A Tale of Rubies, Shadows, and Romance
When the King's miners discover a strange ruby filled with fire, deep under the mountains, the King is overjoyed. There's one problem, of course. The gem belongs to the shadows who live in the mine. The King, however, will do anything to get his greedy hands on the ruby, even if that means disaster for the kingdom. The chief miner's son, Peter Snow, is forced to save the day.
Ice and Fire is a short story of about 5200 words, complete with a hotheaded princess, an exceedingly wise cook, and a handful of moat frogs.
Once upon a time, a baby girl was born. Her name was Matilda, and she was a princess. Matilda was the only child of the King and Queen of Lune. If you did well in geography class, you’ll know Lune was a small kingdom situated several days' journey further west than the westernmost place you can find on your map. You’ll also know the main source of income for the country was the rubies mined there. They were a lovely shade of red and brought excellent prices. The mine also produced emeralds and amethysts, but these were of little value in comparison to the rubies, and were used as doorstops, paperweights, or children’s toys.
Matilda had many such toys, but she ignored them in favor of other pursuits. She was fond of gurgling and staring at stray bits of sunlight. She enjoyed flinging oatmeal from her highchair. She delighted in chewing on furniture or the Queen’s best lace or the ears of the King’s long-suffering hounds. But, as babies tend to do, given enough time, Matilda grew up into a little girl.
She became good friends with the hounds, after they forgave her, and best friends with Peter, the only son of Jim Snow, the King's chief miner.
“I wish she’d play with other children,” said the Queen. “More suitable children. Children who wash regularly behind their ears.”
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French
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Already translated.
Translated by A. C.
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German
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Already translated.
Translated by Kay-Viktor Stegemann
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Author review: Please see my comments for Kay-Viktor's work on Rosamonde. |
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Greek
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Already translated.
Translated by Angelos Mpadras
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Italian
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Already translated.
Translated by V. V.
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Japanese
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Already translated.
Translated by Toru Suzuki
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Portuguese
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Already translated.
Translated by Eduardo Faria de Paula Parpineli
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Spanish
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Already translated.
Translated by Ines Galiano
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Swedish
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Translation in progress.
Translated by Anna Ivarsson
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