The Clockwork Princess

4. Back at the Calico Castle

An hour later, the Princess was sitting on a chair by the window in her bedroom at the top of the tallest tower of the Calico Castle. The open window let in a gentle, cool breeze. It was the only source of calm in the increasingly tense room. Doctor Hibbert, the Royal Doctor was listening intently to her chest through his rubbery stethoscope.

'Breath in. Breath out' ordered the Doctor.

Nervously, the Princess did as she was told. The King and Queen wore matching expressions, as if the Princess were walking along a tightrope high above their heads. The Doctor smiled and deftly packed his stethoscope away.

'Well, your Highnesses, my diagnosis is complete.' He stated, then turned to the King and Queen 'You don't need me, you need a clockmaker'

'What?' mouthed the King, not trusting his ears.

'She is entirely made out of clockwork:'

'Daddy! Doctor Hibbert is scaring me' called the Princess, nervously.

'Be quiet, said the Doctor.

The Princess looked at him, horrified. No one had ever spoken to her like that before.

'How dare you speak to me in that way! I am a Royal Princess!' she gasped.

The Doctor turned round to face her again.

'I dare, because you're not the real princess, you're not even a real person. In fact, you're not even real.'

The King rapidly caught on, 'She's a mechanical, but, then where is our real daughter?'

'I don't know. For broken bones, you call me. For lost daughters, you call the police' suggested the Doctor, unhelpfully.

'Don't you see, dear' the Queen started, 'burglars kidnapped our real daughter and replaced her with this copy. That gave them time to run away with the real her'.

'Oh No! Stolen! My Princess kidnapped' cried the King in horror.

'Chamberlin, send out a message to everyone one in the land: the Princess' hand in marriage to the first Prince who rescues her. She must be found!'

'But Daddy, I'm here' the Princess pleaded.

'Stop calling me that' the King shouted 'Where is our real daughter?' he demanded, glowering at the Princess.

'I'm not pretending, it's me! I'm here' the Princess flinched, instinctively drawing back, closer to the open window.

The King picked up the foot and waved it frantically at her.

'What's this then? Is this your foot?' the King shouted 'This is not the foot of my daughter, it's the foot of a machine. I don't even know why I'm talking to you, you're not even real! I be gone mechanical monster!'. He threw the foot in anger and it bounced off the wall and landed on the floor near the window.

The King turned away and started talking to the Queen. The Princess stood up trying to hop towards the King. He was clearly very upset and she simply wanted to give him a hug. As she did so, she tripped over her own foot and fell towards the open window of her bedroom. It was five minutes and twelve seconds past three and the Princess fell from the tower.