The Singing Princess (Part 1)
The princess was very short and had long, honey-coloured hair. Her eyes were made of amber and when she blinked, her long eye-lashes made a jingly sound. It was a pleasing sound which accompanied the songs she sang constantly. She was called Velvet and came from a land far away, beyond the seven seas. There, her father was the king of the kings of the Melody Reigns. She was his only daughter after 7 sons and had been chosen to marry the Prince of Silencia. This marriage was an attempt to avoid war between Silencia and Melodia, where Velvet had grown up. In Melodia everybody sang. Always. The whole kingdom was filled with music. Their songs filled the air and coloured their lives. If someone stopped singing, everyone knew it was the end.
On her 16th birthday her new life would begin. Velvet loved her father and knew she had no choice if she wanted to save Melodia. She travelled the seven seas and married the Prince of Silencia called Tempestus. Velvet went to live with him in a huge castle full of chambers and servants. If she felt of eating something, the servants came to her bringing her plates full of delicious cakes, fruits, pastries...more than she could have ever imagined.
Her chamber was wonderfully decorated and she had the biggest and most comfortable bed of all kingdoms. Velvet got one gift for each day of the year. Tempestus made her unwrap it in the big hall, which was full of mirrors. When she opened her gifts in the mornings, during a neverending breakfast, the reflection in the mirrors made it look like if there were thousands of gifts!
This was her life in the castle of Silencia. It could have been perfect. Our singing princess had everything. More than she had dreamed of. But there was one thing she was strictly forbidden to do: On her wedding day she had sworn to never ever sing anymore. It was forbidden and there was a death sentence in Silencia for any person who dared to sing. Our singing princess from Melodia had to keep her songs inside her. Whenever she felt the pressure on her voice, her heartbeat hasten, her whole body itching, she had to bite the golden amulet her father had given to her. King Chanson of the Melody Reigns knew it would be hard. He knew his little princess would suffer and had given her this golden amulet to protect her. She bit it as hard as she could so her songs wouldn’t leave her.
That’s how Velvet lived, day after day, unwrapping gifts, keeping her songs inside. She felt more and more depressed and soon she couldn’t stop biting her amulet. She always kept it between her lips. She stopped eating regularly because she didn’t want to put the amulet away. She just couldn’t. Her eye-lashes stopped jingling and the singing princess went mute. Velvet stopped speaking. In Silencia, nobody noticed that the princess had become mute.
The Singing Princess Part 2
One day she decided to walk through the countryside to see some birds. Not even the birds sang in Silencia but they reminded her of her homeland. She walked through the woods and across the fields, breathing fresh air and dreaming of songs, when she suddenly actually heard a song.
A SONG?
In Silencia?
Velvet was amazed by the sound and followed the melody. A young man sitting under a tree was singing the most beautiful song she had ever heard. Velvet got scared immediately. Soon the guards would come and get him. He would be sentenced to death! She couldn’t let this happen...When she came closer she took away the amulet she kept between her lips and asked the man what he was doing.
She just couldn’t believe he was singing! Didn’t he care about death? Was this man out of his mind?
“Well, young man. I hope you don’t think I could save you from the guards, just because I’m the Princess.”
“Of course not, My lady. I wouldn’t dare expecting anything from you. With all my respect. I just come here every day and sing.”
The Singing Princess Part 3
Confused, she listened a while to his melodies about love, freedom and happiness. Apprehensive, looking to the horizon waiting for the guards, the little princess was sad and happy altogether. What would happen to this man? Velvet got carried away and suddenly she stopped worrying, sat down on the meadow and enjoyed the stranger’s songs.
After quite too long time for a princess sitting on the grass listening to a stranger’s songs, she asked him:
“How come, nobody came to punish you?”
“They can’t hear us. It’s too far away. They’re no good listeners. Here you can sing. Nothing will happen.”
She looked at his eyes that were green like the lawn far away in her homeland where she had used to run barefoot chasing birds and butterflies. Who was this courageous stranger that dared singing in Silencia? His songs were sweet like honey and had warmed her heart. His melodies had brought memories back she had buried deep inside. Memories of songs, smiles and easiness. Suddenly Velvet felt strong again.
After having met the singing stranger she couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened. He said under that tree nobody could hear him singing. Was he right? Could she go there, and sing, too? Could she finally release her songs? Free her voice? Stop biting her golden amulet?
“ Good morning, my dear Princess.”
After a couple of days she decided to go back there again and talk to the stranger. She walked through the woods and across the fields, breathing fresh air and dreaming of songs, the courageous stranger had sung. When she came close she saw him sitting under the tree. He was humming a cheerful melody.
“ Good morning.”
She sat down and listened to him singing. He didn’t ask her anything, neither was he afraid of her. He just sat there and sang. They talked and she found out his name was Ventus and he was a peasant from a tiny village nearby.
The Singing Princess Part 4
But they didn’t die. It got dusk and she hurried back to the castle, promising to meet Ventus again the next day. She did. For seven days. They met and sang together. It felt like flying away. It felt like breathing the whole sky.
It felt like love.
After a couple of songs she started humming lowly. His smile encouraged her and she got louder and louder. Her breast filled with fresh air and her eyes sparkling again, she started singing from the depth of heart. Her breathing got heavier and Velvet looked Ventus in his green eyes, as if it was her last moment in life. They sang the same song, as if they had sung it together a thousand times before. She felt freedom. If she would have to die, at least she would die singing, she thought.
She loved him and it hurt so much. She was married to the Prince of Silencia! How could she love someone else? Fact is, she had never loved someone like she loved Ventus. On the seventh day she had made up her mind. They would flee. They would run. To a place nobody would find them. She talked to him and they planned their escape. She would take everything of value, dress like a peasant and meet him under that tree. They would run far away to the coast, get a ship and cross the seas to get to a place nobody knew her. He had nothing to lose and everything to win. She had everything to lose and happiness to win. Tempestus would go mad. He would search the whole realm after her. She didn’t care. She had tasted love and freedom and would go after it. Our sweet, little princess had regained her voice. Nobody would make her shut up again! She had broken her silence and chosen happiness.
On the day of her escape she unwrapped her gift in the mirror room, like she always did. She thanked Tempestus for the diamonds and he went off to reign his realm. Velvet hurried to her bedroom, packed all her jewelry and put on a frugal, brown dress. If she was going to flee, she couldn’t walk around the country like a princess, right? Velvet covered the dress with a beautiful silver coat, carefully embroidered with little birds and flowers, so the servants wouldn’t get suspicious. She took her small bag full of things, her golden amulet (which she hadn’t been using a lot) and went off to meet Ventus. Velvet ran across the field to meet him at the tree, like they had promised each other. Breathless and with her heart hastening she arrived at the tree.
He wasn't there.
He wasn't there.
A dreadful fear overcame her. What had happened? Where was he? He wouldn’t let her down! She was sure he would never let her down...Would he? Why wasn’t he there? She sat down under the tree, that had offered them shadow during seven amazing afternoons. She sat there with her sack of jewelry and her silver coat shining in the sunlight. A sad sparkling silent Princess. What would she do now? Wait for him? Go back to the castle? She waited and waited. It was getting dusk and Ventus hadn’t come. No message. No hope? The sad Princess went back to the castle. Her bitter tears covered her peach-coloured skin and made her face shimmer like a full moon. She didn’t know what to do.
Fortunatelly Tempestus had gone hunting and would be back very late, so he wouldn’t see his wife devastated and demand an explanation. What was the explanation anyway? Velvet had no strength to think about anything. She threw herself on her enormous bed and fell asleep immediately. In the night she had a dream of Ventus singing. He sang such a sorrowful song that the Princess woke up and felt miserable. Sweating and breathing heavily she tried to remember what had happened. Her nightmare had frightened her and suddenly...Nightmare? She was awake and could still hear Ventus singing his sad song! Was the little Pincess losing her mind? Where did this voice come from? Someone singing inside the Castle of Silencia? Impossible!
No one would dare singing there!
No one, except...?! Velvet jumped off her bed, put on her coat and hurried through the neverending hallways of her castle. Following the melody in the dark, her heart was beating in a dangerous pace. Ventus! Where was he? The Pincess followed the voice and the closer she came to the dungeons the eerier she got. She went down the dungeons and the voice got louder and louder. She knew it was him. She realised he was captured. There were seven cells in the dungeons, old, cold, moulded cells tu put in whoever Tempestus decided to.
He had decided.
Velvet came closer. There he was. Sitting in a cell singing a sorrowful song about two lovers that were sentenced to death.
The Singing Princess PART 5
The Singing Princess PART 5
Ventus!
She kneeled down in front of the bars. It was so cold and dark there, she could barely see his face. What had happened? How come he was there? Who had caught him? Ventus! He came closer and held her hands. The song stopped.
“My dear Princess. My love. I’m so sorry.”
“What happened?”
“They came to my house and took me. They burned my house down and threw me in this cell. There was no way to warn you. Please forgive me.”
“Who took you?”
“Tempestus.”
Now both knew it was over. Tempestus had found out what was happening between Ventus and his Princess. He would punish them hard.
It was a long and hopeless night. Velvet and Ventus sat together, separated by the bars of his cell, humming songs, kissing desperately. Now it wouldn’t make any difference if they sang or not. They would enjoy each song and each kiss because it was set to end soon. It would end before it had even begun. What a pity!
By dawn the guards came. Everything was arranged. Tempestus had sentenced Velvet and Ventus to death. Our lovely little Princess knew she couldn’t do anything. At least she would die with the man she loved.
At 6 am both would burn. The whole kingdom had heard the news. People had travelled to the castle to see the Singing Princess be set on fire. Some of them happy, some of them feeling pity and asking for mercy for the princess. The execution was arranged, wood and cole were prepared. Velvet and Ventus would be fettered on a wooden pillar in the middle of the market place and would be set on fire. A slow, horrendous death.
Thousands of people were waiting for the happening. Tempestus had not once talked to the Princess or even looked at her. His face showed no emotion and his eyes were grim, staring to the pile of wood where the fire would be set.
The guards came with Velvet and Ventus. The crowd started shouting and applauding. Tempestus demanded silence to read his sentence:
“I, Tempestus, Prince of Silencia and future king of the Silent Realms sentence these two people to death for they have conspired against the realm and they have broken the most important law of my kingdom: They have sung songs!“
Tempestus lifted his right hand and made the sign to start the execution. Velvet and Ventus were fettered together and the guards put them in the middle of the wood, bound to a wooden pillar. The Princess was wearing her frugal, brown dress and her golden amulet. What would they tell her father? Would the King of the Kings of the Melody reigns even get to know what had happened to his only daughter? Ventus and Velvet had talked the whole night and had decided to accept their fate. They would die holding hands. The noise was almost unbearable and the atmosphere was tense. The executioner came towards Velvet and Ventus holding a torch. They both looked at the torch, watching the flame, feeling the heat. Holding their hands tightly they closed their eyes and started singing the song of a couple who was sentenced to death. Their lungs filled with smoky air, they sang their last song together. The crowd fell in silence. The melody entered each and every space of the market place and Tempestus got mad.
“Make them shut up!” He ordered.
Velvet and Ventus sang as loud as they could. Suddenly, Velvet felt her golden amulet getting hot. “There it goes”, she thought. My amulet is melting. Nothing will be left. I will vanish from earth as If I had never existed. She went mute and waited for death.
TO BE CONTINUED
