It was told that once upon a time, in an ancient realm there was a little village by a great river. The village prospered, their crops grew better than the surrounding villages, the trade was good and everyone was considered equal. One day a merchant came to the village. He had heard great tales of this wondrous place, and was eager to be a part of it. The villagers welcomed him and the leader invited the merchant to stay the night in his own home. It was there that the merchant met a girl. Sixteen years of age, the girl was already the most beautiful girl in many a mile. But she was not vain, she had a kind heart and a compassionate spirit. The merchant fell deeply in love with the girl and asked her father if he could court her. The leader looked at the merchant and said:

"I can see that you are smitten with my daughter, like many a man who have laid eyes upon her. I give you permission to court her, but eventually the choice will be her own."

The merchant was confident that he could win her hand, but the leader was not yet finished.

"You are not deterred by the fact that it is her choice to make. But beware, a girl like her is a rare wonder, and very fragile, you cannot lock it up, for it will vanish if you do. She has to be free, always making her own decisions. If you try to force her into something she does not wish, you will no longer be welcome here anymore."

Overpowered by longing the merchant did not take the leader's words to heart and started courting the girl.

One day the girl was walking through the village when she came upon the merchant.

"Dear heart, you are the most beautiful girl I ever laid my eyes upon, please accept this token of my affection." he presented her with a large straw hat that would shade her eyes from the glare of the sun. The girl had never seen anything quite like it and accepted the hat.

"Good merchant, this is a beautiful hat, I cannot deny I would like to wear something so wonderful. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, but unfortunately I cannot linger. I am needed in a cottage." with a nod to the merchant she resumed walking.

Convinced that she would be even more grateful if he brought her another present, the merchant began to overload her with presents. The next even more beautiful than the last.

After the hat came a white gossamer silk veil, to protect her delicate skin from the harming rays of the sun. Next was a set of skin paints, to accentuate the whiteness of her skin. Last came a whit silk dress that tied around her neck, but left her shoulders bare to the eye.

After every gift the merchant presented her with the girl thanked him from the bottom of her heart, but always returned to her business, never stopping to show him if his affections were returned. She never came to him to speak, it was always him that started any conversation. She answered his questions but never asked him any, she smiled politely at him but never with more than friendliness.

One day the merchant saw the girl talking to another young man. He saw the other man present her with a gift. A silk rope-like belt with a brilliant white shell holding it together. The girl smiled at the young man as she accepted the gift, but the merchant saw that there was something different about her smile. Every time she had smiled at him, it was warm and polite, friendly. But this smile was different, it held more warmth, more affection.

Blinded by jealousy the merchant confronted the young man and the girl. He accused the girl of playing with his heart like the harlot she was. Wheedling expensive presents from him, while accepting other men's gifts as well. So enraged was he that he drew a knife and wielded it at her. The young man read his intentions and placed himself between the girl and the knife, which embedded itself deeply in his chest. The young man collapsed, the girl screamed and sank down beside him, holding him in her arms, all the while weeping for his lost life.

Her screaming and weeping brought all the villagers out of their cottages, to see what was going on. The leader came to a stop beside the merchant and spoke.

"I have warned you that there was many a man fighting for her attention, and that the choice was hers. But in your jealousy you took the choice away from her, and now an innocent life is lost. I told you what would happen and now you will bear the consequences of your actions. You are no longer welcome here in this village. Leave now and never come back."

Enraged the merchant left, vowing he would have his revenge on the girl, no matter what.

Peace returned to the village, and for a while it seemed that everything would return to normal. But after a few weeks the trade with the other villages began to falter. After two months none of the surrounding villages would trade with them. When the leader inquired after the reason, he found out that the merchant had corrupted all the other villages, making them boycott the prosperous village. Suddenly the village wasn't prospering anymore. The surplus of the crops went bad and inedible. The villagers got sick, but had no medicine to heal themselves. The girl, who was a healer, tried everything to help her people but it was all for naught. One by one all the villagers fell sick and the girl knew there was only one thing she could do to help her people. She had to go to the merchant and try to reason with him.

Thinking it wouldn't harm, she dressed herself in the merchant's gifts, but she also wanted him to remember what he had done, so she also wore the white shell belt.

Thus attired she went to him, to plead with him to re-establish the trade with her village. But the merchant was vindictive and did not listen to her pleading. Instead he called her names and insulted her and her family. But that was still not enough for him. She had stabbed him in his heart, so he would do the same with her.

When the girl finally saw that pleading would not work with him she turned away, vowing she would do anything to help her village in times of need. She was unaware of the merchant who came up behind her with a knife in his hand. When he called out to her, she turned around. But before she could say something he drove his knife deep in her heart. Dying, she looked him deep in the eyes and when she saw the malice there, she repeated her vow. The merchant threw her body in the river, where it would float back to her village.

All the villagers grieved when they found her body and they prayed for her. But it seemed her death was the beginning of new prosperous times. The sick healed, while the merchant fell sick and died. The trade was back and over time everyone was happy again. The villagers believed that it was the girls spirit that dwelled in the water of the river. And because of the paint they had found on her body, they started to call her the painted lady. She would watch over the, in times of need.

A/N: Hey, hope you guys liked it. This is actualy a part of a bigger story I'm writing at the moment, but I wanted to publish something so I published this. Please let me know if you have comments, suggestions, or find it plain boring, I want to know... I'm trying to polish my writing skills. so R&R pleazz. - PentacleRose