Author’s note: This is first installment of a Twisted Fairytale from my fifth short story compilation, Ugly: Twisted fairytales. It is a spinoff of the old Grimm’s tale, The Sleeping Beauty.
The King’s orders were clear, “Marry the princess or die trying.” By ‘the princess’, the King was referring to an old folklore that said:
“There lays a princess of sixteen,
Fair as the winter sun and hair made of gold,
Cursed by a witch to sleep for years untold,
In a silver castle guarded by a dragon.
When the century sets in the horizon,
Her prince shall arrive then,
To wake her with true love’s first kiss
And rule the world with her as his.”
Why the king wanted me, his eldest son and crown prince, to lay down my life for a princess who was at least a century older than me was anybody’s guess. But I am not the one to fight back my father’s whims. So, I had set off instantly on the quest along with two hundred soldiers. My men and I had searched the world for the elusive silver castle hiding the cursed princess, knowing too well that magic and dragons were creatures of myths. The folklore had come ‘somewhere from the north’, so we had started towards north and searched through many kingdoms and fought many unwanted battles to find this very old and, apparently, very desirable princess.
*****
After two years of constant walking and fighting and half of my men dying for nobody’s cause, I have finally found the place.
On the top of a hill, the ominous grey castle shines like silver and casts long shadows in the dying winter sun. The cloud of smoke that rises from the castle grounds is visible from the valley. I wish it is a huge bonfire, even if it means that the castle is now inhabited by an army of bandits or even a cannibal tribe. Anything is better than facing a dragon that can create smoke of that size without trying. But the villagers have spotted the dragon fly above the castle in circles too many times in the past century. Its roar is heart‑stopping even from such a distance. But it never leaves the castle to hunt, which meant that we are about to face a very hungry and frustrated dragon itching for a fight. The villagers have also told us of the many princes—fair, brave and strong—who came to rescue the princess in the past century. They all entered the castle accompanied with their entire armies and never returned—nobody ever did.
There is no way to kill a dragon—you can only avoid it. I am about to face it though. But do my men need to die as well?
*****
I embarked on this journey to die trying—to prove myself to my father and to the world that does not consider me man enough. I am a skilled warrior with a hulking frame and body sculpted from many years of rough living in constant battles that plague our kingdom’s borders. I have put my life on the line too many times for my king. But I’m the next in line to the throne and my lack of interest in women and marriage at 28 years of age is a cause of whispered suspicions across the kingdom and my father’s shame. My younger brothers make fun of my ‘chaste’ ways. Many wannabe‑princesses have tried to seduce me, and when they failed, they crushed my dignity underfoot by moving to my younger brothers’ bed chambers. My mother has even gone farther and found a woman who is ready to marry me ‘without expecting a child’. But how can I take the vows knowing they are lies?
I have tried to love someone…anyone…but failed. And with that, I have failed my parents, crushed their expectations and earned this banishment. Because no matter the excuse my father has used, it is banishment. They know well that no woman will ever wake from my kiss.
May be if I die trying, they would finally be proud of me. Not that anyone would care if I died, except Reese.
*****
Reese is my constant companion for twenty‑two years—playmate, best friend, sparring partner and now my Squire. Earlier, we had spent many years together planning pranks, facing my father’s backlash, fighting with wooden swords and dreaming of the day I would become the king, and Reese would be my general. He knew my moods and made me laugh. He cared.
But, at seventeen, my father had raised concerns about the closeness of our friendship. Soon after, Reese was sent with a battalion stationed at the far end of the kingdom and I was left alone in a world that did not care. It took me a long time to put my pieces together and become the ‘strong royal’ my father expected me to be. When Reese finally returned after two years, I realised it was better to stay aloof rather than face another separation. Now Reese is just my Squire, a subordinate who does as he is asked to. Reese still knows my moods and makes me laugh. He still cares. He has always stuck by my side during fights, never more than a few feet apart, watching my back and saving my neck too many times to count.
Author’s note: To be continued…
If you would rather read it all together in the book, Ugly: Twisted fairytales is available for free download here: Link
Photo by Sean Thomas on Unsplash
Short Stories 