Once upon a time in Ventralli

The Poisoned Mask

Note: I write in Spanish. I made my best to translated it but it's not going to be perfect. It's so easy to read another language, but to write... not so much. You can ask anyone lol. But if you want to read the original in Spanish, it's on my profile. Thanks for being awesome and reading my story!

Once upon a time there was a girl named Pearlisa. Her hair was dark as the night and her skin was white as the moon. She had lost her mother when she was little and for many years it were only she and her father, the king of Ventralli. Living in the palace was amazing, until the king met a woman.

She had blond hair like the sun, and a smile that seemed to hide a thousand secrets. It was undoubtedly the most beautiful woman Pearlisa had ever seen in her life and his father seemed spellbound by her. The problem was that the woman was very conscious about her beauty. She became his wife, going to the palace to live with them.

The princess was so happy that she went out every day to enjoy the sun and the outdoors with her father. She loved to sing and she actually had a privileged voice. Sometimes her new stepmother joined to them.

Until one day, the king fell ill and he didn't survive. Stung by the loss of her entire family, Pearlisa couldn't stop crying, and tired of hearing her, the cruel queen locked her in a dungeon, far from the daylight she loved so much.

Every year, the queen went to cut Pearlisa hair really short, considering it one of the best attributes of her beauty. However, the princess became more beautiful every day and the queen, vain as she was, couldn't accept losing the first place as the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.

She looked at herself in one of the huge gilt-framed mirrors that adorned the palace. Were those wrinkles on her face? Were those white hairs in her head? The situation couldn't continue like that.

She decided to release Pearlisa, tricking her on false hopes so she could be able to make her suffer even more, because her wickedness knew no bounds.

She left the palace finally happy to see the sunlight. The years of confinement turn her even paler, highlighting her scarlet lips. She began to sing, the radiant colors of the streets of Rintiero illuminating her spirit.

On her walk, she met a very handsome young man. He was completely amazed at the beauty of her face and the voice that left him completely mesmerized. He asked for her name and she couldn't resist giving it to him.

"I've never heard a bird sing in such a beautiful way as your voice."

She blushed at the compliment. She wasn't used to receive them, so she wasn't sure how to react. Should she thank him? Should she give him a compliment too? Or perhaps she should talk about her talent?

She finally decided for a polite: "You are very kind" and batted her eyelashes as she had seen her stepmother do. The boy was completely fascinated.

"How come I haven't seen you here before?"

She smiled softly.

"I don't go out much," she whispered.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to go out this morning, then."

Her smile grew bigger.

"Are you visiting?" she asked, noting that he wasn't Ventrallan.

"I like to go to kindoms, meet places and people." He dropped his gaze and looked at her beneath his lashes. "And I like to meet beautiful girls."

Perlisa feel her cheeks burning again. It seemed she couldn't stop smiling.

"So where do you come?"