The Hidden Princess

Truth be told

Marta had left Angela with Maria and Jack in the human world.  She would be well hidden and safe there.  Her powers would not be able to grow there.  We all start out human and depending on our realm we live in and from our parents we get the set of magic powers.  Humans do not have any “real” magic in the sense that they can change shapes or have magic potions.  They do have something stronger, emotions, that can act like magic.  Love is the most powerful of all their emotions often making people do things they would not otherwise do. Of course, there is always an opposite, as with any realm, for everything there is an opposite.  The opposite of love is fear.  These two are primary emotions.  One would automatically think that hate is the opposite of love, but it is not.  Hate is a secondary emotion and only covers up fear. 

Angela grew up knowing love and hard work.  She ended up being the oldest of 5 siblings and loved helping her mom and dad around the farm.  She never shied away from hard work. She studied hard at learning to read and write which was difficult.  Only one person knew either of those in the little village she grew up in, but he was happy to help her if she worked around his shop for him.  Eventually she learned everything he could teach her, and she started teaching her siblings.

Maria never told Angela that she was not her daughter.  She felt it was easier that way for her, a few people in the village knew that she was found on the side of the road but never told her the truth.  Maria never treated her like anything other than her daughter.  Sometimes she wondered whose eyes she was looking at with the blue and lavender specs.  Deep down she thought Angela was special and believed in magic but never ever voiced that. 

Angela grew into a beautiful young lady with long brown hair, blue eyes with lavender specs and few freckles here and there over her cheeks and nose.  She was helpful and kind to everyone and could not wait to find someone she could marry.  In this small village there were a couple of boys, but she didn’t feel anything towards them.  He mother often told her not to grow up so fast and that he would come along when the time was right.

“Your Father is planning a trip to the castle in the next days.  Maybe you could go along and keep him company. Your Father has a cousin that lives and works at the castle, she says she could help you find work there.”  Maria told Angela as they cooked dinner.

“Could I?” Angela’s eyes danced with excitement and the smile that crossed her face was priceless.

“He already said you could go, and I am agreeing with him.  You need to get out of the village if you are going to find that husband you want so badly.” Maria smiles and embraces her daughter.  It broke her heart to send her away for something like that.  She had hoped that she would fall in love with someone here. However, it was obviously never going to happen.

Angela squealed with excitement and jumped up and down hugging her Mother. “Thank you, thank you, Mother.  I will get ready.” She ran off to her bed and started packing her stuff.  She had been hoping she could make one of these trips with her Father.  She was ready and she was not going to find anything in this village.  The boys were nice but did not spark anything inside her.

“He leaves tomorrow, so we can finish cooking dinner and spend some family time tonight.” Maria put her hand on Angela’s shoulder to calm her down.

Angela remembered her brothers and sisters’ and suddenly felt bad that she was going to be leaving them.  “Yes, I would like that Mother.” Returning to finish helping with dinner.

They spent the evening as a family.  Jack came in early from the fields along with their two older son’s that help him.  The fireplace crackled as they listened to Jack tell stories about Angela growing up and all her siblings would laugh even though they had heard the stories before.  Jack was a great storyteller and often the entire village would gather to listen to his stories.  Their humble home with only a few bedrooms was filled with love and laughter. 

“Children, Angela will be moving to the castle grounds hopefully on her trip to the castle with your father.  Make sure you give her a big hug before going to bed.  They leave early tomorrow.” They all hugged Angela one at a time.  The youngest was only 4 years old and her name was Matilda she held Angela’s hand and walked to their bedroom together. 

“Can I sleep with you tonight?” Matilda asked as they turned down their beds.

“Of course, you can Matilda.  I would not want to spend my last night here any other way.” Angela held her covers open and Matilda jumped inside and snuggled up next to her big sister. Angela covered her with the covers and stroked her hair as they laid there silent for a bit.

“Why can’t you stay here?  Mother might not let me sleep with her when it gets scary outside.” Matilda asked as she held Angela hand that draped over her.

“I will talk with Mother and make sure she knows that sometimes you just want to be a cuddle bear so she knows to let you.” Angela paused for a moment. “I will come back and see you.  You are my sister, and I will not forget you. I talked with Jack Jr. and he will continue to teach you to read and write.  Make sure you practice because I might send you letters, and I want you to be able to read them. Okay?”

“I will.  I promise.” And Matilda faded off to sleep.

Angela lay awake most of the night thinking about her trip, wondering how it will go.  Wondering who she will meet.  Hoping that Father’s cousin is nice and really can help her.  She was so excited she could hardly wait for the sun to come up.

The next morning, she followed her Father’s instructions packing everything, hitching the horse to the wagon.  She moved around her home quickly and quietly as to not wake anyone up.  She packed the food for the 3 day trip, packed all of her cloths, packed the bushels of beans he was taking to the market to sell.  Then they were off, barely before the sun came up.

Her Father was quiet and just looked ahead on the road for a while.  Angela had this sinking feeling that something was on his mind and she did not really like it.  He usually was cheerful and talkative.  She could not stand it any longer.

Over lunch she finally asked, “So you are very quiet so far.”

“I am thinking about some things.  That is all.” He said smiling at her, but his eyes said something else to her.

“Are you sure?  Do you have second thoughts about be staying behind?” Angela asked.

“No, it is not that.  Your Mother and I are in a bit of a disagreement and I am just trying to think it through.” Jack said taking a bite of his food.

“Well, if I can help at all.” Angela offered as she took a bite of her food as well.

Jack was quiet through the rest of the meal and into the evening.  They started a campfire, and they were sitting around it.  With a sigh he started telling her how she came to be his daughter.  He told her about the old lady that they never saw again.  He told her about being found on the side of the road but both him and Maria doubted that story just a little.  He also told her that she had never been thought of as anything but their daughter since the day that she walked through the door.  He was not sure why he wanted to tell her so much.  Maria was adamant that she never knows.  He just felt like this was maybe his last chance to tell her the truth.  She did deserve to know the truth.

Angela listened to the entire story with wide eyes and her heart in her throat.  She did not feel like she was betrayed because he was right, what would the difference be?  She just felt somewhat vindicated because deep down she felt like she did not belong there.  He was right, she was always treated like a daughter and in fact this information did not change who they were to her.  It just stirred this knowing that was deep inside her that she was from somewhere else. She got up and kissed her Father on the cheek.  “Well, thank you for telling me.  You are still my Father and she is still my Mother and nothing in this world can ever change that.” With that she went to bed falling asleep hard.

In her sleep she found herself floating along a deep forest floor filled with trees that were not familiar to her.  The fog around her did not let her see her feet and it was so dark she could not see far.  In the distance she saw a glowing light, it was dim, but it beckoned her.  She leaned towards it and let it pull her close.  As she got closer the light got brighter and a warm loving sensation overcame her.  Suddenly a cold heavy hand grabbed her shoulder with a venom that she had never known. This hand had no face, no body it just pulled her further and further away from the light until it got so dark, she could not see anything.  The hand pushed her to the ground with brute strength.

Angela shot straight up in her bed taking a breath as if she had not taken a breath for a long time.  She looked around and saw her Father sleeping soundly next to her and she knew it was just a dream. She curled up on her side to lay back down but did not fall back to sleep.  What strange feelings she woke up with from that dream both pure love, and fearful hate.  She did not like it.