“Me?” the wizard replied innocently. “I didn't make you drink from that well; in fact, I tried to warn you. Don’t you remember, deary?”
Catherine honestly couldn't remember. Everything just seemed so blurry now. It was getting hard to think straight. She was mad at someone that much was sure. But the details seemed mashed together.
Was that how it had happened?
Catherine knew she had drunk the water for some reason. But why? The truth was slipping away from her, now just a blurry memory. Catherine was no longer sure who she was mad at, just that she was mad.
"I … UH … I-”
“Now who you ought to be mad at is that uncle of yours, Phillip. He killed your family, he forced you to it. Why, one could say this curse is all his fault.”
“UH, YEAH! I’LL KILL’EM ,” the princess roared vindictively. “I’LL MAKE HIM PAY!”
“That’s the spirit, dearie. Oh, but here’s the trouble: if you kill him then you’ll have to take the throne. That sounds like a lot of hard work. Do you think you can handle that?”
“THINK? I - UM…”
Thinking was a lot of hard work, especially for an orc like herself. Catherine would have to do a lot of thinking to run a kingdom. She was having trouble keeping her own story straight. How could she run a whole country?
“Well, here’s a nifty idea,” the wizard replied coyly. “Maybe I could take over all the hard stuff like running the country for you. And you can just run around doing whatever it is you enjoy ... like eating peasants or something.”
“YOU’D DO THAT FOR ME?”
“Of course, dearie. I’d love to.”
“OH THANK YOU,” the orc princess said gleefully, pulling the frail old woman in for what can only be described as a most bone-cracking bear-hug. “THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! YOU’RE SUCH A GOOD FRIEND!”
“Yes, yes. Very good,” the old wizard wheezed, barely managing to pry herself from her grip. “Now, we just need to get you some armor and a weapon. Then you’ll be beating down the royal guards in no time.”
“I WANNA BIG HAMMER! GONNA CRACK OPEN A LOT OF SKULLS!”
“You know, dearie. I think this friendship is going to work out just fine.”