Sunev did not know how they reached the door of her parents’ home, but she stood there a short time after, and with trembling hands opened the door.
Oh, how happy her father and mother were to have her again! The joy of seeing her safe made them forget the time, and it was the trumpeting of the Prince of Esor’s messengers that told them the day was far gone.
The messengers knocked at the door, and when Sunev opened it they knew they had found the wife of their Prince.
Sunev’s father and mother were overcome with sorrow when the messengers told their errand. They thought they had found their child, only to lose her again, but the messengers told them they might go along to the palace. So they all set out.
When the Prince of Esor saw the beauty of Sunev he knew she was the one woman in the world for him, and without delay he ordered the wedding feast to be prepared.
A wonderful gown of white and gold was brought from the royal clothes-room, and a crown of pearls and diamonds was placed upon her beautiful golden hair, and upon her dainty feet golden slippers and silk stockings.
Her father and mother were not forgotten by the Prince, either. They were dressed in clothes they had never even dreamed of and given a palace near where Sunev and Prince Esor were to live.
But what had become of the beautiful witch child all this time, for, of course, she was not to blame for the bad deed of Witch Zitna and should not be made to suffer?
She was safe and happy, you may be sure, for she was surrounded by every comfort and luxury in another part of the palace, and she did not wish to become the wife of the Prince.
Instead, she loved one of the friends of the Prince, a noble lord who had fallen in love with her, but did not dare speak his love because he knew the Prince might choose her for his bride.