Our Enchanting Love

Chapter 2: Lesson For A Princess

I raise the ends of my dress off the floor as the guards push open the double doors to the throne room for me. I walk through the doors and Mother immediately starts talking.

"Enchantment. What took you so long? You know that we have much work to do. You must be in order before you are to attend the Feast of Starlight in Mirkwood. You know this may very well be the first and last time that those wretched Elves open up the party to a race other than themselves." She blabbers on.

I raise a hand up, hoping that she'll understand that I want her to be silent. She looks at me and I say, "Mother, everything will be fine. Your aura is filled with worry. I will be cordial in my meeting with the Elves of Mirkwood. Where is Father?"

She takes a seat on her queen throne chair that is made of steel and has emeralds here and there. "Your father is busy at the moment," she stops and looks at me with such seriousness and continues, "I know you always feel as if the Elves are not our enemy. That we have no business starting a feud. But, Enchantment, we must right their wrongs. And you must be ravishing when you reveal yourself to King Thranduil."

They will not let whatever happened in the past go. They just wish to keep it going, like fools. But I mustn't disobey. Or it may very well be the Red Room for me. A terrible place it is. I'm their little puppet I realized as I got older. I hope that. . .one day. . .my parents and I could stop being friends and enemies. Why not just friends?

She takes me out of my thought process when she says, "For this lesson, you will be deciding the fates of these peasants for the crimes that they have committed." She gestures to the four people, two on each side of the pathway to the King's throne chair. Even though this dark room is lit luminously with fire and torches, I didn't notice them until now.

I can see the fear in their aura, I can see it in their eyes, I can taste it in the air. It wasn't me, I swear! one of them says with their mind. I can read minds and control them when I try hard enough. . . but I cannot decide their fates. It isn't within my capability. I am no queen. Not now, and if this is my business for when I'm queen, hopefully not ever. But of course, no witchcraft will help me now.

Mother gets up and walks over to a man around his 7,000's. He almost looks as if he is trying to keep back tears. "What will be the action you take for his crime? He has been stealing food from brews for weeks now!" she informs me, almost yelling the last part.

The next second, the man begs, "Please your Majesty, I have children. I must put food into their mouths! I had no choice. I wasn't going to let them starve."

"You will be provided food from the royal kitchen for six weeks—food for you and your children—while you search for a job. I understand why you did what you did. It was no simple task. I won't let you or your children go hungry." I say, taking a deep breath afterward, waiting for my mother's remark on my judgment.

She stares at me for a minute. But it feels like an eternity. She finally opens her mouth to say, "Enchantment...I was expecting you to send him to the prison cells. Channie, I must respect your order. And I must say, it's a humble order." She's trying to hide it with all her long sentences, but I know she accepts and likes my decision. And of course, she's shocked by it.

That name, Channie. It's been ages since anyone's used that name for me. It's short for Enchantment. I'm the only witch in this kingdom who chose to have my power name be my name. Well. . .whose parents chose to have my power name and my name the same.

I bid the others off as well. All with not-so-dire fates. None of them were sentenced to death or imprisonment. This being, I saw no reason for that. I know my father would have wanted that but I don't. Not if the crimes don't make them a danger to the citizens. My mother sometimes wants it, and sometimes she doesn't.

A woman is being escorted out of the room with her good fate when Mother says, "This is a witch lesson. Drag her back here and make her bow. Do it with your mind, Enchantment." I don't want to do that. I don't want to control her body to make her do what she doesn't want done!

"Just focus on making her move against her will," she tells me. Just wanting to get this over with, I imagine her moving towards me and making her way to my feet to bow. I try so hard that I start to squint. Suddenly, the woman turns around and starts to walk to me. I can see her urge to fight it in her face. But I am too strong. She finally makes it to me and bows. I gasp and stop controlling her. She runs away, afraid. Only the most powerful of witches can do mind control.

What have I done? Why would I do that? That wasn't like me at all. I didn't even try to object Mother's command.

"Good, Enchantment. Very good. You're going to need mind control where you're going."

In Mother's eyes, I am ready for Mirkwood.