Beautiful, Beautiful

Crow

The sound of crackling leaves caused Sun to spin away from her bowl of vegetable soup. It took only two steps to cross the main room in her small cottage to peer through a crack in her wooden door. Lucky for her, winter never crept through the two inch space between her door and the floor, and most rodents chose to stay away because of Grump. It was the bigger threats in life that could burst through the hinges of the door that Sun had worried herself over.

Three weeks had passed since her encounter with the stranger inside the village shop. It was a wonder how she'd even made it home without some form of trouble. If word hadn't traveled back to her father then word hadn't spread at all. Sun's father had visited her twice since the incident, and each time he came, it was evident he had the slightest clue.

The red cloak and golden dress had been tucked safely beneath her floorboards, a place she knew her father would never look. And when she was absolutely certain he was no where near, she'd take it out and wear it.

The last two times her father came, he brought small gifts. One was a late birthday present; a pound cake he had made from the ingredients of his farm. It had been unsweetened and hard, and so Sun had given it to the critters that lived nearby. The second gift was a new journal he'd bought for a bronze in the village. It was brown in color and made of a material that resembled leather. The parchment was slightly crumpled, but all Sun had to do to straighten the pages was to lay a large book on top of it and let it sit for days.

But Sun wasn't expecting her father, today. She wasn't expecting anyone to burst through her door, almost knocking her onto the ground. And yet, Cale stood before her, wide eyed and anxious, pacing the length of her livingspace.

"Cale?" Sun asked, blinking repeatedly in confusion. "What are you d-"

"You lied!" Cale thrashed, sending spit across the room as his arms raged. "You said a woman saw you, but it wasn't a woman, was it?"

"Cale-"

"Was it, Sun?" He raised his eyes to the ceiling, fighting to keep his composure. "God's wrath, Sun, answer the question."

"No, it wasn't!"

"Then why did you lie to me? Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Why won't you enlighten me?"

Sun lowered her eyes to the wooden floor, unable to meet his reproach. Cale had never been so desperate and irate. But there he stood, ready to rip her head off.

Sun clutched at the sides of her old, gray dress as she tried to breathe. She didn't really want to know the damage she'd caused that day at the circus. Not after spending weeks worrying herself over it.

"The village is talking," Cale began. "Of a woman so beautiful that is makes your eyes hurt. They say Prince Christian saw you with his own eyes, and that he plans to send word back to his father. I'd be shocked if it hasn't already reached the King's ears by now. The entire kingdom is talking! And do you know what makes it worse? If a lowly commoner would have been the one to spread this story, no one would have bothered to listen. God's wrath, Sun! Of all the people who could've spotted you, you chose for it to be a prince!"

"I didn't know he was one of the princes," Sun admitted. "I...I only heard stories about the King's children." In fear, Sun couldn't stop there. She continued to ramble on about unneeded facts. "he had two boys and a girl. The oldest son born with the gift of battle, the youngest son, the gift of charm, and the sister the gift of elegance. I only know that because I spent most of my early days here wishing I was the princess, dancing on my toes and twirling about. And because also, those princes may or may not be the princes in the prophecy. And now, everything the oracle said is about to happen. I'd rather die than doom the kingdom!"