Adele's Stories

I shifted uncomfortably in my saddle, the large castle looming over me. What was I doing here? I had nothing to prove. I turned and looked behind me at my brother’s sneering face. There was no way he was letting me out of this. It was a stupid idea born from temporary anger and hostility. He was just lucky I never told father the real reason we came out here. Then again maybe I should have. He would have stopped it.

I took a deep breath and urged Snowfall forward. She tossed her head and backed away nervously before I was able to get her to listen to me. The rumor was no one had been inside this castle in over a hundred years. And that it was haunted by it’s last inhabitants. A king and queen who couldn’t stand each other.

I left Snowfall outside as I entered cautiously. “Hello?” I called out. Why was I calling out to ghosts? No idea. I made my way further into the castle, clutching my blankets and change of clothes to my chest.

I almost didn’t realize I had entered the great hall. It was covered in so much dust and cobwebs and there were cracks in the walls and ceiling. Sunlight poured in from above. A shadow moved from in between the beams of light and I gasped and dropped my possessions. I watched the shadow move about the room as I stood frozen.

My heart beat erratically. This was it. This was the day I died. The ghost stepped into the light and I found my voice and screamed. The ghost screamed too.

“Why are we screaming?” The ghost asked. I could only stare. He didn’t look like a ghost. He looked like a boy. A normal boy.

“Are you not a ghost?”

The boy gave me a look. “Course not. I am a fairy.” he gave a dramatic bow as my heart returned to normal.

“Oh is that all,” I placed my hands on my hips. “Why did you scare me like that?”

“It wasn’t my intention. You are a very jumpy person.” The boy rocked on his heels and looked around almost as if he was bored. “What are you doing here anyways?”

“Are you a real fairy or did you just make that up?”

He stopped moving and raised a brow. “I am a real fairy. And you didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m spending the night here.” I lifted my head in the haughtiest fashion I could.

The fairy gave me a look. “Why would you do that?”

I raised my head higher and looked down my nose at him even though he was taller than me. “I am a princess. I need not answer your silly questions.”

He rolled his eyes. “All right then. I suggest you get comfortable as it gets cold at night.”

I relaxed a little as I studied this odd fairy. “And what is it you are doing here, might I ask?”

“Well I’m trapped of course. Believe me I wouldn’t be here unless I had no other choice.”

“How did you become trapped? Perhaps I could help you.”

The boy fairy stared at me like he never considered that option. “And why would you do such a thing for me?”

I shrugged. “Why wouldn’t I?” It was a genuine question. I was here with nothing else to do so I might as well. He continued to stare in disbelief.

“You would seriously help me?” I nodded. “Well then. If you help me free myself from the entrapment then I promise to grant you one wish once I am freed.”

I was taken aback. “Really? You’d do that?” I shook my head. “No I don’t need anything in return.”

The boy stepped toward me and held out his hand. “I want too. My way of thanking you. I won’t take no for an answer.”

I hesitated just once before shaking the fairies hand. I was left amazed at the gold dust covering my hand as I pulled it away.

“My name is Luke.” the fairy stated.

“Mina.” I didn’t take my eyes off my hand. “What is this?”

“That? Oh that’s just to remind you that I owe you a wish. See I have it too,” he held up his hand which was indeed covered in gold dust. “If I don’t fulfill my promise…well let’s just say I intend to fulfill it.”

He rocked on his heels again as it grew silence. I looked around the room. “So… how exactly can I help you?”

Luke shrugged. “I’m not sure what else you can do that I haven’t already tried.”

“Well…” I though for a moment before sitting down and motioning for Luke to join me. “Why don’t we start at the beginning. Tell me how you became trapped.”

“What do you know about the king and queen of this castle?”

“That they despised each other. The rumors say they caused each others death but no one knows how. And that they haunt this place.”

Luke practically rolled his eyes. “They don’t haunt this place. Those rumors were probably about me. But they did hate each other. And they did cause each others death. But not directly. It was more like… they’re hate for each other was so strong it blocked their hearts from feeling any kind of love entirely. And as the days passed the hate in their hearts only grew until they couldn’t handle it any more and they died. Human’s were meant for love not hate. It destroyed them.” He grew silent for a moment, his eyes far away, reliving such an awful time.

Finally he drew a deep breath and looked at me again. “But what most people never knew was that I was the reason they hated each other.” I couldn’t help the gasp that escaped my lips. “It was supposed to be a harmless prank. But I was young and stupid. I wanted to prove to my friends that I could be just as mischievous as them. But it blew up in my face.”

“What did you do?” My voice was quiet like I was afraid of the answer.

Luke seemed hesitant. “What I didn’t understand about human emotion was that there was a fine line between love and hate. I figured that because they loved each other nothing could change that. I was wrong.”

“Luke. What did you do?” he looked away.

“There was a drunk man sleeping outside the castle gate. During the night I placed him beside the queen in her bed.” I gasped again. “I wasn’t thinking. I thought the queen would wake up and it’d give her a little fright and she call the guards to get rid of him. But instead the king walked in to surprise her with breakfast in her chambers. He saw them together and lost it. He accused the queen of adultery and declared he’d never forgive her. The queen claimed innocence and when he didn’t believe her she vowed to despise him forever. And since no one in the castle could prove or disprove the queens innocence their hate grew.

“The fairy counsel was furious with me. We are allowed to pull a few harmless pranks here and there but I completely changed the course of their lives. The counsel banished me to the castle and proclaimed that I would be trapped here until everything was back as it should be. And I did everything I could. But then they died. I failed. And now I can’t leave.”

“Have you ever tried?”

“What?”

“Have you ever tried to leave? I mean, how do you know when they died that didn’t break the entrapment.”

“Oh I’ve tried. I’ve tried every exit in this castle and then some. I’m stuck.”

“Well… perhaps you were never meant to make them fall in love again.”

“How do you mean?”

“Well the counsel said that you needed to put ‘everything back it should be’. But what does that even mean any way? How do we know them being in love was how it was supposed to be. Maybe there was something else you were supposed to do.”

“Perhaps you’re right. But how does that help me now?”

“I’m not sure. There must be something we’re missing.” after a moment of silence for us to think I leapt to my feet. “Let’s go find the queen’s chambers. Let’s go back to where all of this started and maybe we’ll find a clue or something.”

Luke gazed up at me from the floor for a moment before shrugging. “I don’t see why not.”

I followed him back into the foyer and up a set of stairs I hadn’t noticed before. We climbed higher and higher until I was sure we had reached the roof. Luke finally stopped and lead me down a long hallway to the room on the far end. I’m sure ages ago it had two beautifully carved wooden doors but now they had rotted away to almost nothing leaving the room exposed.

I hesitated in the doorway. It was hard to shake the feeling that the ghost of the queen was going to pop out of a corner and try to kill me. Luke had to reassure me three times before I’d finally enter.

Even after all these years, and the obvious decay that had taken hold, there was something about the room that struck me as beautiful. Behind the once canopied bed there was still a piece of what used to be a stained glass window. And the sun was hitting it just right, casting numerous different colors about the room.

“What now?” Luke asked.

I could only shrug. “Start looking around I suppose.” Luke began to rummage under the bed while I examined an old trunk in the corner. One by one I pulled out beautiful silk dresses. Other than being covered in dust they seemed perfectly in tact. I made a mental note to take them home with me and have them cleaned and tailored.

At the bottom of the chest I found a lock box. “Can you open this?” I asked of Luke after trying and failing myself. Luke pulled out his head from the fireplace and came to join me. After a few minutes of prying and using a broken leg chair to break off the lock we finally removed the lid. And inside was the most beautiful crown I had ever laid eyes on. More beautiful than either of my parents. And it was still in perfect condition. Not even a speck of dust.

Luke lifted it out and held it up to the window where the sunlight made it glitter. Set in pure gold with emeralds and diamonds. It looked almost magical. “This was the queens crown.” Luke spoke mostly to himself as he stared. His eyes widened with realization. “Everything back as it should be.”

“Have you figured it out?”

Luke spun around and stepped towards me. “The castle needs a new queen. A queen who won’t let hate overrun her heart and who will rule with love.” He was staring at me so intently I stumbled backwards.

“You’re not thinking me are you?”

“Of course I am! It makes perfect sense!”

“It most certainly does not! You don’t even know me! How do you know I’ll be all those things?”

“I know enough. You were brave enough to come into a castle you believed was haunted and kind enough to help a perfect stranger. That’s all I need to know you’ll be a great queen.”

I hesitated. “Everything as it should be. Wouldn’t I need a king too?”

Luke’s shoulders drooped for a moment. “I’ll be the king.”

“What!?”

“Think about it. I’m a fairy. I don’t feel emotions the same way you do so there’s not risk of hate taking over me.”

“But what about the ruling in love part? And I thought you wanted to escape this place. Won’t becoming king give you obligations that would keep you here?”

Luke shrugged. “I’d still be free to leave. I’ll leave all the ruling to you, and go back to my life, while coming back here every now and then when necessary.”

I shook my head. “And the love part Luke? Everything as it should be. The king and queen ruling together in love. How can you do that when you’re not here. And like I said, we barely know each other. What if it doesn’t work out?”

“Then at least I’ll have tried!” We were both silent as Luke caught his breath. This was the most insane conversation I’d ever had. The tension was palpable. “Then at least I’ll have tried. We’ll do everything we can to make it work and if it doesn’t then that will not have been my fault and I’ll still be free. Mina. Please.”

I took careful steps toward him. “I’m a princess Luke. I know what it takes to rule a kingdom. The sacrifices it takes. What are you willing to sacrifice to make it work? What if we try this and we discover that for it to work you have to give up everything you’ve been trying to gain? Can you do that Luke? Can you give it all up for your kingdom? For your queen? For me?”

Luke looked down and met my gaze. “Yes Mina. All I care about now is putting everything back as it should be.”

He reached out to place the crown on my head but I stopped him with a raised hand. “Wait. I want to tell you my wish first.” Luke raised his brow in amusement and motioned for me to continue. “I wish that no matter what may come you and I will remain good friends.”

Luke smiled and bowed. “Your wish is my command Your Majesty.” And before I could speak he had placed the crown on my head.”

And the world around me changed. The walls began to fix themselves, dust lifted and blew away. Within seconds the castle had been returned to its former glory. With me as it’s queen.