A hush fell over the crowd, the din of speaking and movement broken through in half an instant by sheer, mind-numbing silence. Caroline cleared her throat, preparing to see just how well her voice would project. She could feel dryness in her throat, and she wondered if she would be able to get the words out clearly.
“Hello, everyone!” she bellowed out, surprised at how far she could hear her voice echoing. The entire crowd flinched as a unit, but still didn’t make a sound, as she spoke. “Please only hear what I have to say before you try to decide what it is that stands before you all…”
The hush continued. Caroline could feel a bead of sweat forming on her forehead, from the heat and from the fear swelling inside of her. Just speak, she willed herself. Speak. They will hear. They must.
“I know that you may have been confused about my absence. You’ll ordinarily find me walking these streets every morning and evening as often as I can to see you all. And I have missed you all so very terribly, but I have, as my father, King Richard has informed you, been ill. We still are unaware of what has caused my sickness, and… as you may be able to see plainly, it is not a sickness of normalcy, that one might see any day in those who are afflicted with worldly diseases.”
The hush continued. Caroline was listening hard, but she heard no screams yet. A good sign, such as it was. Her eyes also darted around the sea of small faces below her, all of their eyes locked to the huge woman standing at the gates of the castle. She couldn’t make out anyone she recognized at all, but she definitely didn’t see Luke yet.
“This illness is not contagious, and as of now, I do not believe my life is endangered. However…” she said, and finally she heard, in the silence of the area, a wailing sound, followed by a flop. Her eyes darted over to a spot in the crowd, where several people were gathered around an opening in the otherwise shoulder-to-shoulder, tightly packed crowd. Someone had fainted. Caroline felt a tear rip through her heart, but she swallowed hard in her bone-dry throat, continuing. “H-However… this sickness of mine was not brought about by any known means. It was brought about by witchcraft…”
At this, a collective gasp sounded over the entire crowd. Caroline heard another flop somewhere, although she wasn’t quite able to make out where the second person had fainted. She cleared her throat, feeling herself swaying a bit in nervousness, and continued.
“And… and as such, we… have no particular solution at the present time. We have… tried several methods, and been unsuccessful. So while this is ailment is not of a life-threatening nature now… I cannot imagine what sorts of problems it might arise far worse than what has already happened if it is allowed to continue…” she said, wiping a large hand across her damp forehead, pushing the golden hairs from her eyes. She looked up at the sky, hoping for more guidance, her baby blues glistening like beacons far above the awe-struck peoples.
“Now… I ask that everyone of this great land, all who are here to listen to me, understand that…” she said, her voice breaking off a little. “…that…” she mumbled, feeling weaker and unable to continue. Then, she felt a slight sensation down by her foot. She looked down to see Phillip, who had wandered out from his hiding place with Anne, around the corner of the massive gates, where he was now standing at Caroline’s left foot, patting her left pinky toe in an encouraging way. When they made eye contact, he ceased tapping on her toe and grabbed ahold of her robe hem again, hugging it a little and nodding at her. Caroline sighed deeply, thanking the heavens for the sort of family she had been blessed with, and turned her head back to the masses.
“We… this kingdom… are a people. All of us, are a single unit. When we experience a victory in battle to defend ourselves, we celebrate together, or in a painful defeat we mourn the losses of our brave ones together. When we find a prosperous abundance in the crops, we share them, and when we find drought and famine ravaging those same crops, so drastically reduced in number…” she said, gulping but holding firm, “… we SHARE them…”
The slight murmur that had begun developing amongst the crowd as a third person fainted was halted again by these later words.
“So, today, I ask not that you offer me a solution. I have doubts that a simple one exists. But what I ask for is for what I try to give to each and every one of you every day of my life, even though I have never met so many of you,” Caroline continued, gathering drive. “I ask that you… accept me, and what I have become, and help me to stand so that I may also help you.”
A silent calm pervaded the air as Caroline finished her brief anecdote and wiped her brow again, squinting in the sunlight, realizing how heavily she had begun to breathe. For a few minutes, all Caroline could hear was her slightly faster heartbeat, her breathes coming in gentle but more rapid sighs. She closed her eyes again, darkening her world briefly. Let them see me, she thought. I’m here. Let them see me in here. The dark silence continued as Caroline rippled her fingers at her side a little and felt the slight tug of her brother hugging her robe near her foot. Let them see me, she thought again.
Caroline opened her eyes, the brightness forcing her to readjust her vision, as a murmur began to break out. Not like the one of before, full of quick speaking and tangible doubt. It was higher pitched. Someone far off in the distance cheered so loudly Caroline was certain his vocal cords must have been injured. Another followed this, and an instant later the entire crowd of citizens erupted in ceaseless cries of jubilation, applause rippling across only seconds after that. As the sounds rumbled through the air, Caroline felt her fears dissipating and tears forming in her eyes to see the people she loved so much, small now as they were, coming around so quickly in the face of her frightening predicament. While the sounds continued, Caroline felt a tug on the other side of her robe, nearer to her knee. She turned down to see her father standing there, looking up at her and beaming with the proudest smile she had ever seen. He nodded, not even needing to say anything, and she nodded back, wiping her fingers across her eyelids to clear her vision; she laughed a little, joyous at the reactions of the people.
“I KNEW you could do it!” said Anne, hopping up and down gleefully once everyone was back in the Great Hall. After the cheering had died down outside the gates, quite a few people had actually come up to greet the princess. Some had just wanted to touch Caroline’s massive robe to ensure that their eyes weren’t playing tricks on them with the illusion of a tower-sized young woman, but to her joy, many of them just wanted to give her a pleasant hello and a bow (the bow she didn’t particularly care for, it was more the acknowledgment). Already, despite the looming feeling of probably growing again on this night, Caroline felt much better, even more than she had in the morning when spending time with her siblings. The acceptance of her family had been the most important thing to her, but the acceptance of the people was on such a massive scale, she wanted to believe that her curse could be conquered now with so much support.
“I’m sorry to have ever doubted you, my daughter,” said Richard, patting Caroline’s calf through her robe.
“I understood completely, father. I almost did not believe I could do it, myself.”
“Well, now that doesn’t matter, you have the support of the people. I’m very proud of you.”
“Thank you. I’m simply glad it’s over…” said Caroline, wiping her brow one final time. She sat down on the floor, this time stretching her legs all the way out and reaching her arms into the air, nonchalantly playing with the carvings high on the walls with her fingers. She yawned loudly, resting her head on her right shoulder in relaxation, wiggling her toes. “I’m not certain I should, but I do feel very tired after the excitement, father… I feel like I might try to rest…”
“Very well, Caroline, we won’t keep you then… you’ve earned it,” said Richard, nodding and heading toward the door.
“Dear?” asked Elizabeth from her daughter’s hip side. “May I?”
“Of course, mother. I shall see you later,” said Caroline, leaning far over, closer to the ground, so her mother could kiss her cheek. With a smile, Caroline waved good-bye to her mother, who exited along with Rose.
“I think I will continue hemming your new garments this evening, miss… just to prepare,” said Rose hesitantly, obviously knowing exactly what was going to be happening before the sun rose again. Caroline nodded.
“Yes, I think that would help very much; thank you, Rose.”
“I will return once you awaken, miss, with more food!”
“Oh, please don’t trouble yourself, Rose, I’m plenty full from earlier,” said Caroline quickly, knowing her objection was probably fruitless.
“Yes, miss, but we must keep you healthy… I’ll be back later, and you can decide then if you require sustenance.” The huge princess shrugged at this, still marveling a bit at how far her friend was willing to go in the name of ensuring Caroline didn’t experience a single instant of discomfort in her life. Closing her eyes and resting her hands on her stomach, Caroline quickly drifted off, completely exhausted.
Caroline opened her eyes, her vision blurry. She looked down at her hands and was perturbed to find herself no longer in the Great Hall. She scrambled to her feet, realizing she was in a field of flowers. As she pressed her fingers into the ground for support pushing up, she killed dozens of them, and realized that she was still gargantuan. She stood at full height, looking around, refreshed to be completely in nature, surrounded by trees (most of which didn’t each reach her chin) and wildflowers. When she wasn’t helping in the poor houses or in the streets, one of Caroline’s favorite things to do was ride a horse or simply stroll out into the fields. Looking around, she realized she was in one of her favorite groves just behind the west wall of the palace, with the little glade hidden by trees. She had hardly recognized it at this size, but it didn’t take long to feel right at home again. She quickly sat back down, spreading her arms out comfortably in the soft grass, the cool breeze washing over her. She didn’t know how she had managed to end up here, but she was in too much blissful comfort amongst the flowers to truly care.
Gleeful with the freedom of motion she had out in the field, she giggled with joyful unawareness of the world like she had as a small child: for just a moment, she felt like she was Phillip’s age again, still learning to enjoy the wonders of the universe. Closing her eyes and laughing loudly, listening to it echo, she rolled over several times through the short grass and flowers. Suddenly, she felt her shoulder hit a tree. It didn’t cause her much more than a fleeting second of discomfort, but as she pulled back she watched the tree breaking off near the base, so hard had she hit it. Caroline rolled into a sitting position and watched with a bit of regret as the tree tumbled over to the side. However, her regret quickly turned to a chill ripping through her stomach as she heard a yelp of pain.
Quickly going onto her hands and knees, Caroline crawled back to the fallen tree, looking around the side. Underneath the thick branches, she realized there was a body. Wailing out in terror at what she had just done, Caroline went into a kneeling position, grasping her long fingers around the bulk of the tree and lifting it up without much effort. She tossed it to the side, sending it crashing into another tree as she moved her eyes back to the body under the tree; it was Anne, lying limply in the grass, moaning softly. Caroline quickly covered her mouth to try and contain the inevitable shriek, her hand shaking as she held it warily over her sister’s body.
“ANNIE!” she screamed out in a panic, unable to contain herself. “No! No, I… I couldn’t have, I didn’t see… no, no, no…” she mumbled, leaning over and sliding her hands under Anne’s body. She lifted her up as if she were a newborn, going into a standing position and cradling her in her arms, curling her fingers around her legs and sides to keep her safe from being dropped. She rocked her gently, looking her over and stroking her cheek with her huge pointer finger. Anne appeared to have gone unconscious. Her clothes were tattered, and Caroline thought she saw small scratches along Anne’s cheek and stomach, some of them red. “No! Oh, no, please no, no…” mumbled Caroline, her voice cracking, utterly helpless to do anything. “I’ll… get you help… oh, no, no, no… Annie, please… I’m so sor…” she said, her voice breaking off as she began jogging forward, dodging the trees that were nearly as tall as her. With her height advantage, she was able to see over the tops. However, as she continued running, she saw no palace wall, which was normally but a few minutes walk through the least dense part of the forest. All Caroline could see in all directions surrounding the flower field were trees stretching on endlessly, and beyond that was a thick, gray layer of fog covering up any line of sight Caroline might have had. Panicking even more and feeling a cold sweat breaking out on her back, Caroline looked back down at Anne and felt her own legs quivering. How could she have done this? She had knocked a tree down on her little sister, who looked up to her so much. She may have even killed her.
“No! No, she’s not, she’s not going to…” cried Caroline suddenly at this unknowable thought, her tears trickling onto the limp form of Anne. She tried to shift her head to the side, but it was pretty useless with the waterworks cascading down her cheeks. She had no idea what to do. “Please, please, please wake up, little sister, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to…” she rambled, having no other resource other than her sorrowful words. She watched as her large tears streaked down her sister’s dirty clothes and face from the tree, her hands and forearms quivering. “Please, Annie, don’t… leave me, don’t leave your big sister… your… big…” she said, looking down at herself, disgusted. She looked up at the sky and yelled out as loud as she could, releasing her rage all at once, tightly gripping the body of her sister in her arms like a baby.
“BIG!” called out Caroline, her voice echoing around the Great Hall as she awoke from her nap in a cold sweat. “B-b-big…” she said, looking down at herself, realizing she had never left and breathing a sigh of relief. It had only been another terrible dream. Caroline was, while she enjoyed her rest, beginning to resent her mental nighttime activities. They didn’t seem to be doing her health or her outlook at the future any favors.
Suddenly, in a crash that hurt even Caroline’s ears, she felt a rumbling like an earthquake actually hit her through the floor, and yet nothing happened in the Great Hall. She heard yelling from some distant hallway of the palace, and a moment later the sound of steel being clashed against steel.
Both curious and worried for the safety of everyone outside, Caroline inched her way to the door at the top of the tall entrances stairs, the direction from which she had heard the yelling. Mentally cursing her massive and cumbersome body, she leaned herself along the length of the stairs, propping herself up by pressing against the marble with her toes and sticking her head through the small double doors, unable to fit anything else, to find out what was going on. She ran her fingers through her long blonde hair, trying to sweep her bangs from her vision and back out the door to ensure she had the best view. The hallway stretched in both directions with no doors and no openings. The only remarkable part of the whole hall was a small table with an ornate vase containing a large wildflower on it, but this had already fallen to the ground and been smashed to pieces. There were no more crashes or earthquakes, but she heard more rumbling, and an instant later, she watched as two guards dashed right past her face, not even taking a moment to look at her. She noted how much of a hurry they must have been in, as the large head of an over two-story tall young girl protruding from a doorway isn’t something she assumed they saw very often. This alone worried her, and with nothing else to see, she pulled her head out, listening worriedly to the yelling and wishing she were her normal size again so she could go find her family and ensure their safety.
“COME! COME, QUICKLY!” came the call of what sounded like the head of the guards as Caroline turned her head to the other door. Half a dozen other guards followed in front, followed by Richard, Elizabeth, Anne and Phillip. Behind them came over a dozen other guards, all marching in pairs of two. “We need to keep moving, get them together, get in front!” barked the head of the guards to his troops, drawing his sword and moving closer to the larger double doors that Caroline had used the day before to enter the Great Hall. Everyone seemed to be facing these doors, keeping a measured distance away from it in the corner. The yelling continued from far off in the winding halls of the palace.
Anne and Phillip quickly darted to their sister, who was now sitting cross-legged on the marble floor, looking around dazed and confused. Phillip grabbed on to her hand, which was hanging loosely by the ground, and buried his face in her massive palm, hugging his arms into the spaces between her fingers. “I’m scared, Caroline! What’s happening?” he moaned, shaking. Caroline quickly wrapped her warm fingers around his shoulders and chest protectively, trying to quell his quivering despite the fact that she had no idea what was happening either. Anne grabbed on to a clump of loose robe by Caroline’s hip and hugged herself to it, wrapping herself partially inside of it and shaking almost as hard as her brother.
“Father?” asked Caroline quickly, but her father looked up at her quickly, shushing her with a hand and moving to the guard to speak. Richard rarely did this to anyone, so she was certain that this was not some ordinary event taking place. She looked down at her mother, who was also standing nearby, and whispered, “Mother? Please, tell me what’s going on, I’m so very confused… why is there such commotion outside? Has the earth been shaken?”
“Please, Caroline, we cannot… just… just remain still, remain quiet, please, help your siblings, but please…” she said, looking worriedly over at her husband, who was busily speaking to the head of the guards in hushed tones. Caroline looked around as several more guards filed in, posting themselves at the several doors around the room, but mainly the two largest double doors used by Caroline to enter. Spears drawn, shields held up, over a dozen of the now-very numerous troop quantities sat in waiting, whispering last minute specifications to one another.
“Get ready, soldiers!” shouted out the head of the guards. “Shields UP!”
Caroline’s breath caught in her chest as the two doubles doors were smashed in an instant into splinters and sawdust by whatever was on the other side, sending the entire line of troops posted at the door sprawling on the ground.