The Toy Prince

1. Ursula

"I am so happy to see you honigbiene," Annelie Silber said as she enveloped Ursula into a hug.

For a brief moment Ursula allowed herself to stop thinking and just enjoy the feeling of being safe. It worked but only for a second before the doubt creeped back in and she pulled away, glancing over her shoulder. The driveway was completely clear which she knew it would be. Her paranoia had eased somewhat during the flight from England to Germany but it would never completely go away. She suspected it wouldn't until the police caught the man who'd been stalking her for the past two years.

She'd crossed an entire ocean to escape from a person she'd never met or seen to put a face to. He was the anonymous man in the shadows who'd followed her, left her presents on her doorstep and sent her letters that were full of the details of her day. It had been terrifying to know that someone out there was that obsessed with her. So she'd settled on a plan. For the Christmas period she was go to Germany and live with her Oma Silber. She just hoped that moving would make him go away. The police seemed certain that it would but she wasn't convinced. Still it meant that she got to spend some quality time with Oma Silber.

"Come in with you! Go straight to the kitchen. I have your favourite hot chocolate waiting for you in there."

Ursula smiled and did as she was told. Oma's hot cholate was like nothing you could get in England and it was one of the few things she'd been looking forward to on this trip.

Oma Silber had put the hot chocolate in a fancy silver teapot with two fine china cups set next to it. Ursula sat down with a contented sigh and poured herself and Oma a steaming cup of the fragrant drink.

A few seconds later her Oma came in with a small box in her hand. It was wrapped in some blue tissue paper and was tired together with a silver piece of ribbon. Oma put the box on the table in front of her.

"What's this?"

"An early Christmas present."

Ursula tentatively picked up the box. It was incredibly light and small so her first guess was jewellery of some kind. She gently tugged the ribbon so it came undone and then ripped the tissue paper off. In the box was indeed a piece of jewellery. It was a delicate scrollwork cuff bracelet with a large frosted white stone in the centre. It looked old and expensive.

"It's beautiful," she said, smiling at her Oma. "Thank you."

Oma smiled and gently took the bracelet from her hands, sliding it onto Ursula's wrist. The fit was perfect as if it had been custom made for her.

"The stone is called a Seer Stone or Window Quartz. It's meant to help you see things clearly and find the things you're looking for," Oma explained, tapping the surface of the stone. "Maybe it will help you going forward."

If only it were that simple. She would have looked into that stone in a heartbeat and searched for the face of her stalker. Finding him with mystical means had about as much chance of working as the police finding him. The score currently sat at zero.

"So tell me, how is your Mother doing?"

The question was asked in a sweet tone but there was an undercurrent of anger there too. Her Mother and Oma did not get on at all. It had all stemmed from her Oma being unhappy at Ursula's Mother's decision to move to England.

Ursula had never really gotten to the bottom of the problem, which she was certain went much deeper than a disagreement on relocation. She was not going to add any more fuel to the fire by telling Oma about her Mother's recent antics. No, it was better if some things were left unsaid.

"She's fine. Worried but fine."

Oma nodded. "We're all worried honigbiene but some of us can turn that worry into something useful. I have already been in contact with the police and they will be keeping a close eye on the house whilst you're here. Anything that happens to make you feel uncomfortable then you're to let me know."

"I will Oma."

After that the conversation drifted to duller topics. Ursula told her Oma about her plans to return to university after putting her studies on hold. Her hope was that she could study in Germany and never have to return to England but in truth her plans depended entirely on if her stalker followed her.

Thinking about him was making her shake so badly that she had to put her cup down. To hide that fact from her Oma, she hid them under the table in her lap. Silently she made a note to take her anxiety medication as soon as possible.

"Are you OK honigbiene?"

Ursula shook her head, deciding it was best to be honest.

"No. I was thinking about him. About how he's stolen everything from me even my freedom of choice sometimes. It terrifies me and makes me angry at the same time." She took a sip of the hot chocolate to allow herself time to compose herself. "I don't know how to get my life back even now that I'm free."

Oma leaned forward and placed a comforting hand on Ursula's arm.

"Well that is the reason you're here. You need time to heal in a safe place and once you do then you'll be fine. I promise you that you will feel better." Oma sat back in her chair. "Now you must be tired after your late flight. Do you want some food or would you rather go straight to bed?"

Her stomach rumbled loudly at the mention of food. "Food would be nice but I'd rather go to bed. I'm tired."

"You go up then. I'll bring some up and you can eat it in bed."

"You don't have to."

Oma smiled. "Don't worry about it. It'll be nice for me to have someone to fuss over now that your Opa has passed."

Ursula didn't know what else to say so she mumbled her thanks before taking herself upstairs.

Her bedroom was on the third floor and she made the mistake of taking the stairs rather than cheating and using her Oma's stair lift. Her most recent lifestyle of staying indoors wasn't doing her fitness level any good. She got to her bedroom after a couple of breaks to catch her breath. The muscles in her legs were screaming in protest so when she could she sat down heavily on the bed.

Nothing in the room had changed since she'd last slept in it. The same heavy wooden furniture intricately carved with lilies for decoration. Every room had its own floral theme from decoration down to the scented soaps in the ensuite bathrooms.

The Lily Room had been her home away from home when she'd been younger. Now it was her only home.

Ursula rolled over so that she was lying on the bed, staring up at the canopy. Her eyes were already feeling heavy which later she would attribute to the travelling. Sleep claimed her before Oma Silber had even finished dishing out the stew she'd prepared.