November 25

Word Count: 1,302

This day was quickly going from horrible to disastrous. As if waking up with a kink in her neck on the forest floor wasn't bad enough. No, Trevelyn had to lie to everyone around her, and fly on a dragon. Her hair was a tangled mess after the wind had whipped it out of its ribbon. The courtiers seemed to think it funny as they clambered up in their piecemeal armor. Not that a single one of them had a chance of vanquishing Snult. Indeed, she'd thought the first one was so blinded by his helmet that he'd confused her with the princess. She now wished it were true.

Sure, the parade through town had been enjoyable. It was like a last supper before having her head lopped off. Perhaps the king would reinstate beheadings just to deal with her. Brother Valdin meeting them at the door was another sign of impending doom. With a few well placed growls and glares, he'd disbursed the parade and shuffled the two wayward girls into the great hall. It was devoid of servants, advisors, and noblemen which in itself was very bad. It meant that the punishment would be private and severe. The king paced in front of the dais, pausing to wilt the girls with a grim scowl.

"Never in my entire life have I been so disappointed, humiliated, and infuriated. The entire court waited for you for two days. I'd begun to wish you were dead in a ditch somewhere rather than allowing me to be so humiliated. And this time… this time I won't let Lynah accept the blame for you. It was your decision to take a husband, and no doubt your decision to run off. I am ashamed, Trevelyn, to call you my daughter."

The king's rant was loud and ferocious. The girls looked at each other wondering how the king had mixed them up. Surely he meant Lynah, his daughter, and Trevelyn, her servant. Apparently Lynah decided to test this mix up.

"But we have some great news. We went into the forest and found-"

"Enough!" her father yelled, cutting her off. "No excuses from you, and don't think that you'll escape punishment either. I hereby banish you from the court for the ensuing month. You will not be invited to any meals, celebrations or ceremonies. You are not to speak to any courtiers or pay visitation on any members of the royal family. That includes Princess Trevelyn. You are forbidden to speak to her for a month. Now go to your room."

"Wait a minute," Trevelyn tried to interrupt.

"No! That is what I have decreed and so shall it be. Go!" Lynah abandoned her. She apparently wasn't that worried that suddenly her father had them switched about in his head. And he definitely wasn't in the mood to listen.

"You, young lady, are going to follow through with your promise. Tonight you shall be wed to the husband of your choice. Until then, you will remain in your room, alone in silent meditation."

"But-"

"No! Brother Valdin!" the king shouted. The brother obligingly appeared. "Take my daughter to her room, and see that she stays there."

Deciding it was rather futile to argue with him, Trevelyn had followed the brother up the stairs to her suit. The man was quite obvious about placing the two guards at her door and loudly instructing them that no one was allowed in or out except upon his orders.

So now Trevelyn was locked in a room soon expected to be married and everyone she talked to believed she was a princess. If it had just been the king she could have assumed it was his madness, but the soldiers, Brother Valdin, and even the courtiers back in the parade had addressed her as the princess. This was either a case of mass hysteria, or their trip to the forest had resulted in unpleasant side effects.

Trevelyn didn't even have a way to access Lynah. She didn't even know if Lynah knew about the wedding. The whole situation was impossible. Trevelyn couldn't marry a nobleman who thought she was a princess. What would happen when he found out he'd married a servant? Did it count if everyone thought she was someone else?

It wasn't until the wedding dress was brought in that Trevelyn began to despair. She tried to imagine ruse after ruse, the way Lynah did when she got into a tricky spot. Where was Lynah? She should be trying to get to Trevelyn, having realized that mystically trading places was not a good thing.

"My fair love! My fair love! With a face like a dove! Bring peace to my mind and joy to my heart and tell me we'll never be truly apart!" Trevelyn swung open the shutters. The noblemen had apparently not given up hope yet of being chosen as husband for the royal princess. As soon as she appeared at the window, the musician playing badly on his pipe kicked the shouting poet in the shin. The poet shouted a few words one would not expect in the presence of a lady and grabbed the musician's pipe and smacked him over the head with it. The poet hobbled and the musician grabbed his head for a bit before the two began fighting in earnest. It was more of a shoving match than a fist fight, for both the men were rather afraid of breaking their hands on the other's hard skull. Of course when the singer arrived, the two men ganged up on him and broke his guitar before he managed to play a note.

Realizing that her presence was just encouraging their misbehavior, Trevelyn closed the shutters and sat down on Lynah's bed. Or was it her bed? "How do I get into these messes?" she asked herself aloud.

"Well, actually, this wasn't your fault," a voice said from the other side of the room. Startled, Trevelyn bounced off the bed and to her feet. Nelyr stood there, grinning at her reaction. He probably loved to sneak up on people.

"You should give warning before you respond to the rhetorical questions of people who think they're alone."

"I just thought you'd like to know. It was all her doing. She must dying to lead a normal life if she was able to cast a spell as powerful as this one."

"Lynah cast a spell?"

"Oh, not intentionally for sure. But this kind of thing can happen. When the desire is strong enough, the magic finds a way."

"Well then, she can just go undo all this magic and put her back into the princess."

"She probably has no idea this was all her fault. And before she changes you back, she must have a desire to do so. If she is in any way regretting or doubting, she most likely won't be able to manage it." Nelyr scoffed, "I doubt she could undo the spell know, come to think of it."

"What do you mean? Why can't she undo it? What's wrong? Besides the fact that she doesn't want to be a princess."

"Magic takes time to learn. I may be able to teach her after a hundred of years or so."

"I'm supposed to be married tonight. Is there a way to fix it now?"

"No, my old body has lost most of its power. I can't perform spells like that now. I may be able to curse your new husband into an early death."

"No, I don't want to get married at all."

"Well, I suppose there is a way, since I have the knowledge and you have the power, if you let me borrow your power, I could uncast the spell Lynah created."

"I can let you borrow power?

"Yes, it's possible."