Once there was an
island, not far from the mainland. The island’s harbor was a
trading port. Ships came from the mainland and other islands to trade
for the very special red olives that grew only on the island.
The island’s ruler
had three daughters. The eldest daughter, Lyrica, played the flute
with such grace and beauty it made the birds jealous. Her sister,
Appolina, was a scholar. She’d read every book in the castle’s
library and frequented the bookstores in the harbor village,
searching for more. And the youngest girl, Kalamatia, grew the best
olives on the island.
One day, a ship
arrived in the harbor from the mainland carrying, in addition to
goods for trade, three young men. They were all fair of face, though
one was dark, one was fair and the third had ginger hair. They wore
regal jackets adorned with gold braid and brass buttons, and were in
fact princes from the mainland.
The three young men
presented them at the castle atop the highest hill on the island,
bringing greetings from their father, the king. But the ruler of the
island did not like the king, afraid he might want to invade. So he
sent them away to find food and drink near the harbor.
Now the oldest of
the princes, Tenorio, loved to sing. He had the voice of a
nightingale, sweet and pure. As they walked back down to the town, he
sang one of his favorites. But rather than sounding beautiful, it
clashed with the dissonant sounds of a flute. “Go on,” he told
his brothers. “For I must find the person playing that awful flute
and trounce him.
The other two
continued to descend the hill, but the first shop they came to was a
bookstore. “I’ll stop here a while,” said the blond brother,
Libro. “They may have a book I’ve been searching for.”
The third brother,
the redhead named Ceraon, was more interested in the food available
on the island. In truth, he was a renowned chef. He’d heard of the
marvelous olives grown on the island and wondered what delicacies
were prepared with them.
