This is fairy tale written in 2011, it’s a bit grim, but enjoy.
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Once upon a time there was a beautiful Kingdom ruled by a King and a Queen. The King and Queen only had one son, and they both wished for him to be married soon. The King wanted the best for his son so he wanted to see him marry a girl that he loved. But the Queen was overcome with power so she only wishes for their Kingdom to become bigger through the Prince’s marriage.
As soon as the Prince of the Kingdom turned of age the King arranged for a ball where he invited all of the Princesses around the world, exactly one-hundred-and-eighty-nine Princesses.
The Queen encouraged the Prince to dance with all of the Princesses of big Kingdoms and so, the first Princess that he asked for a dance was the Princess of the largest Kingdom in the world.
The Queen cheerfully clapped her hands for she was sure that the Prince would choose this Princess to be his. But during the dance the Princess asked the Prince so many questions that by the end of it he was dizzy and had to sit down.
‘No, won’t do.’ The Prince said and invited the eldest Princess of the second biggest Kingdom for a dance.
But this Princess was so intend on seducing the Prince that she puckered her lips and tried kissing him all the way throughout the dance so much that by the end of it he was exhausted from trying to avoid the Princess’ lips and had to sit down.
‘No, won’t do.’ The Prince said and invited a third Princess to dance.
But even after having danced with one-hundred-and-eighty-eight Princesses he still hadn’t found one that he liked. Every one of them was even more desperate to seduce him than the previous one and by this time the Prince had completely given up on finding a suitable Princess.
However, just for good manners, he decided to dance with the very last Princess as well.
She was the youngest Princess of a very small Kingdom. And as they danced the Queen could barely control her disapproval.
By then end of the dance the Prince realised that the Princess had neither tried to seduce him like the others, nor spoken a single word.
Intrigued by her he invited her for another dance.
And yet again she didn’t speak.
The Prince invited her for a third dance and when by the end of it she still hadn’t spoken he asked her: ‘Why don’t you speak, do you not wish to marry me?’
The Princess looked him in the eyes and with the purest and clearest voice he had ever heard she answered with a song:
‘I wait every day
Sing every song I may
When I see the Dove
That brings news of our Love
I know you’ll be here
Then I see you come near.’
As she sang the Prince fell in love with her and once she was done he immediately introduced her to the King and the Queen as the woman that he loved and would marry.
The Queen was very unhappy that he had decided to marry the Princess of such a small Kingdom. But the King, of course, was thrilled that his son had found a woman that he loved and he scheduled their wedding for the following month.
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That same week war broke out and both the King and the Prince had to go into fight.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll be home before you know it,’ the Prince said to his Princess and off he went.
As soon as both the Prince and the King were out of sight the Queen approached the Princess. ‘Times of war are difficult, and you will have to make yourself useful while you wait for your Prince to return,’ the Queen said and handed a broomstick, a bucket of water and a sponge to the Princess. ‘You can start by cleaning the floor.’
The Princess didn’t argue and got straight to work.
Every day as she cleaned the floor she sang the same song that she had first sung for the Prince at the night of the ball. But as days passed the Princess started worrying that she would never get to see the Prince again.
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One day she heard rumours that the Queen had magical powers and that same evening after she had cleaned the floor of every corner of the castle she approached the Queen.
‘Dear Queen, I hear rumours of your powers and I wish to ask you if you may use them to bring back the Prince. I miss him so and I wish that he would come back within the month.’
‘I may,’ the Queen answered ‘but using my powers require so much effort and make me so weak so I cannot do it for free.’ The Princess considered this for a short while.
‘I will give you all the gold I have,’ she said but the Queen merely shook her head.
‘Then, I will give you all of my family’s gold and our entire Kingdom.’ But again the Queen just shook her head.
‘Your Kingdom is far too small for me,’ said the Queen. The Princess was disappointed and with her big blue eyes she looked down at the floor that had already started to get dusty.
‘But, those eyes sure are pretty and I wouldn’t mind having eyes like that,’ the Queen said. ‘If you give me your eyes I will ensure that the Prince will return within the month.’
‘I was counting on my eyes to see the Prince arrive,’ the Princess said ‘but I would still have my ears to hear him arrive.’
So the Queen granted the Princess’ wish that the prince would return within the month and in exchange the Princess gave her eyes to Queen.
‘Now go back to work,’ the Queen ordered. ‘The floor is already dusty.’
And so, although she didn’t have any eyes to see, the Princess went back to her cleaning.
And as she cleaned she sang:
‘I wait every day
Sing every song I may
When I hear the Dove
That brings news of our Love
I know you’ll be here
Then I hear you come near.’
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One day she heard rumours that there were only very slim chances for any of the Kingdom’s knights to come back alive. The Princess realised that she had only asked the Queen to make sure that her Prince returned within the month but had forgot to wish that he would come home alive. That same evening after she had cleaned the floor of every corner of the castle she approached the Queen.
‘Dear Queen, I hear rumours that the Prince will not return alive. Can you please make him return within the month and alive?’ the Princess asked.
‘I can, but using my powers require so much effort and make me so weak so I cannot do it for free,’ the Queen answered
‘I will give you all the gold I have,’ the Princess offered but the Queen stayed silent.
‘Then, I will give you all of my family’s gold and our entire Kingdom.’
‘Your Kingdom is far too small for me. But, those ears of yours sure work well, mine are getting weary and I wouldn’t mind having your ears. If you give me your ears I will ensure that the Prince will return alive within the month,’ said the Queen.
‘I was counting on my ears to hear the Prince arrive’ the Princess said ‘but I would still have my voice to draw him to me when he does.’ For even though the Princess didn’t have eyes anymore she was aware that her appearance had changed because of all of the hard work that the Queen had ordered her to do.
So the Queen granted the Princess’ wish for the Prince to return alive within the month and in exchange the Princess gave her ears to the Queen.
The Princess went back to her cleaning. And as she cleaned she sang:
‘I wait every day
Sing every song I may
I sing to the Dove
That brings news of our Love
I know you’ll be here
I sing and you come near.’
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But one day the Princess realised that a lot of rugs, vases and artefacts had disappeared from the castle and she feared that the Prince’s and her wedding might be cancelled because the Kingdom had lost too much in the war and there was near to no money left. That same evening after she had cleaned the floor of every corner of the castle she approached the Queen.
‘Dear Queen, I fear that after the war there might not be enough money to afford the Prince’s wedding when he does return but please make it so that there is, so I can stand on the altar with him on the day,’ said the Princess.
‘I will, but using my powers require so much effort and make me so weak so I cannot do it for free,’ the Queen answered.
Although the Princess couldn’t hear the Queen’s words she knew what the Queen said.
‘I know that you do not want my Kingdom or my money.’ Said the Princess. ‘And the only other thing I have left is my voice. I was counting on my voice to draw the Prince to me when he arrives, but I would still have my hands to recognise his, when he does arrive. Please grant my wish and take my voice in exchange,’ the Princess said.
So the Queen granted the Princess’ wish that the Prince would return alive within the month and that both him and the Princess would then stand together at the altar and in exchange the Princess gave her voice to Queen.
The Princess went back to her cleaning. But without her voice she could no longer sing her song to the Prince so she silently brushed away the dust from the floor.
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The war ended before the end of the month and just as the Princess had wished the Prince returned alive. He was the only survivor and he was severely injured but he was alive.
At his arrival he searched for his Princess throughout the castle. He even searched among the servants but he couldn’t recognise the Princess because both her big blue eyes and her enchanting voice were gone and the Princess could neither see nor hear her Prince search for her, for she had neither eyes to see nor ears to hear.
No matter how much the Prince searched he couldn’t find his Princess.
‘What has happened to my Princess?’ he asked the Queen one evening.
‘She left during the war, times were tough and she didn’t want to work,’ the Queen answered.
That same night the Queen convinced that Prince that even though the Princess wasn’t around he still had to get married within the month because the morale in the Kingdom was too low and it was the only way to make the people of the Kingdom forget their sorrows and loss.
And so, before the end of the month, the Queen clapped her hands in delight as the Prince stood at the altar with the first Princess of the biggest Kingdom in the world by his side.
And in the corner of the altar there was a blind, deaf and mute servant girl carefully cleaning the floor while waiting for her Prince, not realising that all of her wishes had already come true.