Prince Wilson's POV
Everything was perfect. I had everything I could possibly wish for.
Well... Almost everything. I thought as I looked at Princess Ariadne.
But she would soon make all the rest of my dreams come true.
I put my arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to me on the bench in the garden that she had shown me after a long walk around their grounds.
I smiled at the magnificent sunset that made Princess Ariadne's brown eyes shine with the colors of the horizon.
She looked stunning.
No wonder Peter had looked so upset when he had stormed out of the castle, resigning from his part of the deal.
Ariadne sighed, probably thinking about the same ordeal that I was. She and Peter seemed to have known each other for a very long time. "Are you alright, my dear?"
"I am worried that I was too harsh to Peter."
"Men are tough, I am sure he is fine."
Men are tough, except when it comes to women. I had learned as much from my father and had since sworn never to marry. However, circumstances were different now. Quite the opposite in fact.
"He seemed so angry at me."
I could not deny that without lying. I had perhaps looked a little too smug as he spat out his resignation. "He was not happy, you are right. But any man who can stay angry at a beautiful woman like yourself does not deserve your concern."
"Yes, of course."
She agreed with me, but she didn't seem to be putting the matter down in her mind. I decided to change the subject.
"What can you tell me about this little mystery?"
She shook her head. "I wish I could. Unfortunately, I am unable to talk about the cursed kingdom, whenever I try no words are able to leave my mouth."
"There cannot be harm in trying once more. Please, try and tell me about this cursed kingdom."
"How... Did I actually say cursed kingdom?" Her hands flew to her mouth.
I smiled lightly and nodded. "Maybe it is a sign," I took her hand in mine. "I do not mean to sound forward, but in many tales, is it not true love that breaks the curses?"
She blushed but did not remove her hands. I found myself having an overwhelming desire to kiss her at that moment, but then she turned away and I snapped back to reality.
I cleared my throat. "So what does this cursed kingdom have to do with how worn your slippers get every night?"
"My sisters and I, we go to the kingdom every night to dance. At first it was just because we needed something to lift our spirits after our father," her words caught in her throat for a second and I gently gave her hand a small squeeze. "He left for the war. However, now I am forced to go and dance every night because of the magic there and a promise I made. The only way to break this curse is to free the man and his brothers who live there, but it seems impossible."
"Do you have any idea how to break this curse?"
She hesitated. "Estevan, the evil man there, said he thought of a way."
"And?"
She looked up at me, then quickly back at the ground. "It has to do with what you said... True love that is."
"He thinks that our love could break the curse?"
She nodded. "He said that you are one of his descendants, and that would break their curse."
"Our marriage?"
She nodded once again.
I took in a deep inhale. I had planned on marrying her, but I did not think the conversation was going to come up so quickly. But something was off.
"You seem hesitant, my dear."
"I would like to marry you," she said, looking me in the eyes. Man, I wanted to kiss her.
"But I don't know if I'm ready."
"Why not, my dear?"
Tears began slowly filling her eyes, and it hit me. "Your father?"
She nodded as some tears slipped out. I pulled her head into my chest, breathing in her beautiful scent of roses.
"I'll do all that I can to help you. Whenever you are ready, princess. You have my word."
"Thank you," she mumbled through my shirt. " You can't imagine how nice it is to finally talk to someone else about this whole thing."
I smiled. "I think I can imagine. And I am most honored that you could tell me."
Then we sat, embracing until she finally felt prepared to go back to her room. I led her there and kissed her hand before parting ways.
That night I slept in a room down the hall from the princesses. I stayed up with a bit of tea and crackers that the housekeeper, I believed her name was Harriet, had left for me. About the time Princess Ariadne had said they left, I opened my door and quietly went up to the princess's common room. The guards sitting there were both asleep and I laughed. They must have had a hard day.
I went up to the door and touched the handle, but it was locked. I cursed under my breath and tried forcing it open, but nothing happened. I even attempted to wake the guards so they could help me, but they were sound asleep.
The humor of the situation left me, not only were the princesses trapped into going somewhere, but their guards could not protect them. I had a feeling that not even a gunshot would wake these guards. I sighed and decided to guard the door for them. But before I knew it, my eyes were getting heavy.
Stay awake.
I will not fall asleep.
But my eyes got heavier and heavier until -
"Prince Wilson! What are you doing outside our door? We could not get it open at first because you were right in front of it."
I opened my eyes and realized that it was no longer dark. I cursed under my breath so the princesses would not hear. "I apologize. I tried to come into the room to figure out where you go each night, but the door was locked so I had no such luck."
The younger girls giggled as I stood up. My hair probably looked a mess, I quickly went about fixing it, which just made them laugh harder.
"Are you okay?" Ariadne asked.
She looked radiant.
I nodded. "But it would make it less of a challenge if you actually left the door unlocked.
She looked confused. "I do not remember anyone locking it last night. In fact, we never lock that door, just our individual room doors."
"Well, then can I try to stay in the room with you tonight? I will stay in the common room."
"You can try, although others have and they always fall asleep."
"I will not fall asleep," I said. But then I remembered the last night. I ignored my failure to stay awake.
Soon enough I found myself back in the princess's common room, trying to stay awake as my eyes continually threatened to close. They seemed to get heavier and heavier.
Until at last, I could open them without feeling tired. It was like a burst of energy shot through me.
"Finally," a voice said to my right.
It was one of Ariadne's sisters; I couldn't remember what her name was though, they almost all looked the same to me.
"We tried everything to wake you up, but nothing worked." This time it was Ariadne who spoke. At least her name I could remember.
"Well I am awake now, let's go."
She looked a little confused as I stood up and turned to follow them down to this kingdom they had told me about. "It is already morning. If we go down now then Harriet is sure to notice our absence and the consequences of that would not be good. Besides, I do not know if it is possible to go there during the day. I have only ever been at night."
"Well, let us try. We need to solve this mystery of yours."
"It is not a mystery, we both know where my sisters and I go every night. We just need proof."
"Then let us go down and get that proof."
She sighed, but I congratulated myself once she turned towards the ottoman in the center of the room and began lifting the padded cover. I was a little confused, but she seemed to know what she was doing.
Then she started looking around, and it began to get more and more frantic.
"What is the matter?"
"I cannot find the jewel."
"The jewel?"
"Yes, it is a tiny red jewel, the color of the pendant you have on your lapel. It has a tiny R engraved into it." She got down on her knees to look closer. "I know it is here."
I walked around, but could not see anything even close to red, as the seat itself was a dark blue color.
I put my hand on her shoulder. "I believe you, but it obviously is not here right now."
She huffed and sat back on her legs. "Then I guess we really will not be proving the mystery."
I helped her up onto her feet. "We can find a different way to prove where you go every night."
She suddenly stepped away from me and paled. "What will they do once they find out where we go? What if they put us in different rooms and then I am forced down there magically and," she shuddered and I took the opportunity to pull her close to me. "I do not want to experience that again."
"I do not want you to go through any sort of pain either, my dear." Her hair felt soft underneath the palm of my hand. "I will make sure nothing bad will happen as a result of telling them where you go."
"Thank you," she said, but the sound was slightly muffled through my shirt.
"Of course, I would do anything for you."
She then pulled away and there was a light in her eyes. "I know something that might work."
Oooh... So what do you think???