To Break A Curse

 Three weeks earlier: 

I walked alone down the path towards my house by the lake, a bundle of blossoms in hand. As I got closer, I noticed the smoke coming from the chimney and a grin broke out on my face. I began running, dress swishing, and euphoria forcing out a giggle.

The front door was cracked open and I burst through and made my way to the kitchen. There he stood, Merick, my guard and friend, with his back to me. My father ordered him to protect me with his life and he always had. 

At the moment he wore a simple button up and trousers with his riding boots but there was a dagger at his hip. Just in case. Watching him stand at the stove, stirring a pot of traditional soup made my heart warm. I turned to my task and didn’t think about the handsome man standing near me. I set the flowers on the wooden table and grabbed the ribbon I’d previously prepared to tie around the bouquet. 

Without even looking at me, Merick asked, “Are you ready, Your Highness?” 

“Do you have to ask? You already know the answer.”

I heard the smile in his voice as he said, “Maybe I knew but I shouldn’t assume. Ever.”

“Good answer.”

His soft chuckle made me melt. Merick turned around with a charming smile. “Shall we?”

I nodded. 

I grabbed the bouquet and Merick hefted the soup pot into his strong arms. We headed out back where a bonfire was already burning bright and hot. The sky was beginning to dim and the crickets by the lake chirped a peaceful tune. 

As dusk turned to dark we ate soup, talked and laughed, and offered the flower bouquet to the flames of the fire. In the moments of silence that followed the ceremony, I had time to reflect on past years. 

For the last seven years the celebration had just been Merick and I in this little house by the lake. I used to love the celebration in the kingdom, it had been wondrous. But after my mother had been assassinated during the festivities, father had decided that it would be safest if I was away while the celebration happened.

“I wish I could see the celebration in the kingdom again.” 

I hadn’t meant to speak but there was no taking the words back now. I glanced at Merick and he was staring at me.

“You know why the King sends you away. It’s for the best.”

“I know,” I assured him quickly. “I know. I just miss it sometimes.” I buried my face in my hands. “And I bet you do too, which just makes me feel worse because it’s my fault you’re here.”

After a second I felt his warm hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and his eyes were gentle. “It doesn’t matter as long as I can spend the celebration with you, Your Highness.” There was something in his expression that I didn’t recognize but it was somehow familiar. 

For a moment I wanted to lean into his arms. I wondered what it would be like to be his. But then my father’s voice entered my mind, banishing my foolish thoughts; “You must marry a man who is worthy of a princess, my Deirdre.” 

My guard wasn’t exactly what my father meant by that. He wanted me to marry a prince or at the very least a powerful duke. But Merick was. . . well he was almost too good for me. 

I remembered the stories my mother used to tell me before she was murdered. Stories about magic and curses and true love. I grew out of believing in curses but I’d always hoped I would one day find my true love.

I refocused on the present. Whatever it was that was familiar about Merick’s expression, it disappeared and he smiled. “Don’t worry about the past right now. Tonight, let’s celebrate.”

Merick stood and pulled me up with him. He held my hands as we began to dance the traditional bonfire dance. I lifted my voice and sang a handful of our kingdom’s tavern songs containing words and topics my father taught me weren’t fit for a princess. But I sang anyway and I was shocked when my guard joined in. His joy was palpable and I knew it mirrored my own.

Present time: 

I ran for my life through the forest behind the inn. 

We’d stopped on our way back to my home in the castle and Merick had stepped out to get a hot dinner. But he hadn’t come back. Next thing I knew, I was being dragged outside and into the cold night. I’d broken away and run.

Now I was screaming, trying to get someone to hear me. Merick had to be close, he had to come save me like he always did. That hope dimmed with every step I took and the sounds of my kidnapper chasing me. My eyes burned with tears–I was completely terrified.

“Merick! Mer–” I tripped over something and went tumbling to the forest floor. I flipped onto my back and my pursuer came into view. I almost cried in relief. It was my guard. 

He pulled out his dagger from his belt but didn’t help me up like I thought he would. Instead he crouched down and pressed the knife to my throat. Horror froze my body.

“Merick, what are you doing?” A sob escaped me.

His eyes were glazed over while he pressed the blade closer. 

“Please, Merick.” 

My eyes were blurry with tears as I realized something. His face was blank, emotionless, and he would never, never hurt me. Someone must have done something to him. My mother’s stories came back to me. I’d always believed in true love. Maybe it was time I believed in curses too. Merick didn’t move, he just stared at me with those dead eyes.

“Remember how we met?” My voice cracked. I didn’t know what I was doing. Stories came back to me, ones where the Prince saved his Princess by breaking the curse. But I didn’t know how to do that. “Remember how my mother was murdered during the celebration? I watched her die in front of me and I believed that the assassin would take me next.

“Remember how you saw me there and you threw an apple at the assassin. You distracted my mother’s killer long enough for the guards to show up. Remember how my father made you my personal guard because of your bravery? We were only kids yet you stood up to a dangerous man and you saved me. You saved me, Merick.”

My guard didn’t change his position, his eyes showed no recognition. There was one last thing I could think to do. But it was stupid. And if it didn’t work, I would be dead. At least I would know what it would be like to have him, for only a moment.

I reached for his face and brought his mouth down to mine. After a few seconds of stunned nothing, Merick dropped his weapon and then–

And then his arms came around me and he kissed me back. It sent a shock wave through me. I’d always loved him. And his kiss told me that he loved me too.

I pulled back and looked into his eyes. They were soft again, full of the emotion I’d seen on the night of the celebration. And I recognized it. It was the same one I’d been burying in front of my father because I was a Princess. And Merick was still my guard. A common man by blood.

As if he could sense what I was thinking, Merick took my face in his hands. “We’ll figure it out. If our love was strong enough to break a curse, I think we can handle the King. I want to be with you. I don’t care what I have to do, I will do anything if it means you can be mine, Deirdre.”

It was the first time he’d ever dropped titles and called me by my name. I smiled and whispered, “That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”