Stay in the Castle :: Part Three

Click here to read Part One and Part Two 

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Three months later, a slightly older, but much changed Princess marched into the Great Room to announce to her Father the decision she had made on the previous night. Her midnight visits had increased in frequency since that first visit a long time ago. The village night life was more exciting than she had ever dared imagine. The people, though sometimes crude, laughed and sang and danced and chased each night into dawn. They were living! Living now! Not just waiting for a dream that might never come true.

The young man that had met her that first night had treated her, well, like royalty! In a hundred ways he had made her feel special. Then last night, the greatest of all nights of her life, he had proposed to her. She clutched the ring he had slipped onto her finger tightly in her palm, drawing courage from the pain it produced.

"Father, I have something to tell you."

He sat in his chair, the Book of Lessons on his lap, it's pages freshly stained with his tears. She almost lost her resolve.

"I've met a young man. I know I shouldn't have gone without your permission but...anyway, we are going to be married--right away!"

The King shut the Book and stared out towards the Highway. "I watched you go each night, wishing you back." Then turning his eyes to her he said. "This castle has never been a prison. This castle is a decision. I want you to know that if you leave here, things will never be the same again. My love for you will never change, but everything--everything--else will." She wavered for a moment, but only a moment, her head filled now with the village ideas.

"I know that this is what is right for me. He may not be Royalty, but I love him." And with that she left the castle.

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Stay Tuned for the fourth and final part of this story!