A/N: Thanks to Tek Sonay for her lovely advice and editing! Read on.
Chapter 21 - Truth Revealed
"Worst mistake of my life, Howl? What would that be?" Prince Justin asked as the wizard gracefully led them to a bench in the marketplace.
The two men didn't just sit on the bench. They blessed the bench with their presence. Hair floating in the wind, light gleaming from their eyes, clothes hugging their muscular physiques ... one bench could barely handle so much perfection.
The town's men could barely control their maidens.
Howl helped them by erecting a three-foot barrier against women around the bench, adding an extra layer of spell to prevent any love-crazed women from breaking it. Normally he enjoyed the deserved attention, but today he had a mission.
Time to commence Plan Sabotage Sophie.
"Sophie Hatter will ruin your life."
Done.
Justin laughed. "Sophie couldn't ruin anyone's life if she tried! She's sweet and beautiful and passionate and ..."
Across the square, Sophie waved to the men. Unsure if she was waving to him or to Howl, Justin waved tentatively back.
"... And she'll turn your life upside-down if you give her the chance," Howl interrupted, capturing the prince's attention anew. "If you like your life the way it is now, stay away from her while you still can."
A town woman bounced off the barrier, startling Justin. Howl ignored the commotion and leaned back on the bench, contemplating his lady love. "She has this strange way about her. She's obstinate and loud and so pushy. She'll drive you crazy by sewing up the holes in your clothes even when she knows you can use magic!" Howl caressed a corner of his shirt, smiling fondly.
Three woman charged the barrier at once in attempt to break it. They flew into the arms of three lucky men.
Remembering his rant, Howl continued on determinedly. "She ignores all your hard work, saying you're handsome without beauty products. She kills your pets, even if they were just sitting in a corner, minding their own business. She never lets you get the last word. And your ego?" A short bark of laughter escaped his lips. "Ha! Choose one. Sophie or your pride."
"That's not the Sophie I know," Justin said with a frown.
Howl looked at him with a serious expression. "Then you don't know the real Sophie." He scooted uncomfortably close to Justin. "I do. And I love her."
Justin looked at Howl in wonder. "You have a little bit of dirt ... right there," he said as he pointed to Howl's cheek.
Howl didn't even flinch. He just kept staring at the prince, as if trying to communicate the depth of his love for Sophie through the intensity of his gaze.
"You really do love her, don't you?"
"With all my heart."
"... wow."
Silence settled over them as each retreated into his own thoughts. They stared at the two women on the bench across from them, now crying and hugging.
Justin thought about Howl's newfound ability to love. Justin had mentally known that having a heart would change the wizard, but seeing that change was something else entirely. He thought about how the return of his physical heart was only part of Howl's transformation ... Sophie had worked her magic on that man from the moment she had met him. Through her persistence, obstinacy, and genuine care, she had somehow found the chink in Howl's armor of materialism and superficiality.
... just like a dark-haired woman had found the chink in his prince's armor
... once upon a time.
Justin sighed a heartfelt sigh. No matter how much he pretended, he knew that the love shared between Howl and Sophie was too strong for even his royal titles to overcome. Besides, he had unfairly been using Sophie as a distraction from the loss of that dark-haired woman.
Howl thought about how he could get the dirt off his face without looking stupid.
Suddenly, Justin sat up in shock. Howl reacted violently to the prince's movement, using it as an opportunity to jerk his hand across his face and remove the offending piece of dirt.
"What is it, Prince? Are Howl-starved women breaking through my barrier?"
Justin's gaze was fixed on the bench across the square. "Who is that young woman with Sophie? The one with the dark hair?"
Howl briefly looked across the square at the two women: one pacing, the other worried. He leaned back, bored.
"That? Why it's the former Witch of the Waste. You know, Giselle?"
"But ... but ... how is that possible? I know Giselle, but I also know this woman." Justin lowered his voice. "I was in love with her."
"Remember Suliman? The old woman who supposedly took away the powers of magical creatures?" Howl said. "Well, you can never fully take away someone's powers. There is always a spark. So clever Suliman sometimes used a machine to turn their most recently cast curse back on themselves. Give them something to worry about besides revenge. The last curse Giselle cast was the old woman spell on Sophie."
The prince's world turned upside-down as he processed this new information, connecting what he knew about Sophie's curse with events in the past years.
His elderly friend was the same beautiful young woman who had sometimes visited the Royal Gardens since the war ended. The woman he had thought was lost to him forever.
A new woman appeared in his mind. One that had the physical characteristics of the stranger and the personality of Giselle. His heart thumped painfully.
"Why didn't she say anything?" Justin murmured.
Howl laughed. "Irony. After all, she added the part of the spell that doesn't let the victim talk about it."
A commotion across the square caught their attention. Sophie was determinedly marching across the market with a reluctant Giselle in tow. People, dogs, carts, small children ... none of them were granted mercy if they dared impede her progress.
She was on a mission.
Justin stood in breathless anticipation, his gaze captured by the wide blue eyes of Giselle.
Howl stood in anxious excitement. Excited to be with Sophie again. Anxious about the hidden agenda behind her steely brown eyes.
Shouts and yells sounded from the edge of the square. A runaway carriage was barreling down the road ... right towards Sophie and Giselle.
Sophie didn't flinch. She started running towards the two men. Giselle didn't flinch either. She was too busy trying to keep up with Sophie.
The two women emerged from the havoc and the dust, locking eyes with their respective loves as they escaped the path of the carriage ...
... only to run straight into Howl's new and improved anti-women barrier.
Following the laws of physics and magic, the two women bounced off the barrier, flying in different directions.
Sophie flew to the top of a potted plant.
Giselle landed in the path of the raging carriage.
The prince and the former witch had only a moment. One last moment to lock eyes before the flashing brown and gold of the royal carriage cruelly and abruptly severed that bond.