Page 32 of Enchanted in Time
But in place of a wedding kiss, what followed was the king’s last gasp. Shortly afterwards, his body turned rigid. He’d breathed his last and was dead.
Prince Gustav stared at his lifeless father. Then he felt his own form and examined his hands, which were still human. He looked at the misty apparition, who was already whirling back toward the balcony door. “Ha!” he cried. “It failed! The curse was not fulfilled!”
“Then it will pass to your child!”
The being spoke these final words so softly that hardly anyone heard them. Nor did they hear the eerie contentment and calm in its voice—almost as if this being had all the time in the world to await its revenge.
14
Who was the being who pronounced the curse?” asked Hannah, who had been silently listening to the prince’s story.
“Isn’t that obvious?” growled the bear. “It was Mirabelle von Taustein!”
Hannah looked over at the balcony the girl had used to flee so many years ago and that she’d returned by in order to seek her revenge. “But how could she learn to cast a spell in four weeks? And to fly?”
“That is the great mystery.” The bear heaved a sigh. It sounded so human that Hannah wanted to lay her hand on his paw.
“Why didn’t your father tell you about it? How could he leave you in the dark and expose you to this?”
“He didn’t believe that the curse had passed to me until the moment of his death. Of that I’m sure.”
“Did you learn more by some other means? Did your teacher tell you how to break the curse?”
“No, in my mother’s name, she just repeatedly tried to impress upon me that I should find a wife and marry young so that I would be spared the curse.”
“And why didn’t you do that?”
“I had to live through my parents’ terrible marriage. They were extremely unhappy and not at all suited to each other. They didn’t love each other and weren’t even on friendly terms. I swore to myself that I would only marry for love. And to be honest, I didn’t believe in the curse either until it first took effect. I thought it was some trick on my mother’s part to get me to marry young and ensure the continuation of the line.”
Hannah observed him carefully. She could tell that he regretted his decision, and she felt compassion for him. Someone needed to help him! She leaned her head back and looked up at the endless, starry sky. It wasn’t cold out, but she was shivering, and she hunched her shoulders and rubbed her bare arms.
“So, Hannah, have you finally calmed down?”
Hannah and the bear looked up, exchanged astonished glances, and then stared into the fountain, where they saw Frieda’s pointed face on the dark surface of the water.
The bear immediately leapt up and leaned against the side of the fountain with his paws. He bent down close to the water. “Godmother Friederike, why did you not appear when I called you?”
“Frieda, how are my children? If you harm so much as one hair on their heads...” Hannah said, clenching her fists.
Frieda shook her head and clicked her tongue in disapproval. “I was under the impression that the time for recriminations was past and that you were ready to receive the information you needed to break the curse. But if you still want to bicker...” And with these words, her face started to blur.
“No, stay!” Hannah and the prince both cried at once.
The image of Frieda’s face became sharper again, and she smiled. “That’s right, you two. Always nice and cooperative. And your children, dear Hannah, are sleeping blissfully in their beds, as they should be at this hour. So that you can return to them quickly, I suggest you hold back such comments and grumbling and listen.”
Hannah wanted to threaten her old neighbor, to make the nastiest accusations. She had a host of snappy retorts on the tip of her tongue, but she choked back her resentment, gritted her teeth, and nodded.
“What answers do you have for us, Godmother Friederike?” growled the bear. “Who was the evil magical being that cursed me? Mirabelle?”
“You need to understand the history, otherwise you will fail.” Frieda looked them both deep in the eyes before going on. “The evil one—the guilty one, the one responsible for the curse—was none other than your father. His arrogance and vanity were so hurtful to the poor young girl that they almost broke her.”
The bear let out a furious growl and was about to strike the water with his paw. Hannah laid her hand on his arm in spite of his wild gesticulations. “Calm down, or she’ll disappear again!”
The bear snorted and lowered his paw.
“What happened to Mirabelle back then?” Hannah asked, turning back to Frieda.
“She fled to the woods. She was desperate and heartbroken and wanted nothing more than to throw herself down a ravine to her death. But someone found her just in time and rescued her. She put her trust in one who promised to take revenge on the arrogant prince.”
