The Curse of Windsor Castle

Chapter Two

The rest of the day was uneventful. They had maths, French, and science. Unlike her classmates, Rose paid close attention to French, not because it was particularly useful, but she enjoyed it. In her defence, Rose thought French would be useful in their travels abroad. Amy, like the rest of her class, daydreamed about magic and skipping class during the lessons on quadratics, cells, and conjugating verbs.

That night, Rose slept earlier than normal. She was greeted by a dream very much like the one before. King Francis and Princess Viola were on their thrones, but they both looked like they had slept badly. Both had dark circles under their eyes and Viola had fresh blemishes on her nose and cheeks. Francis's crown tittered dangerously on his head which was bowed low in thought. Then someone announced, " King Ballad of Kunst here, Your Majesty."

The King's tired voice replied, " Bring him in."

King Ballad did not look like a king. He wore a crown and the royal emblem of Kunst but that was where the semblance of royalty ended. The boy-king looked about Viola's age which was between fifteen and sixteen years old. His crown was barely balanced on his head. The boy was scrawny and greasy, the complete opposite of what Viola thought a king should be.

"Why have you come here?" Francis asked.

"I just wanted to see if you really have those cursed chairs," He said in a lazy voice.

"Yes I do," Francis replied. " What is your question?"

"If it is truly cursed, why not not burn it?"

"My father's men have tried to destroy the chairs in every way possible. Nuntius Mortis must have cast a protection spell on it," Viola defended her father.

Ballad approached the chairs with the sly smirk on his face.

"Stop!" Francis yelled, but Ballad had already sat down. He gazed at the king with a demeaning sneer on his face.

"Your Majesty, with all due respect, I believe the curse is an old wives' tale to frighten children."

King Francis did not respond, simply sighing deeply and shielding his eyes from what was to come. He was worried about the outcome of his actions. Kunst would declare war on Maagiline. Of course his kingdom would win. Maagiline was superior to all the surrounding kingdoms. But it couldn't afford to be caught up in another dispute. Francis had nearly bankrupted his treasury in healing the scars that Nuntius Mortis had created.

Then, Ballad tried to get up, but he was stuck. Then Viola heard a voice that said, "The first one will end up in Germany." The boy-king vanished in a flash.

"Excuse me?" Viola asked.

"Are you alright?" Francis looked at his daughter with despair.

"Yes Father, but I heard a voice say that Ballad is in Germany."

Francis frowned. "Where is Germany?"

Rose's eyes opened. It was 6:45--much earlier than she ever woke up. She got up, brushed her teeth, threw on some clothes, and ate a cereal bar. Melinda came downstairs and announced her presence with a loud yawn. "Up so early?"

Rose nodded and slowly savored the chocolatey part of her bar. "Yeah."

Her mother continued talking. "I considered your request, but I asked someone else to accompany you. Someone who is much cooler than me" Melinda had a twinkle in her eyes.
"Who? Oh no," Rose's heart sank. Not her. Anyone but her.

"I think you know who, Rosie."

"I hope I'm not to late. Oh, hello Mum, Rosie." A new voice said.