The Curse of Queen Evelyn

“That's not fair!” There's no way they can do this to me! They can't make me marry Prince Lucas! Being eight, I don't have much say in these matters, but that's not the point! They can't do that to me. Shaking my head, I look dead in their eyes, waiting for a response. Seeing my parents' faces turn into a scowl, I know I should not have said that. “What have we told you about whining?” My mom asks me. “I'm sorry. It won't happen again.” Breaking eye contact, the food in front of me doesn't seem to call out to me anymore. Knowing that my parents will punish me, I begin to eat slowly. Being punished isn't anything new to me, as all princesses have to go through it sooner or later. Our punishments can be anything from being sent to her room to being put into the dungeon depending on the situation. I have been sent to my room many times, and have even gotten a few bruises. Knowing what it would do to my parents, the bruises will never be shown to anyone, not even my best friend, who is only a kingdom away. It is normally always quiet when we eat, but not on a night like this. “So, Evelyn,” my dad begins. “You will meet Lucas tomorrow morning after breakfast. You will be kind and polite. Do you understand?” Looking up from my food, I manage to put a smile on my face. “Yes sir.” He nods in approval. A few minutes later, we all finished our food and left the dining area. “Evelyn, I want to show you something.” My mother tells me as we are walking out of the dining room. “Okay?” My mom begins to lead me down the halls of the old castle. The castle of Newark has been here for hundreds of years. People wonder how it's still standing with the damage. Some parts of the castle nobody can travel to as it has been destroyed. Some parts have been rebuilt, while other parts look old yet new. Either way you look at it, it's a beautiful castle. Not many people get to come to a castle like this or a royal kingdom, for that matter. In order to come, you must be invited or a part of the family. I want to change that when I'm older though, because what's the point of having a castle if nobody is allowed inside? “Here it is.” We stop in front of a door that has a moon symbol on it. I've never seen this door before, even after being around this castle so many times, it's nailed in my brain. Handing me the key, my mother tells me, “This is now yours, protect it with your life and good luck. This door is now yours.” I know I have a confused look on my face as my mom walks away. I have no idea what lies behind that door or if the door should even be opened. Looking down at what I was wearing, the better choice was to go change as I want to go down there. I want to find out what lies beyond the door. Maybe it'll help me in the future. The maid didn't like it when anyone got their dresses dirty and, knowing me, that is what I would end up doing. While still holding the key tightly in my hand, I walk to my room, which took a few minutes as the castle is so big. Walking into the closet, I changed into a hoodie and some shorts. It didn't really matter what we wear at night as nobody was around to see us. Even when my parents take a trip to the village, being in comfortable clothes was much preferred than a tight dress. Although, sometimes my parents invite me to go with them. Wishing I could just be out in the real world, I sigh. The village and everything in between gives me hope that life will be a little easier. After changing, I went down the hallways once more in search of the door. Arriving at the door, I look closely at the moon. “What could this mean?” I thought aloud. The moon was a crescent moon but it was a dark blue color. Unlocking the door, I turned the knob and pushed the door open. The door opened with a creek. Looking down, I see a flight of stairs. It looks like it went under the castle, but there shouldn't be anything underground. It's been said for a long time that nothing has been built underneath here. Although, it won't be surprising if there is. Carefully, I slowly began to descend the stairs. It's dark, but the dark has never bothered me. Reaching the bottom, I look around the dark room. In front of me there is a little light coming from what looked like a window. Maybe I'm not under the castle. I look in the middle and saw a table. The table looks to have some symbols on it. Walking over to the table, I look at the symbols. It looks like they are in some kind of pattern. Running my hand over them, I got a feel for each of them. “A cross...” I noticed that there were more crosses than any other symbol on the table. What can that mean? I look at the books on the table. They also each had their own symbol that matched the tables. Taking the first one from the pile, I lay it down and open it. I try to read the words but it doesn't look like anything I've ever seen. Making a mental note, I closed the book and put it back in the stack. Looking over to the left of the room, there are some chairs and what looks to be like a board. This had to have been some kind of a classroom. Or else there wouldn't be anything in here. I see writing on a particular desk and went to stand in front of it. On the top right corner was a name. Reading the name aloud, it was, “Mark Luther.” I've never heard of a Mark Luther. This doesn't make sense. I shook my head, trying to shake all the possibilities of who the person could be. Was he evil? Was he a devil? Was he someone important or just nobody I need to worry about? God, why did my parents nail these kinds of questions in my head? I won't ever need to think about this kind of thing. Right? I take a deep breath and trace my hand along the wall. Something tells me something is here that shouldn't be. I walked to the other side of the room and looked at what looked to be a cell. I looked closer at it and see that there is a flight of stairs that lead down. “Where can that go?” I say a little too loudly. My voice echos. I need to be quiet. I don't know who's up. I just hope all this noise I'm making with my voice and footsteps doesn't wake anyone up because people will start coming to look for the sound. The darkness seemed to grow more the more I look down there. I went to open the door but it was locked. I look at the key in my hand and wonder if it would open this door. There's only one way to find out. I put the key in the lock and turn it. The door unlocks after a minute of resisting. I push the door open and begin the descent. Something doesn't feel right, although I don't know why. Eventually, my feet hit solid ground and I let my eyes adjust to the new level of darkness. It seemed that my eyes could always shine a path in front of me. I don't know why, as my eyes are just as normal as anyone's. After about a minute or so, my eyes were adjusted and I look around. The first thing I notice is a shadow-like creature in the corner. What is that? Why is it near me? “Is anyone there?” There wasn't a response. I stare at the shadow. It stares back at me and suddenly the shadow's face comes into view and I screamed. I was frozen in place. The face looks like it has been stabbed multiple times. It looks like the person had died a horrible, horrible death. I could also smell the stench of death. The shadow moving closer to me snaps me out of my frozen stance. I began running down the tunnels. I can feel the shadow behind me. It feels evil like it wants to kill me. I can feel the energy coming off of the walls I was running by. Each step I take, it feel like it is getting harder to breathe. I turn a corner and stop again. I was trying to catch my breath only for my fear to worsen. There are a bunch of bodies in front of me. All of the bodies looked like they had been stabbed to death. They all looked really young and terrified of what was happening. I can feel their pain. I can feel their fear. I can feel that that's what they want me to feel. They want to get their revenge. Trying to step back, I turn to see the shadow in front of me. I scream again. The scream is the scream I'm sure all of the kids here did when they were going through whatever it was that happened. It was terrible. The shadow looked at me and gave a long evil smile. “You should be scared, now that we have a young soul to curse.” I couldn't speak. I was frozen in fear again. This can't be happening. It feels like everything is caving in on me. It feels like I'm going to die right here and now. Seeing as I wasn't going to be able to speak, the shadow continues. “You might not know now, but your life is over, young one. You will suffer just differently.” Differently? What does he mean by different? I don't like this idea at all. I want to move, but I can't. “You will remember this name and nothing else for a very long time. Mark Luther.” I tilted my head and then everything went black. The next day, the sun is shining through the windows, blinding me. Slowly I get up out of bed. Everything feels different, something that can't be put into words. It feels like something happened, but I can't put my finger on it. Going to my closet, I change into a lavender dress and some shoes, not bothering with my hair. Walking downstairs, my parents were about to walk out the door. “Honey, we are going away for a couple of days. We'll keep in touch,” my mom said to me as they walk out of the door. I sigh. This is something that would never change. At least twice a month my parents will always go on some kind of a trip. “Another kingdom, another week with my parents gone.” Sighing, I remember that Prince Lucas is coming in about an hour. Maybe my hair does need to be done. “Ugh!” Walking upstairs and into my room, my hair gets done after a few minutes of trying to style it in a pretty way. Around an hour later, a maid comes into my room and tells me, “Prince Lucas is here, m'lady.” Nodding, I put away my journal. I walk down to the front and there the nine-year-old stands. It still isn't fair, they shouldn't make me marry this boy. Let alone someone I don't know. Yes, getting to know the person is the first step, but that isn't the point. “Good morning, Lucas.” Prince Lucas looks at me and smiles. “Good morning Evelyn.” We both walk up to the garden and look around. “I've never been in a garden,” Lucas says to me. A look of surprise washes over my face. “Really? I come up here a lot.” He laughs. “That's not surprising. It looks like you belong up here.” Him saying that brought a smile to my face. “I feel like I belong up here.” The wind begins to pick up around Lucas and I. My hair begins to blow with the breeze. I noticed that Lucas looked into the distance. I look at him. “Everything okay?” He sighs and looks at me. “I don't know. It just seems like my dad only cares about himself. He doesn't care about the kingdom. Your parents are perfect.” I wish my parents were perfect. They care more about their kingdom than their own daughter. I shake my head. “Not everyone gets what they want, Lucas.” His frown turns into anger. “That's the problem! I'm supposed to get what I want. My parents do, so why can't I!” I look into his eyes. I know what's going through his head. I've been through it all. He needs to understand it isn't all about him. He is just like his father looking at it like that. “Because...” I start in a calm voice. He doesn't let me finish as he keeps going like he knows it all. “It's always do this, do that. Why don't you go do your job for once and care about others! I watch out for things. You need to stop keeping me away from everything!” I sigh. He doesn't understand the things he needs to at his age. Being a royal, he should learn important things when he's little. I don't say anything else as he tries to calm himself down. Instead, I sit on the edge and look into the distance. Sitting here gives me peace and I need peace right now. A few minutes later, a maid comes out here with a note in her hand. “Miss, this came in for you.” I look at her and take the letter. “Thank you.” I say in a kind voice and open the letter. I read it and as soon as I read the words, “died on impact,” I begin to cry. As much as I didn't like my parents, sometimes they were all I had. Lucas, not knowing what had happened, gave me a hug and I cry into his shoulder. My parents weren't perfect... I'm not perfect. I can't do this without them. Even after the things they did. They might have hurt me, taken away my rights to be myself among other things I never want to think about, but they did take me out on walks. They took me to the places I wanted to visit. They let me go to my friend's kingdom at least once every other week. They can't be gone. Not after last night. I can't remember it clearly, but nothing good happened. I look up into the clouds only to see their faces and I could hear them in my head. “We love you... It's time.” Taking a deep breath, I pull away from the hug and wipe my tears. It's time to be strong now. I have a lot to learn and a lot to do. I look at Lucas and he understands. He walks with me to the throne room where everyone was waiting. I walk up to the throne and close my eyes. This is the day I knew I would be Queen Evelyn of Newark.