The Princess and the Witch

There was a princess who was betrothed to a prince.  They were to be married the day after the princess's eighteenth birthday, but by seventeen she still had not met him.

One night she stole down to the stables, took her horse and rode into the forest.  From her bedroom window she had often seen a plume of green smoke rising from the midst of the trees, and she knew that this must mean a witch lived there.

The princess had dressed for practicality, bound up her hair and armed herself with her father's broadsword.  But there were no dangers in the forest.  When she had been riding for some time, the princess stopped to ask a passing goblin, 'Does a witch live near here?'

'Through yonder trees,' said the goblin, pointing.  'She will take you in gladly, young sir, for she is kind to travellers such as yourself.'

The princess spurred her weary horse onwards, and they soon arrived at a small cottage with green smoke rising from the chimney.  The princess dismounted, approached the cottage and knocked on the door.  It was opened by a woman dressed in black.  She was not an old woman, as the princess had expected.  Indeed, she looked not much older than the princess herself.

'Come in, young sir,' said the witch.  'Sit by my fire while I tend to your horse.'

The princess obeyed, waiting on the hearthrug while the witch fed and watered the horse.

'I come to you seeking magical aid,' said the princess, when the witch returned.  'I am to be married to someone I have never met.'

The witch went to a cupboard and busied herself with jars and bottles.  'Who is she?'

'Someone of noble blood, like myself.'

The witch brought a dish to the princess, which she had filled with all manner of strange ingredients.  She sat down on the hearth, and laid the dish between them.

'You have a great secret,' said the witch.  'You will never marry anyone chosen for you by your parents.'

'It is no secret that I am wilful,' said the princess.

'Ah, no.  This is a secret so deep that even you do not know it yet.'

'What should I do?'

'Wait and see.  Do what your heart tells you.'

The princess left feeling that she had not learnt anything.  So she went to see the witch again, not just once but many times, and always went as a boy.  At each visit she would ask, 'What is my secret?'

'How can I know?' asked the witch.  'Why do you keep coming here?  There is nothing more I can tell you.'

'Don't you like me to come here, love?'

The witch looked away.  'You are a prince.  You should not speak to me so.'

It was then that the princess realised her secret, and she went away full of thought.  The next morning was that of her wedding.  She told many people that she had no intention of marrying the prince, but none would listen.

When she was standing by the prince, in full bridal attire, she said, 'I cannot marry you.'

'But you can,' said the prince.  'I know that the wicked witch who lives in the woods has been enticing you to her house, and goodness knows what horrors you've had to endure there.  But you are safe from her now, and we are free to marry.'

'What do you mean?' asked the princess.

'I have had the witch banished beyond the mountains.'

The princess's shock lasted only a moment.  Then she drew the prince's sword and ran from the castle, wounding or slaying any who got in her way.

The princess took her horse and rode to the mountains, her gown and golden hair flowing behind her.  At every turn she would meet a fairy who urged her to go back.

'The prince loves you,' they said.

'He does not know me!' said the princess, riding onwards all the faster.

As she neared the mountains, the coaxing turned to threats, and the threats to attacks.  The princess had fought and slain a number of fairies when she finally emerged on the other side of the mountains, where she met the prince himself guarding a cave entrance.

'Let me pass,' said the princess.

'Stop this foolishness,' said the prince.  'Come back to your castle and marry me.'

'Never.'

'Then you leave me no choice.'

From within his cloak the prince drew another, bigger sword.  The princess dismounted, and they fought until she had plunged the prince's own sword into his side.

'Go, then,' he said with his dying breath.  'The dragon may have you both.'

The princess entered the cave, and saw a dragon not feasting upon the witch's remains, but warming her with its fire.  Near to the cave entrance was a large broken shackle.

'The prince is dead,' said the princess.  'You are prisoners no longer.'

The witch looked up, squinting through the darkness.

'It is I,' said the princess.  'Your young suitor.'

'You look different.'

'Yet I am the same.  Can you love me still?'

The witch looked away.  'You are a princess.  You should not speak to me so.'

The princess went to the witch and grasped both her hands.

'I am not a princess here.'