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The Jeweler's Wife
Once, long long ago, in a long-lost city in the Rowan Mountains, lived a young maiden. This maiden was not rich, nor was she necessarily poor. Her beauty, however, was known through the Rowan Mountains. Her hair was like gold while her eyes were like chocolate. When she spoke, her voice was soft, but it was like listening to tiny wind-chimes.
The maiden was married to the city's jeweler. Though he lovingly doted on his wife, she didn't care for him the way he cared for her. She spent her days wondering what else was out there besides a jeweler. While her husband was blind to her true feelings, his mother was not. Every day, when they were alone together, his mother warned him that his wife would be the death of her. But the jeweler simply shook his head, saying, "Mother, that's nonsense. We love each other dearly."
"A real loving woman wouldn't always wonder what else is out there," his mother warned.
One day, while the maiden was helping her husband clean the shop after a long day, a messenger boy knocked on the door. Curious, the maiden took the paper handed to her and read it out loud.
"The prince has returned from his tour of the Rowan Mountains!" she read. "In three night's time, he will be giving a ball to find his future wife. All the single women of the Rowan Mountains are invited!"
"What about us?" the jeweler asked. "We are married, but we have no children. Are we invited too?" His wife dutifully read the invitation and shook her head. No married folks were invited to the ball.
"Well, I guess we'll be busy for the next three nights," the jeweler said cheerfully. "Come, wife, let's go to bed. We'll have a busy day tomorrow."
On the night before the ball, the maiden was having a glass of wine alone in her home. Her husband was still at the shop. As she sipped the last of her wine, a small pixie girl appeared before her. The maiden glanced at the bottle to see how much she'd drunk, but it was only the first glass.
"Are you a demon?" she asked.
"Are you?" the pixie replied.
"No," the maiden said.
"I thought as much," said the pixie, "you're unhappy aren't you?"
"There's so much more out there than being some wife of a lowly jeweler," the maiden said. "I'd love to go to the ball. Maybe marry the prince myself! From what I hear, he is quite the handsome man..."
"Done," the pixie said.
"I'm sorry?" the maiden asked, confused.
"You wish to marry a prince and no longer be the jeweler's wife," the pixie said. "Done!"
"What about my husband?" the maiden asked.
"Tomorrow, he will give you a gift," the pixie answered. "That will be the last gift you ever receive from him. Simple as that."
"I don't know what to say," said the maiden.
"Nothing!" the pixie answered, curtsying. "I'll see you again soon!" And with that, the little fairy disappeared.
The next day happened as the little pixie said it would. The jeweler came home from the shop and handed her a small gift. It was a golden chain with a heart-shaped ruby.
"I'm sorry we can't go to the ball," the jeweler said, "but I hope this gift makes up for it." He embraced his wife warmly and went to sleep. The maiden placed the necklace on herself, dressed in her finest clothes, and went to the ball while her husband slept.
Little did she know that soon after she left, her husband awakened and found she wasn't next to him. He looked around their house and found she wasn't there. He went to look for her.
He found her at the prince's ball, looking more dazzling than the day he met her. She was dressed in her best green gown, wearing the very gift he gave her that day. She danced very close to a man the jeweler immediately recognized as the prince. He felt the pain in his chest as he saw how happy she'd looked compared to how she was at his home. And then his heart shattered when he heard her speak.
"Oh, I have some jeweler chasing after me, but I don't feel any love for him. My eyes are only for you, sweet prince." The prince smiled at her words. The jeweler hung his head and walked back home. His chest heavy with pieces of his heart.
In a week's time, the jeweler fell very ill. His wife and his mother paid very high prices for a doctor, but none could find a cure for his sickness. In another week, the jeweler died, heartbroken and sad.
While the maiden showed just the right amount of sadness, his mother was heartbroken. She went mad with finding out the truth about her son. She didn't believe it was an illness but murder. The old woman called to anything that would listen to help her find her son's murderer. A pixie appeared before the old woman and confessed her part in her son's death. This pixie gave the woman her magic in hopes the woman would use it wisely.
At the jeweler's funeral, his wife stood by his coffin, wearing the last gift he ever gave her. She twisted the necklace around her fingers and gazed at the closed coffin. She bowed her head and ordered for the torch to be lowered on the coffin.
With an enraged scream, the jeweler's mother burst through the crowd. With a gnarled finger, she pointed at the jeweler's wife and screamed again.
"Murderer!" the old woman screamed. "I know what you really did! You are the reason my son is dead! Now you must pay the price!"
"You're mad with grief," the maiden said dismissively. Suddenly, the maiden felt a tightening in her chest. The pain burned within her. She grabbed at her chest, surprised to find her necklace was gone!
"I've replaced your heart with my son's gift," the woman cursed. "For the rest of your miserable life, and many lifetimes after that, your heart will be the death of you! You will never again feel the love that my son gave you!"
"I was miserable as his wife!" the maiden protested.
"And you will never know love's true goodness as your punishment!" the woman cursed again, "if you do find a man who will love you, his love will immediately cause the chain around the ruby to shatter, killing you instantly!"
"Blasphemy!" the maiden yelled. "Someone, please take this witch away from here!" Before the jeweler's mother could reply, guards come and arrested her for witchcraft. She was put to death not long after the curse. The maiden, ashamed of her deeds, soon left the Rowan Mountains and moved to the Central Point.
Years passed. The maiden had many suitors, but none of them loved her the way her dead husband did. If she fell for a man, he never reciprocated. Maybe the old woman's curse worked after all.
Until she met a baker. The moment the two of them locked eyes, it seemed the maiden would finally find a husband that would give her the same love and affection her old husband did. They were seen together every time the baker wasn't in the shop.
One day, the baker came to her home and presented her with a gift. An engagement ring.
"Will you marry me?" the baker asked. But before the maiden could happily say yes, the chain around her heart crushed her. The fragile ruby shattered into millions of pieces, and the maiden died at the baker's feet.
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Awkward picture of the day!
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