~Flora Rose and the Seven Pixies~

Chapter One: The Huntsman's Warning

Once, there was the beautiful princess of Linphea named Flora Rose, who lived with her evil and cruel mother, the queen Darcy. Over the years, Queen Darcy feared that Flora Rose's kindness and beauty would overshadow her own beauty. And so, she decided to dress the sweet Linphean princess in rags and forced her to work as a maid in her own castle. Every single day, the wicked Queen Darcy would ask her magic mirror who was the most beautiful in the entire kingdom, and so long as the mirror answered that she was the most beautiful, Flora Rose was safe from Queen Darcy's jealousy from for another day. However, one day when Queen Darcy consulted her magic mirror, she did not get the answer she wanted. She walked up to it and chanted the incantation so it would form a face.

"What would you wish to know, my queen?" It asked her loyally.

"Again, magic mirror, who is the most beautiful in all of Linphea?" Queen Darcy asked it.

"Only your vanity is you beauty, Queen Darcy, but I see a lovely young woman in which rags could not cover her gentle kindheartedness. And she is more beautiful than you." The mirror answered honestly.

"Tell me her name!" Queen Darcy demanded.

"Lips red a spring tulip, hair as brown as tree bark, and eyes as green as a leaf…" the mirror described the young woman.

"Flora Rose!" Darcy snapped.

Meanwhile, young Flora Rose was washing the steps outside of the castle while humming a sweet tune. When she noticed that she was running out of water, she poured the leftover water on the steps and walked gracefully to the well to fill up her barrow. All the doves that were watching her work followed to the well, they were here only friends and would listen to her when she needed it. Flora Rose continued to hum her sweet tune as she pulled up the water bucket from the well, and as it finally reach her, she grabbed it.

"Do you guys want to know something?" Flora Rose asked her dove friends, "And you promise not to tell anyone… we are by a wishing well. Make a wish, and if it echoes, your wish will come true." Then she made her wish as she looked in the well.

"I wish to find my true love today." She replied, and he voice echoed in the walls of the well, scaring the doves. Then she began to sing her wish and it echoed in the well again. Outside the castle, a handsome prince named Helia was riding his horse, and was pleasantly surprised by her sweet voice, and began riding up to the well, and as Flora Rose finished singing, he joined in to her song. As she looked up at him, she shrieked and began to run away.

"Did I scare you?" Helia asked her kindly, however she ran away into the castle, "Wait, please don't go, I'm not going to hurt you! Just listen to me." Flora Rose the reappeared up on the balcony as she gave Helia a chance to explain himself. He began to sing to her, and she swayed gracefully to his lyrical singing, and she walked out to the balcony with her dove friends as she continued to hear the singing. Queen Darcy watched with discontent, and closed her curtains. Flora Rose placed a kiss on the cheek of one of her sweet dove friends, and it flew to the hand of the kind gentlemen singing to her. It blushed as it passed along the kiss. Helia looked up, and Flora Rose had shyly closed her curtains.

Back in the throne room of Queen Darcy, she was instructing to a huntsman what she wanted him to do with the Linphean princess.

"I want you to talk her deep into the forest, so she can pick flowers," Queen Darcy began, " and right there in the forest… you will kill her!"

"But Queen Darcy, I could never do that to the innocent princess, she's too kind and goodhearted." The huntsman protested.

"Quiet!" Darcy snapped, "You will know what will happen if you fail to complete this task."

"Yes, my queen." The huntsman answered silently.

"However, to make absolutely certain that your task is complete, bring me back her heart in this box." Queen Darcy ordered.

"Of course, Queen Darcy." The huntsman continued.

So, that afternoon, Flora Rose was sent out with the huntsman to pick flowers. She was singing yet another song as she picked a bouquet of flowers. A baby bird was tweeting helplessly for her attention, and she turned to it.

"Hello, are you lost little bird?" She asked sweetly, "Where are your parents?" The huntsman watched in complete guilty, Flora Rose was so kind and gentle that he couldn't bring himself to do his deed, but he had to.

"Come on," Flora Rose encouraged the bird, "cheer up, I'll help you find them." Then she saw the bird's mom and dad up it the tree, and she looked back at the little bird.

"Are you able to fly?" she asked the little bird, "Go on, go to your mom and dad." And the baby bird flew away. Then Flora Rose turned around and shrieked in fear as the huntsman was about to do his deed, however his hand was shaking, he was hesitant. Flora Rose covered her face in total fear, but the huntsman dropped his sword.

"I just cannot do this, please forgive me princess." he begged.

"What… I don't understand... what's going on?" Flora Rose asked him.

"She's demented, driven by jealousy and vanity!" The huntsman began.

"Who is?" she asked.

"Your mother, Queen Darcy… You must run, far away, into the forest, go anywhere… just don't return, for your own safety, go, run!" he shouted. Flora Rose was hesitant, but as he begged and begged her to run away, fear took over. Her own mother wanted her killed, what could she do but run away. And so she ran deeper into the woods and swung back branches and vines to get past. Owls and bats flew over her and he pink dress got caught in the branches of a tree and she screamed, trying to get away. Finally she escaped, only to get caught in another couple of branches for a moment before being set free again. It was so dark that she couldn't see much in front of her. Flora Rose then got scared as a set of eyes, and screamed as she ran backward and fell down a water filled cave, and ended up holding on to another tree branch. Moments later she let go of the branch and fell in the water, getting completely soaked. The awakened some crocodiles that ganged up on her. She screamed once again and cried out, running out of the water and began racing through the forest once again. Wind blew the branches of the trees and scared her even more as she ran through the woods and leaves blew around her. Flora Rose suddenly saw more sets of eyes light up in the night as she screamed once again, there were so many sets of eyes that if felt like they were surrounding her from all directions. She began spinning, and felt trapped, and terrified. Flora Rose suddenly fell to the ground, covering her face and began sobbing.