“Harder!” Belena called out, pressing her foot downwards a bit. “Rub harder, little man! I can barely even feel you!” It took a few more prods before her captive complied; she felt him rubbing his entire body against the sole of her bare foot. She lay back against her pillows, popped another strawberry into her mouth, and gave a weary sigh.

Disciplining Argo had been harder than she’d expected. At first she’d made him carry small articles of hers across the room (small on her scale, of course), but once these became too heavy for him to carry, the foreign prince had simply declined to carry on, and he began to speak rudely to her again. In desperation, Belena had taken off her shoes, lay down on her bed, and told him to start massaging her feet and toes. When he disobeyed, she’d pressed down on him with her sole, just enough to make him extremely uncomfortable, then repeated her instructions. This time he obeyed.

To add to the humiliation, she’d also told him to take off his expensive clothing, leaving on only his undergarments. This he flatly refused to do, so she had to do it for him, undressing him like a doll. The nasty curses he yelled at her were quite shocking for her too hear, but she remained convinced she could turn him into a well-behaved little gentleman by the end of the day.

“That feels wonderful! Keep on doing what you’re doing now, and I might just reward you, my little prince.”

With her gargantuan foot looming above him, ready to crush him if he misspoke again, Argo kept his thoughts to himself. The skin beneath her feet was actually quite smooth, and rubbing his bare body against it was almost pleasant – but that didn’t matter one bit too him. She was going to pay for this, he promised himself. He would see to that, and nothing and no-one would stop him from killing this insolent giant girl in the most brutal, terrible way he could think of.

Belena had had enough fun for the moment, and she lifted her foot up. Then she caught Argo between her two big toes, and, with a little jerk, flung him upwards towards her head. He landed on the soft contours of her bosom, bounced once, and rolled down her chest into the hollow of her neck. She laughed as she picked him up with ease. He might be a giant among men, but in the delicate grip of her fingers he was pitifully pathetic. She took another strawberry and held it next to him, just out of his reach. He looked at the juicy-looking four-foot-long fruit with longing.

“Oh, are you hungry?” she teased him. “You do look hungry…but I’m not sure you really deserve this. After all, you did say some rather nasty things to me not so long ago. So, let’s try again. Say you’re sorry, beg me to forgive you, and ask me nicely and politely, and I’ll let you have this strawberry. I might even consider letting you go.”

She winked and smiled at him so sweetly that it was too much for Argo to take. He was about to explode into a fit of rage, and tell her exactly what he thought of her, when the bedroom door opened. Belena sat upright with a shock and dropped the tiny prince into her lap. Into her chamber strode a very angry looking Valerie.

“Where is he?” the queen demanded, holding out her hand.

“He? Oh…I…I don’t know. He, uh, he fell…”

Belena fumbled around in the folds of her gown, eventually finding Prince Argo and handed him over to her mother. Valerie took one look at the half-naked, bewildered figure in her palm, and sighed deeply.

“Clothes?” she said, and Belena jumped up at once. She ran over to her dresser table, found Argo’s clothes and handed them over as well. After verifying that everything was there, Valerie cupped her hands to her breast and walked out without a word. Belena could hear her mother’s skirts swishing as she walked off down the hallway, and she knew that she was in big trouble.

“But he was so horrid to me – she has to understand!” she said to herself. “She can’t punish me, because…well, what else was I supposed to do? Just let him insult me like that?”

It was almost an hour before Valerie returned, looking even angrier than she did earlier. Belena couldn’t face her mother’s gaze, so she simply sat on the edge of her bed and hung her head, hoping she wouldn’t be chastised too harshly. The queen sat down next to her daughter and put an arm around her shoulders.

“Would you like to explain to me what just happened, dear?” she asked. “And please be honest – I’ve already heard one side of the story, and I can’t say I’m exactly pleased at your actions.”

Belena wanted to protest her innocence, but she knew it would do no good. Being the queen’s daughter didn’t make her exempt from punishment in her mother’s eyes, and lying to the queen was definitely not a wise choice. So she told Valerie everything.

“I know I behaved badly, Mother,” she admitted after telling her story. “And I know I should be punished. I promise you, I will never forget my place again.”

Valerie sat silent for a few moments, then said: “Actually, the way I see it, I don’t think any punishment would be necessary.”

“I…I’m sorry?”

“Belena, I won’t lie to you – what you did was wrong, and very much so. You forgot every rule of courtesy I taught you, only so you could have the satisfaction of teaching Prince Argo a few, admittedly well-deserved, lessons. But it was a…a natural thing to do, I think – I mean, if I had been in your place today, I probably would have done the same. That man needed to be brought down a peg or two – though I don’t think what you did to him really changed his attitude that much. If he doesn’t return with the full might of his nation’s armies, demanding payback for how he was treated, I’d be very, very surprised.”

“Mom, I’m really sorry…”

“It’s all right!” Valerie said reassuringly. “Don’t you worry about Prince Argo from now on. I’ll take care of whatever mischief he might throw at us – it’s my job, remember? I wouldn’t be much of a queen if I couldn’t handle a spoiled, arrogant prince every now and then. All I want you to do is to…to reflect on what happened today. The real world is seldom like the one in those stories you’re so fond of, and I think what happened today was a bit of an eye-opener for you in that respect. Still, there is one thing I would like to hear from you.”

“What?” Belena asked, as Valerie stood up and got ready to leave.

“Promise me, the next time a suitor treats you in such a despicable manner, that you’ll come straight to me and tell me about it, instead of turning him into your personal foot slave.”

Belena managed a smile and a nod and, satisfied, the queen turned and made for the door. But Belena interrupted her and said: “There won’t be a next time.”

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Valerie said, stopping and turning.

“I don’t want another suitor, Mother. I don’t want to go through all this again, because it’ll just end the same way, every time.”

“Belena! You can’t say that…”

“But it’s true! Face it, Mom, there isn’t another man anywhere who’d want to marry me!”

“Belena…”

“I’m not a fool, Mom! I know that no man would ever love me as his wife. Men don’t want to be small and weak compared to their wives; they want to be in charge, and make all the decisions, and…and they could never love me, because I’m just so much bigger…I’m sorry, Mom, but I don’t want to listen to another nobleman from far away tell me how he’d never marry an inhuman monster like me! I’d rather be alone!”

At this point she succumbed into tears, and Valerie rushed to comfort her and hold her. The queen felt very sad as well. This was supposed to have been Belena’s great day, but it has come to a miserable end. As she held her sobbing daughter, Valerie promised herself that she would spend as much time as possible with Belena from now on. The girl needed someone to support and guide her, now more than ever, and Valerie was realistically the only one who could do that. Nothing meant more to her than her daughter’s happiness, she knew that, and she would do whatever it was in her power to do, to ensure that Belena had the content and happy life she deserved.

Almost a week later, and in one of the castle’s endless hallways, little Merinette and her big sister Carina were walking by themselves. They were still Princess Belena’s handmaidens, but their work in this capacity had been little of late. They seldom ever saw the princess, for she kept to her room; and whenever she was out – in the gardens, for instance – she would remain quiet, and shun the company of her friends. The girls all knew the reason for this, and they did feel sorry for her, but they were all of the opinion that, sooner, or later, this melancholy behaviour had to end.

“She’s just being a baby,” Carina said as they walked. The two of them were heading back to the town, to spend time with their parents and friends for a few days. “She was only rejected once, for gods’ sake! That’s nothing to get all worked up about!”

“Oh, Carina! You know Belena’s different than you and me. The boys may be falling over one another to get your attention,” (Carina sniffed at that description) “but to her – it must be unimaginably hard…”

“Whatever. She’s just…ugh, you’re right! I don’t know what I was thinking. Still, she can’t stay like this! There has to be something we could do…hey, what if you and I work together, and try and get her a boyfriend! Maybe one of the boys at school…Merinette? Are you listening to me?”

“Shhh! Did you hear that?”

“No, what is it?”

“Over there, by the armour. I’m sure I saw something…”

To their right stood a gigantic suit of armour, one of many which lined the hallway. Each of its steel boots was thirty feet long and sixty feet high, and any human who looked at it could only imagine how terrifying an army of such armoured giant soldiers must have been. The two girls ran over to it and began looking around where Merinette said she’d seen something. Then they both heard a tiny clang, and rushed over to the right boot’s heel.

“I knew I saw something!” Merinette exclaimed in delight.

“You want to explain what you’re doing here?” Carina said in a harsh voice. “Or do you want us to call the guards?”

In front of them crouched a frightened figure. It was a teenaged boy, rather short and skinny, who looked as if he’d spent the day crawling about in the dust. He slowly got to his feet, but didn’t have the courage to look either of the girls in the eye.

“Well, go on!” Carina urged. “Out with it! Who are you, and what are you doing in the castle?”

“And how did you get in?” her sister added.

“My, uh, my name’s Lorek,” he began. “Please…please don’t tell the guards, or…or anyone! I’ll leave…and I’ll never come back!”

“How did you get in?” Carina asked, unmoved.

“I…there’s a passage…well, more of a crack, really. In the wall. I…I crawled through…” He began to brush the dirt off of him, and the girls looked on in distaste.

“Come to steal something, didn’t you?” Carina said.

“No! No, I would never! I would never steal anything, my lady! I just wanted to…” He faltered, and they could see his face turn red in the dim light of the hallway.

“Yes? You were saying…”

“I wanted to…to…to…”

“Merinette, call the guards. Tell them we’ve found a burglar.”

“…to see the Princess!” he blurted out. There was a dead silence, before the girls both broke out into laughter. The boy turned even redder and regarded his own feet with intensity.

“Why?” Carina asked, still laughing. “Why do you want to see Princess Belena?”

This time there was no answer, but it wasn’t too difficult for them to figure out why. Carina just began to laugh anew, but Merinette grabbed her by the arm and hastily pulled her aside.

“I think,” she whispered, “I think he’s got a crush on Belena.”

“Really? You don’t say, little sister!”

“He must have seen her when she visited the town sometime…”

“Yeah, I guess so. And?”

“But don’t you see? This is perfect!”

“It is?”

“Yes! You said we should find her a boyfriend, and look who came along!”

“What!? Him? Are you kidding me? Look at him, ‘Rinette. Does he look like the man of Belena’s dreams – of anyone’s dreams, for that matter? He’ll probably faint as soon as he sees her!”

“But what if he doesn’t? Maybe…maybe they’ll like each other. You know Belena said she didn’t care how rich or…or famous a guy is…”

“All right, fine! We’ll introduce them…but if the Princess never wants to talk to us again, I’m blaming you!”

They each took one of Lorek’s hands and began to tug at him insistently. He wanted to leave, but Carina frightened him into obedience by listing a few (completely made-up) methods they used to torture intruders here. They kept on walking, with Lorek remaining sullenly silent, through the vast and, thankfully empty, passages that led to the bedrooms.

“You’re the one who wanted to see the Princess, so why do you want to leave?” she said, as he resumed his protests once they’d reached the door of Belena’s chambers. “This is your chance! Are you going to be a man and talk to her, or would you like to see how the dungeons look like?”

“The last thief they caught was eaten by a giant rat in the dungeons,” Merinette said with a straight face. “The Queen caught one or two of them in traps, but there might be more…”

“All right, I’ll go!” Lorek yelled. “But…but I don’t think she’ll…she’ll want to t-talk to m-me…”

“Too late!” Carina went to the foot of the massive door and tugged on a rope which hung in the air. They heard a bell ringing somewhere far above, and a moment later a voice came from the other side of the door.

“Who’s there?”

“Carina and Merinette, Your Highness!” the older girl called out loudly. “We, um, well, we’ve brought you a visitor! Someone who desperately desires to speak with you!”

Slowly, almost hesitantly, the door opened. Belena, barefoot and wearing a simple green dress, looked down at the tiny figures kneeling on the carpet. She got down on her hands and knees for a better look, and when she saw who the ‘visitor’ was, she let out a sudden gasp.

“Lorek!” she exclaimed, almost not believing what she saw. The boy looked up at her shyly, his long hair hanging over his eyes. He seemed even more frightened than when she’d met him in the forest, and he could only manage a feeble greeting of “P-Princess.”

Carina, just as bewildered as her giant friend, looked back and forth between the two of them.

“You’ve met?” was all she managed to say.