Soraia, Child of the Sea

By Leen Lefebre

On an island in the Atlantic Sea lives Soraia, Princess of the Azores. Father cleaves through the waves with his war fleet but she is never allowed to go along. From her balcony, she dreams of one day sailing those waters herself. Out of sheer necessity, she now finds joy in a book with hero stories.

Soraia soon falls ill with a desire for adventure. The lady-in-waiting and jester agree that she may go explore. A chance to be free presents itself. In the dale, she meets a shepherd boy. After a day together in the mountains, they are in love. But then, totally unexpectedly, King Netuno returns home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leen Lefebre
• Release date: Oct 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005912390

Leen Lefebre

Leen Lefebre grew up in West Flanders where she works at the Local Heritage Service. As a kid, she threw herself upon each book that was available. Later, she turned around and settled on the worldwide web. She then emerged as a true explorer of literature, music, and sports. Leen is a dreamer and a doer – and this is how her stories rose up as charming and lively fairy tales for adventurers of all ages.Leen Lefebre groeide in Deerlijk op, in West-Vlaanderen, waar ze werkt op de dienst Erfgoed. Ze wierp zich al erg vroeg op elk boek dat voorhanden was. Daarna wentelde en nestelde ze zich in het wereldwijde web. Literair, muzikaal en sportief ontpopte ze zich als een ware ontdekkingsreiziger. Leen is dromer én doener. Zo zijn ook al haar boeken ontstaan: verhalen voor avonturiers – jong en oud.

Book preview

SORAIA

CHILD OF THE SEA

For you, Didi, my anchor in the waves!

Aurelio,

meaning: golden

in the role of court jester

Dores,

meaning: full of worries

in the role of lady-in-waiting

Heikki,

meaning: ruler of the homeland

starring as Norse prince

Netuno,

meaning: god of the sea

starring as King of the Azores

Serrano,

meaning: mountain dweller

starring as shepherd boy

Soraia,

meaning: princess

in the lead role of Princess

Thanks, guys, for taking me on this journey!

&

Thank you, Delia Burggraaf, translator.

"A ship is safe in harbour, but that's not what ships are for!"

- William Shedd

Leen Lefebre

SORAIA

CHILD OF THE SEA

BOOK SERIES FOUR SEASONS

Frede and Santa (WINTER)

Ebba, the First Easter Hare (SPRING)

Soraia, Child of the Sea (SUMMER)

Jack’s Lantern (AUTUMN)

© 2021 Leen Lefebre (epub)

© 2020 Leen Lefebre (mobi, paperback)

Original title: Soraia, kind van de zee

All rights reserved - Alle rechten voorbehouden

© Depositphotos.com/Diana Leliuk

www.leenlefebre.be

twitter.com/leen_lefebre

facebook.com/leen.lefebre

ISBN: 9781005912390 (epub)

ISBN: 9798552688647 (paperback)

ASIN: B08LSSB5PF (mobi)

D/2020/Leen Lefebre, Publisher - Uitgever

No part of this book may be translated, used or reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval systems, or by any manner whatsoever, without prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1 Master Aurelio

CHAPTER 2 An opportunity for adventure

CHAPTER 3 Serrano and the bear

CHAPTER 4 The reborn princess

CHAPTER 5 Netuno’s homecoming

CHAPTER 6 A farewell in the backyard

CHAPTER 7 Soraia’s big departure

CHAPTER 1

Master Aurelio

There once lived a king on a ship very far away from here. His name was Netuno. He ruled like a god over the Atlantic Sea and a group of islands called ‘The Azores’ that majestically rose from the sea.

The only thing King Netuno cared about was expanding his territory. He would gather his troops and fiercely go to war to conquer the tiniest country. Nothing else mattered, not even his own child.

On one of these islands, Soraia remained orphaned in the castle on the mountain range surrounding her father’s farmlands. Because her mother, their previous queen, had passed away far too early, an old lady-in-waiting took care of her. Dores, who once assisted the queen, became wearier every day.

Princess! Her voice cracked while coming to a panting halt for a moment and then she chased after her again. Child of the sea; wait! She gasped for breath with every step, but Soraia would not listen.

Dores’ sigh echoed up the stairs in the tower. Her ageing sight followed the little shadow floating up ahead. The sea air, forcing its way through a window, was now closing in on the girl. Her silk dress fluttered around her frail body.

Soraia never really stood still nowadays, almost as if she had suddenly become part of the endless swell at sea. She constantly skipped up and down, and back up... and down.

The distance between the two of them increased. The pitter-patter of the shoes faded away. Dores shook her long, white hair. The little princess was full of life and had all the energy that she lacked.

She cast a long glance out of the tower window. No, she could not escape it: the years that surged by would never come around again. Worrisome thoughts engulfed her as she sank deeper and deeper into the pond gilded by the setting sun. And, her soul would only be freed when the sound of the sea smashing against the castle walls drowned her thoughts.

At bedtime, the princess turned out to be as energetic as ever. Oh, read more! she insisted repeatedly. Please?! Her gaze turned blue and widened like the sea that surrounded father’s land. As that didn’t help, she tried to persuade Dores with pouting lips.

The lady-in-waiting yawned tiredly, but succumbed. All right, she lulled the tireless child, one more story then but this is really the last one! Then you go to sleep! She opened up the storybook that her king had brought back from one of his conquests.

But alas, she was sleeping like a rock on the chair next to the high canopy bed before she could finish the story. Running after a playful girl all day long had taken its toll.

Soraia pouted her lips in dismay. No, Dores; don’t, she moaned for she wanted to hear all about that exciting adventure of the brave captain and his tough crew until the end.

The girl crawled out from under the silk sheets and now sat on her knees on the edge of the bed. She stubbornly pulled on the shoulders of the elderly sleeping woman. Hey, stay awake. I do not like this!

Disappointment pierced her soul. Her head was spinning with unanswered questions. A story without end; it drove her crazy!

Dores’ pale skin looked rippled; like waves. Elated, Soraia tapped on one of the sunken cheeks but her fieriness quickly faded. The lady-in-waiting was already in dreamland.

Her face saddened as she slipped out of her large, high bed. With lightening-quick eyes she grabbed the opened storybook from Dores’ lap and shut it with a loud thud.

No response.

In an instant, disillusionment and anger welled up. Powerlessness swallowed Soraia like a giant wave. Her tears extinguished her fiery flame. She just had to know how the story ended!

With the book in her arms, she shuffled barefoot over the wall-to-wall carpet. The blue river of tears streaming from the pools of her eyes flooded its banks and trailed the floor as she snuck out of the room, into the hallway, and up the stairs.

Higher up the spiral staircase, the little princess stood on her toes to stare at the pond through the window. With its hidden power, the sun had gilded the waves by day. Now that the waves calmed down, the moon did not only silence the sea but also gilded it in silver.

The airflow wouldn’t give way. It energetically rose above the water and quickly reached a paneless window from which Soraia’s head protruded. The wind hit her face hard, confused her hair, and now playfully let itself be caught in a web of airy cloth that was fluttering loudly around her body.

It was only when her arm hair, like father’s soldiers, stood rigidly upright and her teeth chattered as marching boots, that she hurriedly pulled her head in and then locked the hatch. That air’s whistling disappeared immediately.

Even though Princess Soraia shut the view to the pond and with it the window to the outside world, closing that hatch could obviously never tame this seafarer’s wildest dreams. Inside the girl, the urge for freedom stirred more restlessly than ever before.

Along the staircase, she sat down in a niche in the thick tower wall. Here she could listen to the sea; they swapped stories about what was going on in their lives for what seemed like forever.

She tried to dispel the chill by rubbing her skin. The beautiful book full of hero stories lay beneath her dangling legs, untouched. She now kicked it bearishly. The paper captain was the only damn one who’d take her on a journey outside this castle! He travelled to an unknown place each time. If only she could read then she’d join him once again!

She could almost taste the adventure... Soraia’s head fell into her palms, in which all hope evaporated. She was disappointed in Dores, who slept longer every day, and in her book that refused to come to life but most of all, in her father!

Of all the heroes that crossed the seas and that Dores had ever told her about, and there were many, Soraia’s own father was her greatest hero. But no matter which way the wind blew, coming or going, Netuno never took her out to sea... Sailing is not for girls, he had answered her the last time his fleet docked here. What? So, that was it?!

This child of the sea never felt as misunderstood as she did then. She had adamantly insisted that she wouldn’t bid him farewell if she weren’t allowed to go out into the big wide world this time.

It was not for girls?! She locked herself in her chambers in an effort to get Netuno’s attention. Even if he had noticed that, he did not care because he had more important things on his mind: work!

Her respect for her dad reached beyond the seas but she had never before heard bigger nonsense within these castle walls; she wished to follow in his footsteps shortly. Like him she wanted to cleave through the shimmering waves; the thought alone gave her peace of mind.

The king’s daughter radiated joy for life during the daytime but at night her bottled-up sadness always kept surfacing. Her gaze became watery. She had to turn to her paper adventures out of sheer need but even that was impossible now. It was just so unfair!

The castle adorned the highest plain in the east, offering a view of blue waves where all kinds of dangers and stories were hidden. The garden you spotted at the front only looked safe, or rather, dull green.

Even though Soraia heard in passing that the people in the valley wanted to trade places with the royal household, these stretched-out walls imprisoned her like iron bars as if they’re friend and foe at the same time... It made her head spin. By all the seas of the world, what had she ever done wrong? Being locked up in the tower like a bird in a cage forever; was this the toll she had to pay for being a girl?

Her flawless nails pierced her skin as she clenched her fists. Angry at her father? Yes, and at the entire castle court! The more she thought about it, the more her guard looked like his sea force.

Soraia was startled. There were footsteps at the bottom of the spiral staircase. Hey, who was wandering around the castle at this time of night?! She wiped her tears with the tip of her nightgown. Her fingers combed the unruly straw-like bush on her head.

Her heart was pounding. Someone was approaching! One thing was sure; this was not the brisk pace of the guard. It actually sounded more like her own skipping-about. She held her breath. A child, here?

A tiny shadow appeared on the stairs beneath her. Two hops later, someone popped their head around the corner.

You?! they shouted in unison. They burst out laughing.

A middle-aged man, who was not so much taller than Soraia was, wearing an oversized hat and dressed in an exotic, colourful costume, looked at her as a strict father would. Princess, he mimicked King Netuno with a reprimanding finger, staying up is not for little girls!

Even though he certainly wasn’t the worst of them, she felt busted. She jokingly stuck out her tongue. And you, Aurelio, Soraia said in a false enemy tone, shouldn’t you be asleep yet, little man?

The puzzled jester shook his head, but when he spotted the book of seafarers’ stories lying on the floor, he grinned from ear to ear. He kneeled and held it up in the air. You and this pirate book are truly inseparable, aren’t you?

The princess stared at her bare feet, her