In the Kingdom of the Shadowed Sea, near the edge of the dark and open sea, lived a young mermaid named Ariadne. There among the kelp and the coral and the bending light the merfolk of the Shadowed Sea lived in open houses made of sea glass, pearl and shells.
Ariadne was the only child of a poor family. Her parents prized her above their meager possessions, and what Ariadne treasured above all was her golden hair, which was long and shimmered in a way that made it seem as if it was spun of gold. Her hair made her the envy of the Shadowed Sea. All the other mermaids had dark hair resembling the kelp that hid the city.
One day a terrible storm swept through the ocean, wreaking havoc on the kingdom. When it passed, the structures lay like flotsam along the ground, but the reef remained. Yet more misfortune followed hard on the heels of the Shadowed Sea's troubles.
A giant sea serpent called the Wevren came from parts unknown, bringing destruction like a whirlwind. The king tried to reason with the creature, but to no avail. Every day the serpent came and carried off some poor young maiden to eat. Seeing the Wevren's appetite for the young mermaids, the king began to have an idea.
The next day the sun rose in a haze of red and gold, bathing the waters in colors of muddied blood. The Wevren arrived with the dawn. The earth shuddered and water churned at his approach, but the king barred the way. Curious, the Wevren glared at the king who dared stand in his presence.
The king did not back down even though he trembled from head to tail. "What will it take for you to leave my kingdom and never return?" he asked.
At that moment, Ariadne swam by. Her soft blue eyes widened as they lighted on the giant serpent. She paled and darted out of sight.
But the Wevren had seen her. His eyes glinted as he took in her brightly-colored hair. He turned back to the young king. "King of the Shadowed Sea," he growled, "I will leave your people alone if you will give me gold as bright as the sun."
The king frowned. The kingdom contained no gold, but he wanted to get rid of the beast. "If you give me time, I promise you I will give you the gold."
The Wevren's eyes gleamed a poisonous green. "I'll be back in a week for the gold or the rest of the mermaids of this country." He turned and sped away before the king could respond.
With a week to deliver the gold, the King sent mermen into the far reaches of the sea. The king waited and waited for them to return. Eventually, only three days remained.
Finally, the mermen returned, but they were empty-handed. "Your Majesty, we searched the entire sea but found no gold," they said.
The king, in despair, asked, "What do we do? The creature will eat us all before it is through."
Just when he was about to give up, the youngest merman came forward. "Your Majesty, if I could have your ear for a moment, I might have a solution to your problem."
"Well, speak up," the king said.
"When I was child I ventured far out into the sea with my friend. We came upon a dark cave from which hot, dark water rose."
The king wondered where all this was going, but politely kept quiet.
"We ventured into the cave and discovered that it was the home of a sea witch, named Assana. She could do wonderful things! I believe she could even turn hair into gold!"
The king straightened. Turn things into gold... If he could give the witch a strand of Ariadne's hair, perhaps she could turn it into gold! "Send for Ariadne immediately!" he commanded.
The soldiers ushered the little mermaid before the king. The attention of the whole court focused on her, but she did not cower. There were more important things at stake than her fear of crowds. She bowed low before her sovereign. "What does my king wish of me?"
"Ariadne," the king began. "Do you wish to help the kingdom be rid of this pestilence, the Wevren?"
"I don't see how I can help, my lord," she replied demurely. "The Wevren has demanded gold and there is no gold to be found in the whole of the sea, and I am only a maid."
"Would you be willing to give us a single strand of your hair, Ariadne?" the king asked.
Confused, Ariadne fingered her hair, her one prized possession. What harm would it be to give the king just one strand? She pulled a strand of her golden hair out of her head, wincing at the pain it caused her, and handed it to the king. "Here you are, Your Majesty."
Without further delay, the king handed the strand to the young merman and bade him travel as fast as he could to the sea witch's cave.
The young merman traveled far and fast. He didn't hesitate at the entrance of the cave, even though good sense told him to turn around and flee. The Wevren would return soon. Now was not the time to get cold fins.
A sweet voice echoed from the depths of the cave. "Greetings, merman, what would you have me do for you today?"
The sea witch sat at an empty spinning wheel with a spindle that looked to be made of gold, but rose when the merman came into her lair. Intricate braids of ebony hair wreathed her head like a crown of night. The rest of her hair flowed around her, twisting strands of opalescent black with deep purple highlights. Lips as deep a color as the most vibrant coral curved into a smile below blue-green eyes set like gems of ocean fire in a face the complexion of a white pearl.
The merman's heart quivered. His words rushed out before fear chained his heart.
"A strand of hair turned into gold? That is easy enough, but I cannot do something like this for free," she said. "Everything has a price, and my magic has a cost."
The merman had not been expecting this and hastily promised the witch anything if only she would turn the hair into gold.
The witch smiled and took the hair from the merman. She turned to her spinning wheel. "You are lucky you brought me hair of this quality," she said, placing the hair on the spindle. "Only hair the color of gold can into gold turn."
The witch rapidly spun the hair into a wire-thin rod of pure gold. "Take this back to your king and remember to tell him that I will request payment from him when the time comes," she said, handing the rod to him.
The merman took the gold and swam as fast as he could back to the Shadowed Sea. He came not a moment too soon.
Just as he reached the king, the Wevren could be seen approaching. Sand and silt flew upwards, clouding the water as he passed. "King of the Shadowed Sea, have you brought my gold?" he thundered.
The king reached up and proffered the gold.
The Wevren swooped down and swallowed it. His eyes gleamed. For a second they glowed like an amber fire before dissolving into their emerald green. "The payment is good. I will leave," he told the king. Turning around, the beast slithered away as fast as he had come, leaving a cloud of earthy water in his wake.
The king sighed. The serpent was gone and the kingdom was free from his reign of terror.
"My king," said a voice behind him.
The king whirled around to see the sea witch standing there, a dark hood covering her features.
"I've come to collect my payment," Assana said.
"What is this?" the king asked. His eyes danced between the witch and the young merman messenger.
"Did I not tell you that I would demand payment for turning the hair into gold?" the woman asked.
The young merman swam forward and told the king what had happened.
"What is your price, witch?" the king asked.
"My price is gold," the witch answered. Her rosy-pink lips formed a smirk.
Bewildered, the king replied, "But we have no gold."
"Then where did you get the hair that you gave me?" the woman replied. "I want the golden hair that you gave to me. All of it."
The king paled, but he could not go back on his promise. Again, he called Ariadne.
Ariadne came and was told the situation. The girl was appalled. Give away her hair? Her one prized possession? It was too much. But it will grow back, her heart whispered.
"It is the price of the kingdom," the king explained.
"If that is the price of the kingdom then I will gladly give it," she said, and taking a knife from a guard, proceeded to cut off all her hair. It will grow back, she whispered to herself. Her hands trembled as she gave it to the witch. "Here is your payment," she said.
The witch smiled and disappeared in a whirl of bubbles and purple-black ink.
Years passed, and Ariadne's hair did begin to grow back, but not as beautiful as before. It had changed color. It was deep, dark red. Red like blood.
Her parents did not understand their daughter's transformation. It frightened them. Perhaps Ariadne was not their daughter? Perhaps she was cursed. In any event, they did not recognize her.
The king and the court understood though. The price of the kingdom wasn't hair the color of gold. The price of the kingdom was blood and the merfolk of the Shadowed Sea could not bear to be reminded of the cost. So they cast out the little mermaid.
Ariadne left the kingdom, traveling far away to parts unknown.
Not three days away was the Merfolk kingdom of Evandaria, a place of deep magic. The water sang with it. The folk of Evandaria were light-hearted and carefree, but when they saw Ariadne, they hid. They had never seen a mermaid with hair the color of blood. They didn't understand she had given up her life for her kingdom.
As the crowd shrank away from Ariadne, one person remained. It was a person that Ariadne would never forget. Hooded and cloaked so as not to be known, her eyes of deep-sea green peering out at her from beneath her hood, stood the sea witch. "Tell me, child," she said. "Was the Kingdom of the Shadowed Sea thankful for your sacrifice?"
Anger burst hot in the young mermaid's chest at finding herself so close to the person who had caused her to be exiled. "You knew the cost of the sacrifice!" she shouted. "And you took away the one thing that made my life of any value."
"Don't blame me for your troubles, child," the witch said. "You should be thanking me. For in taking your golden hair, I revealed the hearts of the folk of the Shadowed Sea. If this is how they treat the one who saves them, they did not deserve what you did for them."
"What did you do with my hair?" Ariadne demanded. Hot, angry tears glistened in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "Did you make your gold?"
"Your hair of gold, I have still," the witch replied. "But what good would it do you? Would you have me reattach it to your head?"
"No. I would that you would fix the rift between me and my people," the little mermaid said, lowering her voice.
"I will not fix that which has been torn asunder, Ariadne. But I can give you a people," the witch said. Her face softened. "Listen to what I have to say."
Ariadne leaned closer.
"The magic that I give you is ancient and unbreakable. Do you wish to know what it is that I have planned?"
Ariadne nodded.
"The time of the Shadowed Sea is almost at an end. The people of that kingdom are foolish and without kindness. But a remnant of it will survive...and they will need a leader who is willing to make any sacrifice for them, whatever the cost to herself," the witch said, looking pointedly at Ariadne.
Ariadne fidgeted. She can't mean me! I'm no leader. I'm an outcast. Her heart shook with a mixture of fear and anger, but there was something else: wonder. Who would choose an outcast, a girl with no people, no home?
"I have looked far and wide for someone who is to rule the future kingdom of Wevun Reef," Assana continued. "Sadly, there are not many who are unselfish and brave, that think not of themselves, but of others. You are the one I have chosen, Ariadne. You will be the greatest ruler of the kingdom Merfolk will call Wevun Reef and your blood-red hair will remind the people of the sacrifice that you have made for them."
"How do I know that this will happen?" Ariadne demanded. "Why should I trust anything that you say?"
"You will know I am telling the truth, because in three days someone will come from the Shadowed Sea and confirm what I have told you. Take my advice and stay here until the three days are complete," the sea witch replied.
With that, Assana disappeared in a whirl of bubbles and was never seen again by any of the Merfolk. Whether she died or might still be hiding in some dark crevice of the sea or has gone to live among the humans has never been told.
Ariadne was perplexed, and truth be told, a little unsure of herself, but she decided to stay in Evandaria. For three days she stayed hidden, avoiding the Merfolk of the city. On the third day there was a great earthquake that rocked the Shadowed Sea, plunging half the city beneath the surface of the earth where it remains until this day.
Ariadne emerged from hiding. Her three days were up, and she had promised herself that she would wait no longer. Hope was stronger than anger and a feeling of longing had begun to grow. As she made her way through the city, she became aware of a commotion in the center square. Curious, she made her way there and stopped. An unfamiliar merman had come into the city of Evandaria.
The merman was barely alive. The Merfolk of Evandaria tried to heal him, but throughout all his delirium he kept saying the name of "Ariadne."
The merman saw Ariadne and threw himself down in front of her.
Ariadne paled. What did this mean? Once again, she was the center of attention. She didn't like it any more than last time. She froze, her heartbeat loud in her ears.
The Merfolk of Evandaria were confused and even a little bit afraid of his behavior. They whispered in low tones and kept their distance from the strange merman.
"Your Majesty," he said, causing a great hush to come over the Evandarians. "The Shadowed Sea is destroyed. There is nothing left. Please. We have done wrong in exiling you when you have done so much for us. Forgive us and come back. We need you to lead us."
Ariadne stared at him. In truth, she had doubted the sea witch's words, but here was proof that they were true.
The Evandarians, ashamed that they had been afraid, came up to her and apologized. "We are sorry," they said. "We didn't know what the color of your hair meant."
Ariadne looked around and wanted to hide. Who was she but a poor mermaid? She wasn't nobility. She had no training for this. Could this really be happening?
"Your Majesty, please," the merman begged.
Ariadne decided right then and there, that it was not in her to ignore the fate of her people. Yes, they had wronged her and exiled her from her home, but they were still her people. "I'll come," she said, through tears. She took the merman's hand and raised him up. "I forgive you all." Directly, she left in the direction of her home land, passing through the crowds of embarrassed and shamefaced Evandarians.
Returning home, she was met with a scene of destruction unlike any she had ever experienced. The actual kingdom of the Shadowed Sea had disappeared into a hole in the sea, leaving nothing remaining.
Her people all apologized, saying that now they understood her sacrifice. They understood that only she should be the leader because she had a leader's heart.
Ariadne went on to rebuild the city in a nearby reef, using the reef itself to hide the buildings from view.
Over the years a grand city rose up in the place that was once known as "The Shadowed Sea." The reef kingdom became known as Wevun Reef. It was filled with all sorts of sea life and it became a haven for not only the Merfolk that had been displaced in the Shadowed Sea, but for all the animals that sought refuge in it as well.
Ariadne made many good laws and saw to it that all her people, from the least to the nobility, were treated with honesty and respect. The kingdom was rich in stone, a material which the other Mer-kingdoms coveted. Under Ariadne's rule, a prosperous trade in stone was carried out with the other six kingdoms, and Wevun Reef thrived.
And years later, when Ariadne lay dying, she remembered the words of the sea witch and the actions which had led her to this moment. She thought it strange that what had caused her so much heartache was in fact a blessing unlooked for and that golden spindle the instrument.
Ever afterwards the queens of Wevun Reef have always had hair red as blood, so they might be reminded of the sacrifice necessary to rule a people and that they should always think of others rather than themselves.