The Secret of the Seven Princesses

Ty held his breath as the youngest princess scanned the passageway behind her, her blue eyes skimming over the place where he stood without registering his presence, without indicating that she could see him at all…as if he was invisible.

Which, of course, he was, thanks to Rosetta.

He lightly twitched the threadbare cloak that he held around his tall frame, ensuring that its surprisingly voluminous folds concealed his booted feet. He little imagined that the washing woman's ragged gift (which he had taken to be an article of clothing someone had lost in the laundry) would turn out to be such a diamond in the rough. Ty had heard of magical objects such as this invisibility clock, but he never expected to even see one, much less use it. He didn't know how Rosetta had acquired it, but he had little doubt that she'd given it to him for this very purpose—to follow the princesses and to make sure that their nighttime secret wasn't endangering them.

Eurielle, seemingly satisfied that the passageway was empty as usual, continued tagging after her sisters. Ty took care to muffle his footsteps this time as he trailed at a distance behind her. The invisibility cloak may have hidden him completely from view, but the princesses would still be able to hear him if he made even the slightest sound or feel him if he accidentally bumped into one.

Ty had to repress feelings of guilt as he followed the princesses toward their secret. He couldn't help but feel as though he were betraying them by going to such means to discover their secret, especially when their desperate bids for secrecy communicated just how important it was to them.

Yet here he was, doing the very thing he'd determined not to. His only consolation was that his motives—unlike the other princes and dukes and lords who'd entered the competition—were purely disinterested and fueled by concern for the princesses themselves.

For several days, Ty had pondered the possible meanings behind Rosetta's visit, her gift, and her mysterious message. It wasn't difficult to discover who she meant by "they," but he was unsure how to regard her warning as a whole, and wondered how she could possibly know that the princesses were in need of help. The rest of her message was less confusing to interpret: "you can't always see everything that is there" obviously referred to her invisibility cloak—which he'd discovered quite painfully after tripping over an unknown object. Once he'd discovered the secret of the cloak (after half a day of looking for his missing footstool), it took little guesswork to figure out that she'd intended for him to use it to discover the secret of the princesses. Even considering her warning, however, he hadn't felt any urgency on the princesses' behalf. He held too much faith in their judgment and sensibility, particularly the eldest daughters'.

He'd been spurred to action by Luka's abrupt announcement. Though Rosetta's warning hadn't seemed immediate, the threat of that rascal's claim on the prince competition took precedent even over Ty's unwillingness to intrude upon the princesses' privacy. Deciding to personally uncover their secret was easy enough, but how to do it while also avoiding discovery was less so. For if there was anything he was sure of, he did not want to enter the contest himself. He didn't agree with the stipulations of the contest, particularly the one that objectified the princesses, making them into trophies for the winner. In the years he'd been working at the castle, he'd come to know them well enough to realize that none of them would appreciate being "sold" in such a way. That being said, not entering the prince competition meant that he would need to find another opportunity to solve the mystery.

He had long ago reasoned that the princesses' escape must take place inside their room itself. How else could they have gotten past the guards so many months ago? But with this realization arose another dilemma: how to get inside the room without being detected?

The answer was surprisingly easy. Ty, concealed under the convenient cloak, nearly stumbled upon Callia when she was returning to the bedchamber from her own mission. It was the work of a moment to fall in behind her and follow her into the room. If the door hung open a moment longer than usual as he slipped past, no one seemed to notice. Once inside, he retreated behind the corner partition in an attempt to give the occupants as much privacy as possible. Thus sequestered, he paid close attention to the sounds and bustles in the room, listening to Callia's panicked account of Luka, hearing the entrance of Judith and (he assumed) her consumption of the sedative, followed by the arrival of King Gustave and Sir Luka, and the departure of the former. He stiffened when Luka joined him behind the partition, all but holding his breath as the darker, shorter man passed within an inch of where he stood. Fortunately, the allotted space, though small, was just large enough that Ty was able to avoid detection with little difficulty. Still, he was relieved when Sir Luka finally stopped moving around the space and lay down on the bed.

After a few moments of one-sided conversation, Luka seemed to get the hint that the princesses were not in the mood for chitchat, falling silent himself. The air was tense as all of the room's inhabitants waited with bated breaths. At long last, the sound of Luka's snores filled the room. Ty found himself once again having to avoid being inadvertently discovered, this time by Eralie, Cliodne and Thaleia when they stole behind the separating partition to retrieve their unwanted guest. As they lifted Sir Luka's sleeping form between the three of them, Ty slipped out into the main chamber once again and stood with his back to the adjoining wall. The princesses' whispered conversation sounded like buzzing bees in the silence, accompanied only by the occasional grunts from the three princesses bearing Luka's deadweight.

"—I've got it here somewhere." Petra produced a ring of keys from the trunk at the end of her bed, and Ty felt a momentary shock and anger as he recognized his spare key ring, the set that he had misplaced nearly three weeks ago. It had been a great inconvenience to arrange to have his keys copied again, not to mention the hours that he spent looking for the lost set, combing over the grounds and every inch of the castle. He should have realized before that their disappearance most likely had something to do with Petra; lost items usually did.

Perhaps the tensest moments occurred while he—and the rest of the princesses—waited for the return of Eralie, Cliodne, and Thaleia. There was definitely a sense of expectancy from those still in the bedchamber (those who were still awake, at least). Despite the lateness of the hour—not to mention the earliness of his morning—Ty felt adrenaline running through his veins, and had no scruples in sinking into the corner armchair to save his legs for who-knew-what awaited him. He knew that he would have no problem in staying awake.

At long last, the prodigal princesses returned empty-handed. Upon hearing of Sir Luka's fate, Ty tried to muster up some sympathy for the unfortunate prisoner, but found that he was incapable of it. In all honesty, he couldn't think of a fitter place for the rogue to spend the night than in a dungeon cell.

Without further ado, all seven of the princesses produced lanterns or candles and stood gathered around the rug in the center of the room. Ty watched avidly as Thaleia kicked back the rug, revealing the floorboards underneath. Even though he had halfway expected such an occurrence, the materializing trapdoor still took him by surprise. As the princesses descended one-by-one down the staircase, Ty feverishly considered how to join them without arousing their suspicions. Fortunately, he was given a slight window of opportunity to slip down before Petra and Eurielle. He caught a glimpse of gold near the top of the stairs, but the princesses on his heels prevented him from examining the bright plaque more closely.

He invisibly joined the group of princesses at the foot of the stairs. The tunnel darkened further, indicating that Eurielle had closed the trapdoor. Within a few moments, the remaining princesses materialized, and they collectively continued down the passageway.

Ty had hung back, allowing all of the princesses to move in front before following them once more. Aside from the time when Eurielle seemed to suspect his presence, he managed to travel undetected to the end of the passage, when the pathway led to an ornate door unlike anything he'd ever seen before. He wasn't given much time to admire the carvings on the exterior before he was forced to sneak into the room itself—a feat much easier than slipping down the trapdoor, as the heaviness of the mahogany door slowed its closure.

He stopped short upon entering the room itself, and didn't even bother to stop his jaw from dropping at its magnificence. If he had felt alert before, the magic of the room heightened his energy almost to the point of euphoria. Even in the midst of his awe, however, he remained aware of the action taking place in all the other corners as the princesses appeared to be preparing for…something, he wasn't sure what.

A sudden spotlight distracted Ty from his exploration of the chamber's splendor, turning his attention to the back of the room. Callia and Raia had apparently rigged a shadow ring around one of the wall sconces, focusing the light's beam along the length of the chamber to highlight the mosaic scene and platform at the other end.

From the left of the makeshift stage, Eralie stepped into the spotlight. Her simple blue gown swished around her ankles, and her black hair gleamed in the candlelight. Intrigued by the unfolding drama and her captivating charisma, Ty was compelled to move closer to the stage and sit in one of the armchairs situated around the stage. It wasn't until she opened her mouth, however, that he understood what it was that she—and they—were supposed to be doing. And suddenly, he viewed the spotlight, the stage, the chairs, and even the mosaic in an entirely new light: as pieces that contributed to an artistically original, impressively crafted theatrical production.

It wasn't difficult to follow the plotline of their drama; it was deceptively simple, though the story was complex enough to attest to the hours of forethought and planning that had led to its form this night. Eralie's character, the lady Miriam, was the heart and courage of the story, and Liam, Thaleia's character, was its strength. Together, the two braved the threats of pirates (with Petra as the terrifying Blackguard and Eurielle as his bumbling sidekick Spronk), mistaken identities, and deceptions as they sought to return safely to their hometown, from which they had both been kidnapped and held for ransom. It was a tale of adventure, comedy, danger, and chivalry, and Ty couldn't help but feel a shiver run through him as he watched the brilliance unfold.

After the first full run-through of the play, the princesses collected together to discuss what little issues still needed to be resolved. Taking advantage from the break, Ty wandered around the room's perimeter. He was intrigued not only by this magical chamber itself, but also the rooms that branched out from the main hall. He couldn't very well open a door and arouse anyone's suspicions, so he was limited to entering those that were already ajar. All of the doors were labeled with the name of a princess, indicating possession of each "dressing room." Eralie's was neat as a pin, whereas Thaleia's looked as though a tornado had torn it apart. One door stood apart from the others, however, unlabeled and unclaimed.

Fortunately, this misfit door hung open halfway. Ty glanced back toward the cluster of sisters, then slipped soundlessly into the room. Unlike the others, it was thin and tall, whereas the rooms he'd seen previously were wide and square. In fact, the shape of the room made him suspect it to be another hallway or pathway like the one that had led them here—or at least, it could have been a walkway, if the remainder of the room hadn't been blocked by a wall of rubble from a cave-in. Ty rested a hand on a boulder at shoulder-level, placing slight pressure on it to see if it would shift. It didn't budge, and he didn't want to risk another cave-in by pushing harder. A gleam at the base of the rubble caught his attention. He stooped to pick up the object, digging it out carefully with his fingernail to reveal a long, ornate locket. It was caked with earth, making it hard to distinguish, but there seemed to be etchings in the base of the locket, perhaps an engraving of some kind. He slipped the piece into his pocket to clean at a later time, then turned from the cave-in to return to the main chamber.

The princesses had resumed their theatrics on the stage. Petra and Thaleia were engaged in rehearsing the kidnapping scene near the beginning—that was one of the best parts, Ty thought. He was tempted to observe for just a while longer, but then realized that the princesses would likely be leaving soon, as it was nearly sunrise. His best bet of sneaking back into the princesses' chamber without being discovered would be to return now through the trapdoor of his own accord. As engrossed as the princesses were with what was taking place on stage, he doubted that they would notice if he opened the main door wide enough to slip through, particularly since most of the lights were focused on the back of the room.

Safely outside the chamber, he took a moment to appreciate the fantastical carvings on the outside of the door, then grabbed a torch from a wall sconce (from the look of it, he suspected it to have originally come from the hallway leading to the castle dungeon—Petra's work, no doubt). Ty set off down the passageway at a quick pace, with his source of illumination lighting his way. He was relieved for the opportunity to remove the cloak for a period of time, though he continually kept an ear on the passage behind him to hear if the princesses had followed him yet.

Having little else to do besides walk the lengthy passageway, Ty reflected on the events of the night, and how they had illuminated characteristics of the princesses that he'd never known existed—and he greatly doubted if His Majesty was aware of them, either. Not only was he impressed by Cliodne's leadership abilities and Callia's story development, but he newly recognized Eurielle's gifts with music and flexibility with her abilities, Thaleia's struggle between her tomboyish tendencies and her princess status, and Petra's desire for acceptance within her own interests. He mourned the circumstances that led them to believe that they had to hide this secret—and, by extension, themselves—from their father. However, Ty understood the motivations behind their secrecy, and seeing the play for himself had helped him to better comprehend their desperate measures for concealment.

In everything that he'd seen and realized tonight, however, Ty had yet to witness anything that gave him any alarm for the princesses' safety. Certainly, it wasn't always safe to deal with magic in such a concentrated form as was found in the chamber, but they seemed largely unaffected by its effects. In regards to their activities in the room, he saw no reason to put an end to their independence and freedom, as they were clearly not doing anything nefarious. Perhaps the only cause for concern was the caved-in hallway, but it had seemed stable enough; it was unlikely that another such incident would happen any time soon.

After several minutes' trek, the light of Ty's torch finally fell on the base of the passage staircase, and he ascended steadily. The cloak remained tucked in the crook of his arm, as he still didn't hear any indication of the princesses' return. Despite the lateness of the hour—or, more correctly, the earliness of the morning—he still felt alert and energized. He suspected this to be an aftereffect of the adrenaline of solving the princesses' mystery and satiating his curiosity regarding their activities.

Ty was reminded of an unanswered facet of the mystery when the trapdoor came into view, a rectangular golden plaque featured on the wall underneath. He moved the light closer to the plaque, squinting to read past the reflection on the polished metal. He felt a flash of recognition as he recognized the foreign words. Well, not all of them. Uvegian wasn't his native language, but he was fluent enough to converse and read a fair amount of it.

It looks like a riddle of some sort, he thought. While he didn't understand some of it, he could read enough to interpret the basic meaning…and to be alarmed by a measure of malice underscored in its language. Under other circumstances, he might have consulted Rosetta, the castle's resident Uvegian speaker, but he couldn't suppress a feeling of suspicion at the coincidence between her warning and this one. But in order to truly understand what it said, he would need to write it down and translate it on paper.

Moving as quickly and silently as possible, Ty stole into the bedchamber. He left the trapdoor open behind him, resting on the floorboards to keep it from disappearing on him. Sneaking a glance at Judith's prone, snoring form, he went straight to Callia's bedside table to locate a shuffle of parchment and an ink quill, then returned through the floor opening. Ever conscious of the time, he seated himself on the top step and painstakingly copied out the Uvegian words exactly as they appeared before him.

Ty had just dipped his quill into the ink well for the last line when he heard it: the very faint echoes of ladies' footsteps coming toward him the passageway. He estimated that he had ten minutes at the very most to finish his task and retreat through the door. He jotted down the remaining line then rolled up the parchment, heedless of the wet ink still shining. He just hoped it didn't smudge so much as to be illegible.

Escaping through the trapdoor once more was the work of a moment, though he felt a little uncomfortable closing it after him; clearly, the princesses would be able to open it, but it didn't halt his apprehension that they'd somehow be trapped inside the passage. Safely in the moonlit room, he extinguished his torch, slipped on the cloak, and checked the door to the chamber. It was still unlocked from when the princesses had escaped before. He cast one last glance around the room—at Judith's prone, snoring form, the partition and the empty cot behind it, and the trapdoor that led to the room of wonders—before departing into the darkness of the hallway beyond.

The halls were silent and deserted as Ty made his way back to his own chamber and study. He divested himself of the cumbersome torch behind a potted plant along the main hall, but didn't feel safe removing the invisibility cloak until after he was in the safety of his own rooms. Closing the door behind him, he pulled the engraved locket from his pocket and placed both it and the scrawled riddle onto his desk for perusal at a more opportune moment. He threw the invisibility cloak over an armchair in the corner of the room, ensuring that a portion of the chair remained visible to avoid maiming himself on it later.

Ty attempted to catch a few hours' worth of sleep before he began his morning routine, but found rest to be profoundly elusive that night. His mind was simply too active and his body still too full of adrenaline as he considered what must still be done in the morning before he could even think about the clues he'd brought back from the night's excursion. Finally, after nearly an hour of tossing and turning, he admitted defeat and rose for the day about an hour and a half before his usual time.

Despite the early hour, several servants were already up and working by the time Ty made his way to the kitchen. He doubted whether it would take long for the usual search to begin for the previous night's suitor, but he also wondered whether anyone would even think to look in the dungeon. After all, few would consider it likely that the princesses would be able to break into such a fortress, even to deposit such a deserving individual. Just in case, Ty pulled aside Gunther, Weston's serving assistant, to drop a few well-considered hints about Luka's whereabouts. After all—he reflected as he watched the young man eagerly set off to "find" the fiend—the sooner Luka could be discovered, the sooner he would be banished per the competition guidelines. And he didn't even bother trying to feign guilt at the thought; the kingdom would be far better off without one Sir Luka tainting the premises. Now that the threat of Luka's success was over, Ty viewed his participation in the contest as the best thing that could have happened in these circumstances.

Content that his role in the Luka debacle was now at an end, Ty made quick work of the remainder of his morning responsibilities. He sifted through mounds of paperwork, dispatched letters of business to ambassadors in Deturus and Elensar, and consulted with the financial advisors about the state of the royal treasury.

His usual lunch meeting with Valeria and Weston was cut short when His Majesty requested Ty's assistance in escorting Sir Luka from the premises. Apparently, the Wallenian native was not taking his punishment lightly. As the only local man to attempt to solve the princess mystery, he was given a week's time to return to his expansive estate and prepare for his removal beyond the Kyorian boundaries. Ty watched as Luka mounted his horse—taking care to stay far away from both beasts—and took note of the mutinous look on the shorter man's face. He hid a smile at the humiliation Luka must be facing, a welcome change from his former arrogance.

Good riddance, Ty thought as the galloping horseman disappeared from sight. Putting Sir Luka far from his mind, he turned back to return to the castle.

Throughout the activity of the morning, he was often distracted by the consideration of the mystery that awaited him in his study. At the earliest opportunity, he stole back to his chamber, closing the door firmly behind him to indicate that he preferred not to be disturbed. He opened the curtains to let in the late morning sunlight, settled in his desk chair, and finally allowed himself to pick up the parchment and locket that had so engrossed his attention from his duties.

He examined the locket first, scrutinizing the dirt-encrusted etchings along the front. Though he couldn't see the engraving clearly, its shape struck him as vaguely familiar. No matter how hard he wracked his brain, he couldn't recall where he'd seen it before. He tried valiantly to scrape some of the earth from the surface, but to no avail. He put it aside for the time being until he could soak it in water or something to remove the grime. Setting it aside didn't mean that the secret to its engraving was forgotten, however; the answers seemed to hang in the very back of his mind, as if he could discover them if he only knew how to view them.

But there were other things to consider, for which he would need to reserve his concentration. He unrolled the parchment paper, relieved that the ink had only smudged slightly and in no way detracted from his ability to read the lines. Pulling another piece of paper closer to him, he meticulously began the long process of translating the lines. Sometimes, an unknown word would send him to his expansive bookshelf, where he had accumulated several volumes of translation dictionaries throughout his stint as the royal steward. For the most part, he had little difficulty in deciphering the words on the paper, and, once decoded, the meaning became all too clear.

A passage made for what you seek

Lies far within these walls.

If left alone, within three days,

It won't appear at all.

The spell will pull you forward,

The magic draws you in.

Unless the danger's recognized,

The room will always win.

And if you venture past this door,

Your dearest needs be met,

But careful that through all your fun,

These rules you don't forget.

To strangers' eyes this room selects

The date it will appear.

Not a soul will find it

But once in seven years.

When inside, the things you find

Within these walls must stay.

Only those which you bring in

May see the light of day.

A gift we grant your entrance here:

A limit never done.

But exits hence are numbered:

Three hundred minus one.

And though you may be tempted

To enter past your end,

'Tis certain that there is

No way you'll ever leave again.

So heed this word I've given you,

Take heart to what I've said.

Enjoy your time while you may,

But beware, lest you be dead.

The words sent a chill through Ty's entire body. Suddenly, the tantalizing mystery of the materializing trapdoor, the magical chamber, and especially the cave-in that he'd thought were relatively harmless took on newer, more nefarious meanings when viewed in lieu of this warning. Exits hence are numbered…beware, lest you be dead.

Imbued with new urgency, Ty determined to take action immediately. The princesses' activities were innocent in themselves, but their "sanctum" would prove to be a tomb if he didn't do something. He hesitated upon reaching the door, however, remembering the enthusiastic look on Eralie's face as she delivered her lines with gusto. Several other scenes ran through his mind's eye, and he saw the additional pictures of Thaleia freely wielding her fencing foil, Callia's exuberance in seeing her story unfold before her eyes, Cliodne expertly stepping into her role as director, and the cooperation of all of the sisters in creating their scene. Most importantly, he recalled the enthusiasm and energy with which they'd performed them, even without an audience. They'd spent months within that chamber, working on a play that they didn't even expect to see the light of day—just because in performing it, they seemed to find freedom in their individuality.

The best that he could figure, the princesses' visits to their sanctum had begun about nine to ten months ago. Of course, this was a rough estimate based on when they had begun sleeping in and the first of the unusual cobbler reports. But the truth of the matter was, his tallies brought them perilously close to the limit outlined by the riddle. They were completely unaware of the danger that they were in, but he couldn't bring himself to end their innocent artistry by reporting their secret directly to King Gustave.

I'll speak to Princess Eralie, he determined. He'd long held a great respect for her gentle judgment, and as the eldest princess, she could have influence among her sisters and—if she chose to—speak with her father, as well. He chose not to acknowledge, even to himself, why he decided to speak with Eralie over Cliodne who, after all, was considered the more logical princess.

Fueled by new resolve, Ty yanked open the door to his study, only to stop short. Standing in front of him—a knowing-yet-fearful expression on her wrinkled face—was Rosetta.

"You know," she said simply. It wasn't a question. She slipped past him into his own study, motioning for him to close the door. He complied, though not without a touch of anger.

"I know," he responded forcefully. "But my question is: how do you know? How did you know where the princesses were going? What have you to do with the chamber? How did you know about the danger? And for goodness' sake, why didn't you try to stop it? Why leave it to me?"

"These are not easy questions to answer, but I will try." Without waiting for an invitation, she took a seat in his half-invisible armchair. Ty followed her example, sensing that her explanation would take some time.

Author's Note: So...let me know what you think! I'd also love to hear your ideas of what Rosetta's story might be. It'd be very enlightening to know the thoughts and predictions of my faithful readers. Also, keep reviewing, telling me which of the princesses you'd like to see more of and while you're at it, any obscure fairy tales you'd like to see rewritten.