I have adapted this story from Puckleberry in Princess High to Evanberry, Pucktana, Bike and Fuinn.
Though, I will say, Fuinn are going to be severely bashed. I Hate Finn. With A Burning Passion Of A Thousand Suns.
Thank you katididaloo for the idea. I read the book, by the way. It was pretty fantastic, if not a little fanatical. But anyway.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did, Chord Overstreet would be back on the show & topless.
...
Two days flittered by in the blink of an eye. The traders came and went the next day, and even Rachel had a hard time getting a decent amount of supplies for the perfect marble blocks that the village of Lima had toiled over the last few months. The traders had argued that the girls would be gone for the year, and therefore, supplies weren't needed in great quantities for the winter. As it was, the village would be lucky to make it through the winter.
"Noah, you must go hunting. Take my room in my house and build hutches from my bed, put as many rabbits in as you can," Rachel ordered as the girls began to assemble with their families in the square. "Although I hate the idea of the dear creatures being sacrificed, its important to keep everyone's strength this winter, also, know that Leroy will need plenty of pine cones before the first snow fall of winter to brew his medicines for winter sickness."
"Rachel," Noah sighed.
"No, please, Noah, its important. The village must take care. I want to have a home to come back to," Rachel said softly.
"What if you don't come back? What if Prince Sammy boy wants to take you for his bride?" Noah glumly wondered, although the questions didn't quite seem like questions. They seemed more like horrid prophecies coming from Noah's lips.
"He won't, don't be ridiculous, I'm not pretty, or smart or strong," Rachel waved away his concern. "Now the goats and the sheep, Noah. Try not to let people slaughter the sheep. The wool is important for the freezing cold winter. And the goats aren't much meat, remember that they are more important alive than dead. And make sure you have enough hay and grass..."
"You are smart," Noah disputed. "And you are strong in your own way."
"You don't need to try to make me feel better, Noah, I'm just stating facts," Rachel insisted.
"And you're pretty," Noah shook his head. "And your voice; if the Prince hears you sing, then even he will know that you're worth a hundred Brittany's or Santana's."
"You seem to have enjoyed Brittany and Santana's company plenty in the past," Rachel accused softly, although she couldn't help but feel her cheeks burn a brilliant pink at the Noah's assertion that she was beautiful fall from his lips. She looked around at the girls assembling and said, "Besides, with Tina and Mercedes' exotic beauty, Brittany and Santana's worldly charms, and even Quinn...she's mysterious and beautiful and comes from the city itself...there will be plenty for the Prince too look at besides me."
"You're an idiot," Noah whispered.
"You're a jerk!" Rachel hissed automatically. "I'm going to go say goodbye to my fathers. Please remember what I told you, Noah. I'll take good care of Rebecca."
Rachel went to her father, and Leroy, the man she also often called her father and let them embrace her and give her last minute advice. Leroy kissed her forehead and wished her luck and then Hiram said something that shook Rachel to her very core.
"Go and be the best you can be, Rachel. Make us proud."
Rachel swallowed thickly and a million emotions swirled within her as she stole a glance back at Noah, who had his arms full of his little sister, who he was hugging to within an inch of her life. Make us proud. Her father's wanted her to better herself. She could be of little use to them in the quarry, little use to Lima at all. But perhaps...if she were princess, if she were to become Queen one day...she could be of great use to the quarry...to Lima. She could change their whole existence. She could make it so that the whole town didn't have to work so very hard for so very little. She could be their salvation.
She held her chin up as the girls assembled in front of the soldiers who would be bringing them to their destination. She reached for Rebecca Puckerman's hand with her left hand and began walking steadily along the path, not looking back once. She would make them proud.
A little over half a day's walk found them standing in front of the largest building any of the girls, save for perhaps Quinn, had ever seen. It was a large stone house, with floors of marble, looking a little shabby due to decades of isolation. The two soldiers who had ushered them to what was to be their new home walked straight into the building, one looking back, holding up a finger and actually smiling at the group of girls.
"Just one moment, ladies, we'll fetch Mistress Bieste for you."
Bieste. The name conjured unpleasant images. Terrifying monsters who would take little girls from their very beds in the village and rip them to shreds. Rachel heard the clicking of heels against hard marble and imagined them to sound very much like a monster coming for its prey. The door swung upon once more and there she was, their tutor. Shannon Bieste lived up to her name. She was just as tall as Noah, easily, perhaps even taller. Her shoulders were as broad and strong as any man or woman in the quarry. Her eyes were a steely blue and they squinted at the girls mercilessly, sizing them up. Her thin lips curled into what could best be described as a sneer.
"I see that I have my work cut out for me," Bieste fairly growled at the trembling group of girls. She turned on her heel and ordered, "Follow me!"
Rachel found her feet moving of their own accord, as if their tutor's words had been a powerful spell that her body and the bodies of her peers had no choice but to obey. Bieste walked through the room, pointing out doors that were closed and sealed with impressive looking locks.
"Those rooms are sealed, it would be impractical to house you in so many rooms, we would need another two houses to contain the wood it would take to heat them the winter," Bieste explained.
"Then where will we sleep?" Santana demanded.
"What is your name?"
The question blew through each girl like a blast of cold wind. Even Santana seemed momentarily cowed by it. She recovered quickly though and sent a defiant look Bieste's way.
"Santana, daughter of Lopez," she announced proudly.
"Santana, daughter of Lopez. You will follow my rules and you will become a young lady worthy of the title of Princess," Bieste said coolly. "Rule one. Never speak unless spoken too. Open naked curiosity is repulsive. This is your first offence, now that you are aware of the rule, your next offence will be appropriately punished."
Rachel bit the inside of her cheek and fought against a wince. Santana couldn't help what came out of her mouth. The beautiful daughter of Lopez had always been forthright and dangerously curious. She had never curbed her tongue in all of her 16 years. It probably wouldn't take long for all the girls see the next level of punishment demonstrated on Santana.
Everyone's focus shifted as a man no more than fifteen years older than Rachel herself hobbled down the hallway, his hands going out and reaching for the sides of the wall. He stumbled into one of the guards, who took the hobbling man's arm and led him to Coach Bieste's side.
"This is Schue," Bieste explained. "He is our caretaker."
"He's blind!" Santana scoffed. "How can he even take care of himself?"
"Young lady, you've been warned!" Bieste harshly shouted, causing Schue to jump slightly in alarm. Their tutor looked at the soldier who had smiled at the girls earlier and ordered, "Soldier Chang, the closet across from the living quarters will do well to remind Santana, daughter of Lopez that she should think before she opens her mouth like dead, gaping fish every five minutes!"
Rachel stepped forward, hoping to say something to stop Bieste from enforcing her punishment on Santana, who she knew for a fact was no fan of small spaces. The Lopez family had the biggest house in all of Lima, and yet as soon as the temperature became non-frigid, Santana would camp out underneath the stars every evening. Everyone could hear her nightmarish gasps for air and screams that came with being enclosed in a dark room. A closet would be unbearable.
Rachel felt a grip on her hand and looked to her left and saw Quinn who was shaking her head rapidly and glaring at Rachel. Rachel pulled her hand away as if scalded. She stepped forward as bravely as she could and stood in front of Bieste, waiting to be addressed, her eyes trained on those steely blue eyes, demanding attention in a completely wordless manner.
"Your name, young lady?" Bieste asked gruffly.
"Rachel, daughter of Berry," Rachel said softly, trying to think of what to do next. She knew there was something physical she should be doing. She had seen Mother Puckerman once do this with a particularly impressive trader. Remembering her brief 6 years of ballet, she lifted either side of her enchanting nude silk flower dress, assumed 5th position and plied. She looked back up, hoping to have obtained a reaction.
Bieste seemed impressed at her knowledge and waited for her to speak.
Rachel could feel her blush stinging her cheeks as she tried to hold her tongue and not say horrible things to the woman who would be their only authority figure for the next year. Instead Rachel held her head high and assumed that Bieste's silence at her meant she had permission to speak.
"Please do not send Santana to the closet. I would be happy to go in her place," Rachel earnestly requested.
Bieste's laughter stopped abruptly. She looked at Rachel with definite surprise and then to Santana who was fairly shaking in her skin next to a reluctant looking Soldier Chang. Bieste pursed her lips into a grim line and honestly didn't know what she should do next. She felt a hand brush her wrist and looked to see Schuester smiling blindly at her in that soft, harmless way he had about him.
"Just this once," he whispered, his lips barely moving.
"There will be no closet today, but be warned, all of you, tomorrow I expect self-control and dignity from all of you," Bieste ordered. "You have one hour in your group quarters, then we will begin to try and see if you are all as ridiculously uncouth as Lopez and Berry. Soldiers? Lead them away. I don't want to see them for the next hour."
. . .
"You didn't have to do that!" Santana said harshly as soon as the soldiers had closed them into a long chamber, filled with twenty small beds that sat low to the cold marble floor. She looked around her and nodded, she might be able to sleep in there. She felt Brittany hold onto her hand and looked at the blonde girl with a small smile.
"Rachel might like the closets, she was just trying to be nice," Brittany insisted cheerfully. She yanked on Santana's hand and ordered in a sing song voice, "Let's have beds next to each other."
Santana allowed herself to be yanked by her best friend, but did pause to turn to Rachel and mouth a small thank you in her direction.
"That was either ridiculously selfless, or ridiculously stupid."
Rachel turned to her right and saw Quinn had appeared. The girl was horrible. She had shown up in the spring, claiming to be orphaned and related to the Pierce family. She was a city girl, had grown up in the glamorous Columbus, the home of the Prince himself. She had been quite the catch about town and had assumed the authoritative position of the youth in Lima, quite a feet for the short six months she had been here for. And ever since Blaine Anderson had made the announcement in the town square, Quinn had seemed ecstatic, she certainly wanted to be here.
"I'd like to think a little of each," Quinn said harshly, before taking her leave.
Rachel didn't know what to think herself. She walked quickly through the long, plain room and found the empty cot next to Rebecca Puckerman's bed. She was unsurprised when the young girl hopped out of her bed and instead, chose to cuddle next to Rachel, throwing her arms around Rachel with a surprising force, so like Noah in the way she expressed her emotions.
"Rachel?" Rebecca whispered.
"Yes?" Rachel whispered back.
"I miss Noah."
Rachel bit her lip and managed a nod as she felt the tears burning at her eyes, her throat constricting dangerously with emotion. She finally managed to whisper, "I miss Noah, too."