ONCE UPON A TIME...

...there was a fair and clever Rhineland maiden... we can call her Giselle...

She had two suitors, two good friends of hers: the dark-haired Count Albrecht and the blond woodsman Hilarion.

But she didn't love either of them that way... and their quarrels escalated.

So, when the Snow Queen arrived, both youths were seduced and carried away by her.

The lord of the shire announced that the maiden who brought his only son back home should marry him. Giselle thought she was too young to marry, but still managed to volunteer for the mission, feeling guilty for Albrecht's capture.

Perchance this strange estate may hold the Snow Queen's court?

It was a boarding school for royal children!

"Perchance the library may guard a clue or two", Giselle thought and headed there.

But what she met was a schoolgirl... who looked just like her!

"My name's Delancy Devin, and I'm a regent's daughter (which means my mother rules the land as long as the crown princess is a child). So excited to meet a girl who looks like me and likes the same stories! There will be a soiree tonight, and I wish I could take my sweetheart Nicholas out to dance!"

That evening, both girls got ready for the ball, but Nicholas had an important announcement to make:

"I'm sorry to tell you, but I am already in love."

"With whom?" Delancy turned pale and stepped away.

"May I introduce my beau Etienne. He breeds stallions, by the way. Etienne, this is Delancy."

"Enchanté!"

The girl in purple ran away, back into the library, with Giselle in tow.

Delancy picked up a book and started weeping.

"Don't worry! You can join me in my quest! When we're done, I can have Albrecht for a fiancé and you'll get Hilarion..." They started to look for books about magical creatures.

They found a beautiful picture book, with an illustration of a lake.

As they were reading, they fell into the picture and into the water... into a blue realm of vines and tendrils.

"The Waterwhirls! Just like in the story book!", Giselle said. They were astonished to find out that they could breathe underwater.

A pair of mischievous twin mermaids appeared, swimming by. One of them had blue hair, while the other's was mauve.

Valley Girl: The mermaids are obsessed with fashion...

Scenery Porn: The underwater realm is beautiful, especially the tunnel that leads to it.

"I'm Anemone!", the blue-haired one said.

"And I'm Coral", the other replied.

 

"We're going out for conkle shells!", they said at unison.

As soon as they were out of sight, a detachment of guards crossed the muggle girls' path. They carried a tailed prisoner into the very heart of the realm. But Delancy and Giselle were surprised when they discovered the arrested mermaid looked just like them!

The detachment halted in a place where the vines formed a hall, and where a crowned mermaid sat on an elegant throne of vines. A purple-haired merman in a breastplate was holding a review.

"Your Majesty, here is the traitor!", the general announced.

"Who, me? Not me! It was Coral. Coral, with an L. The mauve-haired one..."

"Set her free!", the queen announced, as the general led his mermen out of the hall.

Well outside the throne room, the muggle girls had a conversation with the young mermaid.

Why should she have been arrested?

"My name is Cora, and I am a servant at court. After our king's death, the leader of our army started romancing Queen Lorelei. I don't trust General Caligo, and it seems the feeling is mutual. I told Her Majesty that the general could have been a usurper by spreading the rumour among my fellow courtiers... he found out..."

"You framed another? You lied?"

"I lied not to lose my freedom."

Right then, the soldiers re-entered the royal hall with Coral in tow.

"I should have been more honest", Cora replied as she got back in with her new friends.

"My Liege, I have caught the traitor..."

"Stop!", Cora announced. "She is innocent. I am the guilty one, if guilt means to warn my liege of a potential usurper. And I lied... I should have done the right thing."

"You're brave and honest, Cora. As for you... you'll never take my hand or my crown. Guards! Take this unworthy officer to the dungeons!", Queen Lorelei announced.

"The Snow Queen's name is Kriemhilde, and we have another sister, called Rayla".

"There are three of you... sisters?" Giselle couldn't believe it.

"Long ago, this world was ruled by chaos and evil spirits. Three young warrior sisters put the Enemies to rout, and then proceeded to divide the world into three kingdoms. Rayla got the Earth and Skies, and her elegant palace can only be reached on the back of a pegasus."

"She was the eldest and got to pick first, right?" Delancy inquired.

"I became Lorelei of the Waterwhirls. While Kriemhild, the youngest, had to accept becoming queen of the Winter Lands".

"Do you still keep contact?"

"There is a portal behind this throne, but I will hesitate to use it. Now that she has attacked the realm of Earth and Skies, who knows if the Waterwhirls may yield to her as well..."

"Your Majesty... you wish to stay neutral and remain in peace. That's wonderful!", Giselle replied. "But we need to get to the Winter Lands..."

The portal opened and both muggle girls hopped into it, as Cora and Lorelei waved goodbye.

When they came to, Giselle and Delancy were on a plain of ice, with an ominous fortress before them.

"This must be the Winter Court!"

They entered hand in hand, full of confidence. There were no guards or army: the Snow Queen was too powerful (and too quick-tempered) to rely on others. In the end, the girls found the queen on her harsh ice throne, and both youths at her feet, completely motionless.

With words of love, they melted the frozen hearts and restored colour to lilywhite cheeks.

Queen Kriemhilde couldn't believe it: "Why? Why? I tried to take power from one of my sisters' domains! I SHOULD HAVE MORE POWER!"

As she raged and a blizzard formed, the four young people managed to run away as fast as they could.

They got to the portal and prayed: "Please take us back home..."

Finally, all of them returned to their Rhineland village, where spring had returned. Giselle was betrothed to Albrecht, while Delancy and Hilarion took to each other. The Snow Queen never troubled them anymore.

And all of them lived happily ever after, with spring in their hearts, summer on their minds, and the cold autumn and winter behind their peaceful lives.

THE END.