The Princess, The Witch and the Blackthorn

By Safdar Inamdar

The door creaked as it opened and revealed a heavenly scene. The moonlight was reflecting off of the white petals of a tiny orchid of moonflowers in full bloom in the center of the courtyard. They were surrounded by red roses, closed as if shy of the beauty they were in the presence of. Not of the flowers they were surrounding but of the woman tending to them. Her hair so bright that one may think she was the source of the moonlight around her. Her beauty so great that no words would do it justice.

The man who had just entered stood still as a statue, staring at the ethereal beauty in front of him, slowly taking it in. He probably would've stayed like that for a long time had the woman not gasped loudly when she saw him. This broke the spell on him, and he suddenly realized how he must seem to her. A stranger who suddenly appeared in her tower, probably the first human she had seen in who knows how long. Remembering his manners, he took off his hat, bowed, and introduced himself.

"My name is Sam, Milady. I am the crown prince of Lakhanis, and I am here to rescue you from this awful tower."

She stayed still, staring at him, her hand still caressing the flower she was tending. She looked at him, absorbing his features. The black cowl lowered to his neck, his black locks messy and coated with a sheen of sweat and dirt. He was dressed in a ranger's garb, with his sword on his back instead of on the waist, as is tradition.

She slowly approached him. Upon reaching him, she lifted his face. A pair of electric blue eyes stared back at her from between the hair falling on his grime-covered face. He was pretty handsome, with sharp features. She raised him up. He was quite tall and well-built.

"He'll do quite nicely," she thought, as a gentle smile appeared on her face.

Meanwhile, Sam had to muster all his willpower to stay focused and not get lost in that smile of hers, so bewitching was her beauty. She gazed at his face for a little longer before finally breaking her silence.

"Tell me, Sam, what do you know about me?"

"Only that Your Highness had to be locked up in this tower to protect her from a sorceress who held a grudge against you because you had been the reason her plans to overthrow the crown had been foiled. The tale of your bravery is quite famous."

"And despite knowing this, you would have me step out into the world where the sorceress can get to me?"

"Of course not, Your Majesty! I would never do something so foolish as to endanger the life of a hero such as yourself. A few days ago, I, along with my soldiers, apprehended a witch wandering around in the wilds on our border, probably up to no good. I personally saw to her execution. While going through her things, we found a map of this tower, which is how I was able to find you."

The Princess's face showed a glimmer of surprise, too brief to notice, before morphing into an expression of relief. Tears started streaming from her eyes, and she collapsed. Or at least she would have, have the prince not caught her. She made no effort to regain her balance and just started wailing in his arms. The prince didn't know what to do but keep holding her and wipe her tears as they came. He looked around and noticed a stool in one corner of the courtyard, under a mango tree. He slowly led her there, sat her down on the seat, kneeled before her, and held her hands as she cried.

They remained like this for a while. Eventually, her cries turned into sobs and finally died down to sniffs. After she had stopped crying, she regained her composition and got up. There was something different about her expression. There was a glint in her eyes, a certain determination that was not there before. She suddenly seemed taller. Even her beauty suddenly appeared to have an edge to it. It was like she was a completely different person now.

"Wait here for me, Sam. I need to collect a few on my belongings before I leave this godforsaken place."

"Your wish is my command, Milady."

She disappeared inside the tower. Sam decided to look around the courtyard in the meantime. He started walking around leisurely, looking at the various flowers and objects lying around. The moonflowers seemed even more beautiful up close. And the roses were just enhancing their beauty. He turned in the direction of the mango tree where he had been consoling the Princess only moments ago and smiled, remembering her face. But when he shifted his eyes to the tree next to it, he stopped in his tracks, and the smile on his face evaporated. Resting on the trunk of the tree was a Blackthorn walking stick, no doubt about it.

This set off all sorts of warning bells in his mind. Blackthorn was a tree whose wood was used only by witches. But why would the Princess have one? What possible use would she have for it? All sorts of wild thoughts started appearing in his mind. One thought, in particular, helped him calm down a little. Any witch worth her salt would also have hemlock growing in her garden. And he hadn't spotted any yet. He released a sigh of relief. Maybe it was just a keepsake from the witch she had defeated all those years ago. This helped him allay his fears. He decided not to bring up the stick so as to not sound rude.

"SSSSSSAM," a voice hissed, coming from too close.

He whipped around, quick as lightning, one hand reaching for his sword, purely on instinct. Suddenly there was some sort of a cloud of green smoke surrounding his face. Without meaning to, he inhaled it. Almost immediately, he realized something was horribly wrong. He was having trouble drawing his sword. In fact, he was having difficulty standing too. He focused on the source of the voice, now in front of him. It was the Princess. Her hands were cupped around her mouth, some remnants of a greenish powder still on them. Suddenly the horrible reality dawned on him in its entirety.

He fell, his hands uselessly flapping around him as he lost control of them. He was completely awake, so it must be some sort of paralysis powder. As the paralysis took over more and more of his body, he managed to utter one word before it took his speech too.

"Why?"

Despite having barely been formed, that one word was filled with so many different emotions-surprise, hurt, betrayal, and many others.

The laugh that came out of the Princess, or whatever she really was, was bone-chilling.

"Since you won't survive to see the next sunrise, I think I'll tell you. The rumors that you had heard were true. Yes, there was a sorceress who had tried to overthrow the crown. Yes, there was a princess who had managed to foil her plans. But you see, the details after this are slightly messy. My plan was to switch my mind with that of the king. But that IDIOTIC Princess somehow learned of my plot and meddled with my spell. I ended up changing bodies with her.

"When the king realized what had happened, he was heartbroken. The fool didn't want to ruin his daughter's reputation, so he made up those rumors. And he couldn't stand to look at his daughter, now in my form, so he banished her. I believe she was trying to learn some witchcraft in an attempt to take her body back. That's probably why she made a map of this tower. If she was already strong enough to bypass the enchantment that prevents this place from being found, she might've become quite a problem for me later. Thank you for plucking out that weed before it caused any damage.

"Anyway, some of the enchantments on this tower prevent this body from leaving, so I'll be taking yours. Thank you."

Because of the paralysis, he couldn't even shed tears at his fate. He experienced the pain of watching the evil in front of him slowly transform into him as he himself transformed into the beauty that had been ruling his mind just a few moments ago. The pain of his own body stabbing him with his faithful sword, which had protected him countless times. And he couldn't even manage a whimper.

As the darkness slowly engulfed him, the last thing he saw was that thing removing the scabbard from its back and tying it around its waist.

By Safdar Inamdar