Title: Forever Yours
Author: rooster dawn
Pairing: see below
Alternative Universe
Disclaimer: JAG is property of Belisarius productions, no copyright infringement intended. Ever After is the property of Twentieth Century Productions, no copyright infringement intended.
Summary: This story is loosely based on the movie "Ever After"
Good feedback is good for one's soul and everyone's happiness.
Author's note: In the movie the time period covers five days between the time Prince Henry meets Danielle and the Masque Ball. I have tried to stretch out the story to almost two weeks to give them more time to get to know each other better. Besides I think it would be hard for two people from different stations of life to see each other every day and fall in love.
Harm is Henry, the prince of course, but I stayed with the name Henry for story. I like the name.
Sarah is Danielle/Nicole; she's the heroine of the story.
Jordan plays Marguerite, the blond stepsister, who tries to get in between our heroes.
Harriet plays Jacqueline, but is called Henrietta, sounds more French; she is the other stepsister.
Renee plays the nasty stepmother, the Baroness Rodmilla de Ghent
Bud plays the Henry's confident Captain Laurent
part 1 Poor Henry
2100 hours, day 1
The Summer Castle
Edward was pacing back and forth in his bedroom. He was unhappy with Henry's apparent lack of purpose in life. He seemed to be drifting. If something wasn't done quickly and soon he feared the worse for his son.
He couldn't understand what was wrong with Henry. He had had every opportunity one could ever hope for. When he was Henry's age there was no question about what he wanted out of life. Why was Henry having such difficulty finding his way?
"It needs to be done Anna." bellowed Edward. He didn't want to fight with her, but he needed to shake Henry up.
"He's only a boy Edward, he still has time to find his way in life." argued Anna. She and Edward weren't that old yet. She figured they both would be around for at least another twenty years.
"Poppycock Anna, he's twenty five years old. He's been to the best schools in Europe. He's been trained in the finer points of war and self-protection. He's traveled throughout Europe. He's old enough to know what he wants out of life." Edward argued back.
"What are you going to do Edward?" Anna asked. She was afraid to ask, but she needed to know.
"I have been in contact with Alfredo, the king of Spain. We've been talking about a new non-aggression treaty. Henry will marry Princess Isabella in two weeks." replied Edward.
"Edward, you know he won't like being forced into marrying someone he doesn't know or love." pleaded Anna.
"Too bad, he's had twenty five years to find a wife of his own. Now he'll marry the princess. If he doesn't like it, well too bad. He'll have to learn to deal with it." fired back Edward. He wasn't going to back down on this one.
Twenty minutes later Henry arrived in the room where Edward and Anna were sitting. They were sitting in front of a roaring fire. Henry wondered what was so important that it couldn't wait until morning.
"What's up father? I heard you bellowing all the way on the other side of the castle." smirked Henry. He liked rattling his father's cage.
"Don't you get smart with me Henry. I've got some important news to tell you and you have no one to blame but yourself." Edward smiled knowing Henry wasn't going to be happy with his news.
"I have concluded discussions with Alfredo of Spain and we have come to an agreement on a new treaty." Edward smiled.
"And this concerns me how?" asked Henry. He wanted to be anywhere but here talking to his father. "I have no interest in the comings and goings of Spain."
"You will now Henry. You will have the distinct honor of marrying one of his daughters." smiled Edward looking for a reaction that he soon got.
"Mother!" pleaded Henry. He had no interest in being a pawn in one of his father's games.
"You brought this on yourself Henry. You seem to have lost focus in your life. You seemed to be drifting. You have no purpose. We hope this will help you find your way in life." sighed Anna.
Henry knew his only chance to get out of this marriage agreement rested with his mother, but with his mother seemingly agreeing with his father, he knew the cause was lost. He stormed out of the room and went to his room.
There was only one solution that he knew would work. He needed to leave the castle and get as far away from his father as possible, the sooner the better. He would wait until everyone was asleep before he would attempt his escape.
0400 hours, day 2
The Summer Castle
Early the next morning shortly before sunrise Henry escaped through the window of his room. His father had assigned guards outside his room to make sure he didn't leave in the middle of the night.
Henry went to the royal stables and saddled his horse. With provisions that he had gotten from the kitchen for a few days Henry took off hoping to put as much distance between himself and his father before the king realized he was gone.
He was an hour from the castle when his horse threw a shoe causing Henry to curse. There was no way he could ride his horse now. He had to find another one. He walked along a path for another hour before coming upon several horses grazing in a fenced in pasture.
He hadn't realized that he had been going around in a large circle and was only a few miles away from the castle instead of many miles.
He took inventory of the horses and decided upon the large black one. He was an impressive animal thought Henry. He took the saddle off his own horse and attempted to place it on the black horse.
0530 hours
de Ghent's manor
The sun began shining into the room Sarah was sleeping causing her to wake up. She was surprised to see that she was in front of the downstairs fireplace. She had been reading from the last book her father had given to her, Utopia, when she must have fallen asleep.
She was a little sore and dirty from sleeping on the floor. Great she thought, she knew she would hear about her lack of cleanliness later this morning when her stepmother saw her at breakfast.
Her stepmother was always complaining that she didn't make enough of an effort to keep herself clean and presentable, but it was hard when one had to do gardening, feed the animals, and lug firewood inside.
When she was younger she used to go everywhere her stepsisters and stepmother went, but as she got older, those trips were fewer and farther in between. The cause her stepmother said was her inability to act like a young lady and stay clean.
She had to agree that there was some truth to that. She never liked to sit still when she was younger. She was always moving. Then of course there was Michael, her best friend. They seemed to be always getting into trouble, which led to her getting dirty.
But she thought the real reason was the Baroness didn't want any competition for her daughters. She wanted to marry off Jordan to a Prince or some other rich nobleman.
Henrietta was too plain to be a distraction, but she was supposed to rival Jordan in beauty. She found that hard to believe since Jordan was very beautiful.
Sarah decided to go out to apple orchard to get some apples for a pie and some tarts. Maybe that would keep the witch at bay and she would leave her alone. If she hurried she would be back before they arose from their slumber.
It surprised her that they were all so lazy. None of them seemed to ever do anything around the estate except to complain. She wished they would all go away and leave her and the servants alone.
She walked through the orchard looking over the apples that had fallen from the trees. She checked for bruising hoping that she would find many good ones. Michael had always told her there was no good reason to climb a tree to pick apples when there were so many lying on the ground.
She had found about two dozen good apples when she heard a disturbance. It was coming from the meadow where they kept the horses. She heard a horse whinnying. It was Chegger, their prized horse. He was her father's favorite horse.
Chegger was getting old and didn't like strangers riding him. He was high strung. Sarah took off running toward the pasture intent on stopping the thief. She ran as quickly as she could without dropping any of her apples.
Henry was cursing under his breath. Why was this horse being so difficult? No sooner than he had the saddle on the horse's back when it would start moving around making it more difficult to cinch the saddle.
The saddle slid off several times before he finally got the saddle cinched around the horse. Then the horse wouldn't stand still long enough so he could mount him. Damm horse, he thought. His master must be difficult too.
Finally he was successful. He took off riding hoping to get as far away as possible. He hadn't gone more than a hundred yards before something hit him squarely in the chest and then right between the eyes causing him to fall off the horse.
He was dazed for a moment as his cloak became entangled over his head. He tried to clear himself of the cloak, but was having difficulty. He was still a little disorientated from falling off the horse.
He got hit several more time before he heard the voice of an angry young woman. He knew he needed to get the cloak from his head or he might suffer more permanent damage. She was pelting him pretty good.
Sarah saw the thief on horseback coming toward her. She dropped most of her apples before picking up a rock in one hand and an apple in the other. She threw the rock first hitting the thief in the middle of his chest.
She then threw the apple hitting him in the head causing him to fall off the horse. She yelled "Thief!" before picking up some more apples to throw at him as he stood up flailing away with the cloak. He wobbled towards her.
"I was only borrowing your horse." he cried out in pain as she hit him again and again.
"And what about us? Are we to let you?" she replied letting the thief know his actions were not acceptable.
She pummeled him with a few more apples before he cleared the cloak away from his head. Sarah caught sight of crest on his chest. She saw his face and knew she was in trouble. She knew it was the prince. He was gorgeous.
She quickly dropped to the ground and assumed a bow of respect towards the prince. "Please be merciful, don't kill me Sire." She kept her face hidden as much as possible.
Henry took a deep breath relieved that the young woman had finally come to her senses and stopped throwing apples at him. He knew he would have some nasty bruises later on. He was kind of surprised that she thought she would die.
Sarah looked up and pleaded "Forgive me your Highness, for I did not see you."
"I find that hard to believe as your aim was quite well." replied Henry with distain. She must have hit him at least seven times, including thrice in the head.
He looked around to see if there were any guards around. Maybe if he dispensed with this unfortunate encounter quickly, he wouldn't have to make a big deal about her indiscretion. He thought about an old childhood saying 'I didn't see you, you didn't see me.'
"Do not tell anyone about our meeting here." ordered Henry as he remounted the horse. He opened a small coin pouch and let some gold coins fall out.
A moment later he was gone. Sarah reached over and happily picked up the coins, twenty five in all. She knew what she was going to do with the coins, save Uncle Tom. Today was going to be a beautiful day she thought.
Sarah went back to the orchard to get some more apples. It was after all the reason she had come out here. The Baroness would be unhappy enough that she was late for breakfast. Sarah rushed home with the apples and the gold coins in her pocket.
0800 hours
de Ghent's manor
Sarah arrived home a short while later. She could hear the shrill voice of two whining spoiled cows coming from the dining room. It appeared that Jordan was unhappy about something. It seemed as if she was never happy with anything that was served to her.
"Look Louise." Sarah exclaimed as she put the gold coins on the kitchen tables.
"Ah! ... Where did you get them coins Sarah?" Louise asked excitedly. It was only eight o'clock in the morning and already she had a headache from Jordan's belly aching.
"From an angel of Mercy. With these coins I can buy Uncle Tom's freedom." she exclaimed.
"Bless you my child, but I thinks you better hide them coins before the Mistress sees them. She and the Missy are in a foul mood this morning. You better go see her before she starts screeching again." replied Louise.
Sarah picked up her coins and hid them in a jar. She then hurried into the other room carrying the next course of the morning meal along with some coffee.
"Where have you been Sarah?" bellowed the Baroness named Renee.
"Probably sleeping with the hogs considering how dirty and smelly she is." smirked Jordan.
"I was out gathering some apples for tarts and a pie Ma'am." replied Sarah wondering why they were picking on her this morning. She hadn't done anything. Why couldn't they find their sport elsewhere?
Renee grabbed a hold of Sarah's arm and pulled her closer to her. She shook her head in wonderment. She wondered what she had to do to get Sarah to stay clean.
"What can I do so that you will keep yourself more presentable. I know you were a little tomboy when I first arrived here ten years ago. It was cute, you had so much energy, but I thought over time you would out grow this need of yours to get so dirty.
I thought you would become a young lady, someone I could take with me to court. I've kept a roof over your head, clothes on your back, and food in your belly. What must I do that you should act more like a lady?" questioned Renee.
"I do try Ma'am. I have spent many hours sitting on the old swing by the lake thinking about how I could please you stepmother. I have thought long and hard until I could not think anymore and my head hurt." Sarah began to explain. She knew this would irritate Renee.
"Enough already." Renee whined as she released Sarah's arm.
"I have heard rumors from one of my stooges in town that Prince Henry must take a wife. I don't want you to do anything to hurt Jordan's chances of ensnaring him. I want you to put on one of your nice dresses and look presentable in case the Prince happens to come by. And stay clean." instructed Renee.
"I shall try to keep myself presentable. I will wash with more vigor and avoid dirty task Ma'am." Sarah replied. With that Sarah was off to bath and change her clothes. She had to make plans to free Uncle Tom.