“His royal majesty wants to see you immediately.” The nervous looking page said.
Father never calls without a reason. What is going on? “Tell my father I’ll be there in a minute.”
“I uh… I was told to bring you with me at once, highness. Sorry”
I let out a sigh. “Alright… let’s go.”
“I am going to be frank, daughter of mine. We have decided you are going to be wed for the good of the realm.”
I was stunned, left there gaping at my father. “But I-”
“I have decided. Your suitors should start coming in a month. I will allow you to have a choice within those who will pass my own judgment.” The King stated. At the moment I could not see him as my father.
Fiery anger started to burn deep inside of me. Then the shouting started.
I buried my face into a tear soaked pillow. This day could not have been worse. In my outrage I foolishly confessed my affection towards Thomas. I’ve never seen my father so angry. Poor Thomas! The king had him whipped before banishing him from our kingdom. No, not our, his kingdom I corrected myself. I did not want to be part of this kingdom any longer. I thought about running away, but I knew I could never manage to slip past my father’s guards. Then I recalled a story about a witch who lived somewhere in the forest. It was said she sometimes helped the desperate. I certainly was desperate.
Wrapped in a large cloak I stumbled through the forest. I cursed myself. I spent most of the day weeping over the outcome of the day that by the time I got to the forest, the sun was already setting. My stomach let out a sound and I cursed myself for the second time. The darkness fell, the only light was coming from the nearly full moon, but barely any squeezed through the dense trees. I didn’t know where I was and I was scared out of my mind.
In all of my life I barely ever entered the forest on foot. I didn’t know how to move in there and it didn’t take long before I took a bad step and twisted my ankle. My leg gave up underneath me and I fell to the ground, my head hitting a root. Dizzy I pulled myself to my feet only by the sheer strength of will. My head was bleeding and the world spun around me. Terrified, starving, lost and hurt I stumbled in the darkness favoring my uninjured foot. The trees seemed to crowd together and the branches were reaching for me, pulling at my hair and tearing at my clothes. Suddenly I spotted a little light in front of me. It worked as magic, breaking apart the despair I was slipping into, filling my heart with hope and determination. The light was coming from a window of a small hut as I have found out when I got closer. Perhaps it might be the witch’s hut I am looking for? It didn’t matter really, I was just glad I found a shelter. I finally dragged myself to the entrance of the hut, but before I could knock on the door, it opened on its own, revealing a small room with a table and two chairs. Sitting there was an ancient looking lady. Our eyes have met.
“Come inside, Bethany.” She croaked.
“How do you know my name?” I asked, suddenly filled with indescribable dread.
“I thought you were smarter than that.” She said mockingly.
“You are the witch.” I stated dumbly.
“People call me that, yes. Are you gonna stand there all night or are you gonna come inside?”
I hesitated for a few seconds before stepping inside and closing the door behind me. I had an ominous feeling that I had just sealed my fate.
The Princess and the curse
Start from the beginning
