Chapter Text
BLESSINGS AND CURSES
Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Italy lived King Romulus of the House of Vargas and his Queen, Marie and for many years they wanted a child and finally their dream came true. A son was born and they named him Lovino but their joy was short lived. Two days after they celebrated his birth he disappeared.
Many attempts were made to find him but he was not found. The kingdom grieved for the missing prince but, while Lovino was still being sought, joy returned to the kingdom with the birth of a second son whom they named Feliciano. It meant happy and he was named for the happiness he brought back into their lives.
There was a great celebration and Romulus invited his friend, King Wolfgang of Germania and Regent of the Kingdom of Prussia, and his young son Prince Ludwig and stepson, Crowned Prince Gilbert of Prussia, of the House of Beilschmidt. These two kings had wished for their kingdoms to unite for a long time and so, on this day, Prince Feliciano was promised in marriage to Prince Ludwig when they came of age.
Ludwig looked down at his future spouse. The blonde, blue-eyed three year old was not impressed by the auburn-haired baby with the funny left hand curl. Lugwig's six year old albino half brother, Gilbert stood nearby, snickering at Ludwig's fate when he came of age.
Also invited to the celebration were the three Fae, Arthur of the Kirkland Clan, Lukas of the Bondevik Tribe and Vladimir of the Popescu Line in the hope that they would bless the infant prince. Arthur had messy blonde hair, huge eyebrows and the greenest eyes in creation. Lukas was also blonde but a lighter shade, one side of which was held back by a cross barrette and a curl that seemed to float independently at the side of his head with blue eyes that displayed no emotion but you could get lost in them if you stare into them and Vladimir was a strawberry blonde with red eyes and what appeared to be fangs which he was hiding right now from the royal family for fear of scaring them. All had wings the colour of their eyes and dressed in the same hues.
They flew to the cradle where the little prince slept and gazed at the newest Italian royal. Arthur, despite his rather cynical nature, was a softy for children. They brought out his paternal side. Lukas was not so fond of children but thought Feliciano was 'cute' and Vladimir cooed over the infant prince.
Having paid their respects to the child they flew to the thrones to stand before the King and Queen and bowed.
"Your Majesties!"
"Each of us will give one gift to the child," Arthur said with a British accent. He approached the cradle and raised his wand.
"Sweet prince," he chanted. "Beauty will be my gift." He spun his wand in the air which created a glittery cloud in the air which floated into the cradle and covered the prince in little lights which were absorbed into his skin. Arthur stepped away and Lukas took his place.
"Lille prins, jeg setter gaveens sang i stemmen din ( Little Prince, I put the gift of song in your voice )," Lukas chanted in his native Norwegian, and waved his own wand in the air and another glittering cloud floated into the cradle and was absorbed like before. Vladimir stepped up and raised his wand and began in Romanian.
"Micul Print, darul cel mai pretios este ....." ( Tiny Prince, the most precious gift is ..... )
Suddenly there was a fierce wind that blew out many of the candles in the throne room as the doors slammed open and a wild wind blew in. As the wind died away, a woman was stood in the door opening. She had long silvery white hair and blue eyes that flashed purple and she wore a dark blue robe. She carried a staff with a crystal globe set in the top in one hand and a dark aura surrounded her. A crow flew around her head and landed on the globe.
"Natalya!" Arthur gasped.
"What's she doing here?" Vladimir's voice held a note of contempt. Lukas shushed him.
The Dark Sorceress was a legend in magical circles. It was rumoured she had made the Ice King, Ivan of the Russias, disappear for refusing her offer of marriage. The fact he was her brother was not a good enough reason for her and their older sister, Katyusha, Witch of the Fields, had vanished before Ivan. It was believed Natalya did not want competition for his affections but no one knew for certain if the rumours were true. It was only known that Ivan and Katyusha had not be seen since.
She had also been invited to the celebration of Lovino's birth. There had been trouble when Natalya felt slighted over her seating, believing she had not been placed according to her importance. Many suspected her as responsible for Lovino's disappearance but no magic had been detected in the room the infant prince had vanished from and he had not been found at Natalya's castle in the forbidden mountains, many leagues distant or very close by, depending on her mood. There was no proof but for this reason, no invitation had been sent for this celebration.
Dangerous decision!
Natalya looked over the royal family, remembering when she had been a part of one. Until her older sister had garnered all her brother's affection.
" Natalya," Katyusha denied. "That's ridiculous. My affection for Ivan is as his sister. To love him any other way is unnatural. I know that and so should you."
" You want to take him from me. He is mine and I won't let you have him. We will become one and you won't stop us."
"Ty zbozhevoliv! (You are insane!)" the Ukrainian princess gasped. "I don't want him, not like that and he won't marry you, Natalya. He thinks it's unnatural to marry your own sibling as well."
" Because you poisoned his mind against me. Well, not any more." Natalya pointed her staff at Katyusha and there was a flash of light.
Natalya stared at the little group with a stab of jealousy at the sweet family picture the royals before presented.
"Well, King Romulus," Natalya said, coldly in a Belarusian accent. "This is quite an assembly. Every noble and social rank in all the kingdoms …." Her eyes stopped at the sight of the Fae, "....including the rabble!"
The Three Fae glowered at Natalya, Arthur and Lukas holding back Vladimir as he looked ready to attack her.
"I had wondered if my invitation had gone astray," she continued, stroking her pet with the knuckles of her left hand. The crow was strange looking as it had rich brown feathers rather than black and had brown eyes the colour of warm caramel and a feather stuck out on the right side of his head in a curl.
"If I didn't know better,” Natalya continued. “I would have said that I wasn't wanted.”
"After what happened last time,” Romulus replied. “I would have thought you would not want to come.” It was a not-so-subtle hint at the trouble and aftermath of the celebration of Lovino's birth.
“So I wasn't invited!” Natalya exclaimed. "Oh, that is awkward! Well, in that case I better leave before I cause any discomfort." Natalya turned away but it would not be left at that as she turned back.
"But I can't leave without, at least bestowing a gift on the new prince," the Dark Sorceress replied with poisonous sugar in her tone. "Just to show I have no hard feelings." The Fae crowded protectively around the cradle. Natalya did not grant gifts, she cast curses. Natalya swung her staff in a wide arc.
"Prince Feliciano will grow to be a beautiful boy,” Natalya announced. “And he will be loved by everyone he meets. BUT!" The crow flew off the crystal globe as she stroked her hand over it and shadows shot from it into the air and began to form a shadow play.
"On his sixteenth birthday,” Natalya said. “Before sundown, he will prick his finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel, (the shadows pulled together to form a figure sat at a spinning wheel) and DIE!" (the figure fell away from the spinning wheel to the floor and lay like a corpse. As the shadows broke apart, the Queen ran to the cradle, plucked Feliciano from it and held him close as he began to cry. Natalya laughed, cruelly.
"ARREST HER!" Romulus ordered, angrily, his Italian blood boiling that anyone would threaten his son. Guards ran to obey their king but Natalya flicked her fingers at them, making them duck as knives flew from nowhere and she banged her staff on the floor.
"Stay back, idiots!" Flames shot up around Natalya and engulfed her and her crow and the fire vanished taking both mistress and pet with it leaving behind Natalya's mocking laughter.
Silence hung around the throne room, broken only by the Queen softly crying, hugging her son. The three Fae looked at each other as they try to decide what to do as Romulus embraced his weeping wife and crying infant son. The sight broke Arthur's heart.
"Don't despair, Your Majesty," he said, softly. "Vladimir hasn't given his gift yet."
"He can undo this curse, Si ( Yes ) ?" he asked, hopefully. But his hopes were dashed. Vladimir held up his hands and shook his head.
"I'm afraid not, Sire!" he replied, emphatically. Arthur came to his side, "Natalya's too powerful." Lukas pushed Vladimir forward.
"But he can help." He pushed him a little further in front. "Just give your best shot."
Vladimir sighed and thought hard about what he could do to offset the curse and knew there was only way he could, raised his wand and chanted the spell so all could understand.
"Tiny prince, Your finger pricked by the spindle is true.
But the curse of Death is not your due.
The repose of sleep is where you'll dwell.
Until True Love's Kiss can break the spell."
"True love conquers all," Arthur murmured, a closet romantic, as a swirl of magic erupted from Vladimir's wand and covered the baby.
"That's all I can do," he said, regretfully. King Romulus knew it was better than the alternative but was still afraid for his child. He had lost one son, it would not happen again! He ordered all spinning wheels burnt and forbade all ownership of them on pain of death.
It would be in vain!