"Princess Snow send a message asking for aid. They are the last kingdom standing between the ogres and the free world," Grumpy Cogsworth explains.
Princess Snow, he thinks. There's a name he hasn't heard of in a very long time. "Ogres?" he asks. "I thought the Dark one had taken care of the ogre problem."
"We all thought that Sir, but we were wrong. They are back and they appear to be very angry..." the royal adviser that now looks like a clock explains.
"What is the princess asking for? Men or gold?" he ask.
"Both, " Happy Lumiere says scanning the princess letter. "She is asking for men mostly."
He nods. "Send her anything she asks for. How many of our men can go on a moments notice?" he asks.
"About two hundred Sir," says the courtier that now is a living breathing candelabra.
"Send them all. Ask her if she needs more."
"Wait a minute, let's think about this," Happy Lumiere smiles.
"What is there to think about?" he frowns. "The ogres are a real threat. If we don't deal with then now, they will be in our land by the end of the month. The Northern kingdom has a fine army but not strong enough to handle a battalion of ogres. Send the princess help."
"Sure thing Sir, I am not disagreeing with you!"
"What then?" he asks impatiently.
"She is a princess after all..." Happy Lumiere smiles.
"Yes she is. What of it?" he frowns.
"Why don't we ask for something in return?"
"Like what?" he crosses his arms. He knows exactly what they are getting at.
"Ask her to visit, ask her to discuss the ogre problem in person. Ask her to stay a little longer... a week, or a month, maybe even a year..."
He rolls his eyes. "I have heard many love stories in my time Happy, none of them started with a kidnapping..."
"Who said anything about a kidnapping? Why can't we invite the princess over for tea?"
He looks down at his hands, the hands that no longer resemble human hands.
"Because there is no point," he says softly. "No need to traumatize the princess. Are we done here?"
The clock and the candelabra both nod.
"Good," he says and he walks out of the room. He walks pass the Granny teapot who is whistling to her teacups, past the armchairs and the tables and the grand piano, all his people that have been. turned into enchanted objects and then he walks to the higher tower of the the castle wing, the tower where no one else is allowed entry but him. He looks himself over in the mirror. Funny, on a day like this when he is discussing royal matters just like old times he forgets. He forgets about the witch's curse, he forgets that he looks hideous, he forgets that he is not exactly a man anymore. He looks at his fangs, his thick lips the hair that grows out of places hair shouldn't grow, his bushy terrifying eyebrows. Why, he can just picture the princess jumping up, screaming at the top her lungs, spilling tea all over her beautiful dress the moment he walks in to have tea with her. What do they call her? Snow White, the fairest of them all? He shakes his head. He really wishes his people would give up and they would stop coming up with questionable schemes to break this curse. He tries to be fair, he tries to understand them. They are all cursed as he is, but it's not the same. They are quirky and unusual. They are not human but they are not terrifying. He is the stuff nightmares are made off. There has to be another way to break their curse, one that doesn't involve love and princesses he thinks. He walks to his bedchambers and shuts the door firmly behind him.
"I received an answer from both the eastern and the western kingdom," princess Ruby hesitates telling her sister Snow.
"And what did they say? Are they going to help us? Are they setting terms?" Snow is holding her breath.
"Well, the western kingdom will help you if you agree to marry prince Gaston," Ruby replies.
"Prince Gaston? Did he not recently announce his upcoming marriage to princess Belle of the Northern Isles?" Snow looks really confused.
"Yes, he did , but apparently that wedding has been cancelled."
"A cancelled engagement? And he wants to marry somebody else this soon?" Snow frowns. "That seems like a terrible idea. Can't we just be allies?"
"Well, before you turn him down there is also the reply from the eastern kingdom. They will supply aid and their army is at our disposal under one very unusual condition."
"What do we have to do?" Snow asks crossing her arms on her chest.
"It's a rather peculiar request."
"Well?" Snow asks.
"They need a princess to move into their royal castle to help them break the curse that plagues their land."
"That is unusual. Do we know anything about the nature of their curse?" Snow asks.
"Well, as you already know their prince has been missing for years. As far as the curse goes we know and that their land is terrifying. There are monsters and maybe a beast and alive objects and giant wolves ..."
"Do you believe any of this?" Snows smiles."I thought that those were rumors they spread to keep invaders out while they sorted out their missing prince with no heir to take his place problem..."
"I don't know what to believe," Ruby shrugs. "I know for a fact that their wolves are terrifying...so maybe they have monsters and beasts as well..."
"Well, I'm not afraid of monsters. I'll go. Maybe they need me to slay their beast ..." She takes a deep breath. "We need their help. I'll do it!"
"Are you sure?" Ruby frowns."It should be me!"
"You are an incredible fighter. You should be fighting against the ogres. I'll do it. Besides, monsters and beasts and wolves are a lot less terrifying than an arranged marriage..."
"Debatable!" Ruby laughs.
"I'm pretty sure I'm right. I'll let you know when I get there. Send word, I'll be arriving the day after tomorrow."
"I'm going to miss you Snow..." Ruby reaches for her sisters hand.
Snow sighs. "I'll send you messages every day, I promise, but if we don't defeat the ogres there won't be much left of me to miss!"
Ruby shakes her head. "I wish you didn't joke about this Snow!"
Snow shrugs. "Would you rather I was screaming and crying?" she asks.
Snow White arrives at his castle very early in the morning. She knocks on the main door. Most of his people are still asleep. Ever since they got cursed he doesn't hold court, he doesn't do any of the royal activities of the past. All he and his people are doing is maintaining the castle, bidding their time until the curse is up, only dealing with very serious issues should they arise. Most of the servants have been dismissed, except for those included in the curse, the ones the witch turned into enchanted objects.
She knocks on the door one more time.
He cracks the door open and stares at her. His breath catches. Bright green eyes, hair neatly tied back in a braid, red lips, cheeks flushed from the cold. Tight leather pants, a vest, a green cape that brings out her eyes. She has a bow and a quiver and a sword all strapped to her back. She is absolutely stunning.
It's been a while since he's been face to face with a woman let alone one as breathtaking as this one. It takes him a few seconds to remember how to utter words.
"Are you lost?" he finally asks. "If you turn around and make a right at the burned oak you will find yourself back on the main road..."
It's dark inside the castle and she can't quite make out his face but she likes his voice.
"Lost? I certainly hope not. I'm here to slay your beast, break your curse, fight your monsters, whatever it is you need me to do in exchange for your help in the war," she smiles brightly. "I'm Snow White! I thought you were expecting me!"
He takes a step back and he rubs his neck unconsciously. He'd rather not get slayed today even by an assailant as beautiful as she is. Brave, he thinks. Gutsy and brave and beautiful. If only she wasn't intent on killing him.
"I'm not sure what you've heard princess..." he tries to think of a good enough response that will hopefully get her to go away without getting a better glimpse of him, " ...but that is not how curses work. At least not our curse...there's no slaying involved..."
She is still smiling when she notices his hand holding the heavy ebony door open. It is hairy with strange yellow nails. She looks at it confused. His hand doesn't look human. He follows her eyes and pulls back his hand. She tries hard to get a better look at his face.
He balks at her inquiring gaze. His cheeks flush with anger and embarrassment. This, this isn't his problem he realizes. His people disobeyed his direct orders, they should have to come deal with their mess.
"Happy!" he yells. "Grumpy! Care to explain why there is a princess here to slay me?"
The princess is still looking at him inquisitively. What does he mean? She is not here to slay him. What is he anyway? She looks at him closer. He is dressed like a knight, he's definitely built bigger than the average knight, she thinks and then she looks closer. His voice is the only human thing about him. His voice and his eyes. Everything else she doesn't recognize as human. She should be terrified of him, but somehow she knows she is not in any danger.
He is watching her reaction closely. Her eyes open wider and she places her hand on the knife strapped on her belt, just in case. To her credit she hasn't screamed yet, he thinks. Why, she hasn't even raised her voice a little. She hasn't spilled tea on her beautiful dress. Well, that'd be hard to do since she is not wearing a dress and he hasn't offered her tea yet. Should he offer her tea? If he were a man still, this is exactly the type of woman he'd dream of falling in love with, he thinks and then he closes his eyes and shakes his head. No use in dreaming on what should have been. This isn't possible. But he could still invite her in and offer tea.
"Look, Princess Snow, this is some sort of misunderstanding but since you came all the way over here may I offer you some...-" he starts saying.
Happy and Grumpy are rushing to the door.
"Princess Snow!" Happy Lumiere bows, completely interrupting him.
She looks at him surprised. Is this an alive talking candelabra? And an alive grandfather clock? She 's never met anyone like them. They look absolutely magical. She smiles and offers her hand.
Happy is quick to kiss her fingertips.
"My name is Lumiere," he smiles.
"Very nice to meet you Lumiere," she offers a small curtsy.
"This is all a misunderstanding, Sir" Grumpy tries to reassure him.
"Clearly," he replies dryly then he turns around and walks away. Just when he'd worked up the nerve to ask her to have tea with him, his people storm in and take over. He shakes his head walking fast towards his tower. He was upstaged by a talking candelabra. Why is she here? Why is she so beautiful? Why, why, why? He wants to break things, he wants to scream. Chopping wood for the fireplace might be a more creative use of his anger, he thinks so he walks to the kitchen, ignores Granny Pott's chatter and walks outback and spend the next three hours chopping wood. By the time he is done he is drenched in sweat and there is enough wood to keep the fires in the kitchen burning for the rest of the month and still he feels just as tense as he did before he started. He senses her presence in the castle and he still feels her eyes on him from earlier, sizing him up, assessing him, trying to determine how dangerous he is, trying to guess exactly what sort of monster he is. He is not going to relax until she is gone from his castle. Hopefully the candelabra and the clock will have given up any matchmaking attempts by now and will have escorted her out of his castle. He rushes back to his tower.
He had come to terms with the fact that he'd be alone forever, or until the curse ran its course and killed him, he'd made peace with the fact that his curse could not be broken but they couldn't leave well enough alone, no, they had to invite the fairest of them all into his home...He catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror and is startled by it. He looks even more terrifying when he is angry... He walks up to the mirror and punches the glass again and again until his hand is bleeding. His image is even more scary now that the mirror is bloody and fractured. And then he hears a sound from the other side of the room. He is not alone.
"Is it not enough that you disobeyed my direct orders and invited the princess over, must you now invade the privacy of my chambers?" he growls his voice laced with all sort of unspoken threats. "Am I not still in charge here? Can't I get a moment's of peace?" he says walking fast towards the sound, expecting to find Happy or Grumpy hiding in the shadows. But he finds the princess there instead. He freezes in his spot. What is she doing here?
The princess turns to look at him and then she turns her attention back to the portrait she was looking at. She is unarmed.
"Who it this?" she asks looking at the picture of the fair, blue eyed prince hanging on the wall. He turns to look at the portrait as well. Blue eyes, blond hair, broad shoulders, a look of confidence...at the time when the portrait was presented to him he wasn't certain that he liked it. He thought that he looked a little too full of himself, but now...what he wouldn't give to be that man again, the man who had faith, the man who believed that good would always win, that love would prevail. The man she is looking at. The man he was, before the isolation of the curse broke him. He can't handle it. He means to apologize for yelling but he can't. He can't even find the right words. He can't stand to be there while she compares him to the man in the portrait. This is just too much. He doesn't mean to yell at her again but he does.
"What are you doing here?" he growls."You are not allowed to be here! Nobody can be in here. Ever!"
"Who is this?" she asks again, her voice firm, completely ignoring what he said. She feels the portrait's magnetic pull on her heart. She doesn't know why, but she feels like everything hinges on his answer.
"He is nowhere, he is gone," he replies and he is not yelling as loud this time.
"What was his name?" she tries again.
"Why does it matter, if he is gone?" he growls back.
"Is he the missing prince? Why won't you tell me his name? Did you hurt him?" she asks and she tilts her head to the right.
He looks like he is about to retreat. She takes a step to her left and draws the sword off the nearest display armor. She walks towards him the sword pointing at his neck.
"What are you doing?" he asks all confused.
"I asked you a question!"
"What?"
"Did you hurt the man in the picture? What happened to him? Where is he?" she asks.
"No," he shakes his head and then he laughs at the absurdity of the situation. Is she really going to kill him for hurting the man in the picture? "Put the sword down," he replies stretching his hand towards her.
"Where is he then?" she asks.
He shakes his head. There is no right way to answer that question. "I didn't hurt him. I didn't touch him. He is gone."
"Is he dead?" she asks and for some reason she doesn't understand her eyes well up. He is looking at her confused. Why is she crying?
"He is not dead," he replies "he is just gone."
"Oh..." she says and she looks at him, sword still extended. She is not sure where to go from here.
"Are you going to slay me princess?" he scoffs. "Because I'd thank you to get it over with, or leave my private quarters and let me be..."
She smiles. "I'm not going to kill you. Not without cause. But I do wish to make a point..."
"Oh, yeah? What's that?"
"I'm not afraid of you."
He smiles a wild feral smile. This feels like a challenge. "Really? That's really incredibly unwise on your part."
"Probably," she smiles back. "Still, I'm not scared."
"Fine!" he says.
"Fine," she replies. "Catch!" she says and she tosses the sword towards him, handle first. He grabs it skillfully and frowns. She is grabbing the matching sword from the next display armor.
"Wait, you can't just take things here, you have to ask permission..." he tries to explain.
"Permission from whom? From you?" she says, her voice is dripping with sarcasm.
"No, permission from Richard and Robert," he replies.
"Who...?" she looks really confused.
She stares incredulously as he turns to the two standing display armors.
"Do you mind if we borrow your swords?" he asks.
Both armors bow towards him. "Go ahead, Sir " the armor on the right replies.
She jumps and she turns to look at him.
"Thank you," he says, still talking to the armors.
"They are alive?" she whispers, looking at him, her eyes wide open. "Is everything in this castle alive?"
He laughs. "Almost. The mirror wasn't," he says pointing to the mirror he just shattered.
"I thought nobody was allowed in here!" she frowns, still whispering.
"They are asleep most of the time," he shrugs.
She turns apologetically to the two standing armors.
"Please forgive me!" she says. Both armors bow their heads slightly.
"This is both incredible and terrifying," she whispers. "Ready?"
"Ready for what?" he asks.
She bows and flourishes her sword.
He looks at her surprised.
"You mean to fight me?" he asks incredulously.
"I mean to defend myself, you are the one who stormed in here screaming at me...," she replies."I am simply accepting your challenge..."
"Are you sure?" he frowns. Sure, he is out of practice but he is an excellent swordsman.
"What's the matter? Are you scared of being defeated by a woman?"
He smiles. "Not in the least," he says and he bows back.
She attacks, he blocks and now they are walking in circles sizing each other up. She attacks again. They cross swords over and over and he is enjoying every minute of it.
"Quit holding back," she snaps at him and he comes at her full force, he disarms her and he has her against the wall, his sword a mere inch from her throat.
"You are really good," she says panting.
"It's not really a fair fight," he shrugs. "I am stronger than most men..."
He takes a step back, he bows, hands her her sword back and then he turns to walk away,
"Where are you going?" she asks rushing after him.
"I won," he replies, "shouldn't that get me some peace and quiet?"
"Sure. As soon as you answer my questions."
"You have more questions?" he sighs.
"Why am I here?" she asks.
"Because you made a deal with a candelabra and a clock..."
"Yes, yes, but what am I here for? What do you plan to do with me?" she asks and for the first time since she's been here she looks uneasy.
He stares at her and shakes his head.
"You are safe from me princess" he mumbles. "I don't have any sinister plans. I don't have any plans. You are free to do as you please, now let me be."
"What am I here for then? You said they invited me against your orders... what am I here for?" she asks feeling so confused.
He shakes his head, enters his bedchambers and shuts the door behind him. He leans against the door and let his body slide down.
She doesn't give up. She walks over to his door.
"The sooner you help me break the curse the sooner I'll leave you alone!" she says softly.
He is sitting there staring at the floor. He doesn't reply.
She waits for a while, hoping for a response. Then she gives up. On her way out she looks at the portrait of the handsome prince.
"Where are you?" she asks him."How do I break the curse? And why did you leave an angry beastly knight in charge of your castle?"
The prince in the portrait doesn't answer, he just smiles. He looks familiar somehow. She shakes her head and walks away.
When she shows up for dinner, he stands up, walks across to her side of the table and pulls her chair out for her. She looks at him quite astonished. He is all dressed up, the table is set with the most formal china and dinnerware and beautiful music is coming out of the music room. She looks at her shirt and her leather pants and feels really underdressed.
"I didn't realize things were so formal," she says.
"Don't worry about it," he shrugs.
"Is it always like that?"
He rolls his eyes. "That is an excellent question for the grumpy clock and the happy candelabra," he replies.
"Are they in charge?"
"It would appear so," he replies trying to eat as politely as possible considering that his hands are way too large to use the silverware.
"I thought you were the master of this castle."
"I am," he says looking down at his plate.
"Well if you want things informal all you have to do is say so..."
"Yes, but I won't."
"Why not?"
Does she ever stop asking questions, he wonders."I won't because they think that by behaving a certain way we have a greater chance of breaking our curse. I personally think its utterly pointless, but if anybody deserves to be free of their curse it is them. So, I plan on going along with whatever wild scheme they come up with for the time being..."
"That's very kind of you," she comments and he looks down. "But in my experience in order to break a curse you have to go back to the root of the problem. I'm sorry, I don't like yelling across the table. Do you suppose they will mind terribly if I come sit next to you?"
Mind? They will probably break into song and do cartwheels with excitement he thinks, but he just shakes his head.
"They will manage, you can sit wherever you like."
"Good," she smiles and she brings her plate and her silverware over to the chair next to him. He stands up and pulls back her chair.
"Thank you," she smiles. "Alright, as I was saying, in order to break a curse you have to get to the bottom of things. Who cursed you guys?"
"A witch."
"Oh, alright," That doesn't give her much to go on. "But why?" she asks again. "Did one of you do something to incur her wrath?"
"I...I can't give you any more details."
"What? Why not?"
"I'm sorry that's the nature of the curse. I can't really give you any more information..."
"More?" she tries to stay calm. "What do you mean by more? You haven't given me any information!"
He doesn't reply.
"Listen, I left my kingdom to help you break your curse, how am I supposed to do it, if I know nothing about it?"
"Excellent question. Won't you take it up with Happy and Grumpy?" he replies trying not to yell. This isn't his idea. Asking a princess to stay here is the Grumpy Cogsworth's and the Happy Lumiere's idea. The princess will never fall in love with him. He knows that much...
"No, I'll take this up with you. You are the master of this house. You are in charge. Stop blaming your people and take responsibility for your actions. You ask me over here and you want me to break a curse I know nothing about. You need to tell me more!"
"I can't."
"Then what am I doing here?"
He doesn't reply.
"I asked you a question!"
"I don't have an answer for you princess! You made a deal, didn't you? My armies defeat your ogre problem, you stay in the castle," he yells in frustration.
"Yes I made a deal. But I didn't understand that I'd have to stay in a castle with someone who is trying to bully me..."
"Who is trying to bully you?" he asks all confused.
"You!"
"I wasn't trying... when did I try to bully you?"
"Did you not scream at me when I entered your quarters? Did you not yell at me just now?"
"I just needed to establish boundaries. I need my space. I didn't know it was you, I thought you were the clock... Surely you can understand that!"
"No, I don't understand that. There is a lot I don't understand about you! What I do understand is that you enjoy the curse. Clearly you do not want it broken. Because if you did, you would be eager to give me information...but no. I think you like being here alone. Maybe you enjoy feeling sorry for yourself! But I don't. I don't want to be here. This is pointless. My people need me, I have a kingdom to run! My sisters is facing an ogre threat alone! I don't have time to play mind games with you..."
"Then go!" he whispers.
"What?" she looks at him surprised. She can go, just like that?
"I am not bullying you, I am not playing mind games. I can't give you any more information. And you are free to go!"
"What about the ogres?" she looks like she is about to cry. She really needs this alliance to work.
"I"ll still send my armies to fight your ogres," he replies his voice sounding tired, broken. "You have my word."
She nods and she get off the table. "Thank you, for dinner, it was delicious" she says and then she heads out of the dining room. She rushes to her bedchambers and she stuffs most of her things in a small leather suitcase. She is free to go, he is still willing to be her ally, so why is it that she feels like she really failed? She cannot wait till she is out of this awful castle. Its 's a cold night so she wraps her cape around her shoulders, puts her hood on and heads towards the stables to get her horse.
"Time to go home," she says.
Her horse seems nervous.
"What's wrong girl?" she asks.
He shows up out of nowhere and the horse neighs all terrified.
He looks down. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare your horse," he starts.
She glares at him "what is it?"
"When I said you can go, I didn't mean right now! It's dark out there, it's not safe ... Can't you wait till morning?"
How can I trust that you will not have changed your mind by morning, she thinks."Thank you for your concern, but I am not afraid," she says saddling her horse.
"Look, I'm the most terrifying thing in the forest and even I won't go out at night unless I absolutely have to. It is scary out there...Stay till morning, please..."
She looks at him shaking her head. "I'll be fine," she replies. She pulls her horse out of the stable, and just like that she is gone.
He shakes his head looking at her as she rides away.
"How are things going?" The Grumpy clock asks.
"What does it look like? She is angry with me..."
"Angry is good. Angry is great. She has feelings for you..."
"What are you talking about?" he tries hard not to yell again. "Angry is terrible. The princess hates me..."
"Indifferent is bad. Angry is good," Grumpy smiles patting the beast on the shoulder. "Good job, Sir!"
He shakes his head and he heads out into the cold night. Grumpy isn't making any sense. The wolves are howling. He needs to track her down and make sure she enters into her kingdom safely.
She doesn't understand how or when it happened but she must have taken a wrong turn somewhere. She is so lost. She tries hard to figure out which direction she should be going but its impossible to tell. Clouds are covering the night sky, she can't use the stars to figure out the right direction. And then the wolves start howling. Angry terrifying howls. They sound nothing like the wolves in her side of the Enchanted Forest. They have her surrounded. She tries to get away from them but they seem to be on her scent. She doesn't know what to do. As the wolves draw closer, her horse gets spooked, and throws her off, running away. She crushes to the ground. She scrambles to get up and pulls her sword out just in time. She is in so much trouble. This is it. She is going to die here. The wolves all come at her at once. She is swinging her sword as fast as she can. She kills two of them right away but they are still coming at her. There are so many of them. Her heart sinks into her chest. She doesn't want to die here, in the middle of the dark forest alone. She sees him as he rushes towards her letting out a terrifying growl, swinging his sword. She looks at him all surprised. He is here. He is here! He is scary and strong and he is here to defend her and she is so relieved she could cry. He swings his sword and grabs and bites and claws and tosses the wolves right as they come at him. A big gray wolf manages to bite his thigh. He lets out a pained groan and still he keeps on fighting. In the end they prevail, the last two wolves running away their tails between their legs. He is standing there panting.
"Are you alright?" he asks.
She walks towards him hesitantly.
"What are you doing here?" she asks softly."You saved me...Why?"
"Seemed like the honorable thing to do," he shrugs looking away.
"You are hurt," she whispers because the blood is soaking through his pants. "Won't you sit down?" she asks. And when he hesitates she adds "please?"
He lets out a soft groan and lowers himself to the ground. She rips a strip of fabric from her shirt.
"This might hurt..." she says. She wraps the fabric tightly around his thigh and manages to stop most of the bleeding.
"Did I hurt you?" she asks reaching for his hand, her voice so gentle, so soothing. He is looking at her surprised. He didn't expect her to be like this, soft and kind and caring, at least not to someone like him.
"Do you think you can walk now?" she asks.
He nods. He gets up slowly. She rushes to his side. She places her arm around his waist, pulls his arm on her shoulders. His heart is beating wildly. She has no idea what this closeness is doing to his heart.
"Let's take you home," she whispers.
They are walking together slowly.
"Tomorrow you can have one of our horses," he offers. "I'll send some of my men to escort you."
She looks at him all surprised. "Escort me to where?" she asks.
"Aren't you going home, princess?" he asks.
Is she going home?
She shakes her head. "I'm not leaving'" she replies. "I misjudged you and I didn't listen to you and I got you hurt and I am so sorry," she says. "I'll stay, if you don't mind my presence too much," she adds.
"You are welcome to stay as long as you like," he answers, surprising himself because his gracious calm response completely conceals all the intense fear and hope her answer just stirred inside his heart.
Everyone in the castle learns about their nighttime adventure. Everybody seems unusually pleased with the events of last night, considering that their master got injured, she thinks. They are all smiling at her, patting her back and she receives two unexpected hugs from a feather duster and a wardrobe.
She walks into his bedchambers first thing in the morning.
He is sitting up on his bed, leaning on the headboard.
"I know you really don't like people in here," she starts saying. "Please don't throw me out..."
He raises his eyes to look at her all surprised. "Of course not," he replies. "I'm sorry about yesterday..."
"It's all forgiven," she smiles then she pulls an armchair and plops herself right next to his bed. She looks at him sitting there and then she unexpectedly gets up, rushes towards him and gives him a quick hug.
He is looking at her all surprised.
"Thanks again for saving me," she whispers before sitting back on her chair.
"You are welcome, princess," once again he surprises himself by replying calmly. Nothing in his face or demeanor is giving away what her gesture just did to his heart.
"So," she smiles, "What do you want to do today?"
He looks at her even more surprised. What exactly does she mean?
"We have to find a way to entertain you somehow, until you are up on your feet. Do you have any games?"
"There might be a chessboard on the mantelpiece," he manages.
"Good," she smiles.
They are equally matched so the chess game last along time. When the game is over they keep on talking. She tells him funny stories about her childhood, she describes all the mischief she got with her sister Ruby and he sits back listening to her, laughing. He could listen to her for hours.
"And then the governess said she would never work for a royal family ever again. She took off only to get back screaming because we'd filled her traveling case with pine cones and a frog and had used her dresses to make a couple of lovely looking scarecrows..."
"No!" he says laughing. "You couldn't have!'
"Yes. Yes we really did that! The thing is, we looked so innocent, they always underestimated the levels of mayhem we could cause," she replies laughing.
"You really love your sister don't you?" he asks.
"I do," she smiles. "How about you, do you have any siblings?" she asks.
"Not that I know of..." he replies.
She looks at him questioningly.
"My father was rumored to have had several affairs so there is no way to know for sure," he shrugs.
Wouldn't he know if there were others like him, she wonders but she is too polite to ask.
"They would look normal," he replies as if he read her mind. "They wouldn't look like me..."
She nods and changes the subject.
The next day when she walks in his bedchambers he is already standing up.
"What are you doing?" she asks all worried. "I thought you were supposed to stay in bed for a while..."
"I'm fine," he tries to argue. "I need to get some fresh air..."
"Let me at least help you," she replies and once again she rushes to his side. They make their way down the stairs slowly, he is trying hard not to lean on her too much.
"Would you please stop being a hero and let me help you!" she scolds him and he laughs.
Everybody stares at them as they walk by. Granny Pott holds her breath.
Real subtle, he thinks but the princess doesn't seem to notice that anything is amiss. She is still chatting and he is loving the sound of her voice. He is used to his days spent in silence and now she is here holding him up, talking to him. It is such a relief not to be alone. Even if the curse doesn't break...no, even though the curse will not break, he is still immensely grateful to have her as a friend.
It's been a week since he's needed her help walking but they still remain close, talking and spending time together. When she shows up for dinner she looks upset.
"What's the matter?" he asks.
She shakes her head. " I browsed through every curse relevant book I could find in your library. I've interviewed everybody in the castle. Asked them what they can tell me about the curse...I am getting such conflicting information. None of it makes any sense... I've been here for half a month and I'm still nowhere near understanding the curse let alone breaking it..."
"What do you know this far?"
"The evil witch cursed you guys because the missing prince refused to kiss her. But why didn't she curse the prince? Why did she curse you guys instead? "
"Yes, it's all very confusing," he replies.
"Right...are you sure there's nothing you want to add?" she asks.
He shakes his head looking down.
"In the meantime I got a message from Ruby...the ogres are getting closer. I can't stand the thought of her facing them alone. I was hoping to have broken the curse by now so I could go help her. Prince Gaston might go along but still, he is not very reliable... "
"Why not?"
"When I asked for his assistance he said he'd help us out if I agreed to marry him..." she shakes her head. "I know better than into enter to another engagement blindly..."
He freezes and looks at her.
"Yes, that's right I've been engaged before," she shrugs. "Can you guess to whom?"
He looks right at her and doesn't reply. He knows exactly who she was engaged to.
"Years ago when my father realized that he was dying he didn't want Ruby and I facing the responsibilities of the kingdom alone. He was really worried about us. So he tried to arrange marriages for both of us. Ruby absolutely refused to even entertain the idea, but I went along with it. I agreed to marry a prince I'd never met. He was supposed to be really kind, people were saying the nicest things about him...I was terrified but I was also terrified of running the kingdom alone. And then as soon as I agreed to the marriage the prince disappeared. Just like that, he was gone. To this day nobody knows about the engagement in either kingdoms. It all happened so fast... He disappeared before we got a chance to meet or announce the engagement... And I can't help thinking that maybe he was just as afraid as I was. Maybe he saw me and he walked away..."
He looks at her and he can't believe she would even entertain that thought for a minute. Does she really not know how incredible or how beautiful she is?
"Impossible," he replies.
"What?"
"He didn't look at you and walk away...there's probably a lot more to his story that you don't know..."
"A lot more to the prince's story, a lot more to the curse...I feel like my whole life I've been in the dark grasping for clues..." she replies trying to smile. She looks so sad, so worried.
He is sitting there a fight raging inside him. He knows what he needs to do but he is too scared to do it. He hasn't been among his people for so many years. He hasn't personally led his armies, not since the curse. He lets his generals do that.
"Alright. Let's go then..." he finally replies.
"Go where?" she looks up all surprised.
"Let's go fight your war..." he sighs."What do you need? Do you usually wear light armor? Do you position yourself with the archers?"
"Really?" she asks and her eyes well up. "We are going?"
"Yes, really," he nods.
She jumps up off her chair so fast her chair actually tips over and falls down. She throws her arms around him for a quick bone crushing hug, and then she runs out of the dining room yelling "I need to send Ruby a message..."
Happy Lumiere who walked in the dining room to see what that sudden noise was, looks at him triumphantly.
"Not a word," he says firmly.
When they show up at the battlefield the people cheer. The sight of Snow White coming along with this huge strong beast of a knight leading an additional hundred men really cheers up the fighters.
Ruby is there along with the Huntsman, her general, both of them all dressed up for battle. She runs up to her sister and hugs her.
"You are here," she smiles, "You are actually here!" She turns to him and extends her hand. "Very nice to meet you, I've heard so much about you!"
The Huntsman offers his hand too. He didn't expect such a warm welcome. Ruby leads them to the operations tent. "Prince Gaston got here this morning."
"How did you get him to come help? You didn't promise my hand, did you?" Snow whispers.
"Of course not," Ruby laughs.
They enter the tent and they spend a lot of time discussing options, strategies and battle positions.
"Look, you really shouldn't use any horses, they spook too easy when they encounter ogres. And you shouldn't meet them out in the open either. You want to meet them here," he says pointing to the edge of the forest near the ravine.
"Keep going!" the Huntsman says.
"Force them in the ravine, so you can control the situation, fight a certain number of them at a time. You don't want all the ogres coming at you all at once. Place half your archers on the side, force the ogres in the ravine then place the rest of your archers alongside your infantry men. The ogres are so tall, the archers can do some real damage aiming high, without accidentally hurting your fighters..." he suggests. In the end they all go along with the plan he came up with.
"I can't tell you how relieved I am that you are here," Ruby smiles at him in the end of the meeting. Snow gives him her brightest of smiles and he feels that this could be it. He could spend the rest of his life perfectly content to be the man that kept making Snow White smile.
It's a foggy morning when the ogres descend upon them.
"Alright, this is it," he says and she nods, an arrow already nocked on her bow aiming straight for the eye of the ogre that's coming right at them.
"Not yet, not yet" he whispers several times.
Her heart is beating so fast. Her hands are shaking. She turns to look at him. He is holding a sword and a battle ax and he is perfectly still, waiting. "Ready?" he mouths at her.
She nods.
"Now!" he yells.
The archers let go of their arrows and several ogres fall to the ground.
"Nice shot princess," he yells and then he charges at the nearest ogre. The ogre seems confused. He is stronger than the average man, and quite bolder. He leaps and jumps using a sword and swinging his ax and soon several ogres are screaming, missing their limbs. Snow aims for the eye of the ogre he is currently fighting with. The ogre falls to the ground, her arrow going through his eyeball and coming out the back of his head.
"Stop taking my kills princess!" he yells.
"You are very welcome," she yells back and he laughs. She takes out two more ogres while he attacks a third one. Once again she aims for the eye of the ogre he is fighting with.
"Get your own ogre," he yells again as the ogre crashes next to him, pierced by her arrow and she laughs.
And then she is not laughing anymore because an ogre is standing above Ruby who's tripped and fallen on the ground.
"Ruby" she screams and she runs towards her sister. She stands in between her sister and the terrifying ogre trying to nock an arrow on her bow but she is not fast enough. Her heart is beating so fast. This is it, she thinks. She is going to die here.
"Snow!" he screams and runs after her. The ogre swings at her and she ducks and then he leaps and he is on top of the ogre severing his head from his neck with one swift move. He jumps to the ground as the ogre falls down.
Snow is staring at him panting. "Thank you," she rasps. He places his arm on her shoulder and offers his hand to help Ruby up. Ruby nods towards them and storms into battle again.
"Are you alright princess?" he asks softly. "There's more work to do..."
"Let's go," she nods. It takes them about two more hours but most of the ogre army is dead, whatever is left of them are retreating. Their army is intact, they haven't suffered any major losses. Snow is unharmed, Ruby is fine except for a scratch on her arm. His plan worked.
He is all exhausted, covered in ogre blood but he is not injured. Snow rushes up to him and hugs him. "We did this!" she cries out. "You did this!"
He smiles and hugs her back. Neither of them notice Gaston glaring at them a look of envy and disgust on his face.
"Good job guys!" Ruby smiles at the soldiers who are slowly gathering around them. "You were all so brave!" Then she turns to him and smiles. "You are a hero!"
"That's right," the Huntsman agrees.
Gaston has no choice but to agree with them. He raises his flask "To the Beast!"
"To the Beast," the soldiers chant slamming their helmets to the ground.
"You have a new nickname..." Snow smiles.
"It was a team effort," he tries to say but everybody is cheering and clapping, patting him on the back and calling him the Beast. He smiles and drinks from the flask Gaston is offering. He is so glad this is over.
He is so relieved to be away from the crowds and back to his castle. He is sitting in the garden enjoying the peace and quiet when Snow runs up to him with an invitation in her hand.
"Prince Gaston is throwing a celebratory ball in his castle," she smiles. "Do you want to go?"
"Clearly, you do!" he replies."I don't really go to royal events..."
"Yes, I know that, but can't you make an exception just this once?" she asks offering him her sweetest smile.
He frowns and doesn't reply.
"Look, you've saved me at least twice in the battlefield...-" she starts saying.
"No one is keeping score Snow...-" he tries to interrupt her.
"I am. I am absolutely keeping score. I have seventeen ogre kills, thank you very much. I am very proud of them. Also you saved me twice, you saved Ruby, as far as I'm concerned if it weren't for your brilliant plan we wouldn't have won. You should be very proud of that. So yes, I am keeping score," she replies. "If anyone deserves to go to the celebratory ball it's you. And I am certainly not going without you!"
He looks at her and doesn't reply.
"Come on," she pleads, "aren't you tired of hiding?"
"Alright," he concedes even though he knows this is a terrible idea. Royals may not mind him on the battlefield when he is saving their lives but they definitely don't want him in their ballrooms dancing with their daughters.
"Really?" she smiles clapping her hands. He sighs. He is at her complete mercy, he realizes, he cannot say no to her.
He waits for her at the main Hall when she comes down wearing an incredible shimmering white gown, her hair pulled up, a couple of stray curls framing her face. He smiles at her even though he can barely breathe as she walks towards him.
"You look beautiful," he manages and he notes that she blushes a little when she smiles back at him.
"Thank you," she whispers and she takes his arm. "Ready?"
Gaston's castle is all lit up, servants and porters are walking up to the royal carriages welcoming the guests. He takes a deep breath then he steps out of the carriage first and he offers his arm to her. She is smiling at him. They are walking together and everybody is staring at them. They really did not expect to see the fairest of them all being escorted to the ball by the Beast. She is smiling and talking to him as if nothing unusual is going on. Her moves are very calculated, he realizes. She means to both ease him into this royal event but also to make a statement, that she expects every royal in this ballroom to treat him with the respect and the gratitude he deserves. He hesitates right before the grand staircase.
"Chin up," she says squeezing his arm, "none of these people would be here celebrating if it wasn't for you!"
He nods, trying to focus, trying to see things from her perspective even as he feels everyone's stares, even as he feels the walls closing in on him. It's too hot in here. His jacket is too tight. He can't really breathe, but he came here because she asked him to. He needs to get through this.
The royal guards stare at him right before he enters the Ballroom.
"Don't worry fellows I'm house trained," he smiles.
For a second it looks like the royal guards will not let him in when the Huntsman walks up to them.
"Do you know who this is? This is the Beast! We wouldn't be celebrating today if it wasn't for him boys!" the Huntsman smiles and the guards look at him both embarrassed and terrified.
Both of them snap to attention.
"Forgive us Sir!" says the royal guard in charge.
"At ease, boys," he sighs.
Snow walks inside the ballroom and scans the crowd. Ruby isn't there yet.
Gaston makes his entrance and walks down the grand stair case ready to greet his guests, big smile on his face. The moment he sees Snow White leaning on the Beast's arm his expression changes to one of utter rage and disgust. The whole reason he planned this event was to get closer to Snow White. He was told that the Beast was a recluse. He never imagined that he would show up here with the fairest of them all by his side. This, this is disgusting, he thinks, this is wrong, this is repulsive. And to think that she turned down his hand and his alliance to move in together with this foul creature. Someone ought to take him outback and put him out of his misery, for the good of the Enchanted Forest, for the endurance and the purity of her royal line. She cannot possibly be allowed to procreate with that...thing.
She doesn't even notice Gaston walking towards them. Instead she turns to her escort. "May I have this dance?" she smiles at him.
He bows and leads her to the dance floor. It's been forever since he's done this but he's always been good at it. He places his hand on her waist. They step together following the music and everyone turns around to look at them. They make such a wonderful unlikely pair, he pulls her in and he twirls her around and she is smiling brightly, closing her eyes feeling so light, so happy, like she could grow wings and fly away.
The music dies down.
"You are an excellent dancer," she smiles looking at him and he looks away because he reads love in her eyes and he doesn't dare believe that. Not yet. "One more dance, please?" she asks.
He bows. He'd dance with her all night if she asked.
They are twirling and dancing and she is laughing, looking radiantly happy. Everybody is watching them mesmerized. They have never seen Snow White this giddy before. Nobody notices Gaston in the corner dawning one drink after another glaring at them.
The music stops and Snow is still smiling at him when Gaston walks up to them.
"Hello Gaston!" she smiles. "This is such a wonderful celebration...-"
"So you though fit to bring your pet to my dance, didn't you Snow White?" Gaston interrupts ignoring her greeting.
"Excuse me?" she asks anger flashing in her eyes. She can't believe what she is hearing. "Have you been drinking?"
"Your pet. You thought you should bring him here to further insult me?" he asks.
She cannot believe her ears. Her hearts stops. His words are lethal weapons and she places her body in front of her escort's as if it's enough to block the awful hurtful words from reaching his heart.
"Take it back," she hisses, "take it all back!"
"I take back nothing," Gaston yells. "You chose this mongrel over me and my alliance, what is wrong with you princess? You choose to marry him over me? I bet he eats his young. I bet he mauls you in your sleep. When you realize what a huge mistake you've made, don't come crawling back to me, I won't touch you after he's had his way with you..." he yells, "I won't take you back! I will never take you back!"
"I wouldn't marry you if you were the last man in the Enchanted forest!" she replies her voice shaking with rage.
Royal guards are coming closer to them, trying to figure out what is all the commotion is about.
"Right, because you don't like real men, do you?" he scoffs and she sees red. She unsheathes the sword of the royal guard closest to her and she points it right at Gaston's neck. All the royal guards are gathering around them in a hurry, swords drawn. They look between Gaston and Snow White uncertain what to do next.
"Take all of it back," she whispers and there is no mistaking the threatening tone of her voice. "Take all of it back. Apologize to him right now, you miserable, awful...-"
"No, no, no..." she is surprised to hear his voice behind her. He pulls her arm down softly and retrieves the sword, "do not stoop to his level, there is no need..." he says stepping protectively in front of her. He stares at Gaston.
"Apologize to the princess," he says sternly.
Gaston's eyes are filled with fear. He knows exactly what the Beast is capable of, he saw him tear ogres apart limb from limb with his bare hands.
"I apologize, princess," he says bowing, "I misspoke..." his hands shaking with rage and fear.
She nods. She is not alright. Her whole body is shaking with anger and shock and grief. She pushed him to come out here, she asked him not to hide, she thought he would be alright, she thought she could protect him, she thought he'd be safe. She failed him so badly. She is just standing there, hot tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Come on Snow," she hears his voice calling her. Still she doesn't see him, she can't see him, she is standing there, shaking, paralyzed by the pain in her heart.
"Let's go," he says and he tugs on her arm gently.
She finally snaps out of her daze. She squeezes his hand tightly as he leads her back out of the ballroom, out of Gaston's castle. They sit in their carriage together in silence as it rolls away. She squeezes his hand in the darkness. There are not enough words for her to tell him how sorry she feels.
"Are you alright?" he asks.
She turns around to look at him but she can't make his face out in the dark carriage. "I should be the one asking you that," she whispers.
"I'll be fine," he replies but he is breathing fast and she can hear it in his voice, something inside him got irreparably broken and she doesn't know how to fix it, she doesn't have the right words. Still she needs to try.
"I am so sorry..." she starts but she can feel him shaking his head.
"Don't " he interrupts. "Please, don't."
She looks down and doesn't try again. Instead she leans her head on his shoulder, she laces her fingers through his and she stays perfectly still, wondering if he will push her away. He doesn't. He actually wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her in closer. She lets out a soft sob.
"Please, don't cry, Snow White" he whispers.
And the sound of his voice trying to comfort her ignites something inside her. Something that's been burning for a while but she hadn't had time to acknowledge it. Funny, she thinks, the sole purpose of her coming to his castle was to break a curse. She is nowhere near breaking the curse but what she did manage to do is fall in love with the Beast instead. She closes her eyes. She loves him. That's why she felt Gaston's words tear through her heart like flaming arrows, she loves him and she can't bear the thought of anyone hurting him, she loves him and she has no idea if he feels the same way. He hasn't done anything to indicate the he wants or needs anything more form her other than friendship. Why, he didn't even invite her to the castle. It was the clock and the candelabra that brought her into his castle. All he ever wanted was to be left alone, away from people and their judgmental attitudes and she was the one who forced him out into the light. She really needs to apologize but she doesn't think he is ready to hear her out. She turns to look at him. She loves him, she loves him so much. She needs to tell him. Or better yet she could just show him. His lips are right there, she could reach over and kiss him if he would let her. She wants to kiss him. She leans over slightly and brushes his cheek with her hand. He turns to look at her and her breath catches, his heart beating so fast. And then the carriage stops abruptly.
"What's going on? Why did we stop?" he asks. The coachman opens the door.
"There is a carriage here to pick up the princess," the coachman explains. "Princess your sister has taken ill. They think that her arm was scratched with a knife laced in poison during battle. She is really unwell, she is calling for you..."
"Oh, no!" she gasps. "I'm coming."
She wraps her arms around him. She wants to invite him to come along but she's already pushed him so far from his comfort zone. "Goodbye," she whispers.
"Goodbye Snow," he replies. She rushes out of their carriage and into the carriage that is there to pick her up. Alone in his seat he buries his face in his hands. Snow White is gone. She was dancing with him and she was looking at him with so much love in her eyes and even though he didn't mean to he was starting to hope that maybe he wasn't imagining things, maybe she loved him just a little, maybe she loved him just enough to break his curse, and once he was a man again he would fight for her, he would tell her just how much he loved her. Then Gaston came along and spread his hatred and his poison. Now Ruby is sick. Snow really loves her sister. If something happens to Ruby she will be devastated. He watches as her carriage drives away. He should have offered to go with her. He almost offered to go with her, it's just that the events of tonight are making him wonder if he'd even be welcome into her castle. Clearly not all royals are as kind and as accepting as Snow White. But still, he should have thought of her first, he should have offered to go along. His thoughts are interrupted because his carriage comes to an abrupt stop.
"Now what?" he mumbles and he opens the door to step out. His coachman crushes on the ground right in front of him, an arrow protruding from his heart. He looks around and he is horrified by what he sees. There are men with torches blocking the road. They are holding pitchforks and knives and swords and they are chanting words he doesn't understand at first.
And then he hears their chant clearly. "Kill the Beast, kill the Beast," they yell over and over. Gaston is on his horse goading them on, "Kill the Beast, he will sleep with your women, he will eat your young," he is yelling.
He looks around to see if he can escape by turning around and going back, but there are more men with pitchforks, a couple of women too. He can't fight them, he realizes. These are innocent people that Gaston has whipped into a frenzy, they are not ogres, they are not even soldiers. Yes, he could easily defeat them but he doesn't want to. He is frantically scanning around, looking for a way out. There are too many of them, he is completely surrounded. Maybe if he made a run for it, if he run through them and into the forest he'd have an opportunity to escape, without killing anyone, he thinks but he doesn't get a chance to, because they are pelting him with rocks now and an angry villager throws a large brick right at his head. He falls to the ground dazed. When he comes to, he is standing up, tied to a tree trunk and the angry villagers are gathering kindling and placing it all around him. "Burn the Beast! Burn the Beast," their chant has changed.
"Please don't," he tries to say, "I mean you no harm, I never did," but nobody is listening. Gaston walks up to him, a look of triumph in his face and he ties a piece of rope around his mouth silencing him completely. "She is mine now," he smiles. "My coachman is bringing her to my castle as we speak.
He glares at Gaston horrified. He tries to set himself free from his binds but it doesn't work, all he manages to do is bloody up his arms. The villagers must be terrified of him, because they used an incredible amount of rope to immobilize him. This is it. He is going to die here. He is terrified for Snow's fate. She is a fighter, he tries to reassure himself, Snow is not going to surrender to Gaston without a fight, but still. He should have gone with her, he shouldn't have let her go back alone. He failed her so badly.
Snow is looking out of the window of her carriage. This doesn't look right, she thinks. They should be heading north by now. She knocks on the window of the carriage. The coachman stops the carriage and opens the door.
"Something the matter princess?" he asks.
"Where are we going?" she says and then she notices the crest on his jacket. This isn't her crest. This isn't her carriage. She was so worried for her sister's fate she didn't even realize. She slowly reaches and pulls out the dagger she has strapped on her thigh. She places it right on the coachman's neck. The coachman blinks fast, looking at her terrified. He did not expect a princess wearing such a fine dress to be armed.
"My sister didn't send you!" Snow whispers. "My sister isn't hurt. Who are are you?"
"Please, princess, I have a wife and two little boys..." he begs.
"Who sent you?" her voice is firm, angry.
"Prince Gaston," the man replies looking to the ground.
"Gaston?" she looks at him all confused.
"After you left the ball, all the royals walked away from him and left as well. Gaston lost it, He started screaming that he wouldn't be rejected by a princess ever again, he wouldn't let the Beast humiliate him, then he came up with this plan..."
"An ambush!" she says and her hands are shaking. She feels horrified. "Give me all you weapons," she cries out. "Anything you have! I need to get back!"
The man goes back to his seat and he brings back a bow, and a quiver with three arrows. Three arrows? There's not much she can do with three arrows.
"I'm taking your horse!" she says. The man helps her unhitch one of the horses from the carriage. She mount as fast as she can and she heads back. It's not hard to find him. His carriage is flipped over, his coachman is dead there is a huge crowd of men and women holding torches chanting "Burn the Beast! Burn the Beast!" And then she sobs because she sees him tied up to the tree trunk, rope around his mouth. He looks right at her, so much pain and fear in his eyes. The people are gathering kindling around him. They mean to burn him alive. Her whole body shivers at the thought. She will die before she lets that happen. She dismounts in a hurry. She is breathing fast. She has three arrows, she needs to make them count. She finds Gaston in the middle of the frenzied crowd and aims her arrow very carefully. She holds her breath and she releases her arrow. Gaston falls to the ground, her arrow going through his neck. The crowd screams, they are looking around terrified. Who is attacking them?
She nocks the second arrow and she walks towards them. She holds her chin up. Her hair is coming loose, her gown is dragging in the dirt, her arrow is nocked and ready, her eyes glaring at the crowd, she looks devastating. He watches her as she parts the crowd. She can't have more than five arrows and still she is here ready and willing to save him. If he could talk he'd be screaming for her to get back, to forget all about him, to run home and be safe. She stops right in front of him, looks at him for what could be the very last time, then she mouths " ready?" as if it's the two of them in battle once more, the two of them fighting together against the world. She turns around placing herself between him and the angry crowd.
"Prince Gaston is dead," she says and she looks around at the sea of angry faces. "I killed him because he convinced you to commit a heinous, horrible crime. He was about to get you to kill an innocent man."
"He is not a man! He is a Beast!" a woman screams frantically and Snow turns and aims her arrow right at her.
"The man you have captured" she continues, "is a war hero. He saved me, he saved princess Ruby, he saved all of us! If it wasn't for him the Enchanted forest would be overrun by ogres. I won't let you kill him, I'll die before I let you hurt him. I am however willing to forgive you and let you go without arresting you, if you leave right now. Go!" she yells. " What are you waiting for?" The crowd is looking at her. Nobody argues. Nobody asks her where exactly her men are and how is she going to arrest them. They begin to disperse in a hurry. She waits until most of them are gone and she turns to him. She saved him. He is not going to die today. He is looking right at her, his eyes welling up with unshed tears. She just said she'd be willing to die for him. She just called him a man. It's been a very long time since anybody's referred to him as a man. There's no doubt in his mind that she loves him too. His heart is beating so fast. She loves him too. He can't believe it. She drops her bow and arrows to the ground and she rushes towards him. She has to push the kindling out of the way to get to him. She finally stands in front of him, her heart beating wildly. Her hands are shaking as she cups his face.
"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" she asks, tears streaming down her face.
He shakes his head.
"This really just won't do," she says gently removing the rope from around his mouth, caressing his face. "What were you thinking?" she asks softly. "These were just regular people, surely you could fight them off? How could you let them do this to you? Why wouldn't you fight back?" she says, trying to hold back her sobs.
"They were innocent...They weren't at fault. Gaston's the one to blame. They probably have wives and children waiting for them back home, I couldn't hurt them... I don't have anybody, I'm expandable..." he tries to explain.
She shakes her head and she places both hands on his chest and then she reaches and wipes his tears away with her thumb. "Yes, you do, yes, you do," she nods. "You have me. You have to fight back for yourself, you have to fight for me, you have to fight for us..."
Us, she said us, he realizes and he has no response for that, he is just breathing faster trying to hold back his tears, his heart about to burst with joy. He leans his forehead on hers and closes his eyes.
"I'm sorry," she continues, " I don't know how to break the curse, I don't even understand the curse, but what I do know is this, I am happy there was a curse because it led me to you... I love you. I love you so much. You and I are going to be together, curse or no curse," she says still crying and then she laughs "that is if you don't mind too much, if you love me too...," she explains. He doesn't reply. He looks at her and he's so moved, so happy, he's completely ran out of words but she reads all the answers she needs in his eyes. She leans in and kisses him. "I love you," she says in between kisses, "I love you so much..."
Once upon a time there was a handsome prince who was betrothed to a princess he'd never met before. A beautiful woman visited his castle on a stormy night and asked him for a kiss. And even though the prince had never met his future wife and wasn't yet in love with her, he refused to betray her. The woman turned out to be a powerful evil witch. Heartbroken and angered by his rejection she cursed the prince to take on a beastly form, so that if his future wife were to ever meet him she wouldn't recognize him. The witch thought she'd cursed him to be alone for all eternity because the only way to break his curse would be true love's kiss and who could fall in love with a beast, let alone kiss him?
She is still kissing him when she hears the whispers of the ancient's spells around them unraveling, the curse breaking. She looks at him and she gasps because it's the handsome prince from the painting she is kissing right now, not the Beast. She take a step back, confused, trying to understand.
He smiles back at her. Now that his body is back to normal the ropes are looser around his arms so he pulls his hands out, steps over the ropes binding his legs and then he takes a step towards her.
"Snow, it's me..." he smiles. "You broke the curse..."
"You are the missing prince..." she marvels, looking in his eyes that still look the same and then she throws her arms around him. "You were part of the curse. How did I not see that?"
"I couldn't tell you," he whispers back. "I didn't mean to disappear. I'd still very much like to marry you, Snow White!"
She laughs through her tears and kisses him one more time. The ground shakes, the light blinds them and once again they remember. They hold each other tighter.
"I need you to promise me something..." she whispers.
"Anything," he replies.
"I need you to promise me that no matter what happens you will never stop fighting for us..." she says and the next second she is gone.
He closes his eyes trying to hold on to the feeling of her body in his arms. "I promise," he whispers.
"It's going to snow tonight," Ruby tells David looking at the clouds that are forming on the horizon.
"Yeah, I think so too," he replies. "Don't worry, I'll cover up all the flowers."
"Thanks!" she smiles. "You are locking up your house tonight, right? And sleeping by the fire? You don't want to take any chances."
"Sure," he shrugs. "Even though I'm going to be honest with you, I no longer believe that the Snow Queen is real..."
Thank you for reading, thank you for reviewing, thank you for the fairytale suggestions. I really appreciate your input.
baratta jennifer chapter 3 Great story and chapters. Love this one
Thank you!
Austenphile chapter 3 Unique twist on Aladdin. I like Sydney as Aladdin and Rumple as Jafar. Very cool.
Thank you so much!
Guest chapter 3 What a good twist of Aladdins story! It was a very interesting and original twist. David being the gene worked well and Sydney of course taking the roll as "Aladdin". You could have thought that Sydney would have been more empathic towards David since he too was trapped once but no. DId Sydney remember or did he just think that he was a gene once. I really liked how Snow and Davids relationship blossomed in this version. Both trapped, understanding the other more than anyone else. Very sweet. Of course Rumple was Jafar. I'm glad that Snow was able to get to David first and escape Jafars grip. I'm going to need a whole other story about what would have happen next if they weren't cursed and transported to another place. That scene where Snow switches place with David was very heartwarming. How fitting that you posted the Aladdin chapter when the trailer for the live version of it just came out a day before. I'm gonna guess that the next chapter is Cinderella? The hint is hard and not giving much away. I would say I like Up. But I don't want to give you any ideas and break my heart like that movie did.
Thank you so much. Okay you are right, the hint for this chapter didn't give anything away. Sorry! Up is a lovely story. Very heartbreaking. I'm not sure how it would work in this setting though.
Funny, I watched the Aladdin trailer right after I posted my story and I felt so intimidated. Like, what was I thinking, did I seriously just think I had the right to re imagine Aladdin? Thanks for you very encouraging words.
mry23 chapter 1 Ok so this is an awesome concept and a cool twist to the curse. I'm excited to see Snowing play out different fairytales and just watch them fall in love because that is literally the funniest thing ever. I'm so glad to have found this. Great first chapter and I too was nervous ruby and charming were married. But it was so sweet and I love the game they played to see if she was a princess or not.
mry23 chapter 2 So the little mermaid is probably my favorite Disney movie, but you're twist was so good. I may have choked up a bit at the end. I remember when I learned of the original and found it so heartbreaking this was perfect twist. And when they wake up it's so heartbreaking. So good.
mry23 chapter 3 Ok so I think I'm in love with this twist. I love Aladdin but I loved this version. And again I got choked up at the end when snow made her wishes. I was like nooo. I'm enjoying rumple's role. Is he there for Emma? I mean he was invested in Snowings future and this sure throws a wrench in the that future. As for other fairytales. Hmm there is Pocahontas, Mulan are favorites. thumbelina, frog prince. Excited to see where they go next.
Three reviews in a row made me so so happy. Thank you for taking the time to do this. Definitely doing thumbelina and the frog prince. I'm not sure about Mulan and Pocahontas as they are less fairytale and more historical than the rest. I do love those stories though...
Rumble is just there to be dubious and to get whatever power he can in any world..I'm not sure that he has an ultimate goal in mind.
Bella1296 chapter 3 what a great chapter. i loved it so much.
Thank you!
Guest chapter 3 What an interesting story! I really liked the twist of David being the genie and Aladdin being the bad guy. Snow sacrificing her life for Davids, it's true love even in this story. Thanks for the update!
Thank you so much!