Once upon a time in Ventralli

Under the River

Once upon a time a there was a girl named Aquamarine. She was the youngest of five sisters and was amazed by the colors of Rintiero. She couldn't stop staring around her houses filled with different colors: pink, yellow, orange, blue.

But the place she liked the most to visit was the Langstone River. She spent hours there, swimming or enjoying the sun on the shore. In fact, her dark hair was quite ruined by spending so much time underwater.

She used to collect strange objects found at the bottom, took them to her house and collected them as small treasures. Many might think that it would make her a little strange, but she wanted to think that was what made her special. She considered them her own works of art. However, that was not her most striking feature. It was her voice. Aquamarine sang beautifully, she had the most lovely voice of all Primoria, probably.

One afternoon she was going to the coast when she heard screams. She arrived just in time to see as something sank in the river from a boat moving away. Was that a person?

Aquamarine tied a rope to a pole and plunged into the water, swimming to reach the place where she had seen the body. She finally reached him and with the help of the rope, she could take it to the shore.

He was a very handsome young man and fortunately he was still breathing. She ran her fingers through his hair as she sang, waiting to him to wake up. She had seen him before. Always coming down from his ship very happy and full of energy. His enthusiasm had caught her attention immediately and she had wanted to meet him. He was even more handsome up close.

But then, a whole row of soldiers arrived, pulling her away from him and carried the boy to the palace. Aquamarine soon realized that the young man was the prince of Ventralli.

The girl was locked in her house for days, crying inconsolably. She knew she would never see him again, their lives were so different. Until she could no longer continue to do nothing. She took her horse and went to the Paisel Mountains where it was rumored that there was a very special woman, who gave wishes to who requested.

She traveled through paths and rocks until finally found her. The woman was dressed in black, completely covered except for the eyes. Dark eyes that seemed to know too much.

The sorceress offered a deal that would grant hert a way to live in the court, but in return she would lose her voice. She hesitated and felt very sad at the thought of losing her most valuable asset, but knew she would do anything to see the prince again. The decision was already taken.

She noticed a glow from the witch's  necklace. If she didn't knew better, she would have thought it was a conduit, but there was something very wrong with it. Its magic radiated a dark and unknown essence. And then it was gone, the light and her voice.

A few days later, the prince found her on the coast a little disoriented, feeling he knew her from somewhere. She wore a tight dress to the knees that widened then until it reached the feet. A nice fish-shaped mask adorned her face. The boy was excited to think that she was the girl who rescued him, with such a beautiful voice he could never forget. But when he approached her, he discovered that she couldn't speak, and his happiness slightlyfell apart.

Still, they shared more time. Aquamarine took him to the coast of the Langstone River and showed him the objects she found. Sometimes they just stayed to enjoy the sun and to each other. Or she would play the harp in one of the great halls of the palace, while the boy appreciated her talent. But the prince couldn't open his heart to anyone but the girl with the unique voice. And Aquamarine was saddening to note that the attention of the young man was elsewhere. But spending time with him was better than nothing.

Then a woman showed up. The prince was fascinated by her, as if spellbound. Aquamarine felt her heart breaking into pieces. The sorceress had warned her that if the prince married someone else, she would fall into a deep sleep from which she'll never wake up.

A compromise was agreed and Aquamarine lost all hope. Then she recognized the eyes of the sorceress in the Prince's fiancee. She couldn't give her away because she had no voice, but then noticed her collar and snatched it from her neck, throwing it to the ground and breaking it into pieces. The witch lost all her powers, the prince woke up from her dark spell and Aquamarine regained her voice.

The boy looked astonished, recognizing the voice that haunted his dreams.

"I knew it was you. When I met you, I knew it."

The girl was more than happy and ran into his arms, joining him in what would be the first of many kisses of their happily ever after.

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!