Twice Upon A Time (Unfinished Fairy Tales #2)(18)
“Ah, it’s our bonny Prince Edward and the new princess!” The taller one says, grinning. “We have been waiting for you all morning long.”
I glance at Edward. There’s a frown on his face. Guess he isn’t pleased at being called “bonny.” Ha.
His companion elbows him. “Hold your tongue, Gil. It’s not every day that you get the prince and the new princess visiting.”
For such an impressive castle, I’m surprised there aren’t more tourists, which is kind of puzzling. The train makes the place accessible, and the weather is lovely.
“What are you looking for?” Edward asks.
“Nothing…I thought this was supposed to be a popular tourist attraction, but there aren’t any people here.”
“The castle is yours today, Princess Katriona.” Gil winks. “Everyone else must make way for you.”
“Oh.” I feel a bit embarrassed. “But honestly, there is no need—”
“Let me show you the castle, Kat. It will take a long time for the entire tour.” Edward puts a hand on my back and steers me forward. Leaning over to my ear, he whispers, “Trust me, you’d prefer touring the castle without a number of villagers following and staring at you.”
Makes sense. But still, I’m not certain I like this privilege. If I were one of the tourists, I’d be annoyed that I have to avoid this particular day just because the monarch is visiting.
Anyway, I’ll be going home as soon as I get the chance, so I focus on crossing the drawbridge. Wooden planks creak under our feet as we make our way to the entrance. I dart a glance at the moat. It is a deep sea-green with ducks floating on the water.
“The castle was built nearly five hundred years ago.” Edward steadies me with his firm grip on my arm. “Our ancestors came from another country, Moryn, which lies to the west of Athelia. Enrilth happens to be near the port where they first landed.”
I don’t remember The Ugly Stepsister mentioning anything about Moryn. Looks like this is another piece of info I must remember in order to play my part of the princess.
“Were you different countries in the beginning, or did Athelia separate from Moryn later?
“Originally, we were colonies under the great Moryn empire,” Edward says, leading me into what seems like a courtyard. Interestingly, there are a few knights astride horses made of stuffed sacks. This is certainly a tourist attraction. “We had our own leaders to run local affairs, but the Moryn king overruled us. For several decades, we lived in peace until the demands from them became more and more ridiculous. There was a tax law that allowed them to impose heavy taxes on everything, including both imported Moryn goods and Athelian local goods.”
“And so you retaliated by dumping chests of tea into the harbor, and later went to war?” The words are out of my mouth before I can help it.
Edward stares at me. “Tea?”
“Never mind. Just pretend I didn’t say anything.”
“Tea did not exist then, but the taxes did escalate tension between the two countries. Eventually, we declared war on Moryn, which sent troops across the sea. The most famous battle occurred here, right at this castle.”
He leads me to a flight of steps, unevenly cut from stone, up to the castle wall.
“The Moryns tried to enter the castle by climbing up the wall, but we shot them down using arrows that had explosives attached to the ends. Still, casualties amounting to thousands were recorded on both sides. Irrevocable damage was done to the city despite our eventual victory, so my ancestors decided to relocate to the second largest city, which is now the capital where we live.”
I gaze at the great expanse of grass that stretches in front of me, ending in a thick forest. Hundreds of years ago, there must have been bloodied bodies lying all over the battlefield or floating on the moat. I shudder and turn away.
“The war sounds awful, but it seems you did a good job patching up the damage. If you didn’t tell me about Moryn, I wouldn’t have known there was a war here.”
“My grandfather decided to turn the castle into a sightseeing attraction, and he commanded to restore it to its original state. It took many years, but eventually, we succeeded. He was highly unpopular with the people, but there were a few things that he did right during his reign. This is one of them. Castle Enrilth has brought in much revenue from both Athelian and foreign visitors, and it has helped many people learn more about our history.”
A while later, we start down the steps. Edward wants to show me the great mead hall where the ancient Athelians used to celebrate festivities—or in other words, occasions that gave them the excuse to get drunk.
“So, what’s your relationship with Moryn now?”
“Currently, we maintain pretty good relations with them. Our forefathers worked hard, establishing schools and offering handsome rewards to professionals. It was not long before steam technology was discovered, and that made a huge difference in our industries. In fact, we are arguably much stronger and more developed now. The Moryn Empire is still splendid, but no longer is it the most powerful nation in our world. They would never dare to initiate a war if the same tensions occurred again.”
“I guess that Moryn still has a monarchy?”
“They certainly do. In fact, their monarchy retains a lot more executive authority than us. I suppose you know that for Athelia, it is the parliament, not the royal family, that wields political power?”