Once upon a time, there was an ugly princess.

At least, by noble standards. In fact, not a moment after she was born, the midwife cried out, “Oh! I think a curse has befallen this child!”

The Queen, at the time, did not believe this. But upon casting her eyes upon the child, her face fell into a deep and tired frown. The Queen, who was so very beautiful but so very vein, could barely bring herself to look upon the child.

As the Princess grew older, she endured much mockery due to her appearance, even if most of it wasn’t said to her directly. She could still hear the whispers of the other noble children behind her back. But the poor princess did manage to find solace in a few. She made friends with the servant’s children instead, playing in the halls and the castle’s kitchens.

This did not do very much for the child’s reputation among the nobles which was already somewhat in shambles simply due to the child’s appearance. But it did not matter to her. Regardless of how she was perceived by the upper class, the servant’s children would actually play with and their mothers would dote over her, regardless. She often heard them speak scornfully of the noble class’s vapidity. They assured her it wasn’t her fault.

But despite this assurance, it was no surprise that the princess still hated any talk of her appearance. At age eleven, she ordered her vanity mirror removed entirely.

Her father, despite his wife’s disdain for the child, loved her greatly and was saddened by this, though he never brought it up to the young girl, wishing to not make her insecurity worse. Part of him still hoped her mother and the other nobles would grow used to her and accept her.

But, when she reached the age of 13, it had grown clear to the king that she would never be accepted fully by her mother or any of the upper-class nobles. Realizing this, the King took it upon himself to train his daughter in the ways of being royalty, his wife refusing to do this much. Though the king was not versed in the ways of being a “lady of the court”, the king knew a lot about diplomacy and what it meant to love his people and to be well versed. But he did not stop there- the King taught her of the stars as well and how one could use them to read a map and navigate as well as the best one could defend themselves in various situations. It was these traits that he taught and passed on to his daughter, and even though she was not accepted among the nobles, among the people the Princess was known to be smart and tactful. 

One day, when the Princess was at the age of 16, the King threw her a birthday party. The Queen hated this, trying to insist that the affair be private, not wishing to draw any more attention to her daughter than needed. 

The King asked the Princess what she wished for and she said, “I wish for anyone in the Kingdom to be able to attend so they might be able to see their future Queen and know I will do a good job leading them. I want it to be a public affair for their sake.”

And that was enough for the King.

The Party was to be held outside, and everyone, common or noble, was allowed to attend and speak with the Princess who would be seated upon a raised platform with the King and Queen.

This all felt too much for the vein Queen, to be seated beside her daughter and in public too, but the King commanded it of her and so she sat, frowning deeply.

This event was one to behold, with people of all kinds coming to see the Princess they loved so dearly. Some turned away upon seeing her face but most looked upon her with a smile of admiration. They knew she would make a fit Queen.

The Princess spent her time speaking to many of the common folk as they approached the platform to wish her a Happy Birthday. It was all going very well till a cloaked woman found herself before the Royal Family.

“I hope you have such a wonderful birthday,” the cloaked woman said. She spoke with a rasp and seemed very old despite her face being concealed with a hood. Then she turned to the Queen, “You must be proud to have such a fine daughter as this,” she said, cocking her head slightly. 

The Queen, who had been seething this entire ceremony, was enraged.

“Such strong words from a hag such as yourself,” she spat. “You may be able to address the Princess with your face covered so but you shall not do so to me. I demand to look upon the face of who dares insult me.”

The woman threw back her hood, and to the Queen’s surprise, the woman looked very familiar. The Queen recognized the cruel but beautiful curve of her lips and her picture-perfect skin. The face was that of her own. 

“What sorcery is this,” she gasped, hands clutching her own face. Then she realized as her fingers felt her flesh, that they did not meet her usual perfect smooth skin. She felt wrinkles. “Oh! What have you done to me!” she cried.

“It would seem your Queen would do well to learn some manners,” The cloaked woman chuckled and shook her head at the King who sat there in shock, mouth agape at what he had seen.

“You’re a magic worker,” the Princess observed tactfully though her brow was furrowed in worry. It was unnerving to talk to a stranger who had just stolen your mother’s face, no matter how you felt about the woman.

“Astute observation, my dear,” The Sorceress replied. Then she turned back to the king. “I have been greatly insulted here today. For that, you and your people must pay. I will be at the foot of that mountain if you wish to come and apologize.”

The woman jabbed a finger, indicating the outline of a peak in the distance. Then, with that, The Sorceress snapped her fingers and disappeared in a puff of purple smoke, leaving the royals in shock and disbelief. They could hardly believe what had just happened.

Not more than 24 hours later, the Sorceress‘s curse began to come true. All across the kingdom, people began to fall ill with seemingly no cause. The sickness came as no surprise to The King so he was able to track the disease fairly quickly to the water supply. But among all his medical experts, they could not figure out a way to purify it.

“The people will die soon if we do not act quickly,” The King told his daughter. “But I don’t know what to do.”

“Do as The Sorceress instructed,” The Princess replied. “Go to the base of the mountain and apologize. Maybe she will have mercy upon us all.”

“No, no,” the King said with a shake of his head. “A Magic-worker cannot be reasoned with. I am afraid that is out of the question.”

The Princess resigned herself to silence though the gears in her head were beginning to turn. She made a plan, right then and there, to travel to the mountain and meet the sorceress and plead on the behalf of her people. 

That night, The Princess snuck out of bed and dressed. She grabbed a knapsack she had already packed that day that she had carefully hidden under her bed. She slung this over her shoulder but not before grabbing a handful of jewelry from her dresser and placing them in the bag. 

Perhaps if she can’t be reasoned with, The Socereress can be bargained with, She thought to herself, though part of her doubted the Magic-Worker would be very interested in such jewels. But she thought it was at least worth a try.

The Princess then made her way to the stables where one of the stable hands whom she had befriended over the years, awaited her with a steed. She thanked her friend before mounting and riding off into the night.

Her journey to the foot of the mountain was short and uneventful, much to The Princesse’s relief, taking only about a day’s ride. Though when she arrived, uncertainty began to plague her. The Sorceress had never exactly indicated where at the foot of the mountain she would be.

The Princess surveyed her surroundings. She saw before her a room of stone. It was more of an ornately decorated cavern really. With rune writing etched into the cave walls every which way one looked. But these writings aren’t what drew The Princess’s attention. Before her, just off the platform, she noticed nine rings had been carved into the cave floor and painted gold with a giant gold orb decoration at the center. As she neared the orb to touch it, she found herself stumbling to the ground, having tripped over something.

Pay closer attention, she scolded herself as she rose to see what had caused her to fall. It was yet another stone orb, this one painted a tan color and much smaller in comparison to the giant gold one at the center of the room.

“Odd,” she mumbled to herself, dusting herself off. Then, on a hunch, began walking a circle around the giant gold orb. Sure enough, there were more orbs much like the one she had tripped over, much smaller ones, all coloring different. 

Seven, eight, nine, she mentally counted the smaller colored orbs around her. They seemed to be scattered around the cavern haphazardly with no pattern or thought to placement. But every single one rested upon a specific golden ring. It didn’t take long for The Princess to put the pieces together.

They’re not just rings, she thought to herself. They’re orbits.

She realized that she wasn’t just standing in some oddly decorated cavern, but rather a room-sized model of the solar system. She recalled the astronomy lessons that she had with her father. There were nine planets in total. 

Each of the smaller orbs must represent a planet, with the giant golden one being the sun, she said to herself. But upon further inspection, she realized that they must be completely out of order. The smallest orb, which she took to be Pluto, was proof of that, resting much closer than it should to the sun and on the second orbital ring.

The Princess picked up the pluto orb and made her way to the very edge of the room and the last ring. As she paced its edge, she found a small groove in the stone floor that rested on the path of the orbital ring. The Princess couldn’t help but smile to herself as she knew she had figured out the puzzle. She placed the orb into the groove, pressing it ever so gently into place. It fit perfectly.

The Princess then set about arranging all the other orbs in the room, rolling the heavier ones to their rings and lodging them firmly in place. She worked at this for about ten minutes, until every single planet was in its place as well as in order. 

Once she rolled the final orb into place (a green one representative of the earth), a loud click sounded, reverberating off the walls of the cave. She stepped back in awe as she watched the floor begin to roll back at the center, revealing a spiraling staircase the descended into a dark void.

Now, this is where The Princess couldn’t help but hesitate. The Stairs mostly obscured by shadow circling down in the bowels of a dark hole looked anything but welcoming. But she thought of her people she had left behind that morning and all that was at stake here. And that was enough to send her forward, taking her first step down the staircase. Then another. Then another.

It wasn’t long before she had reached the bottom, finding herself in yet another cave-like room except this one was less empty. In fact, she would go as far as to say that this room looked lived in.

Pushed against the walls were a great number of shelves, containing a wide array of objects from books, to glass bottles, to odd-looking, gilded knick-knacks. The smell of cinnamon filled her nose as she moved about the room. She also noted in the corner was a small fire pit that contained a few small embers, burning low.

“Looks like I have a visitor,” a voice came from behind her. The Princess turned, not at all surprised to see The Socereress standing before her, though this time she stood up tall and straight and wore her mother’s cold, beautiful face. It of course startled The Princess, causing her to take an involuntary step back.

“Did I frighten you?” The Sorceress’s tone held amusement. “Oh, how rude of me to wear such a wicked woman’s face before you. My deepest apologies.”

She waved a hand across her face, her features morphing into yet another face, this one just as beautiful, but a little less harsh looking and with rounder features and smaller eyes. 

Did she steal that face too? The Princess couldn’t help but wonder.

“I have but two tests for you. Three technically though you already completed the first in the room above as you wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

“Well, what are they? I’ll complete any task you set before me.”

“Ah, not so fast! You don’t think I’m so kind as to just give you the opportunity to reverse my curse upon your little kingdom? No, where’s the fun in that! Where’s the risk? The Adventure? We need stakes. So how about this; If you complete the remaining two trials, I will lift the curse off your Kingdom and your mother right then and there. But! If you lose, you must give up your birthright to rule to me.”

If she did not accept, there would be no kingdom left to rule. The Princess had no choice but to agree.

“Oh, Splendid!” The Sorceress clapped with delight. “You seem very smart so I’m sure you have nothing to worry about. Let’s start with riddles! Is that alright with you? I’m quite fond of them.”

The Sorceress paced enthusiastically around the edge of the room, The Princess eyeing her suspiciously all the wall. 

“But this dull space ought never to do! After all, trials should be exciting!”

The Sorceress grabbed a handful of blue powder from a sack leaning up against one of the many bookshelves and blew the dust from her palm. The Princess wiped her eyes and sneezed, trying not to breathe in the powder.

 “What in the-” She coughed. The dust began to settle around her once she opened her eyes again. The sight that greeted her was unfortunately a grim one.

She was in a deep pit, and The Sorceress stood above her along the pit’s edge. Across from her was a stone plate with spikes, moving gradually towards her. This was, of course, a timed trap.

“Now!” The Sorceress called with glee. “Time for your first riddle!”

“First?!” The Princess exclaimed.

“Yes, first,” The Socereress acted as if she had something irritating. “This trial is comprised of three riddles. Answer them correctly or you die. Simple. Alright! First riddle!”

The Princess backed up against the opposite wall and listened closely, trying to not let her fear get the best of her.

“My tongue is long, my breath is strong, and yet I breed no strife; my voice you hear both far and near, and yet I have no life. What am I?”

The Princess breathed a sigh of relief. This was an easy one that all children knew.

“A Bell,” she responded. “Now, onto the next one, quickly.”

The Sorceress gave the Princess another annoyed look but went on.

“I am something people love or hate. I change people’s appearances and thoughts. If a person takes care of themself I will go up even higher. To some people, I will fool them. To others, I am a mystery. Some people might want to try and hide me but I will show. No matter how hard people try I will never go down. What am I?”

The Princess’s eyes darted around the room as she thought. A mirror? No, that can’t be it…

“Age!”

The Sorceress crossed her arms poutily. “Not fair.”

The Princess flicked another glance at the metal spikes crawling towards her, ever closer.

“No, it’s quite fair. Final riddle please.”

“I’m not making these hard enough,” The Sorceress grumped, but, to The Princess’s relief, she continued. “Only one color, but not one size, stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies. Present in sun, but not in rain, doing no harm, and feeling no pain.”

The Princess shrunk against the wall. She didn’t know this one either. Her mind raced as she evaluated the possibilities. But everything she thought of was ruled out due to that last line. 

“Present in sun, but not in rain, doing no harm, and feeling no pain,” she whispered these words to herself in a rush. The spikes were only a couple of yards away. The shadow of The Socereress danced along the bottom of the pit as she shifted from foot to foot, growing ever impatient. 

“I’m waaaaaiting.”

The spikes were only about two yards away now. That’s when it struck The Princess like a bolt of lighting. “A Shadow!”

“Darn.”

The setting around The Princess shifted again, all while the complaints and grumbles of The Sorceress could be heard.

“Drat, darn, crow’s feet, and maggots.”

A new room took shape around The Princess once more. The Final trial. And it must be an odd one for she found herself in a plain, high ceilinged room with no furniture. No furniture, that is, besides rows and rows of mirrors.

“Which one is real,” The Sorceress whispered to The Princess, suddenly appearing by the royal’s side. “You have one chance to tell me which.”

The Princess sighed inwardly. Another riddle.

Still, without complaint, The Princess surveyed the mirrors, not flinching from her reflection for the first time. She considered The Sorceress’s words, trying to decrypt the magic worker’s words. Her eyes searched her reflection in the glass to her left, repeating the words under her breath, “which is real?”

She then noticed that a reflection was slightly off- the woman in the glass did not have the right shade of eyes, being brown instead of green.

Ah-ha! She thought to herself. So I am to find which reflection is real.

The Princess turned to the mirror directly to her right. Here she noticed that the Princess looking back at her lacked a mole on her forehead. 

That mustn’t be right either.

The Princess turned to the many other reflections, the words playing in her head on repeat.

Which one is real?

Finally, she came to the last mirror, looking carefully at the image of a girl before her. Then she paused, a thought suddenly striking her.

“Well?” The Sorceress taunted from behind her. “I don’t have all day!”

“You asked which one is real,” the Princess said, slowly turning to look at the magic-worker. “Not which reflection or image was real.”

She turned back to cast another glance at the mirror, a small smile playing on her lips.

“But none of these are me. So none of these,” she gestured to the looking-glasses the surrounded them. “None of these are real, are they?”

The Sorceress remained strangely silent, careful not to give anything away, her face remaining emotionless and hard to read. But the Princess knew she was right before she had even said the words out loud.

“Except for this one,” she laid her hands on her own chest. “This one. This one is real.”

Behind her, the Princess could hear the Sorceress let out a sigh.

“Right you are,” she said. Much to the Princess’s surprise, the Socererss’s voice wasn’t angry or mocking. It wasn’t resigned either. Perhaps she was wrong, but she almost thought it was relief she heard in the magician’s tone.

“And that means I win, don’t I?” 

The ring of mirrors around them dissolved with a wave of the Socereress’s hand.

“Looks like it,” The Sorceress said, with a cock of her head. “Looks like I won’t be gaining a kingdom today. Though I am not quite as sad as I thought I’d be,” Then the Woman straightened, resuming her sly and intimidating demeanor. “Looks like your birthright to rule is safe for now, Princess.”

“And the River?”

“Already purified,” the Sorceress said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “You shall return to your kingdom to find everyone in good health and healed of the water’s plague as well.”

“Thank you,” the Princess said with a curt bow. “It would seem my business if finished here.”

“But aren’t you forgetting something?”

The Princess wavered a moment. “Am I?”

“I stole something from your mother,” The Sorceress gestured to her face, smirking. “Do you not wish for me to return her beauty?”

“Oh! I had all but forgotten about that,” The Princess said honestly. 

“I do not have to,” The Sorceress told the Princess, her mischievous smile growing wider by the moment. “It is not a secret that she has scorned you. I can bestow her beauty upon you if you wish it,” The Sorceress offered with an aloof shrug. “After all, revenge is a dish best served cold. She’d be green with envy I’d venture.”

The Princess couldn’t help but laugh. “I would ask you to return it to her if only for the fact that it belongs to her in the first place.”

“How good-natured of you.”

“Not really,” The Princess couldn’t help but offer the Sorceress a knowing grin. “It is not as big of a gift as some might make it out to be.”

“Spoken as a Queen.”

The next day, the Princess returned home to find all that the Sorceress had said had come true. All were healed of their afflictions and the water was purified. And, as promised, the Queen’s beauty had been restored, though one could hardly tell with how forlorn and dejected she looked. Never again did the Princess hear an unkind remark from her concerning her appearance. Though it hardly would have mattered to the girl whether she loved or hated her. Her people loved her and she had brought peace upon her land. That was enough.