Prince Charming/Home Again

As you cross the border into your Father's kingdom, you look around to see if anything has changed. It's been four years and apart from everything looking smaller, it's hard to tell if there's anything different. The last time you travelled this road, you were in the back of a carriage; this time you're riding a rather nice horse which was, apparently, a gift from the King.

As you get nearer the capital, you do begin to get the impression that the people generally look happier and more prosperous, and you begin to look forward to seeing your Father again. People working in the fields look up at the well-dressed young man on a big horse, but they clearly don't recognise you. The city has definitely changed: the streets are a lot cleaner for a start and a lot of the shops seem to have newly painted fronts.

A bunch of schoolgirls walking down the pavement (pavement?) look up at you and wave; there are all giggling and nudging each other so you think they must have recognised you, but nobody calls out your name so it seems that they didn't. Even when you get to the castle, the smartly dressed guards at the gate stop you and force you to dismount. Fortunately, you recognise one of them. "It's me - Charming - don't you recognise me?"

Slowly, it dawns on him and he drops down on his knees. "I'm sorry Prince Charming, it's been such a long time since we saw you…"

"Stand up Harry," you say as three more guards come tumbling out of the guardroom and stand to attention. "Things seem to have changed around here," you say.

"You won't believe how much," Harry says. "Four years ago it seemed as if the King had woken up from a nightmare. He sacked that miserable old bugger he'd appointed as Chancellor and took on a new one. It's as if the whole kingdom has woken up from a bad dream."

You hand the reins of your horse over to one of the guards and Harry leads the way across the courtyard to the big doors at the front of the castle. For as long as you can remember, those doors were firmly shut, but now they are wide-open and welcoming. There are flowers growing in pots along the murder tunnel and when you get to the top of the twisty stairs at the end, your Father is standing there waiting for you.

Last time you visited, he could hardly be bothered to even talk to you, but now he seems to be transformed. You may be twelve years old, but when he hugs you, you can't help crying into his shoulder.

"It started about four years ago," he tells you later on when you're sitting in one of the gardens freshly made lemonade, served by giggling young maid. "One morning, I just woke up and felt different. I still miss your mother, but I realised that it had taken over my life. Then I looked around and saw how run down everything was and decided that it was time to do something about it."

It was a couple of days later before you were able to ask something that had been at the top of your mind. "So what's this about getting married?"

You're sitting in his office and he gets up, walks over to a bookshelf and takes down a large, leather-bound book. He leafs through a few pages and then puts it down in front of you. The language is archaic and difficult to read, but the gist of it is that the Crown Prince of the kingdom should be married soon after his twelfth birthday as practicable.

"But I'm not ready to get married," you say, looking up at him.

He shrugs. "It does say as soon as practicable, so that gives us some wiggle room. There's going to be a whole procession of girls and I have no intention of forcing you to marry anyone you don't want to marry."

Relieved that you're not going to be promptly marched up the aisle with some bucktoothed princess from a neighbouring kingdom, you agree to take part in a Grand Ball to which a number of prospective brides can be invited.

• Before the ball, you get to meet some potential brides