The Hollow Prince

Farley:

I screamed, falling backward as I tripped over a branch. The owl soaring above me, didn’t seem to care that he had nearly made my heart stop beating. He’d been hiding in a tree, probably waiting until I got close enough so that he could scare me. I wished I hadn’t given him the satisfaction.

My bottom had hit the ground of the woods, making the whole situation a lot worse. I had been innocently gathering berries for my mother, and the owl decided he was bored and wanted to ruin my day. He did that, as well as ruin my dress.

As I stood, I brushed the dirt off of the white skirt of my dress. The corseted top didn’t get damaged, and neither did my blue hooded cape. Mother hand stitched it herself, and it would have broken her heart if I brought it back to her with a tear in it. It also probably would have broken my wrist as punishment.

I gathered up my basket, and the berries that survived. My family expected me home in less than an hour, and I didn’t have time to replenish what I had lost. They would have known that I’d screwed up, and I wouldn’t hear the end of it.

I hurried through the woods, figuring out in my head how long it would have taken me to get back to the village. I had time to get to the berry bush, but not enough to pick the number I needed.

When I arrived, I glared up at the owl that come back to me. He flew above my head, gloating.

“You’re cruel,” I said to him. “Go away, you feathery bastard.”

He didn’t go away. He sat on a branch, staring at me. I stuck my tongue out at him.

The berry bushes stretched far, and contained more fruit than anyone in the village would need for the remainder of the season. I only needed to fill up a basket, but my time had run out.

“I could probably get away with this once… right?” I asked the owl. He didn’t respond.

I cleared my throat, and then snapped my fingers. The berries pulled themselves off of their stems, obeying my magic as they floated through the air. They went right into my basket as I looked around, making sure no one saw me. They all knew, but the villagers reacted better when they didn’t see me using magic. At least then, they could pretend for a little while that I didn’t terrify them.

My basket nearly spilled over with all the berries I’d collected, and that meant I could go home. I waved goodbye to the mean bird, and then started heading for my cottage.

The sun had started to set when I approached the edge of the woods, and I stopped for a moment to enjoy the view. In the distance, I saw my village outstretched, and the road that led to the castle of Hylaya, the kingdom I’d lived my entire sixteen years in. My family had lived here for more generations than I could count, and would for countless generations to come. I had an excellent chance living in Hylaya to witness it.

I stared at the castle in the distance, as I often found myself doing when I had nothing else to do. Everything about it looked grand and magnificent, with towers covered in climbing ivy, and gray stone that sparkled in the sunlight. I’d dreamt of being in that castle a million times, wishing I could stand at the top of a tower, and look out to the entire kingdom. It was foolish of me to waste so much time in daydreams, but they seemed so much better than the life I walked through. Hate didn’t exist in my daydreams, and I could move with freedom. No stares, and no fear.

Maybe I should leave this place. Go somewhere new, where no one knows what I am. I can start over, living in peace.

No, I can’t leave my family. Who would take care of them?

I picked up the bottom of my dress, and started heading down the hill. Mother would be angry with me if I didn’t get back in time, and I wasn’t in the mood to be beaten with a stick. It always felt worse when it was cold outside, and I could feel hints of snow coming.

When I reached the bottom of the hill, I met with the stone road that led to the village. Since dinner time approached, not many people lingered outside. I mostly saw the blacksmith working from his corner shop, and a few others doing some late shopping. They avoided my eyes, probably worried I would put a hex on them. I’d never given them a reason to think that, other than existing.

Even after all this time, my instinct still said to wave at the people I saw. I got glared at by the baker, who I should have known better than to greet.

“What do you want, girl?” he hissed at me. “Here to steal bread?”

“N-no, sir. I only wanted to say hello.”

The man looked me up and down. “Sure you did. Is that why you linger around?”

“I’m not. I was headed back home to my family.”

He set his axe against the small tree he’d been cutting in the front of his house. I watched him take several steps to me, but I didn’t move. “You don’t fool anyone, girl. We know that you’re rotten to the core. I see it in the pits of your eyes. I hear it in your voice.”

“You’re wrong,” I said. “I’m a good girl. I behave. What more do you want from me?”

“Your head on a spike while your body burns.”

His words didn’t scare me, because I had heard some version of that from every single frightened villager around me. So I stood tall. “I have nothing to prove to you, and I don’t have to listen while you threaten me.”

“Oh, don’t you? Are you telling me that you’ll use your magic if I dare to call you out on what you are?”

“I never mentioned my magic.”

“You didn’t have to.” The man stopped, and turned to eye the axe beside his tree. “You have your tools, and I have mine. Remember that. Remember that this village would praise me if I took care of our little witch problem. The king would knight me.”

I took a deep breath, reminding myself that if I threatened him back, then I would be all the things they thought me. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I only wanted to live my life.

“Have a good night,” I said to the baker, and then I left him where he stood.

“Remember!” he shouted at me. “You are not as powerful as you think you are.”

I ignored him as I rushed home.

I smelled dinner as I closed the door. Mother stood in the kitchen of our small home, stirring a pot at the stove. Father sat in his chair, reading a book he’d been working on for a few weeks. He didn’t greet me, though I said hello to him.

“Got the berries,” I said to Mother as I set them on the table.

She wiped her hands on her apron as she came over. “About time, Farley. You’re late.”

“Sorry, I got caught up with something.”

She cast her light blue eyes at me, irritated already. That happened a lot, but I had it coming.

I looked nothing like my family, and they always told me that had been the first sign something had been wrong with me. My mother stood at five feet, with mousy brown hair that she never kept longer than a few inches. Her icy blue eyes were a direct contrast to my deep blue ones. Same as my hair, matching no one in my family. While my father and older brother had yellow hair, mine ended up being white, with naturally occurring streaks of that same dark blue that could be found in my eyes. Though naturally occurring might not have been the right way to describe it. I’d had the blue since birth, but the white in my hair used to be yellow as well. A wicked woman had been the blame for that one.

I had about four inches on my mother, making her the shortest person in the family. My father and brother were both a couple inches under six feet. They had severe faces, with sharp features that made them look intimidating. I felt like I looked as a grown fairy might. My features were soft, and my face round. A little witch freak with a family of humans. I did not belong.

“Did you pillage the whole wood?” my mother asked. “What made you think we would use all of these berries? You’ve wasted them.”

She smacked the back of my head, making me wince in pain. “You didn’t tell me how many you needed, and I only took a little. Snow is coming soon anyway. In a couple days, the berries won’t be good.”

“Tell that to the baker’s wife when she scolds me for letting you take what she could have used. They might lose money if they can’t make their desserts. Did you think about anyone but yourself?”

I shook my head, and got hit again.

Mom took the basket into the kitchen, telling me to get out of her sight. I went into the other room, and sat across from my father after I removed my cloak. “Have you had a nice day?” I asked him.

Dad peeked around the edge of his book. “It’s like every other day, Farley. Why do you ask me that question?”

My cheeks got hot. “I was hoping you would say yes.”

“Sorry to disappoint you,” he said, getting back to his book. “Maybe my day would have been better if I got to lounge about the house all day like you. Is it relaxing, not having to earn money to feed four people?”

I didn’t fight for myself on that one. He didn’t consider my chores to be work. Chopping wood or making piles outside of the cottage, cleaning, fetching things for Mother. No, I wasn’t worth as much as my brother, Coal, who earned money printing books.

“Would you like me to leave?” I asked.

Father didn’t look at me. “Where would you go?”

He didn’t want me to answer, so I stayed silent. The days went by easier if I stayed quiet.

Coal came into the house, smiling and holding a stack of books in his hands. “Father, I got you a present.”

The man set his own book down, returning the grin. “That you did. What did you bring me?”

Coal set the books down on a table, and got on his knees to go through the titles and stories with him. I had no place in the conversation, so I stared out the window instead of talking. I felt the cold weather leaking into the house, giving me a chill. It would be a long night in my sleeping area. My parents gave me a crawl space at the top of the house. When I laid on my back, I could watch the snow fall through the holes above me. I found it comforting, when I lacked blankets.

As my father went through the books, Coal picked one up, and stood. He handed it to me, avoiding my gaze. “I got you one too,” he said.

I took it. “Thank you. That was very kind.”

He said nothing more to me before walking away.

Hollow:

“Bartholomew,” my father said. “You cannot spend your days staring out of a window.”

I did not agree with him, because I had spent the last five days staring out of my window, and I found it quite pleasant. “Why not? You spend your days either hunting or sentencing people to death. We all have our hobbies.”

“You have your mother’s mouth.”

“Thank you.”

I resumed my stare out the window, because I had a view of the closest village in the kingdom. I watched the people walk around, going about their days and their simple lives with the ease only a commoner could have. I wasn’t as lucky as them. Born into royalty I couldn’t have cared less about, meant I had to make a show for people I didn’t like. Lately, I had lost the ability to keep up the lie.

“Get dressed,” my father said with a sigh. “We’re going to have visitors shortly, and you need to look your best. I’m meeting with the king of Lohrule to discuss you and his daughter.”

I turned my head to glare at the man. “I would rather set myself on fire than be in the same room as another princess. Have you ever met one with any personality?”

“Yes, your aunt was a lively one.”

“Doesn’t count if they’re in the bloodline.”

He sighed again. “Please, behave for an hour. That is all I ask.”

“No, that is not all you ask. You’re meeting with that man so that you can discuss my marrying his daughter. You can’t fool me.”

He crossed his arms, and began to pace. I had made him go gray in the last few years. His shoulder length hair used to match mine, the color of chestnut. I kept mine shorter, a couple inches in total. Now, Father’s hair had lost the life it used to have. His brown eyes looked tired from the weight of the kingdom on his shoulders. I didn’t make it any easier, fighting him on everything.

“I need this from you,” he said to me. “We have no heir, and I have no way of knowing how much longer I have to rule.”

I laughed. “Are we pretending it’s not my own hourglass we worry about running out?”

The man looked away from me. “This isn’t how I wanted your life to be, but the fact is that we have no more time. I’ve let you turn down enough brides. You have to pick one, and make an heir before the time comes when you are unable.”

Yes, barely eighteen years old, and meant to be the father to a child I didn’t want, married to a woman I didn’t love. How ideal. “I’ll play nice today, but I make no promises on tomorrow.”

“I’ll take it.”

He left me in my bedroom, and I dragged myself to my feet. The snow had begun to fall over the village, and I had to miss that for a princess that would have eyes as dead as mine.

My father didn’t approve of the shirt I had, so I put on a lighter one. He said he didn’t like when I walked around looking like death, which I found delightfully ironic. I put on a white one, and rolled the sleeves to my elbows. Then I pulled on boots before I slipped a dagger into the holder at my side. You never knew when you would have to threaten someone. With any luck, it would have terrified the princess, and I wouldn’t have to deal with her again.

A carriage stopped in front of the doors outside, and I watched the guards escort a man and a poofy dress into my castle. One look at all the pink, and I already wanted to steal a horse and head for the hills.

I checked myself in the mirror, deciding if I would be up to my father’s standards. I looked put together, but had no expression on my face. I saw a boy in the mirror, dark hair and dark eyes to match. The gray in them held nothing living. I couldn’t remember a time when they did.

I walked out of my room, and down the stairs until I found myself in the main room. Father had already greeted the other king, and now they made meaningless small talk that I resented having to hear.

Then I saw the pink blob that ate a young-looking girl. The poof ended up being a blond-haired, blue-eyed thing that stared around my castle as if it had been made of stars.

“Hello,” King Dead Face said to me. “I take it you’re Bartholomew.”

“Hollow,” I corrected him.

Father glowered at me. “Knock that off. Come meet the king and his daughter.”

I shook hands with the man, and then his puny daughter smiled at me. “So nice to meet you,” she said, extending her hand. I was meant to take it, and Father stared until I did. “I’m Suzanna.”

“Great,” I said.

Father’s narrowed eyes left me, looking to the king. “Shall we go into the dining hall? I have a meal prepared for us. The children can speak in the courtyard until we’re done.”

“That sounds lovely. Lead the way.”

That left me alone with the blob, and her stumpy arms pulled at her dress. “Well, I guess you’re giving me a tour.”

I sent a prayer on high that I would be blessed with the strength to get through this hour. If I had to marry this girl, at least I could count on my broken body to kill me quickly, out of mercy.

I started walking in the direction of the courtyard, not bothering with a tour. My castle was massive, and I wouldn’t waste my time showing it to a girl who I hoped I would never see again.

She struggled to keep up with me, because being just over six feet tall gave me long legs. The poof had stumps to work with.

“Um, so tell me about yourself,” she requested as we approached the door outside. “My father said that you like to spend your time inside.”

Code for: the freak boy doesn’t like to spend his free time hunting helpless animals. Forgive me for not being interested in shooting at bunnies. I didn’t have a great respect for life or anything. I would just rather stay at home.

“I do,” I said, and my voice sounded utterly lifeless. “Here’s the courtyard.” I gestured out, because what else could I have done?

The courtyard looked grand to say the least, and my mother had sought to that. Four walls encased the main entrance. Above, we had a perfect view of the sky. I looked around and saw fountains, thousands of flowers that filled the air with many pleasant scents, and a stone path that led to even more of this private heaven. I supposed, though, it wasn’t much of a heaven if walls made this place look like a prison. I might not have wanted to go outside, but seeing it would have been nice.

“This is stunning,” the little cupcake said. “Do you spend a lot of time out here?”

“Yes.”

She blinked at me, then cleared her throat as she looked away. Ah, I had embarrassed her with my ice. I did that to a lot of people, but at least the staff knew better now. They didn’t like looking at me, and I found that made communication easier.

The dress sat down on a bench that faced the fountain meant to be the focal point of the garden. I felt like I had to sit beside her, so I sat on the very edge of the bench.

“I can’t imagine getting to be somewhere so beautiful,” the girl said. “And inside the castle too. You must love it.”

I sighed. “Yes, everything is quite put together, isn’t it? Everything in its proper place. How very orderly.”

I got giggled at. “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

“It’s a boring thing.”

“It’s boring to be proper?”

“It’s boring to be so stiff about everything. I don’t mind a flowerbed, but I mind when it’s a set number of every color, and every kind, all put in a pretty little row. Does that not look unnatural to you?” I gestured to the lines of wildflowers that looked anything but wild. I felt like a prat for complaining about something so unimportant, but it all felt so unimportant to me now.

The girl shrugged. “I see nothing wrong.”

I saw everything wrong. “So much effort is put into making sure none of the flowers mix. Why not let them grow as they will?”

She smiled. “If you want that, then leave the castle walls. You can find fields of flowers not too far away.”

“It doesn’t matter. They’ll be dead soon anyway.” I glanced up at the white sky that had decided against the snow I’d wanted to see.

“You never know.”

“I do know, because that’s how seasons work.”

She didn’t say anything else, but chose to look around at the garden again. The girl would go back to her father, and tell him how boring I had been, or that I acted generally unpleasant. That happened to be true, so he wouldn’t be all that surprised.

Finally, the girl looked over at me again. “Our fathers are discussing us, you know.”

“I do know. Did yours tell you that?”

She nodded. “He told me I would have to marry soon, because my sister is getting older. She can’t marry before me. My time is running out.”

Hers and mine both. “Do you even want to be married?”

I got another shrug. “I’m in no rush, but it would be nice to have a companion. Maybe some children. I always pictured a lot of them, running around the castle as they played. What about you?”

“I don’t do much running.”

She laughed at what she thought I’d meant to joke about. “Children, I mean.”

I didn’t lie. “I never pictured myself with children or a wife.”

“Oh,” pinkie said with shock. “How is that possible?”

I squinted at her. “What kind of question is that? I can’t answer it for you. I don’t know why I didn’t sit up in my room and picture a pretty little life like others do for me. I don’t think I’m what you’re looking for.”

The girl straightened her spine, and stood as she cleared her throat. Her expression became almost hostile. “You’re a prince in a kingdom, and that is exactly what I’m looking for. You’ll change your mind about children, or you won’t. Either way, you’ll have them, so why complain about it?”

I hadn’t realized I’d been complaining. “I’m sure there are other princes that you can go to.”

“Maybe, but you’re the closest.”

I laughed. “Oh, what a great foundation for a marriage. I’m so flattered that you would think of me.”

She rolled her eyes. “I have no delusions about what my life is going to be. I don’t need romance to have children and a family.”

“Maybe not,” I said as I stood. “But surely you want a little love in your life.”

“My children will love me, and I’ll never want for any object. I’ll never starve. What more do I need?”

Her future would be black and white, and she wanted to bring me into that with her. Make a few children, and leave her to it. She had no clue that my days were numbered, but would that have changed anything? If I could give her a couple of kids, then she probably wouldn’t have cared when I dropped dead. My father wanted that too. I could make everyone happy if I played ball, and let my father marry me off. What did I live for anyway? I had no future, and didn’t want anything. That was the crux then. I didn’t want anything. Nothing could touch me, and I couldn’t remember a time when it had. Father tried sometimes, but it all fell so short. My life seemed black and white too, because I couldn’t see color, and everything felt pointless. It would all feel pointless for the rest of my short life.

“You should want more,” I said quietly, though I respected the unashamed honesty. “You really should want more.”