war grew longer and longer and the years rolled by, the young man thought often of his lady and wondered if he should ever see her again. Now there came a great battle that took place in the forest near where the young man grew up. In the heat of the fight the young man was wounded gravely as he attempted to rescue an equally injured comrade of his. Both of them stumbled away from the battle and sought a place that they could treat their injuries. For a whole night they walked fearing that they might be pursued by their enemies. In the early morning the young man was now carrying his companion who, due to loss of blood, had fainted. Finally they both collapsed next to a pool where they might rest. He pulled his wounded companion next to the pool so they might both drink. As the young man drank he felt his body begin to weaken and what little blood he had left began to flow anew. A drop of it fell into the water and from where it fell the lady of the water’s head appeared. In his feverish state the young man had not recognized the pool where they now lay. The water lady’s eyes filled with tears as she saw her love in the pain he was in. 

“You have one last wish,” she said weeping. “You can heal yourself!” 

“Can you heal us both?” the young man asked weakly. The water lady shook her head sadly. 

“Only one can be the recipient of the wish.”

“Then heal my friend.” said the young man. The water woman’s eyes widened.

“Would you leave me here all alone? Would you take away the one thing I love in this world?”

“I could never do that.” Answered the young man. “But neither can I let another man die while knowing that I could save him.” The young prince kissed his lady and said, “I will always be with you.”

The two embraced and were silent for a time. Then the youth pulled back and said, “I wish for you to heal my friend.”

Instantly the young man’s companion was healed yet he still slept on out of exhaustion. The young man looked to him and smiled glad he could have helped his companion. With that he closed his eyes and lay still. The water woman slowly pulled him into the water whispering. “You passed the test. You can live with me now. You will be restored my love.”

As time went on, the war ended and peace was restored in the kingdom. One day the old woman who had raised the prince walked to the pool and called into it. “My son! I must speak with you!”

Moments later the young man’s head appeared from the water. “Mother?” he said. “How did you find me?” 

“I know many things my son,” smiled the old woman. “I have come on the eve of your twenty fifth birthday to tell you who you truly are.”

When the woman finished telling him the story of his father and mother and other the kingdom that was rightfully his the young man said. “Can this be true?”

The old woman held out her hand to him. “As I promised your father long ago, it is time for you to take the throne.”

“But what of my lady?” he asked.

“She cannot come my son. She cannot be free of this pool.”

“Then I cannot go mother. I cannot leave her and I never will.”  With that the young man disappeared beneath the surface. The old woman chuckled as the pool become smooth again. She then turned and walked away while singing the song that brought mountains to their knees.

As the young man approached the depths of the pool, his lady grabbed him and kissed him crying. “You have done it. You have released me from my bonds! By giving up everything for me you shall receive everything tenfold! Come my love. Let us walk the land as your parents did.”

And so the young prince and his lady left the pool and journeyed to the land of his fathers where he became king. For the rest of his life he lived with his lady as a good and just king, loved by all but especially by his lady of the water. 

And as the old saying goes…

...they lived happily ever after.

Thanks so much.

Kyle