Fairytale chosen (2 page)

Lean considered that the old person is confused, but he took a step back. Witches could take any shape and all of those may not be humans. "Forgive me if I’ve hurt you or your forest. That was not my intention. I'm looking for a boy, who must have come along here shortly before me”, He held out his cap, "this belongs to him."

"Whomever you believed to have seen, he is no longer here," the woman said firmly. "Now draw thy way before the forest swallows you up forever. Many hikers have been lost here. "

Lean looked around with uncertainty. He could not remember from where he came. No matter which way he looked, everything looked the same for him. He wanted to ask the old woman for the way, but she was already gone. Now a small, silver compass was lying on the ground, where they had been standing, the pointer was pointing right at him. Almost from the moment he took the instrument in his hand, the pointer began to turn itself and pointed to the right. Since Lean does not know what else to do, he decided to follow the indications of the device. He had nothing to lose anyway. As he rose through the roots and tried to make a way out of the thicket, he turned the case in his hand. No matter how he held it around, it kept on pointing in the same direction, without orienting itself at the cardinal points. On the back he discovered an embossing.

“Follow the path of your heart”

The device was terrible, just like the witch. A woman of her age could not possibly disappear so fast from his point of view. As before, the boy had virtually vanished. Where would the compass lead him to? Did the witch sent him astray?

Even as he thought about it, he suddenly heard the barking of dogs. Seconds later, the white-brown hounds of the king came stormed at him through the undergrowth with loud barking. They were followed by Silas and Yanis; together they clapped their hands, when they saw him.

"We were afraid that we have lost you!"

"You look terrible! What happened? Have you been chased by a wild pig? "

Lean laughed and shook his head and let the compass slide into his coat, without mentioning it. It had shown him the right path.

"I lost the boy out of sight. Not only can he shoot better than me, but runs even faster than the dogs. "

"If we do not go back to the castle soon, your father will make us his legs. Let's see who will run faster then.” joked Silas and handed the reins of his white horse to Lean.

A poor farmer and his wife had three daughters, whom they all loved equally.

The youngest daughter had a skin as radiant and pure as the splendour of a pearl, so she was called Elena pearl shimmer.

The middle daughter could sing beautiful than any bird could sing, so she was called Medea nightingale.

The eldest daughter had neither the beauty nor the talent of her two sisters, but she went to the Father, hand in hand like a son. She was diligent and brave at the same time. Everywhere you knew them as

Heera Fearless
.

H
eera reached out and let the axe strike down on the wooden block. It split crashing into two equal pieces. The girl liked it and put them aside and took the next block. Now the work was no more painful for her. Initially, she was not able to split the wood. The logs used to get stuck in the axe and she had to go back many times in order to eke out. At the end of the first day of her palms had been blistered, on the second day they were all cracked up. She could barely hold the handle of the axe, for so much it had done to her hand. Despite that, she has to go on. Day after day. In the beginning she needed to make five to ten strokes, after one week was over, it was reduced to three to seven. After two weeks she was able split the wood with a single blow. Her persistence paid off. But they not only fought so fiercely to help her father, but also to himself and to show him something. Her father was not the youngest and would soon cease all work that accrued on their small farm, can do alone. His wife and his son was not granted, would have followed in the footsteps of his father may apply. But there was no work that would have been too heavy for Heera. You could do everything a man could. Whether it comes to chop wood went to slaughter a pig or tow a barrel. She was too good for nothing.

Her hands had formed over time a thick cornea that they are now protected from injury. Although her fingers were no longer so fine and delicate as that of their younger sisters, but that did not care Heera. She was proud of herself and her willpower.

Heera just gathered up the pieces of wood when she heard excited call of her sister Medea. She had been with her mother in the city to trade wool. Medea loved the city, the market and its hustle and bustle. But above all, she couldn't see enough of the magnificent castle. You could spend hours to go to the castle walls up and down, with the hope that the prince notice and would fall in love with you. Often she sang, but more than a little pocket money she has not earned anything. The people listened to her happily, but most were poor and had nothing to give.

May be she'd had better luck today. Heera went into the living room, in which the whole family was already gathered. They laid the wood from near the stove and stood near the wall next to their father. He was as impatient as her. There was plenty to do and Medea was given only one work. But the cheeks of the mother glowed with joy as those of her daughter. The youngest sister Elena jumped excitedly on one foot to the other. She wanted to accompany her sister and her mother in the city, but they had forbidden her. She was afraid for the safety of the youngest, who was only a ten-year old.

Medea took a deep breath and then said, smiling: The prince will marry."

Heera rolled her eyes. What made her interested in prince? She was not sure whether he will take as wife a princess from the north or the south. One was just cocky as the other.

"So what? What do we have to about it or has he stopped at about your hand? "Her voice had an amused tone, after which the father could not resist a grin. He liked the rough humour of his eldest. It reminded him of the discussions, of the men in bars.

"May be," Medea purred however, raising her head proudly.

"Really?" Elena cried out immediately and jumped around her sister. "Are you then a princess?"

"The Queen", corrected Medea.

"But now listen patiently" the mother said. "The prince is looking for a wife, and every girl of marriageable age can apply. Whether noble or common”

"Pff," Heera made condescending. "That's all nothing but deceit!"

Normally, her father was usually on her side, but now he shook his head. "We have a good king. He has never lied or cheated us. When the king says that every girl has a chance, then it is true. "

Heera did not know much about the royal family. The townspeople loved them, especially the young prince Lean. But Heera only saw the magnificent castle, as she and many others had to live in the countryside in rickety wooden huts, whistling through the wind in winter. The king had certainly never gone with an empty stomach to bed.

"Well then soon all our worries will be gone" Heera replied sarcastically. "Medea, when will the wedding bells ring?"

The sister turned her back to the snapped. Medea was a beauty, without question. She had long black hair, the silky shone with every movement. Her eyes had the brilliant blue of a summer sky; her lips wore the color of sweet strawberries. For this purpose she could sing like no other. At least once a week, someone would want to hold her hand. But Medea spurned them all. No one was your good enough, neither a carpenter nor a merchant. For she came from her childhood with a single person: Prince Lean.

The mother punished Heera with a reproachful look. "In two weeks, all the virgins will be invited to be called upon the prince. He will choose twelve of them to get to know them closer. But only three of them will be given the chance to compete for the princesses."

"I'm saying, all just deceit! Never in my life would the prince opt for a peasant girl, if he can have a princess. "

"But Medea is more beautiful than any princess," Elena defended her sister and held Heera’s tongue out. "If the Prince hears her sing just once, he will stop thinking about any other."

Medea hugged her younger sister laughing and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "When I am queen, you're something like a princess."

"Heera, the prince is not just going about the origin, he cares, first and foremost, the character of a girl!" the mother said applied. “He is looking for a woman for life and would like to buy a new horse."

"Probably his horse to him is more important than his bride. It would  not surprise me! "Heera replied amused. She walked toward the door. "I will no longer stand in the your way. You must certainly still sew a new dress, try the hairstyle and discuss every word that will leave Medea's mouth. "

The mother entered her in a hurry in the way. "Medea will of course apply for the prince, but not alone! I have two daughters of marriageable age. "

Heera’s eyes widened in disbelief. She knew exactly what her mother spoke, but tried to make excuses with a joke. "Is Elena is not too young for that?"

The mother mind no fun and criss-crossed their arms before the chest. " You are my oldest and I expect from you that you will also go for the princess audition”

Heera began to laugh uproariously. "I? Do not be ridiculous! No one would choose me. "

Although Heera was no beauty like Medea, but she was not ugly by far. But I her reputation preceded her ahead. Everyone knew of Heera’s strength far and wide. The men who had seen her as a challenge and they wanted to tame such a wild mare, had long since been proven wrong and the shy ones did not even dare to look at her. Already Heera was trying her whole life to prove to her parents that she was worth more than any son. She did not need a husband. Heera would want to be in the small courtyard of her Father and take care of her parents in their old age, while Medea and Elena would move to their husbands. Who should otherwise look after her beloved parents?

"You will at least try!" Her mother ordered unyielding.

" I don't even have a dress, can I let it alone in a walk

"You're going to put on a dress of mine and even a man could go in a dress."

" The prince will look at my hands and take me for a man!"

"Then you'll just wear gloves!"

"What shall I tell him what I could do to enrich his life? I can neither sing nor do embroidery. "

"You can learn!"

"Maybe I should offer him to slaughter a pig on his wedding day ..."

The mother dropped her angry in the word. "Don’t you dare? You're going to give your own trouble, because it is in this case not only to you but to the whole family. If only he takes one among you as wife, all our problems would be solved. We could live in the castle and never would again freeze or starve. The robbers would not raid us at night and your father could put your feet up at the age. Elena could learn to dance, and later, marry a baron, if not a prince. Don’t you wish your family to be happy? "

"And what about me? I have no right to happiness? "Heera cried. She could not believe that her mother was willing to bestow gifts to the prince, just to make him lift a finger. She had assumed they would be happy. It was not always easy, but they had each other and that was all that mattered. Or was it not enough for you?

"You do not know Prince Lean yet!" The father said in an attempt to mediate. "May be you would like him."

"Never in my life!"

The girls had come to present themselves. Whether blonde or brunette, big or small, slim or voluptuous. They sang, danced, laughed and turned the curls around their fingers. Chirped like birds and puffed on for Balz. The prince could not decide, for he became a blind in

Sea of beauty
.

T
o Heera’s feet already collected the feathers of dead duck. She plucked them out one after another peppy and let her anger out on the poultry. It was the last night before the great selection and she has failed so far to persuade her parents that it was not only useless, but even embarrassing, to introduce them to the prince. Her mother's clothes might fit maybe, just because you managed to put a man in the clothes of a woman, she was far from being called as a lady. You could see it visually in front of her already, as the girls from all areas of the Kingdom coming to the attention of the prince were lovers. They would all bathe in perfume, resounding laugh as the goats and will wear jewellery hung on them like magpies. Dressed or not, She herself would act between all the girls like a swineherd. Everyone would make fun of them. But she did not care about herself, bud only about her parents. Nobody should laugh at them. The father and mother had been poor all their lives and had still managed to feed and raise them. Some evening, they had to starve, only to get their children eat. The three daughters were all they had. Elena would be as good a choice as Medea in a few years - blonde curls, bright blue eyes and full red lips. But Heera was one big disgrace. She could not even walk upright without stumbling over the hem of her dress.

The sky turned pink as it during the winter evenings, when his father came to his eldest. "It is enough if you tear off the duck feathers. You do not need even to skin yet. "The bird was already blank, but Heera was afraid to come into the room. Buckled she handed the prey to her father the prey, so he brought it to her mother to cook. However, the father sat down next to her on the wooden bench instead.

"Heera, of all my daughters you are my most faithful one."

She looked at him in despair. "Then why are you sending me away? I do not want to get married. Neither a prince nor anyone else. "

He smiled. "I must admit that I did not know what a man should teach you more. You're probably more skilled than the prince will ever be. "

That brought Heera grin. "Please let me stay with you! When mother and you will be too old someday, to order the court, you will be glad that you have me with you. "

"I know that, Heera. But a father always wants the best for his children. You shall have your own life. "