The Dreaded Mrs. Herrington

 The next evening Mrs. Herrington came into the young princess' room and said, "Now you act according to the rules of royalty, young ladies. There will be no talking and you go right to sleep. You know that sleep is very important for your complexions. You do not want sunshine on your face That will make freckles and the lack of sleep will cause swelling under your eyes and frowns on your brow. Put on your sleep masks and go to sleep at once. I will check on you to make sure that you are asleep in a few minutes."

The youngest of the two laid as quiet as a little mouse until she could no longer hear the clicking of the governess' shoes on the marble floor. "Are you awake?" she whispered. She waiting for what seemed an eternity. Finally she heard her sister say, "Are you out of your mind? We don't want bread and water for our dinner tomorrow. I'm hoping that Father will allow us to go outside tomorrow afternoon. Now close your eyes and go to sleep. Hopefully we will have a good day tomorrow. Maybe we will be allowed to watch the deer and the swans swimming in the beautiful pond."

Princess Marlee, the older of the two girls, hated her sleep mask. She carefully removed it and sighed a sigh of relief. "Ahh, so much better."

Her younger sister said, "You took off your sleep mask, didn't you? I did too. She couldn't help but giggle. I hate that thing. I will never have wrinkles and even if I do, I don't give a care."

Suddenly the door burst open and there stood Mrs. Herrington with an angry look on her face. "I just knew you two were not capable of following the rules. You have taken off your sleep masks and you are giggling like a couple of commoners. Your father will hear about your behavior and you will suffer the consequences. You were warned what would happen if you didn't follow the rules. I worry about the kingdom and what will happen to it if this is the kind of poor decisions you are making now, the future is in danger; not only of the kingdom, but of the royal line. Your ancestors would be so ashamed of you!"

The candles on the walls started to flicker. The doorway was filled with the King! The princess's had not seen their father in some time. They started to tremble. They loved their father, but he could be very stern. They were afraid of what their punishment was going to be.

"What is going on in here, Mrs. Herrington? Are the girls giving you trouble?"

Mrs. Herrington bowed her head and said, "Your majesty the young girls seem to be having difficulty following my instructions. They refuse to wear their sleep masks and will not close their eyes and go to sleep."

"You are dismissed, Mrs. Herrington, I will take over this situation." The King waited until the governess had left the room and sat down on Princess Marlee's bed. "Now then, little one. What seems to be the problem? You don't like those sleep masks?"

 The girls were worried, but now their father seemed kind and genuinely wanted to know their problems. "We hate them!" both sisters said at the same time. "We don't care if we get freckles or wrinkles. We can hardly sleep with those things on and we want to go outside. Please let us go outside. Even for a few minutes every day to get some fresh air. We would like to go for walks and watch the deer and the swans. Maybe we could even find some other children to play with."

"Will we have to have bread and water for our dinner tomorrow because we were bad?"

The King smiled and hugged them both. "I am making a proclamation that officially from now on you will no longer have to wear those silly things, He chuckled. And furthermore every afternoon after tea you will be escorted by Mrs. Herrington outside to watch the wildlife. Now how does that sound?"

The girls looked at each other and said, "Thank you Father. We appreciate your kindness."

"Well, that doesn't sound like two little girls that are happy. What is the problem?" Both girls said, "Mrs. Herrington!"

"I'm sorry girls, but that is the rule. You have to be escorted every time you go outside. Now you two go to sleep. I'll see you at dinner tomorrow night and you will tell me all about your walk outside. By the way we will not be served bread and water for our dinner then or ever in the future."

What the King and his two precious daughters did not know was that Mrs. Herrington was outside the door listening to everything that was said. "Well, I'll just see about this. Those two are trying to get me fired from my job. I need this job. They will be sorry when I take them outside tomorrow. I'll show them that when I make rules I expect them to be followed to the letter."

As she quietly walked back to her room she was making plans for the next day. If you listened carefully you could hear a quiet, but wicked chuckle coming from her room.