Chapter 4, part 2

“I have a problem, Catherine,” the prince finally said. “And I hope you can help me with it. As you know, the king does not allow magic. In severe cases it is punishable by death. But if it is cast outside of the kingdom, he cannot persecute the caster, even if he is still affected by the magic when he returns.

“I decided to learn and use magic when I was performing my military duties, and before returning, I cast a spell that would have seemed as if it were the solution to many or all of my former problems. The king dislikes my use of magic, and he is looking for someone other than me to inherit his throne, something that I would very much like to prevent. And if I were to marry a powerful spouse and produce an heir for myself, I would be in a very good position to do so.

“The spell I cast is very old. It was used by royals all the time before magic was made illegal. Now, the problem is that I did not know just how isolated I would have to be when casting the spell. You see, it makes me feel a certain attraction to any woman who will suit my purposes, the stronger the attraction, the better the woman. At first I was surrounded by soldiers in my own employment and only spoke to male servants of the families whose daughters I wanted to meet. Any girl who did not fit could be sent home immediately, and the rest followed me to the castle, where I was planning to decide on one.

“As you can imagine, I am making myself a large amount of enemies this way, as most of the girls' fathers do not approve of their daughters visiting our humble country with a risk of being sent back home rejected, but it is the most effective way for me to decide what qualities I need the and who I feel the strongest pull towards.

“Unfortunately, since you decided to grace us with a visit, I can no longer concentrate. Where the magic feels like a tug on a sleeve or a pat on the shoulder with my other interests, the tug I am feeling towards you feels more like a being stabbed with a dull knife. And I am most interested as to why that is, since your heritage and age hardly speak for you. Now that I have been so very honest with you, I hope that you will do me the same favour and tell me what you have done.”

Catherine could not speak. She thought she did her best, but no matter how much she focused, she did not even succeed to open her mouth. The prince was looking at her expectantly and did not seem to grow any more patient with her silence. At last, she managed to get her voice out in a croak.

“I haven't done anything, I swear!”

The prince slammed his fist against the armrest on his chair, causing the old piece of furniture to creak. He looked both angry and thoughtful.

“I am unable to dispose of you, that is the problem. My sources quite clearly state that killing any of the women I feel close to will bend the magic with disastrous results. The only way to end the magic is to get married, but ever since you shoved up, I do not know how to proceed. Even if I was sure you are indeed my best choice and if the rules of the court allowed me to marry a commoner so easily, you are much too young – for my tastes. How did you get yourself involved with that old man in the first place? You might as well entertain me with your story, the more I understand of it the better.”

When Catherine was quiet again, the prince turned irritably towards her and studied her frightened expression.

“Did you not hear me say that I can neither dispose of you nor force you into yet another early marriage? There really is nothing to be scared of,” he stated impatiently. “Not as long as you tell me what I want to know, at least.”

Finally Catherine drew a deep breath and did her best to tell him how the fight with her sister had made her father decide to get her out of the house. She had to start over to include the problems with Martha, then her childhood in the family, then the story of her father's infidelity and finally a small description of Gabrielle Pegg. The prince did seem slightly shocked to hear that she had been working for her step mother instead of going to school and disgusted when he had made her tell him about the punishments that had resulted in her bony figure and broken arm.

“You should be grateful to be away from all that, then,” the prince stated, his face taking on a calculating look. “If that is the case, can I assume that you will repay me by giving me your loyal assistance in this? I will make sure you will not have to work for anyone else as soon as we are done.”

“Of course, sir,” Catherine mumbled.

“Very good. I think I will take you back to the castle in a few says. You can start out by getting to know my visitors. I will introduce you as some sort of nobility and you can keep an eye out for me and let me know if any of them seem to be scheming against me. They are a hostile lot, believe me. Terribly jealous.”

Catherine's stomach felt as if it had been turned into stone, but she nodded.

“How will I pass for a noble, sir?” she asked.

“Hm? Oh. Yes, you are right. That will be a challenge. I suppose we will have to work on that. I will do what I can for now, and you will attend lessons as soon as we return to the city. Why don't you start with retiring to your rooms to get changed for dinner? You will need to start doing so before every meal and once in the evening as well.”



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