"Emperor William," Lady Ember began, "was a great man. Even after the death of his wife left him to carry the weight of the entire empire alone on his slender shoulders, he did so with wisdom and grace. In his youth, he was a man of exquisite beauty, and his old age, he was the picture of elegance and dignity. His only flaw was his daughter."
She picked up the teacup, and had another sip. "It wasn't his fault. Princess Elizabeth was just likely any motherless girl. She had no understanding of what it meant to be a woman. No grasp of the importance of honor and chivalry. As a child, she was a bully. As a teenage girl, she would journey into the streets of Everkeep to consort with hooligans and whores. She was quick to fight when she held the advantage, and quick to flee in the face of genuine danger. If she had taken the throne, the empire would have been doomed. So when Emperor William died, and Princess Elizabeth would have inherited the throne, I... changed things.
"I flipped the entire empire on its head. Squires became ladies-in-waiting, and lords-in-waiting became squires. Kings became queens and queens became kings. Most importantly, nobody expected a young woman like Princess Elizabeth to rule in her own right. Of course, I couldn't simply leave things that way forever. The people of the empire deserve better than to live a lie. And the new kings and princes were suddenly trying to fight each other for her hand. I needed a way to return things to normal, without turning Princess Elizabeth back into her terrible old self."
She stood up and waved her hand, and suddenly they were atop the Tower of Lights. "So I created these trials," she said, "I created a false life for the "Princess Elizabeth" in this twisted world, the kind of fairy tale fantasy that any young man would dream of. I gave the false Princess Elizabeth exquisite beauty and a kind and loving nature that she never had in life. And I placed the key to the spell that lay on the empire within her. Any man in this twisted world who successfully breached the tower and kissed her, triumphing in the place of a woman even as a man, would not only break the spell, but bestow upon Princess Elizabeth his life and memories, and take the princess's own place in the memory of the world. As far as the empire is concerned, Emperor William never had a daughter, and you are his only son."
Edward's mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. It was difficult to find words. How exactly did you respond to that? His entire life, stolen in an instant. How was that supposed to be...
"...fair?" Lady Ember asked, "It wasn't supposed to be fair. It wasn't supposed to BE at all. When the spell was broken, your old memories of your life before it was cast were supposed to return to you, so that you could appreciate your new life as the beautiful, fairy tale prince you dreamed of being as a boy. It was supposed to be a reward. But of course, you weren't born when the spell was cast, and so you had no such memories or childhood. If you hadn't been the one to break the spell, you would have simply gotten new ones, forgetting that you were ever so womanly and believing that you had been a normal boy from birth, but magic works in strange ways some times, and that close to the center... well, I hate to say it, but you'll probably remember your false life for the rest of your days."
Lady Ember put down her teacup on what had once been Princess Elizabeth's bed. "I'm sorry about this," she said, "I can only hope that in time, you come to understand life as a man."
"But I already..."
Lady Ember shook her head. "It's time for me to be going," she said, "it seems like you're finally about to wake up."