Three years passed. It was no secret that the ruler of Florin, King Sidfried, was getting very old (and a little senile) and wouldn't be able to handle the responsibility of running a country much longer. There always had to be an heir to the throne, which meant that when the prince became the new king, he would eventually have to have a family. Which meant he would have to get married. Prince Haroldink, however, was not looking forward to becoming king, and was even less excited about finding a wife.
"Awwww, come on, Ma. Do I have to?" he asked, for the seventh time that day.
"Yes, son," Queen Nadine answered patiently. "Your father is growing older and weaker by the minute...and, well frankly, the people of Florin think it's about time for him to retire."
Haroldink frowned and crossed his arms. "So--I have to become responsible and get married as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Dad gets to spend the rest of his life sleeping and eating all day. Is that about right?"
"Rules are rules," she said with a shrug.
"And there's no way for me to get out of it?"
"Not without rebuilding the foundation of Florin's entire system of government from scratch."
"Huh?...I'm confused....."
"No. There's no way."
"AWWWW!"
As the queen left, he turned to his assistant, Phoebe, who always kept track of schedules and appointments and other important things that he had to do. Truthfully, Phoebe wasn't exactly looking forward to seeing Haroldink as king, either.....she knew that it would mean just that much more work for her.
"Hey, Phoebe..." he asked, "...How do I get a girl to marry me?"
"Let me see." Phoebe adjusted her glasses and ran her pencil down a list. "Well, your Highness...the preferable approach involves finding someone who shares similar interests to yours and towards whom you feel a mutual degree of attraction and respect, followed by development of a stable relationship with that person on the grounds of friendship and/or possible romance. Then in the event of growing emotional attachments either one or both persons may suggest establishing a deeper level of commitment between the two parties....."
"You're making my head hurt. That sounds like too much work."
Phoebe sighed, slightly annoyed. "Or...you could take the faster--although in many aspects, riskier and less desirable--approach.....and have someone choose a wife for you."
Haroldink perked up. "Really? Okay, I'll do that." He thought for a minute. "You aren't busy right now, are you?"
"Unfortunately, your Highness, I still have a large amount of paperwo....."
"Great. Go find me a wife--I don't care what she's like."
Phoebe grumbled under her breath, almost breaking her pencil in half. However, she answered meekly, "Yes, Your Highness. Finding," and began to write out a series of preparations to be made.
Haroldink rose to leave the room. Just before exiting, he turned to Phoebe with a mean look in his eye. "But she'd better not be real ugly, or I'm gonna get maaaad!"
Phoebe's task proved to be much more difficult than she had expected. Failure after failure finally left her at something of a loss as to where to look. It was easy enough to find a girl who wasn't--well--ugly.....but the real problem lay in locating one who would be willing to marry the prince. So far, there had been twenty-six straight 'No's, five 'You gotta be kidding me's, and one case of hysterical laughter. He isn't much of a prize, Phoebe couldn't help thinking to herself--but still...there had to be someone. She decided that it might be best to search the more isolated areas of the kingdom...for people who hadn't heard as many negative things about the royal family. Vaguely, she remembered a story that one of the king's cousins--a 'Lady Lulu' or something like that--had told, about some 'ever-so-quaint' little farms down in the valleys.....
As you would no doubt have guessed, Helganna's was the first farm she came to.
"Let me get this straight," Helganna said, when Phoebe had explained the situation. "You're saying the Big Cheese, high muckity-muck, soon-to-be-king, Crown Prince of Florin wants me to marry him, although we've never met each other and he has no idea I even exist?"
"Not in so many words, yes."
"I will never love him," she said, stiffly.
"Believe me--no one expects you to."
She raised her eyebrow. "What about my parents, and the farm?"
"They'll be set for life. You won't have to worry about them."
"So.....I'll be rich and powerful?"
Phoebe smiled. Things were looking up. At least she hadn't refused yet. "Disgustingly so," she answered, her eyes narrowing. "More than any other woman in the kingdom. You'll have anything and everything you desire handed to you on a silver platter."
Helganna thought for a looooong minute.
Finally, she shook Phoebe's hand.
"All right, sister...you've got a deal."
Thus, the wedding arrangements could begin. Helganna was officially crowned 'Princess' and introduced to the people of Florin as their future queen. Banquets were thrown in her honor and everybody bowed respectfully when she walked by. The common folk were positively enamored of her. She was one of them, and she was engaged to a prince; that was enough to make them love her. ("Boy-howdy, son!" King Sidfried said to Haroldink at one celebration. "I thought nobody would be crazy enough to marry you! I couldn't be prouder!"...then Queen Nadine shushed him and led him away before Haroldink could feel insulted...) Still, despite the lavish attention and money and expensive things, Helganna continued to grow more lonely and sad throughout it all, and kept mainly to herself. Her only joy was riding daily through the forests and countryside. As each day passed, she rode farther and farther.
One day she chose to ride especially far, away from the town and villages. It began to grow dark, and she turned her horse, preparing to head back toward the palace. Suddenly, she heard a rustle in the leaves behind her.
"A word, my lady?"
She looked around, alarmed. Three men emerged from the forest. The tallest was a giant of a man, with a huge nose and large, powerful arms that looked as if they could easily rip up a tree trunk. The second, dark, and lean, with a thin-bladed sword at his side. The shortest man stood somewhat hunched over, his eyes hidden behind a pair of thick, round glasses. He was obviously the leader, for it was he who had spoken.
"We are but poor, lost circus performers," he said, walking toward her. "It is getting dark, and we were wondering if there might be a village or a house nearby, where we could stay for the night."
"There is nothing nearby," she answered. Something didn't feel right. "...Not for miles."
"Then there will be no one to hear you scream," the man said, softly. He reached up and touched a place on her neck--and before Helganna could say a word, blackness swam before her eyes and she was unconscious.
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A/N: Much thanks to everybody who read and reviewed! Hang in there...the story's just getting started.