Cursed

Part 1

The morning light almost blinded Ella as she moved the splendid red drapes apart. The weather had been so wonderful all week, why did the sun decide to come out today? The servant moved to the bed, folded up the sheets and put them in her basket, getting ready to put up the freshly washed ones. Their color complimented the curtains. The remainder of the room, of course, also matched them perfectly. Everything was velvet red and adorned with gold. The whole castle was like that; something about the color of blood made the nobles feel powerful. After all this time working here, she thought she’s be used to how bright and burnished everything seemed was but it amazed her every day.

“A wonderful day isn’t it?” the voice came from the door.

Ella straightened herself, turned around, and bowed, “Indeed sire, it is quite lovely.”

The knight had a patient smile on his lips and a pained look in his eyes that people who didn’t know him would have mistaken for pride. Sir Tristan was in full armor, just having come back from combat training with his fellow Knights of the Round Table and King Arthur himself. He would have looked glorious, a knight in shining armor, if not for the blotches of mud scattered all over his body and his messy turf of curly brown hair. She should have realized these were his chambers; the morning routine had been engraved in her head so she didn’t have to think about what she was doing. Lowering her head as heat rose to her cheeks, she lifted her basket and bowed again, hurrying out the door as the knight moved out of the way.

This had been going on for a few weeks now: every time their eyes met, one of them would have to leave the room. They talked from time to time about meaningless things such as the weather and errands they had to run and she notices him gazing at her several times. It was obvious, at least to Ella, that he cared for her, whether it was sparked by sympathy or by her appearance. She was short but thin and light for her age with waist length black hair that she habitually kept in a messy braid. Her eyes were of the deepest green and were always full of curiosity. Despite her healthy appearance, she had been week and prone to sickness ever since birth. The only reason she was allowed to work at the castle was that her late father once caught some horses from the royal stables that had gone loose.

But her allure wasn’t the most unusual thing about her. The little servant girl had a far greater secret; like her mother, who died giving birth to her, she was a sorceress. Her name had been chosen to honor her mother’s gift; Ella translated to beautiful fairy-woman. But not everybody thought of magic as a gift. In this wretched kingdom, her kind was slaughtered without mercy. If she were ever to be found out, nobody would think twice about putting her head under axe.

Which is why somebody should put an end to it, she thought bitterly, Arthur is no better than a coldblooded killed for what he does to my people.

Although she concealed her abhorrence for the king very well, she was counting down the days until she could act on it.