Curse of the Throne

As a princess and the only heir to the throne, I always lived a sheltered life, and the constraints around me only grew when my mother passed away during an epidemic when I was just twelve. I could barely walk the castle grounds without having guards following me every step of the way. He blamed it on my abilities, but it was too easy of an excuse.

Once I was old enough, my father then began to look for suitors for me. I rejected his plans, but he wouldn’t listen. He said I should marry soon and make sure there is another heir, for his witch consultant, Ariska, said the disease that took my mother would surely return before five years pass. I told him there was no ensuring that any of us would be safe from it, but his mind was made.

The evening we had that discussion, I sat on one of the benches on the castle grounds, watching the sunset, when I caught a shadow swiftly receding between two trees. It was no natural phenomenon. The guards around me approached the trees as I did, but it seemed like they had not noticed what had just happened. I asked them if they had seen a shadow moving by the trees and they said they saw no such thing. I wondered whether it was someone from the Veil. One of the guards reported the incident to my father that night and he summoned me at once.

“What’s this I hear about a shadow?” he asked.

“I thought I saw one outside today. Maybe it was nothing.”

“I think not. We can’t leave anything to chance. I’ll ask Ariska to perform a warding spell to repel any evil that may be pursuing you.”

“Father, I think I would have noticed if the presence today was evil.”

“You merely caught a glimpse of it. We can’t be certain.”

Father was quivering in his seat. I had not seen him like that ever since Mother passed away.

“Is there something you’re not telling me?”

He said nothing.

“You’ve always been overprotective, but I feel there’s more to this story.”

Father sighed and gripped his armrest. “Fine, perhaps it’s time you knew.”

He said the plague that took Mother was not one that emerged naturally: someone had concocted it specifically to target Mother and me. Everyone else was collateral. He said my mother had a cousin who had her eyes on the throne, and that my father choosing Mother over her was what led to the epidemic that engulfed us. Until then, I had not known that I was a witch. However, my father said that I was no match for the witch who sought our demise; since my mother was the only one with magical abilities, my powers were limited to seeing the spirits of the Veil.

I couldn’t sleep that night. I lay in bed, thinking about my mother, and worrying about what was to come. It was then that my bedroom windows flung open and the shadow from before rushed in with the wind. I called for help, but the spirit wrapped its presence around me and muffled my screams. It then spoke.

“Please, I mean no harm! I need your help.”

“How can I trust you?”

“I would have killed you earlier or even now if I wanted to. I’m a victim, just like you.”

I could tell that the spirit’s feelings were genuine. It was a man no older than myself, and he seemed to be in a panic. I asked him what had happened, and he said he was the prince of Saznia, one of the kingdoms to the north. He said the witch who sought my father’s throne ripped his soul from his body and left him to traverse the Veil forever, while she went on to take control of his body to seek an opportunity to finally seize the throne. The rumours of another plague being on the horizon were just a ruse.

I took the news to my father, and he immediately arranged a meeting with Ariska. Father wanted to go after the witch at first light, but Ariska rejected the proposal. “That would only stir conflict between us and Saznia, my lord. No, we let her come to us and ensnare her in her own trap.”

The Saznian prince asked if his spirit could be restored, but Ariska apologised. She said once a soul was removed from its body, it could no longer re-enter the body and live a normal life, and what would come back to life would certainly not be fully human. Ariska offered safe passage for his soul to the afterlife; the prince accepted, although he requested the ritual to be delayed until the witch was slain.

We set up the trap for the witch in the coming week, and when the day finally dawned, our enemy was caught and executed for her crimes. Ariska ensured that all measures were taken to reveal to the Saznian king and queen that their son was indeed dead. The prince was finally able to say farewell to his parents before passing on to the afterlife.

After that day, Father loosened his grip around me. He agreed that he had gone too far, and that I deserved the freedom I had always longed for.