Chapter 3

Most days the prince would wander the kingdom and sometimes he passed by the tavern, and sometimes he went in, but mostly he would not. And when he did come the girl who polished the tables was ecstatic and when he didn't she was glum until he came again. And sometimes he would walk by and she wanted to run out to speak to him, but she didn't, she waited, and when he didn't come in she was crushed. The prince had so many people to talk to that he didn't always see the people waiting or didn't get a chance to talk to everyone around him and the people were sad because they loved him so but he didn't have time for them. And though when he did speak to them they felt special once again, when he didn't they felt rejected, and thought that he had never really cared about them at all, and they grew sad. And after a while they began to grow angry that they had been taken in so, and that a glance from him should still have the power to make their day or destroy their mood, and they began to avoid him so that they would not fall under his spell again. The girl who polished the tables still gazed at him from inside the tavern as he passed and though she told herself that she didn't want to see him, each time he didn't notice her, her spirits fell.

At first the prince did not notice. There were still new people in the kindom to meet, and while he gained some satisfaction from this, when he was alone he preffered to think about his princess, although she was long gone. But gradually the prince became aware of a change - the people were no longer cheerful in the streets, and each day less would come to speak to him. He didn't understand what had gone wrong - for still when he spoke people would smile, but now it didn't seem to really make them happy. A gloom of misery and simmering resentment crept over the kingdom. The prince began to go out less, for when he passed it just seemed to become worse, so instead he sat and dreamt about the princess.