"Your Highness! It's time for your singing lessons."
In the palace of kingdom Runecliff, the six-year old princess, Grace, ran playfully through the corridors as her nanny tried to catch her.
"Your Highness! Please stop," the nanny begged from exertion.
Giggling, Grace turned to her left, entering the ajar door that lead to the upper floors of the throne room. Eager to hide fast, Grace found a large desk at the edge of the room and decided to hide behind it. As soon as she haunched down, a painful voice came from the window that overlooked the throne room.
"My king! I want my beauty back!"
Grace's eyes widened, her happy mood instantly vanishing as she peeked through the window to the source of the voice. A young woman was dressed in a beautiful gown but her face was burned. A shiver ran through Grace's little body seeing the scars on the woman's face who was now begging.
"My king, please. Do something," the woman cried through her shapeless lips, the still wet scars bunching over her face.
Grace couldn't stop wincing seeing her. A part repulsion and a part wondering how painful it must be for the woman to move her lips. Several spots on her face had started to gather puss. Who could have burnt her so? Who could be so cruel to give a person such a torturous pain?
Grace dragged her eyes to her father who was sitting on the throne, looking at the woman with blank eyes.
Being a king, Her father, Jack Haddow, would definitely help her, Grace thought. He listened to the woman and then shook his head. "I cannot do anything on this," he announced to the woman in a stern voice. "You crossed that forbidden bridge and it took away it's price. It's been hundreds of years since that bridge is cursed. Nobody got back what they lost at that forbidden bridge."
Forbidden bridge? A frown took place on Grace's little forehead. Many times she had heard servants and her nanny speaking about the forbidden bridge but whenever she asked them about it, they shooed her away saying that children weren't supposed to know about it. Now, Grace wondered if the forbidden bridge burned people's faces.
A loud shriek echoed through the palace as the woman cried at her helplessness. Tears began to pool in Grace's gray eyes seeing the agony before her. The scars, the pain must be hurting the woman.
"But the one thing I can do is punish you to break the rule of never crossing the border," the king of Runecliff added making the woman cry even louder.
A gasp left Grace's lips hearing her father. The woman needed help and cure but he intended to punish her.
Why?
People and ministers in the room agreed to the king's decision in unison. But what confused Grace was that the woman cried not for the pain she felt but for the beauty she had lost.
Guards came forward, grasping the woman by her arms and dragging her out of the throne room, while her cries echoed around.
"Gracie."
With a startle, Grace turned around and saw her mother, Meridith, the queen of Runecliff standing in the doorway. Relieved, Grace immediately ran to her and clutched her skirts.
"Why is my sweetheart crying?" Her mother asked caressing Grace's hair. Only then, Grace realised that tears were flowing from her eyes. Pulling back, she looked up to her mother's face.
"Who burned her, mother?" She asked pointing her tiny finger towards the window of the throne room.
Her mother's soft expressions instantly turned serious. Pursing her lips, she ran and closed the window shut. "You should not have seen it, Gracie," she told her daughter with a strict voice which she had never used.
Moving her tiny steps forward, Grace stood close to her mother who haunched on her knees and wiped Grace's tears with the fabric of her own skirts.
"What is forbidden bridge, mother?"
Realising that her daughter wouldn't stop questioning until she got the answer, the queen of Runecliff decided to tell a bit of truth. Holding her daughter's precious face in her hand, she caressed the little frown with her thumb. This little daughter of hers had a really kind heart who felt everyone's pain and cried for everyone's agony. Meridith always feared the cruelness of the world would squish her daughter's kindness.
"Tell me, mother," Grace insisted.
Her mother smiled and stood up to sit on a nearby chair. She pulled Grace on her lap and began explaining.
"The forbidden bridge is a bridge at the border of our kingdom. Nobody must cross it otherwise you are punished."
"Just like the woman was punished," Grace added in a soft voice.
"Yes, darling." Her mother nodded.
"Who punished her, mother?"
"Nobody knows that, dear. But if you cross that bridge, you cannot stop what happens to you. You will always be punished somehow. It's like an invisible magic. Cruel and heartless magic which takes away whatever the person loves the most.
Remembering the woman's cries, Grace asked, "Did that woman love her beauty the most?"
"I think so, darling."
Giving a deep thought to what her mother said, Grace began thinking about the bridge. Her little finger rested on her chin in a thoughtful gesture and then a worried frown formed on her smooth forehead. "What if someone's waiting for us on the other side of the bridge, mother? What do we do then?"
A soft chuckle left her mother's lips. "We don't know anybody there, darling," her mother replied smoothening the messy locks fallen on Grace's forehead. "Who could be waiting for us there?"
Grace's gray eyes lit up like two big stars. With a cheerful wide smile, she replied, "A handsome prince!"
This time her mother gave out a big laughter throwing her head back. "Oh, Gracie. I do hope your prince stays on our side of the bridge."
Thinking about such a boring life made Grace's little shoulder slump down. "Why, mother?"
Her mother held Grace's chubby little face in her hands. "Because if you go to the other side, the bridge will punish you, darling," she said sadly, her smile lowering. "And I do not want any punishment or pain to even touch my daughter. So it's better to stay away from that bridge, isn't it? Promise me, you will never go anywhere near it."
Gooseflesh rose on Grace's body hearing what her mother said. If one's face turned like the face of the woman Grace saw in the throne room, then it was indeed better nobody crossed it. Grace herself would remember that all her life. Looking at her mother's pretty face, Grace nodded.