Behind The Last Window

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. Her stepmother had kept her locked away from the world, sure, but she had never expected such treatment from her husband. The snow fell as gently as true love’s first kisses, and the winds of either change or perpetuity, she couldn’t tell which, blew across the valley. The bitter cold seemed to not only frost over, but almost crack the glass to the window she had grown so attached to. It was a way to live vicariously through the villagers she could see so distantly in the town below, tiny as ants.

She imagined herself inside the body of a young maiden, a simple but beautiful blue dress, carrying home bread and vegetables to a husband that provided her with all he could, and greeted her with a kiss every evening. She imagined herself inside the body of a poor beggar woman, seeing the sympathy on the faces of passerbys as she scavenged for survival. She imagined herself inside the body of a little girl, skipping over the rough-hewn cobblestones with not a care in the world.

Despite her royal blood, she longed for a normal life. She longed desperately to mingle among the commoners and get to know the people she saw from afar every day. She wished to know the people, to know herself… her true self. The princess lived for the idea of actually living. Before, she had lived for the idea of true love, but now she didn’t know whether she believed in that anymore or not. She wanted passion, vitality, a renewed zest for life… and the truth, something she thought she had finally found when her prince supposedly saved her.

True, she was still allowed out of the room on some occasions, such as to make an appearance at a party or to take her place on his arm at political gatherings. Yes, he lavished her with affection when they were alone, as well as luxurious gifts, but he was as cold and distant as the dark side of the moon at times. There was this dichotomy within her as to how she felt toward him. On one hand, she had waited for him her entire life. She had prayed to the north wind to find somebody who would rescue her, take her away from the horrible, restricted existence she had always known. And in his defense, he could be sweeter than the sap piped out of the trees that produced her favorite syrup she enjoyed when he brought her breakfast in bed.

On the other hand, she saw that more often than not, he didn’t treat her right, or at least, she didn’t think he did. He never offered her an ill word. He was merely neglectful of her emotional needs. He told her he loved her, but he didn’t do enough to show it. Wasn’t he supposed to show her off and ride off into the sunset with her on his cotton-hued steed? Wasn’t he supposed to act like she was a magic spell cast on him? Obsessed with her and her love? Wasn’t he supposed to look at her the way a starving man looked at ice cream? What happened to those fairy tales she grew up on? Were they just fantasy after all? They couldn’t be. Maybe, just maybe, she thought, sometimes it was the prince that needed saving.

Maybe it wasn’t that he didn’t love her. Maybe it wasn’t that he lacked pride in his blushing bride. Maybe he just didn’t know how to show his love for her. Maybe he had never been shown the way to make a woman feel like the only creature on Earth. Maybe her prince was damaged, too. Both having royal blood but different upbringings, it made sense. So from the moment this revelation revealed its potential to her, she began focusing on the solution instead of the problem.

She vowed from that moment to show him all the love, loyalty, and affection for him she could. She paid off the servants when they came up to her to get him special little gifts from town if they could find them. She convinced the servants to prepare his favorite meals to share with her when they had dinner together. She gave him pleasure unfathomable to most mortal men. She made his eyes roll back almost every night like he was having a seizure.

Everything seemed to get better from then on. Her prince was more romantic with her on a regular basis. He began to show her off more, allowing her to attend more events taking place within the castle walls. She started feeling the passion more when he kissed her. Everything was getting better, and it was all because she was showing him more of the love he desperately needed. She hoped that if she kept up her efforts, if they could continue working together, they could truly be happier than either of them had ever dreamed of. Through hard work, love, encouragement, support, and quality time together, they could heal each other and truly make each other’s dreams a reality. Day by day, as they worked toward this common goal, the princess stared out at the castle walls and the village below, finally seeing not only potential, but an actual future behind the last window.