As every day passed, the girl grew more and more beautiful. Part of her beauty lay in her long raven hair. The tower she was held captive in had no doors for the witch had sealed them all off. The witch did not want anybody to discover the beautiful child. She, who had been overlooked by fortune because she was not beautiful enough, tried to doom the girl to her own fate. To let her grow old and ugly in a tower at the end of the world. Unloved.
Although she was insanely jealous, the witch visited the girl every day. She would call out:
"Ugly Child, let down your hair
So I may climb that raven stair"
At this summons, the girl would throw out her hair and the witch would use it to climb up to her. Life continued thus for the Beauty and the Witch until one day a Prince came riding through the lands surrounding the tower. He was drawn to the tower by the singing of a sweet voice, which was the beautiful girl, now a young woman, singing of her sorrow. The Prince longed to soothe the owner of that voice for her song tugged at his heart. Though he had not seen her he fell in love with the owner of that voice and desired to rescue her from her tower. But upon searching for an entry into the tower, he found none and so went back to his palace heavy of heart, but planning to return until he had discovered the secrets the tower held within.
Shian's room seemed to glow with a gentle golden light. The rising sun spread its warmth to Shian's bed, tendrils of golden light wrapping her in their embrace. They stroked her hair, making it shimmer like black silk. The light caressed her skin, giving it a clear glow. A tendril of light seeped into her mother's room on the other side of the tower in a crack between the heavy curtains. It caressed the neck that was once young and elegant. Moriana dreamed that she was trapped in a diamond and couldn't breathe. She woke with a strangled cry, her hands flying to her neck, her fearful eyes looking around the dark room.
The girl looked up as the Witch Queen entered the room, catching the suspicious glance she threw her way. Shian looked away from the mistrustful glare of her mother and continued to prepare breakfast. They sat to eat, unspeaking, her mother at the gloomy edge of the table, Shian at the sunny side. It almost seemed that they represented opposing forces, one of darkness and the other of light but it was not so. It was the golden light that bathed Shian that the Witch Queen was wary of and not Shian herself. For was not Shian her child; the little girl that she wanted oh so much to protect from the pains the world would try to inflict on her. She realised that she had not spoken much to Shian of late for she had been so preoccupied trying to protect her. There was danger in so many things. The Witch Queen's face softened slightly as she looked at her child.
"I dreamed I was trapped in a diamond," she said.
Shian looked up almost startled at the voice of her mother.
"I dreamed the same dream some nights ago," replied Shian, "It was probably because of the story of Diamanthe and the fate her foolishness cost her."
Moriana made an attempt at a smile, realising that Shian had indeed learned from the story. Shian was encouraged by this small change in her mother that she dared ask a dangerous question.
"Do all Prince's try to trap the beauty of their Princess'?"
The Witch Queen was about to answer that they do but hesitated.
"No, not in the same way Prince Charming did to Diamanthe. A cunning Prince need not trap a woman's beauty in a diamond. A cunning Prince will make a Princess fall in true love with him. Love makes everything beautiful, Shian, and a Princess in love with a Prince will give him everything that she is. She will give away her heart and her soul to him of her own free will. And then the Prince will leave her for the call of war and glory or for the beauty of another and her heart and soul will go with him because she loves him. Once those are gone, beauty also leaves for there can be no beauty without soul. And although he has not sealed her up in a diamond, the Prince has still stolen everything from the Princess. Because she loved him, she lost everything she was."
Shian had been thinking about the Prince she had met yesterday and a coldness seeped into her at her mother's words. She did not want to believe her mother. That mad witch doesn't know what she is talking about, she thought. Shian left the table and went out determined to find out the truth of the Prince and prove that her mother lied.
"She lost her heart and soul and became a witch…" Moriana whispered to the departing girl.
Prince Enthralling wondered how much longer he would have to wait for the girl as he ate his breakfast. He did not have much for he had not been able to go back to the village he passed on his way to get new supplies lest he miss the girl while he was gone. He had charmed the poor villagers into giving him food for the journey for he did not mean to dirty his hands with eating what he hunted. He hunted for sport and not for food. His father had sent him here to survive but he had not specified the details of that survival. His father wanted a true man to be his heir. A man who hunted and killed, was brave and knew how to survive. Well, Prince Enthralling was better than that because not only would he use his princely charm to survive in this wilderness, but he would win himself a beautiful woman as well. He would be heir to a new age.
Lost in thought he did not notice Shian regarding him. She thought he did not look like he would want to trap a woman. His mouth curved into a smile and Shian did not see how one who could smile at life could be so bad. She wondered what it was that made him joyful.
"What are you thinking about, Prince Enthralling?" Asked Shian quite forwardly.
The Prince was somewhat shocked at her sudden appearance and fished in his mind for a suitable answer.
"I was wondering if you would grace me with your presence today, my lady. You ran off so quickly yesterday, I feared you were unhappy with my company."
"Oh, no. I was very pleased with your company, my prince. Please do not think otherwise. I merely had something else to attend to," rushed Shian, trying to reassure him.
The Prince smiled at her reply.
She looked out at the forest before her, the leaves glittering like emeralds as the sun shone on them. But she saw only darkness. So it had been when her prince had left too. Love had left her blind. But then she started to change. Bitterness and anger had found their way into her heart and she looked upon the world from the new perspective of a witch. It was a different view. Harder, colder, greyer… but it was a view at least. Slowly time wore down the edges of that view for at the Edge of the World she was able to slowly forget the past and with it some of the bitterness and anger. She could never be a princess again, but she was not so bad a witch. But now, once more, the darkness arrived. And bitterness and anger once more seeped into her heart. And fear too… Fear that she would lose the child to story. As the golden threads of light wrapped themselves around the tower and the emerald forest and those within, the Witch Queen saw only darkness.
The girl-woman laughed at the story the Prince told her. He smiled at her joy. Together, they walked amongst her forest. The prince had been named wisely for truly he enthralled the girl with his soft words. She had come expecting him to try to woo her with words of beauty and love, waiting for him to prove his falsehood. But he had not mentioned love, and so her guard against his charms slowly dropped. As they went deeper into the golden hued forest, she watched the world around her less and the prince more. Her eyes were blinded by golden rays.
As the wind gently blew, the trees in the forest whispered secrets to each other. She longer to know what those secrets might be. Did they conspire against her to bring story here. Did they even now pass on the message to their brethren from the lands of fairytales about the beauty that lived in the castle. Was it a wind that brushed against the leaves making them speak so or the golden tendrils of story? She longed to know. Angered, that they would not tell her. For was she not Queen of this horrid place beyond all humanity, and being such should they not serve her. She would not be betrayed again! Never she whispered to the dark walls of the tower. Never betrayed again.
Noticing the flare of gold that the setting sun cast onto the lake, Shian realised that she had spent the whole day with the Prince. Her mother would be worried. And angered too when she found out who she had spent the day with. Shian had decided to tell her mother of the Prince. He was not the evil creature presented in so many stories. She felt that he had spoken truly to her today and she trusted her heart to know if he was false. He was good and kind and brave. All the things that Princes in stories pretend to be except that with him it was true.
"It is late, I must be home before dark," said Shian.
"I understand, Shian. These woods may not be such a safe place for a sweet maiden at night. And you are expected home surely," replied the prince.
"Yes," answered Shian, hesitating a moment before she continued, "I live with my mother in a tower at the edge of the forest. It is very difficult to find, if you do not know where to look. You can find it by going west from the willow tree by this lake."
The Prince tried to keep his face calm as excitement coursed through him at the knowledge of where she stayed. For this knowledge would surely make it easier for him to enthral her since it allowed him access to her whenever he desired it. Soon her beautiful lips, her dark silken hair, her smooth, fair skin would be his.
"Though I know you must go, I would rather you stay a while longer for today has been the most joyous of days. Will you come again tomorrow?" Asked the Prince, letting a hint of longing enter his voice.
Shian felt her heart pounding as he reached down for her hands. His touch was gentle.
"Yes. I mean, I would like to but I may not be allowed. My mother… she does not like Princes. I plan to tell her about us… I mean, you, tonight and I can not know of her reaction. She may be upset and try to stop me from seeing you," answered Shian.
"Then I will come to you," answered the prince, "Farewell Shian," he whispered kissing her hand in parting.
Shian felt a shiver within her at his kiss for his eyes had been on hers and they showed his desire.
"Farewell," she whispered and turned away as the golden tendril of story bound her heart to his.