Jondar and The Legend of Princess Airabelle

Jondar was an inquisitive and very persistent young aerling. He was constantly getting into trouble for roaming where it was forbidden and touching what should not be touched. When Jondar was young, his aerling grandmother, Red-Wing, often recited Ancient Wisdoms to him. Her favorites were: “Never quit when you know you are right,” and “Hard work yields great crops,” and most of all, “Everything worth finding is worth searching for.” He regularly flew high into the dark, dangerous, and forbidden mountains and roosted in one of the hundreds of small, shallow caves to think about their meanings.

His normally boring life changed, when he, as a teenage aerling, chanced upon a small cave set apart and hidden from the others. This cave was mysteriously quiet and very dark. Using a burning torch for light, he explored deep inside and discovered a cozy roost. Within it he discovered many feminine treasures including an exquisite preening comb and a small, ornate wooden chest. In the back corner facing the entrance he found and unrolled an old, very worn resting pad. Ever curious, he carefully opened the chest and was surprised to find a girl’s handwritten diary buried beneath bunches of dried flowers.

Since it was rapidly getting dark, Jondar took the diary with him and returned to his home.

That night, Jondar slept very little as he became deeply entranced reading the diary’s shocking content. The diary had belonged to the legendary Sleeping Princess, Princess Airabelle!

According to her diary, and contrary to popular belief, Princess Airabelle was not a joyous bride-to-be. Prince Flagel, her betrothed, was an older, self-absorbed male whose prime focus in life was his business and kingdom politics. He had little time nor concern for their rapidly approaching, arranged, wedding. Princess Airabelle was ignored constantly and was very lonely.

According to her last entry, made the night after the wedding, desperate for Prince Flagel’s affection, or even for him to notice her, she bought and used a potent, magical, sleeping potion made to put her into a deep sleep until she was awakened by a loving touch. According to her notes, it should have worn off within two days. Surprisingly, her aerling body reacted much differently to the potion. According to legend, she fell asleep for an unknown reason and stayed that way! Her sleep was so deep that when she was found, she appeared to be dead!

The legend claimed that her body, which looked dead but was really in a deep, deep sleep, was quickly encased in a dwarven steel and molded glass coffin and sent to the aerling burial place by Prince Flagel, who, true to his nature was too busy with politics and her father to be concerned with her!

Princess Airabelle’s coffin was transported secretly via wagon by hired men, because it was less costly than the more traditional royal flight, and Prince Flagel really did not care and would not spend the coin. Along the rough cliffs of Magabir, the caravan was attacked by highway men, thieves.

When the attack occurred, the wagon’s horses bolted along the cliff with the wagon bouncing and shaking behind. Suddenly, the wagon broke free of the horses and flew out over the cliff into the deep sea – over one hundred feet below the cliff.

The wagon floated a short distance from the shore then sunk into the cold, dark, deep depths taking the iron coffin, and Princess Airabelle, with it!

Jondar realized that the old story had truth within it! There really was a Princess Airabelle, and she may still be alive. Jondar HAD to find her!

Jondar flew far and searched many maps and scrolls. He spoke with everyone willing to talk with him about the missing princess and the wagon.

After two years of tiring research and many false trails, he traced the most probable wagon route along the cliffs on the Eastern shore of Northern Magabir with the wagon sinking into the northern Mare Isolde.

The water there was very cold and unusually deep. Sailors fish in the area but the bottom was unknown. Meren (never the friendliest toward Aerlings) might be able to search for the wagon – but how could Jondar contact them and what payment would they demand?

Jondar pondered long on his dilemma. He learned of an ancient tower built for meren and aerling negotiations during the wizard war. Maybe, he could use that to contact a meren. He hoped the summoning bell still functioned. He prayed that his courage would not fail him as Meren were frightening to all Aerlings!

After a long flight, he found the ancient tower still standing on the highest most northern crag of the island. A meren could swim into the lower cave and climb the stairs to a shelf facing an aerling perch reachable only by an aerling flying in from the top. There was only room for one aerling and one meren within it and it provided neutral and protected territory for both. An aerling could safely fly up and the meren dive down in case of disagreement, danger, or deception.

Jondar landed atop the tower as the full moon rose to its highest and, fearfully, loudly rang the ancient, great brass bell. The deep clang of the bell carried for many miles, and it gently shook the ocean beneath it. Then Jondar waited. He waited for two full days before a ripple in the ocean showed the approach of a lone meren.

FomDeSea heard the ancient bell toll. His people had made a covenant with the Aerlings and, unfortunately, it was his time to stand watch and listen for the bell.

Jondar followed the meren’s approach with great anxiety. Would it be friendly or enraged at the summoning? Could it even speak common?

Once the meren entered the lower tower, the ripples ceased, and silence prevailed.

Jondar broke the shroud of silence by weakly calling, “Hello?”

FomDeSea responded cautiously to the greeting in the ancient, prescribed manner, “I have answered your summons, what is the dire situation that befalls our species?”

“It is a personal matter,” sheepishly replied Jondar.

FomDeSea was both stunned and relieved. The Aerling sounded to be about his age and very distraught. FomDeSea ‘s curiosity overcame his common sense, and he replied, “How can I be of assistance?”

Aerling Jondar and meren, FomDeSea, were as different as any humanoid species could be, yet, once they started talking with patience and honesty, trust was soon established, and they were able to reach an agreement.

Jondar could only find and retrieve the sunken wagon with meren assistance.

FomDeSea needed to impress his lady and respond to her challenge to present her with a flower known to grow only at the highest altitudes; the white, five petaled Arenaria. Then, she would, finally, accept his proposal. Obtaining the flower would be as easy for Jondar as finding the sunken ship with the dwarven case would be for FomDeSea. A deal was struck and for the first time, since forever, an aerling and meren shook hands as allies and friends.

Jondar flew through the top of the tower in search of the rare flower as FomDeSea dove through the waves at its base in search of the iron case. They would meet again, here, at the next full moon.

The weeks passed quickly. Under the bright light of the full moon the two young men returned to the tower. Jondar presented a bunch of freshly cut white flowers to FomDeSea and received, in return, a hand drawn map of the coast with the location of the sunken ship clearly marked several hundred feet below the surface.

The site would be easy to find but the recovery would take teamwork. Again, aerling and meren worked together. Jondar coordinated the surface effort and FomDeSea organized the ocean work.

Jondar paid local craftsman to build a sling to raise the heavy, iron casket to the surface where the fishermen hoisted it aboard their boat. Once on land, a team of six aerlings solemnly flew the sealed coffin to its original destination – the high mountain burial place of aerling royalty. Jondar followed quietly.

The case’s glass lid was covered in mud and totally opaque. Jondar took it upon himself to clean the coffin and make it as presentable as the other coffins that filled the burial place. After spending a few days cleaning and polishing the case, Jondar was finally able to peer inside. Princess Airabelle looked beautiful and vibrant in her death-like sleep. Her fluffy multicolored wings sparkled in the sunlight, but her skin looked ice cold and pale. Her chest was covered in white rose petals that appeared as if they had just been picked.

Jondar called upon his longtime friend, Grumbles, a dwarf, to help him open the iron case. Using the dwarven species spells Metal See and Metal Shape, Grumbles disengaged the lock and opened the lid. Surprisingly, the sweet scent of fresh cut roses filled the area.

Jondar tried everything to awaken her. He called on wizards and healers. He used up all past favors and spent his life’s savings. All had no effect. Princess Airabelle slept breathlessly.

One night, alone, Jondar was leaning on the cold, open casket gazing on the beautiful Princess. Tears flowed from his eyes as he considered giving up.

A single tear fell onto her cold, death-like cheek. Seeing the tear, Jondar leaned forward and absent mindedly kissed it off her pale cheek. Immediately, her skin started to warm. Her cold pale skin warmed and rapidly returned to its full beauty.

Jondar stared in wonder as the long-lost princess, after nearly a hundred years, opened her beautiful blue eyes and gazed at him.

Her first image as she opened her eyes was of a strange, stunningly handsome, deeply caring young aerling leaning over her with tears of joy flowing down his face.

Her last memory, from the final moment as she was drifting into deep slumber, was Prince Flagel’s voice, “she saved us the trouble! Once we end her father, the king, the realm is ours!”

Of course, Jondar and Princess Airabelle fell in love, became betrothed, married, and the legend grew even more. The matter of Prince Flagel’s descendants draining the kingdom’s resources would be dealt with in due time once Princess Airabelle was recognized as the true descendant, and now, the rightful queen.

Jondar reflected that Grand mom Red-Wing was right, everything worth finding was worth searching for.

Patience and righteous persistence had yielded the greatest treasure of all, his one true love, Princess Airabelle, and he had found a new friend, FomDeSea, where he least expected to do so.