Chapter 3
He was a very handsome prince, I'll give him that much. Maybe not too smart, but then, most princes aren't. Obviously, he'd heard a lot about our famed beauty, and that was why he came. However, Father was very kind to him- the hope radiating from his eyes was almost tangible- he was that hopeful. It hurt me so much during dinner, to see this hope, and to know that I could do nothing to help it stay there, and to solidify into joy once again. We put on a large banquet in honor of the prince and his quest for truth and justice.
You could also see how interested this prince was. He was surreptitiously glancing at us- especially me, since I was the oldest, and I had to sit next to him during dinner. I prayed that if he succeeded, he would end up being nicer than how he appeared right now.
The prince tried making conversation, but we all pretended not to hear him above the soft background music of a string quartet. None of us was up to responding very much anyway. We all had our careful blank looks on, and we weren't saying much- as usual. It still pained our father whenever he glanced our way- which was oftener than usual, this night.
After the largely unsuccessful banquet, we all retired to our room. As soon as we'd finished changing, the prince was admitted to our chamber. He bowed elaborately, and said, I'm so sorry to interrupt you young ladies... I hope my presence isn't considered rude. In my bland voice, the only one I possessed now, I assured him that he was no bother.
I found myself to have a glass of steaming wine in my hand... I must have picked it up from the table by my side, but could not recollect seeing any sort of beverage there. I offered the prince the wine, saying, I hope this will help you this evening- it's good for digestion.
He looked slightly surprised. Why, thank you. How did you know I was in the habit of....? He took the glass, and drank the whole thing down quickly. Soon after, he began yawning, trying to hide them behind his hands. Only a few minutes later, and he was yawning openly. He fairly staggered back to the bed assigned to him (modestly surrounded with a curtain) and fell onto the bed, and promptly began to snore.
I was shocked. I had expected the man to try and stay up all night- and here he was, asleep within five minutes! Suddenly I found myself in my dancing dress (sky blue, tonight) and realized why the prince had fallen asleep- the wine. Now I knew how it had found itself in my hand, and why he was surprised. In the one retreat my true self had left, I was angry. Were we truly going to be wed to those frightening young men, with my father not even given a chance?? Was I going to send all the young men to their deaths? (We'd found out later that the men who failed in the contest would be put to the death- I didn't know if it was true or not, since I could not see my father executing the entire male population of our country) And there really was nothing I could do- for reasons unknown to myself, I was forced to do these things for Daniel, and I had no power to stop myself.
And so, not five minutes after the prince had fallen asleep, we were off, down the stairs, through the gold and silver forest, all hung with bright jewels, to the lake, and rowed across. Once again we dance through the night. None of us ever ate or drank anything there. We had all heard the stories about faery- eat of their food, and you are trapped there forever. As far as I could tell, we were going to be trapped there forever anyway, but one might as well not give the enemy extra ammunition.
I was almost scared to bring up the subject of the contest to Daniel, but somehow couldn't not tell him. It seemed rather unfair, even though I knew what he and his brothers were doing wasn't exactly fair either. In all actuality, I don't know why I felt I had to tell him about the contest. He certainly had almost no reaction once he knew.
Well, that's all right, he answered calmly. Don't worry- no man from your world will discover our secret. It sounded like a prophecy- and I fervently hoped he could be wrong. And I hated the fact that he blindly assumed that we all wanted to be down here, that we all wanted to spend the rest of our lives without seeing the sun, or hearing the wind, or seeing our shadow!
Hours later, we ascended back up the stairs to our room and fell quickly asleep. The prince was still snoring gently upon our arrival. In the morning, he seemed most sheepish to have fallen asleep, although he wouldn't admit as much to my father upon inquiry.
The next two nights passed the same, but without additional conversations with Daniel. Our normal conversations normally revolved around how beautiful he said I was, how well I danced, etc: all the normal compliments one is paid by a smitten boy/man. But these grated on the ear and were not enjoyed at all by me. I don't know how the other men treated my sisters, nor, in all the time spent dancing there, would I learn their names, but from what I saw their behavior toward my sisters was much of the same. I assumed (I admit, I hoped) that my sisters felt the same abhorrence as did I, but I had no way of assuring myself of that, since we never spoke of our night trips (or of anything else) at all.
On the morning after the third night, the prince was given an audience with my father. We were made to attend. I had to watch blankly, but raging inside, as the young man admitted to having seen nothing, in fact, of sleeping through each night. The naked pain on my father's face was hard enough to bear- the sadness on the prince's face was almost as bad. I could easily tell that he truly felt sorry that he could not help my father- and it was not simply for us or for his soon-to-be lost life. The grief of my father touched everyone around him.
In the end, the prince was not executed. He was simply escorted to the edge of the kingdom and sent off. He showed no inclination to return, nor any protest at his treatment. He seemed mostly numbed by all that he had seen of my father.
The next prince came a week later. I offered this prince drugged wine also and he, too, failed, and was exiled. The next was a duke. Then a baron's son. And so on, until all the ranks of nobility had been represented. None had found out the truth. After the last noble, no one appeared. And our time was running out. It was in the middle of the fourth year- a mere six months before the five years were out and we were to live there forever, that the soldier came.
A/N: Please continue reviewing! And I'll continue posting!
