A Sorta Fairy Tale

Prologue

a/n: I own nothing, sadly.

He made the journey because he promised his soon-to-be-king little brother that he would protect him at all costs. His brother was nowhere near as weak and sickly as their mother liked to believe, but Dark—dashing knight that he knew he was—did not mind traveling across stormy seas and fighting off ogres and trolls to save the princess in the tower, the one Daisuke wanted to marry.

"He cannot make that journey!" one of the advisers cried out.

"But she's to be my fiance, so I should be the one to rescue her," Daisuke mildly tried to argue. Dark had to smile at his gentle brother, who was strong when needed, but certainly not one to try to debate with his advisers or parents.

"You're the next prince! You cannot be in danger!"

"But I'm her letter correspondent!" Ah, the letters that Daisuke wrote to the beautiful princess were what sparked the romance. Princess Risa was taken at age six by a fearsome witch to live with the green dragon. She could only leave when a man honorable enough for her agreed to defeat the witch. Many princes from all over the lands wrote to her, and why wouldn't they? The Hamada king had a lovely kingdom, and rumors of her beauty scattered across the kingdoms. She was fair and delicate, like a doll. The Fragile Princess was recipient to many letter written by hopeful princes, but Risa only ever replied to Daisuke, whom she deemed worthy enough for her.

"I can go," he volunteered. Dark was the perfect knight. The older bastard brother, son of the queen but not of the king and not in line for the throne, Dark was free as a bird, just the way he liked it. He was free to get his brother a girlfriend. He was free to sail away and fight monsters in his black armor and silver sword and be a hero. With that, he was content.

Dark was also content on being a hero without the girl.

So Dark made the terrible journey across the sea and dark forests of doom to rescue the princess Risa. He climbed the tower of the abandoned castle, fought off the terrible dark green dragon and opened the door to the room she was held captive in for ten years.

All for his brother.

"Who are you?" a voice, passionate and angry, asked, staring defiantly into his red ones.

Whoever she was not princess Risa.

But she came close. At least, Dark noticed that right away as he gave her one his most dashing smiles—the one that made all the girls at the capital swoon—that this girl was beautiful, maybe more so than his brother's princess. She was not very tall, but she was lean and had the womanly curves on her body and the angles on her face. Her eyes were fierce but large like a doe's, and her lips were a curious dark pink, plump and pleasant to look at.

"Hello, I am Dark Mousy, and I am here to rescue princess Risa." He grandly introduced himself, all the while feeling a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. In the future, some retellings would mention that he saw the giant book in her hands, but the truth was that he was painfully oblivious when her smile distracted Dark's view from anything else.

"I'm afraid your real princess is in another castle," she told him smugly.

Then she knocked him out unconscious.

And that was how Dark Mousy, The Black Knight met Riku, Princess of the Hamada Lands.

Ultra Special Blah Blah Blah: This is my new story, multi-chapter, Romance. It is set in a Fairy Tale narrative, but with a twist. I had been toying with this idea for awhile, but we shall see if it is any good. Let me know your thoughts!

Happy Reading!