Princess Tatiana was the only daughter of King Jamar of the Pamatine tribe. They were a tribe known for their beautiful pink skin and exquisite bodily features. The Kingdom was richly blessed with herbalists, healers, and other gifted people, but princess Tatiana was the most special. She had a skin that glowed even at night, her hair was silky, and it was known to possess healing powers. She could raise dead beings just by touching them, and she could speak to creatures of the forest.
The most special thing about Tatiana was the power of tears, it was rumored among other kingdoms that her tears turned anything it touched to gold. That was why her father was the richest king in the world and their kingdom the most rich. Although some considered this rumor to be false, a part of it was indeed true. Tatiana's tears turned things to gold, but that wasn't the reason their kingdom was abundantly blessed. Their blessings were because of their goddess, who had reincarnated in Tatiana.
Men from all over came to seek her hand in marriage as soon as she came of age, but Tatiana didn't accept any of them.
“Tatiana dear, you know one day you need to accept a suitor” her father had told her sadly after she had rejected the son of another powerful king.
“I know, father, I don't like these men, they are pompous and probably want me because of my powers” she replied.
“Well, that may be true” Her father said smiling, “but keep in mind my special girl that your dear father is getting old, and I need an heir soon”
“Oh father! You're not dying anytime soon. All this morbid talk is giving me a headache, I'm going to take a walk” she declared. Bowing to her father, she skipped out from the palace with her maid happily.
The people of Pamatine were always happy to see the princess, in fact, half the young men were in love with her but were too scared to approach her. She played with the kids and greeted the people jovially until she got to her favorite place in the kingdom. The woods of pamatine. She loved to walk through the woods, pluck fresh herbs and fruits and talk to the animals. Today was no different as the animals fluttered around her as she walked.
“Okay, I know it's been a while, I must have been missed much” she said happily.
The animals made funny noises in reply, and her maid shook her head in astonishment, wondering for the umpteenth time how Tatiana was able to understand them. She sat on a patch of grass and watched the princess while eating a freshly plucked fairy fruit. She could hear the princess saying things like.
“Yes dovetail, your baby is cute, has the other eggs hatched yet?”
“I think the chipmunks have saved all the nuts, I couldn't find any, care to share with me guys?”
Occasionally, she would burst into laughter, which made her maid smile, but she stopped munching on her fruit when she heard the animals getting agitated and the princess saying:
“Calm down friends, it may be a lost person or just someone passing by. Let the person through and we'll find out”.
The maid stood up, dusted her skirts and walked towards the princess
“Mi lady, I think we should leave and let your friends scare the person off. What if he or she tries to harm you?” she asked.
“Nonsense Miranda, I'm safe here, the wild creatures would tear the person to bits if they should even dare to cause me harm”
Eventually, the wanderer came into view, and princess Tatiana was struck by how handsome and different he was. He introduced himself as a physician from the neighboring kingdom who had lost his way, while rambling in the forest searching for new herbs. He was looked humble and funny, and was the opposite of all the men who had come to propose marriage to her. In fact, it seemed like he didn't even know her.
She secretly bade her friends goodbye and escorted the stranger to the palace with her maid walking behind, staring at the stranger suspiciously.
“This is my home” she said, leading him into the palace.
“This is a palace, are you a princess?” he asked, surprised.
“I am princess Tatiana, daughter of the great king Jamar, surely you've heard about me?” Tatiana replied in disbelief.
“Forgive me, princess, I'm not from these parts. I was employed in the neighboring kingdom as a physician two days ago, so I know nothing about this region. By the way, I'm Khalid” he replied, bowing.
“Huh?” she blinked up at him confused.
“My name is Khalid” he repeated, smiling.
This was the beginning of a relationship between Tatiana and Khalid. After helping him return to the neighboring kingdom, he had returned frequently with his assistant to visit princess Tatiana. Her father was happy, but a bit skeptical about Khalid because no one knew his real kingdom. He was concerned about, and this made him hire someone to find out everything about Khalid.
It became a common sight to see Tatiana and Khalid walk in around the kingdom, smiling and making sheep's eyes at each other. The maid was with them and had come to notice the constant whispering between Khalid and his assistant whenever the princess wandered away from them. She told the princess about this, but Tatiana waved her concerns aside and asked that she stop going for walks with them.
Her concerns became even more valid when the guard that now escorted Tatiana on her walks had reported to her that he'd overheard Khalid and his assistant talking, and his assistant had been telling him that time was running out.
“What was his reply?” the maid had asked, terrified.
“He replied that he knew, but they needed to confirm if the rumor was true” the guard replied.
The maid knew that the princess wouldn't listen to her, and she also didn't want to alarm the king, in case the matter wasn't as serious as they predicted. So she devised a plan with him to trail their movements from a distance when next they went out.
Two days later, Khalid and his assistant came to visit the princess and, as usual, they decided to take a walk. Khalid told her he wanted to go to the place where they had first met because he had a special gift for her. They left the palace and set off, with the guard behind them and the maid following them stealthily from a distance.
Some minutes after they arrived, Khalid knelt down and asked the princess to marry him. She was so happy that she began shedding tears of joy. Before the guard could get to her, Khalid had offered her a handkerchief, which turned to gold immediately her tears touched them.
“So it's true” his assistant said, jumping excitedly. Khalid gasped and took the gold from her, he also started laughing maniacally after some seconds. Tatiana immediately stopped crying, while the guard moved closer to her, reaching for his sword.
“What is going on, Khalid” the princess asked, sensing a change in his demeanor.
He laughed again and told her that she was foolish if she thought a handsome man like himself would want to marry a hideous creature like her. He instructed his so-called assistant to deal with the guard while he kidnapped princess Tatiana. The guard had obviously come prepared and battled with the assistant while Tatiana stood there in shock.
The maid snuck up quietly and hit Khalid at the back of his head with a large rock, and he collapsed. The animals were not left out as they surrounded the assistant, scaring him into submission. The guard bundled both of them while the maid went to help the princes, who was still in shock.
They got back to the palace to find the other guards hurrying about. The king had sent them to search for the princess after receiving news about the real Identity of Khalid. It turned out he was an escaped felon who had been jailed for terrorizing and looting his kingdom seven seas away. He had journeyed to their part and had cunningly gotten the physician job.
They got the remaining story from the assistant, while Khalid was still unconscious. The plan had been to make Tatiana fall in love with Khalid, then kidnap her and demand the throne as ransom. Then they would kill the king and take over the kingdom and all its riches, including the princess, who would make enough gold for them.
The king laughed at their foolish plan to take over his kingdom. He declared that they be beheaded to prevent them from pulling such a stunt again. As for the guard and maid, he declared them heroes for saving the princess and rewarded them handsomely.
Five nights after the incident, a rumor began to spread throughout Pamatine. The princess has sworn that she would never get married!
