Arietta and the Magic Harp

In the kingdom of Altraventia fresh mountain breezes continually swept away the clouds, and ruffled and filled the white arms of hundreds of windmills which brought power to the land. The windmills turned in the spring to power spinning and weaving of rich cloth from soft lamb’s wool and brightly colored cotton. In the summer the strong sweet winds blew from off the high plateau and the mills brought water from the river to pour onto the thirsty crops terraced on velvet fields. The mills provided power to grind yellow corn and silver-white wheat in the fall. In the winter the white ghostly arms danced in the snow, and turned the wheels for potters to create strong and unique designs with the dark brown clay from the river.

Altraventia was blessed with a wise and just king, King Loreno, who held a kite flying contest every year at the changing of the winds in the spring, from the dry sharp crystallized wind of winter that sang of the silver stars and pale moon, to the heavy breath of summer, full of lavender and pine trees in the sun. People would travel from far and wide to see the magnificent kites, and would guess which one would win. Would it be the butterfly kite of the potter’s guild, or the dragon kite of the weaver’s union? Would it be the falcon kite representative of the sheep shearers, or the giant red gold balloon sent up by the plowmen? As the citizens of Alraventia gathered to witness the spectacle of the kites, and the mill keepers prepared to turn their mill turrets to face into the summer wind, with all their fresh white canvas flashing in the sun dancing like gulls, there was one who was not among the crowd. That was Arietta, the king’s only daughter, who sat in her tower playing her harp.

“Why do you not join in the revels?” Her father pleaded with her to come down.

“I am eager to learn to play the songs the wind sings and I can hear better from this my tower. Please let me stay up here so that I can listen more closely.”

Loreno was an indulgent father and could not deny his daughter her least whim. It was true, Arietta could see all the windmills and all the kites from her window. And the wind made such lovely and haunting sounds, like an organ, or like the ocean, or like the crying of a wild swan, or like the screaming of a child in pain, or like the rustling of a fine silk gown as it brushes past a marble statue in the courtyard.

The unsuspecting revelers could not guess that on a nearby mountain peak in a cave of rose quartz the evil sorceress Sinestra was weaving a magic so strong it would steal the wind and divert it into underground tunnels to harness for her own schemes. Her plan was to weaken the Altraventians by taking away their wind power so as to enslave them to do her wishes, and she wished to create an army whereby she could conquer the world….

(What we don’t know is that Arietta’s harp is magic, and when she plays what the wind is singing she has the power to stop time for as long as she continues to play.)