Dani
crossed over the golden bridge and approached the princess. Her face was calm
now, and Dani felt at ease. She had been frightened of the princess’ frowning
visage, but now that her expression was calm, Dani could see that she was
beautiful like a precious Victorian doll. She looked as she had when Dani had
first encountered her.
The princess
smiled, delighted to see that her precious pearl necklace had come back to her.
She was even more beautiful when she smiled. “Hand them to me,” she ordered. Dani
felt so calm looking at the pretty face that she complied without hesitation.
The princess put the necklace on and looked at her reflection in the brook.
“They look so much better on me than you,” she said.
Dani
didn’t say anything. For a moment, the princess looked at her as if observing
an interesting insect under a microscope. “You think you are a real beauty,
don’t you?” asked the princess.
“I
suppose you can say that.”
“But
look at you! You’re so plain, almost raggedy. I’ve seen farm girls more
beautiful than you!”
Dani
didn’t say anything.
“Your
box is filled to the brim with jewels of all kinds, sizes, and shapes,” said
the princess. “You think that donning them makes you a beauty. You use them to
distract others from how plain you are.” The princess approached Dani and
looked straight into her eyes, and though she was small and delicate, she
managed to look quite imposing. “If you had done what was right, and willingly
returned the pearls upon learning that they belonged to me,” she said sharply,
“then you could have gone on being plain. You might have even become beautiful
along the way. But now, you are ugly. You’ve shown that you are a vain,
selfish, dishonest woman whose own petty desires come before all else. You are
willing to steal a precious heirloom from a princess
in order to further your desire to pass as beautiful. But your ways have shown
that you are ugly, even hideous.”
“You said yourself that I’m plain,” Dani
snapped, “so what difference does it make that I’m selfish and ugly and
whatever else? If I can’t be beautiful, I might as well be ugly!” Mouthing off
was the only way she could suppress the guilt and shame of having her
wrongdoing, her insecurities, and her most unattractive flaws thrown in her
face all at once.
“I
pity you,” said the princess, “because you don’t know what beauty really is. If
you were to take away my gowns, my crowns, my diamonds and my pearls, my gold,
silver, and jewels, and all of my silks and brocades, I would still be
beautiful. I could have nothing and still be beautiful, while you are plain and
ugly even with the finest pearls, because you don’t understand that real beauty
comes from your character. For that, I pity you.”
“I
didn’t come here to listen to an after-school special!” Dani snapped. “You have
your lousy pearls and you’ve told me how ugly I am, so I’ll be taking my leave.
Now tell me how to get home.”
“I
can see that you’ve learned nothing,” said the princess, shaking her head in
exasperation, “and that you are hard-hearted to the point of stupidity. But
still, I am willing to help you, even though I shouldn’t waste any time on the
likes of you.”
“I
don’t need any ‘help’ from you!” said Dani. “And I’m going to be pissed if I miss work tomorrow because
of you!”
But
instead of chiding Dani any further or commenting on her rudeness, the princess
smiled and took both of her hands. Dani’s first instinct was to pull back, but
something in the gentle gesture and the doll-like face would not allow her to.
She felt calm all over, too calm to run away or strike out or even mouth off
again. The princess looked at her with the kind of gentle expression that an
older sister might use for her younger sibling. “Tell me your name,” she said.
Since there was no anger or malice in her voice, Dani answered: “Dannica
Halliwell.”
“Dannica
Halliwell, I can see your beauty clearly when you aren’t being as disagreeable
as you were,” said the princess. “You have pretty eyes, hair like spun gold,
and your lips form a nearly perfect rosebud shape.”
“I
thought you said I was plain.”
“You
are rather plain,” said the princess, “but I can see your beautiful qualities
when you choose to be calm and pleasant as you are now. I see your potential,
and you may be plain, but you are no longer ugly.”
“Well,
it’s hard to be pleasant when you’re so plain, or ugly,” said Dani.
“Even
if it makes you more beautiful and you know it?” asked the princess.
“I
wouldn’t know it,” said Dani, “because nobody would see it that way.”
“I
see it that way!” said the princess.
“I
mean, nobody where I’m from would see it that way,” replied Dani.
“That’s
a pity,” said the princess with a sigh. “Anybody could turn ugly in a world
where the most beautiful qualities are not valued. I can see why you feel as
though you need jewels and adornments to be beautiful, but it is still no
excuse for trying to steal my pearls. But even with your thievery, I know you
are not really the scoundrel you’ve made yourself out to be. And in addition to
helping you realize how wrong you were, I’d like to help you realize what
beauty really is. Let me take you under my wing.”
Dani
was taken aback. “What in the world do you mean?”
“I
mean,” said the princess, “that I will let you stay with me and be my companion.
You will have my old dresses and robes, but you will have no other luxuries.
But I will be so kind to you and make you feel so beautiful and worthy that you
will find luxuries to be quite unnecessary.”
“You’re
going to take me away from my home?” cried Dani.
“I
am making an offer,” said the princess. “If you want to take it, you may. If
not, I’ll send you back home to your sad and ugly world. But if you do decide
to stay with me, you will find that you have no more need for pearls.” With
that, she let go of Dani’s hands and walked towards the castle.
Dani
looked around at the magnificent castle, the pristine brook, the splendid
courtyard and the colorful garden beside it. She watched the princess’ golden
ringlets bounce at her shoulders, her long velvet gown—a world away from Dani’s
little pink velour dress—trailing behind her as she walked. Her kind and gentle
smile was still fresh in Dani’s mind. When she wasn’t angry, the princess was
so lovely and sweet, and she was ready to forgive Dani. What would an old
ragtag assortment of jewelry matter if Dani could live as the companion of a
fairy princess? What would her apathetic bar friends and her co-workers at the
stuffy old office think if they could see her by the side of a princess
straight out of a fairy tale? Then again, Dani was quite all right with not
seeing them for a long, long time.
So
Dani followed after the princess, and it didn’t take too long for her to
discover that she never had a need for pearls, rubies, sapphires, or anything
else of the sort. But everyone who saw her by the princess’ side would marvel
at just how beautiful she was, even lovelier than the princess’ spectacular
pearl necklace.
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