Princess without a Palace: A King Thrushbeard Fairy Tale

by Kristen Niedfeldt

  He peeled her fingers from his arm, and squeezed them reassuringly. “Believe it or not, the stables are much worse. You don’t want to trade with me. There are mice in here, but there are rats out there.”

  Liesel shuddered.

  “You will be fine. That mouse—or any mouse for that matter—won’t hurt you.”

  “But surely, isn’t there somewhere else I can go?”

  The minstrel rubbed his tired brow as he let out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry this is hardly a castle, Liesel, but for now it is your home.”

  He smiled reassuringly and then added, “And you won’t be alone. Maria won’t let any harm come to you.”

  Liesel’s eyes turned back to the sister who was still glaring at her and doubted the truth of his words. She felt no more welcome there in the hut than the little mouse hiding in the corner.

  But at least he can hide, Liesel thought enviously.

  She glanced over at the straw uneasily and tried to gather the courage to approach it. When some of the straw began to stir she had to bite her lip to stifle the sound that wished to escape.

  She closed her eyes and took a steadying breath.

  It was going to be a loooooong night.

  Chapter Seven

  When Roderick entered the hut the next morning, he was alarmed by Liesel’s appearance. Her face was swollen, her eyes were puffy, and her shoulders were slumped in defeat as she quietly folded her blankets in the corner.

  “Maria, didn’t Liesel sleep at all?” Roderick pulled his sister aside to ask.

  “Neither of us did,” Maria replied irritably. “She kept us both awake. I swear there was not a squeak or sound that did not startle her and cause her to light her candle and inspect everything around her. Brother, I cannot afford the way she burns through candles.”

  “I’ll replace what she uses,” he assured.

  “You shouldn’t have to,” Maria contested. She then folded her arms and demanded, “Look at me, Roderick.”

  He dragged his gaze from Liesel to fully face his sister.

  “Are you really intent on following through with this plan? I think she’s hopeless.”

  He shrugged off her concern. “I prefer to think of it as a great challenge.”

  “It shouldn’t have to be your challenge.”

  “I made a promise to her father, Maria. I cannot break it now.”

  “I’m sure he would understand if you had to return her.”

  Roderick sighed. “Please have patience, Maria. The poor girl has lost everything. She needs our help now.”

  “So help her!” Maria urged. “But please don’t marry her.”

  “Maria,” Roderick answered with dwindling patience. “I thought I had explained that-”

  “I know, I know. Just remember through all of this that you deserve better.”

  “Maria-”

  “I’m finished,” she replied, her hands raised in defeat. “But I just had to say it.”

  Maria then released a sigh of resignation and asked, “So what have you planned for her to do?”

  “Come,” Roderick invited. “You can see. I was just about to show her.”

  Walking over to the corner, he called out cheerfully, “Good morning, Liesel.”

  “Good morning,” the tired princess mechanically answered.

  “Are you ready to start the day?”

  She turned to the window and protested, “The sun has barely risen …”

  “Days start early here. We can’t afford to waste any sunlight.”

  Liesel’s shoulders slumped even further.

  “Come outside,” he instructed “I’ve found some work for you to do.”

  “Already?”

  “A neighbor has been kind enough to lend me some supplies. Now, come.”

  She followed him to a wooden chair he had arranged beneath an overhang on the side of the barn. He waved for Liesel to take a seat, and then he disappeared into the stables. After a brief moment, he emerged with a spinning wheel and a basket of wool draped over his arm.

  After setting it before her, he demonstrated how the contraption worked. “All you have to do, is take the wool in your hands like this …”

  He showed her how to lightly thread the wispy wool through her fingers.

  “And then just pull it gently, and allow it to feed onto the spool at an even pace as you spin the wheel.”

  His hands guided hers as he demonstrated how the wool should flow. Liesel’s large eyes looked up at him nervously, and he could tell she was overwhelmed.

  “You’ll be fine,” he encouraged. “It really is simple after a little practice.”

  “I think you’re wasting your time, brother,” Maria mumbled.

  Roderick noticed the muscles along Liesel’s jaw tighten. She then straightened her shoulders, shook him away, and reached for more wool. “Thank you for your lesson. But if you don’t mind giving me a little privacy, I have some spinning to do.”

  He smiled at her fighting spirit.

  Maria spun on her heels and marched away.

  Roderick lingered at Liesel’s side. He was hesitant to abandon her so soon.

  Eventually, she glanced up at him with an arched eyebrow.

  “Is there anything else?”

  He smiled again. “No, not at all. I can see you’ll be just fine. I’ll leave you to your work.”

  After a few hours had passed, Roderick returned from a nearby farm to feed Maria’s horses as a pretense to check on Liesel’s progress.

  As he shoveled fresh hay into the horses’ stalls, he craned his neck around the corner to subtly inspect her work.

  He cringed.

  It was terrible.

  Balls of completed yarn were stacked in a basket next to her chair, but the poor yarn was undoubtedly worthless. He couldn’t think of anything they could be sold for, except perhaps as kindling.

  And even then, it was so misshapen, so irregular, it might even take quite a bit of persuasion to convince someone to buy it for that. The balls of yarn, if you could really call them that, were absolutely hideous.

  There was no way they would be able to recover the cost of the wool.

  On the other hand, he reasoned, at least the princess was actually trying her hand at the chore. That alone was a fair achievement for the day.

  He would have to remind his smirking sister of that.

  At the end of the day, Roderick was ready to be done with his own chores. As he walked back along the road to his sister’s hut, he tried to rub a tight spot from his shoulder. Harvesting had been exhausting. He was out of practice with such work. But even though he was tired, he had to admit a full day of physical labor had been satisfying.

  When he came upon the hut, he couldn’t resist first inspecting Liesel’s empty work area. He walked up to it, steeling himself for disappointment, but was soon pleasantly surprised.

  She had obviously come a long way during the day.

  The yarn was not perfect, but there were several balls made of a fairly even consistency neatly stacked on top of the ragged balls below. It was a fair amount of progress for just one day.

  “Well done,” he whispered as he turned one of the balls of yarn over in his hand.

  She would have yarn fine enough to sell by the end of the week, he wagered.

  He set the ball down, and then headed toward the hut.

  “Good evening,” he greeted as he bent his head beneath the short doorway. The two young women turned his way as he entered. They were across the room, toiling together over a steaming pot of soup.

  “I see you’re teaching Liesel to cook,” Roderick commented with approval.

  “She’s just stirring—not cooking,” Maria corrected. “I’m not that ambitious.”

  “Well, it smells wonderful,” Roderick noted.

  He studied Liesel as she carefully stirred the pot. It appeared that the heat of the soup bothered her as she had wound a long piece of fabric around each of her hands. A bit peculiar, he admitted, but at
least she was helping.

  Maria inspected the soup one final time before declaring it ready. After everyone had gathered at the table, Roderick noticed that Liesel seemed reluctant to begin eating. She was just staring down at the bowl in front of her with her hands lying listlessly in her lap.

  “It’s very good, Maria,” Roderick complimented. “Truly, Liesel, you should try it.”

  After a slight hesitation, Liesel lifted a wrapped hand and reached for her spoon.

  Maria eyed Liesel’s wrapped hand with disdain. “It’s not that hot.”

  Liesel dropped her hand back to her lap.

  “I think I’ll wait,” she responded, her head bowed.

  “Nonsense, you should eat with us,” Roderick countered.

  She glanced up at him for a brief moment before quickly bending her head back down. “I don’t think I’m hungry tonight.”

  “You haven’t eaten for hours,” Maria disputed. “I’m not making anything else tonight. It’s this or nothing until the morning.”

  Liesel still didn’t look up.

  Roderick watched Liesel intently for a few moments and then asked, “Liesel … is something wrong with your hands?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “May I see them?”

  Liesel looked up to meet his eye. “I’m fine.”

  “Liesel,” he said a little more sternly. “Let me see your hands.”

  “I said I am fine,” she repeated in an equally firm tone.

  Roderick stood up and Liesel’s eyes widened in fear. As he walked around the table, she hastily stuffed her rag-covered hands into the pockets of her apron.

  Roderick dropped to a knee at her side and tugged on her arm.

  “Please, Liesel.”

  She held firm at his initial tugs, but she eventually surrendered with a sigh. He drew her hand out and then carefully unwound the rag from around it. He was appalled by the sight.

  Her hands were red and swollen, with numerous blisters and cuts across her palms.

  “What happened?”

  Her eyes filled with tears and she looked away.

  “Liesel, you must tell me how this happened,” he demanded.

  She dragged her eyes back up to look at him and admitted softly, “It was just the spinning.”

  “My goodness,” Maria exclaimed. “It’s indecent to be that delicate.”

  “Maria,” Roderick scolded. “That’s hardly helpful. Liesel, why didn’t you just stop? I never meant for the spinning to harm you.”

  “I’ll be fine,” she insisted. “My hands will heal. I’m sure they’ll look much better in the morning.”

  Roderick gently looked her hand over once more before finally releasing it.

  “But there was no need to hide it from us. You must be starving. Go on and eat your supper.”

  The three ate in silence until Maria excused herself to go outside to tend to her chickens.

  When Liesel finally stood to leave the table, Roderick stood as well.

  “Let me take that,” he offered as he took her bowl and spoon from her hands. “Stay here. I’ll be back in a moment.”

  He returned with a small towel and a new bowl filled with fresh water. “Now let me see those hands,’ he instructed.

  “Really, I’m fine,” Liesel replied, hiding her hands once again in her apron pockets.

  “Come, Liesel. It’s the least I can do.”

  He gave her a look to let her know he could patiently wait for her all night.

  She succumbed with a sigh. She unwrapped her hands and then looked down at them with shame as they rested limp on the table.

  “You should be proud of all you did today,” he reminded.

  “It’s just so … frustrating.”

  He carefully dipped the towel in the water and pressed it softly to her torn flesh. “I’ll find something else for you to do,” he assured.

  Her fists clenched. “I’ll toughen in time.”

  He spread her fingers out once more and continued to cleanse her wounds.

  Not another word was said until he had finished his task.

  “Wait here,” he instructed as he left to fetch new linens. When he returned to the table, he tore the fabric into strips to wrap around her hands in a fresh bandage.

  He nodded toward the ragged remains of her original bandage that were piled next to her on the table. “Did Maria give you that?”

  “No, I um … I tore off the hem of my skirt,” she admitted.

  He glanced below the table and smiled. “You won’t be able to hide those purple shoes anymore.”

  She tucked her toes back. “There’s still plenty of skirt for that.”

  He continued to carefully wrap her hands and nodded when he was finished.

  “That should do for now,” he declared as he lowered her hands back to the table.

  He then stood to retire, but Liesel remained seated.

  After bidding her good night, he turned to head back outside to the barn, but Liesel stopped him.

  Her eyes swept up to meet his own. She seemed uncertain about what to say and he wondered if she was ever going to say anything at all when she finally whispered, “Thank you … Roderick. Thank you.”

  His mouth turned up at the corner. She had finally called him by his name.

  “You are welcome. Sleep well, Liesel. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Liesel awoke the next day feeling noticeably less miserable than she had felt the day before. Her hands had ached through the night, making sleep elusive and the night a little longer than normal, but the ache of the loneliness that had been plaguing her heart was beginning to recede. Looking at the bandages that Roderick had wrapped around her throbbing hands, she didn’t feel quite so alone anymore.

  As she recalled the tenderness with which he had cared for her the night before, a blush crept to her cheeks, but she quickly concealed it. Hidden beneath her blankets, she scolded herself for giving way to such a foolish reaction. It would never do to let her heart get attached. She needed to focus all of her thoughts on finding a way out of this arrangement.

  She was definitely grateful for Roderick’s friendship, but she simply couldn’t afford to develop deeper feelings toward him.

  She wrenched the blankets from off her face as Maria barged into the hut with an overflowing pail of fresh goat’s milk.

  “I see you’re still lounging the morning away.”

  “I was just about to get up,” Liesel answered, rising to her feet.

  “Your breakfast is on the table.”

  Liesel walked over to see an almost empty pot of cold porridge.

  “Have you and Roderick already eaten?”

  “Roderick had to leave early today. He left you a note,” Maria remarked as she pulled a slip of paper from the pocket of her apron.

  Liesel accepted it and walked to the window to read it in the early morning light.

  Good morning, Liesel. I hope you are feeling better today. I’m off to find some other work for you to do. I should return by nightfall. Please rest today and let your hands heal. –Roderick.

  Liesel wondered how she would ever pass the day away as she ate her breakfast in silence. The day would last forever without anything to do or anyone to talk to.

  After finishing off the last of the porridge, she walked to the water basin to rinse the bowl, but Maria took it from her hands.

  “I can wash it,” Liesel protested.

  “But you won’t know where to put it away.”

  “If you’ll only show me, I’ll do it.”

  “Don’t trouble yourself,” Maria replied as she scrubbed the pot clean. “After all, we wouldn’t want your hands completely falling apart, now would we?”

  Liesel’s eyes narrowed.

  Her fists clenched and she wished she could simply will her hands to be stronger. The impatience to prove herself was beginning to be overwhelming.

  Maria looked over with raised eyebrows. “Are you just going to watch me work all day?” />
  Liesel’s face reddened and she stammered, “No, I … I was just about to go outside.”

  She hurried from the hut and wondered how she would manage to avoid Maria all day. There was just nowhere to go, she lamented. But the small quarters weren’t necessarily the problem. She had a feeling that the hut could have been a palace and it still would have been too small to contain the two of them.

  Liesel was relieved when it turned out that she wouldn’t have to wait all day for Roderick to return. As the sun reached its noonday peak, Roderick strolled back behind the hut with a handcart in tow stacked high with clay pitchers, pots and vases.

  The soft clanking sounds of the pottery jostling back and forth roused Liesel from her nap behind the barn. She sat up and quickly brushed off all of the scattered grass from her hair and dress before she walked out to meet him.

  “What is this?” she asked, nodding to his new collection.

  “I made a few trades with a craftsman to procure these pots. Now you’ll have something to sell.”

  Liesel looked around at the rural landscape surrounding them. “There’s no one to sell them to.”

  “Not here. At the marketplace,” he clarified.

  “In the city?”

  “Where else?”

  Liesel shook her head. “No, thank you. I think I’d rather spin wool.”

  “I beg your pardon?”

  She began marching back to the barn.

  “Where did you put the spinning wheel?” Liesel called back over her shoulder. “I think with my hands wrapped, I’ll be just fine.”

  Roderick ran to catch up with her.

  “You can’t spin with your fingers all wrapped together,” he argued logically. He pulled on her elbow to bring her to a halt. “Why don’t you want to sell the pottery?”

  Liesel waved a hand toward his new collection. “Can’t you return those pots for whatever you traded for them?”

  “No.”

  She folded her arms and met his stubborn stare. “I’m not going to the marketplace.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m just not going. Give me any task or chore here and I’ll do it, but I’m not going there.”