Hope in Ruins Book III: The Fountain and the City of Salt

The Beginning of Loraine, a true fairy tale

--From, True Tales of Novan History: A History for Children

Once upon a time, there lived a young girl named Henrietta. She lived in a little house by the sea with a garden full of lavender. There she lived with her mother, Genevieve, who loved her very much. Genevieve sold lavender to buy them bread, and Henrietta helped, but they were still very poor. Despite this, they were happy together. They spent many afternoons together collecting conch shells and walking along the sand and watching seagulls whirl overhead. And they were very happy.

One day, a terribly beautiful woman holding a strange lantern came to see Genevieve. She told Genevieve that she could make her very rich in exchange for one tiny favor—lavender from her garden. All she had to do was bring the lavender to the beautiful woman's palace in the city. This seemed good to Genevieve, so late one night, when Henrietta was asleep, she kissed Henrietta on the forehead and then stole away into the salty air to trade some simple lavender for unimaginable wealth.

But things did not go as she intended. When Genevieve arrived at the woman's palace in the city with the lavender, Genevieve found an ugly old woman chained to the wall. The ugly old woman cried out for help. She said that she was not what she seemed, that the terribly beautiful woman had tricked her. She said the beautiful woman was really an old and hideous witch who had lured her here, stolen her beauty with her strange lantern, and kept her locked away in the palace. The old woman begged Genevieve for help, but Genevieve was terrified.

Genevieve turned to run, but the terribly beautiful woman appeared suddenly and raised her lantern. With her strange lantern, she killed the old woman. When she did, she transformed back into an old and hideous witch. Then she captured Genevieve. With her strange lantern, she stole not only Genevieve's beauty and her likeness but her entire life. She locked Genevieve away and chained her to the wall and returned to the little house by the sea with the lavender garden.

Henrietta awoke the next morning to the smell of smoke. She found the woman who looked like her mother burning the lavender garden to the ground. Henrietta cried, begging her to stop, but the old woman struck her. And Henrietta, although she was still a very young girl, knew that this woman was not really her mother. So she waited.

Henrietta pretended to be the woman's loving daughter while she searched for her mother. Every day the woman who looked like Henrietta's mother would take her lantern and leave, and Henrietta would search for her mother. She searched for years, growing up into a wise and strong and beautiful young woman. And the woman with the lantern saw. And the woman with the lantern grew jealous. And she desired Henrietta's beauty.

One day the woman who looked like her mother took Henrietta to a palace in the city. She brought a conch shell with her and told Henrietta to give it to the crazy old woman inside the palace to make her happy. As Henrietta did so, the old woman chained to the wall asked to be allowed to walk along the sand, collect shells, and watch seagulls whirl overhead. Henrietta realized the woman chained to the wall was her true mother.

As Henrietta tried to free her mother from her chains, the witch returned and raised her lantern to steal Henrietta's beauty. But Genevieve pushed her daughter out of the way, unwilling to let Henrietta suffer the same fate as herself, and took the brunt of the strange lantern's power. The lantern drained what little was left from Genevieve. But, as the witch was preoccupied with Genevieve, Henrietta struck the witch with the conch shell and destroyed the lantern to save her mother. But as the lantern broke, the fire inside caught the witch's cloak.

Henrietta struggled to free her mother, but the witch's chains were too strong. Genevieve begged her to go, but Henrietta was loyal and brave and would not leave without her mother. So Genevieve grabbed the burning witch and held her tight so that she would not escape and catch Henrietta. The palace in the city burned to the ground with Genevieve and the witch inside, but Henrietta escaped thanks to her mother's brave sacrifice.

So Henrietta returned to her little house by the sea and planted a garden full of lavender. She built a lantern to remember her mother and spent many afternoons collecting conch shells and walking along the sand with her lantern and watching seagulls whirl overhead.