Ch.5 The Spell Broken

 Rebecca was happy, she knew this was right.

THE SPELL BROKEN

Back at the Russian Palace, tension filled the air. The Tsar busied himself in official business, losing all interest in his new wife. Rachael wanted another child but the Tsar wouldn’t go near her, blaming her for the death of their first child. Catherine stayed very quiet for all of this time. She knew that as the spell started to break, the curse would get stronger. And this is indeed what was happening!

Three more months went by.

Little Maria loved her china doll, playing with her all of the time. Peter soon realized that when the spell broke, little Maria would lose her favorite doll, even though Rebecca would be back in his arms. Peter made a decision! He had an exact replica made and when the spell broke, he would disappear with Rebecca back to her home in Russia, leaving the replica with Maria, who would still love her favorite doll.

It was now time to write to Rebecca’s father, the Tsar, explaining everything that had happened and was about to happen. He even pleaded for the old woman’s life not knowing that she had completely recovered from the madness. Sending the letter off with a trusted courier, Peter sat patiently, waiting.

When the Tsar received the letter, he just did not know what to think or do. Knocking softly on his mother’s door, mother and son talked. Yes, it was indeed true and yes, it was the new Tsarina’s wicked plan. Catherine agreed to stay quiet about the letter.

“I’m not doing anything until I have Rebecca back in my Palace”, said the Tsar, overjoyed that his only daughter would soon be home, in his arms.

The next morning, very early, there was a soft knock on Peter’s door. Opening it, his eyes opened wide. Standing before him was Rebecca, fully-grown again, in her engagement dress, still wearing the ring Peter had given her. Guiding her inside the room, Peter softly closed the door. Rebecca was in his arms again.

The spell had completely broken.

Peter ran her a bath and, whilst Rebecca was bathing, laid out the new clothes he had had made for her. They had breakfast together in his rooms and then it was time to leave. Leaving the replica doll outside his little niece’s door, Peter and Rebecca headed off to Russia. A long journey ahead of them but one that needed to be taken.

Little did Racheal realize that her life was about to change completely.

Just as she had tried to ruin the Tsar’s life, he now prepared to change hers. Clearing out the old cottage, the Tsar laid out only the essentials that would be needed for living, no luxuries whatsoever. The wicked Tsarina would live there, but this time the big black dogs would stop her from ever leaving the cottage! Catherine carefully took the white rose, which had cracked in two, and laid it in a glass box on Rebecca’s bed. Her rooms had been untouched because the Tsar loved his only daughter too much to change them.

The scene was set!

Looking over his Palace gardens a few mornings later, the Tsar cried out with sheer delight. Rebecca, in Peter’s arms, on the same white stallion, was waving to her father, her smile beaming. Hearing the noise, Catherine ran out onto the stone steps. She, too, was overjoyed to see her granddaughter. Dismounting, both Peter and Rebecca flew into their arms. Peter into Catherine's and Rebecca into her father’s.

This was a very happy day!

Rachael, who had been watching, pretended to be delighted although inside she was horrified and terrified. The Tsar ordered everyone into the grand drawing-room. He read out Peter’s letter. Sitting silently, Catherine saw the curse at its strongest. Rachael had started to play, nervously, with the white roses in the vase on the sideboard. Then it happened! The thorns wrapped around her wrists, puncturing the veins. Rachael ran out of the Palace screaming, her hands dripping with blood, two servants followed her as she disappeared into the forest.

That night, Catherine finished and closed this terrible spell. She gave Rebecca a special potion of tea to drink, made up of red and white roses, and settled her granddaughter into bed. Rebecca slept and had uncontrollable dreams about the future as the spell worked its way out of her system. The next morning, the world awoke to bright sunshine and Rebecca awoke hearing the beautiful birdsong she loved so much, knowing that, at last, she was completely free of the spell (or should it be called 'the curse'?).

The Tsar ordered for the wedding to take place the following week. And it was going to be a very grand wedding! But where was Rachael? The servants had followed her deep into the forest that day the thorns ‘bit’ her. They found her dead inside a white rose bush. The Tsar did not order a funeral. She was quietly buried underneath the old cottage.

The spell and curse were finally over!

The wedding day arrived and it was a glorious day! The sun shone brightly and the birds sang loudly. Rebecca looked divine in her mother’s wedding dress, a princess-line satin white dress with long sleeves and a lace veil which followed with a long train, and the family tiara. Peter looked dashing in his navy uniform. Both families were very happy. Maria, the little girl who loved Rebecca so much and had broken the spell, was the only bridesmaid in pink satin with flowers in her pretty hair.

Coming out of the Palace Cathedral to the cheering crowds, the newly-weds stole a kiss. And out of the corner of her eye, Rebecca was sure that she had seen her real mother, smiling and standing next to her father, the Tsar.

THE END