Princess without a Palace: A King Thrushbeard Fairy Tale (2 page)

“G
ood
morning, milady,” Gretchen sang as she entered the princess’s chamber the next
morning.

Liesel opened an eye to see her ever-merry
maid setting her breakfast tray beside her bed, but she merely closed her eyes
once more and turned to face the other way.

“Oh, you’ll not be wanting to stay in
bed this morning, I wager. Such excitement! Such important visitors! It’s a
wonder you were able to sleep through it all last night.”

“Hmmm,” Liesel answered. She refrained
from confessing that she had actually been awake most of the night. The clanging
of the returning company and their ungraceful movements downstairs would have
hardly allowed for anything else.

But then Liesel stiffened. Daring to
look back over her shoulder, she inquired warily, “What did you say about
important guests?”

“Then you haven’t heard the chatter in
the halls?”

Liesel shook her head.

“Oh my! No one has been able to speak of
anything else today! But perhaps I should just let it be a grand surprise …”
the maid trailed off with a teasing smile.

Liesel pushed herself up to a sitting
position. “You’ll do nothing of the sort. Who are these visitors you speak of?”

“You needn’t be so uppity with me,
Princess,” Gretchen scolded fondly. Liesel raised an eyebrow at her maid’s
address, but didn’t reproach her. The maid then sat on the edge of the bed, and
leaned forward to confide, “Why, your father has returned from his travels with
not one, but two distinguished princes!”

Liesel clutched her stomach. She was
going to be sick.

Despite her deepest hopes, it seemed her
father was intent on following through with his threats.

Her maid didn’t appear to notice her
mistress’s sudden lack of color and continued, “And you know what this means,
don’t you?”

“Of course not. They could be here for
any number of reasons,” snapped the princess as she picked at the loose threads
in her bedspread.

The maid pretended to be oblivious of
Liesel’s temper, but wisely didn’t continue on the subject.

“Will you be wanting me to wash your
hair this morning?” the maid asked as she touched one of Liesel’s long, light
brown tresses. “It looks so stunning when it’s freshly clean.”

“There’s no need for that. I’d actually
prefer you to braid it this morning.”

“But why must you hide such pretty hair
from your handsome suitors?”

“Don’t call them that,” Liesel reproved
sharply.

“Well, that’s what they are, aren’t
they?” the maid said with a smile as she patted the princess’s hand.

“You have yet to tell me the names of
these princes,” Liesel reminded. “And they are probably only here to negotiate
another one of Father’s treaties” she insisted.

Gretchen gave her mistress an
exasperated look, but willingly answered, “One of them is hardly a stranger to
you. The handsome Prince Cornelius has come with his father.”

“I see,” Liesel replied. Prince
Cornelius had been an incorrigible flirt at all of his visits since the time
they had been young teenagers. “And the other one?” she prompted.

“Hmmm … I cannot remember his name
exactly.”

“Gretchen,” Liesel said in a warning
tone.

“Honestly, Princess. I cannot remember
his name. But he is from Brenhausen, the kingdom to our west.”

“I think I have heard something of him
before,” Liesel mumbled. But she wasn’t sure. Alas, she should have paid better
attention when her mother had rambled on about such matters. But in her
defense, it had been almost a year since her mother had last pestered her about
anything related to diplomacy. After her brother’s birth, Liesel had been freed
from that kind of torture. And nothing could have pleased her more. She had
dreaded the prospect of ever having to take the throne.

“Don’t you want me to tell you what he
looks like?” Gretchen asked.

“I really don’t care to know.”

“Well, it’s no matter. You’ll know who
he is when you meet him. And you’ll never forget him either.” Liesel wondered
what Gretchen meant by that, but didn’t dare ask. “But I doubt you’ll be paying
him much attention anyway with Prince Cornelius around. That young man has
always been able to bring such a blush to your cheeks.”

“Of mortification!” Liesel defended.
“And again. I must insist that you stop implying the princes are here for any
business that has anything to do with me.”

“As you wish, milady,” Gretchen answered
with another one of her twinkling smiles. She then began walking back toward
the door, but stopped to inquire one last time, “Are you
sure
you would
not like me to wash your hair this morning?”

“Gretchen,” Liesel growled.

“I just thought I should make sure …
With a pretty sister like Adelaide,
I
wouldn’t want to risk losing such
a handsome suitor … I mean ambassador,” Gretchen amended with a teasing smile,
“just because I was too stubborn to bathe.”

“She is more than welcome to him,”
Liesel offered generously. “And now if you wouldn’t mind, I would like to
leisurely eat my breakfast in peace. You may return to braid my hair when you
are ready to cease with your teasing.”

Gretchen curtsied and then slipped from
the room.

But after the door closed, Liesel found
she could do little more than just stare at the food on her plate. How could
she muster an appetite when her insides were completely filled with dread?

She might be able to order Gretchen to
leave the matter alone. But she knew she would not find it as easy a task to
dissuade her formidable father from his plans.

With her hair freshly coiled around her
head in an appropriate crown-like fashion, Liesel begrudgingly made her way
downstairs. Although she wished she could, she knew it was futile to try to
stay inside her room forever.

After making her way down the long,
spiral staircase that led to the main floor, she paused before the massive
doors of the great hall. The energy that exuded from the room was overwhelming.
Scores of people could be heard moving about within and their singing and
boisterous laughter rattled the door handles. One of the soldiers standing
guard moved to open the door for her, but she instantly waved his service aside
and turned to walk down another hall.

She was somewhat ashamed of her
momentary lack of courage, but reasoned that although she couldn’t confine
herself to her quarters, there was no need to proactively rush to meet her
fate.

And if her fate happened to be unable to
ever find her … well, then so much the better. Perhaps she would manage to
avoid it forever.

Looking down the long halls stretching
out before her, she wondered where she should go. As if in answer to her silent
question, a breeze blew through the corridor, beckoning her outside.

A morning ride was just what she needed.

Changing course, she quickly wound
through the castle halls to the lower doors that led to the stables, but the sight
that met her there brought her to an abrupt halt in the doorway.

Halfway down the row of stalls, she was
stunned to see her sister standing with a muscular, blond man. And even though
she could not see the man’s face, the way her sister was blushing as she stared
adoringly up at him was all she needed to see to know exactly who the man must
be.

Her supposition was soon confirmed as
she heard her sister praise, “Why, Prince Cornelius, these horses will be the
pride of our palace! Such beauty and such strength! I have hardly seen anything
like them before.”

Liesel’s eyes traveled over the horse to
measure him against her sister’s praise. He was indeed a magnificent creature.
And he wasn’t alone. Several identical horses filled the stalls around him,
making Liesel wonder where the regular palace horses might be.

But she wasn’t about to risk detection
to find out. As she had no interest in confronting her sister’s companion,
Liesel began to step backwards to retrace her steps into the security of the
labyrinth of castle hallways. She was almost successful in her escape, but just
as she stepped back beneath the doorframe, she collided with an approaching
servant.

Liesel tried to quiet the servant’s
profuse apologies, but it was too late. The slight commotion had given her
presence away.

“Liesel, there you are! I’ve been
looking for you all morning!” Adelaide called out.

Liesel brushed a stray wisp of hair
behind her ear, and after inhaling deeply, she walked forward to join the pair.

“You overlooked the obvious then, for I’ve
been in my room all morning.”

“I assumed you would be unable to stay
confined so late, especially after retiring so early yesterday.”

Liesel shrugged her shoulders. “I was
unaware that there was anything especially significant about today.”

Adelaide rolled her big blue eyes toward
the tall man at her side. “Well … as you can see there is something very
special about today. Liesel, look who has come for a visit!”

Liesel forced a smile.

“Hello, Prince Cornelius,” she greeted.

“Good morning, Princess Liesel,” he
answered in his smooth and confident voice. “You are looking lovely as always.”

Liesel hated the blush that spread
across her face. She had long ago resolved to always be (or at least always
appear to be) completely immune to his charms.

“I did not hear any warning of your
visit. Is everything well in your kingdom?” she inquired.

“Your father has invited my father and
me to another one of his treaty councils.”

“Ahh,” she answered, relieved that he
was indeed only there on a mission of routine diplomacy. “The never-ending work
of kings and princes. If you are not off fighting a battle, then you must be at
home discussing the possibility of one.”

“When there are such great treasures to
protect, can you fault us for it?” he answered with a wink.

Liesel reflexively looked away and
cleared her throat. She glanced around for an idea to change the conversation.
“I see you have brought half the horses from Levenstein with you.”

“I should never think to arrive
empty-handed at your castle without a gift.”

“A gift? Why, how kind … I’m sure my
parents will love them.”

“Liesel,” Adelaide chided in an
exasperated tone. “Don’t be daft. They’re for you!”

Liesel’s eyes widened in horror. “I beg
your pardon!”

Cornelius smiled one of his easy smiles.
“I raised them myself. Twelve of the finest, strongest horses Levenstein has
ever born. And all perfectly white, without blemish. Perfect, just like you.”

Liesel stepped back and waved her hands
before her. “Oh, no, no, no. I’m afraid I cannot possibly accept such an
extravagant gift.”

“Nonsense! I’ll hear none of your protests.”

“But, really …” She looked to Adelaide
for support, but Adelaide merely shook her head in wonderment. Turning back to
Cornelius, Liesel reasoned, “But surely, there is no need to give me so many of
your fine horses. As I can only ride one at a time, a single horse would have
sufficed.”

“Ah, but you see, fair Princess, you are
only thinking of your customary rides. I have brought you so many, because I
want to make sure that whenever you should wish to visit my kingdom, you will
have a team of horses to carry you there at the swiftest speed.”

“And what makes you think, in such a
case, I should wish for speed?” she asked with an arched brow.

Out of the corner of her eye, Liesel
could see her sister flush in embarrassment, but she refused to change her determined
course.

Cornelius seemed at a momentary loss for
words before he recovered with a smile and answered, “It seems I have neglected
to adequately convey the beauty and charm of my kingdom. The fault is mine if
you are not yet longing to see it. Perhaps if you would allow me to accompany
you on your ride this morning, I may have the chance to properly expound on the
subject.”