The Princes Arrive

I hated welcoming guests to the castle, but as the lady of the keep, it was my bound duty. And that is why I stood outside the Great Doors, freezing in the dropping temperatures as the sun sank below the horizon. Klover was the only one of my sisters that had joined me, standing to my right, and back a step. I wished that she would stand beside me.

“Klover, please.” I looked at her over my shoulder. “You don’t have to hide in the shadows. I’m not ashamed that you are my sister.”

She shook her head. “No. you treating me like an equal in front  of the people that you will be on war counsels with. They will see you as weak and malleable.”

I shrugged. “Then maybe I don’t want them as allies.”

“I’m not going to be here forever for you to make deals with, Margherita.” Klover’s calm façade broke. She ran her hand over her face, smoothing her fingers and thumb from the outer edges of her eyes, in towards the bridge of her nose. “You can’t depend on me to fix your minor messes forever.”

Tears filled my eyes. “Klover. You will always have a place here.”

The princes… Something is wrong there. They are lethargic, and they don’t seem princely. Granted, I’ve never been around a ton of princelings, but one would think that they would act a little like my father. After all, he had once been a prince.

But these boys, I don’t even want to call them young men, are vile. They don’t pull out chairs for my sisters or I. They don’t use the napkins that they have been provided with. They get their wine everywhere, except for their mouths. Food is flying for the entire meal. I feel sick to my stomach, and it only gets worse when they try to talk to me.

“Princess,” I have no clue who it is that is trying to talk to me right now. They are all the same. Filthy, scrawny, vile. “It is lovely to finally make your acquaintance. You will have to forgive me for saying this, but I thought that you were the second princess.” I watched his gaze look Klover up and down, wolfishly. “Is not that, your elder sister?”

I followed his gaze towards poor Klover, feeling my stomach drop out completely. “She is my elder sister, but she is not my father’s daughter. As such, she wasn’t qualified to inherit, though she would do a better job ruling than I shall.”

He grimaced. “I only came to meet her. I couldn’t care less about helping with the curse, I just wanted to try and bed the cursed eldest.”

I froze, glancing from him to fiery Klover. “Then you are twice over a fool.” I turned away from him. “I expect you to be gone by morning. And stay away from my sister, or your kingdom will regret it.” I glanced at him over my shoulder. “Understood?”

He gulped, nodding.

I never saw that prince again, and several others left with him, though I couldn’t tell you who, or from where. It drove Father insane, thinking that the men were already falling under the curse, and failing.

There were three suitors left by the end of the week. Noble men from each of the three countries along our northernmost border. I could never remember who came from which, but they were Sir Roland Blackwood, Lord Sebastian Fairchild, and Baron Henry Oakwood. They seemed like good young men, but that meant nothing to my uncle.

           

“Princess,” I think it was Sir Roland speaking, “We have drawn straws on who will get to spend the first three nights watching over you and your sisters. If I am unsuccessful, the others will have their chances.” He motioned for me to walk with him.

“I am pleased that you three have found a way to settle who gets the opportunity to trail my sisters and I.” I took his arm, feeling taller than I did with most men. I wasn’t a tall woman, but I stood well over a head taller than poor Sir Roland.

“Indeed.” The diminutive man answered. “I have heard that you have an idea of why you are cursed.” He looked up at me. “Is it possible for me to ask about it?”

I tried to say yes, I really did. But the more I tried to speak the simple word, the harder it was to breathe. I coughed and choked, gasping to get any air, before I waved him away, and mentally calling out for Klover. She would know what was going on. She had to.

It took me fainting from lack of air to finally stop sputtering. Klover was by my bedside when I awoke, Sir Roland, nowhere to be seen. “Margherita, tell me what happened. I can’t do anything until I know.”

I rasped out the story, detailing the panic, and the terror of being denied air. “Something changed. Something about the curse changed.”

My sister nodded. “He must have met with his coven.” She brushed my hair away from my face, smoothing it behind an ear. “I think that they added an addendum to the curse.” She stood, moving away from the bed.

“I think they added that you couldn’t say anything about the curse to those who already don’t know the particulars. They must have been playing with one of the flyers, or maybe they were the ones that sent out the flyers before Father thought they were a good idea.” She paced back and forth at my bedside. Her hand scrubbed at her face.

“But what if the curse can’t be broken now?” I asked. “What if we have to dance until we die, like Mother? What if our souls are trapped Underground?”

She stopped pacing to shake me. “Don’t you dare think like that! Don’t you dare!” She stopped shaking me. “Look me in the eyes.”

I met her eyes, shaking, tears streaming down my face.

“Stop crying.” She fished a handkerchief out of her sleeve, pressing it into my hand. “Wipe your eyes, and look at me.” She gave me a second to comply before she spoke again. “I will not let you end up like Mother. I will learn any magic that I have to in order to save you. I will do any magic that I have to in order to save all of you. You are my twelve younger sisters. I am not losing you to my father’s stupid curse.”

She pulled away from me. “Now sleep. You need your rest for tonight. I’ll tell the king that you are indisposed. He’ll understand.”

I nodded, eyes never leaving her. “Don’t leave until I fall asleep?” I reached for her, terrified of what came from the dark.

“I won’t leave until you are asleep.” Klover sat at the edge of the bed, humming softly as I closed my eyes, letting myself drift into the dark.