Bellerophone and the Hag

Prologue

Years ago the Forest of Flowers was a place that everyone traveled too.  Thousands of flowers bloomed throughout the forest.  The forest smelled like ambrosia on a warm summer day.  Flowers were plentiful and so was joy.

In the center of the forest stood a castle made of quartz.  It shimmered in the sun and even glowed at night.  A King and Queen lived in the castle with their only child.  A daughter named Megaera.  She was beautiful with hair the color of fire and eyes the shade of new leaves.  Megaera was fair and loved by all, but she wasn't happy.  Her heart was filled with jealousy and greed. 

Megaera quickly learned from a young age that as the Princess, she was entitled to many things.  Megaera soon grew greedy and it broke her parents heart.  As the years went by Megaera's heart grew hard as it was filled with greed and jealousy.  The day came when Megaera's parent's handed over the control of their kingdom to their daughter.  They hoped that she would change but they were wrong.  Megaera's jealousy and greed grew so great that it caused her parent's death.

At the funeral of her parents a sorceress appeared.  She cursed Megaera for the jealousy and greed that had filled her heart.  Megaera was turned into an ugly old hag.  The castle was changed into a tiny one room cottage with a door that didn't fit snugly, windows that had broken windows in them and a roof that constantly leaked.  The walls surrounding the castle turned into a fence of broken glass and the surrounding vegetation turned brown and withered away.  The only tree that grew in the center courtyard turned black with leaves of vivid green. 

The servants disappeared and all of the villages that had once called the forest home slowly faded away.  The trees all withered and their leaves were constantly brown and dry.  The flowers that had once carpeted the forest were now replaced with sharp thorns.  Birds seldomly chirped and the creatures that called the forest home were barely seen.

Megaera's heart grew hard over the years and she cursed her fate.  Her only hope was in the words that the sorceress told her before she left her to this miserable existence.  Megaera's fortunes would be replaced once she found a man who could love her and see past her greed and jealousy. 

Years passed and a slow trickle of men managed to find their way into the forest looking for Megaera's.  For while she'd been a Princess, Megaera had studied the healing arts and knew how to make a variety of spells and potions to help heal the hearts and ailments of man.  A hundred years had passed since the last man had last ventured into her forest.  Megaera's only hope in getting back what was once hers was that the next man who ventured into her forest would win her heart.