Storytelling: The Princess Above the Pea

The princess sat, perturbed, looking from her nook out the window.

The royal announcement had not yet made its way to her castle. Why hadn't it come? Nearly all of the princesses of neighboring kingdoms had received their copy, but not yet Princess Cat. Cat knew that an announcement from the prince would guarantee his presence at her home shortly after.

Cat had met the prince many years before. She doubted very much that he would remember her if anyone asked. But she had never forgot. They were children, then. Her family was traveling through the countryside to visit an ailing family member on her mum's side. They had stopped to eat a meal when the prince came barging out from the side of building. He had come tearing out from seemingly nowhere. His appearance struck the princess then and that had stuck with her for her entire life. She often thought of his raven hair and startling blue eyes. He was dressed impeccably, although everything about his outfit seemed disheveled, no doubt from the roughhousing.

That was the only time the princess had ever seen the prince in person. After that instance, she often saw his picture in announcements or fliers. Her infatuation with him had never been stifled. The word that was spreading across the country said that this prince, her prince, was seeking a wife. He was traveling to the various kingdoms to meet the princesses, in hopes that one would be his life's companion. There was one problem: he hadn't been to visit Cat. She had no idea why that was. Nonetheless, her heart was broken.

In the coming weeks, the prince would complete his tour of the country and return to his home. He would return without a wife. His quest had not been successful and Cat would be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit pleased. However, after he had returned home, the prince would not been seen in public for a long while. He refused to leave his chambers, undoubtedly disappointed in the failure of his mission.

Cat heard about his state from afar, and found that she must take matters into her own hands. If the prince wouldn't come to visit her, she would come to him. She stole away at night, and made her trek to the prince's castle. Her travel was largely uneventful, until she was nearly there and the sky opened up. It rained down quite hard upon the princess and she was forced to seek shelter under trees. In the process, spare branches snagged at her dress and caused it to rip and tear.

"Oh, but I'm so close," the princess thought to herself.

She decided to complete her journey and arrived quite quickly. She was greeted at the castle gates by a couple of guard. She announced herself and was escorted into one of the larger ballrooms in the castle. It was the middle of the night, so there was no one in the hall which gave it a rather ethereal sense. Suddenly, she heard a woman's footsteps approach, light but clacking loudly as her heels hit the marble floor. The queen rounded the entryway and stood still, waiting to be noticed by the princess. The princess, awaiting the arrival of the cause of the footsteps, turned to her immediately.

"Come child," the queen said as she beckoned to the princess. "We've arranged a room for you upstairs. We will make arrangements for you to meet the prince in the morning."

The princess was confused. Had they known she was coming? How did they know who she was? Certainly they knew she was of royalty, or else why would they have prepared a bed?

"Your parents sent a message ahead of you. We've known of your imminent arrival for hours. Come now, it's late."

Cat followed quickly and was led into the most incredible room. There was a bed in the middle of the room with many mattresses stacked upon it. Grateful for a warm bed, she climbed up immediately. However, once she got in the middle of the mattress, she couldn't help but find it to be the most uncomfortable bed she'd ever entered. No matter how she tossed or turned, she could not find a comfortable position. She constantly felt as though something was prodding her, even through all of the mattresses. She was in fits throughout the night and didn't catch a wink of sleep.

Early the next morning, the queen returned to awake her to find that the princess was laying with her eyes wide open in the bed.

"Did you sleep well, dear?"

"Well...yes er Your Highness."

The queen could see on her face that the princess was lying. She was pleased. Perhaps she had finally located a match for her son.

She led the princess back into the hall where they had met the night before. However, now, there were many people milling about. Most importantly, the prince was sitting atop a throne, clearly waiting for something. As soon as the prince locked eyes on the princess, led by his mother, he gasped. Could it be her? The princess had a similar reaction. She could not believe that after all this time she was reunited with her prince.

The prince leapt to his feet and nearly ran toward them.

"Hello! Hello, hello, good morning, my princess."

"Good morning, My Lord."

"Do you remember me!?" the prince almost exclaimed.

Cat was taken aback. Remember him? How in the world could he know who she was?

"I remember, you were sitting with your family and I was playing with a lot of my pals. We nearly tore right into you lot. I had no idea you were a princess. I have been searching for a wife, you see, but none could compare to you as I remembered from so long ago. This is amazing! This is splendid! Oh, we'll be married at once!"

The princess could not believe her ears. He had remembered her for all these years, just as she had remembered him! They had held out for this long for each other, and neither of them knew it of the other!

Within the week, the couple was married and they lived happily for the rest of their days.

(The Princess Discovers the Pea, web source: Wikimedia)

Author's Note: I used the story of the Princess and the Pea to tell the princess' story. After reading the original story, I was left with so many questions. Like, why did the princess seek out the prince? And why hadn't the prince come to visit that particular princess? I thought I would answer my own questions through retelling the story. In the original story, the prince goes around the meet princesses to find a wife. He doesn't exactly find one so he returns home, unsuccessful. The princess (Cat, as I've named her) goes to meet the prince at his home. She arrives sopping wet from rain and with her dress torn. The queen allows her to stay for the night, but has placed a pea under the mattress. She believes if the princess is bothered by the pea, then she will have been proven to be the correct match for her son. The princess doesn't sleep at all through the night and has developed bruises in the morning from the measly pea. The queen approves and the prince and princess are married.

Bibliography: The Princess and the Pea, by Hans Christian Andersen. Link to reading here.