Legends of Kiliquia: The Enchanting Tale of Princess Zabel
In the dawn of the 13th century, in the lands of Armenia, under the brilliance of the Kingdom of Cilicia, the story of the beautiful Princess Zabel began to weave with threads of beauty and passion. Zabel, the daughter of the respected King Haiton I and his wife, Queen Isabella, who in turn descended from the illustrious dynasty of Leon II, stood as the youngest of the royal family.
From her birth, Zabel radiated a beauty that eclipsed everything around her. Her eyes, like two precious jewels, reflected the heritage of her royal lineage, while her golden hair waved like wheat fields in the wind. The princess, surrounded by eight older brothers, stood out like a rose in a full garden of love and virtue. Among them, her famous sister, Princess Fimi, a source of inspiration and strength.
In the distinguished market of Ani, the noble Princess Zabel, appointed by her father, King Haiton I of Cilicia, to preside over the annual grape fair in celebration of her sweet sixteen, had a fortuitous encounter with the young Aram. It was love at first sight, a feeling that unexpectedly blossomed in Zabel's heart upon crossing gazes with the hardworking worker of the trade ship that sailed the waters between the Kingdom of Cilicia and Venice. Aram, a tireless worker on that ship, passionately shared the wonders of Venice: its carnivals, parties, and fairs. The City of Canals, at that time, was the epicenter of the world, brimming with art and riches. Zabel and Aram occasionally met in the market, where Aram wove fascinating stories of the City of Canals. Each encounter not only deepened the bond between them but also strengthened the growing love between the noble Zabel and the passionate Aram. However, fate, with its intricate web of threads, was drawing a more challenging future for the lovers, now facing the complexities of a love born in two different worlds.
Enamored with Aram's stories, Zabel found solace sharing her secrets and the young sailor's tales only with her older sister, the impressive Princess Fimi. Despite the growing intensity of her love, Zabel knew that her destiny was far from a fairy tale. Fimi, being a symbol of beauty and strength, understood the magnitude of the responsibilities weighing on the shoulders of every prince and princess and advised Zabel to forget Aram and her dreams of Venice. However, Zabel's longing for each encounter with Aram and her vision of a world beyond the walls of the Kingdom of Cilicia continued to burn in her heart.
As time passed, one day, King Haiton I of Armenia declared that his youngest daughter, Princess Zabel, should marry one of the princes of the Byzantine Empire. Zabel, defying her father for the first time in her life, flatly refused. She expressed with determination that she did not wish to meet or marry the unknown prince, but rather longed to serve on a merchant ship, explore, and discover a new world. The King, enraged by his daughter's rebellion, condemned her to the cold and lonely tower of the castle as punishment for defying royal traditions and expectations.
In her prison, Zabel cried out that she wanted no one else but Aram. With eyes full of dreams of a future of adventures, travels, and discoveries with Aram, she desperately pleaded with her father to let her be happy. However, King Haiton I ordered that Aram be captured and subsequently expelled. History does not keep records of what happened to the young sailor, and in the kingdom, his name faded into the mists of time.
On a cold autumn night in 1269, under the luminescence of a full moon at midnight, Zabel, with the brave help of her sister Fimi and Aram's loyal sailor companions, devised a daring escape. Aboard the merchant ship that sailed between Cilicia and Venice, with a heart full of hope, she set out towards the destiny she so longed for: Venice. And so, the documented chapter of Princess Zabel closes, giving rise to her legend...
Winter passed, and in the year 1270, in Cilicia, King Haiton I passed away. After these events, in the magical city of Venice, an Armenian priest, visiting the pharmacy of his old Venetian friend, made an unexpected discovery. Among his remedies and elixirs, he found a talented Armenian pharmacist named Sabelia. This enigmatic woman, with her ancestral knowledge, created body oils, natural medicines, and perfumed waters.
What no one suspected was that Sabelia was the very Princess Zabel of Armenia. She had woven a new life in the enchanting Venice, where she formed a family and gave birth to four children, the eldest being a young man named Aram, in honor of the love she had never forgotten. In distant Venice, Sabelia found her own beauty, her own wealth, and her destiny, far from the borders of her old kingdom in Cilicia. Her story became an enduring legend, a testament to love, courage, and the tireless pursuit of freedom.