The Lonely Tower

A Story by Hailey

A princess finds herself trapped in an endless day.

There once was a young princess who lived in a tall tower on a hill. Every day of her life played out exactly the same way. She woke up and had breakfast on the patio, eggs with toast. She then would shower and her handmaiden would braid her long red hair. The princess never told anyone, but this was her favorite part of the day. The braids, while always intricate, were subtly different each day. Following that, her fat wrinkled instructor would arrive and she would be taught everything she needed to know about how to be a lady.

Sometime during the extensive princess lessons she had lunch. It too was the same each day; grilled salmon salad with dried cherries. The young princess frowned at the fish and sighed. Moving past her lesson, she began her independent study time. This consisted mainly of either reading one of the ten novels she owned, or knitting. The princess despised knitting, but she had read each book so many times backward and forward that she could recite them word for word. After blankly staring at her book for two hours, she would have a bland dinner of roasted chicken and greens. The blackness of night brought her up to the roof of the tower for astronomy lessons. She mechanically mapped out the same, unmoving stars onto charts. The tiny lights in the black, velvety sky reminded her so much of her own life; constant and never changing. Lying in bed, the princess dreaded falling asleep each night. A new morning would dawn, and once again she would be forced to live the day over again, just as she had for years and years.

Before the princess even opened her eyes, she knew something was different. But how could it be different? Nothing had ever changed for as long as she could remember. She rose from her bed, dressed, and shuffled to the patio. Her eyebrows scrunched together as she looked down at her plate. Nestled there between her eggs and toast, were two long, crispy pieces of meat.

The princess continued to stare at her plate, mouth agape, when a soft voice shook her from her revere. “It is bacon, princess.” She blinked and pried her eyes away from the intruder on her plate. “Bacon?” The princess glanced from her handmaiden to the plate and back again. “Bacon.” Her handmaiden smiled, “Try it, you will love it!”

Bewildered by the sudden presence of a new food in her life, the princess picked up the crispy brown strip and frowned. “It looks burnt.” Laughing slightly, her handmaiden chided, “It is supposed to look like that. Just give it a taste.” The princess reluctantly took a tiny bite and gasped, “Oh!” She ate the remainder of the strip in two big bites and quickly devoured the second piece. “It is like nothing I have ever tasted before! Salty, smoky, wow! This is simply amazing.”

Her handmaiden had been chuckling at her all the while and suddenly the princess was quite embarrassed by her outburst. “Forgive me, um. Wait, I..I’ve just realized. I do not know your name. For all these years you have been serving me my meals and braiding my hair. How do I not know your name?” A panicked feeling began to press down hard in the princess’s chest that she did not understand. “Relax princes, my name is Mariana. It must have just slipped your mind.” The princess studied her handmaiden more closely now, seeing her clearly for the first time. She looked like the same woman, but somehow different; like a fog had been lifted. Soft brown curls cascaded down her caramel shoulders, and her deep chocolate eyes watched the princess closely. Marian a looked exactly the same as always except…

“Your dress!” the princess gasped. “What about my dress, Princess?” The princess once again sat with her mouth agape, “It is red!” “It is so nice of you to notice, my princess.” Mariana grinned at her, or was it more of a smirk? “But,” the princess fumbled for the words, “but you always wear a blue dress.” Her smile widened and she said, “Ah yes, I am very fond of the blue dress, but I felt like today was a day to wear red. Don’t you think it is the perfect day for red?”

The princess did not even know how to respond to such a statement. So she settled for a noncommittal shrug and finished her breakfast, wishing she had more of that bacon.

After her bath the princess sat patiently in her chair for Mariana to come and braid her hair. A few minutes went by and she still had not arrived. Maybe she got held up in the kitchens, the princess thought. For the sake of time, the princess ran her brush through her hair a few times to rid herself of any tangles. Now Mariana would just have to braid it, and the princess could be off to her lessons. However, the minutes ticked by and Mariana still had not walked through the door. The princess was now worried she would be late for her lessons. What would happen if she was late? She was beginning to wonder what was going on. It was shaping up to be the most peculiar of days. Hastily, the princess braided her own hair into a single plait down her back. It was nothing compared to the multi-braid masterpieces that Mariana created, but it would have to do.

The princess practically ran across the tower to her lessons, and was panting slightly when she burst through the door. The old wrinkled woman glared down her nose at the princess and growled, “You, my princess, are late. Now sit down.” The princess rushed to the lone desk in the small room and sat down with as much grace and poise that she could muster. “We will pick up our lesson where we left off yesterday.” The old woman blinked at her for a moment. “Dear princess why is your hair so unkempt?” Her sudden question caught the princess off guard and she stammered. If she told the truth would Mariana get into trouble? Would she be sent away? This day was turning into a puzzling nightmare for the princess. She looked down at the desk and mumbled, “I just wanted something a bit simpler today.” The princess inwardly cringed at her horrible lie, convinced the old woman would see right through it. “Simpler? But, why?” The old lady was scrutinizing the princess’s face. “Oh just, you know, sometimes all of those tight braids give me a headache.” The princess gave her most demure smile to the old lady, who with her very tightly braided bun sitting on top of her head, did not understand the princess’s faux plight. The old woman’s upper lip curled back, making her look like she smelled something foul, and she sneered, “Well princess, for my lessons you will be dressed like a lady from top to toes. See that this does not happen again.” The princess mumbled her assent and opened her book to plow through the day’s lesson as ladylike as possible.

When lunch arrived that afternoon, the princess found herself disappointed by the same old salmon salad sitting before her. The day continued on just like every other day, and if it weren’t for the simple braid, guiltily swinging between her shoulder blades, she would have almost thought that she had just imagined everything. It wasn’t until she walked into her room for independent boredom that she noticed anything different. There, sitting innocently on her shelf with the other books, was a plain brown journal. Excitement began building and the princess flew across the room and grasped the book in her hands. The supple leather of the binding felt soft and natural in her hands. The princess caressed the cover and brought it to her nose, breathing it in. The journal smelled rich and earthy, like the rain when a storm would roll in off the coast. A new book! But no, this book was very old. The leather had the worn look of age, and the pages were the color of tarnished gold.

She pressed the book to her chest and walked out onto her patio. The princess glanced around to make sure no one was watching. Not that anyone would be; the tower was in the middle of a great plain. Nothing else existed for miles around. Carefully, the princess slid open the cover. The front page held a simple dedication in faded blue ink. She could barely make out the words.

“For my beautiful daughter,

May you one day find your

way back home.”

The princess traced the words with her fingers. Someone had lost their daughter. With a deep longing of sadness looming on her mind, the princess turned the page.

A sob instantly racked her whole body as she read the first line. “My dearest Adelah,” Adelah! The name resonated deep down in her soul. It was as if her heart was a church bell and it had been struck by a metal mallet. That name! Fresh waves of pain clutched her and the journal slipped from her fingers, hitting the floor with a soft thud. Adelah. Why was that name so familiar? Who was she? Who was Adelah? Adelah. Who was she? Who am I? The princess paused. Who am I? Why did I think that? My name is … She gasped again, breathing rapidly. I am Adelah! That is my name! The princess’s heart was thrumming in her chest and she felt like she was about to hyperventilate. The air around her felt too thick to breathe. Somewhere deep in her mind she realized someone was crying. It is me, I’m crying.

Adelah didn’t hear her handmaiden walk in the room, but felt her warm, steady hands cover her own hands that quaked under the new information. “Princess, you must keep quiet.” Mariana was gently stroking her hair now. “The old woman will hear you, and believe me, nobody wants that.” She paused to glance at the door, listening hard for any sounds of movement in the tower. “I know this is a shock for you, but you need to calm down. Please relax. I will explain everything.”

- - -

The end of her allotted independent study time was quickly approaching and her mind was still reeling from the utter nonsense Mariana had just told her. “So, you are telling me that I have been trapped in this tower for how long?” Mariana let out an exasperated sigh. “I told you, I’m not really sure. The way the spell works is unknown to me. It may have been years, or it may have only been a few days. Time here in this tower, within the confines of the spell, has no real meaning.” Adelah was working her brain to the max trying to process her new reality. Magical imprisonment? It sounded too much like something you would read in a fairy tale. “So you have been working this whole time to try and break the spell?” Mariana was nodding fervently, “Yes, Princess Adelah. The most I could manage for the longest time was the small changes to your braid. It seems that the spell caster did not focus on those particular details. However, everything else was so unbelievably iron clad. It is truly an impressive bit of magic.”

Adelah was momentarily taken aback by Mariana’s reverence of the horrible spell caster who trapped them here. It then dawned on her, “Oh! You can do magic as well, can’t you?” The princess was almost shouting now in her excitement. “That’s how you broke through! You used magic to break the spell!” Mariana was looking panicked again, glancing quickly from the door to Adelah. “Yes princess, I can do magic. The spell is far from broken, though. I am your guardian. I exist only to protect you.”

The princess found herself sitting with her mouth agape for a third time on, this, the strangest of days. Flabbergasted, Adelah stammered, “Like…like a fairy godmother?” The corners of Mariana’s mouth turned down slightly, “I've always hated that term, but yes, something like that. Though, I am not a fairy. The fae haven’t been seen or heard from for thousands of years. My people are simply called the guardians, and we exist as protectors for the royal families.” Mariana reached down and picked up the leather journal that lay forgotten on the floor. “Here, take this. You need to find a safe place to hide it until I can devise an escape plan.”

So many unanswered questions rolled around in the princess’s mind as she carefully slipped her mother’s journal underneath the loose floorboard. She walked to dinner in a haze, vaguely aware of her surroundings. Adelah looked up and realized she had wandered into the old woman’s bedroom. Panic was fighting with great force to overcome the princess’s curiosity, but she had never been in this room before, and her curiosity batted down the fear like a fly.

It was a small, nondescript room with a rocking chair and one tattered lamp. A thick layer of dust coated the floor and the small bed. The room had the feeling of being unlived in. Adelah crept quickly over to the closet and carefully opened the door. Peaking inside the closet revealed only a thick travelling cloak and nothing else. Perplexed, the princess glanced around the room again. There was no dresser in this room. There were no clothes in the closet. So where did the old woman keep all of her dresses? Surely she did not have but one outfit? Before she could think on this more, the princess heard heavy footsteps heading her way. She hastily closed the closet door and burst from the room. Adelah sprinted down to dinner, worrying all the while about whether or not she heard the closet door click shut.

That night as Adelah lay in bed, sleep eluded her. There were too many questions left unanswered, and she had not seen Mariana for the rest of the day. Her questions would have to wait until morning. She flipped through the pages of her mother’s journal that lay beside her. She had been reading it by the light of the moon through her windows. Her mother had filled the pages with expressions of love and stories of her childhood. While the words seemed happy, her mother’s writing had an undertone of sadness, as if she knew she was about to lose her daughter forever. The pages were dotted with tear stains, some dried for many years; a product of the authors eyes, and others were fresh and new from Adelah as she read the stories about her life. How long ago had this been written? Was her family still alive? How long had she been trapped in this limbo?

Tears welled up in her eyes once more, mourning the loss of her former life. Adelah slept fitfully that night. Terrible dreams of evil magicians and the stone cold corpses of her family plagued her. When the day broke and breakfast had arrived, the princess was relieved to have a respite from her vivid imagination. She sat on her patio with her breakfast and the leather journal. The thin strips of bacon that caused so much confusion yesterday barely caught Adelah’s attention today. She absentmindedly pushed the food around on her plate, no real appetite finding her, when out of the corner of her eye she saw movement. Her patio overlooked the vast plain. There was nothing but grass and low hills for miles and miles.

There couldn't possibly be anything but tall gross moving out there. However, there, on top of one of the tallest hills, stood a lone man cloaked in black. Breakfast now completely forgotten, Adelah rose and walked to the edge of her patio. She squinted at the dark figure, trying desperately to make sense of who this stranger was. The princess raised her and waved to the man; slowly at first, then more and more frantically. She very much wanted to meet this impossible man who appeared suddenly in her prison. If he saw her frantic waves, he gave no indication. He simply turned and disappeared behind the hill.

The day continued on with painful normality. Mariana said they should speak no more until the time came to make their escape. The risk of the old woman finding out was just too great. So day after day the princess continued to pretend she was unaware of her imprisonment and day after day she would watch the cloaked man stand on the hill while she ate breakfast. He never acknowledged her. He never did anything really, but stand there and stare at her tower.

It wasn't until weeks later that the princess noticed a change. Was the cloaked man closer today? If she was honest with herself, she had to admit that she hadn't given him much thought lately. Watching him just stand there op on that hill had gotten dull after a few days. Adelah looked more closely now. Yes, he was definitely closer. Not much though. Excited by this small change, the princess waved at the cloaked man once more. Much to her dismay he continued to stare at the tower with no discernible response to her. Adelah snorted in annoyance and turned her attention back to breakfast.

Weeks turned into months, and still Mariana had revealed no upcoming plans for a prison break. The only thing breaking up the monotony of her life was watching the cloaked man steadily move closer and closer to the tower. One morning the princess was seated on her patio, staring intently at the man, when Mariana appeared behind her. Adelah did not even hear her approach. The man stood so close now that she could make out the glossy black curls hidden beneath his hood, and the deep emerald clasp holding that hood in place. The princess was pondering this man’s intentions when Mariana cleared her throat.

Adelah let out a small shriek. “Sweet Spirits, Mariana, you scared me half to death!” The princess saw laughter in the handmaiden’s dark eyes. “Oh! Mariana, please tell me you have found a way out of this place?” Mariana was grabbing the princess’s hands between her own “That I have, my princess, but you are not going to like what I have to say.” She hesitated, biting her lip. Mariana glanced out across the field, noticing the cloaked man for the first time. She hissed, “How can he possibly be here?” Confused, Adelah looked out at the man as well. “Him? He has been standing out there for months. I noticed him for the first time shortly after you had broken through the spell.” Mariana’s brows furrowed, deepening further as she looked back to Adelah. “Do you recognize this man? He comes from your former life among the royal family.”

Adelah stared at the man more intently now. Did she recognize him deep down? “No, I don’t think so.” Mariana let out a rush of air. “This man showed up with the old woman under the pretense of a marriage contract. He went through all the motions of a courtship with you, all the while that vile old woman made the arrangements for your imprisonment!” She looked out at the cloaked man once more. “That man is as evil as his coat is black.”

The princess shook her head, “So what does this mean for our escape plan?” The handmaiden led them further into the bedroom as if she was anxious the cloaked man would over hear. “Not ‘our’ escape plan princess, but yours.” When Adelah started to protest, Mariana just raised her hand and shushed her. “Let me explain. The prison that you are trapped in is not what it seems. Rather than kidnapping you and travelling to this remote tower, the old woman bewitched you into an enchanted sleep. All of this is in your head. Me, the tower, the old woman, “ she frowned and looked at the man once more, “and even that man, I suppose. Everything is a part of your dream. “

This new revelation about her imprisonment was almost as difficult to grasp as the initial shock of her discovery that she was not free. “So… if this is all a dream, then why don’t I just wake up?” Mariana was shaking her head. “Oh princess, if it were only that easy. The spell is holding you under and you cannot wake up on your own. Also, we still have no idea how long you have been bewitched. A thousand years could have passed in the real world while you lay here, imprisoned by your own mind.” Adelah wiped a tear from her cheek. Her whole family, hell, her whole world could have crumbled to dust while she slept. “Well, waking up to nothing would still be better than being trapped in this tower forever. I, at least, want to try.” A radiant smile lit up her handmaidens face like the princess had never seen before. It gave her an almost demented look, frightening Adelah slightly.

“I thought you might say that, dear princess. Now comes the hard part.” Mariana slid a long golden dagger from the sleeve of her red dress. It was encrusted with deep emeralds, not unlike the clasp of the man’s cloak. The curved tip of the dagger gleamed in the sunlight that filtered through the windows. “Princess I’m going to have to ask you to trust me. This is going to be very difficult. A small cry involuntarily burst from Adelah’s lips as Marian’s fingers slid down the length of the blade. “Do you trust me?” Without realizing it, Adelah found her head bobbing up and down in a silent yes. “Good. I have discovered that the only way for your body to wake from this enchanted sleep is for you to die in the dream. Your death will cause so much of an emotional upheaval that the spell will be broken, and you will return to reality.” The princess’s head continued to bob up and down through this whole explanation, not really processing what was being said. “So I have to die in order to return to my life?” Mariana grimaced at the word ‘die’ and nodded gravely. “Are you ready princess?” Adelah’s eyes bulged and she squeaked, “You mean right now?” Mariana let out a sharp laugh and tossed her dark hair. “What, did you want to attend a few more lessons? Maybe have a few more salmon salads? Yes, now princess. There is no reason to delay. The sooner you wake, the sooner you will have all this behind you.

Blood reddened her cheeks as the princess realized her panic was in vain. I won’t actually be dying. Really I am just going to be waking up. “Alright, let’s get this over with.” Mariana quickly swooped behind the princess and placed the dagger against the soft flesh of her neck. She expected the gold to be cold against her, but it was surprisingly warm. This was the thought crossing the princess’s mind when the old woman burst through her bedroom door.

Her face, which was usually pinched with disdain, was alight with terror now. “Princess Adelah, NO!” The old woman screamed and threw herself at Mariana just as the sharp dagger met its mark and the bright red blood of the Princess Adelah spilled out onto the floor. The last thing the princess heard was the deep keening of the old woman screaming, “No! No! Princess Adelah! NO!” and the dark maniacal laugh of her handmaiden. Princess Adelah slipped into the blackness.