A long time ago in a far away land, a king and queen threw a grand party for their
only daughter's fifth birthday.
A truly grand occasion was it; one that was attended by the biggest names around the world and a night to remember for all. Quite memorable indeed.
Partially because of the grand ceremony, but also because something else, happened there which never left the minds of all who were present that cold, winter night.
The birthday girl herself didn't seem too interested her own party, clear from the
way she sat by herself in a corner. No one cared about her presence and her dear parents were too busy with the guests to notice.
Her day of joy had now been turned upside down.
. But unknown to her, she had caught the attention of an unsuspecting young prince ten at the time, who walked up to her and sat next to her.
He waved, but he received no response; she hadn't even noticed his presence. "Happy birthday" he said, same atmosphere though.
But he wouldn't lose faith.
Then he got an idea and instantly went outside. A few moments later, the princess
was hit in the head with a snowball and the annoyed face she gave seemed to have
caused a certain someone to chuckle from the stairs behind her.
Surprised as she was, she wasn't ready to lose to this new enemy. So, she began her journey upon the large staircase, running as fast as she could so he wouldn't get away
while her overjoyed attacker had just thought of a new game, catch the troll.
He had found a nice spot in between the walls upstairs where he could throw
snowballs at her without getting noticed so she was faced with a storm while climbing.
She was so angry, yet, he was enjoying it.
When she got up stairs, the snow rain had stopped. It seemed her attacker had begun to proceed with caution. She looked
around to find any traces of snow she could use; unfortunately, she was dealing
with a professional, no traces except on the stairs. A little bit towards one
direction from the staircase and she got hit again, another few steps in the other
direction, the same thing; just where could he be?
Then she remembered something, she played hide and seek with her dad in
the same hallway. Daddy always had a hard time finding her, due to her unique
hiding spot, he was never able to find it and she always won. It was a spot she
discovered herself, a place she was tiny enough to fit into, behind the wall. It
had two ends so you enter one end and come out the other.
She knew that was where he was: inside the walls in-between the hallways
She got her own idea, went out, filled some containers with snow and came
back to surprise the prince with some snowball down the pants. At the end
of it all, they fell into a ball of laughter like the kids they were.
"How did you find me? I swear, this place is inconceivable." The boy said after he was able to settle his laughter a little.
"Whose hiding spot do you think this is genius? I hide hear all the time when I'm playing with daddy. You really thought you could beat the master of the house" Eliza said, in a tone that suggested overconfidence as she was used to running around the castle to play. Then she threw a snowball at him again just to show that she won. The prince laughed again, she was growing on him.
"It seems to me that you're big on adventures"
''wanna have some more fun?" the prince winked to the princess as he was held a snowball in hands. And she nodded in
approval.
They both went outside to reload and came back bearing sacks of snow.
They were going to use it to crash the party. Princess Eliza and prince Tristan
both gave themselves confirmatory looks as they entered back into the ball room
with their sacks of snow. They managed to find a table no one was paying
attention to and hid behind it.
Then, their barricade of snowballs began, all aimed at the guests. It was a shocking and most outrageous thing indeed. But what's strangest is what happened next.
The sudden occurrence seemed to have had a grave effect because the once
vibrant atmosphere was now occupied with a sharp silence that scared the
children to their bones.
The guests then looked to a man sitting by the fireplace. The man then whispered
something to his servants that made them leave immediately.
They came back rushing in chariots filled with snow. ""its onnn!!!" the man shouted as he picked some snow and threw it at the kids, making the crowd heral a loud war cry like that of the beginning of a battle. After that, the whole place became erupted in a big snowball fight.
Snow was everywhere, and when it apparently didn't sit right with a
certain king and queen, they were greeted with the bathing of their lives with from
a chariot filled with snow, set up by the kids of course. They just had to join in after this.
It was truly a nice night for everyone. Most of the people there were leaders and lords who hardly had time to themselves, the moment seemed to have awoken their longing for some fun and they couldn't just pass the opportunity.
As a token to the birthday girl, she got fistfuls of snow by from all the guests together with the many gifts the brought as they sang her 'happy birthday' in the
funniest tune.
Among the gifts brought that night was the cutest baby elephant one of the Arabian guests brought along from his kingdom. Eliza instantly fell in love with it from the sight. She gave her the name 'Mercy', her new best friend.
Although she caught a cold that night, it managed to become a very memorable moment in her life as it was the start of something wonderful:
. The great bond shared between Tristan and Eliza as Tristan kept visiting after
the party. After all, he had made a new friend, a really special friend.
They played in the castle, exploring and pulling pranks on the entire palace household. It turns out the old castle had a few secrets of it's own and they
were ever so eager to learn them.
Secret doors, secret passage ways, old
dungeons with skeletons, were what they always had their eyes out for in their
adventures and in a few years, they were exploring the kingdom outside the
castle. They became quite fond of themselves, perhaps maybe too fond because, the occasional looks they started giving each other from time to time seemed to have said a lot to everyone as their parents already started planning their marriage in secret.
Sad to say, things didn't remain blissful till the end.
Tragedy struck one day when the princess fell mysteriously ill from a strange disease whose cause and cure were unknown.
A seer was consulted, and it was revealed that the nature wasn't that of a disease but of a curse and a fatal one, one that was going to kill her the day she turned nineteen, unless a way was found to break it.
But as to how she got the curse, nothing was found.
The prince however, stayed by her side and visited her more often. The condition wasn't
serious at the time so she was still very much her vibrant self the only thing that differed was the occasional weakness and the bloody coughing. Plus the loss of skin color.
And it was going to get worse as the final day drew nearer and she grew paler.
She had to stay indoors a lot due to this and Tristan was always there to keep her company.
They had a lot of time to themselves and as a result, their bond grew much deeper.
However, they remained in denial until the night that decided it all, the night of her
fifteenth birthday.
She came out since a long while to attend the party and she was received with
warmth from the guests. Her condition was not hidden from them, they too shared the grief she and her family were facing.
Then she saw him:
Tristan who was now seventeen and had managed to steal the show
from her with his entrance.
He had the gazes of everyone at his mercy; because he was stunning from head to toe.
The moment they locked gazes, he winked to her and she was left smiling, remembering the moment from their childhood.
She was then greeted with a hand from him, asking her for a dance as he bowed; she did the same and then started their waltz on the dancefloor.
She was quite the elegant dancer, she had the best teachers from around the world but she couldn't deny that he was a lot better. She had never seen anyone with such a flawless technique.
The course of the dance made them stare deeply into each other's eyes but his was so intense, she became red.
A pair of golden yellow eyes with long white hair and a perfect face were all Tristan
needed to keep her gaze locked on him.
"You are quite the great dancer" she commented.
"Yes, I'm a natural"
" I must say, you look gorgeous; way more than you do every other day." He commented with a sincere smile.
"I know, today's a special day so I wore make up. What about it?" said Eliza ever so nonchalant.
"i like it that's what, so much that I would like to you to appear like this each day at the castle back home. Mom and dad would want nothing more." He said which made Eliza focus more as she knew what he was about to say.
"Eliza, when I become king, I want you to be by my side as my queen." his expression turned serious and he too became more concentrated.
Tears started trickling down Eliza's face when she heard him. He understood
perfectly the reason for her reaction because he quickly patted the back
of her soft, maroon hair. He took some time to stare into her big, blue eyes to comfort her.
"you are not going to die, who cares what that old seer thinks. We are going to have
our happily ever after just like the stories. Focus on the good things in life, like me, and you would never cry"
"So princess Eliza,will you marry me?" he said.
"If I say yes, will you stop staring. I'm so embarrassed?" she said as she wiped her tears and Tristan drew her in for a big hug. The dancing continued like that, with the two of them holding each other tightly and just zoning out into the music. The moment felt like it would never end.
Unfortunately,
it did, but not the pleasant way everyone expected, the castle was attacked that night.
It started with a loud noise from outside like that of an explosion. When the palace guards went to check it out, all the lights in Castle went out and the place was pitch
black. Tristan held Eliza tighter and braced them for any incoming danger.
He then began making little movements towards the outside in order
to leave get to safety.
He knew his way around the place so
maneuvering his way through the crowd in the dark wasn't that much of a challenge. He still held Eliza so his movements were extra careful. He wanted to get to the bottom of this but he had to put Eliza out of harm's way first. So he took her to her room and told her to lock the door after he left and not to open it for everyone. Instead, Eliza got some
swords she had tucked away in her room and tore up her dress into something
she could run and fight in. When Tristan was a few steps away from her room, he
suddenly heard, "and where do you think you're running off to unarmed? The enemy
would make a fool out of your bravery in an instant" From a certain someone behind
him. ''I told you to-" he was shortly cut off.
"no, no, who made you the hero? I wish you saw the look on my face when you carried
me to my room. I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life. Thank God
the lights were out" Eliza added.
"But you didn't let me finish. I was going to do a whole twist thing and then tell you
that I counted ten steps since I dropped you and you came. I expected you to
join me after five.
You were late but I like the look though, it suites you"
"I'm a
woman, ofcourse I'm late"
"I know many punctual women"
She gave up on him and just continued
walking. He followed behind with a victorious smile on his face.
"May I ask where we're going brave princess?"
"We're obviously scaling the palace for any intruders" she said seriously.
Although the lights were out, she could still feel and hear him mimicking and mocking her from behind.
"did you forget the swords this time?" he teased
"of course not. Why do you think I took so long?"
"but
you forgot to hand them over didn't you"
"no.
I just-. You know what, forget it. What do I even see in you, for some reason, when I tell you to shut up, I still wish you would continue talking. You're
insufferable"
"you
haven't handed me the swords yet but, I like the question though. I guess should be because of my gorgeous face,
my slippery tongue and my charming personality"
"that
was a question I was meant to answer. Either way, what then do you like about, me?"
"you
match my crazy with yours, that's why I love you Lizzie, more than you can
imagine"
"hmm, nice line. I almost lost my composure.
It's not clever enough though" she said in the sternest of voices.
"You
see, that's why I love you" he exclaimed which forced a chuckle out of her.
Eliza kept quiet after a while and the grin on Tristan's face widened. Suddenly, the lights
went back on; but when Tristan looked over to where Eliza was, he discovered she wasn't there.
He
heard some struggling from outside the castle and quickly rushed down to the
source. He found Eliza being forced into a carriage at a considerable distance
from him. When she sited him, she gave him a nod to show that she was in
control of the situation and then she entered the carriage. The kidnappers were
masked in black overalls but how were they able to get Eliza? obviously, these
guys were not be taken lightly. Eliza may have been in grave danger, he had to
act fast. He quickly got someone to alert the guards while he chased after them
on his horse.
The
chariot appeared to be a heading towards a forest on the outskirts of the
kingdom, it was quite dark so it was easy for Tristan to cleverly tag behind
them. Inside the chariot, Eliza was extensively tied in between two large men.
She waited for the right moment, and then when the concentrations of the guards
were least on her, she immediately forced out the knife she always carried on
herself incase of emergencies like this. When she got in the chariot, the two
swords she carried were taken from her and kept with the driver of the chariot,
a suspicious character who seemed more like a leader than a driver. He had to be dealt with carefully.
In a few seconds, she had untied herself at her back but still kept the ropes on her.
She had to be very cautious because she had another pair of armed attackers
sitting right in front of her. Patience was the key at that moment, of which she
had to utilize well in order to avoid a disaster. When she was about to go down
to untie her legs, her elbow managed to grace the arm of the hefty man on the
left but she was clever enough to use her womanly charm in this situation because a simple smile was all it took to take his mind of it.
The
carriage driver suddenly stopped and headed into the woods, 'probably a
bathroom break' she thought. By then, Eliza had already finished cutting all
the ropes on her, perfect time for escape.
In a moment, she raised her hands to give the hefty men a blow down the zipper. They were wicking in pain and made harmless. When the two men in front of her reacted, she was quick to dodge in a manner that deflected their lines of action and made them hit the hefty men. In the midst of the commotion, she took the opportunity to exit the carriage.
When she got out, she went straight to the swords in the driver's seat;
the men took no time in getting out of the carriage and in a bit, she found
herself in the midst of the four men that kidnapped her. But for some reason,
she was the most confident one there.
"give up, you're an outnumbered woman in the midst of four capable men" one of the men said.
Eliza suddenly threw one of the swords in the air and then a certain someone jumped
off his horse and caught it.
"Is that so? I'll have you know she's a lot more capable than any of you" Tristan said as he descended.
" I guess it's ten against four then"
"that was a terrible line"
"shuuuuttuuuuupp Tristan!!!"
They took
a good look at their opponents. "should we split them so we can equally have a good
time or-?" asked Tristan but Eliza didn't care because she immediately ran
towards the hefty men.
"I now have a lot of questions about your taste in men " he said as he dodged the sword of one of the normal sized enemies then threw some sand in his eyes and at the same time tripped him with his leg. To the other one, he quickly grabbed his sword and
used it to deflect the attacker's sword. Their swords were held in place at
each other for about a minute but while the man was using a considerable about
of strength from both his hands, Tristan was only using one arm and he wasn't
even taking it seriously.
"I have
to tell you man, you're weak" said Tristan after he overcame him and used the
back of his sword to knock the guy down. He did the same to the first guy when
he stood up again. So, the both of them were passed out in a short time after
their fight started.
Meanwhile, when Eliza ran towards the hefty men, she immediately slid in
between them but took the time to give the a good knock in the zipper. As they
were on their knees trying to ease the pain, she quickly kicked them in the
head with her heels. So they also were knocked up and in a short time too.
But she wasn't given enough time to soak up her victory because the final guy all
of a sudden came up from the bushes and blew something into her face. She was
brought to her knees instantly because what he did had somehow managed to activate
her curse; the state where she found herself weak, helpless, gasping for air
but couldn't die, only remain in the pain.
Tristan had managed to see the attacker but was not able to warn her in
time. He raced to her immediately and tried to calm her down but he knew he
couldn't just let the man go or else they may never be able to defeat the
curse. Luckily for him, the palace guards arrived just in time so he left her
in their care. Then he quickly went after him. The princess repeatedly shouted
his name to stop him from going. It had dawned on the her that the attackers may
not have been looking for her all along but what they wanted was Tristan and that she was just the bait.
She
sent some guards after him as she was being carried back to the castle. She
wished she could go herself but she was too weak, and the guards were not going
to let her go anywhere else except the palace.
Shortly after, the guards came back with their report which was anything short of
comforting. They were not able to find Tristan or the attacker.
More
guards were sent to the same forest the next day during daytime but the report was
all the same.
Tristan was gone. That's what everyone kept saying because they had searched for days,
days which turned to months,
and eventually, after a year of searching,
Tristan's was concluded as a missing.
The men Eliza and Tristan had knocked out were mysteriously found dead on arrival
of the guards; which was strange because Tristan and Eliza made sure not to
kill them. There was nothing normal about what happened that day.
. Eliza wanted more than anything to go to that forest herself and confirm that Tristan was not there.
She could not believe what everyone was saying. How was she supposed to believe that the Tristan she saw going after that attacker was gone?
There was no way he wasn't there.
When the news was told to Tristan's parents, they too couldn't believe the
news; they thought they were being lied to and demanded the forest be searched thoroughly.
Yet, the results were the same, Tristan wasn't there.
But they still thought
that it was all a deception, so they declared war between the kingdoms until they
were able to see Tristan again.
And so, the tensions between Drustan(Eliza's kingdom) and Nagast(Tristan's
kingdom) intensified as time passed.
For
her safety, Eliza was confined to the castle, forbidden from ever going
outside. Both her and her castle became shut up from the world. This brought a
sharp end to all the grand parties the king and queen threw as no one was
allowed into the castle, just the royal family and the palace household.
The curse was growing worse each day but
that did not stop Princess Eliza from her belief that Tristan was still alive
somewhere and she had to find him. That one day she will get to be with him
before her time ran out.
What do you think? Is Tristan alive? Are they ever going to be reunited?
Find out in 'Re-Entwined'. Coming soon to INFERNOA's 'tale of roses'.
Coming soon.