The Mermaid Malediction

 

Izbeladia was home to a righteous king and queen. However, although they had tried for years, the couple could not conceive a child as the queen was infertile. With no heir to the throne, the whole kingdom grew weary about who would rule the land once the king and queen were no more. No treatment they tried worked, and eventually, some urged the king to take another wife. However, the king refused.

Saddened by the issue, the queen decided to leave the palace one night; but on her journey, she got lost and fell into a dry well. The queen was hurt, but her injuries weren’t severe. Moments later, a shadow appeared from the outside; it looked like someone was standing next to the well. The queen called for help and, a second later, the end of a rope fell before her feet. She climbed out of the well to be welcomed by a witch who, after hearing her plight, promised to make her fertile. However, there was one condition: the queen had to give the witch her future second-born. She agreed, and the witch healed her wounds and made her fertile with a spell.

The queen snuck back into the castle that night and never spoke of her encounter with the witch. Eleven months later, she gave birth to a son; and three months after, she found out she was pregnant yet again. Unable to keep the secret to herself any longer, the queen revealed what happened that night to her husband. They discussed the issue with their doctor and decided to keep it a secret from the masses. Once their baby, which turned out to be a girl, was born, they handed her over to one of the maids.

One day, however, the witch arrived at the castle and asked whether the queen bore a second child. The queen said no, but the witch knew she was lying. She cast a spell and found where their second child was. Enraged, she cursed the girl to turn into a mermaid every night from the time she turned thirteen. Only marriage to a merman would break the curse, she said. The queen pleaded with the witch and offered her anything she desired in her daughter’s place, but the witch turned her down.

Years passed by and the children, Prince Peter and Princess Saffron, often snuck out of the house at night to swim in the nearby lake. One night, they met a merman named Tom. He said he was the son of a soldier who had also been cursed by the witch. Saffron and Tom eventually fell in love and got married. The night of their wedding, the curse was broken. They were finally free.