The Misery of Princess Athenia

By Leah S-H

Princess Athenia was sitting in her room when she received a letter from Princess Rameem of Egypt.  In the letter she bragged about how wealthy she had become by selling pottery vases with her painted portraits on them. Everyone in Athens thought of Princess Athenia as the wealthiest woman in Greece at that time, under the rule of Pericles, one of the strongest rulers of Greece. Princess Athenia was named for the goddess Athena, the protector of Greece. 

Princess Athenia was devastated when she received the letter because for the longest time, she had been one of the wealthiest, most powerful princesses in the world.  She thought to herself, how I can become wealthy and powerful again? Princess Athenia had the most wonderful idea.  She decided to put her portrait on a larger vase and sell many more of them than Princess Rameem.  She also decided to make a law that each villager around her Athens must buy two vases each for the rest of her life. 

She searched the countryside and found an artisan to paint her portraits

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When he arrived they sat down for a fancy dinner before they got started. H er family had just hired a new chef and this was his first formal dinner for the royal family. He made all her favorites for this special occasion

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After dinner she went up to her room to get ready and brought down the biggest, most expensive jewelry box out of her collection so she could pick the best jewelry for her portrait. She sat down to be painted, but when the portrait was finished she went up to her room and started to feel very sick. When she woke up, Princess Athenia could not get out of bed and no doctor could figure out what was wrong. Something was also strange: the chef that had cooked the meal had suddenly disappeared!

Weeks after the mystery began the princess’s family found out the painter had also become seriously Ill. They figured by that point that the chef had to have poisoned the princess and painter.  They didn’t know where he was or why he did it, but they suspected that he might have been working for the Egyptian princess Rameem.

Princess Athenia's family sent soldiers to Egypt and started a search for the chef; they were there for weeks and still no sight of him. Soon the soldiers thought to go to the palace and search there.  Of course, the chef was there but they could not get in because of the soldiers around the palace. However, Princess Rameen saw them and asked them to come in.  They did not eat anything, and the chef of course denied all of the accusations, and the same with Princess Rameem.  But suddenly the chef disappeared.  The soldiers searched for him and finally caught up with him. They brought him back to the palace and questioned, using torture.  Of course, he told the whole story and even told them how to save people from the poison.

Princes Athenia got better and realized that there are much more important things in life than wealth. So the law of buying the pots was canceled and the princess began to do more for other people.  The chef was put to death, but for most people this was a happy ending.

THE END