Join the new world

...cerita sebelumnya

The princess settled down with a book again, and shortly afterwards, she heard the sound of human voices a few feet away from the cottage. With excitement, she dropped the book and ran to look out the window. Someone had come to save her!|Excitement turned into terror as one of the men looked straight at her with murder in his eyes. Her sister’s men had found her! She dropped to the ground and crouched in terror. He had seen her! She waited for one of the men to break down the door, but no assault came. So she listened.
“Bloody forest, there’s nothing here. I say we leave before that beast finds us. Daylight is fading and I don’t want to share the fate of the men who came here last night after that blasted girl.” Someone spat. “It doesn’t matter, Roc, the queen will kill us if we don’t return with the girl’s heart. We’re dead either way.”
“The girl is dead, you fool. Do you think she could survive the beast when our men could not? Use your head! There are an unholy number of bloody wild pigs roaming around this forest. I’ve seen three of them already. I say we bring back the heart of a pig; the queen will know no difference.” The voices of the men faded as they walked deeper into the forest. “What magic protects this place?” the princess whispered. She wrapped her arms around herself and cried in relief and fear.
The next day passed as the previous day, with one important exception: the princess opened the door at the back of the room. As she suspected, the door revealed a small enclosed garden. What she didn’t expect was the pool. It was clear and glassy, and not a ripple marred its shiny surface. Most importantly there were things—images really—in the pool. She saw her kingdom, and she ached with homesickness. She saw her old room, her old calico cat, Belle, and she saw her sister. Aruel looked taller with the crown on her brow, and she was smiling as something was presented to her. The princess paled as the queen held a bloody heart in her grasp.
The princess stepped away from the pool and reminded herself that her sister, the queen, couldn’t reach her now… the queen though she was dead, which meant the princess was safe… from that threat.|The garden was failing. It was brown and over grown, wild and untamed. It needed nurturing. With little else to take up her time, the princess began to clean up the garden. She uncovered a trowel and a small saw in the corner of the garden where blackberry vines heavy with fruit had hidden them over the years. The garden felt alive to her as did the cottage, so she did her best not to cut anything up without thought. The blackberry vines were the worst and the thick thorns pricked her skin as she wrestled it into place on the far wall. With the vines out of the way, it was apparent that the rest of the plant life had suffered beneath without the sunlight to survive.
Near the pool, the grass and flowers were green, almost glowing. The princess had an idea. She cupped her hands, drew a small bit of the water from the pool, and sprinkled the water on a withered perennial. In an explosion of magic, it bloomed before her very eyes! The princess clapped her hands and squealed in delight. And thus began her mission to restore the garden.
A month passed, and the princess grew restless in her little cottage. She had already read the books on the shelves over and over again, her garden was prospering, and most importantly, there was nothing to do other than sit at the pool in the garden and watch the lives of others. By this time, she had learned that she could control what she saw in the pool and she had mastered the art of flying from one location to another. To her dismay, her sister had emptied her rooms at the palace and her poor cat Belle was nowhere to be seen.
Once in a while, the pool would take control of the view and show her things that were happening in the forest, usually near the edge of the forest where the fog had retreated and men where cutting down trees. This distressed her, but she didn’t know what she could do to help. On more than one occasion, she shouted at the pool: “Why do you show me these things that I cannot change? If there is something I can do, tell me!”

... to be continued

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3