On top of the sill there sat a chestnut brown mouse with beady blue-grey eyes. It listened how the busy servants that hurried through the corridors of the royal castle of Waldbergen talked about the imminent arrival of the delegation of the kingdom Seathornia in the capital Herrburg. In fact the Seathornians already were somewhat longer in the country but since the capital of Waldbergen was located inland the delegation arriving with a ship still had to cover the distance from the coast to Herrburg.

Suddenly a brawny giant who was two and a half heads taller than an average man appeared in the hallway. The nineteen years old broad-shouldered young man had long black hair that he wore as a ponytail and attentive amber eyes. He was clad in the traditional long frock of a healer that didn’t consist of undyed woolen fabric in his case, however, but of a green cloth he personally had made from moss and that successfully hid that the giant walked around barefooted. The young man whose name was Friedbert had come to the royal court as healer of the second Princess Himiltrud three years ago. This Friedbert was quite an unusual man, not only concerning his build but also his origin and demeanor. The youth had been raised far from any semblance of civilization in the deepest forest by one of the buschweibchens believed extinct and had learnt his incomparably effective art of healing from this ancient wood sprite. Accordingly, when he had left the forest he had known his whole life three years ago the human society had been completely foreign to him, not to mention the court ceremonial. That was but all the same for the Princess who had accepted him to her entourage. She cared about his unsurpassable art of healing, not possible weak points in his demeanor. Of course Friedbert had to learn a modicum of ceremonial and decorum to keep the face of his Mistress but that was another story.

When the giant walked through the corridor the other servants scattered. Some of them were afraid of him due to his strangeness and hugeness, others avoided him because of his Mistress. Friedbert didn’t get bothered by it though and specifically stepped up to the stucco sill close to ceiling level were the mouse cowered. He seized the animal, which complained with a loud squeak, carefully at its tail and dropped it gently on his big palm. Then he spoke “Royal Highness, it’s no good idea to secretly eavesdrop on the servants. You know how the maidservants react to mice. Incidentally, Dankmar and Odilgart urgently expect your return.” before he started back to the private chambers of the Princess. The rodent was indeed his Mistress, Princess Himiltrud. It wasn’t as if she had been changed into a mouse by an evil sorcerer though. No, far from it. The sixth of the eight children of King Gunderich II was like her mother too an alp, that creature that compulsively brought nightmares to the people. As alp, the soul of the King’s daughter infamously called Princess Nachtmahr could leave her sleeping body in changing shape and walk around independently, although she was often compulsively drawn to a human at night on whose chest she lay down as a heavy burden and whom she brought disturbing dreams. Thus no wonder that Princess Himiltrud was rather avoided.

In the Princess’s chambers in the castle’s east wing the gigantic healer and the Mouse Princess were already expected by two people. One of the two was a silver-haired man in courtly attire with a thin mustache whose face, characterized by a distinctive chin, was disfigured by a big scar over his nose. His bearing and demeanor were flawless though. The other was a sturdy dumpy woman with arms as thick as those of washerwomen, curly brown-grey hair and a fat pimple on her bulbous nose. These people were Dankmar, the butler of the Princess proficient in many areas who also served as bodyguard, and his wife Odilgard who actually was Himiltrud’s wet nurse but also took on the tasks of a chambermaid since the girls who originally served the Princess as handmaidens usually made themselves scarce again after only a short time. Together with Friedbert who had joined them three years ago, Dankmar and Odilgard already formed the complete entourage of the Princess. But her three attendants and her milk-sister married far away were also rather a kind of surrogate family for Himiltrud because she had no considerably close relationship to her five brothers and two sisters, not to mention her always busy father and her step mother who stayed rather indifferent to Princess Nachtmahr.

“There you are at last!” Odilgard grumbled but Friedbert knew that the old wet nurse’s heart was much better than her grumpy exterior let surmise. Dankmar just nodded shortly and then he opened the door to the Princess’s bedchamber. In the room lit up by the fire of a chimney there stood a big canopy bed, behind it a clothing chest, a spinning wheel – still a rarity in Waldbergen – a low table and a soft armchair in which sat the motionless body of the alp. The eighteen years old Princess clad in an elegant but relatively simple pale yellow dress had long, neat and fancily braided chestnut-brown hair. The pale complexion, the blueish lips and the eyebrows coalescing above her nose bridge revealed her easily as a nachtmahr. In her lap there lay a frame with a piece of cloth on which Himiltrud had embroidered flower and vine motives before she had fallen asleep.

Friedbert stepped up to the motionlessly sitting Princess and let the mouse in his hand cautiously glide into her open mouth. It didn’t take long, Himiltrud then opened her blue-grey eyes. “I am back.” she stated dryly.

“Welcome back, Royal Highness” Dankmar spoke “A short while ago a messenger of His Majesty was here. He passed on that you shall be present in the throne room in an hour.”

“The arrival of the delegation, I suppose.” the Princess said and nodded “Dankmar, Friedbert, you can withdraw. Odilgard, I leave myself completely in your skillful hands.”

She had barely spoken, there the men left the room while the wet nurse proceeded to get the Princess ready for the audience.

Nearly an hour later Himiltrud turned up in the throne room at the requested time, draped in an elegant red dress according to the occasion, a delicate tiara on her head. The court was already present to a great extent. Ahead there sat King Gunderich II and Queen Aubrée from Sucellie, the sovereign’s third wife. Most of his children were present too: Crown Prince Reinhold, the twins Prince Renwart and Prince Nandung as well as fourth Prince Ermeran. The first Princess Malwine was already married and thus absent, the third Princess Richmut and the fifth Prince Künzel still too young to take part at the audience. Nearby the royal family there also stood chancellor Fulrad, the likely second most powerful man in the country after the King. Without losing many words the second Princess joined her siblings. When it didn’t come to official occasions like these Himiltrud often didn’t see her siblings for months.

The blaring of fanfares announced the arrival of the delegation from Seathornia.

“The envoys of His Royal Majesty Gamelyn I of Seathornia” the voice of the herald echoed through the room and the doors swung open. Ten men dressed in courtly attire came in sight, with a somewhat smaller but all the more athletic man with tanned freckled face, shoulder-length dark red hair, and attentive light brown eyes leading the way. At his side there walked a calf-sized shaggy black dog that partout didn’t want to leave the side of its Master. But at the least through the appearance of this uncanny animal all people present became clear about who was the leader of this delegation there. It was no less a figure than Duke Doderic of Gorgewell, the only brother of the Seathornian King Gamelyn I himself, who had set forth on the long journey to Waldbergen. The twenty three years old duce had become famous in the empire and the five kingdoms when he had expelled the troops of the King of Sucellie from his home country at just age fourteen. Since he fought with an oversized scythe and was accompanied by a church grim regarded as bringing death – precisely the black dog here also present – he got the sobriquet Grim Reaper of the Battlefield, particularly as he came over his foes like death incarnate. The same Duke Doderic thus appeared now as an envoy in front of the King of Waldbergen and kneeled down in front of the Majesties’ thrones together with the rest of the delegation.

“I greet Your Majesty Gunderich von Waldbergen.” spoke the leader of the delegation in Waldbergian language, with a strong accent though but still quite comprehensible.

“Welcome, envoy from Seathornia. You may rise.” the ruler replied with a benign nod of his head. “What occasion brings you to Us from beyond the sea?”

“I have come by order of my Lord and brother, King Gamelyn of Seathornia, but, if I may, in a sense also on my own account. Majesty, my King Gamelyn desires to establish closer contacts to you and Waldbergen, if nothing else to let flourish the trade between our countries. He wants to pass this alliance with a marriage. Since His Majesty is already married though, I want to beseech you in his like also in my name to give me the hand of your daughter, the honorable Himiltrud.”

Himiltrud’s eyes widened in surprise. Never would she have thought that the envoy from Seathornia would ask her hand in marriage. It was indeed known that Duke Doderic was still unwed in spite of his twenty three years – the potential brides seemed to fear the belligerent reputation of the Grim Reaper – but Himiltrud too with her eighteen years had already reached an age with which she was considered a spinster in aristocratic circles and therefore had assumed that she would stay unmarried all her life. The more so as the fiancé she once had had broken off the engagement to the then twelve years old Himiltrud since he didn’t want to marry an alp. This went around and as a result the Princess wasn’t able any longer to find any suitor. It seemed to be all the same to Doderic though, Himiltrud to even be his first choice – at any rate compared to her only seven years old sister Richmut.

King Gunderich accepted the marriage proposal straightaway, had he long since worried about it how he should yet still marry off his daughter, unless he hadn’t already given up on it in his heart. Thus the offer from Seathornia was truly a godsend for him, for such a catch overshadowed all the others by far.

After the audience, when Himiltrud already had returned to her chambers, she still speechlessly stared into space. What had dazzled her so suddenly was less the fact that she would leave the country of her birth forever but more the fact that she should marry, that she still could marry at all. Because the princess appeared so spaced out, Friedbert had at first examined her for possible discomfort but couldn’t find anything. Only through patient and lengthy asking Dakmar, Odilgard and the healer had found out what had happened at the reception of the Seathornian envoys. When the secret finally was out, especially the wet nurse overjoyed congratulated her protégé to the future wedding.

Sometime later a servant reported in who delivered the message to Princess Nachtmahr that her future fiancé wished to meet her. Of course not alone, for that would have been indecent. Himiltrud decided to be accompanied by butler Dankmar. As meeting place a small pavilion in the castle garden was designated. This shadowy place was well chosen because on one hand it was able to allow in the warm summer air, on the other hand it was able to keep out the blazing sun of August. When Princess Himiltrud then arrived Duke Doderic was already present, accompanied by a member of the Seathornian delegation, a courtier of the Waldbergian court, and of course his church grim.

“Pardon me, Duke, that I have kept you waiting.” She spoke apologetically as greeting.

“It is the honor of every chivalrous man to wait for a lady.” he replied “I likewise want to beg your pardon that I have asked you to this meeting so surprisingly. I didn’t want to miss the chance to also exchange a few words with my future bride. Beforehand though, should you loath the thought of marrying me because you fear me, please don’t be afraid to make it known to me. Our marriage may indeed be politically motivated but nothing is further from my mind than wanting to ruin the future of such a young lady like you.”

That completely surprised the princess. “Why should I fear you?” she asked in astonishment.

“You know that I am the Grim Reaper of the Battlefield, don’t you?” Doderic inquired.

“Of course.” Himiltrud replied “As long as the Grim Reaper stays on the battlefield I have no objections at all against the Duke of Gorgewell as my spouse, and your shaggy companion there also appears less terrifying than the rumors want to know. On the contrary I have to ask you if you really agree to wed an alp like me. I am sure you know what it means when somebody is an alp or a nachtmahr.”

“I have heard about it.” The Duke confirmed “In Seathornia we have no alps or nachtmahrs. Your affliction doesn’t cause me any superstitious fear, be assured. This is no problem for me. That you, with all due respect, are also already over the appropriate age for wedding, that should not worry you because isn’t it even more true for me?”

Thereupon, the Princess so avoided in her homeland had to smile. There was no love in this marriage, was it of purely political nature after all. That didn’t mean of course that that couldn’t change later on. Himiltrud was more than happy that she could still escape the destiny of a spinster that appeared so firmly established. But it wasn’t only her alp blood causing the lack of suitors but also the fact that the highly intelligent Princess was so studied that she even overshadowed some of the more famous scholars of Waldbergen. It was the sad truth after all that men preferred women who were dumber than themselves so that they could look better in comparison. That wasn’t the case with Doderic though. He preferred a smart wife who could look after the business of his estates while he went to fight in the King’s name. Thus the two future fiancés decided that they really wanted to enter the following marriage for the mutual good.

It was early September when the delegation from Seathornia went back to its homeland. The number of people, however, who would ship over the sea to travel to the peninsula kingdom had more than doubled. In the company of the Seathornians there namely also was the delegation of Waldbergen that left for the return visit lead by no less a figure than Crown Prince Reinhold.

Himiltrud too had joined the delegation that served as bridal escort at the same time. In doing so she was accompanied to her new home by her whole retinue, for it was nothing unusual that a Princess brought a few trusted servants into the marriage. Since she only had Dankmar and Odilgard as attendants though, both of them came with her of course. She had left it to her healer Friedbert if he wanted to retire from service and stay in Waldbergen or accompany her to Seathornia. The giant, however, had declared that he would like to see more of the world and thus would stay at the side of his Mistress. With a part of melancholy but also positive excitement Himiltrud set off into a future that was so different from all she had imagined before, but she had no sorrows in that regard. After she had come to know her future husband Doderic better, she had the impression that she could at least become good friends with him if not more, and already with certain anticipation awaited the wedding that should take place in the royal chapel of Thuneriver, the capital of Seathornia. Whatever the future might bring her, she would welcome it with open arms.