Hello!
To be honest this will be the third time I will post this story. I have made a lot of revisions for this one only because I thought that it deserved the revisions. This time I will try my best to finish this story, but I cannot promise that I will post a new chapter on a regular basis because my work doesn't always allow me the time to write. Anyway, I do hope that you will enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing in.
PS. I will also post Chapter 1 along with this prologue. So knock yourself out.
Her favorite part of the day was when she was finally alone in her tower after abandoning it for the whole day. She let herself plummet on her soft bed, greedily absorbing the coolness of her covers to herself before she flicked her glass shoes off her feet. She curled up into a ball and closed her tired eyes, hoping that sleep would come easy tonight. But despite forcing herself to doze off and leave this night for tomorrow, her mind was still rushing about the tasks and errands that she still needed to complete. She tried desperately to shut them all up, vanquishing any rogue thoughts that went flurrying in her head, but it seemed that every thought she had removed was replaced with two different thoughts and she was now stuck in a vicious cycle. She groaned aloud, pressing her eyes shut as her final attempt to get some nice rest for the night, but it was useless. Her sleep left her like a lover in the night, leaving her sprawled over her bed confused and disorientated. At that moment her body finally had room to reveal every discomfort that she had - her aching feet from her growing uncomfortable glass shoes, the itchy rash growing on her wrist and her stomach that was growling so loudly and intensely that she was sure she can make out some words from it. Her hand automatically moved to her belly, as if containing the beast rampaging inside. She then realized that she had not eaten anything since last night. She started to regret being the Schoolmaster.
"This is definitely not good for my figure." She sighed, dreaming of crispy bacon strips, sunny side up eggs, and English muffins with a side of orange marmalade. It won't just ruin her hips, but it will be extremely delicious. But at this point, if the food won't make her look ugly, the stress will make her look like a witch.
But as if on cue she heard a voice from below her tower. "Rapunzel! Rapunzel! Let down your hair!"
She rolled her eyes, but there was a faint smile that pulled on her lips. But still, she made no effort to get up. Her bed was far more comfortable than laying eyes on that boy.
"Rapunzel?" He called out again. "Are you there? Please, let me in, it's freezing out here!"
The Schoolmaster blew air out of her nose as she pulled herself out of her bed, trudged across the cold stone floor with her bare feet and slammed her hands on the stone windows style. "Call me Rapunzel one more time and I will turn you into a newt!" She hissed pointing her glowing finger at the bulky silhouette at the feet of her doorless tower ready to cast the spell.
"Alright, alright!" Said the voice from below. "I'll stop, Sophie. Just let me in."
"Why would I let you in, Hort?" She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her.
"Uhm… because…?" He shrugged, but Sophie was sure she could see a smile somewhere down there.
She groaned out loud, making sure that he hears her frustration before she flicked her finger upwards.
Without warning, the ground Hort was standing on shoot up so fast that he was forced on his stomach to have his hold body cling on the rising slab or dirt and rock for dear life as he screamed. It abruptly stops in front of the tower's window, jerking him violently before a small bridge formed for him to cross. He crawled over the small bridge, arms and knees shaking, and finally when he was inside the tower, he collapsed, panting like a dog. "You could have just lifted me!" he yelled.
"Oh, that would be no fun, now, would it? What could make me feel better but a man like you screaming like a little girl? I'm willing to bet that the whole school heard you.
"You're evil. Absolutely evil. Why are you guarding the-" In a split second he was on his feet, and his mouth pressed to hers, silencing him completely.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling his chest heave and muscles tense before she pulled herself off him. "Because of that." She said with an almost playful tone on her voice.
She tugged him across the room until they both landed on her bed with his arm underneath her. Sophie looked at him coyly before rolling to her side and closed her eye. A part of her wanted to salvage whatever sleep she could get, but the other part wanted something else. Hort held her close with his large arms while he pecked her on her neck and jaw, the little stubbles of his beard tickling her slightly, but it soothed her, making her tense muscles relax and her turbulent mind was silenced. Eventually, she felt an uncontrollable shaky breath escaped her mouth and she bit her lip, enjoying every single moment of this. She moved closer and closer until her back was straining against him. Then Hort moved away. She took this as an opportunity to pull her golden hair to the side to reveal her flawless back. She wanted him to do more.
But Hort didn't continue.
What's that dumb boy doing now? She thought, turning towards him only to see him snoring, arms spread widely across the bed.
"Seriously?" Annoyance now grows inside her that made her grind her teeth. Well, maybe it was far better having a pet newt to replace him.
She shook her head before her finger lit up a hot pink. She waved it on the floor and conjured something to eat. Eventually, a porcelain plate took shape and the room started to fill with its glorious smell. It was a plate of hot bacon strips, sunny side up eggs, English Muffin and orange marmalade spread, just like the ones in her dreams. She picked it up angrily, folded her legs on her bed then she shoved a bacon in her mouth. "See this?" She wagged the piece of crispy pork belly at Hort's sleeping face. "This is all on you, buddy! All on you!" She then gorged down on her food, like a testosterone filled barbarian.
In less than ten minutes the plate was empty and her fingers were dripping with the juicy pork grease. Sophie was now hating herself. Maybe she will turn herself into a newt now?
But despite Hort's roaring snores, she heard it, the rasping of leaves from across the room which was immediately followed by the Storian shooting out from its perch on its black and white marble desk. The golden quill hovered in front of the rows of leather-bound books of the bookshelf until finally, it stopped, jittering like a coffee-filled toddler. The Schoolmaster eyed the Storian for a while, wondering what it will do next until she realized that it was waiting for her. Sophie quickly jumped to her feet and grabbed the ladder and rolled it to where the Storian hovered. She stormed up the steps and watched as she pointed to each book in front of it. "Is it this one?" She asked, but the Storian remained still. "This one? Or this one?" Her finger finally pointed on something and the Storian shivered almost violently. Sophie looked to see a small brown book and tried to pry it off from being wedged in between larger books. "Why do you want this?" She asked with effort, not even caring if it waked the sleeping man on her bed. Soon the book was free and she carried it down the ladder, flipping through its empty pages. "What do you want with this?" She asked. "It's too small for a fairytale, and it's too early for you to be writing something, right?" But the Storian just zoomed impatiently to its desk, motioning her to hurry up. "Okay, okay. For a lifeless quill, you're very impatient." She set the brown leather book on the desk and moved away but not before getting a little prick from its needle sharp point. "Ouch!"
The Storian opened the softcover of the book and wrote the title with elegant penmanship The Tale of the Black Thorn Witch before flipping a few flyleaves. It then started painting. Sophie watched patiently as the picture slowly came to life - it was dark, almost gritty, maybe it was evening? But there were tall trees and heavy rain. There was something in the middle of the forest like a large beast hidden in the shadows with parts of it lit up by lightning before it was a man with his hand held up as a final attempt to protect himself. But in the foreground was a woman dressed in nifty brown leather boots and thick gray hunting jacket, her skin was as pale as a ghost but there was nothing more to indicate on who she was except for three large rats looking ferocious and snarling at the giant beast ahead of them.
But suddenly it all came together and she couldn't help but feel a swelling gladness in her heart. "After all these years…" She whispered with glee.
She knew exactly who it was.