The Princess Switch

In the Orchard

My father was the first to speak, his face pale as though he saw a ghost in front of him instead of me.  

“Adriana, honey?  Do you remember last night, how this count here told us your cup had been poisoned?  It was.  Someone drugged your goblet with a poison called laudanum.  To put it in the nicest way, well, it makes you sleep forever.  We have thanked the count and have already started tracking down the criminal that attempted this horrible crime.  

“Until we find him, we will strengthen your guard.  I trust that you will make sure to have at least two guards with you at all times.  We hope these guards will suffice.”  With that, he clapped his hands, and twenty guards walked in.   After my parents finally finished introducing me to every single one of them,  I walked down the kitchen to get a snack, a couple of guards trailing me. 

My dad had always treated me like a baby, his own little personal gem.  Always afraid of scratching that gem up in an accident, he made sure that I was safe and secure no matter what.  Whatever he did for me, he went above and beyond. 

Now was definitely not an exception, as he assigned me a whole platoon of soldiers.  Their only purpose was to protect me and make sure no harm comes to the King’s sweet little daughter.    

I had become friends with one of the new guards immediately.  His name was Sir Parker, and he was only four or five years older than me.  Similar to me, he also enjoyed causing trouble.

We walked and chatted together until we reached the steamy hot underground kitchen, and he was forgotten for a moment as I passed a silver platter of chocolate chip cookies.  

After I had successfully stuffed half of the plate into my pockets, I walked over to the cook, Laura, who was already at work making the next night’s meal, which apparently contained carrots of some sort, since that was what she was currently venting all of her energy into.  She preferred me to call her simply Cook instead of Laura, as she hated the name Laura.

Cook was very kind, almost a mother-like to me.  She had practically adopted me when she met me for the first time. 

She stopped peeling the carrots when I bounded towards her, and she jumped up from her chair in delightment.  “Oh, Adriana, dear!  Hello!  How are you?” she said, rushing forward to hug me, kissing both of my cheeks in happiness.   When she was done, she held me at arm’s length.  “Honey, you do me a favor and please go and get me some apples for the cobbler tonight.  You’ll love it, I promise.”      

That was our chance.  Grabbing two cookies off a sheet hot out of the oven, I ran off over the packed mud floor and past the uniformed staff, all with perspiration beading on their foreheads.  Sir Parker followed after me silently, grabbing cookies as well, since we also both loved sugar, and the castle’s cookies were irresistible.  

After my first day at the castle, Cook had began mothering me since my mother was too busy to pay me any attention except when it was for “official castle business.”  She was the one that helped me when I was sick or lonely, and she gave me presents every year for my birthday, even though it was almost always food or something homemade because she lacked the money to buy me something.  

So, we saddled my dark black pony which was coincidentally named Midnight with the help of the stable boys, and set off on our journey, the guards following at a distance on their large, clumsy horses which weren’t half as pretty as my pony.  My other guard, who still remained unnamed, followed at a distance to make sure we stayed safe.  

We rode off, chattering happily, not a care in the world.  After a while we finally arrived; we were thoroughly exhausted from the long ride, even more so because of how there was no official road.  Instead we had been following a path of dirt which had been slightly downtrodden from all of the times that people from the castle had come out to this area.  Although ponies are more gentle to ride, the road is bumpy.  From the looks of it, our ponies were, too, so the guard took them off to a nearby pasture to rest.  But first, he told us how we needed to be careful.