A Lily for a Life

Adeline's dress flapped against her ankles as the wind blew across the moor. She shivered in contentment; summer was finally coming to a close. Normally she would be grateful for the warm weather and constant sunlight, but the castle had no cooling system but the cold water tubs placed strategically throughout the halls. She gasped in surprise, all that thinking had gotten her distracted enough to step in the small creek the supplied the moat around the castle with water. Adeline stopped and bent down to smell the Lilies. She had always loved this particular blossom, with its beautiful pastel petals and lanky green stems. She inhaled the beautiful summer sweetness and signed; remembering her days as a child, where she would scoop up flowers with her pudgy hands, her golden hair flowing behind her, and hand them to her mother, in exchange for a tight squeeze. It was like that until... NO. She refused to remember that horrible day. Her eyes snapped open and she pocketed the Lillie. She needed to stay on task. 

The mill stood silently on the pasture behind the castle, its blades turning lazily in the soft breeze. She almost paused to marvel at the beauty of the peeling paint against the sky, but she caught herself and knocked on the big oak door. A young apprentice with light hair and tan skin opened the door. "Who is it..oh! Uh- P-Princess Ad-d-eline...uh" he stammered as he swept into a clumsy bow. "What are you doing here?... I mean...um..." She laughed to herself. The growing number of poor made her and the royal family look like celebrities... more than they already were of course. "No problem Theo, as you were" she commanded lightheartedly. And now, in a more serious tone, "I need to see him, where is he?" Theo timidly pointed to the back, and Adeline noticed his scrawny arms were starting to gain some muscle, which must be from all the lifting he must be doing at the mill. She couldn't help staring a little longer though before movement at the other end of the room caught her eye. "Zandorf!" she gasped and ran in for a hug. He was an old family friend, and he had a particular talent of being able to tell exactly what a person was thinking without them saying it. "Seems that something is on your mind, dear Adeline," He said as they broke apart. "Yes," She whispered. "Ever since..." she sighed, and was not surprised to find that the words were hard to get out; everyone seemed to be able to talk about the accident so easily and freely, like talking about how a new shop had opened in the square, or how a child just had their first birthday. But not her. "Ever since the accident, I haven't felt like I belonged in the kingdom. Everyone is pressuring me to become the next queen, but I'm not ready for that. Why I'm only 15! I can't be officially a queen until 18, and yet they still pressure me on and on..." Adeline dropped her head and stared at her feet. "Ah, I see" Zandorf nodded, filling in the unbearable blank space where there had previously been no words; he always knew just what to do. "My dear, I wonder, could you tell me exactly how it happened? I have heard the stories but never the whole tale... I would like to see it from your point of view" She nodded, and, still looking at her feet, began to talk. "It was a couple of months ago, before my 15th birthday. Mother and Veronica and I were going to visit a neighboring town, to talk about peace treaties. Mother was the only one who needed to go, but Veronica had come along to take note of how the queen behaved on business trips; after all, she was turning 18 that week, and the crown would be passed down to her soon, I was just there because father was away as well, and I couldn't bear to stay in the castle alone." She paused for a breath. "Upon our arrival, the streets were empty, and it looked like no one had been there for weeks, maybe even months. We proceeded to walk down the street until mother decided it would be best to get into the carriage and go the rest of the way from there." Adeline suddenly stopped, lost in a memory...

"Girls, why don't we climb into the carriage and ride the rest of the way to the town hall?" Queen Lilliane suggested. "Very well mother" Veronica nodded respectfully, and we got into the plush carriage pulled by 4 white stallions. It had only been a minute before the first arrow came. Pure steel and iron, with a flaming wood tip, hurtling straight at the carriage… After that it was all a blur, the guards had tried to save them, but it was no use; there were too many hidden soldiers and not enough guards. Veronica went down first, then her mother; that was the worst part. Queen Lilliane had told her daughter to run, and they had dashed down an alleyway just to find the leader of the land they were on, armed with a bow and arrow. He had intended to hit Adeline, but at the last second, Lilliane had jumped in front of her, costing her life. 

She swallowed back tears as the story came to a close. “I want to get out” she whispered. Zandorf nodded. “If that is what you really want, that is what I can do for you” he bustled over to a worn book stand and gently lifted the pages of his spellbook. The old wizard’s stiff beard moved from side to side as he shook his head. “What?” Adeline asked cautiously. “I’m sorry, Adeline. I have the recipe for a world-shift potion right here, but for it to work, I am going to need the thing that you value most” Her hand shifted to the Lille shaped pendant at her neck, it had been given to her mother, who had passed it down to her, it was to become a new family heirloom. She rested her head in her soft gentle hands. Slowly but surely, she unclasped the necklace and rested it in Zandorf’s waiting palm. Princess Adeline lifted her soft moss green eyes. “Do it”.