The next morning, Rupert and his party, led by Bellona and her retinue, set out for the northern mountains.
Rupert brought with him the fruits, flowers, jewelry, and choice steeds originally intended for the plain princess as a present to Bellona’s father.
Under the direction of Bellona, who knew all the underground passages and shortcuts between their two lands, they were able to bypass the jagged cliffs and rolling boulders that protected the northern mountains from invaders. What should have been a treacherous journey of two weeks took only three days, and Rupert passed the time pleasantly by engaging in conversation and making observations of nature with Bellona.
It was nearly sundown on the third day of the journey when their party reached the outskirts of the capital. At a clearing, Rupert saw a group of children sitting around a stone table. Each child was holding a little wooden bowl, and in each bowl was a piece of fruit—either a slice of melon or banana. The smallest child, however, sitting at the head of the table, had a bunch of red grapes in his bowl. All the children were thin, wearing threadbare garments that barely reached beyond their elbows and knees, weathering the cold as bravely as they could. Each child took their piece of fruit and dropped it into the bowl of the small boy at the head of the table. The child took two skewers, stacking and rearranging the offerings of his companions until they roughly resembled the shape of a round fruitcake.
When he was finished, two other children carefully took the bowl of fruit from the little boy and headed toward a nearby hut, with the rest of the children except the little boy trailing behind. Rupert saw that the boy could not follow
his friends because he had no legs!
The king walked over to the boy and asked, “Young friend, shall I help you inside?”
The boy stared at Rupert for a moment in bewilderment. Though he was small of stature, the boy was already twelve years old. His family had always been poor. Throughout his life the people he was acquinated with had only three sets of clothes, one for home, one for work, and a set for special occasions. All his clothes were hand-me-downs from his older siblings, and whether he got new clothes depended on how well his parents could sell their crops. This year the harvest was poor, but the taxes remained high. Therefore most of his friends and siblings were wearing worn-out clothing that barely protected them from the biting cold and harsh frost of the winter. Therefore, he was surprised that such a richly dressed gentleman with means could be talking to him and offering help. Yet, remembering his mother’s suspicion of the greedy barons in his land, he shook his head. “No sir, I don’t need your help.”
Rupert, taken aback by the boy’s cold response, stammered, “Of course. Well, you and your companions seemed to be preparing for a special occasion, and I wanted to offer a gift of my own. I am a visitor to your country, and I have brought along a basket of the best fruits from my own country, which I want to give to you.”
When the boy heard this, his eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you, sir,” he said. “My brother is going away to fight in the king’s army, and we wanted to do something special for him before he leaves. We don’t know if he will ever come back to us!”
When Bellona saw Rupert give the basket away, she took offense. “If you give them away, my father would surely find you less worthy. Your fruits display the richness of your lands, your jewels show off your wealth, and your two steeds your strength and power.”
When Rupert heard this, his face fell. He had wanted so much to impress the king of the northern mountains, by demonstrating that he was a worthy son-in-law, who would provide for Bellona with a prosperous land and mighty army. Yet, how could he not do something to show kindness when the opportunity was there? Why not share a little of what he had if he could make a child happy with his generosity? Why not contribute to celebrate a young man’s bravery before he journeys to to serve in the king’s army?
“Indeed, princess, the richness of our land speak for themselves. Why not share some of our bounty with the poor children, who are wearing threadbare garments because their families could not afford the heavy taxes your father levies?” The princess gave no answer.
That night, their party encamped in the clearing, and for the first time Rupert saw the princess, who had been amiable and gregarious so far, lapse into whwhat he thought was a quiet and thoughtful demeanor. Although she responded to Rupert’s attempts at conversation politely enough, she made no attempt at continuing the banter. Rupert began to regret having given the basket of fruit to the boy, until he recalled the boy’s smile of surprise and excitement. He knew then that he did the right thing.
The next day, the princess led them to the seashore, on which were moored boats prepared to take them to the palace island on the other side. Rupert was about to help the princess into the boat when she withdrew her hand and turned back, claiming to have forgotten something. As Rupert was about to get off the boat to follow her, she gave him a hard shove, sending him toppling back into the boat. Then Bellona cried with a loud voice, “Prepare to meet your deaths, you enemies of my father!”
The lines that tethered the boats were cut. The princess, waving her magic wand, summoned an unnatural storm that drove the boats forward. The skies darkened, and small, sharp pellets of ice began raining down on Rupert and his companions. The men cried out, ducked their heads, and dove in vain for cover, while the two horses whinnied and strained against their tethers. Large columns of dark, murky water buffeted the boat, tossing it up and down like a juggler’s balls.
Despite how hard the men rowed, they could not gain control of the boats as they sped toward the open sea. The princess had sought revenge on Rupert for her father’s shameful defeat by the young king and his small but elite army. As Rupert and his pany plunged deeper and deeper into the ocean, tossed to and fro by the dark, relentless waves, she cackled with glee over their certain demise.
Although the men rowed with great determination, the tempest seemed only to grow stronger against them. The skies split with lightning and rumbled with thunder. Two of the boats began to fill with water and sink. As the men on the remaining three boats began tossing their food and clothing overboard in order to make room for the men they were pulling in from the ruined boats, Rupert joined them by hurling the chests of precious jewels overboard. Rupert was determined to save as many of his men as he could, counting his lost wealth of secondary importance. The chests were hurled with great splashes overboard to lighten the load. Seeing the chests of precious trinkets sink, Bellona’s greed was kindled.
She was momentarily distracted as she attempted to summon a wave that would push the chests back toward herself. This gave the rowers a short moment to put distance between themselves and the reach of Bellonas power. Yet, because Rupert had hurled them toward some rocks, the chests shattered and spilled all the trinkets into the sea. Realizing that the jewels could not be retrieved, Bellona shrieked with fury, redoubling her efforts to destroy Rupert and his men.
For seven miles the men struggled to row against the unrelenting waves. Just as they seemed to gain some control in driving the boat a certain direction, a powerful wave would spin the boat around. The skies continued with lightning, thunder, and hail, and they had to constantly cover their equipment and shield their eyes from the raining pellets. Just as they thought that they were at the end of the reach of Bellona’s power, they found themselves speeding toward a
large, jagged boulder. The ships seemed destined to crash and break.
With one final, tall wave, Bellona made the boats crash against the boulder. The men screamed as the boats splintered, and they grabbed onto any piece of wood they could to float. The horses whinnied and pedaled wildly, terrified by the furious storm.