Pretending To Be Royal

"Are you sure you want to do this?" 

"Mama, I don't think I need to explain how much I want this." Vanessa rolled her eyes, grateful that her face was hidden behind a veil.

"But I still think it's risky. I mean, she said only women can come see her, and she's in the middle of the woods."

The queen gazed out the carriage window, where thick trees loomed, shrouded in black mist. 

"Mama, Dimitri trusts her, and I trust Dimitri. At least he's working hard to help me fix this, unlike some people," Vanessa snapped as she turned her face away from her mother. 

Soon, they arrived at their destination. The sturdy hut they had been directed to stood firmly in the heart of the forest.

Female guards flanked the queen and princess, poised to react if needed. 

The owls and strange animals transformed the forest into a lively studio with their myriad of sounds. 

"Hey, it's fine," Queen Diana said with a nervous smile, holding Vanessa's trembling hands. 

Vanessa nodded and stepped inside with her mother. The hut was completely empty except for a large black cauldron in the center. 

"Typical," Vanessa smirked as her mother nudged her arm. 

"Hey, what?" Vanessa giggled. 

"What brings you here?" a voice called out, revealing a woman who had seemingly been standing there for some time.

She was tall, curvy, and dressed like a courtesan meant to please men. 

Startled, Vanessa and her mother screamed in terror. "I… we…" Vanessa stammered. 

"We…" the queen began, "came for a solution to our problem." 

With trembling hands, Vanessa lowered her veil slowly. For the first time, she didn't receive any startled or curious looks.

Instead, the woman before them appeared relaxed, as if she were seeing just another pretty face. 

"You see, my daughter was…" 

"Cursed. By two wanderers…" the woman interrupted, stepping closer to Vanessa and gently lifting her chin with her ringed fingers. 

"How did you…?" Vanessa began.

"I'm a witch! Isn't that why you came to see me, my princess?" The woman spoke with an air of superiority.

"We need help. What do you mean, cursed by wanderers?" Vanessa asked.

The witch let out a crackling laugh as she settled onto a chair that had magically appeared.

"Okay, so all this started when she turned 16," the woman continued, speaking in an informal tone, like a teenager.

Vanessa nodded, her heart soaring with hope that this woman could lead her to a solution.

"A year ago was Princess Vanessa's 16th birthday. There was a big party, but sadly, I wasn't invited…" the witch chuckled. "Anyway, the king's advisors had captured four wanderers, like they always do. But one of them was a pregnant woman."

Vanessa glanced at her mother, who was trying hard to remember the events of that day.

The witch smirked as she continued, "This woman pleaded for her and her family to be set free. But her cries fell on deaf ears, and they were brought out for display by the guards."

The witch fixed her gaze on Vanessa.

"Vanessa, darling, do you remember when she cried to you? Desperate, begging for your help… what did you do?" The witch asked calmly.

"I... I can't remember," Vanessa replied, her voice shaky as she struggled to compose herself.

"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" The witch yelled, rising from her seat.

"I… I laughed at her!!! I made fun of her burnt face!! I… " she began sobbing now. "I mocked her." 

The queen eyes widened as she remembered.

"And you? What didn't you do?" The witch calmly asked the queen.

"I looked away as they got burnt alive." She was crying now, her heart broken to a million pieces. 

"Ah! And you wonder why you've been cursed!" The witch scorned, " You get what you reap, Princess."

Vanessa couldn't believe she and her family were this heartless.

They had been deceived by their chief advisor who claimed that the wanderers were responsible for the strange illness and deaths in the kingdom. 

She should have done something, she should have spoken up or at least tried to stop them. Instead she went along with it, observing the cruelty like it was nothing to her.

The witch laughed," And so 3 months later, beautiful flawless Vanessa became an horrifying beast. You my queen lost every child you conceived , even the ones who managed to be born died. And your husband the king is without a heir, as your daughter can't even be seen in public."

Vanessa and her mother fell to their knees.

"We are so sorry. We deserve everything that's happened to us. But we are ready to fix it," the queen wailed.

"Fix it? Fix it?" the witch repeated, as if the word were foreign to her.

"The only way to fix this is by asking your family for forgiveness. Then, and only then, will I have a solution for you. As for now, my hands are tied. You can't see it now, but in the spirit realm, I can't help you."

The ride back home was silent. Both mother and daughter sobbed quietly as they reminisced about the evil deeds they had done blindly.

Although the solution to the curse was now revealed, there remained one problem — how would they find a surviving family after they had burnt them all alive?