Twelve Years Later
Twelve annuals had passed. Happily ever after didn't last as long as everyone had hoped. There were no more Snow Whites, Sleeping Beauties, or Red Riding Hoods; there were descendents. All of Snow Whites descendents were sons and Red Riding Hood's were daughters. However, there was one heroine queen who was still alive. A beautiful queen and she was over 200 years old. This queen proved that anyone could fall in love, even if you were a servant girl. This queen was Queen Cinderella. Cinderella had ruled over her portion of the Five Kingdoms when the great queens ruled over the land.
The Five Kingdoms were formed at the time of the greatest fairy tale heroines alive. All of the kingdoms had forests and dangers, but people who inhabited the forests were helpful as well. The First Kingdom was known for its vast forest, and yet in the forest was beauty; this kingdom was ruled by Queen Red Riding Hood. The Second Kingdom was the Troll Kingdom, and there for was dangerous for anyone who crossed paths with a troll. The Third Kingdom was known as the Dwarf Kingdom, for the cottage of the Seven Dwarves who cared for Snow White was there, along with mines where it was told that magic mirrors were made. Before it was known as the Dwarf Kingdom, it was known as Queen Aurora's Kingdom; for in the mines that the dwarves worked, there were dangerous ingredients for the sleeping spells that could 'kill' Aurora and Snow White. The Fourth Kingdom was the most famous kingdom of all. It was Snow White's kingdom. It was known as Snow White's kingdom because it was home of the Kissing Town and a few safe dwarf mines that made it safe for hiding.
The Fifth Kingdom was Cinderella's Kingdom, but there was something that had been troubling Cinderella for twelve years. Cinderella had a great grandson, who was the ruler of the Fourth Kingdom, and he had a daughter, who was her great-great granddaughter. Both had been missing for twelve years. The new queen, her great-great granddaughter's stepmother, was ruling now and she was threatening all of the Five Kingdoms with her quest to find Cain and Aurora.
Azkadellia was only a queen by marriage. She was evil for she had tried to kill Aurora on the night of her and Cain's, her father, disappearance and ever since that night, she hadn't seen them since. She paced in her room that was full of magic mirrors, looking at one of them. She was to ask the mirror her daily question, the most famous question in all of the Six Kingdoms. She smiled, looking at her reflection.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the fairest of them all?"
Ever since Cain and Aurora's disappearance, the mirror would never lie. It would always say, 'My lady queen, you are the fairest of them all' and this would satisfy Azkadellia. But there was something different today. It was something that would change Azkadellia's happiness forever.
"My lady queen, you are fair to see, but there is someone far more fair than thee."
She looked at her mirror, her blood boiling and a jealous rage came over her, her fists clenched as she looked at her mirror's magical face.
"What do you mean, mirror? There is no one fairer than me!"
"In a world that is parallel is where you can find her."
"I don't understand. Be clear with what you say!"
"Azkadellia, my darling queen, I know where your stepdaughter has been."
Her eyes widened, her fists becoming unclenched as they rested on the mirror's frame.
"Explain to me, mirror."
"The one they call Princess has been in hiding in this parallel world for twelve annuals. The king put her there for safe keeping, saving her from you."
"Can you show her to me, mirror?"
The mirror went from reflective to an image of a girl of about twenty, sitting at a piano, playing softly, and her long red hair cascading down her shoulders as her blue eyes glittered as she smiled, looking down at the piano keys. She wasn't wearing clothes like the people in the Six Kingdoms. She was wearing a tight shirt and a knee length skirt with black boots and she was wearing a necklace as well. Azkadellia looked closer, almost falling over. It was the family crest.
"Mirror, tell me. Who took her out of the Six Kingdoms?"
"Antony, the captain of the guard."
Azkadellia sighed, beginning to pace again. "And what of her father? Do you know where he is?"
"I cannot see him, my queen. It's as if he cannot be seen."
"How can I get the Princess out of hiding?"
"The Princess is twenty annuals old, which means that Queen Cinderella will choose which one of you will be on the throne."
"Her coronation ball? That old hag is still holding a ball for the little brat?"
"The queen is angry, this I know. But I know where the queen should go."
"Where should I go, mirror?"
"The queen must go to the prison of Snow White, where the worst criminals are bound. That is where two trolls and a prince can be found."
An evil smile played across Azkadellia's lips. "Darien, the wolf prince of the Red Riding Hood Kingdom."
"Well, technically, he's half wolf."
"Still, he can be controlled," she said, looking towards the door. "Huntsman!"
The doors to the room opened and a tall, dark man walked in. He was about forty years old with shoulder length graying brown hair, wearing dark gray clothes.
"You called, my lady?"
"I need you to drive my carriage to the Snow White Memorial Prison. I need to make a little visit."
"Yes, my lady."
And with that, the two left the castle. The Huntsman got the carriage ready and helped Azkadellia inside, starting the long journey to the prison.
When Azkadellia and the Huntsman arrived at the prison, the prisoners they came upon begged to be pardoned and released. She ignored the cries until she came to a prisoner who was quiet and bowing before her. She turned, looking at him.
"Arise, Wolf," she said, holding her hand out to him.
Wolf nodded as he stood, bringing his head up to face Queen Azkadellia. Everyone in the Five Kingdoms thought that the royal wolf family had been wiped out, but they had been in hiding. Prince Darien, who was also known as Wolf through out the Five Kingdoms, was only a half wolf, but he could've been as deadly as a full blooded wolf. He was believed to have been dead since the Huntsman killed his family some number of years ago. He looked at Azkadellia, smiling kindly, his brown eyes shimmering and his black hair dangling over his eyes.
"Your Majesty, what an honor this is! You're here and I'm…I'm in a cage," he said, scratching the side of his head like an actual wolf.
"Darien, Prince of the Wolves, what would you give me for your freedom?"
"Oh, anything, Your Majesty! I would give you a…a sweet rack of lamb that's so succulent! Of course, I would've eaten from it already, but anything for you, Your Majesty!"
"I could do without the rack of lamb, Wolf, but I want to give you your freedom."
"Oh, thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you," Darien said, his brown eyes changing to yellow for a brief moment. The Huntsman grabbed Azkadellia's shoulder, leaning his head down by her ear.
"He can't be trusted, my lady," he whispered, watching Darien as he whimpered, wanting to be freed from his prison cell.
"But he can, my dear Huntsman," she said, and then turned her attention back to Darien. "Wolf, in order for you to have your freedom, I need you to give your will to me. You must obey me, no mater what I ask of you."
"Anything for you, Majesty," Darien said, bowing before her.
She smiled, opening the door to Darien's cell and he stepped out, kneeling before her and kissing her hand.
"Come, Wolf. We have much to discuss."
"Wait, Your Majesty," someone said in a gruff voice. The three turned around, seeing two trolls walking towards them. The trolls were the worst feared creatures of the Five Kingdoms. They were horribly grimy and rambunctious, with big noses and their lower jaws stuck out more than sore thumbs. The trolls that were coming towards Darien, the Huntsman and Azkadellia were both boys, princes of the Troll Kingdom, and very dimwitted.
"I am Phury the Troll and this is my brother, Rhevenge the Troll. We are the sons of Relish, the Troll King, and we want to you help you, Your Highness."
She nodded. "Very well. Come along with us. I'll explain on the way back to my castle."
"So let me see if I'm hearing this correctly," Darien said, pacing about Azkadellia's mirror room. "You want us to go to this parallel world and claim it for you?"
"And explore, my dear Wolf! There are a lot of pretty girls in this world. I have seen them in my mirror."
"Sign me up! I'm ready to go," he said, howling briefly, and then slammed his hand over his mouth, chuckling softly.
"Now, you two," Azkadellia said, looking at Phury and Rhevenge as she turned the knob on her traveling mirror, revealing the city. "I want you two to listen to whatever Wolf tells you. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Your Highness," Phury and Rhevenge said in unison.
Azkadellia nodded, moving out of the way so Darien, Phury and Rhevenge could go through the mirror. "Step through one at a time. I'll see you when you return."
The three nodded and bowed, Darien going through the mirror first, then Phury, and then Rhevenge. The Huntsman watched the three disappear into the parallel world, wrapping his arm around Azkadellia's waist from behind.
"You didn't tell them to bring the Princess Aurora nor Antony back, my lady," he said softly, kissing the back of her neck.
"Well, if I know Wolf, he'll find her. Her scent should be easy to pick up. As for Antony…well, the trolls should recognize him. They'll bring him back here," she said as she smiled, feeling his lips on the back of her neck.
"How much longer until I can make you mine, my lady?"
"At least a month, my dear Huntsman, but when we rule the Five Kingdoms, nothing or no one will be able to stop us."
When Darien, Phury and Rhevenge finally landed in the park, they were aghast with all of the beautiful lights that illuminated the city. The sky was dark and there weren't any stars or a moon, but the lights from the buildings of the city lit up the sky. Darien inhaled deeply, catching three different female scents. He closed his eyes, listening for their voices. He latched onto three laughs and he smirked, his eyes turning yellow again. They were in the park and they were near their location.
"What a beautiful kingdom," Phury said, looking around. "And so many different smells."
"Yes," Darien said softly. "So many…beautiful smells. How about you two go and explore the city? I'll look around here."
The trolls nodded, running off. Darien put his hands in his jacket pockets as he started walking down one of the paths in the park, taking in the new scents, aside from the female scents, that came to his nose until he caught a scent that was very different. This scent was a scent unlike any other. This scent was rich, filled with life and it smelled of roses that were being showered with a fresh spring rain. It was pure. It was good.
It was...royalty.
Soon, voices began to match the scents. The voice was full and sharp, percise of the right words she chose. Yes, it was one of the females. Two other scents accompanied hers, this royal female's scent. There was one with the scent of an artist's paint and the other smelled of apples, fresh apples and the both of them were females. The Queen was right; there were a lot of girls here. The only people who inhabited the park on this night were just these four: the wolf and the three girls, who were waiting to be devoured. Darien moved along the path, listening to the females' chatter and laugh, until he caught sight of them and he smiled, going into some nearby bushes to hide and observe the girls, just like the wolf he was.
The one who smelled like apples was shorter than the other two girls. She had short, spikey black hair, brown eyes and fair, creamy skin. A fair beauty who looked no more than eighteen, at least nineteen years old. She was sitting on the bench next to the second girl, who was drawing on a piece of canvas. The second girl, from what Darien could see, was a fair beauty as well, only she had shoulder length wavy brown hair, green eyes and was about nineteen years old as well.
The third beauty, the one with the scent of roses in a fresh spring rain, was the fairest beauty of them all, even the lovely queen that he had promised to serve. She was twenty years old, with long beautiful red hair and blue eyes, the most beautiful blue eyes that he had ever since. Darien began to whimper, watching the beautiful female twirl around as she dance around the bench that her friends were sitting on. She danced very gracefully, never afraid, and she never fell once. He scratched the side of his head, then he howled. The three females stopped doing what they were doing, looking around the park.
"Was it just me," the short one said, looking behind her in Darien's direction, "or did I just hear something howl?"
"It wasn't just you, Sara," the brunnette spoke, standing up, looking around. "I heard it too."
"God, you guys," the red head spoke, rubbing her hands up and down her arms. "I just felt the most errie chill go down my back."
Darien watched the girls, crouching down as low as he could get so he wouldn't be seen.
"Saiyuri, you're just being paranoid since you had that weird feeling in your dad's apartment today," the brunnette spoke again, getting her art supplies together.
"I'm sorry, Siobhan," she said, looking around the park. "I felt like I was being watched. You know how weird that feeling is."
"Yeah, Sio," Sara said, rubbing Saiyuri's back. "She's had a hard couple days. With the dreams and all."
"Let's just get out of here. That howl gave me the creeps."
The other two girls nodded in agreement, walking with Siobhan towards the city. Once they were out of site of the bushes, Darien emerged, smoothing out his jacket and began following the girls. This red head, this Saiyuri. There was something about her. Something that he just had to have. He followed the girls out of the park and to the street corner where a cross walk was. Saiyuri was so out of it, thinking about the feeling that she had earlier that day that she didn't notice that the crosswalk sign said 'Don't Walk.' She stepped out into the street and Darien looked up, seeing an oncoming car. He pushed through the crowd of people and grabbed her hand and as she turned her head to scream, he pulled her to him in one swift movement. The momentum of the pull caused Darien and Saiyuri to fall onto the sidewalk, Darien landing on his back with Saiyuri on top of him. They looked at one another as the crowd applauded at Darien's heroism, but Sara and Siobhan seemed to have been awe struck. Saiyuri offered Darien a kind smile, not moving. Darien looked up, seeing a glint of silver. He looked closer and his eyes grew wide. It was the royal crest of the house of White.
"Thank you," Saiyuri said, getting off Darien, then offered a hand to help him up. "You probably just saved my life."
"He did, Sai," Siobhan said, going over to her, patting her back, looking down at the stranger. "Are you okay?"
He looked at Siobhan and nodded, taking Saiyuri's hand gently into his own and stood up. "You're welcome, P..." He cleared his throat, looking at her. "You're welcome, miss," he said, taking her hand again, kissing it gently.
"Saiyuri," Sara said, coming over to the others, "I think you found your Prince Charming."
"Shut up, Sara," she said, then turned back to Darien. "I'm Saiyuri, and these are my friends, Sara and Siobhan. And you are...?"
"I'm Darien, but all of my friends call me Wolf."
"Well, Darien, you look like every other tourist from out of the country. Where are you from?"
You don't even want to know.
Just then, Phury and Rhevenge came around the corner, terrorizing people. They saw Darien and the three girls and ran after them. The girls started to run back towards the park, Darien with them. Since he was half wolf, he was faster than most people. He caught up to Saiyuri, grabbing her hand to stop her.
"Excuse me, but we're trying to run here!"
"Come with me if you don't want to be tortured."
"What?! You can't be serious!"
"Please! Just trust me!"
"We hardly know you," Siobhan said, trying to push him away.
"Just come on," he yelled, running with Saiyuri into to the bushes, close to where the portal was.
"I don't know what you think you're playing at," Sara said, trying to catch her breath as she and Siobhan followed close behind Saiyuri and Darien.
"Just shut up and follow me," he growled, finding the portal, letting go of Saiyuri's hand and bowing before her, smiling. "After you...Your Highness."
Saiyuri stopped dead, looking at him, her eyes trying to read him as if she was trying to read his mind. "Y...Your Highness? Why be formal?"
"Just please go through the mirror, Your Majesty. I have no problem pushing you and your friends through."
"Okay, okay," Saiyuri said, rolling her eyes, stepping through the mirror first, then she was followed by Siobhan and then Sara. Darien stepped through, thinking that they would end up in Azkadellia's mirror room in her palace, but they didn't.
Once Darien came through to the other side, he looked around and Sara and Siobhan were fanning Saiyuri's face. She looked half sick, about to throw up after she got off of a carnival ride. Darien peeked his head outside of the cottage and realized that they were in Beantown, a small village that was in Red Riding Hood's Kingdom.
This is definitely not where I thought we would end up.
"Well, thank you for taking us on an Alice in Wonderland experience, Darien," Siobhan said, looking at him with her hands on her hips. "Now, can you tell us where we are?"
"To be honest, no," he lied, "but I think we should go see if someone can tell us where we are."
"It's funny," Saiyuri said, standing up, "but I feel like I've been here before."
"Let's just follow him and find out where we are," Sara said, rubbing her forehead. "Please?"
Saiyuri nodded in agreement, stepping out of the cottage first, then was followed by Darien, Siobhan and Sara. The villagers were all gathering in the market for fresh vegetables and fruits for their lunches. The villagers turned around in Saiyuri's direction and they began to whisper and bow curtiously. Saiyuri looked at them, an eyebrow raised. Why were they doing this? It wasn't making sense. First, Darien called her 'Your Highness,' then they went through this portal that was a magic mirror, now everyone was bowing to her. This was so messed up. Then, a peddler child came up to her with a beautiful bouquet of white roses in her arms and she stopped in front of Saiyuri, curtseying politely.
"Welcome to Beantown, Princess Aurora," the small child said, handing her the bouquet.
"Princess Aurora," Sara and Siobhan said in unison, their jaws dropping as they watched for Saiyuri's reaction.
Saiyuri took the bouquet in her hands, closing her eyes. Everything was coming back to her now, her childhood memories being restored to her mind. She opened her eyes, smiling down at the child, then bent down to her level, kissing her forehead.
"Thank you, my dear, for the welcome and the flowers. White roses are my favorite."
The village cheered and a celebration began. Darien watched, his arms crossed. The Five Kingdoms had gotten their princess back. The only question was: How much did Princess Aurora really remember?
