The Forest Princess

The Forest Years

Six years in the forest passed like a dream. Larimar blossomed in the forest garden. Flowers and vegetables were thriving in her care, and the humble kitchen garden under the trees grew into a little paradise.

A year after the wedding, a baby boy was born in the log cabin in the woods. In honour of his ancestors, he was given the name Carnelian Obsidian Peregrin of Jasper.

Tilia loved her little brother, and Carnelian adored his big sister. The girl was becoming a pretty teenager. She was always singing and dancing, even while helping her mother in house and garden. Carnelian was a bright and beautiful boy. With his curly blonde hair, he looked just like the little prince.

The two children were their parents' pride and joy. The forest was their playground, and friends from the village would often come and play with them.

Larimar loved both children deeply. When she thought of the black elder fairy, and the fuss she had made about her promise, it made her laugh. Loving this girl as her own was a blessing and a gift. It wasn't hard for her at all.

But there were shadows over Larimar's happiness. One was that her parents had never seen their grandson. Part of the condition of her marriage to the woodcutter had been that she had to cut all ties with the palace for seven years.

There would be no contact whatsoever with the king and queen unties she had fulfilled a very special task. The fulfilment of this task would decide over the future of the Kingdom of Jasper.

The first six years of this period were now over, and Larimar still didn't know what her 'very special task' was. In the beginning, she believed it had something to do with her promise to the fairy. But this had turned out to be ridiculously easy. Could a special task which determined the whole future of a country really be that simple?

Larimar had some doubts. But she had no reason to worry about anything, and there was nobody with whom she could talk about it anyway, not even her husband. So she tried not to think about it at all.

Then the winter came. Since the arrival of the princess in the forest, the winters had become colder and harsher each year. The people in the village were talking about that. Some villagers were secretly blaming it on her, although nobody had ever said anything directly.