A/N: Queen Ilsadora and King Silas^
"Princess Isabelle Ricosta was born on a frozen day in February," is what the history of the royal family says.
But from there, things fall to pieces.
No one can say for sure what happened in the hours and days immediately following her birth. Her father, King Silas, proclaims one thing, while Queen Magdalena swears by something else, and the citizens believe either a combination of the two, or neither.
The official story is this:
Princess Isabelle was born to King Silas and the current Queen Magdalena on February 18, during one of the worst blizzards to ever hit the kingdom of Nazeen. People say the blizzard was caused by Queen Ilsadora's wrath. Ilsadora Silverstein herself still resided in Nazeen at the time, and was also still supposedly married to King Silas. Hence, the fact that the blizzard was caused by her wrath at the discovery of her husband's unfaithfulness.
Three days later, a celebration was held for the baby princess.
All the important rich people of Nazeen, or people with connections, were invited to the celebration, along with four auspicious ambassadors from some far off island kingdom. The four strangers gave the Princess magical gifts, before disappearing just as suddenly as they had arrived.
Despite the disappearance of these four ambassadors, named Lord Spring, Lady Summer, Lady Autumn, and Lord Winter, none of the guests were particularly bothered. Everything still seemed to be in full swing a few hours later, with the princess occupied by one of her nannies, when Queen Ilsadora crashed the party, throwing the doors to the ballroom open with dramatic force, an icy wind rattling the window panes both inside the ballroom, and outside it.
In a fit of jealous rage, Queen Ilsadora cursed the baby princess. Princess Isabelle would steadily decline in health the year before her eighteenth birthday, and, on her birthday, the princess would die.
The exact cause of her death was not included in the curse.
King Silas tried to reason with the enchantress, but he was too late. The curse was cast.
It was in this darkest moment, when it seemed Queen Ilsadora would get away with this dreadful crime, that the crowd parted and Maldeena Nightblood, witch of the Silver Moon coven, challenged the enchantress to a duel on the spot. Maldeena wished to get revenge for the princess. She had arrived late, and was unable to stop the curse, so she did the next best thing she could.
The battle was waged all throughout the castle, but in the end, Maldeena won. She was not powerful enough to curse Ilsadora back, but she was able to banish the enchantress, unless Ilsadora had a death wish.
That night, former Queen Ilsadora Silverstein fled Nazeen, taking her single most loyal advisor with her.
No one ever saw her near Nazeen after that.
Eventually, King Silas declared himself to be divorced from Ilsadora, and he formally married Magdalena, who became the new Queen of Nazeen.
Together, they attempted to forget the curse, convincing themselves that it was simply a ploy. That their daughter was, in fact, fine.
But it was a lie.
Princess Isabelle started blatantly showing signs of a mysterious illness shortly after she turned seventeen. Knowing it was the curse, the King and Queen of Nazeen turned to Maldeena Nightblood.
She'd saved them once. Surely, she'd save them again.
But Maldeena said there was nothing she could do. Curse Breaking was dangerous, and this particular curse was cast with dark magic. Even though Maldeena specialized in dark magic, she said she was not powerful enough to break the curse upon the princess.
As the princess's health began to drastically fail, the King and Queen searched for another solution. They finally figured it out, one night a few months before the princess's eighteenth birthday.
To save the princess, they would have to find someone brave enough to journey through the border mountains of Remembauri to the enchantress's ice castle. And there, after entering the castle and sneaking past the loyal advisor and whatever guards Ilsadora was likely to have, the person would kill the enchantress to defeat the curse and save the princess.
King Silas and Queen Magdalena advertised their idea everywhere, inviting all men with knowledge of magic from Alleba to Remembauri, to attempt this daring quest. If they succeeded, as a bonus, they would also be engaged to Princess Isabelle.
The King and Queen were certain this would be a deal no one would refuse. But none of the candidates who applied seemed capable of even making the journey, let alone facing down an enchantress. Most turned down the offer once they realized the former Queen was involved, either believing she was a powerful enchantress capable of destroying them all, or just refusing to travel through such dangerous conditions to kill someone.
The pacifists were angry, the other rulers were unnerved, and the feminists were absolutely livid.
By betrothing their daughter to some unknown man who would supposedly save her, the royal family of Nazeen had brought themselves under fire for setting their daughter up with a stranger without her consent.
Now, a month before the princess's birthday, the King and Queen of Nazeen began to lose hope. Their daughter was dying, and no one had come forward to save her.
To spare Isabelle the constant pain she suffered as her health steadily fell apart, she was placed in a medically induced coma in the castle hospital ward. The King and Queen already mourned for their daughter, despite the fact that she was not dead. Magdalena locked herself away in her room, and the King took to pacing the hallways of the castle, already looking like a lost ghost.
It was seemingly too late to do anything for the Princess.
...Or was it?