The convicts

Of unparalleled beauty, she was an exceedingly bold princess for the time. The fun that the most consumed was disguise herself as a dancer and walk among the people, reveling in vulgar pleasures. The prince from a neighboring kingdom devoted her an excessive passion by knowing her as his betrothed since childhood, seeing her for the first time in early adolescence. But the reciprocal was not true. He was not the man's profile that wished demanding women. Superstitious, he lived frightened by a prophecy whose prognosis accused him, in the future, sentencing to death his own son, resulting that the division of his kingdom.

One time he puttered through the streets, accompanied by his accomplices nothing commendable - both dominated by wine - , the princess, who had been cursed by his mother because of her cheeky behavior, was raped by an actor without popular theater prestige. Feeling breaking her cycle, she despaired and told her mother what had happened to her. This was sorry by having cursed her, spent a sleepless night, between lamentations and calculations to support her daughter, avoiding becoming public the suffered ignominy. The king used to see the queen insomnia, nothing unusual had noticed.

The next morning, mother and daughter decided it was the appropriate time to bring the union between the neighboring kingdoms. The king was convinced that it was time for his daughter to be betrothed, so he contacted the other royal family, whom was happy for the merger of the two countries: the prince and the princess were only children. The rapist was exterminated without any fuss, at the behest of the queen.

In the consummation of the marriage, the prince had a unforgettable wedding night. In the morning, the princess virginity was proven to satisfaction of all who have spared, who no expense for a dignified ceremony of the heirs.

Before the nine months, the princess gave birth to a little prince, but had not survived to the childbirth. All had to accept that, as the child had come before time, or her or the his mother would be subject to a fate like that, which was common at that time.

Prince only had close contact with the his princess on wedding night, because on the next day, his country was in the final stages of a war with another kingdom, and there was the need for their presence in one of the battlefronts, even against of his father will, who was the one who should have gone, but as the son worshiped him, took his place decidedly.

Upon returning, almost a month later, the pregnant was already suffering the natural airsickness and one was her husband. He, who loved her so much, endured with patience the situation. When the sickness passed, the taboo about intimate relationships with pregnant woman prevented the contact again. The passionate heart of the prince once again was willing to wait, between patience and anxiety, for new nights of ecstasy as the first time, after the birth of the child.

The death of princess left him very depressed and embittered. He remained single, contenting himself with concubinage. Drowning his pain of loss in love and inordinate care for the child, both also intensified by the fear of prophecy. Still, when grown, the son does not demonstrate a decent cradle character with that life bestow him. He would be spoiled and buck, if impatient hard and easily with those who did not make his wills.

To take the throne of the two kingdoms, turning them into one, the widower prince, now the new king, became austere, severe and almost ruthless. He does justice with an iron hand. Brooked no suspicions or insurrection confirmations, which were becoming more frequent, all effect among some of the kingdom that belonged to princess. The culprits caught were punished with extreme rigor. The king, unforgiving, not touched with the whine of the plebs.

A father, angry with the king, told him some "blasphemous", and immediately killed by the royal guard. Still, the parents of the accused persisted in pleading for the children, at the palace door. Among these there was also a peasant, whose son had been arrested unjustly among the insurgents. Without a husband and without conditions, she had in his favor only the clearance to express an unusual form what ailed her heart.

Desesperada, pediu uma audiência com o rei para interceder pelo filho, o que não conseguiu logo, posto que o rei não tinha tempo nem para os de seu gênero, muito menos para os de “gênero inferior” como camponesas cansativas.

On the day of execution of the group in witch was the son of a peasant, the king was also present, in order to speak to the people that would be the judgment of all the rebels. To withdraw, he was approached by the distraught mother who, with great difficulty, managed to stick to guard that separated the king of the plebs. Fallen at the feet of the king, she began to say the reasons why your child should be spared:

- Oh king, save my son from this cruel fate.

The king, very unwillingly, but given the political reasoning of one of his advisers, decided to respond personally to the woman's cry to demonstrate a measure of tolerance and some popularity, as it is interesting, according to one of his counselors, to take the opportunity to fix in the mind of all the right to order him to put those insurrections.

- Woman, why would save me, an insubordinate who joins to those that try to dethrone me?

- Oh king, what father or mother would survive to see the son of their youth and the only one who had been kidnapped of life ahead of time?

- Woman, do not you consider that you would be kidnapped me to the people from whom I take care as I was elected by fate and lineage and your son is one of the alleged kidnappers? Yes, because, to join those who try to dethrone me, does not he want to take me the kingdom before the time?

- O king, consider the love of a mother and let her take the place of his son this unjust condemnation!

- Woman, you have already wearied me with your prayer similar to others that come to me, all coming from parents who denied proper education to their children, not teaching them to respect their king and ultimate authority. Go away from here now. Your son has committed a crime and he is who should pay.

- Lord, my king, if you can hear my story you will know that to my son more thing was denied, and the fault is not only mine, but yours too, because, as noble as you are, you have power to make the fate of your subjects better or worse. My son is not an insubordinate, just trying to defend the friend who was being mistreated by your guards Your Majesty.

- Sassy woman, accuse me for thy negligence as a mother ?!

And the king, turning to his guard, commanded:

- Kill her and her son, now!

But the woman, without flinching, even now being dragged by the guards, went on shouting, in his argument:

- Sir, sir, what a monstrous father would kill his own son?

The king shuddered, remembering the prophecy. And questioned the woman:

- What do you say, woman, are you crazy?

And, desperate, he sent the guards wait, ordering to verify whether it was not the prince, his son, who was gagged and hooded mistakenly waiting for death. He was informed that his son was hunting in the woods as usual and that the man under the hood was not the prince, and the king was further ungry against the supplicant. But she begged him, with abundant tears, to hear what she had to say in favor of the child. The king gave way to feel relieved of the prophecy does not confirm. The woman continued:

- Oh king, I know you loved your wife once, and that day she conceived your son. However, Oh king, this story did not do well in those terms. You Know, Oh king, the woman who was with you that night was not the princess, your wife, but a young peasant, virgin and beautiful, which was forced by your mother to pass the princess, otherwise, her father, peasant debt, would have her two children sold as slaves and the small plot of land where he lived would be taken to the kingdom.

The king interrupted abruptly, nearly buffeting her, contain himself, however, by remembering the princess requests on their wedding night. She had enough wine, and kindly asking you before waited under the sheets, and blindfolded, still demanding that there be no light, because, as it was her first night, she was shy. Thus, rehashing the memory and sitting dazed, he said to the woman: - continue your history, and she continued:

- I'm sorry Your Majesty, but the woman who married that night was me, and my son whom you command to kill is also yours. Your only true son, Oh king. If you have doubts, you must go and look at him and see that his features bring considerable marks of yours.

There was a moment of thunderous silence. The king, with a lost look, stared at the woman that cried. This, seeing his perplexity, still managed to cast off some explanations:

- If you want to know why the princess had acted this way with you, oh king, probe the oldest and most loyal adviser to late queen, which, lucky for me and your son, still lives, and you will understand why.

At that moment, one of the guards comes stupefied and whispers to the king's ear, which widens his eyes, stands up and shouts desperate, falling then stunned on the throne:

- Damn! Damn! Damn! The prophecy, the prophecy, the… prophecy ...

One of the guard, carousing friend of his illegitimate son, realizing the "danger" established by revelation, came forward and ordered to go forth to obey the word of the king, killing without mercy the accused. So, father and son could not escape the sentence imposed in absentia.

And from that day on, the prince, along with the rebels, cunningly worked and managed to divide the kingdom, assuming that that had belonged to the princess, his mother.

(by Janete Santos. Traduzido por Kerlly Herêncio e Alessandra Mara)

Texto original em português no link abaixo:

http://www.recantodasletras.com.br/contosdefantasia/424825