The Prince of Hornets (Part 1)

 Once upon a time, in a kingdom in the south, there was a prince. Now, the prince was due to be wed in a few short months, and if he did not find a maiden himself, his father would choose a bride for him. Thus, he held a a ball, a ball to which every maiden in their land was invited, the old, the young, the short, the tall, the fair, the unfair, and his future bride. She was tall, with the long limbs and legs of a dancer, her hair was the color of honey in summer and her eyes the blind pale of an empty honeycomb. She entered the hall in a gown of black, black as ink.

Prince Arnold saw her once, only once upon her entrance, and decided at that moment that this lady was to be his wife. He swept forwards, asking her hand for a dance, ignoring the other maidens. It seemed though, that as soon as they had begun to dance was as soon as the clock struck twelve. Overcome with his sudden love, Prince Arnold fell to his knee and begged her to marry him the following day.

"I should embrace you if you have a heart of brass." She said, and withdrew her hand from his, leaving him in the ballroom with no answer and an empty palm.

The next night, the Prince threw yet another party, and again invited all the maidens in the land, intent upon proving to her that he should be embraced, but he could find no such proof. But she came again, this time in a dress of gray, a beautiful thing that shone in the moonlight and drank in the night. Again, they danced, and again the Prince fell to a knee,

"I have not a heart of brass," he said, "but I ask not for your embrace, but your hand." She paused a moment, and then sighed, "No, but perhaps I may kiss you if you have a heart of a silver." And with that, she left him a second time.

The prince, bent upon having her hand, searched long and hard to find the evidence of a silver heart, but everytime he looked within his own, he found only flesh. Exasperated and desperate, he threw a third ball, where she came in a white gown, a wedding gown, expecting his silver heart, but no such heart would she find. Upon seeing him, she asked of his crown and where it was, but he pushed the question away. A third time, they danced, a third time, he fell to one knee, and a third time he said, "Will you marry me?"

"Have you a heart of silver?" She asked.

"Nay, only a heart of a gold." He said, withdrawing from a pouch in the breast of his coat a small golden heart, littered with jewels.

She smiled then, and placed her hand in his, "Give me your heart, and I shall marry you." And give his golden heart, he did. By the next night they were wed. Their marriage was prosperous, and the people grew to love their new queen and envy her scepter with the golden heart. A year passed, and their first child was born, a son, whom they named Elan. And the couple rejoiced at his healthy birth. That is, until the babe opened his eyes, he was born blind, cursed, and the prince was aghast, for as he looked upon his wife he saw her for what she truly was. He saw her long nails, her sharpened teeth, her own blind eyes and their magic and knew her to be a witch.

Outraged, he exiled her. He did not know that the fault lay upon him, for he had not truly given his heart, and thus could not truly love her, not as she was anyways. She begged and pleaded with him to let her stay, if she could not stay, then to at least allow their son to remain, but he would not. He would have no business of magic within his walls, and certainly none of witches. So she fled, taking Elan with her, and the prince told the land that she had passed with child. A great funeral was held for her, and many came, but the prince did not.

Meanwhile, she took shelter in her old home, now run down and overgrown. She came through the door and set Elan down on the bed, "You my child, will never have your heart as I have, and never will sting as mine does. For you will have a heart of hornets and no woman shall be able to escape them." She swore, and then set out, gathering for him a hornet queen, a handful of wood mulch, and at last a heart that would take to the hornets, for she knew even then he would have his father's golden heart. She passed first a lion, but sneered as she recalled how they would cannibalize their cubs. She then passed a young buck, but distasted his flight. It was at last that she came upon a wolf pup, and decided that this would be the heart of her son. So taking her dagger in her right hand, she knelt over the pup, her blind eyes looking towards his young blue ones, and she cut out his small heart, still beating, and brought the pup and these things to her cottage.

There, she cut out her first child's heart, giving him instead the one of the wolf, she stuffed it with the wood mulch and allowed the hornet queen to nest inside. It was only then that she sewed the wound closed, and did the same with the wolf, who now bore the heart of a golden prince.

Years passed and Elan grew into a strong, hard-working young man. His wolf grew with him, and soon the two were inseparable, they hunted together, worked together, and ate together, an unbreakable pair.