There was once a country far, far away, ruled by a poor and miserable King. He was so disconsolate because his beloved wife had died ten years before, giving birth to his daughter. Lost in the churning abyss of his grief, the King had let his Kingdom fall to ruin. He did not only have a daughter, but two sons, but he neglected them sorely, and they lived deep in the slough of poverty. His daughter took on the likeness of his wife, and he hated being reminded of her so much that he imprisoned her in a tower far from him, so he would never have to look upon her face again.
The princess, named Brillante, meaning brilliant, lived up to her name in every aspect of her personality, and was the bravest woman in the land. Her brothers loved their younger sister very much, so the King permitted them to visit her whenever they liked, on the condition that they never let her out. The King had begun to hate her as the years went on, and now kept her under lock and key more because he wanted to punish her for living instead of his wife, than for his original reason. The two princes, Euelan, the elder of the two, and Eauxlav, the younger, had taken on the duty of bringing her food and water for every meal, and keeping her company.
One day, the three of them sat together in the tower, the princess gazing longingly out of the window, and the two brothers seated comfortably in soft armchairs.
“Our lives are falling to pieces, Brillante!” Euelan lamented with a deep sigh. “We have nearly no money now, for Father forgets to ask for taxes from the people every year. It is so degrading to live in poverty!”
“Yes,” Eauxlav agreed. “The people are now wearing nicer clothes than we. Silk robes, and thousands of jewels, and satins and brocade and lace as delicate as mountain mist, while our clothes have more holes than fabric!”
“At least you are not trapped in a tower.” Brillante remarked. Just then, a Golden Dove landed on the window sill, and began tapping on the glass insistently.
“I envy you!” Eauxlav snapped. “At least you don’t feel the wind and the rain through holes in your clothes, and get soggy feet from wearing punctured boots!”
“Go mend your boots and clothes! Go darn your socks! Go get work and get yourself out of poverty! You are able to! You have freedom and opportunities. You can make a glorious life for yourself! But I am trapped! That’s worse than old clothes that you could fix if you just put in the effort!” Brillante replied passionately. She had never said these things before, and it made her feel less like the ensnared rabbit that she had compared herself to for so long. Something about that Golden dove sitting on the window sill so close gave her more courage to do something that she would have considered too mean to do at any other time.
The tapping of the Golden Dove’s beak on the glass grew so loud that it was impossible for her brothers to reply to her speech (if they had been able to find words). The Princess Brillante opened the window, and let the dove perch on her arm.
“You are not trapped, Princess Brillante!” She cried. “Your brothers can let you out easily at any time! Go find your futures together!”
“But Father—” Euelan began to protest.
“That King has neglected you, Euelan, and Eauxlav, and imprisoned you, Brillante—do you really think that he deserves your obedience?” With that the Golden Dove was gone.
There was no hesitation after her last words, and soon Brillante, Euelan, and Eauxlav had packed food for the journey, and their pocket knives, and were ready to leave. Turning the key in the lock for the first time in ten years, the Princess was the first to exit her prison. She nearly cried with joy—she was free at last!
They took the back road, where the King would not see them. They had hoped to meet the Golden Dove so they could receive some more of her wise advice on where to go, but they did not not see her for days to come.
After three days and three nights of walking on that road they met an old man sitting on the road before them, groaning.
“What ails you?” Eauxlav questioned kindly, noticing how beautiful and rich the man’s clothes were.
“Oh,” He moaned pitifully. “I dropped my walking stick on the road and it was crushed to fragments by wagon wheels! I cannot walk without it—I am too old. Eauxlav—please make me a new one from some of the wood in that pile.” The boy hesitated, glancing at his brother and sister. It was not fair that he should do all the work. They heeded the old man’s words, however, and did not offer to help. The old man noticed Eauxlav’s hesitation and frowned very slightly. “If you do this for me…” He continued. “I will grant you something you wish for.”
Eauxlav jumped into action. He knew what he wanted! Soon he was finished, and gave the new walking stick to the old man. Although it was badly and hurriedly made, the old man did not go back on his word.
“Tell me what you want, and I will give it to you, but be careful in your choice, for the wrong one will have terrible results.” The young Prince was not listening.
“I want beautiful clothes like yours.” He demanded. There was a moment of silence, then Eauxlav looked down and he was wearing glorious silks and velvets and his neck and wrists were encased with jewels.
So they continued on, but slowly, for Eauxlav began to complain more and more of weakness and then dizziness, and then a sore throat—as they continued the symptoms gradually grew more and more severe. After only two days he was not able to walk any longer, and had broken out in a rash. They stopped for the sixth time that hour, and drank from a stream.
“I cannot go on any longer.” He breathed hoarsely, fiddling with the grass he lay on. This surprised and worried Euelan and Brillante, for before then, he had insisted on continuing until there were people on the road to see him in his nice things. If this did not motivate him any longer, he must be even more seriously ill than they had formerly supposed. Just when they needed her, as always, the dove arrived.
“Go on, Brillante and Euelan, leave your brother!” She ordered. “I will see to it that he is looked after.”
At first the Princess and her younger brother were reluctant to do so. They shouldn’t trust this bird they did not know. How could they ensure that their brother was sufficiently taken care of as she had promised? But somehow they did trust the Golden Dove, and Eauxlav did too. And besides, what else was there to do? So Eauxlav was left, and Euelan and Brillante set forth on the road again, to find happy futures.
After walking for three more days and three more nights, the princess and prince came upon an old woman sitting on the road in dull, depressed silence.
“What ails you, Madam?” Euelan questioned, inclining his head with stiff respect.
“I dropped my spectacles on the road and they were crushed to dust by an enormous wagon! I cannot see without them, and without seeing I cannot move! Please, Euelan, find my spare pair that fell into the well! I will forever be indebted to you!” Despite how pitiful her cries were, he still hesitated. He, of course, had been prepared to grant the old woman the few expected politenesses—but finding a pair of spectacles in the depths of a well? How could such a feat be possible? “It is a very shallow well…in fact, it is more of a pond that you could wade into. I call it the well, because I drink my water from it.” Still the prince hesitated. He did not like getting wet. “If you do this for me, I will grant you one wish.” She bribed desperately. So Euelan rushed to the little pond where he found the woman’s glasses easily. He knew what he wanted! Despite the fact that in his haste he had bent them and smudged their lenses, the old woman did not complain, and did not go back on her word. “But be careful what you ask for,” she warned. “for the wrong decision can cost a life.”
“I want—”
“I am not finished. Your brother grew ill because he wished for the wrong thing. The silks he was given were made by venomous silkworms. He asked to have clothes like that man you met on the road—that man was immune to that silkworm poison.” But Euelan did not heed her words.
“Give me a bag that will turn anything I place in it to gold coins.” He demanded excitedly, forgetting his manners. “That way I will never go hungry—never know poverty again.” He added to justify his wish. So the old woman gave him the bag. Brillante was slightly skeptical about his choice and frowned at him.
“I will not use it until I need it.” He assured her.
But oh, how tempting it was to just try it out and see how it worked. He grew more and more desperate as they traveled. At last he decided that he would just throw a little pebble into it. Perhaps they would need money soon to buy some more food, anyway. The transformation was so beautiful that he decided to place other things into it. He grew more and more excited about it, and knew that he had to show his sister the wonders of his magical bag. He opened it, and they peered in together, but the bag was deep, and their shadows fell over it.
“I cannot see.” The Princess said sadly, wishing that her brother had not begun to use the bag. She was afraid that he had made the wrong choice.
“I’ll bring them out for you.” Euelan replied.
“Don’t…” Brillante urged nervously, but he did not listen to his younger sister, and began to feel around at the bottom of the bag. But, alas! He did not know what sad fate he was condemning himself to, for placing a part of himself into the magic bag transformed him into a pile of gold coins. Before Brillante could react, the Golden Dove appeared.
“Oh, how hard this must be for you, Brillante Princess! But you need not worry, for I shall see to it that your brothers are taken care of. Go forth and do not fear!”
So the valiant princess continued on her journey, but after only three days and three nights, she was halted. Standing motionless on the road was a young woman whose hands had been cut off. Brillante rushed up to her, and cried in great distress:
“What do you need? How can I help you?”
“My hands were crushed by a passing wagon. Please, Brillante…” she pleaded weakly. “Plant hand seeds in my wrists. I am loosing blood rapidly!” So the Princess cut her fingernails with her pocket knife, and planted them in the woman’s wrists. Her hands then grew back, and then the two women danced around and around with joy. “Oh, Brillante—you saved my life! I will give you anything you ask for, and not even that will fully express my gratitude!”
“Could you give me the knowledge of how my brothers are doing? Are they better?”
“They are safe and happy. Eauxlav is healing swiftly and there is a witch turning Euelan back into himself again. But now, you must listen to me. The sad state you found me in was caused by the Cruel Crocodile King who travels in a giant wagon, hurting anyone and anything in his path. You have passed the test, and are the one chosen to defeat the Cruel Crocodile King. Continue on this road, and you will be shown what to do next.”
So the Princess strode bravely on until the Golden Dove again came to her.
“Listen to me carefully.” She spoke. “Soon you will come to a great castle built of dragon scales. This is the residence of the Cruel Crocodile King. There you will meet three enchanted statues serving as guards. They will try to keep you from entering using three tactics. Shoot the one who tries to dissuade you using fear with the arrow of fortitude.” The Golden Dove took the object of her speech from under her wing. “For the one who tries to keep you from entering with violence, brush him with the feather of peace.” She plucked out one of her secondary remiges. “And for the one who tries to distract you from your purpose with illusions, stab him with the knife of truth.” This too, the dove gave Brillante, and now armed with weapons, instructions, and a set purpose, she recommenced the walking of that road until she reached the front gates of the dragon scale palace.
Here a great stone statue loomed over her:
“You don’t want to go in there.” It rumbled in its thunder voice. “The Cruel Crocodile King has eighty claws that can shred you to pieces with a gentle stroke, and eighty teeth that shoot fire and venom, both—” but the statue got no further, for it was hit by the enchanted arrow of fortitude by Brillante’s perfect aim. The statue began coughing violently, and coughed up its spirit. “This is the spirit that was put into me, the spirit of fear. Use it wisely.” With that, the statue took its place among the others of its kind in the first courtyard, and froze.
The second guard approached her with stomping feet and clenched fists, but just as it was about to strike her, she began to stroke it with the feather of peace. Its angry face turned to a smile. It spat out its spirit, and gave it to the princess, saying it was the warrior spirit. It gave her its sword, then joined the other statues in the courtyard.
As Brillante was about to pass through the gates, she noticed a tiny white mouse trapped in a tiny snare, only about ten feet from her side. She must save the poor little creature! She could not leave it there to die! So she moved toward it, but every step she took seemed to reveal the mouse as farther away from her than it had looked from where she had been before. As she was taking one more step, she heard the words whispered in her ear in a very familiar voice.
“The Cruel Crocodile King’s most vulnerable time has passed already.” This was when the princess realized that she had been tricked. When she turned around, sure enough, the third guard was leaning against the wall. She fumbled with the knife, never wanted to stab anyone—but it was just a statue, she reminded herself. But still she was not convinced. She heard the voice whisper in her ear.
“You have to! Or I will never be free! The world will never be free!”
“I can’t.” She whispered back. “I can’t do this—” but suddenly she remembered how much she hated her cruel father, who had imprisoned her and neglected her for so long. “Alright—alright…this is King Yarrenan II!” She cried out, using her father’s name, as she plunged the magical knife into the stone. It reached inside its throat and took out its spirit, the spirit of illusion, giving it to her, and again urging her to use the gift wisely. It did as the first and second had done, becoming still and silent as all stone should be.
She turned her back on the guards, and entered the second courtyard, which was populated by a forest of orange trees, their branches hung heavily with the thick citrus scent. She knew that the Golden Dove would be waiting for her here—if she made it back out alive. The third courtyard was where the Cruel Crocodile King lay, barring the door to the castle on a stretch of eighty giant, red, velvet cushions.
His roar shook the entire palace when he noticed Brillante’s presence. He opened his ten-foot-long, five-foot-wide jaws as wide as they could possibly stretch. He loomed over her, so close that her feet grew soggy with the endless streams of drool that escaped over the boundaries of his lower lip. In this moment, brilliant Princess Brillante got an idea. She placed the spirit of fear on the tongue of the Cruel Crocodile King, so he shrank back in fear of her. Next she swallowed the warrior spirit to give her the skill of a trained fighter. She found the Crocodile’s vulnerable part—the back of his skull—and slaid him from there with the stone sword. Next she used the spirit of illusion to make the Cruel Crocodile King invisible to all senses, so that no one could ever see him, feel him, or hear him ever again.
When she stepped into the courtyard of the orange trees she glimpsed the Golden Dove on a branch. As Brillante moved forward to greet the bird, she transformed into a stunningly beautiful princess. It was love at first sight, and the women rushed forward to embrace each other.
“You have done so well, Brillante! You saved me! You saved the world! Sariche is my name, and the Cruel Crocodile King turned me into a dove. I pleaded with him until he said that I could become anything I wanted to that wasn’t myself, and ‘You will be free when I am slain but do not hope, for it will never be so!’ I was the man in need of a walking stick, and the woman in need of glasses, and the woman whose hands had been cut off. I knew that one of the children of King Yarrenan II would be my savior.” The two women danced and danced under the orange trees, and dreamed of the days to come, where Sariche and Brillante got married and ruled the land together. And it was so. Euelan and Eauxlav moved into the dragon scale castle with them, and never knew holy clothes or poverty again. But that was only after they had gone on their own quests–but that is another story. The King, when he heard of his daughter’s brave and noble feat, forgave her, and apologized for all the horrible things he had done. She forgave him, as all true queens will, and they lived happily ever after.
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