[ WP ] [ TT ] You 've been cursed by a witch and can only break the spell by true love 's kiss . Desperate , you 've been through dozens of potential suitors but nothing happens ... until one day someone unexpected shows up at the castle .

How you wish all the tales to be true. How you wish for magic in that simpler sense. In that way that rights all the wrongs of the world. That can fight the demons that very much so exist. How you wish so many things. The world is as it is though, and magic is a bit more subtle, a bit more nuanced. 
 
 
 Our castle was old. It had been besieged a great many a time but it stood and our family was old and proud. We had ruled the land long ago and even presently we were still powerful. We had a great kingdom and I was the princess. The world was upon my shoulders and our enemies breathed down my neck. 
 
 
 They were numerous, our enemies. Old and spiteful, fallen kings and would be rulers. They plotted against my father and they plotted against me, his only heir. Only once were they successful. 
 
 
 Magic does not exist. I am in the minority but I truly believe this to be so. I believe what has afflicted me to be malevolent, but made wholly from man's black heart. Magic does not exist, but there are bad things in this world. 
 
 
 Her name was Carla. She was a nanny to me and she was old and frail. Her lineage had come from an old enemy, a long gone land, and her blood still boiled with hate and spite. We did not know this at the time. 
 
 
 One night she came and she cursed me. I inhaled the deep smokes of her evil and she stabbed me with some vile poison. 
 
 
 `` Forever shall you wither!'' she screamed. 
 
 
 She screamed as much during her execution. At the time we thought her an old fool and after the priest had prayed and I remained okay, we thought there was no harm done. 
 
 
 But it came delayed. It came vile and vicious. My hair began to fall and my appetite diminished and I lost weight and my looks and everything else. I felt as if I was rotting from the inside, a frail old thing, poisoning the youthful girl that I had used to be. 
 
 
 The kingdom was whipped to a panic. My father wept and my mother could not handle the stress and she retired to her room during the days. All sorts of healers came and all sorts of religious men. There was no stopping it. I wasted away. I was slowly dying. 
 
 
 The fairy tales were my father's only hope. I am sure you have heard them. It seems to be the only thing common amongst the kingdoms. The great prince, riding on his mare, saving the fair princess from her horrific curse. It was my only hope. 
 
 
 My father made peace throughout the lands and brought the finest men to me. I was no longer fair and I was more a corpse than living being and I felt sorry for the men. They kissed me, a balding husk that was dying with the seconds. 
 
 
 But they were dutiful and there was hope at first. The old magic would save me. The great stories had to have sprung from somewhere. The men tried and tried and my father kept bringing more, hoping my curse would lift and I would be revived. 
 
 
 It never happened of course. I do not believe in that kind of magic. I do not believe old Carla was some supernatural witch. My father losed hope as I became more and more bedridden. I was bald and emaciated and I felt death's knock every time I closed my eyes. I felt sorry for my father for there was nothing I could do. 
 
 
 And then one day there was a final visitor. He was a young priest and he was comely with short hair and disheveled clothes. He would never be royalty nor nobility. He was marked for priesthood and he had that common look about him. He had that simple, human look that is often missing amongst the aristocrats. 
 
 
 He wanted to visit me and my father relented. He was a broken man then and he allowed anything. His kingdom was in disrepair and he was often resigned to depression. He allowed to priest entry and I met him weakly and half-conscious. 
 
 
 `` I am Albert,'' he said. 
 
 
 I could not speak, but I did not have to. 
 
 
 Albert spoke softly to me and he comforted me. 
 
 
 `` I am a man of God,'' he said, `` but I will not fool you with His miracles. I think you know what is to happen. I think you understand. I am here so you will not be afraid.'' 
 
 
 And he stayed and I made an effort to speak with him. 
 
 
 `` I have lost many to this plague,'' he said. `` Many of my brothers.'' 
 
 
 `` I am dying,'' I said. 
 
 
 He nodded and my father began to weep openly. 
 
 
 `` It is not to be afraid. Your suffering will end. This journey is almost over. You have tried everything, have n't you? A painless respite is all that is left. Please do not be afraid.'' 
 
 
 He turned to my father. 
 
 
 `` She will be with God soon.'' 
 
 
 My father looked at him and he was hardly composed but the young priest had a way about himself. He was not a depressive person, but he remained realistic and calm. 
 
 
 `` Great King,'' he said. `` Call your finest herbalist and have him make something for her pain. Do not worry for the dosage. Just try to relieve her pain.'' 
 
 
 My father listened and they gave me mixtures that eased the rotting, dulling it so that I did not feel it. I regained some of my dignity and Albert remained in the castle. 
 
 
 He kissed me once, when we were alone and I asked him to. 
 
 
 `` You are not like the others. You are not here for an opportunity.'' 
 
 
 `` I am here because you are unwell.'' 
 
 
 `` Kiss me, please. I want to have a real kiss that is n't a political favour. I want...'' 
 
 
 And he kissed me gently and it was unlike the others. He was not trying to cure me. He was not trying to do anything but abate my pain. He was gentle, Albert. He was caring. 
 
 
 `` You must ease your mind,'' he said. 
 
 
 `` There is real magic in a content mind. Let the pain slip away. Let the world go.'' 
 
 
 I tried my best and he closed his hands around mines. I can not say that I believe in God either, but Albert helped and he was a Godly man. 
 
 
 `` It will all go soon,'' he said. 
 
 
 And he remained there by my side, as the black rot spread and as the world slowly dimmed.
