Princess without a Palace: A King Thrushbeard Fairy Tale Read Online Free

waiting
for her outside the banquet hall when she turned the corner at the bottom of
the stairs.
    “I thought you didn’t care for large
social gatherings,” Liesel commented as her maid stood to greet her.
    “Ay, but I’ll suffer the crowds if the
entertainment is promising.”
    “You are wasting your time,” Liesel
answered as she flicked a crusted piece of dirt from her sleeve.
    Gretchen looked pointedly at where the
dirt had been on the princess’s shirt. “I dare to disagree.”
    Liesel moved to continue walking toward
the banquet hall, but Adelaide pulled on her arm. “Are you certain about this?”
    Liesel pretended as though she didn’t
feel like her heart was about to pound straight out of her chest and calmly
replied, “If you don’t stop asking me that, then you will have to begin
worrying about being scolded yourself for being late. Now come, dear sister.”
    Liesel stepped forward to precede her
sister into the banquet hall, but one of the guards at the door blocked her
progress with his spear.
    He didn’t bother to look at the peasant,
but instead addressed the younger princess. “I’m sorry, Princess Adelaide, but
all beggars must be served outside when royal guests are present.”
    “Beggar, soldier?” Liesel questioned,
feigning innocence.
    Recognizing the voice, the young guard’s
eyes widened and he stammered, “Apologies, Your Highness. I didn’t expect, I
mean … I umm … I didn’t know …”
    Liesel smiled sympathetically at him and
sidestepped his frozen spear to enter into the great hall.
    Although she had originally envisioned
herself marching directly to her place at the head of the room immediately upon
her entrance, she instead found herself hesitating, lingering just inside the
entryway so she could survey her surroundings.
    Servants swarmed around the room like
bees, placing the finishing touches on all of the long banquet tables. The
minstrels were gathered together in one corner, giving their instruments a
final tuning, and the aroma of roasted meats filled the air as the cooks began
parading the first courses into the hall.
    At the head of the room, her parents
stood talking with King Waldemar, Prince Cornelius’s father. She noted that the
king apparently possessed the same charm as his son, for her parents were both
smiling delightedly at whatever story he was telling them.
    Faint traces of her mother’s melodious
laugh made it through the thick noise of the room before her mother happened to
glance in her daughters’ direction.
    It was obvious the queen could hardly
believe the sight before her for her neck instantly snapped back to take a
second look. The color drained from the beautiful queen’s face, turning her
already fair complexion an ashen white. One of her shaking hands had to grasp
at a nearby chair for support.
    Liesel flushed under the queen’s stare.
If she hadn’t had Adelaide at her side, she would have fled the room to escape
her mother’s obvious disapproval.
    She was still debating this as a
possibility when Prince Cornelius appeared before them.
    “The prettiest princesses looking
beautiful as always,” the prince greeted the twosome with a deep bow. “But I
can’t help but ask you, Princess Liesel … is your attire a traditional piece,
or is this just another one of your endearing eccentricities?”
    “Neither,” she coolly quipped. “This is
simply my favorite dress.”
    “And you’ve never looked more charming,”
he smoothly returned with a grin.
    Liesel silently cursed her dress.
    The prince then extended his arm to her.
“May I escort you to your table?”
    Liesel opened her mouth to offer an
excuse, but Adelaide quickly answered for the both of them, “We would love
that.”
    “Thank you, Adelaide,” Liesel muttered
before she forced a smile and dutifully accepted the prince’s right arm.
    At the head of the room, the two kings
were still enveloped in their conversation, but the queen was now standing to
the side,