Thank you all.
She presented herself at Clothilda's bright and early next morning. The house was bathed in light as all the curtains had been pulled back as far as they could go to allow the sunshine in.
'She does take the curse thing seriously,' Lucy noted.
Clothilda poured the tea. There was no cake this morning. Clothilda had obviously given up trying to rescue it.
She cleared her throat and began.
So it was that Maleficent, Primrose and the tiny baby left the village and the Kingdom. They were accompanied by many of the villagers because even plump and happy villagers sometimes dream of a better life where kings do not throw their grand-daughters out of their homes. As well, Hammet the Blacksmith left with them. He said he did not trust his sisters to survive long outside civilization so, despite his impatience with them, the bonds of family were too strong for him to ignore.
Maleficent did not go quietly, as was to be expected, for she was furious with the King. She seems to have overlooked her own part in this tragedy but I am guessing she never expected such harshness from the king. He had always seemed a genial old fellow and maybe she had anticipated nothing more than ridicule of the prince followed by acceptance by all concerned.
Her parting words, dark and grim, were amplified by her powers to a thunderous roar and resounded throughout the village that night. The villagers shook in their boots and cows went off their milk for days afterwards.
'Hear me good citizens of Edenshire for this bane I place upon the royal house of King Edward.
I curse the House of the King and all who are yet to be born of it. Never will the blood of this House reject another daughter because the wombs of the wives shall bear only sons. By all the power I can call to my bidding, I doom this House to its fate. No daughter shall it bear yet only a daughter can break this curse.
In his castle, King Edward drew the curtains and settled down with a favourite book in front of the fire. Stupid witch. What sort of curse was that anyway? He shrugged and lived out the rest of his days, disturbed only by the raucous games of his many grandsons.
Lucy was puzzled. She was inclined to agree with the king.
Hadn't she overhead many times that her own parents should have quit while they were ahead – while their family was limited to three charming, obedient and high achieving sons.
'What is so wrong with only bearing sons.'
'Normally nothing.' Clothilda smiled. 'Little boys are fine, if a trifle noisy. But we are talking about generations of sons here. It upset the balance and, for a royal dynasty, it spelt disaster.'
