Revel - Twelve Dancing Princesses Retold

Part 2

TWO

Wishing to be the fairest of them all was the worst kind of curse to visit on a princess, Bianca mused. She alone among her sisters had fair hair, so pale that in today's bright sunlight it almost seemed white. It made her stand out, drawing unwanted attention from men and women alike. The men she did not mind so much, for she knew that as a princess she was near untouchable to most of them, but when the queen's gaze landed on her one too many times, nothing good could come of it. That Bianca was the daughter of a minor concubine, a princess in name, but not much more, who outshone the queen's own daughter, only made it worse.

So that was why the fairest of all the king's daughters now rode through the unseasonable heat into exile at the Summer Palace. A place where the king's virgin daughters would be safe, the queen had said with a vicious smile, until they were married.

Bianca knew better. The Summer Palace was where girls were sent to become old maids. No girl who had ever been sent there had returned, nor had they received word of any fortuitous marriage alliances the girls had made. That in itself was suspicious, Bianca mused. For the proposed marriage between the queen's daughter, Lagle, and the neighbouring king had been trumpeted far and wide. For one horrible moment, Bianca had worried that she would be sent as Lagle's companion to the foreign court, but the queen had taken a dislike to another minor princess instead. So poor Ava could look forward to a lifetime of servitude, while Bianca was granted the relative freedom of exile.

Right now, though, Bianca almost envied Ava. Ava would ride through shady forest all the way to her new home, while Bianca's road was just that...a road. A road tramped by thousands of marching feet, when her father's armies had been fighting to claim this place, and it was kept clear to facilitate troop movements, should they be needed in future. So the sun beat down mercilessly, with no shelter in sight.

Which brought her back to the curse of being the fairest of all the king's daughters. Her cheeks burned, though she had no reason to blush. Bianca had never experienced a sunburn before, but if this was one, she had no desire to experience one again. By the time they reached the edge of a wood and a cottage where she might take shelter, Bianca's face felt like it was on fire. She signalled for her guards to halt, and she dismounted. Praying that the owner of the cottage was home and willing to offer temporary shelter to a traveller, Bianca knocked tentatively at the door.

The door creaked open, as though she was expected. "Princess!" an elderly voice croaked. "Please, come inside." A wrinkled hand beckoned her in.

Bianca glanced at her guards, who didn't look concerned, so she accepted the old woman's invitation and followed her into the blessed cool of the cottage.

The old woman shuffled to the table where she poured two cups of liquid from a stoppered jug. Then she waved her hand and the door slammed shut. That got Bianca's attention. "I am Kun, the witch who guards these lands. Welcome, princess. I take it you're not accustomed to travel?"

Bianca shook her head, wincing as this only seemed to make her face hurt more.

"I can give you a salve to soothe that burn, if you wish. If you're anything like your sisters, you wish to stay pretty for as long as possible." She gave a gummy grin.

"I would prefer not to be pretty," Bianca said with regret. "Pretty princesses attract unwanted attention. Much better to be unseen."

The woman cackled again. "An invisible princess, eh? That's quite a trick. Even more impressive than the day when the queen's new gown..."

"Please don't mention that," Bianca groaned. "I only wished to see how the queen's new gown was made. I had no idea what was invisible to me became invisible to everyone else, too. My mother banned me from using magic every day after that, so that the queen would not know that it was I who made her gown invisible so that she appeared n***d at court. I think she suspect something, though. She has never liked me."

Kun patted Bianca's hand. "It matters not. You're far from court and the queen now, and your mother, too, I think. Mayhap you should practice your magic a little more. You never know when it might be useful to become invisible."

If Bianca didn't know better, she would think Kun knew of her desire to escape. Or perhaps Kun knew the truth about life in the Summer Palace. Surely the politics could not be worse than those in the king's harem. But where there were a lot of women... "Are there many ladies residing at the Summer Palace?" she ventured.

"Not so many. With you, there shall be twelve princesses. All about your age, and ripe for marriage. All they need are suitable husbands."

Bianca tried to hide her surprise. What, no old maids? Were the stories wrong, and the girls really would be married off? Or were the old maids taken somewhere else?

"Here's your salve," Kun said. The jar clattered to the table from her shaking hands. "You be sure to put some on now, then another coat morning and night. It should heal without a blemish."

Bianca obeyed. The salve seemed to extinguish the flames, though some of the heat remained. "Thank you," she said with feeling.

"You can come visit, any time you wish to practice your magic," Kun said.

"I... I can leave the palace? To come and visit you?" Bianca asked in surprise.

Kun snorted. "It is a palace, child, not a prison. Within the borders you will be safe. My cottage marks the edge of palace lands, so take care you do not go beyond it. The Summer Palace has its pleasures, as I'm sure you will find out, once you begin to explore. No doubt your sisters will enlighten you."

Her sisters. Bianca swallowed. Half sisters, more like. And her rivals, should her father choose to marry one of them off for an alliance. Marriage would be her only means of escape, and if the opportunity arose, Bianca intended to take it. Perhaps being the fairest of them all might not be a curse, in this case.