Pond Life
Once upon a time, a princess, the heir to the kingdom, rode in a golden carriage. Lily Rose stared out of the window, bored stiff, on her way to visit yet another prince. Her parents had decided that she must marry, so they made a series of ‘friendly visits’ to all the neighbouring kingdoms with suitable princes.
Funny how each of the prospective princes just so happened to be waiting for her at the side of the royal fish pond or an ornamental fountain or similar. Someone had told them about her christening horoscope. Unlike most such things, which were usually vague, Lily Rose’s horoscope was very specific. She knew it by heart.
Beside a pond that’s crystal clear,
A life-long love awaits you here.
Ignore the jewels, their use postpone
The truth you seek is set in stone.
A prince who suits your taste awaits,
A kiss, sweet princess, seals your fates.
The gilded carriage had made a dawn start from their home, now the sun approached the other horizon. King Albert and the royal bodyguards rode alongside. The long day with nothing to do but sit and stare at well-tended fields drove Lily Rose mad with impatience.
“When will we arrive?” she demanded when the sun was a finger-width from the horizon.
“Soon, my dear, patience. It doesn’t do to appear too eager,” Queen Maria said. “Always leave a little mystery to keep your husband keen.”
At dusk, they reached the capital city of their neighbours. The populace had turned out to welcome them, though the children waving flags looked like they would prefer to be home eating their dinner.
The palace gates were flung wide open to greet them. Lily Rose allowed the footman to help her out, and the maid straightened her gown and tiara.
King Albert gently took her hand and led her towards King Harold. A younger man stood at his side. Was this Prince Rupert? He looked very dictatorial.
“Welcome to my home, dear Princess Lily Rose,” King Harold said. “This is my heir, Prince Reinhald. I can’t believe my second son, Rupert, isn’t here. We had better find him.”
Knowing glances passed between King Albert and King Harold. Lily Rose made sure her public smile did not fade and allowed King Harold to led the way.
The royal party walked through the palace garden towards a fish pond where a man stood gazing at the darting koi. Lily Rose sighed. She had hoped for something a little more spontaneous.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Papa,” Prince Rupert said. “Without Richard here to help, I lost track of time.”
He caught sight of Lily Rose and stepped back with a hand on his heart as if stunned by her beauty. Lily Rose thought that Prince Rupert probably shouldn’t take up acting.
King Harold took her hand and led her forward. “I would like to introduce you to Princess Lily Rose.”
Rupert kissed her hand, reverently. She tried not to be too conspicuous about wiping her knuckles on her skirt.
“Allow me to accompany you to dinner, fairest.”
The welcome feast was truly magnificent, spoilt only by Rupert sitting next to her. He filled her in on the latest royal gossip.
“…So Hereward and Elizabeth have achieved their happy ever after,” Rupert concluded.
It was the third royal couple to have achieved that happy state this year. Lilly Rose smiled until her cheeks ached.
“You said something about your brother Richard not being here?” Lily Rose prompted when he fell into rosy contemplation that he and Lily Rose would be the fourth happy couple.
He frowned slightly as she expressed an interest in a prince other than him. “It was most odd. We had a little Ogre trouble at the border, so of course Reinhald went out to deal with it. When he didn’t return, I followed to ensure the safety of the Crown Prince. But I too was captured by the ogre’s larder spell. I believe, he found princes more tasty than the common sort of man. But Richard couldn’t be found to come to our rescue, as he had every other time we had trouble. A miller’s son and a talking cat had to rescue us. The shame of it all.”
“When did he go missing?” Lilly Rose asked. Poor Prince Richard, the third prince always had to rescue his older brothers. It must be exhausting. “Have you not sent someone to rescue him?”
“He was last seen over a year ago. He removed the spell from us both at the healing spring in the Enchanted Forest,” Rupert said. “We had a bout of plague in the city. With him no longer with us, Reinhald and I must settle down. No more adventures for us. But enough of Richard, what of you? The blue in that dress scarcely matches the brilliance of your eyes…”
Lilly Rose intended to have words with her mother after dinner.
Mother on the other hand was delighted by Rupert. “He’s so charming, just the prince for you.”
“He’s a royal bore!”
“Nonsense, you haven’t given him a chance,” Mother said. “You’ve had your choice of princes. It’s time you made up your mind to marriage. We need to train your husband up to be the heir.”
Lily Rose knew then that there was no talking her Royal Parents out of this match. The only thing to do was stage a kidnapping and run away to the Enchanted Forest. However, she had no idea what a kidnapping might look like. Lily Rose waited until her maid had retired, then she flung a few things onto the floor, perhaps that would look like a struggle. Pulling on the riding dress with the split skirt, that Mother insisted was not the sort of thing a princess wore, stuffed a few changes of underthings into a bag, and tipped the bowl of sweets that stood on the dressing table into her pocket.
Creeping downstairs, she made it to the stables. Her usual riding horse had been brought along in case she and Rupert went on romantic rides or some other silly idea. A little struggle with the saddle and use of a mounting block and she was away into the dark night. No one was going to fake a match to her christening horoscope and make her marry an unsuitable prince.
The moon was nearly full, giving her enough light to see by. The road was well-maintained, so no danger of her horse misstepping. On through the night, she rode. By the time the sun blossomed from the horizon, Lily Rose reached the edge of the Enchanted Forest.
She and her horse were exhausted, but to hesitate would allow pursuers to catch up. While the fine road stopped at the forest edge, a path led into the interior. Her horse shied away from the gloom, but Lily Rose was determined.
In here, hooves pounded on packed soil not cobbled roads. Once inside, she felt safe from pursuit and started looking for a place to stop and rest. A small glade, caused by a fallen tree, stood to the side of the path. With relief, Lily Rose dismounted. Carefully tying her horse to a sturdy branch of the fallen tree, Lilly Rose allowed herself to rest.
It was mid-afternoon before she woke, hungry. Her horse had cropped the grass nearest to its halter and stood calmly awaiting her. Lily Rose ate some of the sweets that she had packed. They were hardly satisfying. However, there was still a chance of recapture, so using the fallen tree as a mounting block, she climbed back on the horse and set off down the path.
Light glinted through the trees. The forest opened up so that the path ran alongside a small lake. A warm breeze stirred up the water and the waves sang.
Princess, princess, stay your ride,
The prince you seek lives at my side.
Lily Rose nearly fell off the horse in shock. But she pulled up. Out on the lake, a beautiful swan glided towards her. Her mouth dropped open, a Swan Prince! This was more like it. A loose definition of a pond could cover the small lake. She dismounted and waited for the swan to emerge from the water.
The huge bird waddled out of the lake carrying something in its beak. He dropped the vegetation at her feet. Lily Rose picked up the offering. The plant stung her hand and she dropped it.
“Ow! Why did you give me nettles?”
With his beak, the swan tugged at her bodice, then tapped the nettles. Lily Rose frowned. The bird was trying to tell her something. Again the creature tugged her dress and tapped the nettles, then he tapped its chest.
She still didn’t get it. If a swan prince could have rolled his eyes, this one would have. He tugged her bodice, then picked up the nettles with his beak and held them against his chest.
“Oh, I’m to make a shirt out of nettles for you,” Lily Rose said. “And that will break the spell?”
The swan waved his beak in a nod. This was perfect! Lily Rose would take the right prince back with her. She wouldn’t be made to marry any boring second sons who couldn’t go on adventures without a miller’s son rescuing them. And, if she hurried, they could go home and have a proper dinner that didn’t involve sweets. She should have raided the kitchen for some bread at least.
She pulled on her riding gloves and found a patch of nettles to harvest, while the prince roosted in the reeds at the side of the lake. She collected a good amount, then stared at her pile. How on Earth was she supposed to turn nettles into a shirt? A princess wasn’t taught how to spin or weave. All her sewing had involved delicate embroidery panels on her handkerchiefs or designing a tapestry, which her maids would then weave for her. Maybe if she took a nap she might come up with a better idea in the morning. She settled against a tree next to her nettles and tried to get comfortable.
The swan lifted his head and glared at her. He struggled to his feet and waddled over to give her a peck. Feeling less than in charity with the prince, Lily Rose stripped the leaves from the stems and laid out the remainder in a pattern. Through this she weaved other stems until she had the shape of a tabard, if it had been constructed from a fishing net.
The impatient swan nuzzled his head through the neck of the tabard and lifted it over him. A handsome prince with blond hair and blue eyes stood before her.
“Sweet princess, I can’t express how…” The prince lifted his arms to wrap her in a warm embrace, only to realise he still had wings. The sleeveless tabard only changed his body.
“What sort of stupid princess doesn’t know how to break a spell?” the prince said. “You need to do this-”
Lily Rose ripped the faulty tabard off the prince. He sank into his swan form. His criticism became a honk of outrage. She dropped the ruins of her work on the ground and stamped on it, to break it up. No prince would take that tone with her.
Before he got over his surprise, Lily Rose ran for where she had left the horse. It was gone. She stared in horror. Behind her, the swan prince rushed towards her with his wings spread. Lily Rose fled into the forest.
In her panicked flight, she found her feet sinking into a bog. She struggled to pull her feet from the mirk, but found a path of sorts, jumping from hummock to hummock of vegetation. At least the Swan Prince hadn’t followed her into here. At the edge, she landed on an earthen track. A tiny waterfall tinkled into the muddy swamp. The water sang to her.
Princess, Princess, stop and see
The Prince you seek resides with me.
This area of swamp water was more of a muddy puddle than a pond, but still… A frog jumped out of the water.
“Dearest, sweetest princess, allow me to eat from your plate and sleep on your pillow, and in the morning a kiss will break the spell,” the frog said. “And we can be together.”
A kiss! Yes, her christening horoscope had mentioned a kiss. It said nothing about stupid nettle shirts.
“I don’t have a pillow?” Lilly Rose said.
“Come this way.” The frog prince hopped along the path. “I was once a handsome prince. The most handsome in the kingdom. But a jealous sorceress cast this spell on me and turned me into an ugly frog.”
A brightly-coloured, silken pavilion awaited them. Inside, a table was laid with food and drink. At the back, a camp bed with a soft quilt and a silk pillow called out to her weary body, but hunger drove her to the table.
The Frog Prince hopped up next to her plate. “She couldn’t handle advice. I told her that you don’t cast that particular spell using fir cones and laurel leaves, but…mmph.”
Lily Rose stuffed a bit of bread into the frog’s mouth stemming the flow of how wonderful he was. She smiled at him as she laid a slice of smoked salmon over her toast, no longer paying attention to his rambling on.
He swallowed the food. “I mean, what sorceress worth her salt casts a frog spell using Spanish moss? All the best spells involve pondweed.”
“I’m sure they do,” Lily Rose said.
The Frog Prince puffed up his chest as she agreed. Once she had eaten, Lilly Rose kicked off her shoes and lay on the bed. Carefully lifting the Frog Prince onto her pillow, she tucked the quilt around her shoulders, expecting to fall asleep instantly. But the Prince didn’t stop talking all night. Lilly Rose barely napped. By the time the sun cast its light through the leaves, she lost her patience. Lifting the Frog Prince in her cupped hands, she trotted for the door. He puckered up his lips, awaiting the lifting of his spell. Lily Rose tossed the Frog Prince into the swamp. How could anyone live with someone who wouldn’t stop talking about himself?
She scraped together a breakfast from the leavings of last night’s supper and continued along the path. Exhausted by two nights of little sleep, Lily Rose stumbled through the woods. She regretted riding off into the night. Maybe Prince Rupert wasn’t such a bad sort after all. As soon as she found somewhere to sit down, she would await the rescue she knew would be on the way.
A beautiful glade opened out. The centre was filled with the clearest pool of water. She could see right to the bottom. Surrounding it stood cups made from jewels. The wine from last night had been a drink of vinegar this morning, and she was thirsty. However, drinking from a pond that inviting, in an Enchanted Forest, was probably a dangerous thing to do. Ignoring the water, she stumbled onto the other side of the clearing. A long, low stone bench lay in the grass. Lily Rose sank down and rested her head in her hands.
Her horse had run off, and she was lost. Surely, her mother would have sent a rescue party by now. Here she was, sitting by a pond, she would marry the next prince to appear. Look, even the jewels of her horoscope were present. She’d ignored them, as foretold, despite the whisper of water to a dry mouth. That was good. What was the next line? The wind through the trees whispered.
The truth you seek is set in stone.
She glanced down at the bench. It was vaguely prince-shaped. Was she sitting on a prince? She hastily scrambled to her feet and studied her seat. If this was a prince, then that would be the head. Greatly daring, Lily Rose knelt and kissed the stone prince about where she thought the mouth would be.
The stone warmed under her lips. The prince sat up and pushed her away.
“What do you think you are doing, going around kissing random rocks?” the prince said.
Oh no! Not another opinionated prince! Why hadn’t she waited until Prince Rupert showed up?
“I was just following my birth horoscope.” Lily Rose stood and brushed down her bedraggled skirt, preparing to stalk off. “But since you are ungrateful, I’ll be on my way.”
The Prince sighed and struggled to rise. “I can’t let a princess walk unprotected through the enchanted forest alone. All I was trying to do was have a rest from rescuing my older brothers all the time. But still, I’d better walk you home.”
Rescue his brothers? That sounded familiar. “Are you Prince Richard?”
“Yes,” the prince said. “Maybe they’ll let me retire to my tower and read my books for a couple of months before they go on yet another silly quest.”
“You’ve been missing for over a year,” the princess said. “Your brothers were rescued by a miller’s son, and in shame they have repented of all adventures and must settle down. I was supposed to marry Rupert, but I ran away.”
“A year?” Prince Richard perked up a bit. “That’s a start. And they’ve sworn off adventures. Perhaps, I can sneak back to my tower and read.”
Lilly Rose studied Prince Richard. “There are seventeen books in the palace library at home.”
The Prince looked at her, rather than just seeing a princess. “I have twenty-four in my tower.”
“That would make forty-one, if you wanted to bring them with you.”
Her horse trotted into the clearing, elf locks tangling its mane. Prince Richard caught the reins and lifted Lily Rose onto the horse. He settled into the saddle behind her.
“Forty-one books? That’s wealth indeed,” he said.
Maybe she would live Happily Ever After, after all.
ENDS
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