Chapter 1 part 1

They named her Heliotrope Hyacinth Hemingway. If you live in a time or place where Heliotrope would not be a pretty name for a baby girl this may seem cruel to you. Unfortunately for this baby Heliotrope was not an attractive name for a girl much less a Princess. When the baby's name was first announced the servants looked at the King and Queen with accusing eyes. The King looked back and shrugged in a regal way.  The Queen said, "We couldn't help it." And that was the truth.

Before she'd been named the baby was taken away cleaned up, dressed in the finest silks and lace, and wrapped in a blanket of pure white with a deep royal purple ribbon running along the edge. Despite all these trappings of royalty the infant refused to look like a princess. Like all babies her head was slightly too large for her body. She stared out at the world beneath a halo of almost invisible blond curls with the blackest of eyes. It was a piercing stare that you just could not get away from. Her arms and legs were long and stretched out of her wrappings one after the other. The servants carefully tucked each wayward limb back in but they would not stay. Her mouth was never closed instead she emitted a constant chain of cries and complaints. The squirming infant looked more like a large pink frog than a little Princess.

               The nurse handed the new baby to the queen as gently and neatly as she could. Within moments the little Princess kicked away her blanket and was squirming and wailing in such a way that the Queen had great difficulty maintaining her regal presence and hanging onto her child. The King, a great warrior, looked over his wife's shoulder with fear in his eyes. They looked at each other, at their child, then back at each other. "Heliotrope," they said with surprise in their voice.

The Queen added softly, "Hyacinth."

The King nodded and that was how the unfortunate little Princess got the name Heliotrope Hyacinth Hemingway. The baby was handed back to the nurse and she would not see her parents again for a long, long, long time.

The nurse was young and nervous. It seemed to her that only yesterday she was a child on her parent’s farm. In the short intervening time she'd given birth to her first child and her second and lost both the children and her husband. She was hired just a few days ago to be nurse to this baby. She had not made any friends at court. She dressed plainly, spoke softly, and moved in the shadows. In short she spent a great deal of time trying to be invisible.

Walking down the hall with this squirming crying Princess, she was anything but invisible. The nursery was not far from the Queen's chamber but in that time she had said “Good morrow” to a lady in waiting, was stopped by two chattering chambermaids, and made eye contact with the footman as he picked up the baby’s blanket for her. She took the last few paces to the nursery nearly at a run.

Clutching the baby close to her, she closed the nursery door and placed the wailing infant in the ornate crib.  The Princess sank into the soft mattress. The baby continued to cry. The nurse stood in front of the mirror.  She barely recognized herself in the clear glass surrounded by the heavy gilt frame.  The room around her seemed gigantic with its high vaulted ceiling, marble fire place and wall of leaded glass windows.  Even though it was high summer she felt cold and longed for her cozy dirt floor cottage. The young nurse tucked her fiery red locks back into her linen cap, smoothed down her brown dress and straightened her crisp white apron.

She picked up the Princess, took her to the rocking chair in the corner and attempted to feed her. This had always been an easy task with her own children, but the Princess continued to wail as she nursed. Milk spilled out of her mouth staining her beautiful silk gown and soaking the poor young nurse. This rather messy method of feeding meant a great deal of milk was lost before the baby's belly was finally full and Heliotrope slipped into a deep milk sleep. She slept with a contented smile on her face which deeply charmed the nurse whose broken heart risked a single beat before it went dormant again.

She gently changed the Princess into clean clothes and settled her back into her crib. After cleaning the rocking chair and changing her own clothes, the nurse settled back into the rocker and closed her eyes for a sleep that would not last.

Outside the sky was of two minds.  Sun light streamed over the hills.  It danced and sparkled in the leaves of the great oaks that grew on the grounds.  Over the ocean dark clouds were rolling in.  They blotted out the light under them creating a mid-day twilight.  Against this darkness the light seemed unusually bright.  The more superstitious of the realm would say that the Fay were about. The nurse did not ascribe to such things and the strange weather had not drawn her attention.  However, the loud peals of thunder that roared across the disturbed sky woke the princess.

The nursery was filled with a strange light. It hung about the room like a lightning strike, frozen. Heliotrope giggled and cooed in her crib. The rocker creaked as the nurse rose to her feet. She walked across the stone cold floor to the crib. Just as she reached for the baby the light suddenly fled from the room. Outside there was a tremendous rumble of thunder. The room shook and one of the windows rattled loose and swung violently open. At that moment the sky released its rain in driving sheets. Heliotrope continued to giggle as heavy drops of rain fell onto the nursery floor. Lightning flashed and thunder roared as the nurse wrestled with the window. At last she was able to latch it back in place. With the click of the window the new Princess began to cry and wail.