The Tearstained Letter

This story is part of my collection, A Fairy Tale Christmas, which was originally written in 2007 for my family.

Dedicated to my mother.


There was once a little princess who lived in a really big castle with her mother, the Queen.  The little princess was very sad because her father, the King, had died recently.  As the king had left this Earth in the summer, they laid the season’s white roses on his grave, and when she was sure no one was looking, the little princess took one of these roses to keep in her bedroom in the castle.  Before he left this Earth for Heaven, he gave his daughter, the little princess, a special letter, and she cherished it very much.  Unfortunately, the royal tutors had not yet taught the little princess how to read, as she was still very young, so she did not know what the letter said, and she would not let anyone read it to her, because her father said it was just for her and no one else.  She kept the letter and the rose in a locked box in her bedside table’s drawer, and every night she would take the letter out, unfold it, pretend that she could read it, kiss it and finally put it away before going to sleep.

Before the summer was over, the Queen sent the little princess off to school in a different kingdom, so that she could learn to read and speak every language their kingdom was familiar with.  The little princess left the letter she loved so much at home, knowing that when she returned to sleep in her own bed the next summer, she would be able to read the words.

When she learned how to read her own language though, she realized that her father had not written it in English.  Every night that summer she cried as she looked at the words on the page to which she was illiterate.  She did this every night until she left for school in the fall, hoping that this year she would learn to read whatever language it was written it.  However, when she returned from school the next year, she found that the letter was also not written in French.  So she cried again, holding the letter in her hands.  The next summer she realized it was not in Latin, and the year after that she knew it was not in Spanish either.  And every year until she was sixteen, the princess was sad during the summer as she had learned another language that the letter had not been written in.

Over the summer of her sixteenth year, a prince from a far away kingdom, named Fredrick, had been invited to stay at the castle because the Queen had hoped to make allies of his parents.  Prince Fredrick fell in love with the princess, and before the summer was over, he had asked the Queen for her hand in marriage.  When the princess learned that her mother had betrothed her to the prince she was very sad to be engaged as she had not fallen in love with Fredrick.  Prince Fredrick was very sad when the princess said she did not wish to marry him, and because he loved her and only wanted her happiness, he returned to his kingdom without her.

As the summer was nearing its end, the princess was excited that she might go back to school and finally learn the language of her father’s letter she held so beloved, but she learned that she was to stay at her castle, for she had learned every language that her kingdom’s people knew of, and she was now done with all the schooling she would need to become a queen.  So the princess cried again, with the letter in her hand.

For the duration of autumn, the Princess stayed in her room, locked away to cry and be sad, refusing to see anyone.  The Queen was very worried, because she did not understand why the princess was so sad.  As Fredrick still cared for the princess, even though she refused his hand, he contacted the Queen in the hope for news of the princess’s well being, and when the queen replied with the news of the princess’s behavior, Fredrick rushed immediately to their castle.  He brought with him his kingdom’s enchantress, hoping that the sorceress may be able to determine if some spell had been cast over the princess he loved to explain the behavior.

The enchantress knocked at the princess’s door, and the princess only let her in after the enchantress used her magic.  The spell-caster explained that she was sent to check the princess for spells, but told the princess that she could detect none cast upon her by the use of magic.

“It is not a spell, but a curse,” the princess said, tearstains on her cheeks.  The princess then explained about the letter her father had left her, and how she could not read it.  The enchantress asked the princess to show the letter to her, and promised that if it was written in a language that existed at any time in the world, she could translate it for her.  So the princess gave the enchantress the letter, and as she looked upon it, the enchantress smiled at the princess.

“It is not in a foreign tongue, child,” said the enchantress knowingly, “It is stained with your father’s tears as he wrote it to you, washing away some of his pen-strokes and making it unreadable.  You would not have noticed as you thought these tearstains were your own from crying over it all these years.”

“Then I shall never be able to read the words?”

“I can do magic on it, so that it will show what he wrote as though no tears had ever touched it,” the enchantress said, and the cast the spell as she promised.  She handed the letter back to the princess, who clutched it nervously, reading it to herself as the enchantress remained quiet across the room for the moment.

“It’s just scribbles,” said the princess crying again.  “It doesn’t say anything!”

“He knew that you wouldn’t be able to read it when you were that young, child,” said the enchantress.  “He did not mean for it to say anything, he just wanted to leave behind something special for you to remember him by.”

“I have spent most of my life crying about this letter,” said the princess.  “I have wasted all of my heart on the hope that I could have him back if I could just read these words!  How silly I’ve been!  If only I had shown this to someone, they could have explained that to me before now, before all of these years wasted!”

“Perhaps,” said the enchantress, “learning this lesson this way will ensure you do not make the mistake again.  It is not wise to devote all of one’s time and interest in one thing, and it is also unwise to think you can do everything alone.”

The princess kissed the letter once more, and for the last time, she open the box she kept it in, where she also found the dried up white rose she had stolen so long ago.  Replacing the letter and removing the rose, the princess locked the box one last time, and tucked it back in the drawer before turning to the enchantress to thank her for her help and wisdom.

The enchantress smiled, and tapped the rose with her fingers, bringing it to life again, making it look as though it had been freshly plucked on a summer’s day, even though Christmas snow was falling outside the window.  The princess walked out of her room, and to Fredrick, who she knew now had sent the enchantress in the first place and she gave him the white rose then kissed his hand.  On Christmas day they were married, for the princess fell in love with him the moment she kissed his hand.  A new life began for the both of them as King and Queen of their kingdoms, ruling with love and wisdom to their dying days.