Chapter 8: A sweet play.

Freya was a bit confused. She thought she finally made a new friend, but she just left her there. Maybe that person was tricking people, so after making them happy, she'd leave them there and then make fun of their reactions. She was really annoyed, after staying in the same place for ten minutes just to make out what happened there. The conclusion she came up with was the closest to the truth, surely.

She decided to get some more food and cry internally after a friend that lasted less than five minutes. It was better to just forget about that fake friend and enjoy the party. But it was hard for Freya, due to her lack of social skills. After all, Dahlia was her only chance of finding out what to do here.

While Freya was crying internally, people were preparing for a great show on the stage. Many paper and cardboard cuts were on stage prepared for what seemed like a spectacular play. She has never been to a theater, so this was all new to her. She had no idea what those props were serving for.

Soon after Freya thought about that, an announcement was heard on stage. " Everyone, please prepare for a great show, and a grand performance put on by lady Dahlia and our magnificent, excellent and exceptional sir Loyd!"

Everyone started clapping and so did Freya. She didn't know that the reason Dahlia left was because she was an official performer there. She took back all the bad theories she had of her and pretended like it never happened, offering forgiveness.

People started to sit on black metal chairs that Freya had no idea when they got there. Only then did she realise how caught up in toughs she had been. They were actually brought by the staff while she wasted her time making up theories about the lady, but it didn't matter, did it?

She took a seat as well making sure it had a good view since the best ones were taken too quickly. By then everyone managed to get to a chair and it was too fast for Freya, but she was lucky enough this time.

On the stage came two people dressed in extravagant and exaggerated costumes and bowed in front of everyone. They presented themselves and then a few more people joined them, those being secondary characters in the play. After presentations, the show started.

'Once upon a time, there was king, ruling a kingdom on his own because of a curse. This curse was stopping the king from finding love, so he may not have children. And if one day, someone brave enough would finally make the king fall in love, then his kingdom shall have prosperity and never fall in battle.' the narrator's voice boomed. Until now, the only character that appeared was the king. The story was mainly made of the colorful cutouts for now. It was still cool since it looked like some kind of animation. The story continues.

'The king has tried many times to love, but that emotion simply couldn't find him. That broke his heart. He couldn't take this sadness anymore, so he locked himself in the castle, only having a maid by his side and leaving everyone out.' The castle decor was really interesting, but Freya was sad now. She didn't want to be sad when she came here. Maybe Dahlia really did like to make people sad. She was lucky Mr. Evans wasn't here to make fun of her. The story continues.

'One day, a king from a far land decided to try to help the poor leader from the broken land. He sent his daughter there on a horse, alone, so she can try to gain his love as well.' Freya didn't like love stories, but as long as they were a play and fairytales, she could bare to watch one. The story continues.

'When the lady got there, no one came to greet her. Every person that lived there was locked in their house. They would only get out to gather food. The poor princess was devastated. She had to help him somehow. She started to go faster, going straight to the castle. There had to be a way to help all those people.' "Yes, she had to help the people no matter what"thought Freya. She liked talking to people that couldn't hear her, but right now, she could only think since that place was full of real people. It would be quite embarrassing for Freya to just start talking to herself in the middle of the play with so many people that attended. The story continues.

'The princess got to the castle, but the problem was the way to get inside. The doors were shut. The princess realized something, he has to be alive, but to be he needs food. From what she heard, there was a maid with him. The maid must have a secret passage to get out of the castle and in. She went back into village and started questioning people about the maid coming out. After a long time, one person finally answered her question. He said that he once saw the maid come out from behind a rock in the forest.' "The forest isn't really the best place for a secret passage, but it's just a story"She thought. Freya thought a little more about the idea and then realized how good it is to actually have a secret exit to the forest. "Nevermind"The story continues.

'The princess went to the rock that man was talking about, and right next to the rock, on the ground, some lines were visible, if you payed enough attention. She got off her horse, but was ambushed by three villagers. They were all men. One of them yelled The princess called for her horse and the creature quickly attacked the bad people. She opened the door leading to the secret passage and got inside."how easy it was..."Freya thought to herself. She found something to put under the door so it couldn't be opened. Inside it was dark and there was only one torch. She took the torch and continued through the dark hallway. Soon, the princess got to another door at the end of the tunnel. When she got on the other side, the place changed from what it looked like in the dark entrance. The room was beautifully built with precious decorations. That must be part of the inside of the castle. She walked around the place, but it felt endless, just like a labyrinth. Then she saw a door that was closed. All the doors were open, hence that door was different.' "Easy to guess. It has to be the king's room!"Freya was already proud of herself. It wasn't hard to guess, but she liked guessing and deducting, but most of all being right. The story keeps going.

'Inside the room, on a wooden bed, was lying the king, looking almost lifeless."great job with the makup, or maybe he was an ugly actor..."Freya thought to herself. The princess went to his bed. She had a crystal hidden in her dress. She took it and gripped it as hard as she could. Her hands started bleeding, then she leaned in for a kiss. The prince woke up, not knowing what was happening. Then he saw the girl. She was beautiful and charming. He slowly got up admiring her beauty. He asked for another kiss, and while he realized he felt an unknown emotion. It was love. The prince never felt happier than now. He then called the maid to tell everyone the great news. They were going to marry, and the kingdom she came from shall be their true friend until the end of times. And that, dear friends, is the love story we all know as (charming curse). The end.' "Well, that was a bit exaggerated."Thought Freya as she was clapping like everyone else.

After all the people stopped clapping, one by one, they started getting up and wondering around or talking to each other. Freya got up and looked at the table, it was full again and people were already choosing snacks and drinks before the next show started. Freya was not the kind of person that would sit and wait, so she went there as well and started eating sweets. Someone approached her right after picking up the snack, just as it was about to enter her mouth.