The Hidden Princess (Book One of the Whispered Tales)

Chapter 12

Eliza felt her entire world crumbling. She realised why she was so easily able to find the map to the Forest of the Shadows. She also knew why there was no lock on the hatch door that led to the tunnel below the castle.

'It was you. All this time. You were the shadow following me. You were in my room and wrote that message.'

The Wiseman has arranged everything according to their evil plan. They set a trap in which she fell willingly.

'Why, Constantin?' whispered Eliza, tears dripping on her face. 'Why did you do this?'

'Why?' cried the Wiseman. 'For this was the only way to gain what is rightfully mine. It was the only way I could become the master of this Kingdom.

'You see, Princess, a long, long time ago, my father was King over these lands. But instead of making me the heir of the Kingdom, he chose to leave it to my brother and his descendants. Only because he thought I was too cruel and with a lust for power. For years, I have roamed the earth and my trace was lost. I came back when no one knew who I was anymore and I made up a plan to regain what was mine in the first place. I couldn't do this by myself for I didn't have an army. So I went looking for help. I found it in the Shadows led by Witch Guzma. I made sure to accompany the Prince in his travels and make sure he would die.

'But when I was planning to kill him, someone came up with the idea to visit a mill in a neighbouring country, where they ground the finest flour. The miller had a little girl who played around all day with the young Prince, but which her father would not leave her out of his sight. I wouldn't suspect it was your father's mill. When night came, you both slept under the careful watch of your father. This is how I've lost my chance of killing the Prince.'

Eliza couldn't believe her ears. She remembered the joyful little boy, hair black as the darkest cloud, who spent the night at the mill many years ago. How come she never realised it? Maybe the boy had a different name, and she never knew he was the Prince. Without ever knowing, she had saved his life.

'Well, in the end, things fell on the right path,' continued Constantin. 'In the end, you ended up doing what another girl could never succeded. You made the Prince fall in love with you. Which made it easier for us because he started listening to your opinion. Witch Guzma, now a princess, will take care to convince the Prince to go back to his conquering habits. So the upcoming spring, the Shadows will come back to invade the Kingdom, this time for good. And Guzma and I will become its ruthless leaders.'

The two of them laughed, and they caught up in a grotesque dance as if the world belonged to them.

All of a sudden, the doors of the library flew open and Prince Gabriel came in accompanied by his guards.

"What is going on here?' His eyes fell on Eliza's ugly face. 'Who are you and what are you doing here?'

The Witch threw herself in his arms: 'She is Witch Guzma, my darling, the leader of the Shadows. If it wasn't for Constantin showing up, she would have killed me.'

'Don't listen to her, please!' said Eliza with her old voice. 'She is the real Witch Guzma and I am under this spell that made me look like her.'