Princess Isabella

Princess Isabella, a short story by LJ Kundananji

Once upon a time, in a far, far away land, there lived a very beautiful princess by the name of Isabella. She was very beautiful and had long, golden hair. She lived in a beautiful castle whose walls were made of gold, and nothing but beautiful, shiny gold. The moat was full of water that was so clear you could see the beautiful gold fish gracefully swimming in it. People came from all over the world came to admire this beautiful castle, the beautiful gold fish that swam in its moat, and the beautiful princess that lived in it.

Isabella was not only beautiful, but she also had a very good heart. She was kind to everyone, especially the poor and needy. For this reason, she was dearly loved by all. It seems she took after her father who was also very kind and generous to his subjects. However, her mother, the queen, was very wicked at heart. She was unkind to everyone and treated her subjects very badly. As a result no one in the kingdom loved her.

In time, the queen noticed that her daughter was more loved than she was and that she had lost the favor of all her subjects. In addition, her daughter was more beautiful than her and was becoming more and more beautiful by the day. This filled the queen with a great, deadly rage and she began to despise her own daughter. Her hatred for Isabella grew so big that one day, she decided to get rid of her.

Isabella happened to be walking in the gardens of the castle, admiring the beautiful, green trees and the beautiful flowers and talking to the gold fish that swam lazily in the ponds, when suddenly the guards who guarded her turned upon her, seized her and muffled her up with an old, dirty rag. She fought furiously to break free but they were too strong. They quickly bound her and threw her into a carriage that stood waiting nearby and drove out of the castle, the horses that drew the carriage galloping off at a furious speed. So that she could not see where she was being taken, a sack was thrust over her head.

After ascertaining that her dastardly deed had been carried out, the queen ran to see the king. She fell upon her knees before him, shading floods of tears and wailing on the top of her voice.

“My King!” she cried, “a bad, evil deed has been done!”

“What say you?” the king demanded, surprised and shocked.

“Your enemy, King Flatfeet, has kidnapped your daughter and hid her in a dark dungeon guarded by ten strong trolls.”

“What say you!” the king said again, jumping onto his feet, his crown almost falling off his head.

“The dungeon, guarded by the trolls is found in the great, dark forest, which is full of giants, monsters, and other terrible creatures.”  

“I’ll get my best men and send them to the dark forest at once!” the king said. And so that is what the king did. He got fifty of his best men and sent them to the dark forest to rescue his daughter. But these men were easily subdued and killed by the wolves, the giants, and the trolls and never came back. The king sent another fifty, but the same thing happened. The men never came back.

“Are you not going to send another fifty?” the queen asked the distressed king. “They are feeding my daughter only water and little cherries. She will lose her beauty, shrivel up, and die! Send another fifty in a hurry!”

“No,” the king said, deep in thought, “I have another plan.”

“What plan be it?” the queen asked worriedly.

The king sent for his messenger, and he told him the following words:
“Send a word through out the kingdom. The one man who rescues my daughter will marry her.”

With that the messenger skittered out of the king and queen’s presence and made an announcement throughout the kingdom. However, the news traveled far and wide, to all the other kingdoms of the world, for that is how famous princess Isabella was. Therefore, brave, young and handsome men came from all over the world, trying to free the princess. But the story was the same. Some of them were killed by the wolves, even before they reached the princess; others were eaten by the giants; and those who managed to reach the dungeon were defeated and killed by the trolls.

Days passed, and the days become weeks, and the weeks months, and yet no one was able to rescue the princess. The king went to mourning, for he feared that his daughter was probably dead. The whole kingdom went to mourning, and the golden castle did not look as beautiful anymore without the princess to live in it. It looked faded, dull and sad. Even the gold fish that swam in the moat and the garden ponds swam less happily and more lazily. Only the queen was happy, for she knew that her daughter would soon be no more and that she would soon be the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. But she pretended to mourn and cry and fast. She pretended so well that no one knew how so very happy she really was.

However, one day, a handsome prince from far away came to see the king. He said that he had come up with a plan to rescue the princess.

“What’s the use,” the king said, “when the princess is probably already dead?”

“She is not dead,” he said determinedly, “I have a feeling.”

“What’s the use,” the king said, “when the giants, wolves, and trolls are going to kill you?”

“They won’t kill me,” the young man said, “for my plan is so good.”

“Ha,” the king said, his eyes glowing. “Go ahead and rescue her, but I doubt if you will come back again.”

“Yes, I will, o King,” he said, “and I will marry her.”

After that, the prince left the king and got onto his strong, white steed. He galloped away into the dark forests. After a little while, the wolves came to him. These wolves were big and bad and dangerous. His steed was frightened. It whined and stood on its hinds, throwing the prince to the ground. The prince immediately grabbed his sack. He pulled out steaks of meat and threw them to the wolves. The wolves tore greedily at the meat and gulped it down. A long while did not pass and they fell to the ground, dead.

“Greedy wolves,” the prince laughed. “The meat you ate had poison—the strongest poison in the world. You did not stand a chance.”

He got on his steed and rode on down the twisted path, with nasty sharp thorns on each side. These thorns tore at his steed’s legs and at the prince’s, but they did not stop. After a little while, the giants came and stopped the princes.

“Puny human!”  the leader of the giants shouted. “Stop this instant! We want to tear out your liver and gobble you down.”

“Wait!” The prince shouted. “are you very hungry?”

“Yes, that is why we want to eat you!”

“What if I have something that  will make you never to feel hungry again?”

“What is it?”

“I have a portion that can help you,” the prince said, pulling out a large bottle. “If you drink this portion, you will never get hungry again. I am a very powerful wizard!”

The giants greedily grabbed the bottle and quickly drunk down the portion. Before long, they fell to the ground and began to snore.

“Silly giants,” the prince laughed, getting onto his steed. “You have brain so large that can’t think. You have drunk the most powerful medicine in the world. It will make you sleep for a week.”

After that, the prince galloped away, deeper and deeper into the forest. Finally, he reached the dungeon, inside where the princess was locked. He put a hood over his head and got off his steed.

“Halt!” the trolls shouted, “Who goes there?”

“I have brought a pot of gold for the strongest troll.”

The greedy trolls’ eyes lit up. “Where is it?” they asked.

“Fastened to my steed,” he said, removing the pot of gold and showing it to them. “Here is the gold.”

“But how will you know which of us is strongest?”

“I won’t,” he said, “unless you fight and we see who wins. That is the one I will give the pot of gold.”

All at once the trolls began to fight. They beat each other so hard that they killed each other, and in the end, not one single troll was alive.

“Foolish trolls,” the prince laughed, “you are all equally strong, and now you have killed each other for me.”

After that the prince got into the dungeon and found the princess. She was thin, frail and finished. She could hardly see, for she was so ill. He picked her up and took her outside. He put her on his steed and together, they rode out of the dark forest.

When the prince emerged from the dark forest, still alive and with the princess, everyone went wild with happiness, and amazement. The king was the happiest, for he had his daughter back. The queen was not happy at all, but she pretended so well that no one could tell. The princess was brought into the castle, given food, bathed, and dressed in her clean, royal clothes. Before long, she regained her form and even looked more beautiful than before.

After a while, the brave prince was brought before the princess, the king and the queen.

“This is the man who rescued you.” The king told the princess.

The princess looked upon him with her beautiful, round eyes and immediately fell in love with him. She said:

“I am totally indented to you; whatever can I do to repay you?”

“Marry me.” The prince said.

“That I will gladly do.” She said.

The princess receded from her throne and walked to her prince. He held her in his arms and they kissed. Everyone in the audience applauded. Everyone was happy, everyone but the queen. But this time, she did not pretend so well, for the king caught her glaring at Isabella with an evil, red eye.

“I knew it was you,” he said to her. “You are the one who had the princess sent to the dungeon. I saw you talking to the evil, red trolls at the edge of the forest. You told them to come and kidnap the princess. You arranged the whole thing!”

The queen rattled all over with fear, and she turned as white as a sheet. She stared at the king with bulging eyes.

“What are you going to do to me?” she asked in a tiny, shaky voice.

He chuckled. “I will make sure that you are locked in the very dungeon that Isabella was locked in, and this time, no one will come and rescue you.”

And so that is what the king did. After Isabella and the prince were wed, the king paid the evil, red trolls a pot of gold to lock the queen up in the very dungeon that the princess had been imprisoned, and no one ever came to rescue her. She did not live very long after that—she died from hunger, fear, and depression. As for Isabella and the prince, they lived happily ever after.

 

Princess Isabella
© 2009 Kundananji Creations
All Rights Reserved

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