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phoebehalliwell · 3 years

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Four Dancing Princesses

a secret santa gift from @missbrunettebarbie for @lady-adventuress

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away there lived a wise old queen and her four granddaughters, the Princesses Prudence, Piper, Phoebe and Paige. No one in the kingdom would consider these four sisters unlucky: they were young, healthy and everything they wanted was offered to them on a silver platter.

But they had one great sorrow: their mother had died shortly after her youngest daughter's birth. The adventurous Princess Patricia had drowned in a lake that was whispered to be cursed, leaving behind a mother whose heart hardened to stone, a husband who felt like he had no place in the suffocating castle, a lover who would forever mourn her and children that would barely remember her.

Distraught by the loss of her only child, the queen decided her granddaughters had to be sheltered and protected from the world. She kept them in the palace, a gilded cage that turned from paradise to prison once the girls grew up.

"Grandmother had crossed a line. She had no right to send Andy away!".

Princess Prudence, most commonly referred as Prue, was pacing back and forth through the room, ranting about the unfairness of the world. If some of the courtiers would have seen her now, they would have hardly believed it was the Crown Princess-always poised, calm and collected- who was having a nervous breakdown. But Prue had learned a long time ago not to show her emotions in front of anyone but her sisters.

“I still can’t believe she actually thinks Andy is...incompetent. We grew up with him. He's always been with us, he’s practically our brother. I don’t understand why she thinks we are not safe with him anymore. No one had tried to kidnap or assassinate us since Andy became Captain of the Guard.”

It was rare that Phoebe and Prue ever agreed on something. The two sisters were too alike in personality, both too stubborn to ever get along. But they were united by a strong sense of justice that had been pricked when the Queen had sent Andy Tradeau-their childhood friend- away.

Unlike her younger sister, Prue knew exactly why their grandmother no longer wanted him near them. It wasn’t because of his inability to protect the girls from outside threats, but because, as they all grew older, he himself had become a threat for them. At least in Grandmother’s eyes. Phoebe and the others may think of him as a brother, but Prue never did. For her Andy had always been something else. Something more.

A month ago, she had kissed him in the garden, with only the moon and the stars as their witnesses. It had been a kiss worthy of fairy tales, if Prue had ever believed in them. Both of them had been quiet, as words had no place on that summer night. The next day, they would be princess and knight again, kept apart by their duties, but bathed in the light of the moon, where nobody could find them, they had been lovers.

Except someone must have found out and told the queen, who had been none too pleased at the idea of her eldest granddaughter making a “bad match”, like her daughter had. Privately, Prue doubted anyone would ever be good enough in her grandmother’s eyes, as she wanted her granddaughters for herself, kept ‘safe’ in a glasshouse that would soon run out of air and suffocate them all.

Piper, the second eldest who was also starting to dream of love and passion, shared a look with Prue, understanding what the younger two couldn’t yet comprehend. While Phoebe and Paige weren’t exactly children anymore, they had yet to feel the desire for freedom that burned in the oldest two. To see oneself grow old and yet nothing else change was indeed a curse crueler they could have imagined.

“I wish there was a way to live the lives we want without upsetting grandmother.”

“That’s not possible, and you know it, Piper. Grandmother doesn’t want us to live any kind of life.”

The scratching comment was delivered by Paige, who as the youngest sister had always idolized Phoebe and followed in her rebellious footsteps, taking Phoebe's contempt for their sheltered life to new heights. While she was legally thought to be the daughter of Princess Patricia and her husband, it was an open secret that Paige was the by-product of her mother's extramarital affair with one of her advisors. Despite the fact that nobody had ever said something to her face and her (half-) sisters' love, she had always felt as the odd one out. The princess who wasn't supposed to be a princess.

Piper didn't answer as she had learned a long time ago it was better to keep silent in these kinds of arguments. It hadn't taken her long to realize they only fought with each other because this was the only thing they could do. They had no control over their own lives except when it came to their little spats.

And they all knew why Paige was always angry this time of the year. Tomorrow would be her birthday and as always the day of her birth only reminded her of all the secrets and treachery that had led to it. And with each passing year locked into the castle, it also brought forward despair at the realization that her life will be wasted inside these palace walls.

"Grandmother can't keep Andy away forever without dismissing him from his position. And she can't do that without a reason, unless she wants to look capricious or even paranoid. Eventually he will come back and all you have to do, Prue, is wait."

Prue nodded, knowing that Piper was right. Nonetheless it didn't make it any easier to swallow her complaints and sit idly, when it felt like her entire life was made of moments of waiting for a miracle that would not come.

If there was one thing Prue took solace from, it was taking care of her sisters. It wasn't always like this, of course: on most days, they annoyed and exasperated her. But she was still the eldest and since their mother's death she had taken it upon herself to make sure they would know as much love as she could give.

So on Paige’s eighteen birthday, Prue is the one that does what their mother would have done if she was alive. She gave her sister the gift she should have gotten a long time ago.

“When each one of us was born, mother ordered another copy of this story to be made. They are all the same, only the covers differ. I got mine when I learned how to read, just like Piper did the next year. Mother said it’s her favourite fairytale and wants us to enjoy it just like she did. I’ve given Phoebe’s when she learned how to read, but by the time you were old enough for yours...I, well, I forgot all about it. I am truly sorry.”

Paige took the book feeling strangely reverent, like she was touching a part of the mother she had never known instead of a dusty old book.

“Twelve Dancing Princesses” she read the title out loud with a frown.

Oddly enough, she would have never guessed this had been her mother’s favourite fairytale. Paige herself had always found the story disconcerting: the twelve sisters escaping to a magic world to do nothing but dance with twelve unknown princes only to be caught by a soldier had been interesting, but the ending was what baffled her; the soldier’s trespassing meant the magical realm will forever be closed to the sisters and they had to choose between staying or leaving with him. In the end it had been the eldest sister who had chosen to leave as she had fallen in love with him, and her sisters had soon followed.

It was not exactly the happy end Paige had expected -why did the princesses have to choose between the two worlds they lived in? She had never understood, as to her it had seemed cruel and unnecessary. As such she had promptly forgotten the tale. She couldn’t understand why her mother had loved it enough to make a copy for each daughter. Maybe she had had a passion for dancing...but she hadn’t heard anyone mentioning it.

“And you all have a copy with this exact story?”

All three sisters nodded and showed them their own books. Sure enough they were identical: word for word, illustration for illustration. The only difference was the cover, as Prue had said. Each one showed one dancing princess, but not the same as the other’s. Prue’s was dancing under the midnight sky, surrounded by flowers that could only be gladioli. Piper’s was dancing at sunset, in a field of sunflowers. Phoebe’s princess was dancing in an oleander garden, bathed in the light of day. And hers….her ballerina looked to be dancing at sunrise, between rows of fireweeds. She also noticed each book had the name of its owner written in golden letters. To someone who didn't know better, it would have looked like it was naming the princess on the cover.

“How strange,” Paige couldn’t help but whisper.

Piper smiled at her youngest sister’s confusion. She knew exactly how she felt, and unlike Paige she had gotten her book from mother herself. But even then, Princess Patricia had refused to answer her daughter’s questions, telling her she would find out for herself when the time was right.

“I used to think so too, but now I find it nice. It’s like mom wanted us to always have a part of her.”

Paige frowned, studying the covers carefully.

“Why do you think she chose different flowers for the cover?”

“I always thought she got her inspiration from the mosaic in our room.”

Piper pointed out to the floor of their immense bedroom. Sure enough, in the middle was a mosaic Paige had grown used to see. But until now she had never noticed that it depicted four different flowers: a gladiolus, a sunflower, an oleander and a fireweed. A strange bouquet, but as they have lived with it their entire lives, they hadn’t noticed it until now.

“You know, I always loved this thing. I’ve read that it’s as old as the castle itself, but there is no mention of who designed and created it. I am surprised since it must have taken a lot of time and work for no one to claim it.”

The others were surprised by the note of melancholy in Prue’s voice:

“I remember Mom telling me about it once. I think she said that this room was supposed to be a study, not a bedroom. And that Queen Melinda herself ordered the mosaic made to represent the flowers that grew on this land before the castle was built. I think….I think there was some legend about Queen Melinda enchanting it.”

Phoebe’s eyes shone at the word ‘enchanted’. She had long been passionate about anything that had to do with magic and as such she had adored the legendary Witch Queen that had founded their dynasty.

“If Melinda enchanted it, what do you think it can do?”

“Nothing, Phoebe. It’s just a story, Queen Melinda wasn’t a witch and the mosaic is certainly not magical.”

Phoebe narrowed her eyes at Prue’s words, not liking her condescending tone. She forcefully took her book from Paige’s hand and went to the tile that depicted the great pink oleander. It was even more beautiful than the one on the cover, but definitely the same, as she counted the number of petals and anthers. Paige and Piper soon joined her, comparing their own book illustrations to the fireweed and the sunflower on the floor.

“They are identical.” Piper declared, almost mesmerized. “I wonder what it’s supposed to mean.”

Prue lost her calm and advanced towards her childish sisters.

“It means nothing Piper, except that Mom liked...”

She stopped when she reached the gladiolus tile and realized with dread that it had started glowing. As did the other tiles her sisters were standing upon.

“Wow. I told you magic is real.”

“Not now, Phoebe.”

Prue couldn’t focus on her sister as she felt the very ground under her feet moving. The walls of their room seem to melt into the flower, leaving everything to be bathed in a blinding golden light. All four sisters closed their eyes to shield themselves and when they opened them they were no longer in their bedroom. In fact, they were in a place none of them recognized. A pavilion that looked to be made entirely of diamonds and marble, surrounded by twelve statues of handsome men. Music was coming from nowhere and the air smelled sweeter and fresher than any other they had breathed. A great lake began where the pavilion finished, looking like it was as infinite as the ocean itself, the pale blue of its waters blending with the azure of the sky in the distant horizon.

And most worryingly, there were flowers everywhere: gladioli, sunflowers, oleander blossoms and fireweeds, to be exact.

“Are we dreaming?”

Prue wished she could answer Piper’s question with a decisive ‘yes’, but it didn’t feel like a dream at all. On the contrary, it felt like they were finally awake after years of slumber. As if it read her thoughts, the music picked up the tempo and four of the twelve statues came to life. They each bowed in front of one of the girl’s, Piper’s going as far as to kiss her hand, making the second eldest sister blush madly. None of them needed words to know what was happening; they were invited to dance. But neither of them could summon the will to move, as they were too baffled by the unexpected turn of events. Finally, it was Phoebe who spoke, her voice equal parts disbelief and excitement.

“Oh my God, I think we are in the fairytale.”

Prue grimaced but didn’t contradict her. Instead, in a show of recklessness that the self-poised princess rarely displayed, she took her prince’s hand and let him (it?) lead her in a waltz.

It was the cue the others were waiting for, as they too accepted their respective partner’s invitation for a night of dancing, laughing and freedom they could have never dreamed of.

Captain Andy Tradeau had not missed the royal palace, with its strict rules and its gossiping inhabitants, but he had missed his duties and maybe even more, he had missed Prue. It was useless to lie to himself and say it was because he had grown-up alongside her and her sisters. What he and Prue shared was unique, special, something only they could fully understand.

But he couldn’t think about that. As said as it was, the chances of a future together were slim, very slim. Instead, Andy did what he knew best: he focused on his work.

The palace was one of the safest places in the kingdom, but the Queen’s paranoia meant that he had to always be on his guard. And he had to admit it wasn’t really paranoia when strange occurrences seemed to have plagued the royal family for generations. Andy had resolved to always expect the unexpected. However, the latest gossip shocked even him.

Every night the princess went to bed only for the servants to find them the next morning even more tired than before, their shoes worn and their nightgowns dirty with leaves and petals. Nobody knew why and the princesses didn’t seem inclined to talk.

Queen Penelope had apparently argued with them and ordered them to be locked in their room unless they told her where they left every night. When that had failed, she had offered a handsome reward to anyone who could find out and stop her granddaughters from endangering themselves.

The news was worrisome for Andy. He resolved to talk to Prue about it, sure that she would put his mind at ease. After all, Andy knew that no matter how stubborn the girls could be, they were reasonable people. Or at least that was what he had thought, until he confronted Prue.

She hadn’t been cold towards him, but she hadn’t been warm either. When she had told him that what she and her sisters did at night was none of his concern, Andy had snapped, worry and anger making him irrational:

“Damn it, Prue, why can’t you understand I am concerned for you. It’s my duty to protect you and your sisters and…”

‘And I love you’, ‘And the thought of you coming to harm is unbearable’, ‘And I want nothing more than to be with you every second of the day’ were all things he wanted to say but couldn’t. And maybe Prue saw all that, there was no other explanation for the flash of hurt in her eyes. She left him with his conflicted emotions. He didn’t know what to do with the new feelings that had arisen between them lately. Prue, Piper, Phoebe and Paige have always been his friends, but now every time he thought about Prue, something in his chest ached with unknown desire.

But his feelings were not important right now, the princesses’ safety was. Andy swore to himself to find out what was happening, one way or another.

It had been more than a fortnight since Prue and her sisters had discovered the magical world literally hidden beneath their feet. The first night they danced and explored. As far as she could tell the garden seemed to be infinite and the pavilion was its center, the place where all the magic happened.

Phoebe had soon discovered that it was the flowers that granted them their every wish and had resolved to use them as de facto magic wands. Prue didn’t like to admit it, but it was a good idea.

All the freedoms they were denied during the day, they could enjoy for themselves during the night. No more asking for things, here they could take what they wanted. In this place, they felt like actual princesses for maybe the first time in their lives.

The Garden provided for everything, food, music, books. Even people when they were feeling lonely. The ‘princes’ they have been given the first night looked like crayon sketches compared to the masterpiece of lords and ladies the girls had learned to wish for, who could walk, talk and seemed to have a mind of their own.

They even had names, as Prue had discovered when Piper kept talking about a certain ‘Mark’, the Garden had conjured for her and her only. Prue was starting to worry that her sister’s attachment to what was frankly a ghost might be detrimental in the long run, but it’s not like she could forbid Piper anything. After all, they were coming here to escape rules and interdictions.

The one request the Garden has not been able to grant was when Prue had asked to talk to her mother. Prue had been disappointed, the foolish hope she had nurtured inside since she was a little girl was gone now that it looked like even literal magic could not bring her mother back. It seemed like the magic could conjure anything and anyone as long as it was not real.

Which was why when Andy walked in the pavilion, Prue knew instantly that he was real. Shock and worry fought in her heart, closely mirroring the emotions on his face as he looked around the strange world he had accidentally stumbled into.

Then his eyes met hers and Prue could see just the tiniest hint of relief and joy there.

“Prue!”

He breathed her name like a prayer and it filled her with warmth. Warmth that she refused to acknowledge. Because if Andy was here then their sanctuary had been discovered. She steeled herself against the affection that was starting to bloom in her heart. She had to drive him away.

“What are you doing here? How have you found us? Have you entered our bedchamber without permission?”

She saw the relief melt into anger and she couldn’t help but be glad for it. Anger was a feeling she was comfortable with, one that she could easily manage even in Andy, the man who made her feel anything but comfortable when she was near him.

“I’ve come to help you and this is how you react? God, I thought we were friends.”

“As you can see I am perfectly fine, as are my sisters. Your help is not needed.”

She had hoped the cold words would deflate him, but instead he looked more furious with every passing second.

“Fine? You disappeared into the freaking floor, Pruedence!”

“So you did spy on us. How dare you? You had no right…”

“As the captain of your guard, I have every right!”

“But not as a friend!”

She didn’t realize yelled the last sentence till she saw her sisters approach them, all three of them baffled at the sight of Andy being there.

“I don’t think we can be called friends anymore. Or maybe we never were because God knows neither of us acted like a friend should.”

It was Piper, always the peacemaker, who broke the heavy silence that followed the hurtful-and maybe true?-statement by calling Andy’s name. However Andy had no eyes nor ears for her. He looked exactly like Prue felt: devastated, hopeless, heartbroken.

“Then if we are not friends. And you can leave.”

For a second, Prue hoped he would stay, but he turned away without another word. She told herself it was better this way.

The next day, Prue only saw Andy briefly. He inclined his head in a cold greeting and Prue responds in kind. She did not know how to deal with this new Andy, but she supposes she deserved it. Guilt had nipped at her the whole night and her sisters had not hesitated to give it a voice. Three voices, in fact.

To her surprise, it was Piper’s which was the loudest:

“You and Andy had hurt each other last night, Prue. And I know it might feel good to ignore him and stew in your resentment for now, but we both know it’ll only hurt you in the long run.”

Prue disliked that her sister was making sense. She figured she had to talk to him, but not right now. She needed at least one more night for herself, pretending she had no care in the world.

However her escape posed its own troubles as they arrived back to what they had christened simply as The Garden. The grass was yellow, instead of vivid green like before, the flowers were wilting one by one, and even the marble of the pavilion had cracks in it. The music was more and more subdued, the statues looked cold and uninviting and the previously serene sky was hidden by storm clouds. The air itself smelled stale.

The sisters took all in, disappointed and devastated, not knowing what to do or say. Finally it was Phoebe who spoke first, her voice unusually subdued:

“It’s just like in the story. After the soldier followed the princess in their magical land, the magic started to disappear and they were not allowed there anymore.”

“Pheebs, are you saying this is Andy’s fault?”

The third sister simply shrugged. It was the only explanation she could come up with. Paige pointed out:

“But we haven’t been banned from the Garden yet. It doesn’t make sense.”

“The princesses have to choose between closing the portal and staying here forever or going home and never coming back. The eldest sister is the one who leaves with the soldier and convinces the others to do the same.”

It was Paige who voiced aloud the thought that was plaguing all of them:

“So we need to choose between staying here forever and never coming back? This doesn’t seem fair.”

It wasn’t fair, it was downright cruel. For the first time since their mother had died, Prue felt like crying. The Garden, magical or not, has been their sanctuary. As sad as it was, Prue felt like her home was taken away from her. While her sisters bickered and argued what to do, Prue knew she couldn’t stand there.

It was cowardly, but she didn’t want to think about leaving yet. Without meaning to, she drifted away from her sisters, walking alongside the perimeter of the lake. After her mother’s death, bodies of water held no fascination for Prue, so she had stayed clear of it until now. Oddly enough, at this moment, dipping her toes in the cold water felt like the closest thing to getting her mother back.

The water was too cold, a sign that even this was affected by The Garden’s slow but inevitable destruction, unless they sealed the door between the two realms. And on what side should they be when that would happen? Prue didn’t know.

Something was shining in the sun, not far away from her. Whatever the object was, it looked to be buried in the sand, but was reflecting the sun’s light the way glass wood. When she went to take it out she saw that it was indeed a glass bottle, with a message inside. The kind that one would expect to find in the waters of the sea, coming from a shipwrecked crew. Since she doubted any ship had ever sailed on this lake, Prue wondered who the message was from. The paper was old and dusty and deciphering the somewhat messy handwriting was not easy. But when she did, she felt like crying:

My dearest daughters,

If you are reading this then you have discovered my secret hiding place like I hope you would. This magical world has served me well for almost a year now, and I hope it will bring you just as much joy. You may wonder what this place is. In truth, I do not know myself, except that it has served as a sanctuary for many women in our family when they wanted to escape their royal life for a while.

If you are wondering why I am writing this letter, I am not sure myself. Perhaps it is to make sure you know there is nothing wrong with wanting to escape your own life for a little while. Or maybe because I want to make sure you will know when to come back. I’ve spent more than a year here, and today I realized it is enough. I have to come back to my responsibilities and to you my dears. I have a life waiting for me as you no doubt have too.

Still, I hope you will spend your days here however you like and when you come back, please come and tell your old mother -I hope I haven’t gone gray in my old age-how it was.

With love,

Patricia

Prue was overtaken by emotion. She had never read a letter from her mother before, none of them had. In a way it was like talking to her again. It was the goodbye they have never gotten to have.

And the motivation she needed to make a decision. The right decision. Her mother was right, they could not stay here forever. Maybe it wasn’t fair that she got to have a year and leave on her own terms, while they were forced by circumstances to make such a choice. But it was what it was and they had to make due with it.

When she showed the letter to her sisters, she was surprised to see they agreed with her. It was rare for all four of them to share the same opinion. But in Paige’s words: they could not taint their mother’s memory with cowardice.

Still Prue couldn’t help but feel a melancholic stab in the heart when they finally left. She touched the pocket where she had put the letter. She had no plans to part with it anytime soon. She could see the words if she closed her eyes, repeating themselves over and over in her mind. Asking her to take action.

She was absorbed enough by the thought that Piper's hand on her shoulder startled her. Her sister's keen eyes were searching for something in her face, but Prue couldn't figure out what.

"Do you plan to make amends with Andy now?"

Prue was half ashamed to realize that she had barely spared a thought for Andy despite the fact that all their problems could be traced to him. She consoled herself that she had other tasks to occupy her thoughts.

"Perhaps. But later. Now I have someone else to talk to."

At Piper's questioning gaze, Prue felt herself smile like a cat that ate the canary.

"Actually all of us have an important talk ahead of us. I think it's time we remind grandmother that we are not just princesses that can be kept hostage to her whims. We are her granddaughters and neither her nor us should have ever forgotten that."

#charmed #charmed secret santa 2021

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