Prince Everett didn't move.
Anette turned to Allan questioningly and saw his face was bright red, his hand still tugging at his collar.
"Why won't he wake up?" she asked. "Please don't tell me he needs the kiss of true love. Falman is too far away."
"It's not the kiss of true love he needs. As I said before, I was watching your journey here. When I saw that you were coming to rescue Prince Everett, I couldn't help but feel betrayed. You said you felt the same as me, and yet you were coming to rescue your husband. You called him your husband the entire way here."
Her face flushed red. "I only called him that because I had nothing else to call him. It's also not safe for a woman traveling alone to proclaim she isn't married."
Allan rubbed his face. "It seems so reasonable now. But I was disappointed and that made me furious. I made it so Prince Everett could only be woken by the touch of pure gold."
"Gold?" Her heart sank. She had no gold.
He nodded, swallowing loudly. "I changed the spell from a queen I met on my travels. Originally the victim took a bite of an apple and could only be woken by true love's kiss. I had to improvise a little. He's just sleeping. It's a simple spell, no fruit involved. And as for the kiss; Falman gave you the copper bracelet, as a princess, you have a silver crown, but you have no gold. Without it, there's no way to wake him without any side effects."
"Side effects! What are you talking about?" She held Falman's bracelet tightly, a terrible feeling rising in her chest.
He sighed. "All three metals will wake him. But only gold will wake him and leave him the same as before I took him away. If you touch him with gold, then he will wake with his feelings for Falman intact. If you touch him with your silver crown, he will wake in love with you." He hung his head, voice thick with shame. "And if you touch him with the bracelet you wear, he will wake in love with no one."
She stared at him, horrified. If she were to touch Prince Everett with Falman's bracelet or her crown, he would either not love Falman, or he would love her?
"I'm so sorry, my lady. I was furious. I did not want you to succeed."
She shook her head. "We can find something gold."
"There's no gold anywhere in the palace. Nothing but black stone."
"In the forest?"
"None, my lady."
"Perhaps there is a house where we can find a golden coin."
"Princess, please listen. I made gold the one thing that will wake Prince Everett and leave him the same because I knew you had given up the only things of gold you had. There is no gold for miles around, and there is no time to fetch some."
"Please don't tell me you've put a time limit on him," she demanded.
"Midnight after you opened the coffin," he mumbled.
"What time is it now?"
"Just past eleven." He covered his face. "I'm so sorry!"
She considered hitting Allan for not telling her this before she opened the coffin, but shook her head, looking at Prince Everett carefully. "What about our wedding rings?" she asked. "Those are gold."
"They won't work. I made sure of it. He can't have touched the gold beforehand."
She exhaled sharply, digging through her pockets and trying to remember if perhaps there was gold with Aurora. Allan must know where her horse was. It was pointless though, as she remembered Aurora's saddle and reins were plain leather, and her pockets were empty except for a small cloth filled with biscuit crumbs. She gritted her teeth angrily. All she had that was even remotely gold in color was the tiny flower she had coughed up.
Flowers and jewels shall fall from your lips.
Maybe…
She pulled the flower from of her hair, having to grope around to find it. As she held it triumphantly, brushing away stray strands that had clung to it, Allan shook his head.
"It shouldn't work," he said sadly. "Only actual gold will."
"It had better work," she replied crossly. "I coughed this up in exchange for a pair of scissors and admitting to a stranger I don't feel desire."
"That woman under the maple tree?" Anette nodded, and Allan smiled a little. "Nice woman, but a bit strange. I gave her my dagger."
"Apparently it was stolen. Let's hope the scissors last a bit longer," Anette murmured. "Will the flower work?"
"You can try, I suppose. How did you say you came by it, again?"
"It came out of my mouth."
He made a face, and she knelt and gently touched the flower to Prince Everett's forehead.
For a heart pounding moment, nothing happened. Anette slumped down, wanting to yell. She clenched her fist, smashing the flower inside her hand. It hadn't worked. Of course it hadn't.
Prince Everett sat straight up. Anette jumped up, aware of Allan yelping but mostly thinking of the fact Prince Everett was awake and alive and she wouldn't have to tell Falman he was lost forever. He looked around wildly, his dark eyes wide and his cheeks flushed.
"Where is he?" he demanded, turning to Anette. "Where is Falman?"
*~*~*
The three of them and Aurora returned to Estar by way of Allan, who spirited them home the same way he'd taken Prince Everett.
Falman was ecstatic when Prince Everett returned. Anette had never seen such happiness as those two when they saw one another.
After all the chaos of Prince Everett and Anette missing for nearly a month had died down, Prince Everett raised Falman from stable boy to his personal aide, so they could be together more often.
Anette took Allan into her service. She loved the idea of having Allan alongside her, so that they could talk and have each other's company in a non-romantic way. It was the most wonderful feeling, knowing that there was someone in the world who felt the same as you. Someone who wouldn't belittle you for how you felt—or didn't feel.
Anette and Prince Everett were still married, of course. But after Anette explained how she felt about love and desire, and how she felt none of it, she and Prince Everett agreed they would keep up appearances. At balls and gatherings, they were a lovely couple. A bit strange, perhaps, for there were still rumors that Prince Everett preferred men, and somehow there began rumors about Anette, that she had been taken advantage of when she was young, or that she preferred the company of women. A particularly nasty rumor about Anette and Allan being lovers spread, and of course there were the accusations of Prince Everett and Falman being lovers, but for the most part, Prince Everett and Anette were seen as the perfect couple.
And that is exactly as the four of them wanted it. They were simply the prince and the princess and their aides, while behind closed curtains, they were the prince with his lover and the princess wanting nothing to do with love.
FIN
About the Author
Lilian Bodley is an avid writer, with a passion for the macabre and dark fantasy. However, she writes just about anything she wants to- from horror to really weird comedies. She currently has more half-finished stories than she knows what to do with.
The Loveless Princess Page 6
