A
long time ago, in a land faraway, a king and queen threw a grand party for their only daughter on her fifth birthday.
A truly grand occasion; one that was attended by the biggest names around the world and a night to remember for all. Yes, it was quite memorable.
Partially because of the grand ceremony. It was winter, with the beautiful array of whites from the sky, coupled with dazzling party decorations, it warmed the hearts of all. But the night wasn't memorable simply because of all that. It would have been like any other lavish party, except for one special detail.
Ironically, the birthday girl herself didn't seem too interested in her own party, as was clear from the way she sat alone in a corner. No one paid attention to her, and her caring parents were too busy with guests to notice. Her day of joy had now turned upside down. But unknown to her, she had caught the attention of an unsuspecting young prince, ten at the time, who approached her and sat beside her. He waved, but she ignored him; she hadn't even noticed his presence. "Happy birthday," he said, maintaining the same cheerful atmosphere. Yet he didn't lose hope. Then he had an idea and quickly went outside. A few moments later, the princess was hit in the head with a snowball, and her annoyed face made someone behind her on the stairs chuckle. Surprised, she wasn't ready to give up this new challenge. She started her journey up the large staircase, running as fast as she could so he wouldn't escape, while her overjoyed attacker thought of a new game: catch the troll. He had found a cozy spot between the upstairs walls where he could throw snowballs without being noticed, so a snowstorm greeted her as she climbed. She was furious, but he enjoyed it. When she reached the top, the snow had stopped. It seemed her attacker had started to be more careful. She looked around for snow she could use to catch him; unfortunately, he was a pro, and there were no tracks except on the stairs. Slightly to one side of the staircase, she was hit again. A few steps in the other direction, and the same happened; where could he be? Then she remembered playing hide and seek with her dad in the same hallway. Her dad always had trouble finding her because of her special hiding spot; she was never caught, and she always won. It was a place she discovered herself, a tiny corner behind the wall only she could fit into. It had two ends, so you enter at one side and exit at the other.
She knew that was where he was: inside the walls, between the hallways. She came up with an idea, went outside, filled some containers with snow, and returned to surprise the prince by dumping snowballs down his trousers. In the end, they burst into laughter like the kids they were.
"How did you find me? I swear, this place is inconceivable," the boy said after calming down. "Whose hiding spot do you think this is, genius? I hide here all the time when I play with daddy. You really thought you could beat the master of the house?" Eliza said confidently, used to running around the castle playing. Then she threw a snowball again just to show she had won. The prince laughed; 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 held a snowball in his hands. She nodded in approval.
They both went outside to reload and came back bearing sacks of snow, which they were going to use to crash the party. They both gave themselves confirmatory looks as they entered back into the ballroom, found a table no one was paying attention to, and hid behind it.
And 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. The once vibrant atmosphere was now occupied by a sharp silence that scared the children to their bones.
The guests looked at a man sitting by the fireplace. The man whispered something to his servants that made them leave immediately.
They came back a few moments later, rushing in chariots filled with snow. "It's Onn!!!" the man shouted as he picked some snow and threw it at the kids, making the crowd herald a loud war cry like that of the beginning of a battle. After that, the whole place erupted in a big snowball fight.
Snow was everywhere, and when it apparently didn't sit well with a certain king and queen, they were greeted with the bathing of their lives from a chariot filled with snow set up by some very courageous kids. They just had to join in after this.
It was truly a nice night for everyone. Most of the people, some lords and leaders, 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 from all the guests together with the many gifts they brought as they sang her 'happy birthday' in the funniest of tunes.
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 at first sight. She gave her the name 'Mercy', her new best friend.
Although she caught a cold that night, it became a very memorable moment in her life, as it bore the bond she shared with Prince Tristan. He 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 its own, and they were ever so eager to learn them. Secret doors, secret passageways, old dungeons with skeletons, they always had their eyes out for all these 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. Their parents had already begun planning their marriage in secret.
Sad to say, things didn't remain blissful till the end as it should.
Tragedy struck one day when the princess fell mysteriously ill from a strange disease, the cause and cure of which 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, the bloody coughs, 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 had been out for a long time to attend the party, and she was received with warmth by all the guests. Her condition was not hidden from them; they, too, shared the grief she and her family faced.
Then she saw him:
Tristan, now twenty, 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 at 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 they started their waltz on the dance floor.
She was an 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.
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 dancer," she commented.
"Yes, I'm a natural, but 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 makeup. What about it?" Eliza said, ever so nonchalantly.
"I like it, that's what, so much that I would like 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, I'm going to become king someday, and nothing would be more perfect than for 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 the reason for her reaction perfectly because he quickly patted the back of her hair.
"You are not going to die, Eliiza, who cares what that old seer thinks? We are going to have our happily ever after just like in the stories. Just focus on the good things in life, like me, and you would never cry."
"So, princess Eliza of Nosel, will you marry me?" he said with the brightest smile.
"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, zoning out into the music. A sweet moment indeed, one that felt like it would never end.
Unfortunately, tragedy awaited Tristan that night as he returned home with his parents. They and everyone with them were involved in a horrible accident, one that took the lives of all except Tristan. A truly strange occurrence indeed, as not even Tristan was able to identify how he survived; it was like he just appeared in the kingdom and heard that his parents died on the way. Soon, it was his turn to become king in their absence. But on the night before his coronation, he disappeared, without a trace. They searched and searched, but nothing was found. He was never seen or heard from again. Some said it was a suicide, others said there was a plot. Before long, he was declared dead, and someone else came to power; the kingdom could not be without a ruler. Terribly tragic, but what could be done?
Updates on Tristan were constantly brought to the Nosel castle. The news gradually depressed the hearts of all who heard it as things grew direr, and it was worse on Eliza. When Tristan was declared dead, her heart sank, but she didn't want to accept it, even when Tristan never came back. How could he die before she did? Wasn't he supposed to be the burdened one at the end? She was the one with the curse.
She wanted nothing more than to confirm Tristan's death herself, but her parents would have nothing of it.
For her safety, they locked up the palace; they knew all of it wasn't normal, that someone or something was responsible. Only they and the castle household were allowed in, bringing an end to all the lavish parties they threw. The curse grew worse each day, and her fate seemed grimmer. Her parents did all they could; they tried as many magic practitioners as they could find from all over to identify a way to break the curse or at least its source, but the results were all the same. Once a curse like that was cast, the only thing that could be done was to find something that could break it or to kill its caster. There really was nothing that could be done.
Yet in the face of all this, Eliza never lost hope. She remained true to her belief that Tristan was out there and they were going to be united one day as king and queen. This was what gave her the courage to keep on living each day despite the many challenges she faced, that she would someday leave the castle and see Tristan again.