I Love You, My Cursed Prince

Splendid autumn, giving it's yearly encore, taking its enjoyable turn, it put an optimistic sentiment in Muriel's heart. As she gazed out the carriage's window and looked at the Vantrim Castle, she thought of Prince Vidar. She hoped he hadn't been too lonely, but she was also looking forward to being tied to a chair, having her sight temporarily put away, and having the prince speak to her in his gentle voice.

They ate breakfast in the castle. Then the butler came with two gifts from Prince Vidar. Princess Arya received a beautiful round flower table. It had three tiered levels with small yet deep holes for little flower vases to be placed in. The wood was rich and shiny with lacquered images of dancing people on the thick edges of each tier. "What a lovely piece," the princess said as she lovingly stroked the beautiful wood.

"It seems to be a useful yet graceful present," Muriel said with a grin.

"That's true," the princess said. "Now why don't you go see what present you have?"

Muriel nodded and took a pretty box from the butler. Inside, there was a new doll. It was designed to look like a woman who had likely come from one of the far off nations with blistering deserts. Her skin was very dark, as close to literal black as humanly possible. Her chocolate colored eyes were shiny and intelligent. Her lips were painted a subtle brown with a hint of red. Her hair was kept in a wrapped turban-like garment on her head; it was a vibrant emerald green and had shiny brooches. Her walking dress was yellow with blue stripes. Her little shoes had delicate rosettes.

"What a precious woman I have here," Muriel said as she lightly held one of the doll's hands in her fingers. "I'll set her beside my other doll. They'd be good friends."

And as Muriel put the darker doll beside her previous doll, she wondered how many different dolls Prince Vidar had. Had he ever given any to his mother? The dolls were definitely important to him. He had apparently worked hard to make sure each one was unique and lovely.

Then she wondered if he made the dolls because he was lonely and wanted to see more people.

Maybe he needed to get over himself and accept the fact that he was ugly.