THE NANJINGER | VOLUME 12 ISSUE 08 | JUNE 2022
By Hattie
The Princess in the Tower
(Wrong Princess, Right Tower)
T
here was once a princess locked away in a tall tower. Kept away from all who might claim her beauty, covet her loveliness, take her virtue. And then one day there was a prince, fair and tall and from whose tongue slipped silvered words, who climbed the tower to rescue his prize. His white palfreywaiting patiently at the foot of the tower, back broad and legs strong enough for two. At last, nails cracked and hands blistered, he hauled himself over the crumbling ledge of the window, rolling inside and ending on his knees before the feet of his bride. “Princess! I am here to rescue you!”
“Now then”, said his bride. The prince looked her over, noting the lines at her eyes, the grey in her hair, the broadness of her waist. “Who sed I need rescuin’?” She pointed to a dirty mat by him. “Wipe tha bloody feet.” The golden crown shining on top of shining golden curls didn’t give her a minute of pause, and after a lengthy pause he did as she said. She still moved with grace, though slowed by clear age, and the prince felt his heart sink as he watched the woman he’d been dreaming of take slow steps away from him. She looked back at him, those eyes still sharp and clear as they met his own.
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