THE PRINCESS WHO BECAME A MERMAID
By
Reena Yadav
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The Princess who became a Mermaid
Copyright 2013 Reena Yadav
Cover image Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into retrieval systems or transmitted in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the various products referenced in this work of fiction which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
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Acknowledgement
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my good friend Vasanthi Nadarajan for providing me an insight on what her daughter loves to listen to at bedtime. This short story is dedicated to my niece, Aryana Kaur and, Keishana who inspired me to write this story.
I would also like to express gratitude to my readers for taking their time to read this short story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
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The Princess who became a Mermaid
Once upon a time in a far away land known as the Land Kingdom, there lived King James with his lovely Queen, Helen and their two beautiful daughters, Alena and Amara. They lived in a big palace with large gardens where flowers blossomed, birds sang and the sun shone. It was a happy kingdom. However, Helen was the second wife of the King. The King’s first wife had died during childbirth and had given birth to Amara.
Once Helen became Queen, she would always give Alena better clothes, better treatment and Alena soon slept in Amara’s chambers, which were decorated like the Sun. To her father, King James, Amara had always been the sun in his life after his wife passed on.
Alena and Amara were like the moon and sun, in their behaviour. Although she was always being made to do the palace chores and dress like a maidservant, she was kind hearted to everyone she met. She did not differentiate between rich and poor, strong and weak, all were the same to her. Alena, was like the moon, so cold, dark and full of jealously. If Amara had received something better than her, she would snatch it and demand a better one than what Amara got. Amara had always been told that she was beautiful and that one day a handsome prince would marry her.
At Queen Helen’s insistence, King James took his family to the Fantasy Beach. Amara was taken for the family picnic although Queen Helen and Alena objected. The journey was a pleasant one, with the ladies in the carriage drawn by two white horses.
Once the found a place they liked, the King’s men began laying down the picnic mat. They had brought sandwiches, pastries and cakes. Alena didn’t want to play with Amara and shunned her.
Amara was left alone and began to wander along the beach. At the end of the beach, she found a rock and sat on it, crying. Then, she heard a voice which said, ‘don’t cry. You don’t look beautiful when you are crying’
Amara looked up and to her amazement, she saw a man, about her age. This man had hair made of seaweed, green eyes and had the tail of a fish. He was ugly but he was dressed in the finest suit and he was wet all over. She looked at him and asked, ‘who are you? why are you wet and where is your feet?’
He laughed and said, ‘I am Triton. I am wet because I have just come out from the ocean and my feet are here!’ he said as he wiggled his fish tail which made Amara laugh.
‘Triton, can anyone else see you?’ Amara asked curiously.
‘Yes, Amara, people can see me, but there are no people here’ Triton said as he looked at people coming to Amara. They were the King’s guards coming to take Amara back to be with her father.
‘I have to go now, Princess Amara. I will come to your kingdom tomorrow night. Await me!’ Triton said as he wiggled and swam back to the deep blue ocean.
Amara was surprised; she had seen an ugly looking creature like that. Her father’s guards came and took her shortly afterwards. ‘What did Triton mean when he said he is coming tonight?’ Amara wondered.
When they reached the palace, King James announced that they were having a birthday celebration for Alena the next day. Instantly, preparations were made. The decorators were called in the next day and soon the Grand Ballroom was filled with flowers, balloons and ribbons in yellow, red, green and blue, Alena’s favourite colors. Amara was feeling sad as they never had celebrated her birthday before.
The next morning, Amara woke up and the birds were chirping, ‘don’t be sad, you will have a birthday celebration too’ as they sang happily. Queen Helen came to Amara and gave her an old gown and heels to wear. Amara had always been given rags and maidservants clothes to wear. She was happy and excited to be wearing a gown, which made her feel like a princess. The gown was pink in color and had a bow at the back. The Queen had given her a tiara to wear. When she looked in the mirror, she looked like a princess.
As evening came, guests began to arrive. They were kings, queens, prince and princesses from neighbouring kingdoms. They princess all looked pretty and the prince were all handsome.
However, the most handsome prince that night was Prince Triton. But, Princess Triton was not the ugly fish-tail man she had met at the beach. He had become human and was now a tall man, with dark brown hair and green eyes. He had come, as promised, and looked for Princess Amara. When he met Princess Amara, he said, ‘you are like a jewel in the ocean tonight’
Prince Triton and Princess Amara danced all night. When they were tired dancing, they went out to the balcony, Princess Amara was very happy as she made a friend. Princess Amara then asked Price Triton, ‘I have never seen you before but you are a prince, from where exactly?’
‘I am Prince Triton from the Ocean Kingdom where you met me for the first time. My father is King Poseidon. He is here tonight’ Prince Triton said as he pointed his finger towards his father who acknowledged him.
Princess Amara saw that King Poseidon was talking to her father. ‘There is a problem’ Prince Triton said as he explained what his father was talking to her father about. ‘Your father wants me to marry Princess Alena’ Prince Triton said sadly.
Princess Amara then held his hand, she was sad for him too. She had began to like him but her stepsister always received the best. ‘I have one condition if we have to be together, would you agree to the condition?’ Prince Triton asked.
‘What is the condition?’ Princess Amara asked.
‘My condition is that you would only be allowed to return to earth as a human during nightfall, by day, you are a mermaid and are not to come close to the shore and you would only see me as the green ugly creature you met that day’ Prince Triton said. ‘Come, I’ll show you!’ he said.
‘But, I won’t be able to breathe!’ Princess Amara shouted as Prince Triton grabbed her arm, carried her and flew to the beach. ‘Don’t worry! I have a remedy for that as he whispered a spell which made her dizzy and as she fainted, Prince Triton held her and brought her into the ocean.
When Amara awoke, she found herself breathing normally. Triton held her hand as he showed her around his palace. His palace was just like her fathers, only bigger. There were maidservants at every corner. There was a seaweed garden and there were plenty of fishes swimming together wi
th them in the ocean. As she swam with Triton, the fishes whispered, ‘Welcome to the Ocean Kingdom’ or ‘Welcome Princess Amara’. Triton had become a handsome prince once again. They both smiled as they swam among the fishes. ‘Here, we will celebrate your birthday every year!’ Prince Triton says gleefully to Amara, ‘we will have cakes ready at the shore by nightfall and by day, we can party by with the fishes!’
Soon it was time to return to the palace. Amara had enjoyed the swimming with Triton. She wanted to become his princess mermaid. She would agree to his condition. When Triton flew them back to King James’ palace, time had stopped still while they were away. When they landed at the balcony, time began moving again. After that night, they bid each other farewell and she never saw Prince Triton again.
The next day, Princess Alena was happy, excited and jumping for joy. King James’ had fixed her marriage to Prince Triton. Princess Amara was sad. She wondered if Princess Alena would accept Prince Triton in his true form as she had seen him.
‘Princess Alena, to be with Prince Triton forever, to be bound to him for eternity, there are two conditions you need to follow. First, you would need to see and accept him in his true form, do you agree to that?’ King James said to his daughter. Princess Alena said, ‘how can I agree without seeing his true form?’
‘Dear Alena, we will go to Fantasy Beach, there you would see his true form. Amara, you will come too’ King James said as Queen Helen wanted to protest but smiled happily as her daughter was going to marry a handsome prince.
They reached Fantasy Beach and King James brought Princess Alena to the rocks, where Amara had met Triton for the first time. At the rocks, King James, Queen Helen, Princess Alena and Princess Amara waited and waited.
Suddenly, a figure arose and touched Princess Alena as she was sitting on the rock. The figure placed his scaly hand on her. When Princess Alena looked up, she saw a man whose hair was made of seaweed, green eyes, scaly body and a tail of a fish. She jumped and screamed and ran to King James.
‘Father, father, get that ugly creature away from me’ she said as she hid her face in her father’s chest.
He father calmed her down and said, ‘Dear Alena, that ugly creature is Prince Triton’
‘No, it can’t be! Prince Triton is a handsome man, he danced with me that night and this isn’t him. Father, you must be mistaken’ Princess Alena said as she slowly turned to look at the ugly creature.
‘Princess Amara, you have see me like this, please say something’ Prince Triton said pleadingly to Amara.
‘Yes, I have. Alena, this is indeed Prince Triton and he isn’t ugly. He is the most handsome man in the Ocean Kingdom with a pure heart of gold’ Amara said to Alena and her father. ‘Amara, you do know the other condition?’ King James asked his daughter as he placed Alena to Queen Helen and went to hug Princess Amara.
‘Father, I do know what the other condition is. It is that I would only be allowed to return as a human during nightfall. By day, I am the Mermaid Princess and I will live in the Ocean Kingdom and not come close to shore’ Amara tells her father confidently. ‘And do you accept that condition
‘Princess Amara, do you accept me for who I am and are willing to live with me as per the conditions set out’ Prince Triton asked Amara while looking into her eyes, lovingly.
‘Yes, I do, Triton, I accept you for who you are and just the way you are’ she said as she held on to Triton’s scaly face.
‘Amara, will you marry me and become my Mermaid Princess Amara?’ Triton asked while holding both of Amara’s hands. ‘Yes, I do!’ Amara said as Triton placed a seaweed ring on Amara’s left ring finger. They both kiss when King Poseidon comes and blesses them. King James and King Poseidon hug over the alliance formed and become friends. Queen Helen and Princess Alena stay by each other, with their faces hung down in shame. Princess Alena had fallen for Prince Triton because he was handsome and looked as if he came from a rich kingdom. They had overlooked that beauty isn’t always in good looks and being rich. Beauty also comes from kind words and a kind heart.
Within the next days, Amara was rightfully treated as a princess and her wedding preparations were made. They were married by Fantasy Beach at twilight, when mermen transform to humans. Their ceremony was simple and when the ceremony was over, Prince Triton and Princess Amara happily swam into the ocean and lived in Ocean Kingdom happily ever after.
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About the Author
Reena Yadav is a freelance writer, eBook author and is currently working as an editorial operations associate at a multi-national company. Her hobbies include writing, reading, listening to music and travelling. She loves to explore historical sites and loves beaches. She is in the midst of writing her first eBook novel. She lives with her husband in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/reena305
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