Amelina sat stiffly at the little wooden table that served as her meeting table, desk, and dining table. With her father sitting across from her, the room was suffocatingly silent. Even the table was feeling uncomfortable. It kept creaking just to break up the silence floating in the air. She knew, because it never creaked unless the atmosphere was uncomfortable. Her father didn’t notice, though, just like he never noticed that the sundial refused to cast a shadow when he came by, or that the kettle took five times as long as a regular kettle to warm up when it had to serve him tea. Almost every piece of furniture in the tower hated his visits.
“Amelina.” Her father started. Amelina stifled a groan, anticipating what was coming next. “Your governesses have informed me that you have taken up the study of magic, and in fact prefer it to properly attending their lessons.” Amelina kept her hands folded in her lap, waiting for him to be done. “It has always been quite troublesome to send the governesses through the Darkly Enchanted Forest to ensure that your education does not suffer despite your unfortunate circumstances.” This time, she had to stifle a snort of derision. No one besides her father would describe a curse as simply ‘unfortunate circumstances.’ “As the only heir to the throne of Barthoff, you will one day be queen, and you must be prepared to support your husband as a queen ought. Simply because you live alone now, does not mean you may forget the proper rules of comportment and be ignorant of the delicate political balances both within and without our kingdom. Just as your mother committed a blunder on your ninth birthday, ignorance of any condition or cultural practice of our close allies, neighbors, or citizens can result in serious consequences for any member of the royal family. It is part of your responsibilities to be knowledgeable of other languages and customs. Magic not only has nothing to do with your responsibilities, it is an impractical distraction as you prepare for a larger future.”
Amelina’s hand gripped into a fist, and she placed it gingerly on the tabletop in a display of barely-repressed frustration and anger. What larger future? He’d promised her that the day she turned 14, he would send a prince to rescue her, and her life would return to normal, just with a husband by her side. For two years he’d been sending princes and knights, and not one had succeeded. As for her mother’s ‘blunder,’ as he had described it, she had choice words for him about that. It was, in fact, thanks to his endless stream of governesses, that she knew the history of her kingdom, and her father’s policies concerning witches and enchantresses.
Her father didn’t notice. Just as he didn’t notice the creaking of the table, or the sundial that didn’t cast a shadow, or the kettle that took too long to heat up. He just continued speaking. “It is clear to me that your sense of duty is somewhat lacking. Some of the suitors who survived rescue attempts have been spreading tales that you seemed less than willing to kiss them. You know that true love’s kiss is the only way to break your curse, and any one of your suitors may turn out to be your true love. Prince Wilhelm has tried six times, believing that by knowing you better, his kiss may be the fated true love’s kiss. Even if that is not his belief, he is fulfilling his duty by attempting to cement goodwill between our two countries.”
Amelina’s fingernails dug so deeply into her palm that she knew it had begun to bleed. Prince Wilhelm had admitted to her on his second visit that he was visiting her because his parents expected it of him. In subsequent visits, he had revealed that he had a girl he liked, but had not the courage to approach, because her station was beneath his. He wasn’t a dutiful son. He was just a coward. “If you had even half of his sense of duty, you would know better than to fritter your time away with thoughts of magic, and would focus on your studies and your suitors. Now. What do you have to say for yourself?”
Amelina took a deep breath, fist shaking on the table. “What do I have to say? Are you asking for an apology, father?” He tilted his head slightly, watching her impassively with those blue eyes a shade darker than hers, colder, too. If she was a dragon, he was a snake. It sometimes surprised her that people thought dragons were the dangerous ones. Just as she had waited for him to finish his speech, he waited politely for her to finish hers. “You speak of duty, of my willingness to kiss whatever suitor comes by my door, as though this perfect future you describe for me is just around the corner. What you’ve never considered, father, is that maybe I am not just any princess, and therefore not just any prince will do. Perhaps no prince will ever do. Perhaps for me, true love’s kiss has to involve actual love, and I assure you, sir, I’ve never loved any of my suitors, and I rather imagine I never will. Perhaps, just like my father, I’m incapable of love altogether! In which case, that would be your punishment, wouldn’t it? For the crime of being a king without love, you’ve passed it on to your daughter, and your beloved kingdom will never have a rightful heir because of it. Its only rightful heir will sit in a tower, rotting alone until the day she dies, and the throne will pass to some outsider who can make up a reason for their inheriting the kingdom. Or instead the kingdom will fall into unrest and squalor and be swallowed by our neighboring kingdoms. That would be some justice for the way you’ve lived your life.” She stood up abruptly, knocking over her chair and beginning to pace about the room.
“Is that all?” Her father asked, and with those three words, she lost it.
She grabbed a jar of honey for the tea from the kitchen and flung it at her father with all her might. “All?! Is there more you want from me?!” She screamed at him. “Yes, that’s all! That’s all you get, and all I will take from you! I am not a toy, father. Nor a tool. I have no future! So you take your princes and your knights and your governesses and your duty straight out the door with you! They are not welcome here, anymore, and neither are you!”
“I see.” He said calmly, and equally calmly stood up. He turned, and for a moment, Amelina thought she’d won and he was leaving, but at the doorway to the hallway, he stopped and faced her again. “I will re-” Furiously, Amelina marched to him, grabbed him by the collar and began dragging him bodily down the hallway. She thought she wouldn’t have the strength, but either becoming a dragon periodically had led to physical improvements she hadn’t realized, or the force of her rage was enough to catch her father off guard, because it seemed almost without effort that she lugged him to the door, and shoved and kicked him out of the prison she called her home.
She gave him an extra, unnecessary kick in the back, and yelled, “YOU WILL NOT RETURN. JUST YOU TRY IT, THE TOWER WILL NOT ADMIT YOU, AND EVEN IF IT DOES, I WILL NOT SEE YOU. I know you think I’m just a frivolous child, but just you come back and see. I will never see you again.” And with that venomous declaration, she twisted around and stomped away, the doors slamming behind her with enough force to rattle the entire structure. As if to confirm her story, the drawbridge flew up the minute he stepped off it, and loud, celebratory music from an orchestra that did not exist could be heard rumbling from the stones of the short tower for hours after he’d left.