The Thespian
Princess
by
Michael F. Bavota
In a land of old, far beyond the mountains of Cadasa there lived a
beautiful princess. Her hair was blonde like the sands of the dessert and softly spun like the fine silk
of a spider’s web. She had deep, dark eyes that sparkled even at night time, which was a great enchantment
for many young suitors.
On the day she was born, in the land called Bonadea, her mother and
father named her Victoria. It was a strong name reserved throughout the kingdom for only the fairest of the land. King Anselm
called his royal subjects to the castle to celebrate the glorious event.
“Hear ye, hear ye!” The small, round-bellied town crier shouted along the dusty wagon worn streets. “All
who are in good standing with the king are hereby summoned to attend the celebration of the birth of the princess. Come ye!
Come ye all!” His voice bellowed through every abbey and passageway. The loud bell clenched tightly in his hand clanked
like the echo of a distant ship’s time keeper.
All was in good spirits at the castle, except for Ethelburga, the keeper of the household and ancient sister to the
King’s older brother. For many years her care had been confined to just the King and his Queen. She was not so thrilled
to spread her time so quickly for another, especially one so fair as to deserve the name of Victoria.
“Ethelburga, ye look so grumpy. Thou hath a mean spirited bee in thy bonnet today?” The castle guard
asked in jest.
“Mind thee thy own business, frump!” The housekeeper quipped with a sharp
tongue. “Baby, Victoria this! Baby Victoria that! We can see who shall
be gaining all the attention around here now! Oh, thou hear the Queen calling
for me now. Baby, Victoria needs… things were just fine until she cometh along.” She twirled
her dress and hustled down the stairs.
On the evening of the celebration, the King and Queen proudly displayed
their only child to the kingdom. Many of the King’s subjects exclaimed that she was truly a child born to be a princess.
They brought many gifts and treasures to place beneath her crib.
“Surely
she will one day be a radiant queen.” The master theater owner proclaimed and his merry group of thespians performed
for the king.
Weeks past and suddenly the queen became ill. Physicians, healers,
and the royal priests were summoned to make her well, but none could ease her sickness. She was so weak that even a visit
from Victoria, who she adored was too much for her endure. Finally near the end, the King ordered Ethelburga to keep the princess
occupied and allowed her only a few minutes a day to visit her mother. It was the rule. Victoria did not take well to the
restrictions set down by her aunt, she wanted her mother. So she found other ways to occupy her time so that Ethelburga would
not have need to pacify her. Then late one night the castle bells rang loud. The worst had come for the queen as she died
in her sleep. Victoria was devastated and fell away to herself with each passing day. She was left to be raised by her father
and Ethelburga.
It came to pass that Victoria grew to become a
radiant princess. Each year on her birthday the master theater owner and his troop performed a special comedy at the castle.
Afterward, in secret, in the privacy of her room, the princess would cry after the players removed their costumes and returned
to the theater in the next town.
“Elva, why do I harbor such sorry in my heart?” There
was no answer. Instead the voice of Ethelburga came from outside the door.
“Who doth thou
talk to in the night inside thy bedroom walls?” She pushed the door open wide and peered into every corner. “If
thou harbors a young man, I will find him and thy father will cast him to the hounds with haste!”
Victoria
laughed deep from in her stomach. “Silly goose. There is not a young man inside these walls. My father
knows well of my honor and obedience to the rule.” The princess reached for her hair brush and began to comb her long
hair. She knew well that it bothered Ethelburga to hear her count the strokes so she recited out loud, “One…Two…Three.”
She paused, looked over her shoulder and watched as her aunt snapped away and trotted loudly down the stairs.
“I am so glad that her eyes fail to see thee, Elva.” The princess held the brush and combed the air in
front of her waist.
“It is far best this way, my princess.” The tiny elf like Elva spoke softly
so as not to bring back the meddlesome aunt. “She is quite wicket to thee.” She said boldly.
In
Victoria’s eyes, Elva was a gleaming six inch high fairy, with shinny silver wings, pointy slippers and a large smile.
Elva always wore a smile and Victoria loved her that way.
“Auntie Ethelbags is mean, yet
I feel sad for her.” Victoria said with a frown.
Elva blew up her cheeks and held her
breathe until her mouth popped. “Sad! Sad! Thy heart is much too soft my princess to see the royal forest from the trees.”
The princess shook her head and placed her hands upon her hips. “Do thee know she has no dreams? It is true!
She told this to the castle guard. I heard it myself with thine own ears.”
The
fairy swished her lips to one side. “Every one dreams. Even the beasts of the barn. Surely she doth not exist beneath
the beast. Although I wonder?”
“Elva! That is cruel, you wicket little imp.” Victoria
turned her head to one side and giggled. “The very thought doth cross my mind as well.”
Whenever she could Victoria would sneak away from the castle, saddle a horse and ride
off to the next town to watch the thespians rehearse. Ethelburga would become furious on these days when the princess could
not be found. One day she had the guardsman take her to the theater, for she knew all about the dreams of performing on the
stage that occupied Victoria’s mind.
Ethelburga found her sitting in the
front row. “Look at you! Why be thee dressed in such manner. Not a fitting attire for a princess. Unbefitting!”
The housekeeper was angry. She tore away Victoria’s hat and wiped the makeup from her face. “If thy father knew
he would make thee stay in the castle forever more.”
Victoria lashed back. “My father
is kind. He would never do such a thing unto me.” She let her long hair fall down around her shoulders, and made a horrible
face at Ethelburga.
“Kid thyself not O royal one. When Thy father caught thy mother in places unbefitting
for his queen, he held her close inside the castle walls to do his bidding. Many nights he wept because of her disobedience
to the rule. I heard him in his chambers.”
The ride back to the castle was long and cold.
Victoria was commanded to return in the wagon beside Ethelburga. She knew that her father would not approve of her being off
alone on horse back riding through the kingdom. “What will thee tell my father?” Victoria asked meekly.
Night was falling and the air was damp. “I will keep thy secret if thou promises to stop this behavior and
obey the rule. Stay away from these vagabonds in the theater. You have no place with this kind of people. That! Is the rule.
Obey me, O princess so that I may spare thy father of your wicket actions.”
For a long time,
Victoria obeyed the rule and remained close to the castle. She did not want her father to weep for her
selfish wanderings. Thus for the time being, she and Elva had their own theater in the confines of her bedroom. There she
was safe to do as she pleased, but even then she was most sure she heard Ethelburga outside her door listening, prying, spying.
It came to pass that the housekeeper found herself bed ridden from a fever. Victoria
knew that this was a chance to leave the castle and visit the theater. For many days she secretly took the fastest horse and
sat in the front row of the arena and listened to the troop practice their lines. It was not long after that Ethelburga returned
to her duties and began to suspect Victoria’s misbehavior and defiance of the rule.
One evening the King rose from his dinner table and summoned the royal coachman. “I wish to go to the theater
tonight. Make it so. I shall gather my things. Request that my daughter may join me if she wished so.”
The coachman pulled the wagon to the castle gates, raced up the stairs and called to Victoria through her bedroom
door to join her father. “Your majesty, me thinks your daughter must be asleep,
for there was no reply when I call’d to her.”
“Very well. Perhaps her day
was long. Leave her to her rest. We are off good man!”
In the arena of the theater there
was a great stir when the King arrived. The audience turned to see him seated in the royal box. The play was about to begin
and now some of the flames were being taken away to set the mood.
“Great news everyone!
Gather around me.” The master theater owner proclaimed. “The King is in the audience tonight.
Let us all be at our best now. Quickly, quickly the curtain is rising.”
Panic set into Victoria’s
face. “O, no! What am I to do. If thy father finds me here he shall be enraged for I have broken the rule. Elva, help
me? Elva!” Even though Victoria was in costume, she was certain that her father would still recognize her. She called
out once more for her elf friend, but Elva was no where to be found.
Suddenly the curtain
went up and the players were called to the stage. Victoria’s character was the lead. The play had
to go on. She pulled herself into her character and ran to her mark. “O mighty raft of righteousness. See thee that
thy hand hath might of sword. Lead me to the battle for I am strong in cause!”
The crowd
applauded loudly. It was a familiar play, one the villagers loved the most. Victoria had them dazzled from the very beginning.
Soon they feasted upon every word. Platazio was her character and she played it like Mozart to a keyboard.
Her mind was deep into the play and while she stood upon the stage before her father thoughts of him watching were far buried
in herself. This stage was her playroom and this theater her kingdom. Like the sanctuary of her bedroom walls where she and
Elva pretended to perform great plays of Shakespeare, this arena was her love. On this evening she gave the best performance
of her life.
When the final act came to a close, the audience stood to their feet. Even the King
stood shouting and applauding the loudest. It was a fine performance. The King summoned the master theater owner to his royal
box.
“Present to me that fine thespian Platazio. I want to meet this young man.”
He commanded.
Nothing was more complimentary to an owner of theater than to have the King summon a
player. The master ran to the costume room to find Victoria. “The King has summoned thee. Go now and receive his accolade.
What a mighty performance you gave, Benjamin.”
And that was the dilemma facing Victoria.
Even the master theater owner did not know she was a female, a female who was the princess. She had come to the theater dressed
as a boy, as she always did and watched the players rehearse for hours upon hours. Then when the lead character fell ill and
the director look down at her in the front row and called her to the stage, she could not turn back. He
needed a male to play the part and she knew every line.
With much reservation Victoria walked
toward the King’s box. Her instincts told her to turn and run, run as fast as she could back to castle and never do
this acting thing again. But she could not retreat. She could feel her mother’s voice inside moving her forward.
When she reached the King she immediately bowed and remained to the ground so he could not see her face.
“Arise” said the King. “Young man, never have I seen this play performed with a greater movement
of my emotions. Brilliant was thy presence. Brilliant!” The King shouted for all who were left in the theater to hear.
Victoria kept her head and eyes facing down. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Then she fell to her
knees and kissed the hands of the mighty king. “Father,” she said softly. “I have disobeyed the rule. Forgive
me, father.” She stood to face him eye to eye.
The King did not utter a word. Instead
he looked around her and starred at the empty stage. Then he cleared his throat that was choked with emotion. “ Your
mother, my queen was a marvelous woman. She too had a great love of the stage.” A tear rolled down his face.
Victoria watched him in amazement. “Father.”
He began again. “Whenever
I could not find your mother in the castle I always knew that she was here watching the rehearsals or being of comfort to
her subjects. One night when we were able to attend the play together I silently watched her mouth all
the words to every line. She never knew that I saw, yet I understood these things.”
“My…my
mother loved the theater?” Victoria smiled and then lowered her head to her father’s chest.
King
Anselm embraced her. “Indeed. Indeed she did. But is was a troublesome time in the kingdom. There were many battles
and many enemies. Your queen mother gave most of her life caring for families of our brave soldiers and being of service to
me to help bring peace to the land. I knew that she longed to be on the stage, but she never made it there. I wept many nights
when I was alone because I could not give her this gift.”
Now Victoria hugged him tighter.
“Father, I will be of service to thee too. I will return to the castle now.”
“Thee
will serve thy heart, daughter. Sweet, Victoria. Go now unto the master theater owner and tell him that the King’s daughter
is the thespian princess. This is my wish. This is the rule. And know this, daughter. I will always be the one who applauds
the loudest for you….in this life and into the next.”
As
the flames in the theater were being extinguished, Victoria kissed her father softly and raced down to the stage. She stood
boldly in the center for the first time being the princess, and shouted, “I will be great for thee, father! I will be
great for thee!”
The King bowed before her and smiled. He looked up to the heavens
and gave thanks to his creator and said in a whisper, “My beautiful queen, thy great spirit lives on.”