Reigning Curse

Chapter Two ~ The Prince's Proposal

"Good morning, miss, is this the flat-spring shop? The one that makes the specialty springs everyone wants? My sister, Princess Katrina, requested me to find special mechanical springs for a dress she is having made. She demanded I retrieve said springs. She said, 'My dear brother, Prince Charlie, I can't trust anyone at the castle to do this right. I'm looking for special pieces.' Is it?"

He finished by looking at me with a perfect smile which completed his perfectly polished looks. He wore a brown leather jacket and goggles over a blue embroider vest, white shirt, and dark slacks. I was dazzled by him even though we had important wealthy clients make their own purchases. Though, they weren't the bachelor, Prince Charlie. His chatter and overwhelming perfect smile made me forget about the gems that would pop out of my mouth when I spoke.

"Is it?" he repeated.

Nervous in his presence, I replied to the second "Is it" automatically while curtsying."Yes, your Majesty."

My tongue reflexed to push the precious stones out past my lips. I clamped them shut and couldn't imagine letting jewels and gold tumble out of my mouth in front of the prince. My tongue shoved them to my cheek like a squirrel with nuts.

"My sister described in detail what she desired," he said while pulling out a small note. "Five quarter-inch flat springs with dragonflies. Five-eighth-inch flat springs with bumblebees. Do you have samples because she had other instructions, but I can't remember all the details? She didn't include them in this note. But, I'll remember the metals and such in looking at examples." He smiled at me expectantly.

I nodded and went behind the counter and pulled out a sample tray of various decorative spring flats. Normally, at this point, I would ask a variety of questions. Such as, what is the color of the dress and the placement of the springs? I hoped I would be able to conduct business with the handsome prince without speaking another word. Perhaps, his constant chatter would save me from spitting jewels and nuggets at him. The embarrassment would be awful. 

Occasionally, he would stop and flash his smile. I knew he expected some kind of response, and it was hard not to say, "Yes, Your Majesty" or "No, Your Majesty." The stones tucked in my cheek reminded me to nod my responses. 

"My sister said the seamstress would need these by Friday."

I nodded to indicate the order would be finished on Friday. When I thought I would get away with not saying another word to the prince, he asked a question that I couldn't nod yes or no to.

"Will they be delivered or should they be picked up?" the prince asked.

I smiled and hesitated in hopes that he would make the decision and tell me the springs would be picked up, or I should have them delivered. Quickly calculating how few words I could say to answer his question with the addition of 'Your Majesty,' I hoped I would be able to keep the stones in my mouth.

I said as quietly as possible with barely moving my lips, "Delivered? Your Majesty."

"What? I didn't quite hear what you said," he replied.

I now had six stones in my mouth. "Delivered? Your Magistry," I repeated, and my lips parted. The jewels and gold nuggets tumbled to the ground. He took a step back.

"Did those come out of your mouth? Were you hiding them there? Did you steal them? I have never seen anything like it. Is this some sort of trick?" he asked while picking up the stones and studied at each one.

I hesitated before I answered not wanting more jewels coming out of my mouth in front of him. My face flushed with embarrassment, but I had to reply.

"No, Your Majesty," I replied, curtsied and let the gems fall to the floor.

"When you speak, jewels pop out of your mouth. Have you always had this gift?" he said as he picked up the jewels and held them in his hand. "Probably not, because if you had, there would have been rumors." He paused and counted the stones in his hand. Then his blue eyes stared at me, he flashed his perfect smile and spoke in the same chattering manner. "Please call me Prince Charlie. I hate that, 'Your majesty' stuff. How did you come to have this gift? Will you marry me? How many jewels and gold nuggets do you have? Where are your parents? We can go to the castle now and tell them later. Shall we?" He finished his many questions as he poured the jewels and gold into his vest pocket.

"It's a recently bestowed H.A.G. curse. Yes, I'll marry you, Prince Charlie," I replied to his first two questions.

"An H.AG. curse? It seems to be more like a H.A.G. reward though it is a hassle to pick up the jewels and gold when you speak. I meet a H.A.G. once. She told the court our fortunes," he picked up what my last words produced and put them in his pocket. "I'll send a messenger to tell your parents once we reach the castle. King Father and Queen Mother will be so pleased. Especially, Queen Mother." We walked out the door and he asked. "What's your name?"

"Eliza," I replied a large diamond sparkled through the air. He reached out and caught it then he smiled with a glint in his eyes.

"Ooh, now this is a nice one. I think I'll give it to my sister or, we can have it made into your wedding ring. Can you control the size and shape of jewels? Those gold peas are something else. Can you spew only gold? This is great! I can't wait until Queen Mother watches you talk." He swung his leg over the steam-powered motorbike, started the engine, and pointed to the carriage attached to the side. 

While the prince waiting for me to stuff my skirts into the sidecar and settle, he pulled out a handful of jewels and gold while the other hand twisted the handlebar. The engine grumbled, and steam floated out of the rear exhaust.

I tapped him on his arm to get his attention, so he would notice I was ready. He was a little surprised at being touched, and I knew touching royalty wasn't proper though I didn't want to speak either.

"Oh, quite right. You shouldn't speak while we are on the motorbike. It would take us forever to get to the castle if we have to stop to pick up jewels and gold nuggets along the way. Eventually, I want to listen to your life story and learn of your likes and dislikes with perhaps you sitting with a cloth in your lap. Forget it, you don't want to be sitting all the time. I'll have a guard follow you and pick up the gems and gold. You should put on the spare hat and goggles," he said as an afterthought and speed of down the road.

Followed by a guard? I wondered how that would work while I dug out the hat and goggles at my feet. Thinking about the wealth in his pocket and mine, I realized I'd just become the perpetual treasury. If I wasn't on my way to the castle and marrying the prince, I speculated treachery would befall me when my H.A.G. curse became public. As no doubt, tales of maiden spewing jewels and gold would quickly spread. I imagined my life would be in constant danger from thieves, kidnappers, and bandits. 

There were moments this morning, I dreamed about life as a wealthy woman. Flying in a zeppelin to different countries was my first thought. I wanted to ask him if he would be keeping all of the gold and jewels, but then reality struck. I would be under royal protection, and the wealth would be my perpetual dowry. The Prince of Pembroke would be marrying a maiden who spewed gem and gold and not a princess with a dowry of land and wealth. Though I wouldn't be living a life of adventure, I would be married to a prince and protected. It was never a life I imagined or dreamed of, but I felt happy about it.

The steam engine puffed out steam while the prince talked the entire way to the castle. He pointed out the various places he liked and didn't like in the village as we rode through it. He pointed to a tavern and said Princess Katrina had been in it, but he hadn't. I wondered how she managed it since women rarely entered taverns, let alone a woman who was as well known as Princess Katrina. We drove past the wharf, which was a bustle of zeppelins and tall ships bringing goods and leaving with Prembia's export of steel and wood.

He talked about different hunting trips and what he had killed as we rode through the woods leading to the castle. He told me about his favorite pastimes and about his favorite musicians who played during dinner for the court. I listened to him while I journeyed away from my life as a flat spring creator. It was the first time I had ridden in a mechanical contraption. I never went on the Pembroke trains, and I had never been inside the castle. The sound of the steam engine percolating and the prince's chatter had my eyes drooping with exhaustion. I perked up because we went through the castle's fortified wall entrance.