Celeste was in heaven. For the first time in her life, she
took a warm leisurely bath with salts and bubbles and perfumes and lotions. As she
bathed she pondered what dress to wear when she finished, a pristine white
one, long and flowing, or a dark red one, or a midnight black one. When she
dried and dressed she sat for an hour brushing her own hair and looking at
herself in the mirror. She was beautiful.
She didn’t give a second
thought to poor Alessa, and neither did anyone else. Of course, everyone
noticed how strangely the princess was acting, but it didn’t really bother anyone.
She looked exactly like the Alessa after all. In the past the princess was seen
with a book or on her horse, but these days she was trying on dresses, putting
on makeup, and flirting with the men of the castle. It was unusual, but not
alarming, especially not to the men, who rather enjoyed it. Even the Queen was
fooled. The heavenly week passed like a cloud drifting past the sun.
On the seventh day, at midnight,
Celeste laid softly in her comfortable bed. She would have went to see Loreena,
but it was cold and raining outside. Surely her mother would understand, it
just wouldn’t be something a princess should do. As she fell into sleep she
dreamed of her mother’s house and her arrival at midnight. “Welcome home, my
obedient child,” Loreena said mockingly, “tell me, how have you enjoyed your
time in the castle?”
Celeste spoke excitedly about
all the luxuries she was enjoying and how nice everyone was to her. She got to
sleep as long as she wished, whenever she wished. She had no chores, and best
of all she had a wardrobe full of beautiful gowns and dresses.
“No one suspects you are not
really the princess?” Loreena asked curiously.
“Nothing about it is whispered anywhere,”
said the girl.
“Good,” said the witch taking
Celeste by the hand, “now you know I love seeing you happy, but there is an
important matter to deal with. I asked you come back to me on this night because
I gave you all this good fortune and it wouldn’t be right not share it with
your dear mother. I have fed you and raised you and taken care of you all these
years. Surely you can do me a small favor?”
Celeste was not one to ever
cross her mother, but after a week of being a princess she didn’t want to go
back to being her mother’s slave, even if it was just for a “small favor.” “I’m
sorry mother, but I have served you all these years and finally get to live a
life of my own. You wouldn’t take that away from me?”
The look on Loreena’s face became
terrifying and then Celeste's vision suddenly went black. A dread fear came upon
her. She then awakened from her vivid dream to find herself in the princess’ bedroom
where she fell asleep. Only now the window was open and the curtains waved as
torrents of rain blew in with the wind. Suddenly a blast of lightning
illuminated the room, but rather than the sound of thunder she heard the voice
of Loreena crash, “Ungrateful child! Would you deny me?”
Celeste shrieked in fear as she
watched the rain turn to blood as it fell at the foot of the curtains. “What
would you have me do?” she asked pulling the sheets close to her.
“Bring the
Queen to me. On the morning of the third day, if you have not done this task, I
will release the true princess back, and you shall be mine again.”
Just then
the Queen opened the door to the bedroom. She saw the princess seized with
fear, but everything else looked normal to her. She went and closed the window.
“What is wrong my child? I heard a horrible scream.” she said.
Celeste
just looked at the Queen, whose face looked so similar to the one she spent
hours staring at in the mirror. “Just a bad dream,” she said slowly. “Mom?” she
began.
“Yes
Alessa?” her mother responded.
Celeste sat
speechless trying to find words. “Never mind,” she said. The Queen went and
held her daughter close, comforting her with sweet words. After the Queen left,
Celeste was unable to sleep at all.
The
following morning she went to her wardrobe, but found no satisfaction in the
colors and contours of her dresses. She went to her mirror, but only saw the
image of the Queen looking back at her. Her bath could not wash away her
sadness. She spoke not a word to any woman or man that day, but only skulked
through the castle unable to find joy in anything.
The second
day saw no change. The night vision of the witch was like a slow moving cloud
ever blocking any light from her heart. She didn’t want to betray the Queen who
was so kind to her, but maybe it would remove the horrible darkness. This
day she approached the Queen for a request. “On my journeys into the forest I
have found a remarkable place,” she reported to the Queen. “You must come with
me to see it.”
“It would
please me greatly,” said the Queen, “but I cannot leave the castle while your
father is on a journey. I have too many responsibilities in his absence.”
“Could you
not put a steward in charge?” Celeste asked.
“No amount
of pleading will change my mind. Another time, my dear.”
Celeste
thanked the Queen and left. The gloomy cloud was now looming
nearer and darker than ever. The thought of losing all of her dresses, that
large and comfortable bed, and all her admirers was horrible, but the thought
of returning to the witch after knowing freedom brought despair.
She stole away to her room
alone. She collapsed onto the bed and directed her gaze to the balcony window, shut
tight. As she looked out into the vast forest an idea formed in her mind. As
night approached she took up a torch and rode softly into the forest on Alessa’s
horse.
The third morning the witch did
as she threatened and released Alessa, who was surprised to meet Celeste not
far from the Witch’s house. Celeste, without a word, returned Alessa’s horse to
its owner and walked away, her downcast eyes never meeting her sister’s. Alessa
watched as Celeste walked a few paces past, but decided not to leave before Loreena changed her mind. She rushed home with haste.
Gallop after mighty gallop
brought Alessa just miles away from the castle when she heard a sound that
brought her wonderful comfort. Trumpets were sounding the triumphant return of
the King. Her father was safe and home! Riding behind her father were many
soldiers but also a caravan filled with a treasure only the wise know to be
greater than gold: books. The Queen welcomed the King home excitedly, but
betrayed a look of worry on her face.
“The princess is gone,” the
Queen said to her husband. “She wanted me to go with her into the forest, but I
was too busy.”
Within minutes Alessa joined
the bewildered crowd looking frazzled, malnourished, and weak. When she
came near to her father, he looked at her with joy, but also confusion. “My
Alessa, you look as if you were sleeping in the forest. You’re mother said you
had something to show her there? What happened?”
She
explained all about her travels in the forest, her meeting with Celeste and the
witch, and her ten days imprisonment in the house of Loreena. At this news her
mother was incredulous, but her father’s expression revealed that he knew much more
about this than anyone guessed.
“This is
very dark news. My greatest shame lies in a truth I haven’t told you,” the King
began. He looked at his wife and said, “That night I said I buried our child…” he
stuttered and his words caught in the back of his throat. “Our child was not
dead. I buried her not in the ground, but in the grasp of the witch. For this
heavy price we received our daughter, Alessa.”
The Queen
was overwhelmed by this news and Alessa herself collapsed to the ground. For thirteen
years she enjoyed the life of a princess, and her poor sister, who she never
knew, suffered as the slave of that evil witch. She had been angry of
Celeste leaving her with the witch for the ten days, but now her desire for vengeance
was submerged in a river of pity. She knew what she had to do; “we have to find
her!” she said to her parents.
With sorrow
weighing heavy they set out for the house of Loreena. After passing the swamp an odor came upon them. “Someone has a fire going,” the King declared. The scent
was getting very strong and hot in their nostrils. It was no small fire; but blazing
before the lost daughter Celeste was the searing inferno. It wouldn’t take long
for the entire house of the witch to be nothing more than burnt ashes.
As the
search party approached her, Celeste turned to them and said, “She never knew I
could do this. Neither did I, but now her slave is free.”
Only the
King knew what this fire signified. His tears came not from smoke-filled eyes,
but from the echoing warning of the witch. This midnight there will be no witch’s
roof for either child to sleep under. The only words to come to his lips came
from his daughter’s favorite book:
“Evil stains in different
hues,
Return to white by sin refused,
Never trust a witch’s spell,
A blessing yes, but a curse as well.”
Return to white by sin refused,
Never trust a witch’s spell,
A blessing yes, but a curse as well.”
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