Fairy Tales- The River Maiden
Once upon a time, in a far away land filled with magic, mystery, and mayhem, there lived an important baron and his wife. As important as he was in his heyday, Baron Edward Von Irvine is not the subject of our tale. Nor is his wife, Ann, the subject of our attention. Instead, this story focuses on another member of the family. The baron had two children, a girl and a boy. The eldest was the girl, who was named Lillian, while the younger boy was called Ian. It is Lillian, a short brown-haired child with an immense curiosity for everything around her, who is at the center of our story, and it is with her we shall begin.
Lillian had always been a handful for her father. Not because she was always getting into trouble, but because she was everything her father was not. While he was firm and controlling of his life and the lives of others, Lillian was gentle and let the wind blow her where it will. A curious child, she was always exploring everything around her. She had no desire to make a profit off the hard work of the citizens of the land while idling in the lap of luxury, as was expected of someone of her status. Instead, her father frequently caught her attempting to slip off into the nearby town to explore and help the workers in their daily tasks. In a rage, he would send for her mother and demanded she "talk some sense into your daughter!"
By the time Lillian was 17 years old, her mother Ann had left Edward and moved to a small house in the woods to the south. Ian apprenticed himself out to a tradesman, leaving his eldest sister alone with a man who appeared to be growing more and more controlling each day. Lillian was completely forbidden from visiting the town without supervision, and whenever her father noticed a man or boy politely conversing with or even merely glancing at her, he would become so enraged that he threatened them with a variety of punishments, from cutting out their tongues to poking their eyes out with sharp sticks. Before long, Lillian was left alone for fear of her father's temper, and while in some ways this suited her just fine, she couldn't help but wish that there would be someone like her she could converse with who didn't simply agree with her because of who she was.
Day by day the loneliness inside her grew. Her only friends were a few servants she was able to briefly converse with each day without her father's knowledge and her books. If there was one thing that Lillian loved more than helping those around her, it was the collection of books she owned. She could (and often would) spend hours poring over the literature she had acquired over the years without a second thought. Her favorite book by far was the collection of fairy tales she had grown up reading. She carried it with her on many a trip to the fields and forests surrounding their estate that it became a common sight. Her father, however, had always frowned on such things, reminding her time and again that such tales were fiction and no good would ever come from her daydreaming and whimsical, childish behavior.
The day of her 18th birthday started as every other: snow fell gently on the far hills of Neelam to the north, the sun shone bright in the southern kingdom of Kesa, the western kingdoms of Anani, Sorcha, and Luighseach went about their daily business of trade and export, while the eastern tribes of Sabba flew their kites high in the sky as part of their month-long celebrations worshiping Naseelah, the Goddess of the sea, who provided their arid lands with both rain and cool breezes during this time. In fact, nothing at the dawn of her birthday gave Lillian any notice that all was not well in the landlocked kingdom of Nirvelli, let alone something amiss in her father's small city of Irvine. And that is where our story begins…
Author's Notes:
So I know it's only the prologue, but I want to see if anyone is interested in hearing more about this. This is a pretty original fairy tale from my own messed up head, something that's not 100% based on an existing fairy tale, though I do keep the similar elements of several from time to time. I dreamed this story when I was a very young teenager (well over 15 years ago), and I've been meaning to write it down for years now. If this seems like anything else you've ever read, my apologies, but it's purely coincidental (and very highly unlikely). That being said, I don't want to be hearing from people that someone has taken my work and published it elsewhere as their own. If you want to use it, quote it, write fanfiction about my story, etc. all I ask is that you ASK. I'll give permission if you ask, but if you come in like a thief in the night and take my hard labor for your own, I won't be pleased to say the least.
Reviews make me do a happy dance, so please do! If you do so on every chapter, I'll give you a cookie!
That being said, on to Chapter 1!