Merlin Fairytale Series

Chapter 5: The King's Plan

Hey lovelies! I apologise for my late/sporadic updates. I have been busy/tired/sick lately so end up having to work like 4 days on one chapter but I will finish this story and the others. Ok enough of my blabbing/excuses. On with the story!
Picture is from one of the many versions of this story.
Summary: The king learns of what his daughters are doing and comes up with a plan to figure out how they escape from their tower every night.

     As time passed, the princesses fell into a schedule. Mornings were hectic for the girls. They were usually so tired from staying up all night dancing so they wandered about in a daze, having trouble pulling themselves through breakfast, lessons, and their other responsibilities.
     At night, after they'd been locked in their tower room and Uther had left, the ghost of Queen Anastasia would appear and the princesses would grab their dancing shoes and follow their mother to the wonderland where they met their sweethearts.
     Merlin always talked about how their destinies were all intertwined and a day would come when they'd bring peace back to the seven kingdoms, these being Paradise, Powys, Auradon, Spiritus, Winchester, Umbra, and Lot, each a kingdom ruled by a member of the group.
     He was quite insistent the time would come and soon. And, luckily enough, when that day came, they'd all get their happy endings. Unfortunately, rougher times were still ahead. Even Lacey had confirmed it in her dreams.
      Every night, they'd drink a toast to the day when all would work itself out and then they'd dance the rest of the night away, returning home with just enough time to throw their shoes under their beds and catch an hour or two of sleep.
     This went on for months but after awhile, the king grew suspicious. There were several signs that told him something wasn't right here. First of all, the princesses had stopped arguing with him. Second, they looked tired all the time and often fell asleep in their food or ontop of their books.
     Then he started receiving a pile of bills for shoes. At this point, he was more than a little suspicious. He asked the shoe maker to deliver him the form. On it he found 13 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of boots, 6 pairs of heels, and 5 pairs of slippers, 2 black, 1 red, 3 blue, 3 gold, 1 teal, and 1 white.
     Uther had no choice but to have the shoemaker deny any new orders for shoes. But his biggest clue came a few weeks into the princesses new routine.
     One day, one of the servants found the slippers while cleaning the princess' room. They were all dirty, with grass stains covering the heels, and the soles were worn with little tears in the seams. This servant reported them to the king.
     As it was late in the day, Uther decided to hold off until the next day. That night, the princesses went to their wonderland and danced the night away with their princes. The next morning, they raced home, threw their shoes under their beds and fell asleep.
     It seemed they had just closed their eyes when the door slammed open, waking them instantly, and Uther came storming in.
     He immediately glanced under their beds and boomed, "What are those?" The princesses saw where he was pointing, to a pair of their slippers that were dirty and worn. He grabbed them up. "Would anyone like to explain to me why these shoes look this way when they were brand new yesterday?" No one answered him. "Alright then. Everyone down for breakfast. You have five minutes from the moment I walk out this door to get dressed and meet me."
     Uther stormed out of the room, ignoring his daughter's protests of being too tired and needing more sleep.
     The princesses rushed to get changed into their dresses and then made their way down to the dining room. Without a word, they sat down around the table.
     Uther smiled, a genuine one. "12 beautiful princesses and my grandson." At that moment, Arthur, Guinevere, and their children entered the room. "Ah! And here is my son, daughter-in-law, my other three grandson's, and my beautiful granddaughter. Come, dine with us."
     Arthur, Guinevere, Daniel, Brandon, Benjamin, and Anastasia sat down at the table, with Arthur opposite his father, and his wife and daughter on his right side, his sons on his left. The rather large family ate breakfast in awkward silence; the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
     When breakfast was over, Uther tapped his glass to gain everyone's attention. "It has come to my attention that my daughters are somehow getting out at night and going dancing. Would anyone like to tell me how?" No one spoke up or even made a sound. Finally, Uther nodded. "Very well."
     Uther then stormed out of the room, effectively making his point.
                           * * * * *
     After having a number of servants and guards check the princess' chambers and no evidence of a way out being found, Uther declared it must be the result of sorcery.
     He hatched a plan but bid he would not reveal it until come morn the next day.
     That night, as always, the princesses followed their ghostly mother to the wonderland where they spent time with the men they'd come to fall in love with and danced the night away.
     The next morning, once breakfast was over, Uther called his entire family and all his counselors together for a discussion. "As many of you know, it has come to my attention that my daughters are somehow getting out of their tower at night. My finest guards cannot find any way that it is being done so the only answer is that someone is using magic to get them out.
     "I have made up my mind. The sorcerer must be caught and executed and my daughters punished. So, starting today I want a proclamation sent out to all of the seven kingdoms and beyond: 'Anyone brave enough to accept this challenge has three days to figure out the mystery of how my daughters get out and where they go and he must present proof. Whoever figures out the mystery may choose a wife from among my daughters to be his wife but if he cannot solve the mystery in three days, his life is forfeit.' Send it out, NOW!"
     With that, he stormed out once more.
     That very day, the proclamation was sent out to the seven kingdoms and even farther past the mountains, the seas, and the woods.
     The time of change had come, just as predicted....
To be continued...