Prologue

“Mom, could you please tell me a story?”

Anne smiled at her son. The boy lay on his bed, expectant face looking in her direction, his shining eyes made her smile and reply with a hearty, “Sure… Of course, darling.”

Now, she did enjoy telling her son these stories by these evenings, a mix of her childhood and stories she herself had heard in her childhood days, but today she wasn’t quite sure what her story for the day would be. She searched around for something that would strike a memory or perhaps, inspire her, instead something at his bedside caught her eyes. 

“E-hem…” She cleared her throat before starting, “Once upon a time, there lived a young prince—” She was soon interrupted by her child.

“Like me! I’m a prince!” The young child squealed proudly.

Anne giggled before nodding in affirmation. “Mhm… Yes, Your Highness. You’re my prince.”

Then she went on with her story, “Once upon a time, there lived a young princess named Lulu. Lulu then met another young princess named…” She paused in thought before continuing, “We'll just call her Lala. They met after Lala visited Lulu's palace with her family.”

“Lulu was a beautiful princess, the prettiest one Lala had ever seen. She had long, dark hair, bright, green eyes and naturally tanned skin that still managed to glow so bright. And so, Lala followed Lulu around in an attempt to get her attention. But when they touched, Lala felt herself get jitters all over her body, and then she realized something…”

The boy's eyes widened to the size of saucers before he yelled out, “They were bound!”

Anne smiled weakly, “Yes, they were each other's bound. They could read each other's minds and could communicate through mind links as long as they were within the same vicinity.” 

She paused before going on, “When Lala's father, the king, found out about them being bound, he forbade Lala from ever visiting. He preferred to keep his daughter under watch by the palace guards so that Lala and Lulu wouldn't find a way to meet each other in secret.”

“But why? It's not Lala and Lulu's fault that they were bound to each other?” The child quipped, looking confused.

“Yes, but other people don't see it that way, they see them as 'faults'. In some way, Lala's father was protecting them from getting hurt by other people,” Anne said. 

“But then one day, the young princess fell into a deep sleep and was visited by a witch. The witch then gave her two choices to choose from.”

“But witches and wizards are bad people, right? People say they use black magic and are mean,” The boy chimed in.

“Hmm…” Anne hummed in thought. “Have you ever met a witch or wizard?”

The boy shook his head from one side to the other. He hadn't met one but the way other people talked about them made it seem like they were really bad. 

“If you haven’t met them yet, it’s wrong to assume that all witches and wizards are bad just because everyone else says so,” Anne said, pulling at her son's cheek as softly as she could.

“Ouch,” He whined, wincing in exaggerated pain. “I won't anymore.”

Then Anne's hand moved up to pat his red hair. Hair just as similar to her's. “Of course, there are obviously bad wizards or witches out there, just like there are bad people, but that doesn't make all of them bad.”

“And so,” She resumed with the story, voice sounding lower than before, “the witch told Lala she could help her and Lulu meet each other again and escape together. But if that happened, Lulu would end up dead after a short while. But then, if Lala chooses to stay and live locked up until she is of marriageable age, Lulu would remain alive. Lala disagreed and decided to stay locked up.”

“Lala never met Lulu again and ended up getting married to a king with several wives,” Anne concluded.

“I don't like the ending. It's sad,” The boy said.

“Not all endings are meant to be liked, Raf,” Anne replied, her hand going back to stroking his hair. “Some just have to be left as a sad ending.”

“I thought bounds were supposed to end up together when they find each other? Why don't people want Lala and Lulu together?”

There were only very few ways that she could explain to her son that people hated when others deviated from the norm, so she had to make him understand for himself. “A lot of people don't like it when it's a princess and a princess or a prince and a prince instead of a prince and a princess. So they think of it as wrong or a mistake in the system.”

The boy frowned. “I don't get it. That's unfair.”

“It is. That's why not all people meet their bounds and not all people who meet their bounds marry them either.”

“I hope I meet my bound,” Raf drawled his speech, eyes struggling to stay open. 

Anne could see that he was about to fall asleep, she slowed down her strokes on his hair and tried to stay still just until he fell asleep. “I'm sure you will.”

Raf yawned. “But mother, is father your bound?” 

“No, he's not.”

“I figured,” Raf slurred. 

Anne smiled, strokes slowing to a final stop. “Why would you say that?”

Raf giggled, bringing up a hand to ease an itch at his neck. “Because he never really comes to see us here. Soulmates need to be close to each other, right?”

“Right.” Silence filled the room soon after as she had said that. The air felt like it had gone still as no voice was heard in the room for longer than a minute.

“Did you ever meet your bound?” Raf broke the silence as he spoke, his voice now a low whisper. He had long since given up on keeping his eyes open, eyes now completely shut.

Anne smiled wistfully, “No…” She looked to the closed window at the side of the room before murmuring, “No, I didn't.”

She could have sworn she saw a star shine way to brightly for the night, the white comb lying on the drawer next to the bed catching her attention more than usual tonight. Anne held onto her son a little more tightly, perhaps so he wouldn't disappear like she did.