I Love You, My Cursed Prince

An interesting and possibly shocking request was made of Muriel. Normally, she would have been very indignant towards such a request, but she wasn't. Perhaps she felt pity. Perhaps her heart was softening. She couldn't rightly give the reason if she had been asked about it.

In a secret little note locked way for only her eyes, Prince Vidar asked if she would be kind enough to sit in the b.a.r.e room with b.a.r.e feet exposed.

So, Muriel undressed and removed her stays. Stays were fairly tight and it was difficult to put on stockings and shoes while wearing them. She untied her stockings and peeled them away. Then she put her feet in simple shoes, put her stays back on, and donned a vivid gown. Muriel hoped that the doctor wouldn't notice.

Inside the room, she sat down on the couch and found a covered dish. On the low table before her there was the typical wine and reading materials. Muriel smiled and lifted the lid.

Oh my!!

A cake with a circ.u.mference similar to Muriel's palm. Two disks of pumpkin cake layered with crushed pralines and whipped cream. Lots of whipped cream!

She opened the bottle of wine. It looked oddly ... brown and thick ... and it smelled like ... chocolate? Was this wine mixed with chocolate? Chocolate wine? Goodness!

Muriel slid off her shoes and stretched her b.a.r.e toes out towards the lit fireplace. A rug had been laid down so her skin wouldn't be chilled by the stone floor. She poured a glass of the chocolate wine and picked up a book to read.

Her toes flexed and wiggled. The spaces between each digit appreciated the heat. The wine was nice, rich and almost intimidating. The cake was spicy but in the most gratifying way. Muriel loved the whipped cream.

When her belly was full and half the wine was gone, Muriel curtsied and thanked her kind watcher for the dessert.

Later that night, as Muriel was slipping into bed, she wondered if Prince Vidar thought her feet were pretty. On pure impulse, she sat up and lit a few extra candles just so she could bend a leg and look at a foot.

It was small and finely shaped, clean and groomed. There wasn't anything offensive about it. Maybe he did like it.

She put her fingers between her toes. Then she pulled the fingers out and touched the ball of the foot. Soft and warm.

Wait.

Muriel's eyes narrowed as she examined something that happened to catch her attention.

A spot, a small dot, nearly a perfect circle, just under the fleshy pad of one of her smaller toes.

Was it a freckle or a mole? Muriel had almost none on her entire body, and she thought she knew her feet well. When did that spot show up?

Very gently, she pulled that toe back only a bit so she could look more closely.

Why ... was there ... a dark blue sheen?

That wasn't a normal mole.

Muriel's breath was squeezed out of her body. Her jaw dropped. Her eyes turned nearly mad. She trembled as she desperately rubbed the spot with her thumb, hoping it would come off.

No.

NO!!

A fairy had put a mark on her.