Itzel Ortiz

Long ago, in a faraway land, lay an ancient kingdom that is no more. The kingdom was grand and rich in everything imaginable: natural resources, prosperity, and culture. The soil was so fertile, hunger was impossible for even the poorest farmer. There were so many jewels that the children of the wealthy often played with rubies the size of tangerines. Every inch of the kingdom was truly a spectacle. Every building was built with such creativity and care, that the end result was always stunning. The air was always perfumed from the sweetly fragranced blossoms that bloomed several times a year. Sometimes the air would be filled with so many falling blossoms that one would think that they had been dropped from the heavens themselves. The people were happy and flourishing. No one in the entire kingdom could think of a single complaint about their lives. Well, there was one. That complaint would be that they hardly ever got to see the royal family.

The king and queen were beloved by all the people, and that love was mutual. The king and queen cared deeply for their kingdom, working hard to keep it thriving and successful. Years ago, the queen had given birth to a son and a daughter, who grew to be such a fine pair. The prince was courageous, witty, and adored by everyone who met him. He was a gifted swordsman and defeated every opponent that he fought. Even in the fiercest struggle, he would remain calm and ready, striking the moment his opponent made a mistake. The princess, however, was a bit less flashy than her brother, but still equally admired. She was gifted in both beauty and intelligence so anyone who met her would be enchanted by her looks and awed by her mind. It was rumored that she had even helped write several laws to safeguard the rights and prosperity of the citizens.

All of the people of this kingdom couldn’t help but admire the royal family, saying they were blessed by the heavens with beauty and talent. The prince and princess cared deeply for their people and always worked hard to improve their kingdom, even if there was almost nothing to improve. The king and queen were fiercely proud of their children, and felt content knowing that should they perish, their kingdom would be safe in the hands of the prince and princess.

One night, the prince wandered to his balcony and gazed down, his lips curling into a smile. The view was simply breathtaking. The sky above was a striking blend of black and midnight blue, the full moon gleaming with millions of stars twinkling merrily. Down below, the prince had a full view of the beautiful forest that stood proudly next to the palace, bathed in the warm silvery glow of the moon. The blossoms that grew on the thick trees were as white as snow with a faint touch of blush in the center, resembling the fair skin of a young maiden. As the wind gently brushed against the trees, petals would fall slowly, flowing gracefully along the breeze and glowing a light silver when touched by the moonlight.

As the prince smiled charmingly at the view, he froze when he caught sight of something strange. There was a woman at the edge of the forest, dancing. The prince was utterly bewildered, for it should have been impossible for anyone to get past the guards and into the royal gardens. Yet here was this strange woman whom he had never seen before. But that wasn’t what surprised the prince the most. No, it was the woman’s impeccable beauty. Even at a distance, he could see the woman’s long reddish-brown hair and light golden brown skin. Examining her appearance, the prince only grew even more stunned. He had never seen any of these features before. In his family, they all had silky black hair, porcelain skin, and phoenix-shaped eyes, with both his mother and sister having the same slim face and defined

jawline and chin. In the entire kingdom, very few people had tanned skin, and compared to this woman they looked deathly pale.

The woman danced gracefully, her movements as smooth and fluid as running water in a river. Her hips swayed seductively, bringing attention to the fact that all she wore were dark red animal skins wrapped around her chest and hips.

The prince watched her in awe, his cheeks blushing slightly when the woman looked up, her jade eyes glinting teasingly. The prince called out to her, but the woman suddenly vanished in a single blink.

The prince stood at his balcony, stunned by what he saw. He had heard of many tales when he was a child, many legends and stories about the mythical creatures that lived in the forest. But never had he heard of a beautiful dancing woman with such strange features who could vanish so suddenly. The prince shook his head, scolding himself for imagining such things, and went to bed. His mind was surely playing tricks on him. There were no such things as mythical creatures.

That’s what he told himself every night when he saw the woman, yet those rational thoughts were growing fainter with each passing night. And every time, he would watch her in fascination as she danced so elegantly, somehow looking even more beautiful than she had the night before. He would always call out to her, with the urge of jumping off the balcony and running to her, but she would always vanish when he spoke. Slowly, his mind was filling up with only thoughts of that strange woman, his behavior changing with each passing day. He grew irritable and aggressive, snapping at anyone who spoke to him and even yelling at his mother to the point of tears. But he didn’t care. All he could think about was the woman, and his obsession only grew as time passed by.

Meanwhile, the king and queen became extremely worried about their son and the princess grew increasingly distracted to the point of poking several holes in her papers, eventually ripping them to shreds in despair. The king and queen would try to speak to the prince but he would always ignore them and slam the door in their faces. Everyone in the palace was so confused. Why was the prince behaving like this? Ever since he was young, he was such a composed and polite young man who exuded charm and good-humor. So why was he lashing out at his family all of a sudden? What brought on this shocking behavior?

The prince panted heavily, pacing back and forth in his room with his hands clutching his head. There was a strange sensation in his body that made it feel as though he were burning from the inside. All of his anger, lust, and obsessions were being pent up inside of him, causing his blood to boil and his heart to beat painfully against his chest. Yet the only thing he had on his mind was her. The way she moved so fluidly with her long hair trailing behind her like a spring breeze. The way she’d meet his eyes, winking playfully at him while she brought her hands up towards him gracefully, almost as though she were beckoning at him to come.

The prince’s behavior only grew worse when the woman didn’t appear. He’d stay up all night, his sore eyes staring unblinkingly at the forest, waiting for her to appear and start dancing. But she never showed. The prince despaired, throwing his armor and swords across the room while howling in rage.

The king and queen grew even more fearful, for now not only did their son’s behavior change drastically but he was now refusing to leave his room. The servants would push trays of his favorite foods and tea under his door, but the prince would stay curled up in the corner, leaving the soup to cool and congeal. He would only gulp down the tea when his throat felt so dry that he could have sworn it was starting to peel from the inside.

He waited sleeplessly. He endured the several torturous hours of the days he used to love yet could now no longer stand from how much the vengeful sun burned his skin. The moment the sky began to darken, he’d rush outside and gawk at the edge of the forest. Eventually, he collapsed on his chamber floor from exhaustion, instantly falling asleep. When he finally did wake up, he could barely move, only able to stare up blankly at the pearly moon in the obsidian sky. His limbs trembled violently as he pushed himself to his feet, his stomach aching with hunger, and his throat burning with thirst. But the prince ignored the pleas of his body and stumbled painfully towards the balcony. He grasped the handrail tightly, his breathing shallow as he gazed down at the forest, just as he had so many nights before.

The prince suddenly froze, his eyes locked firmly at something in the distance. Immediately all of the pain in his body vanished, and the dim flames inside of him roared to life. It was her. Twirling so elegantly on the grass, moving so fluidly and lightly one would think that she was not even suspended on the ground. She looked up and smiled alluringly at the gaunt prince, more beautiful than the moon shining proudly upon her.

The prince immediately jumped down from the balcony, crashing against the ground painfully. His ankles screamed in pain and his body wobbled worse than before, but he stubbornly stood and staggered towards the woman.

She began to dance differently, moving her body more sensually and passionately than all of those other nights, her gaze fixated on the young prince.

“Who are you?” the prince cried out, his raspy voice cracking several times. “Why do you appear to me, lovely lady? Why do you tease me so?”

The woman smiled, her white teeth almost glowing from the light of the moon. She twirled, beckoning the prince towards her. He stumbled towards her, as though pulled by an invisible string.

“What is it that you want?” he demanded. “Why do you torment me in this way?” The woman didn’t reply, continuing to smile and dance almost provokingly. The prince noticed several things now that he was closer. The woman’s arms and legs and stomach were packed with muscle, enhancing her beauty splendidly. And her nails were incredibly sharp, almost like claws.

The prince heard footsteps behind him and he jerked his head back irritatedly. His eyes widened when he saw who it was. It was the princess. She stood firmly on the grass, clutching a stack of papers in each of her hands at her sides, her searing gaze fixated on the woman. Her hands trembled, clutching the papers so hard her nails began to poke through the paper. The princess stepped forward, keeping her fierce gaze firmly on the woman.

“You,” she whispered, her voice trembling. The prince had never seen such an expression on his sister’s face before. He quickly became angry, turning his whole body to glare at his sister. “Get out of here if you know what’s good for you! You can’t stop me from going! No one can stop me!”

But the princess never even glanced at him. She just continued to walk forward stiffly, her red eyes glowering at the woman. But the woman did not stop dancing or smiling. If anything, her smile only grew. She winked slowly at the princess, her long eyelashes brushing lightly against her cheek as she beckoned slowly.

The princess trembled, her hands clutching the papers so tightly her nails tore through. Suddenly, the princess threw her papers into the air and ran forward. Her eyes were still searing, filled with tears and anger, obsession and despair. But mostly, there was relief.

The prince watched in astonishment at his sister, but not for long. His gaze was drawn back to the woman, who began to walk back into the forest, beckoning the prince and the princess with a bewitching grin, her eyes glinting with desire. The prince and the princess followed her, the papers still drifting in the sky among the floating petals that fell from the trees. The prince stumbled, his gaunt appearance resembling a skeleton, while the princess walked steadily with her eyes were filled with longing and desperation.

The woman twirled as she walked backward, moving her hips sensually, and winking teasingly, her teeth now noticeably sharp.

The next day, the whole kingdom was in shock. Both the prince and the princess were missing, without a hint of where they might have gone. It was a strange situation indeed. No one entered the palace last night, so they couldn’t have been kidnapped. They left all of their belongings, which made the possibility of them running away very dim. But there was something that astounded the people the most. It made a bit sense that the prince disappeared, given the way that he had been acting for the past couple of weeks but what about the princess? She had been acting completely normal. If they really had run away, what could have possibly made the princess go with her brother?

The king and queen were distraught. They searched every inch of the palace, but there was no sign of their children. However, they had discovered something incredibly shocking in their daughter’s room. The walls and floor were completely covered in drawings of a dancing

woman. Not only that, but outside of the palace, they found several more drawings scattered across the grass. All those papers that the princess had worked on when she was supposedly writing poetry or jotting down possible new laws for the future, were in fact drawings of the same woman with those passionate eyes.

No one ever knew what happened to the kingdom after the prince and princess disappeared. Some think that the king and queen were in such distress that they neglected their duties as rulers so the kingdom eventually fell apart. Others think that the people were so angry by the prince and princesses’ disappearance that they turned against the royal family and the kingdom spiraled into chaos. One thing I can say for certain is sure. Neither the princess nor the prince were ever seen again. However, some have said that they’ve seen a honey-skinned woman dancing under the moonlight among the drifting blossoms.