[WP]Despite being cursed into a monster and being banished by your royal parents, you were happy with your life. Your home was peaceful. You always had enough to eat. You even had friends despite your appearance, so yeah your life was great. Your non-cursed sibling's life, on the other hand...

“Mistress!” the young boy called. It was funny that after I had been stripped of all of my titles, banished from the place I called home, and told that I was to never tell anyone who I had been… I had somehow gained a new title. One I had never sought out, but had gained completely either by luck or by merit.

They called me the Mistress of the Greenwood. I was mistress of nothing, and the Greenwood was not a place that could have any wardens or overseers. The forest was a dangerous place, and it had its own, fickle soul. It let most travelers pass through, but there were sometimes disappearances here and there. Even those who eventually reached the other side of the forest often did so with difficulty, with unexpected detours, with unforeseen troubles.

That was, until I started to live there. It was the safest place to live for a monster. I had grown tired of hiding my face, covering my hands with gloves. The curse had even changed my voice, turning it from its previous soprano to something deeper, darker. Perhaps that last part was just age, and me no longer mimicking my sister’s lovely, more feminine voice.

People in society expected the normal, and so they balked at a girl who had scales instead of skin, talons instead of nails. But in the Greenwood, it was different. I was an almost human thing among wild animals and danger, and I was the familiar amidst the unknown. The people who regularly traversed the Greenwood began to approach me without fear. The first few travelers, I’d guided back to the main road leading out of the forest, and over time, I had a cycle of visitors who came by seeking guidance or with friendly gifts.

It was a good thing, to be friends with merchants. They saw more of the world, and perhaps because of that, they saw beyond my scales and other eccentricities the curse had left me with. Over time, they became friends, and word spread, of a friendly woman in the forest. The stories warned to not be afraid of my appearance, for I was kind and would only help them if they were in need. So when people saw me, more and more often as the days passed, I saw looks of relief rather than fear.

“Yes, Luc?” I asked. The little boy lived on the outskirts of the Greenwood, in one of the villages. He came into the forest to hunt squirrels, and sometimes just to escape school or farm work.

“There’s a large party coming through the forest. I told them of you!”

I offered him a smile and one of the scones I had baked in the morning. The larger parties knew that I charged a nominal fee for my services, if they were to become lost. It helped me sustain myself, as I could not procure everything I needed just from the forest. If they got lost, I would gain a few coin. If they did not, it was no matter. I’d learned to do other things over the years. The villagers and most people passing through bought some of my embroidery. It had been a talent I had spent years learning as a princess, as fine ladies were expected to be skilled with the needle.

In the castle, I would embroider things such as handkerchiefs. My work was on things so trivial no one noticed except my teachers. Now, I had learn to tat lace. I made special things, things that people treasured. Over the years, I’d made countless bridal veils, christening robes, all adorned with my art. People had begun to seek out my cottage in the Greenwood to make purchases. I heard the sound of carriage-wheels come to a stop outside my cottage, and stepped outside.

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It was not the caravan of merchants’ carts I was expecting, but ornate carriages each carrying my family’s crest. My sister stepped out of the carriage, aided by an aging knight.

My sister Navilla, the lucky one. She had been the pretty one, even before my curse. She had been the one my parents doted on. Now though, she looked haggard. Her beautiful face was devoid of any happiness, and when she saw me, she grimaced.

“Marissa,” she said. “You must come back.”

My sister never ignored formalities. But today, she had not greeted me, had not inquired after my well-being, and simply made her ridiculous request. I remembered the days and weeks after I had been cursed. Even if my parents had not banished me, I would have left on my own. Within the four walls of the castle, I was demoted from the second princess to the castle monstrosity.

“Navilla, come inside,” I said. “Please, let us talk in my home.”

I wanted privacy away from the curious knights, most of whom were staring at me like my skin was something they would like to mount on a wall. Navilla, too, did not look well, and I had a collection of herbal teas that were restorative. She hesitantly followed me in, and took a seat on one of the rough chairs one of the local carpenters had made for me. I went into the kitchen and set the kettle to boil water.

“What brings you all this way, Navilla?” I asked.

“You must come back, Marissa,” Navilla repeated. “Father and mother…”

She clutched her head in her hands, mumbling through her fingers. “They are being abominable. I can do nothing right, and they are constantly angry with me.”

It reminded me of my own childhood. I had spent years trying to earn my parents’ approval, but it had been reserved for Navilla. In honesty, their treatment of me was only marginally worse after I had become cursed.

“I cannot come back, Navilla,” I said, pointing towards myself. I was still a scaly beast who could start fires with her fingers. “Even if I was normal, I do not think there is path back, not for me.”

In Navilla now, I saw myself from the past. The frail girl who starved herself because her mother yelled at her about her gluttony, the girl who controlled how she laughed, how she spoke, what she said, how she walked, who she made friends with, because everything was a misstep in her parents’ eyes. I saw in Navilla the same habits I’d had in the past. I had left, and Navilla had become the target of all their ire.

For a moment, I felt her fear, her apprehension. My stomach felt like a void, the way my fingers shook, in anticipation of the disappointment and chastisement. For a moment I remembered all of the years of repressed rage that had slowly become sadness, and then resignation. The unfair treatment that led me to conclude that I was inferior in every way. No, the curse could break, the world could break into pieces, but I would never go back.

“I’m sure father and mother will accept you now,” Navilla said, her eyes pleading. “After all, the curse is not your fault. I’m sure that if we used some powder, we might be able to hide the scales somewhat.”

Navilla still didn’t understand what had happened. In her eyes, her family had become incomplete and things had started to go wrong. She did not understand that I would only be taking her place if I went back.

“Navilla,” I said. “I think it is better you leave. I will not be returning. Ever.”

My sister did not have a strong will, and she finally understood that I meant to stay. She knew that if she brought me back home, she would face a scolding for going against our parents’ wishes. After all, my banishment had been final, and my curse was still written all over my body. The carriages pulled away, leaving behind tracks of wheel marks on the main road.

Once the last of them were gone, I felt something slip off of my face. At first, I thought it was a tear. I had given up my chance of becoming a princess again, my chance of returning back to the place where I had grown up. But it was not a liquid thing. I touched my cheek, and felt the softness of skin. Another scale fell away, and another, until I was myself again. Only this time, I was free.