The Curse of Magic
In a small kingdom, there lived a princess by the name of Bella. Now, Princess Bella was not your average princess; she had magic powers. This came in handy for her at an early age because she discovered she could control objects with just the touch of her fingers.
One day, while playing in her courtyard with some dolls, she heard somebody calling to her from across the castle grounds. It was Lady Jane! The lady ran up to Princess Bella with delight,
“Your Highness,” she said, “We have some young guests who have come to see you. Would you like to entertain them?”
“No thank you,” said Princess Bella politely as she turned back to playing with her dolls. But then, suddenly, the dolls started moving with no help from Princess Bella. They were running around the yard, chasing each other. Then one doll took off into the sky. The others followed it. Next thing Princess Bella knew, they were all flying through the air together.
“Wow!” cried Lady Jane. “How did that happen?”
Princess Bella didn’t know either. So she decided to find out how things worked, and see if she couldn’t make them stop. Her first attempt at making them land failed miserably. Instead of landing on the ground, the dolls began flying straight toward the castle walls.
“Yikes!” cried Lady Jane. “I think they’re going to crash into the wall!”
Princess Bella watched in dismay as all her dolls crashed into the walls. Suddenly, the area shook. “What’s happening?!” she shrieked. In an instant, a portion of the wall came tumbling down.
Lady Jane fled the scene in terror, seeking to inform Queen Lendalia. When she arrived at the queen’s chambers, she found her royal mistress sitting at her desk writing letters.
“Your Highness, there is something wicked afoot.” She explained. “Your daughter’s dolls could move and break down an entire section of the castle walls. She needs help!”
Queen Lendalia hardly reacted when she looked slighted.
“I see…” The Queen acknowledged. “Bring my daughter in here and let her explain at once.”
Lady Jane ran back to where she had just left the princess.
When she arrived, she found Princess Bella and some palace guards began cleaning up the mess that had been made.
“Your Highness.” Lady Jane called to her. This time, it was different. “Your mother would like to see you this instant.” Her tone was distant, colder than what the princess was accustomed to hearing.
When Princess Bella finally arrived at her mother’s chambers, a furious queen confronted her. “How dare you destroy the palace walls?” shouted Queen Lendalia. “I demand an explanation this instant!”
“It wasn’t my fault,” said Bella, blushing and confused as ever. “The little things came to life…”
The queen broke into a hysterical fit of laughter and pointed at her daughter.
“You have taken after your father! Now, do you know what this means?” she said, after regaining her composure.
“Know what?” asked the young princess innocently.
“We’ll discuss this later. Let us have the room.” Said Queen Lendalia as she dismissed Lady Jane and the guards. She led her daughter to a balcony so they could talk privately.
“I think it’s time for you to start your training as a sorceress!” The queen said in a stern voice.
Sorceress? What was she talking about?! The young girl’s thoughts were all over the place.
“But I’m only twelve years old…” objected Princess Bella. She sighed and looked at her hands. That she felt was causing this in some way.
“Oh, mother,” said Bella, “I don’t want to be a sorcerer.”
As she said that, Princess Bella turned around and dashed for her quarters. The little princess ran with tears welling up in her eyes.
The Queen called after her daughter. When she did not obey, she called for support.
“Guards! After her!” said the queen with anger. The guards grabbed Princess Bella and carried her to the palace’s magical confinement. They believed the princess would not be a harm to herself or anyone else in there.
The princess was confused by what was happening to her as she used to be so free with her powers in the past. The difference was she kept them a secret from everyone else. Only recently did Lady Jane see them, and they became uncontrollable.
As the days passed, she regretted showing anyone her powers and just wanted her life to go back to normal when only she knew.
“You will learn to control the power of the stars and the planets,” instructed the queen. “You must also learn to control the powers of the earth and the elements. You must also learn to control the powers of fire, water, and wind. If you fail to learn these things, you will not live to see the age of twenty. Do you understand?”
Princess Bella was scared, but she nodded. “Yes, mother,” she said. “Now, if you’ll please get out of here, and leave me alone.”
The guards left her in her confinement with no supper, no bed, and no company.
In the morning, a young lady named Clara came by to deliver a breakfast of bread, cheese, and milk for the young princess. She was about to call for Her Highness when the tray in her hand shook. After a few moments, the tray stopped moving and all the food fell onto the floor.
“What’s happening?” asked Clara as she stooped down to help pick up the pieces of food. The moment she stood back up, the tray fell from her hands. Its spoon and fork flew around the room. The glass of milk shattered into several pieces. Suddenly, the fork stopped and turned towards Clara. As the fork drew closer, Clara felt a chill run down her spine.
“Get away!” the little princess cried..
Clara tried to move back, but the dishware kept flying at her. Finally, she ran out the door, slamming it behind her.
“Help! Help!” Clara shouted while running through the castle.
Clara ran into the Grand Corridor, where she saw Queen Lendalia. “Your majesty, your highness! Princess Bella…the food… it flew at me!” said Clara in between breaths.
“What are you talking about?” asked Queen Lendalia. She knew the princess was in a magical confined room, but somehow she was growing strong enough to overcome it. “Are you certain of this, Clara?”
The castle keeper nodded in fright to confirm the story, which made the Queen’s eyes grow wide with fury.
“That little brat!” shouted the Queen. “I’m going to teach her a lesson!”
The queen burst through the doors of Princess Bella’s confines, but she was nowhere to be found. She looked around frantically for her daughter. The guards in the dungeon called out for their highness, but there was no response. They came back to her confinement chamber and inspected it, but they didn’t see any signs of struggle or means of escaping.
Her mother thought carefully about what could have taken her child, and then she looked up to the ceiling of the room, and the realisation of horror morphed on her face.
Princess Bella had listened to her mother’s teachings, but not in the way the Queen had hoped. She was tired of being treated unfairly in the castle and wanted to leave. She thought about how the birds outside were free and flying, and thought about how she could do that herself. Soar, in the same manner that she made her dolls, do it. Without crashing into any walls, of course.
As she thought about it, she felt the sensation of the winds outside. She could hear it calling to her. Soon she was floating and moving with the afternoon breeze. Moving gracefully and gently… all the way to the confinement windows and pass it. She could now feel the vast blue sky surrounding her and picking her up in the flows of its currents.
The queen pointed to the window. “Guards, look outside. See if you see my daughter in the sky!”
All the guards began looking at the heavens, and finally one guard was able to see a young child levitating and moving in the sky above. He yelled to his group. “The princess! She is getting away!”
The guards watched helplessly as their future Queen flew through the winds.
“Take me away!” cried Bella to the sky. The air currents took her over the castle walls and soared high in the air. Bella opened her eyes wide, staring at the sky. She was flying now on her own. Controlling where she could go. It was bliss to her.
Queen Lendalia opened the chamber doors, only to be taken aback by the view of Princess Bella flying high in the sky. “No, my child!” sobbed the Queen. “You are not ready for this!”
Bella closed her eyes tight, trying to block out all sounds except the amazing feeling of flight she was experiencing.
Suddenly, she felt dizzy and sick. “This is awful! No, I don’t want this to end!” Suddenly the wind died down, and she fell to the earth.
“What’s happening?!” cried Princess Bella as she fell from the sky. She spiralled closer to the ground. She was going to crash-land in a tall tree!
Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light. Bella opened her eyes and looked down. She saw the earth below her and the ocean. She was twice as high up as she’d been before. The wind picked up and took her, soaring upward again. She flew out over the ocean, far into the distance.
As she flew around the providence, she admired the beauty of the scenery. She had never ventured this far before and flew down, landing and picking some wildflowers and arranged them in a bouquet.
She felt she would eventually go home and face her mother. She hoped the queen would be more understanding to her and they could discover and work on her magic together. In the meantime, she could enjoy the serenity of the lush fields of flowers, the smell of the pristine grass and the sounds of the birds while everyone came to find her. She sat down and took it all in as she waited.
Meanwhile, Queen’s Lendalia’s guards began their search, but they didn’t have any luck. They looked everywhere they could think of but found no trace of the princess.
“Keep looking.” The Queen commanded. “She must have gone further out in the province.”
Later that day, the princess was lying on a pile of dirt and leaves, waiting for the moon to rise. She listened carefully, wondering if it would rain that night. She wondered if she could play with those elements as she did with the wind.
“Rain, please,” she prayed, excited to find out. “Please, let it rain.”
She sensed a powerful magic forming and soon enough; she heard thunder. Bella trembled with fear. She wanted the rain, but not the full power of the lightning as well. The dried leaves around her swirled, and the princess felt a gust of wind blow through the forest. Bella shivered, but she stayed calm.
The wind grew stronger and carried rain with it. The leaves in the air turned into a funnel, spinning wildly in place. Princess Bella closed her eyes and willed the debris not to hurt her. Her spell worked as the objects moved away.
Suddenly, she felt something touch her leg. She opened her eyes to see what was there. To her relief, it was a lone blue butterfly. Bella reached out and touched the wing of the butterfly, which was covered in a thin layer of dust from the debris.
“Oh! Thank you for coming to me, little friend,” said Bella. The butterfly landed on her hand and fluttered around her fingers.
The princess smiled contentedly at the sight of the butterfly, but soon she could sense a danger was imminent. An enormous bear from the neighbouring forest appeared in the distance and started rushing towards her.
“Please don’t hurt me,” cried Princess Bella. The bear didn’t heed the command and continued its charge. “I just want my mother!” she shouted.
The bear reached out with one of its massive paws, but just before it could touch her; the princess disappeared. After looking around in confusion, the bear went back to the path it was following. As he did, the sky darkened.
Queen Lendalia and the guards reached the area the princess had just disappeared to see the storm clouds approaching. “Princess Bella!” screamed Queen Lendalia. “Where are you, my child?”
A flash of lightning lit up the entire area, illuminating Bella in the surrounding darkness.
“My child!” the queen screamed. “Come to me! All is forgiven.”
Bella felt a strange rush of extreme displacement within her. She was on the ground in one instant, and then the next she was high in the skies.
“She has succumbed to the same fate as her father!” yelled Queen Lendalia, looking at the quick flashes of her child’s appearance every time the lightning struck.
“Mother!” cried Bella. A blinding flash followed the roar of thunder again and again. Her voice echoed through the valley.
“I can hear you dear.” the queen responded. “Please go home. Go to the castle. We will fix this.”
Bella thought about the palace, the time before they confined her because of her powers. She felt herself moving at an uncontrollable speed moving across the skies, closer and closer to her home. The sound was unbearable this high up, and each flash hurt her eyes.
She just wanted it all to stop.
Suddenly, Bella felt warm sunlight against her body. The princess looked around and saw that she was flying above the palace’s courtyard.
“I’m here, everyone! I’ve come back home!” she cried. But no one could hear her. She flew over to her mother. The queen was wailing loudly, as if someone had recently died. Lady Jane comforted her as tears trickled down her own cheek.
“It’s okay now, Mother,” said Bella, but Queen Lendalia continued crying.
“What happened? Why can’t anyone hear me?” asked Bella. Her voice sounded strange and distant.
“Magic must have consumed her. It’s the curse put upon me when I was still carrying her in my womb. Her father, the late king, once delved with dark magic. This is the price he has to pay.”
Bella stared at her mother in horror. What terrible thing had her father done? How could such a harsh punishment be fair?
Queen Lendalia began to cry loudly again. Princess Bella cried as well and then she noticed her tears were falling like rain.
She noticed Lady Jane was looking in her direction, recognizing the trickle of water, as if she could sense her. “Please take care of her.” the little princess said to her, “I will fix this and come back to you all.”
Lady Jane nodded her head. She heard the young princess but did not want to distress the Queen any further.
Bella knew her mother, and her had their differences, but they could work it out, and she intended on ensuring that happened.
As Bella looked at everyone and tried to comfort them, she heard a voice nearby.
“So you have learnt the ways, child. Younger than I would have imagined.”
Bella looked around, shocked to see a figure floating nearby. It was an older man that bore a resemblance to her.
“Who are you?” she questioned.
“I am your father,” he answered. “And I’ve been waiting for you, daughter.”
“It can’t be,” she said. “Mother said you died!”
“She said the magic consumed me.” Her father corrected. “Hardly dead, my dear. But I feared this would have happened to you as well. So I stayed close.”
“I want to be with my family again.” Bella sobbed. “I don’t want to be like this forever.”
“We must go on a journey, and I will ensure that you are back with them again, my princess.” Her father promised.
Her father flew into the distance towards the horizon. She looked up into the sky and then saw a single blue butterfly flying towards her. It went on her fingers and began fluttering. This brought a smile to the child’s face.
“Everything is going to be ok.” Bella said, assuring herself.
With that, she willed the winds to take her up and she followed her father to the horizon, preparing for anything this new adventure would bring them.
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