I have three fics going now, ahh! But I had this idea, and I just had to write it down, so...enjoy!
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The marketplace was crowded with people; it always was. They milled about with their varying purposes, selling and buying and talking and shouting. It was hectic and full of chaos; no one noticed the small, purple-cloaked figure running and diving through the swarms of citizens.
She rushed to the side of the street, and snatched the notice from the window of the general store. She tucked it under her cloak and rushed away, once more dissapearing into the crowd. If anyone had noticed her—and no one had—they would certainly have lost track of her.
Bare feet ran quickly, beating upon the hard ground. In a few moments, she finally got to the castle. Up the stairs, and to the window, she jumped into the room.
"Xavia!" Princess Sophia exclaimed. "What in the world are you doing?"
The girl grinned and took out the paper she'd grabbed. "I thought you all would want to see this."
The other young ladies sitting all across the room got up and migrated over. "What does it say? What does it say?" they all asked.
"Give it to me, I'll read it out loud," Sophia said, being the eldest.
Xavia handed it over.
"To the young men of the country," Sophia read. "you have perhaps heard the plight of the twelve princesses: they are cursed to dance, night after night, and wear out their shoes, and no one has yet found the reason. If any one of you should find it, I will grant any of the princesses' hands' in marriage you should wish. Your King Edward."
A great cry of distress went up as soon as she was done.
"But—but we don't dance in the night!" Princess Lily exclaimed.
"It doesn't matter. I'm sure he'll have some arrangement that makes it seem that we do. Its all just a great lie to get us married," Sara said.
"What if I don't even want to get married?" Danielle asked.
"Hope they don't pick you!" Replied Sara.
Danielle only frowned.
"It's not fair! Just because we're—sick doesn't mean he has to lie to the whole kingdom, and devise a hoax to get us married! Does he really that just because of this no one will want to marry us?!" Heidi said, near to tears. She looked unwell—near to having a fainting spell again. The other girls crowded around her. They all knew that the sickness was the worst in her.
"Heidi, sit down," Sophia commanded. "You don't want to get sick. Just sit and take deep breaths."
Heidi nodded and sat in the big, fluffy chair. She tried to breathe deeply, but it came out more in gulps between sobs. In a few moments she had calmed enough for the sobs to stop.
"Now everyone," Sophia said, "find a seat."
The girls all sat down. They obeyed Sophia like she was their mother, since they had none. Sophia was a natural leader.
"As horrible of an idea as this is, we're just going to have to go through it—for Father."
"But its such a strange idea," Nora remarked. "How in the world do you think he thought of it?"
"I don't know. He told us he had an idea, but he never told us exactly what it was. I'm sure he'll address the subject tonight at dinner. Until then, we'll just have to wait."
Everyone murmured their aggreement and started to mill about the room, rather like she had said "class dismissed," or something of the like.
Xavia stayed near Sophia and Heidi. "Are we going to do anything about it?" she asked.
Sophia sighed. "I don't know. We'll have to see what Father says about, then decide. But I have a feeling that there won't really be much we can do about it. No more running about the city for you, though! Think if it happened there! And no one would know where you were!"
Xavia nodded and sat by Heidi. "Are you feeling alright now?" she asked the pretty, blonde girl.
Heidi nodded. "I—I think so. It was just, so much of a shock, that he would do this to us. And I already wasn't feeling very well. But I'm alright," she said, smiling slightly at her youngest sister.
"I hope no one picks me!" Xavia said. "I'm too young to be married!"
Sophia and Heidi both laughed.
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"Her Royal Highness, the Princess Sophia!" the caller exclaimed, as he announced the princesses in order of their age for dinner.
"Does he really have to name off all of us every night! I mean, its not like anyone is here besides Father," Xavia exclaimed to the sister closest to her, Della.
"Her Royal Highness, the Princess Sara!"
Della shrugged. "It is rather silly, I suppose."
"Her Royal Highness, the Princess Danielle!"
"Rather silly? Its ridiculously silly!"
"Her Royal Highness, the Princess Minerva!"
Xavia rolled her eyes.
The caller continued to call out their names, one by one. After Minerva, it was Belinda, then Heidi, followed by Quinn and Aerin, Lily, then Nora, Della, and finally Xavia. They all sat at the long table, six to a side, with King Edward at the head.
The king smiled at them. "Well, girls, I have something to announce."
His daughters all exchanged glances, but the king didn't seem to notice.
"I have devised a plan to find husbands for you all—and a good one, if I might say so my self," he waited for the girls' reactions, but seeing none, he moved on. "See, men will find marrying you much more alluring if they have to break some sort of curse or enchantment first. I have told the citizens that you are under a curse to dance all night, every night and no one knows why or where you go. Anyone who finds out may marry one of you."
The girls were silent.
"But, Father, we don't do that. If some man comes and tries to find out where we go in the night, we'll just be asleep in our beds," Quinn finnaly said.
King Edward smiled. "I know, I know, you are not truly cursed, but no one needs to know that. You will be taken to a remote area and left there. In order for the man to get there, though, there will be a difficult obstacle course to go through. It is being assembled as we speak. See, it will also pick out the best man for you to marry! Isn't it brilliant!"
"Oh, yes, brilliant, Father," Sara said with sarcasm.
The king frowned. "None of you seem as—happy as I had hoped."
"Its just that it's such a strange—wild plan, Father," Sophie said, trying to smooth things down. "How did you come up with it?"
He grinned. "I just thought of it, all by myself. No rhyme or reason. I was very proud that I made it up."
"I see."
"Father, don't you think that any man would love us as we are?" Heidi burst out.
Edward frowned at her. "What, with your epilepsia? He'd take off running whenever you had your first fainting spell, particularly if it included one of those seizures. No, you'd never find a husband. But this way it'll happen fast, you can be married before he realizes your sick."
Heidi pressed her lips together and stared down at her lap, looking chagrined. The other princesses had only had actual—violent and shaking—seizures once or twice before, but for her they were common.
"And then when he does, Father, what then?" Xavia asked, standing up for her sister. "What if he runs out on us when he sees us like that?"
"Well, I doubt any of them will be picking you, now will they?" King Edward remarked, changing the subject entirely.
It was over, then. There was nothing to be done. There was no way out, they would have to go through with the hoax. The king demanded it.