The Guardian

By Aisling Burke

Even the clocks don’t tick here. The only sound is the shuffle of my slippers on the dusty marble floor as I carry out my daily check on the sleepers. I leave Rose’s room for last. I tuck the dusky pink coverlet around my step-sister and press my lips to her forehead. But she slumbers on. It is not my kiss that will wake her.

I climb the winding, crumbling staircase to the room at the top of the White tower. This is the only place in the palace that is mine. I sit on a stool in front of a mirror that stretches from the ceiling to floor. I touch its surface and it shimmers.

There is more than a touch of irony that the unwanted child is now the guardian of the palace. I am not a princess, I am an inconvenience. My stepfather, the King would have preferred that my mother came to him pristine. I am a constant reminder that she had another husband. I sigh and pick up my spindle. With a hum I call my magic. I weave the strands together to replenish the protections that keep the sleepers breathing.

*

The slimy vine stroked my neck. I let out a scream and toppled back onto the mud. Mother told me to hush and huddled in front of the blue fire with the Black Fairy. I sobbed as the dirty leaves brushed my skin.

“Do you like my pet, child?” The Fairy smiled, flashing her blackened teeth.

“N… No!” I could feel the swamp water soak into my gown. Were there other monsters waiting to drag me down into the mud? “Please…”

“Very well.” The Fairy extended her gnarled hand and pointed her sharp finger nail at my neck. The vine snapped back. “You have a lovely child, Nica.”

“She is nothing but a burden. Please, can you help me? Ever since I’ve seen him I’ve been sick with love for him.”

“More like sick of poverty.” The Fairy cackled. “Come here, child. Let me see you properly. How old are you?”

“Six.” She twisted my black curls in her fingers. “Tell me, Nica, just what are you prepared to sacrifice for this? Will you give me your child?”

“Yes!”

“Very well.” The Fairy yanked out a curl of my hair. I screamed. She scattered it into the fire. “I claim the life of the first royal child born to you.”

“But…” mother stuttered.

“It is done.”

*

Nobody remembered it was my eighth birthday. They were all crowded around Princess Rose’s cradle. I sat on the stairs and cried into my pretty red dress. The Black Fairy was gone but her curse was heavy in the air. A hand touched my arm.

“Hello.” The Blue Fairy smiled and crouched down in front of me. “Why are you out here?”

“They told me I was in the way.”

“I see.” She smiled and took my hands in hers. “I’m Cloris, you must be Marie.”

“Is Rose going to die?”

“I’ve softened the curse so she will fall into a long sleep instead but I need your help.”

“But… I can’t do anything.”

“You’re a very important little girl.” She kissed me on the forehead. My skin tingled. “I’m so sorry to burden you with this.”

“I want to help.”

“Come with me.”

She took my hand and led me through the palace to the White tower. I had never been inside. We climbed up the stairs to a round room at the top. I stared at the glistening mirror. I could see a silvery mark on my forehead.

“My kiss will help keep you safe.” She sat down on a stool and drew me onto her lap. It had been so long since someone had hugged me. She smelled of flowers. “I’m going to teach you how to use magic. I want you to come up to this room every day and I will talk to you through the mirror.”

“Okay.” I hid my face in her shoulder and rubbed my cheek against the silk. She stroked my hair.

“I want you to keep this safe.” She pulled out a thin stick with a sharp point. “This is a spindle. I’ll teach you to weave magic with it but you need to keep it a secret.”

*

Nobody remembered my sixteenth birthday. I sat in the royal enclosure and forced myself to smile at the jousters. No one asked for my favors. My pretty dress couldn’t disguise my plain looks and lack of royal title. I twisted my hands on my lap.

“Stop that,” mother hissed. “Can you not sit like a lady?”

“Sorry, mother.”

The archery contest snagged my attention. Everyone was whispering about the commoner who had reached the final. I stared at his handsome form. He spotted my interest and winked at me. I dropped my eyes and blushed. As soon as he turned towards the target I risked another look.

I watched his shoulder muscles bunch as he pulled the bowstring back. With a twang the arrow was released. It hit the very centre of the target. He was declared the winner and brought to the royal box. He knelt in the mud and bowed his head.

“Arise, sir. What is your name?” the King said. “I could do with a man like you in the royal guard.”

“Mathew, your majesty.” He sneaked a look at me. My face flushed.

“Name your prize, sir.”

“A kiss from Lady Marie.”

“But…” The King looked at me.

“She captured my heart with her lovely blue eyes.” He touched his chest.

“Very well. Take your prize.”

Was he mocking me? I stood up. I could feel the weight of the eyes of the crowd. I leaned over the partition. For the first time I touched the rough jaw of a man. I touched my lips to his.

“You are so lovely,” he whispered against my mouth. With that I lost my heart.

*

Mathew appeared in the mirror with his laughing grandchildren. My tears rained down and mingled with my magical weave. His hair was grey now and he had not drawn his bow in years.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

*

We planned to marry in secret on my eighteen birthday. But Rose saw us together and told our mother. The King made me watch as he was flogged. Then he left the palace.

“Please, your majesty.” I threw myself on the floor. “Let me go after him.”

“You are a lady of the royal household. He is lucky I don’t have his head removed for his audacity.”

“Marie, I am so sorry,” Rose said.

“Leave me alone!”

I ran out of the throne room to the White Tower. Two guards followed me to make sure I didn’t leave the palace. I picked up my spindle. I could feel dark, tainted magic humming in the air. I called Cloris but she didn’t appear.

“Marie, I’m so sorry.” Rose appeared at the doorway.

“Get out!”

“I didn’t…”

“Go away!” She touched my arm. I slashed at her with the spindle. The point pierced her palm and she dropped to the stone floor. “Rose?”

I knelt down and touched her shoulder. I felt the heavy press of magic descend. A gnarled hand stroked my hair.

“Well done.” The Black Fairy cackled. “The debt has been paid.”

“Don’t touch me!” I pushed her away.

“You have powerful magic, girl. You can walk out of here and have everything you want. Your lover, riches, the throne itself. You just have to take it.” Her poison words dripped into my ears and I was so tempted. “They will all die. They deserve it for the way they treated you.”

“But… why?”

“I can’t hurt you. You wear Cloris’s mark.” She cackled. “I can teach you things Cloris has never dreamed of.”

“Thank you.”

I stood up and curtsied. I kept my hand behind my back. I took a step forward and with one quick movement I stabbed her in the chest with the spindle. She shrieked and foul, black liquid spewed from her. She melted into the ground.

“Well done, Marie.” Cloris appeared.

“I killed… I killed Rose.”

“You saved her. In a hundred years she and the others will wake up.” Cloris kissed my forehead. “You will be the guardian and none of you will grow a minute older until the spell ends.”

“I hate you,” I screamed.

*

Each day drags by. My magic holds them out of time in the enchanted sleep. I watch the dark forest that surrounds the palace through the magic mirror and try to stop the foolish boys that attempt to hack through it. Some I save but others die; impaled on the thorns.

If I left the magic would disintegrate and they would die. So, in penance, I watch and I guard and I wait for the prince to come to wake my sister with a kiss.

Image can be found at Kimieye.

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