Mother Gothel's Daughter

Chapter 1: The Beggining

"Esther. Esther!" Her father screamed, "Come, I need to punish you, you have been a very bad girl."

Esther Gothel, a young girl of 17 years who had spent her whole life couped up in her family's tower.  Her father a brutal, struct and unjust man constantly controlled her life weather it was basic chores or a more brutal form of payment.  Every day was a challenge for her, every day getting harder.

Weeks, months, years of Esther telling herself it would change passed, but it didn't.  The longer the tower kept he prisoner, the worse the punishment got worse until one day she cracked.  Her father thought she did not know about the secret staircase that led out of the tower but she did.  One night whilst her father had gone to bed, she quietly she approached the underside of the staircase and firmly but gently placed her hands on the polished wood, she applied a minimal amount of pressure whilst tapping her foot to find the loose stone and 'click' the door opened to reveal a dark and damp passageway.

Taking one last breath, she started the descent down the dark, damp, dingy, dreaded staircase.  As she progressed further and further, reality set in: where would she go, when would her father find her, how would she survive, why would anyone want to help a poor, goog dor nothing girl like herself?  When she arrived at the bottom of the tower she sprinted off through the hedge row, not daring to look back in fear of her father.

She had been running for what felt like a lifetime, thorns and branches scratching Esther's face until she saw a faint light coming from the end of a fork in the path, cautiously she continued, wary of the unknown until she came across this beautifully tamed and nurtured garden.  

Her eyes danced across the plants being illuminated by the night sky, her ears listening to the peaceful music of nature surrounding her and the soft sound of music coming from inside the vast building in front of her.  She could taste the evening dew that had settled on the grass and smell the bitter but sweet taste of roses.  The soft bark underfoot cracked at the pressure underfoot.

Wandering from fountain to tree, her eyes couldn't comprehend the beauty.  Whilst she was engrossed in her thoughts, she did not realise that she had company.  A tall, handsome, young man was leaning up against the tree watching his intruder's every move, studying her.  

He coughed.

She jumped and immediately apologised, the prince found it peculiar that the young woman just apologized and did not refer to him as 'your royal highness'. Nonetheless, he took the gentlemanly actions and enquired why "a beautiful young woman like you is out at this time?".  To this, a strange interaction, Esther did not know how to respond, she started to feel her eyes pricking with tears. Approaching her cautiously, the Prince guided her inside and comforted her.  They talked about her childhood and her father, how she ran away and how the King, Prince Frederick's father, was out of town for the next five months.

After a while, her eyelids become heavy and droopy, she was tucked into a bed and felt a slight pressure on her forehead, which unbeknown to her was the prince softly pecking her, before she fell into a deep slumber.

In the morning she awoke with a start, remembering the events of the evening before, she rushed out of bed frantically looking for an exit until a firm hand was placed on her shoulder, "Hey, hey, hey.  You're okay, you can stay here, you'll be safe." and so, with that kind gesture, she stayed creating a true, precious relationship with him.