The Forest Princess

The Rescue

The snow was falling like silent white threads, covering the slippery ground of the frozen kingdom. The wind had turned and was now blowing uphill from the valley. It made it a little easier for Larimar to climb the treacherous slopes.

When she reached the Ice Palace, she saw white snow squirrels everywhere. They were brushing snow off the palace steps with their bushy tails.

Inside the Ice Palace, white squirrels were polishing the frozen floors and cleaning the ice-crystal-windows. All of a sudden the Ice King stood in front of her. She hadn't heard him coming.

"What are you doing here?"  the king asked in a voice that made her shiver. "No ordinary human has the guts, or should I say  lacks the brains, to come here."

"You have taken my children today," the princess said in a firm voice. "You have to give them back to me!"

"Children?!" The Ice King's voice thundered through the frozen halls. "Did you say CHILDREN?!"

"Yes," Larimar replied fearlessly. She wasn't going to let this white monster intimidate her. "My two children. You have taken them."

"I never take one child from one mother," the Ice King replied and gave her a cynical glance. "Are you sure both are your children?"

"Absolutely sure." Larimar declared.

"How strange," mumbled the king. He had never met anybody as fearless as this woman. "This has never happened before."

Then he looked deep into Larimar's eyes and said, "I'll bring the two children. You can take one with you." To himself, he thought: 'her decision will tell me whether she is speaking the truth. If she is lying I'll keep them both. If she is speaking the truth, she can have one back.'

He left Larimar standing in the hall and soon came back with two snow squirrels. He touched their heads lightly with a small crystal, and they turned into her lost children. Tilia and Carnelian wanted to run into their mother's arms, but the Ice King held them back.

"You can take one with you," the king said to the princess. Which one do you want?

Without hesitation, Larimar pointed to Tilia. Carnelian was turned into a snow squirrel once more and taken away by the Ice King.

'That's strange,' the king thought to himself, 'I could have sworn she wouldd take the boy!'

The princess took Tilia's hand, and they ran out of the palace, over the frozen steps, down the icy slopes towards the snow covered forest. Tears were streaming down Larimar's face, but she didn't look back.

When they reached the Nomansland a woman stepped into their path. She was wearing a long white shirt. She was barefoot and looked very pale.

The woman smiled at Larimar and said, "I am Tilia's mother. I have come to thank you for all the love you have given my daughter. You have given her a happy childhood. You have given her a real mother. But now your child needs you. Let me take her back to the Ice King and get your child."

Tilia looked from one mother to the other. She went to the woman in the white shirt and gave her a hug.

"Wait here," said the woman. "We won't be long."

Tears were still streaming down Larimar's face. She couldn't speak. Tilia gave her a long hug. Soon the two figures had disappeared in the eternal white of the frozen kingdom.

With trembling fingers, the princess pulled the smartbox out of her pocket and looked into the black stone. All she could see was ice and snow.

Larimar broke down in tears. She was crying and sobbing, her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. She had never felt so lonely in her whole life. When the little hand came and touched her arm she didn't notice it.

"Don't cry, mum," a child's voice said.

She pulled herself out of her misery and looked up. Her little boy was standing next to her.

"Carnelian!" she cried and threw her arms around him. She smiled at him and wiped the tears off her face, but she couldn't stop the sobbing.

"Carnelian," she whispered. "Let's go home. Your dad will be worried sick!"

When they arrived at the log cabin some villagers were there. They had already told Peregrin the bad news and were looking after him.

Larimar walked in with Carnelian. Everyone stared at them as if they were two ghosts. Peregrin was sitting in an armchair, wrapped in a blanket. The boy flew into his father's arms. Everybody started to cry.

Then the woodcutter looked at his wife and asked, "and Tilia?" Under tears, Larimar told him the whole story. Everybody went very quiet. The dead woman had come back and taken her daughter. Nobody knew for sure what that meant.