The Faceless Princess
By
©2012 Acton Cooper
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Publisher’s Note: This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters or incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. ©2012 All rights are reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
Long ago, there lived a princess who was good, sweet and kind, and…ugly.
Mirrors were prohibited in the castle or near her. The Queen named her Camryn, a Gaelic name meaning “crooked nose”. She was told that she was a hideous creature and everyday and every hour she wore a white lace veil over her face to hide her frown. For this reason, she was known as the faceless princess.
Being unattractive was a handicap in her royal family. For centuries, every member of the family had been known for their exquisite beauty. But even though her family was noticeably revolted by her appearance, she was loved by everyone who knew her.
The princess was fifteen years old and an only child. She would inherit the kingdom after her mother the Queen. The whole kingdom was very happy at the thought of a kind and gracious--although hideous--Queen ruling them in due course. Except for one obnoxious person, who schemed and plotted every minute of the day and night to make sure that the princess's coronation never arrived.
It was her mother.
The Queen had a beautiful younger sister named Duana, and the Queen was determined that Duana, not her own daughter Princess Camryn, would succeed her royal throne. Now Princess Duana had tried for years to show Princess Camryn in a bad light, but she only ever succeeded in making herself look silly and unintelligent. The Queen and Princess Duana were at their wits’ end.
The Queen decided to call on powers greater than her own. Taking her spoiled younger sister with her, she went to visit the warlock in Wickery Mountain, a man so evil and cold that flowers and trees shriveled whenever he passed them. Even the Queen felt a shiver go up her spine as they approached the warlock’s cave. The Queen knew that her family’s reputation of being the fairest of all would come down crashing down if her daughter ascended to the throne. No powerful, neighboring kings or princes would come to her court to choose a bride anymore. She had too much too lose. No time to turn back.
She heard footsteps on the forest path, and the fiend Lord Warlock emerged. His face was wrinkly and he chortled and the sound was like fabric scraping on bark. He nodded his hideous head at his visitors. His hair was a mix of dirt and white, his nose was horrendously large and crooked with a big wart full of hair on its tip, looking as if a black hairy spider rested on the end of his zigzagged nose.
“Well, well, what do we have here? None other than the royal family indeed,” he said. “I know why you have come, Your Highness." He bowed slightly and cockled “And I am pleased you have chosen me for the task.” He hissed like a poisonous snake. “I see Princess Camryn's kindness and perfect demeanor has long been gnawing at your heart.” The warlock rubbed his hands, his eyelids fluttering with excitement.
“Yes, such goodness and light but lack of beauty should not be allowed to exist," the proud Queen said without a drop of remorse. "She is my only daughter and I love her but I’ll be only too happy to help to extinguish it. She needs to disappear forever, be done away altogether!” The Queen’s hands were in the air. “She has too high a place in the court and in the hearts of my people to be sent away or toppled from her throne. Tell me, Warlock, what do you have in mind? You have my promise I won’t prosecute you, will help you all I can, and pay whatever you wish.”
“No, no, Your Highness,” laughed the warlock as he looked at Princess Duana in awe, “you will pay me in time. I will handle the magical sciences myself. Although her divine spirit is too strong to take her life, Princess Camryn can still be put to rest. I will imprison her inside the creek along the valley. She will stay there until the creek dries out. The people will forget about their hideous but sweet-as-honey darling,” the warlock said with a lisp, licking the corners of his mouth.
“It sounds as something I might wish,” the Queen said. She looked at her beautiful but conceited sister, who was meddling with a rabbit hole. Princess Duana was covering the hole with dirt, using her jeweled blue slippers as shovels. A thin cloud of dust hovered around her. The Queen placed a finger on her temple and rolled her eyes in frustration. “I’ll have Princess Duana bring Princess Camryn into the woods tomorrow morning. Do your worst then." The Queen cackled, and the wickedness in her heart obscured her soul.
A bright and sunny day welcomed Princess Camryn the next morning. She brushed her long shiny black-as-a-raven hair and dressed for her morning walk in the castle’s garden. In the garden, Princess Duana approached her and persuaded Princess Camryn to walk with her through the lovely shade of the nearby forest, which wasn't difficult since it was such a beautiful day. Princess Camryn had no way of knowing Princess Duana was planning to lead her to the warlock's cave. They had wandered for hours beneath the lavish greenery and wondrous trees of the forest when Princess Camryn suggested they return to the castle. But since they had not reached the warlock’s cave, Princess Duana pretended to see a wounded deer and prompted her niece to follow her deeper in the woods. A sinister mist swirled around them. It was cold now.
“Ahaaah!” howled Lord Warlock as he leapt across their dark path. “How dare you enter my forest? I must take one of your lives as punishment. But which one is it to be? Will it be you, beautiful Duana, or perhaps you, repulsive Camryn?”
Princess Camryn immediately rushed forward to save her young and beautiful aunt. Her heart was too kind and she only wished to protect those she loved.
“Well, well,” hissed the warlock, “it seems you have made your choice.” His gnarled fingers flew into the air like ancient twigs and hovered over Princess Camryn’s head as he whispered a spell. Princess Camryn’s body changed into a glittering mist. A light breeze carried her to the crystal clear creek and released her enchanted body like cool dew drops over the stream. Her long tendrils of shiny black hair became just another wave of the gentle current’s brook. But her soul, too pure and strong for the warlock’s evil powers to destroy, remained free, made the creek gleam as if diamonds were carried along with the flow of colorless water she had become.
Princess Duana returned to the kingdom in tears. Her eyes were red and her nose wet. She ran through the kingdom, making sure the people saw her distress, and then ran to the Queen.
“My dearest sister, my Queen, I begged her not to stray or follow any wounded animals. I begged her to stay with me but she wouldn’t listen! She ran into the woods, disregarding my pleas, and then she was gone. I searched for the Princess for hours but could not find her.” Princess Duana wiped a tear from the corner of one misty eye with a blue satin handkerchief and furtively winked at the Queen. The Queen understood and covered her tracks by sending all her soldiers to comb the forest for her unsightly but charming daughter. The people of the kingdom even joined the search. They searched up and down the valley’s vast and dense foliage, and several times stopped to drink from the creek which gleamed beautifully even under the cloudy sky, but they returned to the castle without their beloved Princess and filled of sorrow. The Queen faked sorrow for months, slowly letting it fade as she publicly accepted the kingdom’s tales that her daughter was carried away by a hungry beast. The wicked Queen was certain she would never see Princess Camryn ever again.
Two long years passed…
Meanwhile, Weird and wonderful things were happening in the valley. Princess Camryn’s brightness filled the dark forest
and warmed the animals, trees and foliage. Her bright spirit showed them the path to the crystalline creek, where they could satiate their thirst. The valley and forest became so filled with light and love that the warlock’s presence was easier to spot.
One day, a young and elegant prince named Prince Anthony wandered into the forest and got lost. He noticed the blackened moss beneath his feet and the wonderful green path next to him. Immediately he became aware that something evil lurked in this forest. While looking for the way out, Prince Anthony came across the creek and became distracted by beautiful trees and flowers that flourished by the creek’s edge. Birds flew happily and deer and bunnies sprinted and danced around the shrubs full of wonderful red berries. He became so happy after drinking from the brook. Prince Anthony shook his long flaxen locks and smiled. He decided to set up camp by the glistening creek’s edge and find out if the perception of enchantment he experienced was real.
The next day, the Prince noticed the creek’s magnificent glow. It was breathtaking. Like nothing he had seen before. It was so beautiful that it brought a tear