More Tales from the Silver Forest
by: Tiger Lily21
A/N: The second story in this collection is a retelling of a lesser-known fairy tale. I have kept the original title and most of the original plot, tweaking things only to make them more realistic. I did change one other thing-one of the sisters' names. In the original tale, her name was Anne. I have called her Emma for the simple reason that my name is Anne, and I don't like putting my name in stories if I can help it. It's too tempting to turn myself into a character. So the sisters are Emma and Kate. I hope you like them.
Katie Crackernuts
Once upon a time there were two girls who were best friends. Their names were Emma and Kate. Emma was a princess and the prettier of the two. She had curly blonde hair and lovely blue eyes and a beautiful smile. Kate was the daughter of Emma's governess. She was still pretty, but not as pretty as Emma. She had straight brown hair and hazel eyes, and there were freckles on her nose. They didn't care much about who was prettier, though. They loved each other as sisters, and promised to stick by each other forever and ever.
Now Emma's father the king was a widower, and Kate's mother was a widow. One day they decided that it would be lovely if their parents could get married, so that they could really be sisters. So Kate talked to her mother about how kind the king was, and how nice it would be if she had a father again, and Emma said almost the same thing to her father, except about having a mother again. Kate's mother was an ambitious woman. She liked the idea of being queen. It didn't take much to convince her. But the king was stubborn and still missed his wife. It took a great deal of effort on Emma's part to get him to agree to at least talk with Kate's mother and see what she thought. At last she convinced him and the two parents began spending time together.
It didn't take long after that. Kate's mother was able to convince the king that he should marry again and that she should be his next wife, and after three months the king gave in. They were married. Emma and Kate were bridesmaids and they loved it. After the wedding, when their parents went away for their honeymoon, the two sisters danced around and around in delight. They were real sisters at last!
Unfortunately, the happiness could not last. The king and his new queen returned from their honeymoon and the queen realized that her daughter was not as pretty as Princess Emma. She felt that wasn't fair, and decided to do something to make Kate prettier. She went to the old henwife at the castle, who was known to dabble in magic, and asked her what she could do. The henwife cackled.
"Send me Princess Emma tomorrow morning before breakfast," she said. "I'll have her look into my cauldron. The potion I'll brew in there will steal away all her beauty. I'll bottle it up and then you can give it to your daughter."
The queen thanked her and left. The next morning she sent Emma down to the henwife before breakfast. On her way, Emma slipped into the kitchens to beg a muffin from the cook. She munched on it as she walked to the henwife's hut. When she got there, the henwife ushered her in and asked her to lift the lid to the cauldron in the corner and see if the contents were boiling. Emma did so and saw a glass-smooth green liquid sitting in the cauldron. "Nothing's happening," she said to the henwife.
"Idiot girl," muttered the henwife. Then louder she said, "You'd better go back and tell your stepmother it's not ready yet."
Emma agreed and left (she didn't hear the henwife call her an idiot or she would have been very mad).
When Emma told her stepmother what the henwife had said, the queen was angry. She went to the henwife and demanded to know why it hadn't worked.
"The girl must have eaten something," said the henwife. "The potion only works if she's got an empty stomach."
So the next morning, the queen sent Emma to the henwife again, and told her explicitly not to eat anything on her way there, for she would spoil her breakfast. Emma obediently didn't go through the kitchens to get any food. She did find a few nuts in her cloak pocket, left over from a day spent picking nuts with Kate. She ate them contentedly, assuring herself that a few nuts would not spoil her breakfast.
When she got to the henwife's hut, the henwife asked her again to lift the lid on the cauldron. Again nothing happened. The henwife sent her back to the queen, who stormed out to the hut to find out why the spell still hadn't worked. "Bring her here yourself tomorrow morning and don't let her eat anything," said the henwife. "And if it fails again this time don't ask for another try."
The next morning the queen woke Emma when it was just barely light out and told her they were going to visit the henwife. She hurried her out of the castle and to the hut so quickly that Emma had no chance to eat anything. When they got there, the henwife asked Emma to lift the lid on the cauldron. This time when she did, the green potion inside began boiling furiously and hot steam rose up and covered Emma's face completely. She cried out in surprise and maybe a bit in pain (it was very hot steam) and stepped away from the cauldron. The henwife and the queen both smirked when they saw her face. The magic steam had taken away all her beauty. Her golden curls had turned limp and mouse-colored. Her blue eyes were a cloudy grayish-brown. Her skin was covered in freckles and pimples. She was excessively plain.
Emma soon caught sight of her face in the mirror on the hut wall (placed there for just this purpose) and cried out in horror at the sight of her plain face. Then she fled the hut, leaving her cruel stepmother and the henwife behind.
Kate saw her sister running across the grounds from her bedroom window and ran down to meet her. She was surprised to see Emma's plain face, but not surprised to hear how it had happened. She knew her mother had always disliked Emma's being prettier.
"Don't worry, dearest," she said to Emma. "We'll fix this. We'll go away on a quest and find someone who can help us. And we won't come back until you're as beautiful as you were before."
"I don't care about being beautiful," said Emma, sniffling (for she had a good heart as well as a pretty face, and no potion could change that). "I never cared about it."
"I know," said Kate, "but I won't let you keep that nasty spell on you. Who knows what else it might do to you? My mother's done you a wrong, and I'm going to make it right. That's what sisters do."
She wrapped Emma in a cloak with a hood, so that her face was mostly hidden, packed a bag for each of them, and wrote a note to her mother and stepfather explaining what had happened and what she intended to do about it.
They set off that afternoon, riding along the royal road together. Although Kate called it an adventure, she didn't really intend it to be much of one. Being princesses, they had enough gold to stay at inns and eat good food every day. In every town they stayed in, Kate told people that her sister was ill and that she was looking for a doctor or a magician who could help her. At first they had no luck. Then, after a week of traveling, an innkeeper told them about a local lord who had two sons. One was a great magician and the other was a great scholar. One of them might be able to help. Kate thanked the innkeeper and she and Emma headed for the lord's manor.
They arrived at dusk and knocked on the door. A servant answered and invited them in to talk to the lord. Kate was surprised to find him very melancholy. Being a kind-hearted lass, she put her own problems aside and asked him about his troubles. The lord was glad to tell her, for it is always easier to have a problem when you have someone to share it with. It seemed that his older son, the magician, had come down with a strange illness. He was weak and tired during the week, and seemed to have a fever. But on Friday evenings, he was full of energy and purpose, and he would leave his room and vanish for the night, returning at dawn just as bad as he'd been the morning before. The lord's younger son, the scholar, had been doing some research to try to figure out what ailed his brother, but he was unable to discover anything.
Kate felt sorry for the lord and his sons, and she offered him a deal. She would find out what was wrong with his older son and cure him if she could, if the lord and his younger son would try to help her sister in return. The lord agreed. Kate left Emma in the care of the lord and his younger son, whose name was Cedric, and went to the older son's bedchamber.
The older son was named Darren and he might have been handsome if he hadn't been so ill. He lay on his bed with his eyes closed. His dark hair was growing too long and hung limply around his sweaty, pale face. He was thin and feverish, and there were dark circles under his eyes. Kate sat down by his bedside and spoke softly to him.
"My name is Kate," she said, "and I'm going to help you."
She told him many other things as well—about her life and her sister and her dreams. He didn't seem to hear any of it. She asked a servant for cool clothes and water, which she used to bathe his sweaty brow. She also asked for something to do while she sat there. One of the servants brought her a big bushel of nuts to crack, and Kate sat and cracked them by Darren's bedside and spoke to him.
It was Thursday that day, but Kate did not feel right letting herself sleep too much while she watched over Darren. She did eventually slip into slumber, though, and woke the next morning to find her patient lying exactly as he had been, eyes half-shut. She called for a servant and asked for breakfast for Darren and herself, but the servant said that Sir Darren never took much breakfast anymore. He could barely manage a thin bit of gruel and a cup of weak tea. Privately Kate wondered if this might be part of the problem, but she allowed the servant to bring that up.
Darren was a bit more alert after he ate, and talked a bit with Kate in a weak voice. In spite of his illness, she found him quite nice and promised again that she would help him. Darren gave her a bit of advice.
"No matter what happens tonight," he said, "you must stick right with me. I don't remember where I go or what I do, but I know I do it very quickly and if you don't keep up you'll lose me."
Kate promised to stay as close to him as she could and the day went on. Darren had only a thin broth for lunch and dinner. Kate cracked more nuts for the kitchens (the cook was very glad to have somebody in the house to manage all of them) and they continued talking.
Night fell and Darren slipped into an uneasy sleep. Kate forced herself to stay awake, for she was sure that the hour when Darren changed and left the house was coming. Sure enough, as the clock struck ten he sat up straight and climbed out of bed. He dressed himself in his finest clothes, which did not really fit him now, for he had grown so thin. Once he was dressed, he left the room at a brisk walk. Kate immediately set down her nuts and nutcracker and followed him.
Darren left the manor and went to the stables. There he saddled his horse. Kate saddled her own mare as well and rode after him into the night. He gallopped north as fast as he could, toward an enormous green hill. Kate followed close behind. Suddenly they were at the foot of the hill. Darren reined in his horse and called out, "Open, open, great green door, for the young lord and his noble steed!"
"And his lady and hers as well!" called Kate on the end of his speech. She had no intention of being left behind.
A door in the hillside opened. Darren rode in. Kate followed quickly, and the door swung shut as soon as her horse's tail was through. Then Kate discovered exactly what was ailing Darren.
They were in the Faerie Court. I cannot even begin to describe the bright lights or the beautiful music or the delicious smells of that place. Kate watched as Darren dismounted and allowed the faeries to pull him into the frantic dance. She dismounted as well and hid in the shadows, not wanting to get caught in the faerie spell as well. She stayed in one spot as Darren and the faeries whirled and twirled to the wild music.
As she sat in her shadowy corner, Kate saw two faeries leave the dance floor. They came to stand quite close to her, but did not appear to notice her. Instead they laughed together. "What a fine trick our queen played on that foolish lord's son," said the first faerie. "He will come here and dance every night until he kills himself!"
"Many a mortal has done the same," replied the other faerie. He and his companion burst into laughter again.
(I must apologize for these faeries. They were quite rude, and Kate felt her temper rising as she sat in the corner and listened to them. But faeries are not human and some of them—particularly the northern faeries—think of human beings as stupid, gullible creatures meant for them to play with. The trick they'd played on Darren was their idea of a fine prank, especially since he was such a powerful magician. Faeries are not particularly fond of magicians.)
The first faerie stopped laughing after a moment, though her face was still mirthful. "The best part of the trick is the way he could get out of it, I think," she said. "If he just ate a bit of roasted chicken from his own kitchens and shared it with the lady of his heart, our queen's spell would break. But he's so tired and ill when he returns each day that he doesn't have an appetite and so no one thinks to feed him chicken or anything else. And he doesn't know the lady of his heart has been sitting at his bedside cracking nuts!"
The other faerie laughed again. "Aye," he said. "What fools mortals are!"
In the shadows, Kate's anger was slowly replaced with glee. "Mortals may be fools," she said under her breath, "but not such fools as you. You've told me how to cure him and I shall."
She stayed where she was until a distant clock chimed three and the faerie dance ended. Darren went back to his horse then and Kate followed close behind. They rode out of the hill and back to the lord's manor. Darren undressed and then collapsed on his bed, exhausted and ill from his night of dancing. Kate took her spot by the bed again and began cracking nuts once more.
"Well, Sir Darren," she said, "we've had quite a night. I've learned how to cure you now. And once you are well, you can help cure my sister."
She patted his hand gently and called for a servant. "Go and roast a chicken," she said, "and send it up for Sir Darren's lunch today."
"But he's too ill to manage chicken," protested the servant.
"Do as I say," said Kate, "for it's the only thing to get him well."
The servant left to obey and Kate went back to cracking nuts. She sat there all morning and talked to Darren. At noon, the servant brought in the roast chicken. It was beautifully cooked and smelled delicious. The moment the scent hit Darren's nose, he sat up in bed a bit and looked much more attentive than he had.
"Is that for me?" he asked Kate.
"Yes," she said. "We're to share it." She carved the chicken and gave him a piece, then took a piece for herself. They both took a bite.
"Mm!" cried Darren. "This is wonderful!" He continued eating. Kate noticed his cheeks were filling with color and his eyes were growing brighter. They ate as much of the chicken as they could. By the time the servant came to take it away, Darren was looking healthier than he had for months and feeling completely better.
Kate and Darren spent the rest of the afternoon together. Darren explained how he'd gotten mixed up with the faeries in the first place. He'd seen the faerie queen in disguise as he rode along the moors and pursued her, for she was quite beautiful. She'd gotten annoyed with him and cast the spell on him. In turn, Kate told him about how she'd followed him and overheard how to cure him. She blushed furiously at the part about "the lady of his heart". Darren smiled at her and took her hands in his.
"I don't suppose you'd consider yourself that now, Katie Crackernuts?" he asked, his eyes shining.
Kate blushed even more, but had to admit that she did not mind being the lady of his heart. The conversation took a turn away from magic and faeries after that.
Kate and Darren joined his father and brother, along with Emma, for supper that night. The lord was delighted to see Darren well, and Kate was surprised and delighted to see Emma completely cured as well. It seemed that Cedric had found a simple cure for the potion and they had tried it around the same time that Kate had given Darren the chicken. Kate told her story again, and Darren told his father that he'd chosen Kate as the lady of his heart. It was not really surprising that Cedric had chosen Emma for his that same afternoon.
There's not much more to tell now. The sisters spent another month with the brothers, making plans and promises for the future. Then Kate and Emma rode back to their father's court to inform him of their betrothals. They discovered there that the king had put the queen and the nasty henwife in prison for putting the curse on Emma. He was delighted that both of his daughters had found true love and approved of their future husbands. They were married soon afterwards.