Before the Dawn by Kristal Lim Page B

and
then he flew away. She called out his name and asked him to come
back, but it was too late. He was gone. Crying in earnest, she sat
down in one dark corner, feeling her heart break for the first time
because of a love she knew was hopeless.
    A hand appeared out of the corner of her eye.
It was holding out a rough-looking yet clean handkerchief and,
startled, she looked up to see the face of the soldier they had
left sleeping in her father's castle.
    "You!" She sprang to her feet in shock. "What
are you doing here? How did you get here?"
    "I followed you and your sisters, Your
Highness," he replied.
    "But—but how? I gave you a sleeping
draught!"
    He suddenly grinned and looked quite roguish.
"Oh, I merely pretended to drink it." He held out the handkerchief
to her again. "Here. For you to dry your tears." His voice was soft
with sympathy.
    She looked at it disdainfully, trying to hide
the alarm she felt at the fact that he had discovered the secret
she and her sisters shared. "I have my own, thank you," she snapped
and took out a piece of fine linen to wipe the tears from her
eyes.
    He stiffened and the warmth she had seen
earlier on his face disappeared. "Well then. If you and your
sisters have had enough of dancing for one night, Your Highness, I
will now escort you back to the castle." He started to turn
away.
    "Wait!" she entreated. "What will you tell my
father?"
    He shrugged. "The truth, of course."
    "You cannot!" she gasped. "He will be
furious, and he will accuse us of consorting with the people of the
Strangelands!"
    "But isn't that what you have been doing?" He
looked at her coldly.
    "Oh, you don't understand anything," she
said, exasperated. "I will speak to my father and I will tell him
what has been truly going on, and you will not contradict me or
offer your opinions of what you think is true."
    He bowed, and she was quite certain that he
was mocking her when he said, "As you wish, Your Highness. I follow
your commands."
    He gestured for Rosamund to lead the way and
she went to collect her sisters for their return home. The soldier
trailed behind them and, to her annoyance, her youngest sister
struck up a conversation with him and the two of them seemed to
have quite an enjoyable little chat as their group passed through
the different groves. Rosamund frowned at her youngest sister
disapprovingly, and when the girl saw the look on her eldest
sibling’s face, she blushed and stopped talking to the soldier.
    When they finally arrived at the castle, the
sun was just rising. And the King was waiting for them in their
chambers. He listened impassively as the soldier gave his short
report and then he turned to Rosamund and asked her for an
explanation. It took a while for the eldest Princess to tell him
everything, and her sisters kept interrupting with bits and pieces
of information that made the entire conversation quite difficult to
follow, but the old monarch was able to hear the whole tale of
their enchantment at last.
    His face was dark when he spoke his judgment.
"You and your sisters will never go back to those accursed
Strangelands again," he proclaimed. "Send for the witch!" he
thundered, and the soldier who had brought the Princesses home
looked at Rosamund worriedly for a moment before he bowed and left
to carry out the King’s order.
    "What are you going to do?" she asked her
father, alarmed by the fury in his eyes. She knew the reputation of
the witch her father often employed. The woman could be very nasty
in working her spells. The Princess did not want the cruel hag to
hurt the Prince in any way.
    "She will break the enchantment upon you so
no daughter of mine will ever be lured by the devils of the
Strangelands again!" the King declared. "And she will destroy that
Prince who dared to claim you for his own!"
    Her sisters were crying by this time, but
Rosamund was too stunned to shed any tears. She had never seen her
father so furious before and she was sick with worry about what the
witch could