WIP Wednesdays -Astrið's story (Patreon)

Sooooo this started as a Once Upon a Time fanfiction in that this character I invented would be an OC insert. But the more I reread all this the more I really want to do something with this one day! Sooo yeah maybe I will!

Basically if you know the fairytales: East of the Sun, West of the Moon and The Polar Bear King I've combined the two (the stories are quite similar) and that is the backstory for this young woman's family. 

You'll see that I left ___ and ---- in spots that I hadn't decided on names. Hope you enjoy!

“I have been cursed long since before I was born.

“My father is King Valemon of The Summer Kingdom and my mother was raised in The Winter Kingdom. Many people know their story for it became somewhat of a legend passing out to other kingdoms spreading as a tale of triumph and hope. People however forgot to spread the rest of the story; the part that included me.

“Honestly I don’t blame them; what happened involving me doesn’t give the story as happy an ending as the story now goes. King Valemon was cursed by a goblin queen to live life as a polar bear during the day and transform to a man by night. He went in search of someone to break his curse by marrying him without ever laying eyes on his true form for five years. If he could do so, he would be free but if his wife ever saw him he was doomed to be married off to the goblin queen’s daughter until the end of time leaving his human bride behind in his kingdom to wither and die as all humans do eventually. He found one such bride in The Winter Kingdom –my mother— who agreed to go with him and be married to him.

“However, my grandmother her mother put a seed of doubt into my mother’s heart that her new husband was not human and perhaps a goblin trickster. This was when my mother went to visit her family in her old kingdom and my father’s curse (unbeknownst to my mother) had only a month or two left.

They had in the course of their marriage already conceived my three older sisters who in some secret plot by my father’s mother had been spirited away less than a day after each of their births. But that is another story for another time.

My mother, curious about the identity of my father, took a candle and lit it one night shortly after returning home to the castle. Three drops of wax fell upon his shirt and woke him and he discovered my mother’s deception. He lamented for he had only such a short time left before he would have been freed but now, as he spoke, The Goblin Queen arrived and magicked him away to her kingdom which lay ‘East of the Sun and West of the Moon’.

My mother was determined to rescue her husband for she truly loved him and so in an incredible feat she set off on a long journey crossing many lands in search of the elusive goblin kingdom.

“This trek became the basis for my curse. My mother found the kingdom and tricked the goblin princess to be able to spend an evening with The King who had been kept prisoner. There were tricks exchanged back and forth for three nights, so they say, before my father was informed of the deceptions and was able to make a trick of his own by pretending to drink the sleeping potion that the goblins had given to him every night.

And so, my parents were at last reunited.

My father told my mother how to defeat the goblin queen by way of a challenge to wash the tallow from his spoilt nightshirt. My mother would be able to manage it while the goblins would not. The Goblin Queen was so angry and her daughter so embarrassed that it is said they were instantly destroyed.

This part of the story is not true. The Queen had time enough to point one long finger at my mother and pronounce a curse on her unborn child.

“The child conceived but mere hours ago now inside your womb shall suffer my curse. As you did not rest so neither shall she find peace.” Or so they say she proclaimed.

My mother grew ill as all mothers with child and yet she noticed that as I grew I did not move inside her as my sisters before me. She knew not what my curse was but all feared I would be stillborn.

To prevent this, my mother and father traveled to different Kingdoms in search of anyone who could help. It was in this way that they therein discovered my curse.

As my parents began traveling, it appeared I became awakened in my mother's womb.

Finally a soothsayer suggested that perhaps I had been cursed to always travel; to never keep a home.

My parents were devastated at the possible truth of this.

But it turned out to be true.

It's been rumoured I had a goblin midwife. It’s also rumoured that I am a goblin; a supplicant their Queen cursed my mother to bear. It's also believed by some that I died at birth and the replacement babe has been ushered around constantly so no one figures out the truth due to the fact my hair - the hair of the replacement- is a blazing red whilst neither of my parents have such a feature.

None of these things are true.

What is true is that I must travel or I grow extremely ill. At the breaking of each dawn I must be in a new place or I become weak almost enough to stop me moving permanently. For this I have always had attendants to accompany me; to help me travel and to bring me onward should I not go far enough for my curse’s liking.

For twenty three and a half years I have travelled never knowing a home in anything except those who take this terrible journey with me. Even so, none have been able to remain consistent from beginning to end. Not only does travelling take its toll but so does time.

Luckily for me, I am fortunate to have a long-time friend at the very least. She started as just that; intended to be a friend as I made my way from town to town, from city to city, from kingdom to kingdom with no one else my age to bond with. In defence of this decision, there were a number of children who were brought along some being the children of my companions while others were children of high rank being given a unique opportunity to take lessons and travel with Her Royal Highness, myself. But Magna was the only one who stuck as a true friend and, as time went on, she apprenticed to take over the role of her father in being my chief...steward as it were. So now we are practically inseparable out of necessity as well as kindred affection. She sees to it that travel arrangements go as smoothly as possible and is essentially in charge should anything go awry. Despite her duties and obligations in helping me, she truly is my best friend, confidant and caretaker and I love her like no other. I’m fortunate to have such a wonderful friend. Honestly I don’t know what I’d do without her emotional and mental support.

Now, my parents have not abandoned me to be conveyed around day to day by those tasked with my well being. They have often joined in my travels and have brought my three older sisters and my two younger brothers most of the times.

However, being King and Queen has responsibilities and with a kingdom to rule they cannot always spare weeks or months on end. Still, I treasure the moments spent together however long or short they may be.

“What am I doing in this kingdom you may ask? Well I heard there’s a man; a prince or king cursed not to leave his castle. I find this completely fascinating; his curse is the complete opposite of mine. He is trapped in his home while I cannot stay in what should be mine. I’ve come here hoping to talk to him that we may share pieces of our lives with each other. I think we will have many commonalities somehow despite the opposing nature of our situations.”

“No one dares go there Y-Your Highness. Tis said the entire castle and its grounds are cursed so deeply that those who step foot there never return. The terrors are beyond comprehensible imagination. They go mad -or worse.”

I laughed.

The woman looked confused by my reaction. 

“How do people know such things if no one returns? Where do such tales come from, I wonder?” I mused. 

The young woman did not know what to say.

After indulging in her hospitality a while longer, Magna and I decided to be on our way. Tomorrow morning we would trek to this mysterious castle and hopefully get the answers I sought before we'd have to move on so that I wouldn't take ill.

The castle certainly did look foreboding. But all the same I knocked on the large doors and when no one answered, I pulled them open myself. Magna of course objected but I wanted answers and we didn't have time to waste.

The place felt like it was filled with ghosts. I kept thinking I heard whispers or movement of fabric or sometimes footsteps.  But there was no sign of any servants or this elusive cursed royal.

I felt disappointment but I knew I was not leaving without checking as much of this castle and its grounds out as I could. Magna and I exited the castle through great doors from inside what was obviously the ballroom that let out into a garden. It was absolutely breathtakingly gorgeous and I knew there was no certain way that this place could look so beautiful without having a gardener or interference of some sort. “Look at these Magna,” I breathed.

I began cradling buds and smelling flowers all over the garden. It wasn't until I was at the rose bushes that Magna grew uncomfortable, “Come Your Highness we really should go now,” she whispered to me.

I dismissed her words as impatience but it turned out that her bad feeling was right. Something came out of the shadows and dragged me away and Magna was so frightened by the growl it issued when she ran screaming after it that she fell unconscious.

Essentially, the elusive royal I sought was indeed in his home and did not quite appreciate strangers coming in uninvited. He locked me in some sort of room and soon brought Magna although he cradled her like a babe as the doors seemingly opened on their own.

She woke within moments of being placed beside me and I urged her to calm down when she again resumed her cries of fear and cries for help. 

For I knew I had found that whom I had sought. I was not afraid of this ugly creature who stood two times the size of a regular man and was many times more terrifying than facing the hound Fenrir (or so I can only imagine). And yet I was not afraid. It had spoken to me which meant it had intelligence and could be reasoned with. I also reasoned that if it wanted us dead it would have killed Magna or I already.

Once she had calmed down, the beast in front of us spoke, informing us he was taking us prisoner. Magna had a lot to say about that. She insisted that he could not hold Her Royal Highness The Princess Astrið the First of ---- the summer Kingdom. This supplication did not move the beast. Royalty or not, he said, I had still trespassed. 

When this did not work, Magna moved on to begging that we be let go on account of my curse. She attempted to explain it and how if I were not moved by the end of tonight that I would grow deathly ill. The beast merely laughed at these declarations.

It was then I spoke: “I know you know about curses milord. How you shudder every night before sleep overtakes you and how the nightmares creep in when you least expect them. Sometimes when you try to defy your fate the ramifications make your body shake and feel heavy and you worry it will kill you should you try again. But the longing to break free is always there right under the surface of your skin like an itch that cannot be scratched without making yourself bleed. I know all about the prayers said at night to the gods begging them to let you wake up free from your invisible chains. Begging them to strike down the one that cursed you to this half life in hopes that it will weaken or break the spell. Yes my lord I know all about the struggles of a cursed life.”

My speech worked and our captor softened, letting us free of the room and inviting us both to take lunch with him.

I got the answers I sought. I found out he was a prince deposed of his throne who had been cursed by some enchantress to be trapped in his castle grounds as a hideous creature. He did not seem keen to tell me why and I did not ask. 

I discovered he did not know what would end his curse.

Magna and I also came to learn that his servants had been sent into an almost mirror realm where they could still perform tasks around the castle but they could not be seen and they could not be touched. This explained the murmurings and the sounds we had heard as we had gone through the castle.

I told Prince Arcturius all about my curse and the journey my mother had taken before it. He admitted to hearing a tale told similar to it to which I then explained that two versions of the story seemed to be circulating through the kingdoms all of these years.

By the end of the day, I would say the three of us: Magna, myself and the prince were on very good and friendly terms. After all, he allowed us to stay in his castle overnight not as prisoners but as guests.

It was bittersweet when we needed to depart in the morning for the longer the journey I took from my previous location the better I felt the following sunrise.

I bid my new friend farewell and promised I would attempt to visit again as soon as I could. We had found that the longer I stayed away from a place the better I felt in returning to it as well. I promised no sooner than a month before my steward and I rode off. 

The following months I have been unable to return and visit Prince Arcturius but I did send letters hoping he would receive them somehow and that my had mastered my English enough on paper that he could understand it. It's much easier to speak a language I find than to write it. I suppose learning in the back of a moving carriage and in makeshift school rooms along the way of a journey will do that to an education…

I do hope though that soon I can visit my new friend again and tell him about my quest to find those who may be able to alter my fate. If they are able to do so for me, I will supplicate to them to help him as well.

It breaks my heart to think of him trapped in his castle unable to leave and unable to have a friend.

What an odd pair we make as friends though: the prince who can't move and the princess who can't stop moving. I'm determined we will work this out-

We will find a happy ending for each of us. I swear this to The Gods.