Princess Pride Redux

by thisaccountisbasicallydead

This started as turning the plot of Princess Pride into a fairy tale, and turned into its own story at the end? It also ended up being longer than I meant it to be... Pretty much it's taking the idea of the Princess Pride and expanding it into an AU about Courtney as a princess and Duncan as an outlaw.

Once upon a time, there was a far away land ruled by a king named Christopher. King Christopher's younger brother and his brother's wife had died many years ago, leaving the King in charge of his niece, the young princess, Courtney. King Christopher cared for his niece well, and she wanted for nothing. One day, when she was 16 and old enough to marry the king came to her.

"Courtney," he said, "it is time you wed. There are many worthy knights and young lords who would be acceptable choices, but I leave the choice in your hands."

"Fine," replied Courtney, "But if I must wed there should be tests to determine their capabilities. I don't want to marry someone weak or cowardly, they're going to have rule with me after all," she wrinkled her nose, "Symbolically, at least. I doubt I'll let him have any real power."

"Well of course there should be challenges," the king said, "I mean, this is a fairy tale."

So it was declared that any man of noble birth could apply for the hand of Princess Courtney. Many applied, but few made it through Courtney's rigorous screening. Finally, however two knights passed the preliminary stage. There was no guarantee either would wed the princess as many applicants had yet to be reviewed, but all eyes of the court were on these first two contenders. Their names were Sir Justin and Sir Harold. Justin was favoured to win, for he was handsome and strong, and had carried Courtney's favour at the latest tournament.

On the day of the tests, the two knights rode through the woods. Their shared destination meant they traveled the same route, but though the pair rode side by side, they were competitors and they did not ride together. Late in the morning after several hours of riding, they came across a bridge guarded by a troll, not far from the capital city. Harold pulled up his horse and regarded it shrewdly.

Suspicious, he said, "Trolls in this area are generally well controlled by King Christopher. This may be one of the tests. Why don't you go first?"

"Very well," Justin smirked, "But if you are too timid to face such a primitive brute, I doubt you'll win the princess."

Turing his horse and lowering his visor, Sir Justin charged toward his foe at a gallop. In retaliation, the troll scooped up rocks from the river bed and pelted the knight. Sir Justin's horse reread back, trying to avoid the violent onslaught, causing Sir Justin to loose his helmet. The knight cursed and covered his face, fearing damage to his good looks. He bent low over his horses back and urging is forward. Still sheltering his head as best he could, he managed to make it around the troll and across the bridge. On the other bank he waited, watching Sir Harold's attempt, and assessing his injuries.

Sir Harold too rode his horse toward the troll, with the same steely determination Sir Justin had shown. This time the troll too a different approach, rather than pelt the oncoming knight with stones, he centred himself on the bridge and readied himself to attack. Harold did not flinch as he approached the troll, he stayed poised in his saddle and at the last second he leaped from the back of his horse. It was a sound plan, but unfortunately, his horse, once its rider was gone, slowed its pace. Harold's jump carried him over the troll surely enough, but he landed unsteadily and tripped forward onto his face. Lifting himself dizzily, Sir Harold pulled himself to his feet and awaited his horse not he other bank.

Just as the two knights were preparing to ride on, they heard the sounds of hooves behind them. Turning, they saw a darkly dressed figure riding down the path, wearing a dark red hood that cast his face into shadow. As he approached the bridge, he pulled a bright dagger from his belt. Without stopping, the newcomer took aim and launch the blade through the air. It spun as it flew on its path, straight into the trolls heart. Without faltering, the darkly dressed rider galloped over the bridge, revealing the slightest glint of a smirk as he passed the staring knights.

"Who was that?" asked Sir Justin, watching the rider's swiftly retreating back.

"The Red Hood," Sir Harold breathed, "He's an outlaw, with more than one reward on his head from the King."

"Then it looks like I'll be getting the princess and a sack of gold," Justin spurred his horse on again.

The two knights rode quickly until they reached the palace. They rode into the courtyard and dismounted, neither noticed the figure lurking on the parapets. Up on one of the balconies, Princess Courtney stepped forward to address them. She smiled down at the knights and cleared her throat.

"Welcome, valiant knights, I am glad to see you have passed the first test. As you know, there are several guidelines that need to be fulfilled in order to have the potential to win my hand. Both of you have been carefully selected based on your family trees and past deeds. Through the tasks that follow you will be judged based off your strength, bravery, critical thinking, and competency. Should you perform in a satisfactory manner, you will pass on to the next level of tests, which will begin when I have finished reviewing all potential applicants."

From his perch on the wall, the Red Hood rolled his eyes.

Once she finished talking, Courtney clapped her hands twice, and a large dragon swooped into the courtyard. Sir Justin and Sir Harold drew their swords, but the beast ignored them. Instead, it grabbed Courtney in its front claw and took off, carrying the princess with it. Both knights shouted in outrage, but King Christopher emerged from the palace and held up his hands for silence.

"Greetings! For the second test, Princess Courtney decided to hire a dragon trainer. I assure you this abduction is totally controlled, but it's still up to you to get he princess back. You need to do is track the dragon, and find where he has taken the princess. Then you have to rescue the princess and get her back to the palace safely. Killing the dragon is optional." King Christopher smiled and clapped his hands together, "Now. Any questions?"

"Yeah," the Red Hood pushed himself smoothly off the parapet and landed on the courtyard's stones, "Room for one more?"

"You!" the king yelled, "There's a price on your head! Guards!"

"You might want to hold off on that," with a smirk, he pushed back the hood.

He had dark hair cropped short, with the exception of a stripe down the middle which had been coloured green. His face was tough; weathered and slightly scarred, but King Christopher gaped at the sight of him.

"Duncan? Lord Tarun's son! I can't believe my eyes... You're the Red Hood?"

The guards who had rushed to the king slowly raised their weapons.

"No one's see or heard from you in over a year! Of course you're welcome to try and win Courtney's hand, I'm sure she'd be glad to approve."

"But what about the reward?" Sir Justin demanded.

"He's pardoned!" King Christopher said, smiling.

"But the screening process, Courtney's requirements!" Justin exclaimed.

"That's Princess Courtney to you," the king said, "And trust me, Lord Tarun's son meets all the requirements."

Duncan of Tarun was a nobleman's son who had disappeared from court over a year earlier. He'd first come to the palace with his father on his 15th birthday. Almost immediately, he and the princess had been at odds. Duncan annoyed Courtney by stealing from the kitchen and storerooms, and by disregarding the rules in any way he could. Especially Courtney's authoritative manner. But for all her deportment and poise, the princess could retaliate as well as he, and before long their animosity had subsided into amicable bickering. Almost a year after his arrival at the palace, Duncan of Tarun had vanished. No one in the court knew what had happened.

The two knights and Duncan rode through the forest at a gallop. Each took a separate route, though following much the same path. The dragon had cut a rather clear swath through the forest and tracking it was far from difficult. The three riders arrived at the foot of a tall, crooked tower at much the same time. From the top, Princess Courtney greeted each as they arrived.

"Sir Harold," she nodded.

"Sir Justin," she smiled.

"Duncan," she said dismissively.

Sir Harold turned to Duncan, perplexed, "How'd she know it was you? You put your hood back on."

Duncan shrugged, "It's none of your business, but I told her before I left."

Just then the dragon appeared from behind the tower. It roared ferociously, letting out a great plume of flame, and banged it's tail.

Sir Justin leaned toward Sir Harold and whispered, "Let's work together. We can't let Duncan win."

"Fine. But if one of us marries Courtney, the other gets a reward."

Sir Justin nodded and edged toward the tower. Sir Harold ran in the other direction, distracting the dragon and leading it away. Duncan was already scaling the tower wall, just ahead of Sir Justin. As he struggled up the tower he began to feel small, glancing blows on his head and hands. Gritting his teeth, he looked up and saw Courtney leaning on the edge of the tower and flicking small bits of rubble off it. When she saw him looking up she sent another piece bouncing down and waved at him with a nasty smile. Duncan scowled back at her before continuing to struggle up the wall. However, Courtney's persistent onslaught made it increasingly challenging to climb, and Justin was gaining on him. Finally, a larger than usual piece of rubble landed on Duncan's knuckles and his grip slipped, he scrambled to stay on the wall, but he couldn't and fell to the base of the tower. Sir Justin smirked as he kept pulling himself up the tower wall. As Duncan shook himself and recovered from the fall he glared up at the tower. Sir Harold was still trying to distract the dragon, and watching his attempts, Duncan rolled his eyes. He pulled his bow from his back and shot the dragon, killing it. Then he turned his attention back to Courtney, but he was too late. Justin had reached the top of the tower and was speaking with the princess.

"Fair maiden, favour me with a kiss?" he asked.

Not yet, brave knight. First you must carry me down the tower."

With that, she let down a rope ladder and wrapped her arms around Sir Justin's neck. He climbed down the ladder to ground. Once there, he set her on the back of his horse and swung up in front of her. He began to slowly turn his horse around, and smugly ride back toward the palace. He turned his head to smirk back and Duncan and Harold, but Duncan wasn't there. Justin turned around and started. Duncan was riding straight towards him. As Duncan approached, he reached out and swept Courtney off the back of Justin's house and onto his. Courtney shrieked and Justin shouted angrily, but Duncan was already racing away through the forest. Sir Justin and Sir Harold gave chase, but their horses were not as fast, and they didn't know the woods as well Duncan did. Courtney was still yelling at Duncan when he stopped the horse and ducked into a cave. Duncan sent his horse ahead to mislead the knights and turned to Courtney, who was still loudly complaining.

"Just wait until the king hears about this! I have no idea how you got into this competition, but when he finds out you abducted me, he'll-"

"Come on, Court, I'm not abducting you. I'm taking you to the palace."

"I was already on my way to the palace with Justin!"

"Well, whatever. This tunnel can take us there."

"Sir Justin already won! You're cheating!"

Duncan rolled his eyes, "Yeah, cause you'd want him to be the winner of this thing."

"There's no guarantee he'd be the final winner," Courtney huffed, "But he's better than you. At least he played fair."

"Oh yeah? last time I checked, your whole rock gambit wasn't in the rules."

"That's different."

"Sure it is," there was a sharp noise and Duncan lit a torch, "Anyway, the horse is already gone, so if you want to get home, you'd better follow me."

"Fine. But this does not count a you winning."

Duncan laughed, "Of course, all I did was beat every challenge. And don't" he held up a finger, "say I failed the last one. The challenge was to rescue you, not climb the tower."

"It still doesn't count," Courtney scoffed, "And why are you even doing this?"

"To prove a point. This whole contest is stupid. Seriously, Courtney, you're picking a husband the way you'd pick a tournament winner. What gives?"

"Why should you care? It's my life, and you're busy with your own stupid plans."

"Stupid! I'm doing what I want to do. I never liked dealing with the court or its formalities and politics."

"Or me, apparently."

"Wait, what?"

"You left. You disappeared with no warning and... what? You expected me to be eagerly waiting?"

"What! Of course not! Besides, I left a letter."

"Oh yes, one short letter. And then I heard nothing. For a year."

Duncan stopped and turned to face her, "So if I had wrote to you, you're telling me you'd have replied with something other than months of your nagging about how wrong it is to be an outlaw? And you wouldn't have turned me in?"

"Wh- I-" Courtney spluttered, "You were a bandit!"

"Vigilante!"

"Same difference! You were still breaking the law."

"So what? I never did anything that bad."

"You're an actual. Wanted. Criminal!"

"And you're a controlling, stuck up princess."

"Royalty are supposed to control things!"

"Well I thought you were different, you used to know how to loosen up!"

"Please, you spent the last year as a criminal!"

"Better than spending the becoming more uptight and judgemental than ever. Cough."

"Just cough, don't say the word!"

"Still trying to control things, princess?" Duncan stepped closer to her.

"So what if I am? And back off!"

"Make me!"

Courtney surged forward and kissed him. When they finally broke apart Duncan was dazed.

"Not exactly what I had in mind, princess."

"Ugh, you make me sick."

Duncan smiled, "Hate to break it to you, but you kissed me."

Courtney snorted and started walking down the tunnel. Duncan laughed and followed her. They walked in silence for a few minutes before encountering a point when the path split in two. Duncan paused. At every other fork he'd remembered the right way, but at this one he forgot. Not wanting Courtney to realize, he picked one and kept walking. They passed more forks and turns, until they were faced with a wall of rock.

"Great," Courtney crossed her arms, "You got us lost."

"Relax. The king knows about these tunnels, they connect to the palace cellars. If we're gone too long we'll be rescued," he sat down and grinned, "Eventually."

Courtney glared at him, but joined him on the ground.

"You wanna talk about the fact that you kissed me?"

"No. I just want to forget it happened."

"This time, or the ones before I left?"

"Either. Both."

Duncan raised an eyebrow at her.

She let out a sigh, "So did you really just come back to make some moronic point?"

"What do you think?"

"Ugh, can you give me a straight answer for once?"

"Can you stop jumping on me for the smallest little thing?"

Courtney relaxed against the tunnel wall, "Fine. Why did you come back?"

"Like I said, to make a point. Plus, I wanted to see what you'd do when I showed up trying to win you hand," he leaned against the wall and grinned.

Courtney laughed softly, "You could have just kept in touch with me, you know."

"Yeah, I guess. But I honestly didn't know what you'd do. If you'd known any specifics you might have turned me in."

"I'd never do that!"

"Well you certainly wouldn't approved."

Courtney sighed, "I guess you're right. Sorry you didn't trust me."

Duncan smiled, "Well sorry I left without any real warning."

Courtney looked at him gratefully. She pulled her knees to her chest, "But we're still stuck in this stupid tunnel!"

"I actually have some thoughts on that."

Duncan pulled a small pouch from his pocket and smiled devilishly. Courtney blinked for a moment before realizing what it was. She returned the smile with glee. Duncan poured out a trail of the explosive leading to the wall and culminating in a pile at its base. Courtney lit the end and the two ran a safe distance.

"Do you think this'll work? she asked.

"Trust me, I know explosions," Duncan replied.

When the blast cleared, they slowly picked their way through the rubble and into the opening they'd made.

"Where are we?" Duncan said, looking around as he climbed into a dark hallway.

Courtney took the torch from his so he could get through better, "The old dungeons in the palace, I think. They haven't been used in ages, so no one comes here."

Duncan gave her a look.

"Oh please, that didn't stop me finding out everything I could about them."

Courtney lead Duncan through the palace until they emerged, blinking, into the courtyard, where they found the knights and King Christopher waiting. Princess Courtney straightened her grimy dress and stepped forward with an authoritative air, ignoring the looks of surprise.

"It is my decision that both Sir Harold and Sir Justin's performances on the challenges were less than satisfactory and as such neither has succeeded in passing. Furthermore," she continued, paying no heed to the knight's reactions, "trials for all other potential applicants are hereby cancelled. They are no longer necessary."

"Excellant!" King Christopher exclaimed, "Lord Tarun is on a hunting trip. I'll send someone to contact him at once."

"But Your Majesty-" Sir Justin began.

"You heard the princess, you're dismissed. Scram."

The knights left, grumbling, and the king turned his attention back to Courtney and Duncan.

"Now, it seems like we'll have some plans to make."

"Plans?" Courtney asked.

"Yeah, why are we contacting my father?"

"Of course! Duncan won, didn't he? We've got to start planning the wedding."

"The what?" Duncan asked.

"What? The- But- I- I didn't mean-" Courtney stammered.

"Alright," Christopher continued, ignoring their outbursts, "There's a lot to do. But first, let's get you two inside for a change of clothes. You're filthy."

The next morning, when servants came to wake the princess and Lord Tarun's son, the rooms were empty. They appeared to have left in the night, leaving only a short letter behind. They had left behind all of Courtney's dresses, though some spare servants' clothes and several days worth of food were found to be missing. Though it was not confirmed until much later, it was believed, based on evidence of the path that they had taken, that the pair had gone to an abandoned keep in a disused part of the Tarun lands. When King Christopher was given the news, he decided not to look for them.

"They'll be back. If they don't drive each other crazy, at the very least they'll be back when they want to get married. Until then I guess we'll live happily every after."

He leaned back in his throne, "I mean, this is a fairy tale."