In the town of Chandi was a young blacksmith called Guillaume. He lived with his sister Miriel near the forge they had inherited from their father. Miriel was a flower maid, making them grow and then selling them and she was also one of the local witches, though it was quite rare that someone asked her to use her particular powers. Guillaume was shy and he was more than happy to hide behind his fire and huge hammer, but as he was a very good blacksmith, he had a lot of work, allowing him to build a good life for his sister and him.
Outside flowers Miriel had another passion: she loved to dance and she often dragged her reluctant brother to the local balls. Clean, without his dirty leather apron, Guillaume was quite a handsome man and more than one girl had already noticed it, but he was so shy that he never dared to ask them for a dance. He was most of the time dancing with his sister and they were one of the best couples on the dance floor.
Everybody was thus making his way in life and nobody really minded the big castle not far away. There had been much rejoicing for the birth of each of the twelve princesses and everybody knew the King had wished also for a little prince, but he had wished in vain. There were some murmurs about a spell cast on the princesses, but it was often considered to be pure gossip.
The day it all began, Guillaume was in the forge, as usual, and he was taking care of a cart he had received the previous day. Suddenly, between two sprays of fire, he saw someone standing in front of him.
"One moment," he said before hitting again the piece of metal on his anvil.
He didn't know if the man had heard him or not, but he didn't really care. He was almost done with the wheel and he wanted it finished the soonest possible.
He finally lowered his hammer.
"What is it for your service?" he asked.
"Are you the blacksmith Guillaume?"
"Yes I am."
"The King's blacksmith is sick and your presence is requested at the castle."
"I don't use others' tools," replied Guillaume.
"Then bring yours!" exclaimed the messenger.
"You don't understand; I cannot bring the whole forge with me."
"It's you who don't understand; you don't have the choice. You have to come."
"Oh, I'm sure the King will threaten a needed blacksmith," replied quietly Guillaume, who always lost his shyness with hard customers.
He lifted a heavy piece of metal with his tongs and the messenger thought twice. Bothering a blacksmith had never been a good idea.
"No, no, I mean the King will reward you richly."
Guillaume didn't seem interested nor impressed and the messenger began be grow desperate.
"Listen, it's really important," he insisted. "It's for the princesses, you see."
This alone would have been enough for make Guillaume refuse but he finally took pity on the messenger and accepted to come. He called Miriel so she would welcome the customers during his absence and left with the messenger. He almost immediately wondered which folly he was doing.
When he discovered that he had been called because one of the horses of the princesses had lost a shoe, he was very angry.
"Any blacksmith's young apprentice knows how to shoe a horse!" he exclaimed. "You didn't need to disturb me in my work!"
"This horse is very hard to shoe," objected the horse keeper.
"Please, good blacksmith?" said a new voice.
Guillaume turned around and saw twelve young women; it wasn't hard to guess they were the twelve princesses. One of them was near him and she was the one who had talked. Poor Guillaume immediately lost his countenance.
"Oriabel," said affectionately the eldest, "stay out of the conversation."
"Oh, but Mehitabel, if I ask myself, surely he will understand we meant no disrespect?"
"He is a commoner," replied the eldest and it was definitive.
Anybody else would have had his temper flaring but Guillaume remained calm; actually, not knowing which demon pushed him, Guillaume said softly:
"It will be done as the Princess desires."
Immediately he began his work and soon discovered that the princess's horse was very ticklish, but it didn't prevent Guillaume to shoe him with a speed that was almost miraculous. Oriabel smiled as she received her horse from the horse keeper's hand.
"Oh, sisters," she exclaimed with a childlike joy, "look how this young blacksmith is as good as he is handsome!"
All her sisters laughed while Guillaume was blushing. Mehitabel, the eldest, noticed his embarrassment and thought that he would rather avoid the youngest princess from now on. Then she remembered his presence was only temporary and discarded all thought about him as she was leaving with her sisters.
Guillaume received a heavy purse without really noticing how and left thoughtfully. As he was walking near the gardens, thinking how happy Miriel would have been to be here, he saw a quite old man trying to carry a heavy tree he was going to plant. Guillaume didn't hesitate and came to help him, taking the tree without too much effort.
"Ah, thank you, young man!" said the gardener gratefully. "But pray, tell me why would a blacksmith help an old gardener like me?"
Guillaume put the tree in the hole waiting for it and then replied:
"My sister loves plants and trees."
The gardener looked at him.
"Are you the blacksmith they called to replace the old Fedor?" he asked.
"I just had to shoe a horse. I'm not staying."
The old man had a little laugh.
"You will come back, young man. Old Fedor is too old for the forge and he has no apprentice. They will need you here."
"I have my own work in Chandi," said Guillaume quietly.
"Ah, but the princesses would like your young and handsome face!"
Guillaume blushed again.
"Princesses don't go near forges, old man, they don't care how the blacksmith looks."
"You would be surprised. Princess Cristobel loves horses and always ends up near the forge, of course followed by her eleven sisters."
"Why do you tell me this, old man?"
"The old man's name is Eudes, young man."
Despite himself Guillaume smiled.
"And the young man's name is Guillaume."
The gardener smiled back.
"Tell me, your sister, is she good with plants?"
"Nobody's better!"
"Ah! Ask her to come see me, will you? The King requested some new flowers and I can't manage to make them grow. I fancy she might know."
"Oh, if someone can help you, it's her!" assured Guillaume.
"The pride of a brother for his sister..." smiled Eudes.
"I have to go," said Guillaume as if he hadn't heard. "Fare you well, Eudes."
"I will see you soon, young Guillaume," replied the old gardener.
Guillaume left without saying a word and nobody in the castle remembered the young blacksmith had to back to Chandi. They were probably all thinking that he was staying. Walking at a quick pace, Guillaume couldn't help thinking that making him come just for shoeing a horse was a bit exaggerated. What bothered him the most though was that his mind was continuously reminding him of velvet eyes and it didn't take him long to figure he was daydreaming of Princess Oriabel's eyes.
"What is wrong with me?" he thought. "Why would I think of a princess I don't know? Am I bewitched?"
As a blacksmith he knew quite a lot about the faery realm - and even more with his sister being a witch - and he knew what 'bewitched' meant. He mentally shook the head.
"No, she wouldn't have done such a thing, she's..."
He stopped suddenly and all became clear to him.
"Woe is me, what am I going to do, a blacksmith in love with a princess! Ah! I'm not thinking clearly. I don't know her, so I can't love her. There, this is settled. Back in town, I won't think of this anymore."
Wisely Guillaume resumed his walking, whistling joyfully - or rather, forcing himself to.
Miriel was waiting for him, not really happy.
"I lost customers today, Guillaume!" she complained as he arrived.
He put the heavy purse in her hand but she wasn't mollified for it. He took her in his arms and kissed her on the forehead.
"We will go to the lake tomorrow."
Instantly Miriel smiled again.
In the evening she wanted to dance; Guillaume tried to say he was tired but it didn't work.
"You left me at the forge half the day!" she protested. "Now be nice to me."
Guillaume surrendered; he knew better than refuse anything to Miriel, so they went to dance and Miriel smiled and laughed again.
The following day was Guillaume's usual day off and, naturally, it was Miriel's too. The lake was at three hours away from Chandi and Miriel had the express interdiction to go there on her own. The roads were not safe and the brigands thought always twice when seeing a blacksmith, whereas a girl alone was always a tempting prey.
At the lake Miriel was happy; she took care of some plants there, while Guillaume was swimming in the lake. Miriel never went in the water: she remained on the shore, watching her brother. At midday, after the swim, they had their lunch and then, Miriel forced her brother to read, which he wasn't doing very fluently, for he never practiced. She had found a book on metallurgy and though Guillaume was actually enjoying it, he often had a hard time understanding all of it. Of course they finished the day by going to dance again.
Guillaume had been right: back to his usual life, he wasn't thinking anymore of the princesses, even if he had told Miriel of the wish of old Eudes. Naturally his sister had accepted enthusiastically to go see the gardener - part of it was certainly due to the fact she could see the royal gardens. He had promised to drive her to Eudes the next week.
Back to his anvil the following morning he resumed his work humming softly when suddenly he had an impression of a scene playing again: the royal messenger stood in front of him. Guillaume finished to straighten the blade of the tool he was taking care of and looked at the messenger, who was very embarrassed.
"We thought you would stay," he said. "We apologise for letting you go without giving you a proper way to travel."
"What do you want now?"
"The King's blacksmith is too old and has no apprentice. Your name was suggested to him and..."
"Who suggested my name?" asked Guillaume surprised.
"Actually, the Princess Mehitabel reminded His Majesty the King of you coming the other day."
"Stupefying," murmured Guillaume.
"Fedor the blacksmith would thus like to meet you to see if you could replace him."
Guillaume looked at all the tools he had to take care of and asked:
"When is my opinion asked?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"You already have everything organised, but you are forgetting something: I didn't say yes."
"You cannot refuse!" exclaimed the messenger, already panicking.
"I have work here, people counting on me. I'm the only blacksmith of Chandi and I don't have any apprentice either. I cannot let them down, especially that the nearest blacksmith is at three days from here."
"But certainly the King... The princesses themselves remember you!"
It didn't seem to impress the young blacksmith. The messenger pleaded over and over and Guillaume finally gave up, but only if he could come back here two days a week plus having his free day. The messenger didn't understand why he so wanted to come back to Chandi twice a week but he agreed nonetheless with a sigh of relief.
Miriel didn't like it the least. It meant she would see her brother only three times a week and she was already sad at the idea. But Guillaume had chosen so and she accepted his decision. He thus left with the messenger and old Fedor made no difficulty to take him as his replacement.
Old Eudes was delighted to see Guillaume again and he asked him about Miriel. The young blacksmith led his sister to the gardener on his first free day and Miriel indeed found a way to make the plants grow, plus showed some others to the gardener.
Every morning Guillaume spent two hours with Eudes, helping him with his chores before going to do his. The gardener was grateful, especially that he had to prepare twelve bouquets for the princesses; for this he had twelve little baskets on which the names were written, so Guillaume soon knew the names of all the princesses.
There was Mehitabel the proud, the eldest, always with a regal carriage, knowing the etiquette better than any of her sisters. She was a brown beauty with large amber eyes and she loved to read.
There was Cristobel the wild, with long chestnut hair falling down her shoulders, eyes like hazels and she seemed to be happy only when riding her fiery stallion.
There was Sibel the dreamer with huge misty green eyes and ash blond hair. She usually started when being spoken to and her passion was playing harp.
There was Annabel the quiet, her green eyes always serious in her slightly freckled face surrounded with her thick red hair. As soon as she could, she would go back to her embroidery and her room had already a magnificent tapestry coming from her hands.
There were Maribel and Loribel the twins, who looked exactly like the other, loved the other dearly but couldn't stand to be mistaken for each other. Eudes always took care of creating two different bouquets for them. Mischievous, always laughing, shaking their long blond hair, their violet eyes shining with glee, they had chosen music for passion, the flute for Maribel and the violin for Loribel.
There was Kalibel, always particular on her appearance, and she was always covered with jewels. She chose them with good taste and never put on too many, but it was rare when her auburn hair wasn't held with a pearl chain or when a pendant on her forehead wasn't twinkling with her amber eyes.
There was Shebel the mystic with her dark hair floating around her and her dark grey eyes that seemed to see even the soul. She usually expressed her mystic dreams by weaving and most of her work was quite intriguing.
There was Lubel the shaman with her strange yellow eyes never flickering. She maybe was the most beautiful of them all, but her beauty was very odd and more than one had wondered in front of her long thick hair of an ash white colour covering her like a cloak. She could talk with birds or so it seemed for there was always at least one bird near hear and they were coming on her shoulders, in her hands or on her head.
There was Charbel the elegant, always with the latest fashion, her blond hair perfectly done and all the ribbons of her dresses matched the blue of her eyes. She was passionate about clothes - to the King's tailors' despair.
There was Isobel the shy, hiding her beauty behind her brown hair letting see only one clear grey eye. She loved to draw and everything found its place in her sketches, mostly her sisters' portraits.
And there was Oriabel the happy, always singing, from soothing lullabies to lively dance songs. She was a dark beauty, hair darker than jet and eyes like black diamonds.
So were the twelve jewels of the kingdom and many princes had sought their hand in marriage, but never had they asked a second time. Little by little Eudes told a tale to Guillaume, a tale of mystery and magic: every night the King locked the door of the room where his daughters were sleeping and he kept the key with him around his neck during the whole night. But no matter how securely the door was locked each morning the King found his daughters pale and tired and their little satin shoes were full of holes!
"Most of the princes came here trying to solve the mystery," said Eudes, shaking the head. "But none of them ever came back."
"It is true the princesses look tired and pale," agreed Guillaume, not knowing what to think of this story.
"The King is becoming desperate. His daughters don't know anything - or don't want to tell. He actually promised the hand of a princess to whoever would find the solution. A princess for a reward!"
"This is yet very strange," approved Guillaume and he went back to work just before the princesses awoke.
Back at the forge he couldn't think of something else but this mystery. It made no sense! Every day the King was giving new satin slippers to his daughters and every morning they were almost in pieces! He decided to speak about it with Miriel. She would know, Miriel always knew what to do.
He had been given a horse and the horse keeper himself had taught him how to ride. So once his decision taken he didn't wait, saddled his horse and left for Chandi. Miriel was glad to see him earlier but she frowned as soon as he explained what was in his mind.
"Remember the usual gossip?" she asked, chewing her lower lip. "The one about a spell cast on the princesses? Your story sounds like it. They are bewitched, this is for certain. You said it happens during the night? Well, in this case, the first place I would look would be the twilight realm."
Guillaume's eyes widened in wonder.
"I knew you would know," he said, smiling. "Of course, the twilight realm!"
"Guillaume, what are you doing?" she asked, worried. "What is a blacksmith doing with bewitched princesses?"
"I can't help it, Miri. I just feel I have to do something."
"Be careful. Where there is magic there is danger. Don't forget your bracelet."
Guillaume secured safely the heavy bracelet of black iron around his wrist and smiled again.
"Everything will be well, Miri, I promise. Faeries can't hurt blacksmiths."
"I don't care!" she said fiercely. "I want you safe."
"I will. Thank you for your help."
He left his sister who worried even more seeing how determined he was.
The twilight realm was a faery realm and each night at midnight, some doors to the realm would open and close at dawn. Obviously there was such a door near the princesses' room. No, he decided, not near but in the princesses' room. There was to be the reason why no noise was heard from their room. But what was happening in the twilight realm to tear the satin shoes to pieces? He had never heard of faery folk making holes in slippers, no matter how mischievous they were. Then maybe the princesses weren't as innocent as they were pretending...
His mind presented him the vision of Oriabel's velvet eyes. Why would she lie like this, knowing it worried her father? Why would she allow herself to get so tired? No, there was something he couldn't understand, there was something missing.
Days passed. As Eudes had said to Guillaume at the beginning, Cristobel often led her sisters to the forge and the young blacksmith was always in poor state when they came. It never prevented the little princess Oriabel to look at him with her velvet eyes and smile graciously to him. Of course, as soon as they noticed it, Maribel and Loribel teased their sister who blushed but didn't protest. Each time it happened Guillaume hit his work stronger with his hammer, hoping the noise would make the sisters go away. It indeed worked so, until Sibel the dreamer and Shebel the mystic became taken with the sprays of fire, the curls of steam, even the 'music' of the hammer. In Shebel's works, some stylised shapes appeared that could easily have represented what she had seen at the forge.
Guillaume hated to have them here, staring at him, so he forced himself to do his work normally, as if they weren't there, whistling a joyful tone. He was indeed very surprised when, an evening, as he was going to help Eudes to flower the princesses' room, he heard his joyful tone coming from another room. He glanced briefly at the door left ajar and saw the twelve princesses. Sibel was at the harp, Maribel at the flute and Loribel at the violin. The other sisters were sitting, listening. Of course this little demon of Loribel was leading everybody, handling her bow very skilfully. Suddenly Oriabel stood up and joined her voice to these of the instruments. There was no word in her song but her clear voice added a beautiful touch to the whole thing. Guillaume remained frozen on the spot for a moment and then ran away, Oriabel's voice still ringing in his ears.
The next day he had to change his tune. He couldn't whistle it anymore without the princesses' music haunting him. But no matter what, three or four days later, the princesses were playing his new tune. It seemed it was Loribel who started it first and then her sisters joined her. It was obvious too that they had no idea they were playing tunes they had first heard at the forge. Each time they had the impression Loribel had found a new melody, though the others always acknowledged that the melody had been haunting them.
Then one day, after his three days with his sister, Guillaume was singing softly a song he had heard at the ball, an old sad ballad about a sailor leaving behind him his little bride to be. This time Sibel wasn't only captivated by the sprays of fire, she forgot everything in his song. Two days after he heard the harp playing the melody, softly taken up by the flute and the violin and then Oriabel's magic voice joined them. Guillaume had the impression to feel his heart break as he was listening to her singing the sadness of the little bride to be when she was told the ship had been wrecked. The same evening he knew he had to solve the mystery surrounding the twelve princesses.
At first Eudes didn't want to hear about it; it was simply out of question. Guillaume pleaded over and over, reminding him that blacksmiths could not be bewitched.
"I shall miss you," said finally Eudes.
"You shall see me in the morning," replied Guillaume.
He was surprised to notice he felt really confident about himself.
The room of the princesses contained the twelve beds and the wardrobes with mirrors on the doors. The only hiding place was under a bed and so Guillaume hid under the bed in the darkest corner of the room. The princesses appeared soon after, not tired at all. The young blacksmith knew it was already after sunset and so the twilight realm could claim its victims. The princesses, whispering and laughing softly, put on magnificent dresses - especially Charbel who was the most elegant as usual - and chose precious jewels - to Kalibel's delight.
"Are you all ready?" asked Mehitabel as a distant clock struck midnight.
They all answered eagerly; Guillaume, cautiously, peeped from under the bed and saw the twelve princesses beautifully clothed, with their little satin shoes and their bouquet in hand. Mehitabel tapped her bed three times and suddenly the bed slid on the side, revealing a secret door in the floor. Guillaume made a mental not to hide under Mehitabel's bed. One after the other, the princesses went down the long stair leading to the twilight realm, Guillaume had no doubt about it. Waiting for the right time for him to follow them, he couldn't help but look at them. They had all chosen to be in white this evening, except Lubel the shaman who was dressed in dark blue. They were all beautiful and Lubel's beauty, now that she was more than magnificently clothed, shone among her sisters'.
At last Oriabel, the last one, went down the stair and Guillaume slid from under the bed to follow them. The long stair was dark and the young blacksmith found several corners in which to hide when Mehitabel looked behind her to see if all her sisters were following. His soft boots made no noise, except that one moment, when his heel hit the edge of the step. Oriabel turned to look behind her and Guillaume remained frozen on the spot: he had nowhere to hide. Oriabel's eyes seemed to look through him then, with a slight shrug, she resumed her way down the stair. Guillaume breathed deeply; probably he had been standing in a darker spot and she couldn't see him. He had to be careful, for he wouldn't be lucky every time.
The stair led to a silver gate exquisitely ornamented and, despite himself, Guillaume stopped a moment to look at the craftsmanship. Mehitabel had opened the gate without any hesitation and had entered a little silver forest just after. With regret Guillaume followed their path, admiring the forest; each leaf was a wonder of silverware, shining like stars and in the forest, it was a silver night with the soft starlight.
After the silver forest was a gold forest and it was like dawn. Each tree shone like a little sun, its leaves glittering and twinkling as to catch the eye. Guillaume was gaping in wonder, but the princesses were still hurrying on the narrow path so he had to follow them, still taking care of hiding behind the trunks.
The next forest couldn't stand any comparison; if the silver forest was night and the gold forest was daybreak, the last forest was just what it was: a forest of stunning diamonds. Compared to it even the previous jewels of Kalibel looked dull. But the princesses didn't slow down in the diamond forest either and they went through it as fast as they could. Guillaume was hearing some entrancing music in the distance and he wondered what was next.
At the end of the diamond forest was a large lake and, in the middle of it stood a wonderful castle, enlightened in the night, and the music was coming from there. On the shore were twelve little boats and near each of them a fine young man was waiting. Guillaume cautiously remained in the diamond forest, waiting to see what was going to happen. The young men helped the princesses to go on the boats and then took the oars to lead them to the lid castle of black marble.
Guillaume came out of the forest, not discouraged: the answer to the mystery was there, in that palace! Just a lake was separating him from it and what was a lake for him? Quietly he went into the waters, taking care not to make waves, and swam to the castle. He was a good swimmer and the distance was not a problem for him. He came out of the lake, dripping water on the ground, shook himself like a dog and shivered slightly in the cool air.
The princesses and their partners were already in the castle so he went in too, trying not to mark his way with dripping water. He entered the biggest ballroom he had ever seen, where, on the sound of a beguiling music played by unseen musicians, the princesses were dancing. Guillaume hid behind one of the draperies and watched the whole scene. He soon understood that, no matter what Eudes had said about each princess's passion, what they preferred most was dancing.
His eyes fell on the youngest princess, Oriabel. Her eyes shining with glee, she was twirling and swirling most gracefully and there was no doubt she loved dancing above everything else. Captivated Guillaume couldn't take his eyes from her, but even so, he noticed something strange: everybody was dancing, unable to resist the music; the princes who hadn't any partner were dancing on their own and even for asking a dance were they dancing! But he could easily resist the music. His eyes caught a glint of light near his hand holding the drapery and he looked at his dark iron bracelet, understanding at once: his bracelet protected him from the twilight realm's charms! He sighed, half-relieved - he liked things to be clear - and reported his attention on Oriabel. It seemed her little feet were never touching the floor so light she was but even so Guillaume knew her shoes would be worn with holes in the morning. Now the mystery wasn't one anymore.
The bouquets of the princesses were on a large table where everybody sat near the morning, shoes already almost in pieces, for a joyful banquet. The fine young men were very attentive with the princesses, but still Guillaume noticed their moves had some coldness in them. They were even more bewitched than the princesses and he guessed they were trapped in the twilight realm. He shivered; he would rather die than live in the twilight realm, so far from the sun, trapped forever! He watched the young men more closely and soon understood they had to be the princes having tried to solve the mystery surrounding the princesses. The discovery quite horrified him: how could they have done such a thing, had they thus no heart, to condemn young princes to eternal darkness?
A little voice in his head reminded him that the punishment for failing to solve the mystery was death and thus the princesses had been kinder to the princes than their father would have been. But even so, Guillaume was still revolted and he tried to understand why they had done so. The answer was in the princes' eyes: in them was only the love of dancing and in the princesses' was the same gleam... for the night. He had been right at the beginning of the night: the twilight realm claimed its victims, its pawns by nightfall! As soon as the sun went down, the twilight realm reinforced its hold on the princesses, loosening it with sunrise so they could make believe nothing had ever happened, but never did it fully release it.
Thinking and thinking Guillaume concluded that even by day they were still under the twilight realm's hold, which meant he had to be careful in his next moves. The princesses knew what they were doing by night, but couldn't fight it. He looked again at Oriabel who was laughing with that lovely soft ringing laugh of her and he felt the urge of saving her rising in him. But it was too soon, far too soon...
After the banquet the princesses and their partners prepared to cross the lake again. In his corner, Guillaume was cold, tired and hungry and he knew he wouldn't have the time to reach the secret door before sunrise if he was to cross the lake swimming. Softly, cautiously, he entered the water unnoticed and waited for them to leave the shore. As soon as they did, he took hold of Oriabel's boat and let it pull him through the waters.
Guillaume added weight to the boat and, despite the prince's efforts, they went slower than the others.
"Why are we going so slow?" Oriabel wondered aloud.
"I do not know, but I assure you I am rowing with all my strength!"
The little princess slightly frowned.
"Ah well," she said, "you must be tired from the dance, more than usually."
Mehitabel had to wait for them on the shore and she was none-too-happy about it.
"Hurry, Oriabel, we're going to be late!"
So they hurried through the forests and Guillaume followed them shivering, hoping he wouldn't sneeze. It was a pity to see the princesses' little feet in their worn slippers running on the hard ground of the forests, but none of the sisters thought of complaining. In the forest of silver, Guillaume tore a little branch and froze on the spot as the sound of rolling thunder spread thought the forest.
"What is that?" exclaimed Oriabel, startled.
"Oriabel, please," yawned Mehitabel. "It's nothing at all, just the usual storm coming here every morning. Remember, we were told about it."
"Why are we hearing it now?" asked Oriabel still nervous.
"We are late. Your boat was very slow. But do not worry, it's still far: the forest amplifies the noises."
Guillaume thought quickly, the silver branch safely tucked in his pocket, that if he continued to follow the princesses, he would be stuck in the twilight realm, for they would close the secret door before he had the time to go out. He had to reach their room before them so, silently, he ran into the forest, and, despite his tiredness, climbed the stair four at a time. As soon as he reached the princesses' room, he went through the window and climbed down the balcony, not even waiting for the princesses to arrive.
Soon after he heard them coming back and went on his way. Oriabel's eyes noticed a small drop of water on the floor and, nervously, she wiped it off with her foot, not saying anything to her sisters. She looked at the window wonderingly, mentally shrugged and went to bed, her torn slippers at the bottom of her bed. At the same moment the first sunbeams lighted the sky.
Guillaume yawned. It was time for him to go to work, but he was very tired and cold. He went back to his little house behind the forge, dried himself, changed clothes, ate several slices of bread with spare pieces of meat and went to help Eudes as he usually did. The old gardener was more than happy to see him unharmed, but he noticed his tired eyes. He went back to his own little cottage and came back with a cup of hot tea.
"Drink this, young man," he said, winking knowingly.
"So you know?" asked simply Guillaume, docilely drinking the tea that reminded him of those Miriel used to make.
"Son, I saw you come out of the princesses' window and I'm sure you didn't spend the whole night sleeping under one of their beds. So did you discover their secret?"
Guillaume vaguely moved the head and Eudes would have been hard put to know if he had nodded or not, but the old gardener knew when not to ask questions.
"Did someone else see me come out of the window?" asked Guillaume, stifling a yawn.
"No. Nobody is awake at this hour, except you and me."
"Good."
That morning Guillaume stayed a long time with Eudes, helping him to pick up the flowers for the princesses and he was even there when the gardener gave the bouquet to each princess. But something Eudes hadn't noticed was that Oriabel's nosegay contained a magnificent silver branch.
The princesses were quite surprised to see a young man with Eudes but they didn't recognise him as their blacksmith. Oriabel thanked Eudes gracefully as she received the bouquet and went on her way. She stopped several feet further, having discovered the silver branch, and looked back at Eudes and the young man. She just knew Eudes was innocent, so it could only come from the young man, and suddenly, seeing an iron bracelet around his wrist, and the broad shoulders, she recognised him. He wasn't looking at her so she could think clearly. His hands were strong enough for handling a heavy hammer, but she had little difficulties imagining these same hands picking up flowers with delicacy... or breaking a silver branch in an enchanted forest.
She looked and looked at him in his simple clothes, with his ash brown hair still wet and she remembered the drop of water she had wiped off herself. Feeling her gaze on him he turned the head and she met his eyes grey like the sky after the rain. He quickly lowered his eyes, but she had the time to notice he looked tired. Half frightened she thought he knew their secret and yet... yet he hadn't said anything! Except telling her he knew... She decided to keep it to herself and wait to see what would happen next.
But that day, as she was at the forge with her sisters - Maribel and Loribel, along with Cristobel, had decided the forge was a very interesting place and they would find any excuse to go there - she couldn't feel at ease. Guillaume was working silently, wearing his leather apron and a headband to keep his hair from falling in his eyes. Eudes's tea had done its effect and he was feeling much better, as it was obvious to the little princess: his eyes were a lot livelier. Odd, she had never noticed how mesmerising his eyes were... She reprimanded herself for having such thoughts about a common blacksmith.
The very evening, Guillaume followed the princesses in the twilight realm again. Oriabel felt it, she knew he was here, but no matter how closely she looked around or how attentively she listened, she couldn't see him nor hear him. In the ballroom, though dancing as joyfully as usually, she was looking in the big mirrors to try to catch at least his shadow, but in vain; she saw only herself dancing, the candelabras twinkling with the light and the candlesticks on the walls. His unseen shadow tarnished a bit her joy but she couldn't determine if she wanted him to be found or if she wanted to share this secret with him.
As they were leaving the enchanted castle she knew Guillaume was somehow near her boat for the prince complained of the heavy weight.
"Ah," she said immediately, "we have danced more than usually tonight and the weather is warm. I feel the heat too."
In the water Guillaume heard her answer and wondered why she was protecting him.
In the forest, he broke a twig with golden leaves but the branch snapped loudly in his fingers. Mehitabel turned around.
"What was that?" she asked, looking around her.
Oriabel opened wide her eyes of black diamond and yawned discreetly.
"It's only faraway lightning, Mehitabel. The storm is coming, we are late."
Mehitabel laughed, relieved.
"That's true! What a fool I am!"
Oriabel smiled gently but her velvet eyes were actively trying to find Guillaume without success. This time there was no drop of water in their room and she wondered if he knew he had made the mistake once. She shrugged indifferently: he couldn't know, since nobody could have told him.
Without surprise she found the golden twig in her bouquet by the following morning, but didn't stop to look at Guillaume in wonder. It was time she spoke with him.
Coming at the forge after helping Eudes, Guillaume received a new order: the King wanted a new portal gate in his gardens and he was to forge it. So the young blacksmith went back in the gardens to judge by himself the dimensions of the new gate. Oriabel saw him from the alley of lilies she was walking in and she came to him.
"Where do the silver and gold branches come from?" she asked.
Guillaume, his eyes cast down, replied softly:
"Your Royal Highness knows it better than me."
She remained silent a moment.
"So you know our secret! Keep it and I shall reward you beyond your wildest dreams!" she said, hastily handing him over a heavy purse filled with gold.
"I need no reward and my silence cannot be bought - nor needs to," replied Guillaume offended and he left immediately.
Oriabel saw well she had humiliated him and thought, with reason, that such a man would not be tempted by gold: why would he, when he had three precious forests handy? She had to make sure of his silence by another way. A bird sang joyfully near her as she sighed heavily but it didn't lighten her mood.
Guillaume worked the whole day long on his new gate; he had made sketches of the ornaments he intended to put on it. He had a great fear when the twelve princesses came fumbling in his forge as usual. He knew they took advantage of his shyness, for he didn't dare to forbid them anything, but he knew also he would be blamed if anything happened to them. As he was gently removing a cutting tool from Loribel's hands, he heard the voice of Isobel the shy:
"Oh, this is exquisite!"
Guillaume started when seeing her looking at his sketches. Her sisters were coming to see but he was faster than them and took his sketches away.
"No, no," he said. "Ah, Your Royal Highness, do not tease me! I know you are a real artist and laughing at my poor sketches isn't considerate."
Mehitabel laughed.
"Come," she said to Isobel who was trying to protest, "leave him some pride at least!"
Guillaume sighed in relief as they left the forge.
The evening he was going back to Chandi for his free day before spending his two days in town working for the townsmen. He locked securely the forge door and left. Eudes had approved, for the tea he gave him in the morning could not be taken too often without serious consequences.
Guillaume spent his free day at the lake with Miriel, but, at the end of the afternoon, they went back to the castle so Miriel would have a talk with Eudes: Guillaume had had to confess about the tea and his sister wanted to know more about it. She had accepted only with difficulties to stop asking questions about what had happened during the two nights.
Eudes, Miriel and Guillaume were walking under the elms, Miriel having tucked her arm under her brother's, and they were conversing gaily when they met with Oriabel and Lubel. As usual Lubel the shaman was surrounded with birds, which made Miriel turn green with envy. Oriabel fixed Miriel, well noticing her arm under Guillaume's, and she pursed her lips.
Going back to Chandi with Miriel, Guillaume - for once - made no difficulty to go dancing and they stayed so late they were the only ones left. And so did they the following day, to Miriel's delight, and even the last day before he went back to the castle did they go to dance. So he went back to the castle, late in the evening, for Miriel was never really willing to let him go, and he went straight to bed, too tired for even trying to follow the princesses in the twilight realm. It would be the fourth night he hadn't followed them and he wondered with self-mockery if Oriabel had missed his unseen presence.
The following morning he went to help Eudes, as usual, and the old gardener greeted him as he would have greeted his own son. Guillaume helped him to compose the nosegays of the princesses, but didn't wait for the princesses to awake, for the wanted to go back to work on his iron gate. As long as he worked on it, even if he followed the princesses in the twilight realm, Oriabel didn't hear nor see anything suspect, not even a water drop on the floor of her room.
During all the nights, though, she could feel his eyes on her and she surprised herself more than once to wonder if he knew how to dance and even how it would feel to dance in his arms. She always reprimanded herself but as the fact was happening more and more often, she finally stopped thinking she shouldn't have such thoughts and even closed her eyes, trying to imagine he was his partner instead of the princes she now found dull and insipid.
During all the nights, Guillaume looked at her without ever feeling bored. At first, trying to change his ideas from Oriabel, he had looked at all her sisters but his eyes always came back on the little princess with velvet eyes. He had noticed the dazzling beauty of Lubel the shaman but he still preferred the sparkle of Oriabel's black diamonds and the radiance of her smile. He knew her laugh, the grace of her dance, the sound of her voice and at the banquet, as they were all conversing and laughing, he was always delighted to hear her hints of humour.
Finally, one evening, Oriabel heard a very slight fumbling in the diamond forest and she raised her voice to say something that sent Maribel and Loribel into giggles, thus covering the noise of glass breaking when Guillaume tore a branch from the tree. But Shebel the mystic heard it.
"What was that?" she wondered aloud, drawn out of her trance.
Oriabel shrugged indifferently.
"One of Kalibel's jewels fell on the ground and broke," she said.
Kalibel grimaced but didn't stop to find which jewel, for Mehitabel urged them to hurry. Oriabel felt no surprise when the diamond leaves twinkled at her in her nosegay the following morning.
She immediately began looking for Guillaume and he was at the forge, shoeing her horse - the princesses' horses were shoed every two weeks - and birds were perched near the horses, singing joyfully, partially following Guillaume's whistling - or maybe was Guillaume following their tune.
"You know the reward my father has promised for our secret, don't you?" she asked.
"Yes, Your Royal Highness, I do," he replied gently, looking down.
"When do you plan to talk then?"
"I do not plan to, Your Highness."
"Why is it so?" she exclaimed half angry.
Guillaume didn't answer, head bent down.
"Oh, Oriabel, you like this blacksmith too much!" exclaimed suddenly Maribel's mocking voice.
"Marry him, marry him!" sang Loribel. "You'll have dirty aprons to clean, but he'll make you jewels of iron!"
Oriabel flushed in anger and shame while all her sisters were laughing, knowing Loribel was alluding to the strange iron bracelet Guillaume was wearing. The poor blacksmith, very embarrassed, his ears red with mortification, overcame his shyness and said gently:
"Oh, Your Royal Highnesses, do not tease me! The Princess was only asking about her horse, for the poor beast hasn't felt well lately."
Oriabel forgot a moment her own embarrassment as she looked in Guillaume's eyes before he cast them down again. She knew the effort he had made to speak so and she wondered why he had lied to protect her when it cost him so much to speak to her sisters.
Oriabel didn't tell her sisters about the diamond branch in her bouquet, the same way she hadn't told about the silver and gold branches. Late in the afternoon, from far, she saw Guillaume bring the new iron gate in the gardens and fix it, and, curiosity leading her, she waited for him to leave before going to see the gate. There her breath caught in her throat, for the gate was exactly the same as the one opening on the silver forest in the twilight realm. She looked at it more closely, trying to remember exactly how the other one looked like, and then she noticed that though all the ornaments were the same, these of the new gate were inversed compared to those in the twilight realm.
She remembered her nurse telling her about faeries and that inversing or putting upside down all their gifts would annihilate their magic, making them harmless. He knew how to defeat the twilight realm. Other tales from her nurse came back to her, tales about the faeries disliking iron and she understood that his dark iron bracelet was protecting Guillaume. She sighed in relief then, with a smile, she remembered how fast he had reacted when Isobel had discovered his sketches. Her smile transformed into a frown. This was going too far, she had to tell her sisters. She looked toward the forge.
"Tomorrow," she promised herself.
That night she felt him nearer than ever and yet she couldn't see him. She even fancied she could feel his breath on the nape of her neck. She dreamed even more fiercely than usually that the arms around her were his, holding her tenderly. She shook the dreams away for it only made her heart hurt. Under her breath she hummed the old ballad of the sailor, which, after the long sorting of her thoughts, she had identified coming from Guillaume. She hoped he would react at the song but if he yearned to join her on the dance floor, nothing could tell her of it.
On the way back, she let her hand in the water, sliding next to the boat, and more than once, tried to see if he was behind the boat. At one moment, she had the impression she had touched his face, but couldn't tell for sure. Afterwards, there was no rustling in the diamond forest, no lightning sound in the gold one and no thunder growling in the silver one and Oriabel almost felt disappointed. Her sisters were laughing and conversing gaily as usual and she wondered briefly if she should darken their mood with the heavy secret she carried.
On the morning, the bouquet she received was different than usually, with flowers she had never seen before. She looked surprisingly at Eudes who seemed to wink knowingly to her, though she knew he would never. Seized with a sudden inspiration, she ran to the library with her nosegay and opened a book about the language of the flowers. The crown of white roses around the bouquet was easy to understand: silence; she refused to think of the other meaning usually linked to roses. The four-o'clocks were easy to find too, as for the few branches of mimosa; what puzzled her a bit more was the branch of maidenhair fern around the nosegay, but, after a long time to figure it all out, she constituted a message that was more or less: 'Your secret is in safe hands' and he was insisting on the discretion. For one flower, though, she didn't need the book: it was a beautiful red rose, just in the middle of the bouquet, as a proud queen in her court.
The sudden laugh of Annabel the quiet under the windows reminded her for no reason of the girl she had seen with Guillaume not long ago and the memory of Miriel decided her, for the only reason he could disdain a princess by remaining silent was because of this girl. Who would want to marry a princess when already in love? Her pride of being disregarded for a common flower maid pushed her to take the plunge:
"I'm telling them!"
Without losing time she gathered her sisters in a small room giving on a little garden of jasmines and their smell was filling the room. Oriabel said all about Guillaume knowing their secret. Mehitabel grew very angry, scolding her for not having spoken earlier.
"The dungeon," said coldly Cristobel. "That's the only place our secret will be safe."
"No!" protested Oriabel. "In the dungeon, he can still speak."
"Ah, she is right," said Mehitabel ruefully. "But eternal silence is not something we can carry on."
Maribel shrugged.
"Force him to pass the test like the princes, except that we won't take him down with us. After three days, father will put him to death."
Strangely Oriabel reacted badly to this suggestion:
"Oh! If you hurt him in any way or imprison him in the dungeon, I shall go at once to say to father why it is we have holes in our new slippers every morning. We always took the princes with us so they wouldn't be put to death, why should we change and become mere assassins now? He hadn't betrayed us!"
"Oriabel, please, be reasonable: he knows our secret!"
"But he didn't say anything," persisted Oriabel.
She deliberately refused to listen to the perfidious little voice in her head that was telling her that his silence was not due to him being loyal to her but just because he was engaged to someone else.
"She's in love with that blacksmith," Loribel said, shrugging like her twin had done a bit earlier. "You're losing your time reasoning her, Mehitabel."
The eldest sister thought lengthily.
"There is some truth in what she said though. Why take extreme measures when we have always dealt with the problem ourselves? He may be only a blacksmith, he is to share the fate of all the princes who tried to solve our mystery. We can take no risk."
Oriabel considered the solution and this time she gave in to the little voice in her singing:
"He will be mine! We will dance together every night and never will she see him again!"
As they were leaving the room to call the blacksmith, a slight breeze entered the room and moved the curtains. Oriabel then noticed the open window and leaning on the ledge, she saw footprints in the tender soil.
"He knows!" she thought, half frightened.
A few minutes later Guillaume entered the room, awkwardly, his eyes looking down.
"Blacksmith, you are to come with us tonight in the place you already know," said Mehitabel in her most regal tone.
Guillaume looked up once, very briefly, straight at Oriabel, as if he was asking her how she could so such a thing to him, and replied quietly:
"I shall be honoured."
He took his leave on those words and went straight to see their father the King, who was indeed very surprised to see his blacksmith in front of him.
"Your Majesty," began Guillaume wondering what madness he was going to do, "it is well-known that blacksmiths are quite good to deal with spells and I have heard of the enchantment cast on your daughters. I thought that maybe I could present my services to you."
At first the King almost laughed at the young man's presumptions, but he thought twice and concluded that his blacksmith was maybe right. He had heard only compliments about him since he had come to work at the castle and the new iron gate, which he had already gone to see, was absolutely marvellous. He looked again at Guillaume and his humble air pleased him.
"This is quite a good idea," he agreed. "Go see my tailor so you'll have clothes fit for you to be presented to my daughters. They would indeed laugh if they knew you are a blacksmith. We shall speak of the reward later."
"Your Majesty, I do not seek any reward," replied quietly Guillaume, feeling perfectly the King's reluctance.
In fact the King both hoped he would fail - for he did not wish to give one of his daughters in marriage to a blacksmith, though he had no desire to put such a good blacksmith to death - and that he would succeed, for he really wanted to see his daughters' cheeks of the colour of the roses rather than of an ivory white.
The tailor was very happy to find clothes for Guillaume and, recognising the young man as the friend of Eudes, confided him some little tricks for not upsetting the princesses, as soon as Guillaume had told him why he had come.
"I shall make you the most elegant prince they have ever seen!" he swore. "Especially that with your handsome face and fine air, you'll have no problem in passing for a prince."
Guillaume blushed till his ears were red, but that didn't stop the tailor and the young blacksmith found himself dressed with a fine white shirt, a golden waistcoat, a long dark green velvet jacket with golden buttons and fitting black pants. The tailor had discarded any lace, pretending they would not have gone along with Guillaume's stature. He called the hairdresser too, who shrugged, half laughing, and simply tied Guillaume's hair, which was a bit too long, on the nape of his neck with a black velvet ribbon.
Then the hairdresser and the tailor discussed sharply about a velvet cap with a diamond aigrette and finally agreed upon the fact Guillaume would wear it when entering the room to be presented to the princesses and remove it after. At last ready, the young blacksmith thanked them profusely.
"It is nothing," said the tailor, beaming. "Young man, the King won't recognise you!"
The hairdresser agreed too and Guillaume had a light smile when he left for going quickly in the gardens, where he took a white rosebud to put in his button-hole.
The King was with his daughters when Guillaume entered again and nobody recognised him at first, so distinguished he looked. Mehitabel feared a moment a prince had presented himself and would make their plans fail. Oriabel met the newcomer's eyes and the misty grey eyes were familiar to her. Then Loribel noticed how he was nervously looking down all the time and she giggled.
"This young man will try his chance tonight," announced the King to his daughters.
"To win one of us in marriage!" said gaily Mehitabel having finally recognised him. "Tell me, who wants to get married?"
"I saw him first!" exclaimed Oriabel with feigned coquetry.
"No, me!" retorted Maribel.
"Me!" claimed Loribel.
The sad look he briefly sent to Oriabel prevented her to continue the game like Maribel and Loribel were doing heartily. The King didn't mind, his daughters had always behaved this way for each new prince. Then Lubel the beautiful slowly smiled to Guillaume who slightly bowed to acknowledge the smile. Oriabel suddenly wished for Lubel to be far away.
This night, Oriabel made a point to be more beautiful than ever. It seemed to her that Lubel was doing the same, for she chose a dress of a dark blue with shining spots of gold and silver that made her look like she was dressed in a cloth cut from the night sky. She was really breathtaking and Oriabel envied her sister. The little princess chose a dress of a glorious red and took the rubies that went with it, sadly thinking she wouldn't be able to compete with Lubel.
Guillaume thus went with the twelve princesses in the twilight realm. As he was offering his arm to Mehitabel to go down the stair, Oriabel saw the glitter of his dark iron bracelet around his wrist. She couldn't know, but the tailor - and even the hairdresser - had protested loudly about the subject, without Guillaume willing to hear any complain.
As soon as he entered the realm it seemed to her that he was a bit less real, almost transparent. She wondered briefly if she was able to see him only because she knew exactly where he was standing. He crossed the lake in Mehitabel's boat and he humbly offered to take the oars to make it for the extra weight, but the prince refused politely. Mehitabel still had her hand on his arm and was sometimes whispering to his ear. When the boat reached the shore, without caring a single instant for the prince who had rowed, she took Guillaume's hand and entered the castle. When Oriabel arrived with her partner, Mehitabel and Guillaume were already dancing together.
Oriabel couldn't take her eyes from him. Each time she looked in a mirror, she could see him dancing with one of her sisters. He was strong and usually awkward in society, but tonight, he was more graceful than any of the princes and with Lubel, they were looking just perfect together. It seemed there was something between the blacksmith and the shaman, for they were talking softly to each other, and Lubel had one of her rare smiles each time she was dancing with Guillaume.
That night Guillaume the shy who had never asked a girl to dance, had to ask the twelve princesses one after the other, and he thought he would collapse before gathering enough courage to ask the little princess with velvet eyes. His hand was trembling when he held it out to her and his lips refused to pronounce the words but she seemed to understand even so and put lightly her hand in his.
As soon as his arm came tentatively around her waist she knew no other partner would ever match him. She kept her eyes open to be sure that it was really him she was dancing with, but found she couldn't meet his eyes; he rather avoided to look at her also and was mentally blessing all the dances he had had with Miriel for though he was feeling paralysed, he could still dance as if nothing disturbed him.
He danced again with Mehitabel and then the other sisters, bringing again the slow smile on Lubel's lips. In fact he danced several times with every princess, to the point he didn't need anymore to ask them for the dance, for they were already waiting for him. Several times Oriabel tried to say something but no word would pass her lips.
Near daybreak, at the end of their dance, he led her back to her seat and softly, very gently, he said:
"Don't be afraid, Your Highness. The reward is too beautiful for a common blacksmith for me."
She raised toward him the troubled gaze of her velvet eyes but already Mehitabel had stolen him from her for a last dance. Suddenly everything was clear to her: he hadn't said a word because he didn't think himself worthy of... of a princess! There was nothing to do with the girl she had seen him with. But his last sentence could only refer to Lubel and she choked back a sob. Only he had been able to see past her strange beauty; she couldn't destroy her sister's happiness, for it was obvious Lubel enjoyed Guillaume's company. Oriabel wanted to run to Mehitabel, to tell her not to give him the potion, but she couldn't move. Her eyes caught once again the gleam of his iron bracelet and she remembered.
"He knows!" she thought, absent-mindedly refusing a dance to the prince respectfully bowing in front of her. "He knows and iron will protect him. He's safe..."
She thought again of Lubel and choked back another sob. She wanted to talk to Guillaume but the banquet took place before she could dance again with him. She was seated face to him, at the end of the table, but Mehitabel was next to him - and Lubel in front of him too - so she couldn't talk to him without Mehitabel hearing it also.
Despite all the delicate and savoury dishes Guillaume couldn't eat nor drink. He felt nothing could pass his tightened throat and anyway, though he had danced the whole night long, he found he had no appetite. All the princesses were complimenting him on his dance and his manners, except Oriabel and Lubel, and he knew they were quite sincere, even surprised, but he knew also they were trying to make him lose his mind. Obviously they hadn't expected a blacksmith to be so gifted as for dancing.
His misty grey eyes looked briefly at Oriabel and he saw her calm, laughing as she usually did, not at all worried about his fate. A great sigh lifted his chest.
"She doesn't care," he thought sadly. "The only way I can make her happy is by drinking this potion. I'll do so, since she wants it. Miri, Miri, you were right, where there is magic there is danger..."
He briefly closed his eyes, regretting not having had the time to tell Eudes about his fate, but he was calm when Mehitabel presented him the golden cup with the potion in it.
"We have no secret to you, nor does the twilight realm," she said solemnly and he had a slight crooked smile for he knew more of the twilight realm than she would ever know. "Let us all drink to your perspicacity."
While she was speaking he discreetly took off his iron bracelet and took the cup. He raised it.
"To the secret of the twilight realm," he said, looking suddenly more real than anybody else in the room.
It surprised Oriabel but her attention was drawn elsewhere as she heard a slight metallic sound. Looking down she saw his bracelet of dark iron on the floor. She looked up with terror, just in time to meet his longing gaze and for the first time she could read the clear eyes, understanding he was doing it for her, not Lubel. He brought the cup to his lips, but suddenly, she jumped on her feet and stopped him.
"Don't drink," she implored. "I would rather have our secret revealed than you being bewitched and your heart cold as ice except for the love of dance."
And she burst into tears. Guillaume slowly put down the cup, but she took it angrily and emptied it on the ground. He let himself slid on the ground, to her knees, and half held out the hand toward her, not daring to touch her. Lubel had a slight smile.
"Oriabel, are you crazy?" exclaimed Mehitabel, standing up also.
She shook the head and through her tears, managed to smile to Guillaume, still on his knees.
"Don't you understand that the love of dancing is not enough to make a good partner? He is the best because his heart is not cold but warm from sunlight - or from the forge fire," she added with another smile, "and because he cares for... for us."
"Marry him, marry him!" sang Loribel mockingly.
This time Oriabel felt no shame and straightened proudly.
"Yes I would! I would marry him rather than letting you bewitch him like you bewitched the others."
She bent down, picked up his dark iron bracelet and put it back on his wrist; he suddenly looked unreal again, almost eerie. She gently forced him to stand up on his feet. His ears were still red from her last sentence.
"If you want," he offered timidly, eyes cast down, "I shall remain here even so and your secret will be safe."
His soul shivered as he said those words: to be in the darkness forever!
"Rather die! Rather die!" shouted a voice in him.
Mehitabel was almost tempted to accept but then several things stopped her: Oriabel's look was enough to show she wouldn't accept; then, able for the first time to look at Guillaume's eyes as he raised them toward her, she could read in them what motivated him and his sadness and resignation moved her. Then there was Lubel's strange smile that indicated clearly enough that something was happening there, before her eyes, without her understanding it properly. And finally a little voice in her was singing happily that she was free and she suddenly felt relieved of a terrible burden.
"No," she said finally. "We shall all go back tonight."
At her words Lubel's smile widened and life came back in the princes' eyes as the spell fell apart. Gaily they all went back to the princesses' room, Guillaume crossing the lake in Oriabel's boat. As they went up the stairs, the steps fell one after the other behind the last of them until nothing was left of the stair. This entrance to the twilight realm was condemned forever.
Dawn was coming as they all went to see the King. Oriabel tentatively slid her hand in Guillaume's, who blushed but didn't push her away.
"Why would you have stayed down?" she asked. "Was it for me?"
He blushed even more but didn't reply.
"I found a red rose in my bouquet yesterday morning," she said.
"I didn't..." he began, half panicked. "Eudes probably did, I wouldn't..."
He stopped, unwilling to accuse the old gardener.
"I know it wasn't you," she said very gently. "You wouldn't have dared to tell of your love, would you?"
This time again he didn't answer and she wondered about the white roses in her nosegay.
"When my father will ask you which princess you want to marry, what will you answer?" she insisted.
He shook the head, unable to find his voice - or a proper answer.
"Is it because of this girl I saw once with you?" she whispered, voicing one of her worst fears.
"Miri?" he wondered, looking at her, surprise giving him back his voice. "Miriel is my sister, she wouldn't forbid me anything," he added, frowning in perplexity.
The little princess suddenly thought her head was light with happiness.
The King frowned when he saw his blacksmith had succeeded where so many young princes had failed. He noticed Oriabel's hand in Guillaume's - who seemed to have forgotten it - frowned even more and spoke hastily of reward. His tone clearly let understand it was something like gold rather than one princess in marriage. But Guillaume shook the head and cut him short.
"I sought no reward, it was my pleasure to help my King."
Raising his sorrowful eyes to the King he added softly:
"Why would I condemn one of your beautiful daughters to be the wife of a blacksmith?"
The King seemed relieved but seeing this, Lubel frowned also and Oriabel intervened:
"If I may be allowed to speak... I think I know whom this modest blacksmith wishes to wed and maybe telling him that she will be utterly disappointed and very sad if he doesn't speak may force him to say her name."
Mehitabel laughed without any hint of mockery.
"I was wrong when I mocked you, Oriabel, for any woman would be proud and happy to be the wife of such a man, especially when he dances so delightfully," she added with a smile. "You saw him first, he is yours!"
Oriabel glanced quickly toward Lubel who smiled.
"Please, Guillaume," the little princess whispered to his ear and he dared not ask her how she knew his name. "I love you. Tell me I'm not wrong, that I'm the one you want to wed..."
"Your Royal Highness knows," he replied on the same tone, refusing to meet her eyes.
"Do you wish thus to disdain me, though both our hearts yearn for each other's love?" she asked sadly.
"No!" he protested immediately, shocked.
"Then say my name, please..."
Her velvet eyes were begging him and he knew he couldn't resist her. Softly he said her name and the King heard it. As soon as the name passed his lips a great metallic crumble was heard faraway.
"The silver forest just collapsed," said Oriabel, smiling, as if she truly didn't care.
"Do you regret it?" he asked softly.
"No," she replied, still smiling. "We don't need to go to an underground castle to dance."
And so Guillaume and Oriabel were married and, naturally, after the marriage was a great ball.
"The gold and diamond forests are left and the lake and the castle, but this is for another story," she said to Guillaume as he was leading her to the dance floor.
Her young husband took one instant his eyes from her to smile at Miriel who was already dancing in one of the princes' arms. Oriabel put her head on Guillaume's shoulder, thinking of her conversation with Lubel earlier in the day.
"What do you share with Guillaume?" she had asked without any jealousy.
"Nothing that you don't know... now," had replied Lubel with her slow smile.
"What do you mean?"
"Birds see a lot and are incredibly talkative, thus bringing useful knowledge to reassure a shy blacksmith in love with a princess."
Oriabel had understood and then, trustingly, had told her she had envied her for being so beautiful, so well accorded with Guillaume. Lubel had laughed, a silent laugh she had even more rarely than her smile, and she had left, just saying:
"But the ring is going to be on your finger."
Oriabel looked at the gold - and iron - ring on the fourth finger of her left hand and had a slight smile.
"My dream is realised," she whispered to Guillaume. "I've dreamed so often of dancing in your arms!"
"I know," he replied gravely.
"How do you know?"
"Because I had the same dream," he said, smiling.
They danced through the night and Guillaume and Miriel danced as long as the twelve princesses and the princes and they did wear to holes their new slippers too. They all laughed merrily for the King had fallen asleep and he would find again satin shoes full of holes in the morning!
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