The Sea Prince
There in a certain village by the sea was a little boy whose name the ages lost. He is remembered, however, by the story his parents told. When he was but a dawdling infant, he would wander down to the shore and plant his feet in the sand. When night came and his parents would come down to remove him, he would kick and wail. So great was his love for the open waters that his parents called him “The Sea Prince.”
Now the Sea Prince grew into a hearty lad full of warm spirit and adventure. His heart, however, was not loved by all. In that very village was a witch cunning and shrewd; a jealous woman who wanted the villagers to love her as they loved the Sea Prince. She had once been a kindhearted woman who used her art to heal and help the forgotten, but a demon of envy had swallowed her heart, and the village shunned her.
One day, an elderly fisherman asked for the Sea Prince’s help to bring in the day’s catch. Eager to be out at sea, the prince agreed and the two set off. Now the witch saw her chance, saying to herself “Surely, if he drowns the village will forget him, and they will love me instead.” Using her craft, she summoned a fearsome storm. Fat bolts of lightning exploded on the sea, and waves threw the mere fishers overboard. But the witch was not content. Her magic held the Sea Prince under the waves until the wind left him.
Her scheme complete, the witch rejoiced that the villagers’ love would return. Instead, the villagers mourned the loss of their prince, comforting his family and leaving offerings of bread and fruit on the shore. When the witch did not mourn, the people called her cruel and chased her back into her darkness. Frost set in between the villagers and the witch: the town mourned black and blue as the witch’s jealousy froze deep her heart.
The Sea Prince, dead as he was, had not left his home; he had stayed there in the waves. When the light filtering through the waves would dim, he would appear knowing a storm was coming. The Sea Prince was determined no others would suffer his fate. When a ship braved the storm, attempting to make port at his little village, the Sea Prince would appear to its sailors and guide them. Most, however, were more terrified of the Sea Prince than the storm, and threw themselves overboard. The Sea Prince, dismayed, would pull these men aboard before they could drown. Stories of a young ghost boy calling himself the Sea Prince spread. Overjoyed to hear their son was still there helping others, his parents celebrated. This angered the witch, and she set out to find a way to rid herself of the Sea Prince forever.
Now it happened that a merchant vessel had been making its way up the coast when a storm forced it towards the village. The Sea Prince appeared to guide the sailors, but they were too frightened. They had not heard the stories and did not know he was kind. A young girl merchant accompanying her father heard the panic from below the decks and came up. When she saw the Sea Prince pleading with the sailors to save their lives, she charged forward and vouched for him. “He means no harm!” she shouted above the noise. The storm blew her hair into her face, the waves made her footing uncertain, but she held firm. She turned to the Sea Prince, holding out a hand. “Please, gentle boy, deliver us.” Now even the sailors could tell the Sea Prince meant to save them, and they calmed their fear. With a happy heart, the Sea Prince guided the ship to port. Just as he walked back to the sea, the young merchant called to him, pledging to help him. He smiled and waved back before disappearing. The young merchant, a girl of her word, set about to learn who the Sea Prince was and how she might save his soul.
The witch, however, had not forgotten her mission. When word reached her that a young girl sought to save the Sea Prince, she saw an opportunity. She cloaked herself with her magic and found the girl by the shore.
“Do you know who he is?” The girl asked the witch for she seemed knowledgeable and kind. “He saved my life, and I wish to save his.”
“Oh child,” The witch crooned, “that boy is troubled. But you can free him.” She presented the girl with a dagger. It glowed in the sunset light, twinkling like dark stars. “His heart holds fast to his sunken body. But, if you cut him free with this, he will ascend so that God may keep him.”
This was an easy lie to sell. The merchant girl was from a country where people believed that ghosts were angry spirits seeking justice. If she could set him free, then his anger would surely leave him, and he could be in God’s golden city. She had no way of knowing that this dagger was cursed to trap the heart of whomever it cut. If she used it on the prince, his heart would be trapped forever. The merchant, still so young that she trusted easily, accepted the dagger. It weighed heavy with purpose. When she looked up to thank the woman, she was gone; the witch had disappeared.
Eager to repay her debt, the merchant paid for a vessel and set out to sea. As it happened, the vessel she chartered belonged to the Sea Prince’s now aged parents. The captain, the prince’s father, found a nice spot in open waters as requested and asked her her purpose.
“I’m to repay the boy who saved my life,” said the merchant.
The captain knew at once of whom she spoke and beamed with pride. “The Sea Prince is my very own son,” he told her. This astonished the girl as he told her all about the lad.
Hearing laughter from above him, the Sea Prince peeked over the waves to see his father with the merchant girl he’d saved. They were huddling together, chatting excitedly. When the Sea Prince emerged from the waves, the merchant took notice and approached him.
She produced the dagger, holding it close. “Do you wish to be free?” the merchant asked. “If you choose so, I can use this dagger to free your soul.”
The Sea Prince reflected on this. He had not been aware he was a prisoner, but it made sense. He was unable to drift past the waters. And, he thought, if he was free then he might be able to walk through the village again. With this in mind, he readily agreed.
The young merchant raised the dagger, and the Sea Prince’s father saw the darkness it held. “Wait, where did you get that?” His eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. He cried out as the young girl severed the tie between the Sea Prince’s body and soul. There was a crack like lightning and a wave of dark magic. When the air cleared, the Sea Prince was gone. At once, the young merchant understood what had happened. She could see him floating as a reflection in the dagger’s steel. Furious that she had been tricked into hurting her friend, she wept. The captain comforted her, but his eyes were wet too.
“I will find the woman who’s done this and make her undo her awful curse,” the girl swore.
But the captain shook his head. “She is an evil woman now. There is no help in her heart.”
“But what will I do?” The girl paced the boat, but no answer came to her or the captain. Heartbroken, they returned to port with the Sea Prince’s life in their hands.
The young ghost was furious with the girl and how he had been tricked. But to see his father comforting her, and not grieving him, broke his heart. This was the power of the cursed dagger: to make Truth seem false and make lies seem True. So as the merchant and the captain mourned, the Sea Prince’s heart grew cold with rage.
The witch saw this and was delighted. Not only was the Sea Prince gone, but his heart was poisoned as well. Now the Sea Prince would spend eternity growing in hatred and darkness.
The merchant was inconsolable. She spent her night clutching the dagger and crying. So tender were her tears that one of God’s angels, Arhena who controls the rains, flew back to Heaven and asked for help. God saw the girl’s broken heart and the Sea Prince’s wrath, and he set into motion a plan to heal them both. And so he sent Arhena whom appeared to the merchant.
The merchant had since cried herself to sleep but she awoke with the gentle patter of raindrops. When she opened her eyes, she could just make out the glowing form of a young woman in the darkness. But suddenly the light in the room transformed, and the merchant knew she was in the presence of the divine.
She flung herself to her knees: “Please spirit, help me for I have wronged a friend whom I love.”
Arhena smiled and brought the girl to her feet. “Dear child, it is not your who has done wrong, but it shall be your burden. In the mountains beyond the village, you will find a sleeping serpent whose power belongs to the witch. To free your friend, the light of your love must banish darkness from darkness.” At this, Arhena put her hand to the merchant’s chest. The young girl felt her heart consumed by storm; holy rage as lightning lit her eyes. “When you strike, use the witch’s dagger for her jealousy is her undoing. But you must strike quickly while the serpent sleeps as the dagger will betray you. If you are discovered, you will surely perish.”
The merchant studied the blade gleaming in the moonlight. The soul of the Sea Prince sulked in the shifting veils behind the steel. “I will go tonight,” she vowed.
“Go, blessed child of God,” Arhena vanished in a boom of thunder, leaving the girl to her preparations.
With only her blackest cloak and the cursed dagger, she set out for the mountains the angel spoke of. The peaks stabbed against the sky like daggers. As she wound her way through the cold night atop those peaks, she heard snoring and stopped to listen. A deep, roaring noise. Following the sound, she slipped her way into a wide dark cavern hidden between two boulders. Though the cave was black, she could see as if by storm light.
In the center of the cave, surrounded by mounds of gold and diamond, was a great serpent with black fangs. It snored there in its hoard, curled up on itself. As the merchant inched closer, she could feel panic rising in her chest. This beast, even asleep, compelled fear; it took all her strength not to give in.
But the evil too affected the Sea Prince who thrashed about in the dagger. “This girl will feed me to that monster if I do not break free!” He threw his spirit against his bonds, causing the blade to quiver violently in the girl’s hands. Despite the merchant’s best efforts to hold him steady, the dagger flew from her hands and landed in the gold. The sound awoke the serpent, and the girl hid herself in the treasures.
“Who goes there?” Came the hissing voice. He wound himself through the mounds of gold. When his eyes set down on the dagger, he called out for the witch.
The merchant had an idea and called back, mimicking her voice. “I am here.”
“Why are you here so late?” The snake demanded. “Did not your blade do as I said?”
“It did and more. I am returning it as thanks,” said the merchant. She held her breath as the serpent thought. Sensing that he didn’t believe her, the merchant continued. “I will leave him with you so that none may find him and live.”
“Why do you hide from me?” The serpent asked.
“Because I am not worthy. You gave me this power, and I am deeply humbled.”
The serpent, so moved by her conviction relented, “Very well, servant. Leave us.” And he returned to sleep.
When she could hear him snoring, the merchant leapt out, stole up the dagger, and plunged it into his skull. The serpent let out a horrid scream as his magic left him. Energy pushed in waves against the merchant, but she held fast and true. When at last the serpent was still, and his power had left him, the dagger failed, and the Sea Prince reappeared.
His face was clouded in rage, but the sight of the merchant’s grateful tears stalled his wrath. So overcome was she by her adventure and the well-being of her friend that she could not control herself.
The Sea Prince understood now what had happened. This young girl was truly his friend, risking herself to free his heart. The two stood there absorbing the moment until the girl broke first, “I should never have trusted that awful woman! I’m so sorry.”
But the Sea Prince was the one who needed to apologize. And he did so. “I let her magic twist me, and I became as cruel. I hated you.” He begged forgiveness, and she gave it freely.
As the two returned to the village, the merchant looked up with realization. “You’re free now, aren’t you?”
The Sea Prince had not seen this. He could move freely through the village – a wandering soul to home returned. Joy filled his soul and he soared to his parents’ home. They rejoiced and kissed him, and he shed tears. They thanked the merchant, praising her for her bravery, but she in turn praised God who delivered.
But there was one more soul freed by the actions of the young merchant. The witch whose spell nearly destroyed the Sea Prince awoke to find her heart bound no more. The serpent demon that had bound her was gone. When she awoke, she knew what evil she had done. She charged into town, looking for the young merchant. And when she found her and the Sea Prince in his home, she flung herself at their feet. “I have done a wicked thing. I traded compassion for power, and I have hurt you.”
When she told all she had done, the Sea Prince felt pity for her. The merchant, however, could not forgive her for tricking her. The witch had broken something precious to her. From this point, she would look upon others with suspicion before trust.
But the prince, broken beyond the world, had nothing to lose. He forgave her. And so the village came to accept her once again, and all was well.