Fiction: The Cursed Princess and The Land of Happiness - Part 1

For five hundred years, the people in the Land of Happiness was always happy and always lucky until the one hundred and eighth princess was born. That day, when the first cry of Princess Evangeline Lauren Sophia Penelope Elizabeth Trinity Harriet was heard, the sky cracked opened and flooded Happiness. Crops were ruined and water consumed the land. Nearly one hundred lives were lost. Through the years, the bad luck continued in Happiness with fires, storms, duststorms, droughts and various, unexplained accidents.
    The queen and king of Happiness, Queen Anne and King Fortune the Third sought advice from several royal fortune tellers. They all agreed the princess must marry a man of wealth and good fortune in order for luck to return to Happiness. Many suitors came and went but none ended in an engagement.
    On the eve of Princess Eva's twentieth birthday, an engagement was announced to the prince from the north island kingdom. Soon after, good luck poured in. For six months and two days, the Land of Happiness was thriving. Then the princess' betrothed broke off the engagement and married his cousin. The people of Happiness was once again suffering from unlucky fortunes.
    Today, as people of Happiness celebrated Princess Eva's twenty-first birthday, there were prayers throughout the land. Each villagers hoped this time the princess will indeed get marry and save their land.
    In Castle Fortune, Princess Eva made her way down the long stairwell to the ballroom. The party was held in her honor but Eva would rather run and hide. Being known as the cursed princess who brought down the land by being born was a horrid thought that visited her every night. Some days, she did believed she was not cursed and other days, when she heard news of another disaster in the village, her belief quickly vanished. Many sleepless nights, she would pray that lightning would strike her down or a carriage would crush her to pieces so she would no longer bring bad luck to her people.
    A few heads turned to watch as Eva stepped onto the marble floor. Several couples were dancing while others were conversing. Eva kept a smile on her face. Suddenly, one of the dancing ladies tripped and fell on another couple and all the other couples nearby tumbled to the floor. There were gasps and shouts followed by a brief silence. Then Queen Anne declared it was time for dinner.
    Eva tried not to look at those staring at her with distain and pity. Ever since she was born, Eva had lived following every rule and performing every princess duties. Some might considered her life repetitious and unlucky but she often thought it was not intolerable. Every now and then, she would wonder if she did the opposite of what she was told, maybe it would yield different results and maybe her life would be less constrained.
    Everyone gathered into the dinning hall for dinner. Queen Anne and King Fortune entered first. Eva's cousin, Prince Regal, led Eva to her seat. Eva's seven younger sisters and seven royal gentlemen, two aunts and their husbands, three uncles and their wives, ten nieces and five nephews, her grandfather King Fortune the Second and his friend King Limberbean, and twenty guests followed after. Twenty-seven servants were present to serve.
    As the royal family were vegetarians, the first course was tofu steak. Eva peered down at her plate. It did looked like meat until she took a bite and tasted nothing but blandness. She sighed and took another bite. Going hungry was not her way.
    Sitting on Eva's left was Prince Limberbean the Fifteenth, a younger and thinner version of his grandfather and on her right was the prince's elder sister, Princess Wilma, who was quite a beauty but empty-headed. The conversation steered from handkerchieves to dressing gowns. Princess Wilma gushed about the importance of gowns while Prince Limberbean insisted handkerchieves must never be washed in scalding hot water. Eva was about to roll her eyes when she caught her mother looking her way just two seats away. The queen had always demanded obedience not only from her subjects but her children as well. Eva smiled and turned back to Princess Wilma.
    After two courses, King Fortune, sitting at the head on the other end of the table, stood up and tapped a wine glass with a silver spoon. The spoon went flying down the table and struck one of the guest's plate. A servant quickly cleaned up the mess. King Fortune's eyes widened for a brief second but then he smiled and put down his wine glass. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my pleasure to announce the engagement of my daughter Princess Evangeline Lauren Sophia Penelope Elizabeth Trinity Harriet to Prince Limberbean of the Land of Goodness." He grinned and looked all around him. Everyone applauded almost too enthusiastically. Had not everyone anticipated this news? Eva had almost forgotten until this moment. She wished it was anyone but Prince Limberbean and his obsession with handkerchieves.
    Eva caught her mother's eyes again. She gave Eva a raised eyebrow. A silent signal that reminded Eva she was a princess and it was her duty to marry and save their land. She resisted the urge to slug Prince Limberbean as he lifted her gloved hand and kissed it.
    The applaud died down and dessert was served - purple and red ice cream. Purple for the Land of Goodness and red for Happiness. Eva dug into the ice cream and took a small bite. The grape flavor mixed with the strawberry was quite sweet but she could not enjoy it.
    After the meal, they returned to the ballroom. There was the twenty-one layer birthday cake to be served. But first, Prince Limberbean asked Eva for a dance. He glided Eva onto the dance floor where the chandelier blazed in their six dozen candles. The orchestra began to play a slow melody. Prince Limberbean grinned and showed all his shiny, perfect teeth as they started to move. Eva wanted to punch that smile away. "Do you want to hear about my handkerchief collection from the west island?" he said.
    Before Eva could answer, he started on a list beginning with his favorite handkerchief made from eggplants. On and on, he rattled while Eva tried to keep her mind from wandering. Suddenly, Prince Limberbean stopped talking. He...

Choose what happens next:
A — He slowly turned green and into a frog.
B — He choked, collapsed to the floor and died.
C — He tried to spin Eva but they fell onto the birthday cake.
D — Fill in the blank with what you think should happen next.

The choice with the most votes will be how the story will continue but if anyone who makes a rather good suggestion (choice D), I might consider using it instead.

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This month Words for Wednesday prompts are provided by David M Gascoigne. This week's prompts are: Blurry, Fig, Leading, Oversexed, Intolerable, Glacial And/or Romantic, Dogmatic, Nebulous, Gum, Fodder, Deprecate. I've only managed to use 'Intolerable.' For more Words for Wednesday, visit Elephant's Child's blog here.