Page 81 - RIVISTA NOIQUI NOVEMBRE 2021

lose you. You were not born from us, although we loved you as if you were. One cold <My beloved wife, recent events force me to go away for some
morning we found you at the threshold inside a basket, and you were wearing the chain
you still have around your neck.> time.>
After a long moment of bewilderment, Donato said he would not find any peace until
he had discorrer his true identity.
<Mother, father, you must know I will always love you, but I won’t be happy if I don’t <And you won’t tell me why?> His wife Elena asked him.
find out who I really am and why I was abandoned all those years ago.> <Have faith in me, at the moment I cannot tell you anything, but
Early in the morning the next day, he left his home and walked away with no particu-
lar direction; in every town he arrived he stopped to ask for information with the only this will change when I come back. Then I will tell you everything.>
trace he had: the golden chain. So Donato returned to the royal palace and made peace with his father, who had under-
During a break at a tavern in a small district where he stopped to take some refresh- stood his mistake and wanted to fix things.
ments, he heard a story that caught his attention: the Queen was really sick and, on the <Soon enough you will be King. Go home to your wife and bring her here, where she
course of her agony, she was calling the name of the son that had been abducted, when belongs.>
he was still an infant, by an evil woman who wanted to avenge herself after being remo- The young man was happy to oblige and, dressed as sumptuously as it was proper for
ved from the court. his class and followed by several noteworthy escorts, he arrived to his village with the
Donato thought that he might be the child, but he did not want to delude himself pro- acclaim and approval of the countrymen who barely recognized him.
claiming to be the son of a king! Nevertheless, this hope did not want to leave him. So Intrigued by the clamor and the commotion she heard coming from outside, Ele-
he decided to go to the palace, not to leave any stone unturned. na went to her door, right when the royal horse was stopping in front of it. She was
When he arrived, he sought an audience with the Sovereign, but the man did not want astonished and in the few seconds that followed, a thousand questions piled up in her
to receive him, since he was at his wife’s sickbed. heard.
At that point the young man took the chain from his neck and handed it to a servant. Donato dismounted and grabbed her hands.
<Please, show this to the Royals right away. If they don’t recognize it, you will bring it <Come, my love, our home awaits. Don’t take anything, where we
back to me and I will depart immediately> He said to the boy. are going you’ll have everything you need.> He said.
When he had it in his hands, the Sovereign couldn’t withhold an escalation of joy: <My <But what home? Why are you dressed like a prince and act like one, too?> The dam-
God, this is our son’s necklace! Who gave it to you?> He exclaimed the servant waiting sel answered him, even more stupefied.
nearby. <Before the new dawn arrives, you will know the truth. Let’s go
<The young man who requested an audience with you, your Majesty> he replied. now.>
<Hurry, bring him before me!>The King ordered. Donato wanted to carry all his wife’s family with them and his
When Donato was escorted in front of the Royals, he told them his story. adoptive parents, who were long in years and
The Queen did not have any doubts, he was her son and she instantly recovered from more than happy to spend the time they still had
her sickness, thanks to the happiness she felt at the chance of hugging and kissing him next to that boy who was their entire life.
again. They wept tears of pure emotion, and then the Sovereign ordered the prepara-
tion for a grand ball to dutifully celebrate the finding of the Prince.
The days passed and Donato, who demanded to maintain his name, decided it was time
to confide to his father his love for the girl he left at home.
But the Monarch reacted in a way his son did not expect, and was opposed to the wed-
ding because of the humble origins of the bride-to- be.
<You will never, ever marry a commoner, no less a miserable one!
The future Princess has to be noble and graceful, not uncouth and illiterate!> He said.
His father’s reaction upset the Prince, who sneaked out of the palace on horseback to
return to his village the morning after. He did not reveal to his adoptive parents or to
his beloved what he had found out and, shortly afterward, they walked down the aisle.
Meanwhile, at the palace, the Queen’s condition worsened at the new disappearance of
the son she had just found, and she died. The Sovereign was grieved by the death of his
wife and full of remorse at causing the escape of his son, and fell into depression.
The news of the death of the Queen and the sickness of the King spread on all distri-
cts, until it reached Donato’s ears.

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