It's a Happily Ever After, After All

They found someone.

The excitement was almost proving too much. They had given me my sword back. They had dressed me up as the King I was, they let me sit in my own council. They were letting me be a King again. I wasn't sure if it would continue after this one particular case, but I would savour it just so. I also wasn't sure if they only let me in on the results of the investigation because they feared my reaction if they didn't. They were right to. The dungeons may have increased their numbers if I had found out their secret. Besides it was this woman who caused the death of my family. It was my right to deliver justice.

I could hear the chains rattling as the guards pushed her up the hallway. The person I itched for was on the other side of the door. I didn't care who she was. She was a worker, that was all. I needed to question her, her motives, for any accomplices, anything else. And then I could give her the sentence. Hopefully I'd also be able to conduct that. I had tried hard to let my mind be preoccupied with the investigation, it was easier than focusing on the rest. I didn't know what would happen afterwards, I didn't let myself dwell on that. I'd deal with it when the time came. For now, now was what I had been waiting for.

They threw open the doors with force and pushed the woman to the ground in front of me. The scene was beautiful. She was crying and filthy from spending the night in the dungeon. Someone had finally come forward and revealed the information they knew late last night. I had reluctantly sent them away with a reward, lesser than what I had promised for holding their tongue for so long. They said she had been stealing keys, sneaking around. She also happened to warn everyone about the burned wing of the castle that particular day. It was her who told everyone the Queen and Prince were in the gardens out of harm's way. It was so perfectly obvious. I hated doubt. This was the most wonderful result. As I stood taller, resting my hand on the hilt of my sword and opened my mouth to begin. She promptly blurted what I didn't want to hear-

"I was doing it for someone else!"

It took me a while to close my agape mouth. This meant the investigation was not over. There were more people in on it. More people plotting against me. I wondered if the person I had rewarded was one of them. I'd be sure to pull them back in.

"I'm sorry Your Majesty, King Charming, I'm sorry."

She was sobbing. Someone else might have shown some mercy, I however did not. "You still did it," I stated bluntly, silencing her cries, "You caused me the worst pain imaginable, and for that you will be punished," my voice was calm, quiet, together. I was impressed with my own performance.

She broke out into a fresh set of tears, stumbling through her words, "I beg of you good King, please? The cat, he came to me, told me things about you. Which must have been terrible lies, Sire! Terrible lies! I shouldn't have listened, I…"

I drew my sword suddenly. It brought hush over the room, the prisoner gasped. My jolt of exhilaration was short lived as her words sunk in. The cat? Yes, I was sure I'd heard correctly. I felt like I'd had the wind pushed out of me, my shoulders suddenly began to feel very heavy. My excitement fizzled out leaving a feeling of hollowness in my stomach. I almost let my sword arm fall to my side, no, I wasn't going to show such weakness in front of everyone like I had done already. I wanted, no needed, to get back to being King. Crumbling again would not help my cause. I couldn't let this defeat me. They were back. It appeared. But they hadn't won.

"Cat, did you say?" I raised an accusing eyebrow at her.

She sniffed, hesitating, "Yes…"

Her crying had seized and she now shook, ever so slightly, I could almost smell the fear on her. I had my foot in the door, I was hoping she would now let me in entirely, "Now, tell me, the cat wasn't alone, was he?"

"No," she shook her head a little. I glared at her, urging her to go on, "There was the donkey too," her eyebrows knitted, she contemplated. I had suspected them to be the only ones responsible, clearly there were more. I waited. "And, those strange little things with wings."

I suddenly feared the guards surrounding me could see the colour drain from my face. It wasn't possible. "Wings?" I wanted a description. There was still room for recovery. There was still a possibility it wasn't what I thought.

"Yes," she took a breath, "They looked like donkeys with dragon wings."

Anger flourished within me.

The woman cowered, "King Charming," tears began rolling down her cheeks again, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

She was weak, they had clearly picked a terrible ally. If I wasn't so angered I would have smiled. "You plotted and conducted a plan with traitors to the Kingdom, escaped prisoners. You had a part in killing your Queen and Prince. You attempted to kill me." I drew a deep breath, "Therefore I, King Charming of Far Far Away, sentence you to death for treason against your King and assisting the murder of your Queen and Prince."

I stormed through the hallways, up the stairs and threw open her door. Four heads jerked my way to look at me. They had previously been smiling, all traces of happiness vanished quickly. I didn't care about the trauma I probably caused her offspring, they always appeared so terrified in my presence. No, I was furious. I couldn't believe she'd dare…

"What do you want?" she didn't seem surprised, her words were blunt. Apparently my bursting into her room was standard in her world now.

"You lied to me," I reached for my sword. Seeing my actions she stood, positioning herself between me and her children. She needn't worry about them. "You told me you didn't do it."

"I didn't," her voice was steady, though she was wide eyed, gaze locked on my sword, "Charming, don't draw it."

I hesitated, hand hovering over the hilt of my sword. At least I knew the scare tactic would work on her. I wouldn't do anything to her, I didn't think I would. "Why not?"

She glared at me, "I'll talk to you outside," she nodded to the door. I gave her an approving nod in return. She turned to the children, delicately touching each of their heads, "Stay here," her voice was soft, "I'll be back soon." She took the time to kiss each of their cheeks in turn. I rolled my eyes, if I had my way she'd return to them in three minutes, no less. I never treated my son like that, he always knew I was coming back, who had the time? My breath caught in my throat for a second, as it seemed to dawn on me again. I blinked my emotion away and tapped on the door frame to pull back her attention. She followed me out, and then overtook me hurrying down the corridor, I guessed so we were out of her children's earshot. Though what did I know about ogre's hearing abilities?

"Don't you dare scare them like that!" she whirled around to face me, I nearly collided into her. Until now she had relatively kept her cool, responding to me in blunt statements, asking calculated questions. Apparently her limits had been pushed. "I don't want to think of the damage you've caused them, keeping them in a tower for years of their lives, and finally when they see the world for the first time they spend every waking minute terrified. I can't believe you, I can't…"

She ranted at me, stabbing accusing fingers into my chest. I watched and waited, a scowl set on my face. I didn't care for her complaints. I didn't care for her children. "Are you finished?" I asked patiently after she had finally come to a halt. She shook her head at me and sighed breathlessly, irritated. I took that as a yes. "Explain yourself. I needn't tell you what would happen if you don't."

"It wasn't me, I told you I wouldn't put them in that danger," she defended herself. I could tell she was avoiding the point.

"I know who it was," I hissed at her, "Explain your role in the plan and I'll leave you alone." I wasn't entirely sure if I was telling her the truth. I hadn't been very good at keeping my promises as of late.

She narrowed her eyes at me, I could almost see her deep thought processes. She clearly knew more than she had let on. "They told me the plan," she eventually admitted. I nodded my reluctant acceptance, "But, I asked them to go through with it once we were safely out of the castle. So I'm not exactly happy with them either," her distaste was clear, I could tell at least that much was truthful.

"Keep talking," I pressed her for more.

"There is no more," she shook her head at me, "If it makes you feel any better, that fire wasn't meant for Rapunzel or your son, it was meant for you."

"You're lying," I spat, I found it impossible to believe a plan they conducted killed everything but their victim.

"I'm not. I haven't been able to see Puss or Donkey since I left the swamp. So I don't know what went wrong in order for them to do the whole thing early," she spoke so calmly about something intended to kill me, something that killed my family. I couldn't ever talk about that… that night on the stage, or anything else that happened since. I panicked whenever I passed that cell. I couldn't stand to see that specific shade of green, let alone ogres at all. I couldn't even say her name. Was I weak? No, I wasn't. I was looking at her now. I was even in relative ease. It was odd that I didn't hate her company since the recent events. In any case, I could work on saying her name, I could finally pass on that cell to a new prisoner, I could go over what I did…

"Fiona," yes, that was good, "I'm not a fool," I narrowed my eyes, "It never occurred to you to let me know you had something to do with it."

"I didn't have anything to do with it," she was insistent. I was unsure as to whether she believed it so or was protecting herself, "I told them it was unnecessary, there's been too much death. Death wouldn't be cruel enough anyway, for what you've done to me, us," she paused, drawing a hostile breath, "But ultimately I couldn't stop them. I'm not guilty, Charming. You can't punish me. I'm not who you're looking for." I wanted a time out. I wanted to stop and think about it. I didn't trust her. I wanted to, but I didn't. I searched her face. Her expression softened a little, "If you're going to punish me, please leave my children out of it this time."

I took a breath, "I'm not going to punish you," she had told me this much. She had complied, like I had asked her to. When I really thought about it, I was shocked with the amount of truth she had given me. Though it was to save herself, protecting her children again. My Mother said children were the best manipulation tools, it was how she got so much from the late King Harold. "But if you dare stop me from punishing your little friends. You will go down with them. Understood?" There were only so many chances I could take. Only so many things I could let her get away with… because of whom she was.

"I love them," she was staring past me, in thought, "But I have more important people to worry about now," her eyes met mine, "they know that."

I nodded my acceptance. She was cooperating. Though I wasn't sure she knew herself how she would respond to seeing her friends paying for their crimes. Who knows what she'd really do, how far she'd push her luck. If she'd even risk anything at all. I hoped not. "How did they set the castle alight, Fiona?" I was getting better. In fact, if I could slip her name in one more time I'd almost be proud of myself.

She raised an eyebrow at me, "Think about it."

It was the second place on my list of places I needed to go. Her… Fiona's room just happened to be conveniently close by. This all but forgotten about cave was far away. It was somebody else's business. I was passively paying others for the upkeep. As suspected, and much to my horror, the cave had been opened. Something inside me still desperately wanted everything to be lies. For the cave to be closed up, as it had been for years. To meet the person I was paying. To hear the muffled roars and wails. Nothing. There was nothing.

"Where is the feeder?" I called out.

"It appears he disappeared a while back, Your Majesty," a messenger with a scroll hovered beside me.

"Why did this information not reach me?" I was beyond being surprised now.

There were more people undercover in my castle, word had been sent back. But it never reached important ears, how very convenient. It had been years since the cave was occupied. Estimated dates in line with the prison escape. The animals had clearly waited to conduct their plan. Waited for what? It dawned on me. They were waiting for me to release Fiona. I wondered how much subconscious persuasion I had been subject to in my own home. My mind even drifted to the prospect of Rapunzel being involved. No. If she was they would have been more careful not to give the fate she ended up with. I swallowed hard. I would be sure to get someone to lay fresh flowers on her grave when I got back.

"Was it her, Your Majesty?" a guard from the multitude of them positioned behind me asked the question clearly on everyone's minds. They waited in baited silence for my response.

"No," I looked over my shoulder at them, "It was the cat and the donkey," I scowled, "Send word back to find them. Find every last one of them freaks and have them back in the dungeon. Double the guards working. Finding a dragon shouldn't be too difficult for you." It surely wouldn't. The messenger jumped into action.

"If the ogress is clear of blame, should we give her the clear to leave, Sire?"

The question caught me off guard, I was in danger. A great deal of danger. I finally felt the panic set in. If Fiona left what reason would anyone have to hold back? If she left I was sure I would die. They struck once and it was unsuccessful. If they struck a second time they would make sure they wouldn't miss. No. She couldn't leave until they were caught and dealt with. I'd stay in a room much closer to hers, track where she was at all times and make sure I followed. Apparently she was my unwilling prisoner yet again. This time though, it seemed I had much less control.

. . .

Did you guess it? Of course you guessed it. Haha! Hope you enjoyed! R&R! Thank you for reading!