Author's Note: this is the last chapter. Hope you've enjoyed the story so far and will enjoy this last chapter as well.


THE MUSIC BOX, THE STAFF AND THE MIRROR

CHAPTER 12

Marc had recognised the girl he loved. He wanted to protect her from the King's anger and he knew only one way: take the blame himself. He took her in his arms and said, "No, don't kill her. Take my life. Your Majesty, it's because of me that she has hit the Princess."

Then a shiver went through Marc's body. He trembled, wiped his brow and looked at the girl in his arms.

"Hannah? What has happened? What are we doing here?" he asked. The memories of all that had happened suddenly hit him. "Belladonna. She was like Jessamina. But it was a lie. She was a witch…it's as if I have been walking around in a daze."

"I felt the same. I was in a nightmare and could not speak and barely think."

It was the Princess. She was no longer a puppet with dead eyes and inane smile. Her parents too had felt a change had come over them. The Queen was the first to speak.

"It's over," she said. "It's finally over."

She no longer looked like a frightened mouse. The King embraced his wife.

"I'm sorry," he said and would have said more but his wife stopped the words with a kiss.

Princess Eleanor turned to her parents. "Father, the girl that slapped me was right. If I marry Sir Marcus I break my word. I am engaged to another and even if he is gone forever I'll be true to Prince Rufus."

"What?" said Hannah, "Did you say Roughus, Your Highness?"

The bird had flown in and settled on Hannah's shoulder, looking at the Princess intently. Princess Eleanor now remembered how she, Prince Rufus and the White Castle with all its inhabitants had fallen under the witch's spell.

"She wanted the castle; she wanted to be queen here and she changed you into a bird because you tried to save us," said the Princess. "And even then you could have saved yourself, if you had accepted Belladonna's hand in marriage. I'll be true to you, Rufus, just like you were true to me."

The bird left Hannah's shoulder and landed in front of the Princess. As soon as its feet touched the ground Roughus became Prince Rufus again.

The last of the witch's enchantments were now gone. The people, the King and Queen, everyone looked happier as if a heavy weight had been lifted from them. The sun shone brighter and warmer than before and the White Castle was now truly white, sparkling against the clear blue sky. The garden too was free from the curse; in a few minutes the plants looked lush and green and flowers were blooming abundantly.

Hannah and Prince Rufus had to tell the whole story from the moment he had seen Marc with Belladonna and had warned Hannah to the slap that awakened Princess Eleanor from the enchantment.

Of course he didn't forget to mention how Hannah took Belladonna's curses on herself and became an old woman. And Hannah told about the magic Rufus had performed to get her to the three parties the king had organised.

"I was just lucky there was still so much magic around," said Rufus. "The whole place was buzzing with it. Unfortunately even a great wizard couldn't have broken the curses. Only Marc could restore Hannah to her old form. Only Eleanor's vow to me as a bird could end my enchantment. And of course because Hannah and Marc were ready to die for each other Belladonna and her enchantments were destroyed; for that is the biggest and oldest magic of all, a magic Belladonna didn't understand or even believe in."

When the whole story had been told Marc said that he'd much rather drop the title the King had bestowed on him.

"I didn't like it in the first place and obviously I have absolutely no claim to it. Hannah did more to save us than I," he said and Hannah answered that she didn't want to become Hannah Salvatore because that sounded just silly.

"As you wish. No titles then," the King said. "But you'll have to allow me to organise your wedding. We'll make it a double wedding and everybody can join the celebration."

"If Hannah still wants me," was Marc's answer.

And Hannah said what she had wanted to say for a very long time, "Yes! Yes! Yes! I will!"

Then Marc gently kissed Hannah and she kissed him back more passionately than he had expected. He wondered why he had been chasing a childhood dream for so long when his perfect woman had always been within reach. Their second kiss lasted so long that the King joked, "I'd better arrange those weddings as soon as possible."

And so it happened. Hannah and Marc stayed at the White Castle for a few months longer. When they said it was time to return to their farm which was a long way of, Prince Rufus had a surprise for them. In order to get her magic objects the witch had made a long roundabout tour from the farm to the castle. In fact the farm could be seen from the tower of the castle, especially now that the dense thorny forest that surrounded it, was gone with the rest of the witch's enchantments. It was a joy to all four of them that they would live so close together.

Soon after the wedding the King retired and left his throne to Prince Rufus and Princess Eleanor who was anything but dim. They wanted all their subjects to have a good life. For the first time in the history of the White Castle ordinary people were really taken into account. The first thing King Rufus and Queen Eleanor did after ascending to the throne was…

but that is another story.

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THE END

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