from him. Not finding him nearby, she turned to the maid of honor, deciding that she was mistaken: – And how exquisite she is in a wedding dress. And a diamond necklace suits her. I have never seen such a princess?
Involuntarily admiring her, she forgot. The maid of honor just batted her eyelashes stupidly, not daring to comment on anything. And then the queen started up, as if waking up from a dream:
– So this is that redneck? – If that doesn’t happen, I’ll think of something! Only I alone will be the most beautiful in this kingdom. I’ll take it out, and I’ll find another for my son, – she threw the mirror on the floor with anger, jumped up. And convulsively fanning her face, she passed through the crowd, nervously pushing the courtiers aside. – My feet won’t be here, – she hissed angrily under her breath, rushing to her chambers.
The bride and groom were so intoxicated with love and did not take their eyes off each other that they did not notice the absence of the queen. Everyone was dancing, lightly circling around the hall. The hall was full of colorful outfits. The king noticed how his wife quickly left the guests, and, apologizing to noble persons, followed her.
– What happened, dear, why did you leave the ceremony? Let’s go, everyone is waiting for us.
– I’m not going anywhere, go alone. I got a headache.
– Are you sure you weren’t offended by anything? – He gently lifted her chin and slyly looked into her eyes.
– No, really, just a headache from the noise. I’ll be back later, don’t leave the guests, – she was cunning, pretending to be tired.
– Well, dear, take care of yourself, rest, – and, kissing his wife on the cheek, he left.
Left alone, the queen began biting her lips as she concocted a plan to get rid of her daughter-in-law.
– Oh, – how indignant the queen was, she was crying, twitching her upper lip and biting closer: – how can I exterminate my daughter-in-law?
The girl’s parents went home after the feast, and the prince and his wife were so happy and loved each other that they did not part for a minute. Even a short separation caused them pain. But the main affairs of the father pushed love into the background.
One day, the prince and the king went on business to a neighboring state to sign peace agreements. They were gone for a week. The Queen, seizing the moment, rubbed her hands and said smugly, smiling:
– Now is the right time, I should not miss this chance.
She called the servants and ordered to secretly steal the daughter-in-law from her chambers at night, so that no one would see and take her to an abandoned castle, which was located far beyond the forest in the swamp. And imprison her there like a prison. Together with the servant girl, she sent a chest of jewelry there, sarcastically remarking that it was not appropriate for a noble lady to look bad there:
– A lady must be a lady even in a swamp. And this lady only belongs there, next to the frogs and mosquitoes.
She ordered everyone to be silent, otherwise they would lose their lives. Here, from fear for their lives, the servants involved in this were silent.
In the morning the whole palace was raised to its feet: the daughter-in-law was gone! What? How? The guards rushed to the queen and fell at her feet:
– We ask for mercy, empress, you did not order us to be executed. We have not seen who and how kidnapped your daughter-in-law.
– Oh, trouble! What will I say to the poor son? – the queen made a sour face and looked up from the mirror, br ushed away an artificial tear from her eyes with a satin handkerchief: – You are not to blame. I have already been informed that this scoundrel ran away at night to her lover and even took jewelry with her.
Soon, the sad news of treason spread throughout the state. The king and his son rushed in and, not seeing the girl, rushed to ask the queen if people were really saying where she had gone. And she answers:
– Yes, she had already married another during this time, she could not wait. Apparently she did not love you, your redneck, my beloved son.
The son did not believe his mother, but did not say anything to her. He yearned for his wife day and night, grew thin – did not eat anything. He sits at the table, they bring him food, and the food gets stuck in his throat – only his beloved wife was before his eyes. He could not believe that such sincere love was a game, that his beloved had betrayed him. She was so humble, with a pure heart. There was no way she could do this to him.
Something else, something bad happened to her. We need to go look for her.
And then the mother decided to console her son, brought him a bride, a princess, but so terrible, crooked, pockmarked, demolished like potatoes, with little eyes. She smiled at the prince, and her teeth sticking out in different directions were also fastened with braces. The prince was frightened, grabbed his hat and cloak on the move and ran headlong away. He ran away from the palace, saddling a horse, and rode wherever his eyes looked.
How long, how short, did our prince ride and his horse came across the house of that sorceress woman who cured his wife in childhood. The horse stopped, neighed, shaking its head. The guy jumped to the ground, dusted himself off. Just as he was about to knock, the door was opened and an elderly woman appeared on the threshold:
– Hello king’s son, where are you going? – What did you come with? looked him over carefully.
– Yes, that’s the trouble happened to me. The wife is missing, beautiful. The world is not dear to me without her, and my mother wants to marry me again to a slanting, pockmarked princess. I can’t do this anymore, I’m looking for my beloved wife. But I don’t know who to ask.
And the sorceress answered him:
– Come into the house, rest from the road, taste my jelly with milk, otherwise you have completely lost weight. You need to refresh yourself. And there we will decide how to help your grief.
The prince obeyed and entered the room, not even paying attention to how the woman recognized him as a prince. And there on the bench another woman sits and shakes the ball. Different fragrant herbs hang in the corners. Their scent intoxicated him. Even he was drawn to sleep.
– And this is my sister, – she introduced the guest to the woman. – Sit down, don’t be shy.
– Oh, prince, we have been waiting for you for a long time. Come in, my dear, you will be a dear guest.
– How do you know me? – only now he was surprised.
Both chuckled and looked at each other.
– Yes, we are such unusual grannies. We, my dear, know a lot of things.
– I need to hurry, look for my wife. I feel like she’s in trouble.
– We know, we know. But still, don’t rush, first gain strength. Taste our food, sleep, and in the morning we will pick you up and show you the way.
