Page 78 - RIVISTA NOIQUI DICEMBRE 2021

her new condition and, even more, to be pleased with it, feeling an unexpected sym- Lorenzo, who had heard the cries for help, broke into the room followed by his guards
pathy toward her kidnapper, who proved to be thoughtful and spent most of his days and attacked the intruder himself, having his guards apprehend him.
with her. Afterwards, he turned to the prisoner. <Margaret, I ask for your forgiveness once again,
In the meantime, the royal suitors were at a deadlock with their investigations. One of my actions were inconsiderate. Surely, after the beautiful days we spent together, you
them, handsome and shrewd, reached the conclusion that he would have solved the must have understood that I love you, even if I don’t harbor any hope you might do the
enigma only with the help of magic, therefore, after wandering around hills and valleys, same. I decided to personally escort you home to your palace, and beg your loved ones
he was pointed to a powerful sorcerer who lived at the top of the Mountain of Fear. to forgive me too.>
There he went, but on his path he encountered enormous difficulties: first he was That same afternoon, they left after freeing the suitor, whose greed had led him to lose
attacked by a flock of birds of prey and was able to survive only thanks to his agility, his own kingdom.
putting them to the sword; then he had to go through the Cursed Forest, inhabited by After several days, they arrived to the castle where the Sovereigns rejoiced at the reco-
carnivorous plants that tried to grab him with terrifying tentacles, from which he barely very of their daughter and, after listening to the words of the kidnapper Prince, com-
managed to escape; by the time he ran into a giant reptile with fiery eyes that blocked manded the guards to lock him up in the dungeons.
his way, he was exhausted. He climbed a big tree and, when the disgusting beast stood For all that, the Princess, who had realized for quite some time she shared the same
up opening its jaws to eat him, he drove his blade to the tilt right into the middle of its feelings of Lorenzo, impulsively came between them, causing the astonishment of the
palate, killing it. whole court.
He waited for dawn to retrieve some energy and, when it came, he resumed his journey <Let him go, father, I love Prince Lorenzo. Although everything is against him after his
certain to be near the peak of the Mountain of fear. Sure enough, soon after the grotto outrageous action following a moment of rage, he is a noble soul and is worthy of our
inhabited by the sorcerer appeared in front of him. esteem. I wish you could know him as I did, and your opinion would change.>
<Come in.> Said a cavernous voice. Hearing the invitation, he entered. The King decided to indulge his daughter and came to know for himself the virtues of
<If I got this straight, you wish you knew where the Princess is, so you can go, free and the noble man who had caught her heart.
then marry her. But don’t think you can fool a great wizard of my caliber; I can read The nuptial were celebrated with the utmost splendor. Although it was born in a tem-
your mind as if it were an open book: you are not in love with the beautiful Margaret, pests situation, their love proved to be immeasurable and they lived happily ever after.
you are greedy and self- serving; you only want to take possession of a kingdom vaster
and richer than yours. In spite of all that, I will help you anyway, provided you hand
me your throne, if you were to fail your intent.> The sorcerer answered, after listening
carefully to his words.
The Prince thought for more than a while about the proposal, because he risked losing
everything he owned, although, in case he actually came out winner (and with the ma-
gic of the sorcerer on his side he was almost certain he would), his power would never
meet any rival. So he accepted.
In his magical crystal orb, the sorcerer observed the image of the castle where the mai-
den was held hostage and then he saw her face, strangely happy.
<Take this golden bracelet, it has the power to make invisible whomever is wearing it.>
He told the young man, explaining how to reach the palace and giving him a majestic
winged unicorn, that flew him to his destination in a flash.
Protected by invisibility, he inspected the castle far and wide, until he arrived at Marga-
ret’s room.
<My sweet Princess - he said, taking the bracelet off his arm and revealing himself to
her - don’t be frightened, I’m here to free you.
Come, I will take you immediately back to your realm.> As he said so, he took her hand
to urge her to follow him.
Her reaction was unexpected, even for her: <No, I beg you, leave me here… I do not
intend to follow you. Go back to where you came from.> She replied to his proposi-
tion.
Aware he would have to give up his throne if he did not succeed in taking her back to
the castle, the Prince grabbed her to take her away even against her will, but right then

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