King Charming
Chapter 36

Amy didn't stop until she got to her room. She threw the door open but it was nothing compared to the force with which she slammed it. It shook the bed. She hadn't had a chance to be sad over the ache in her heart. Thus far she had only been mad that she'd been foolish enough to trust in Wendell.

It had hurt to see him hopelessly in love with another woman, however she had only used that pain to fuel a deep anger harboring on hate. It was easier to be mad than to feel the root emotion and it was further worse because Amy was aware she had no claim on the king. As she began to pace the length of the room, stomping with each step her loathsome irritation was shifted to Ash. Amy, in the heat of her frustration, questioned whether she should have saved him. It was a fleeting thought, she knew better – but it was easier to submit to that than actually admit she was in pain.

There was still a serious distaste for Wendell in her mouth. It wasn't his fault, reason told her that – but the affection she had held for the king was undeniable at this point and it was that which had her holding a grudge against him. At least in that moment she was maintaining a strong dislike.

The more she paced and the hotter her temper rose the less she could think straight. Finally soft knock on the door sounded and in her aggravation Amy missed it. It wasn't until the third try that it finally broke through her self woven cocoon of fury.

"Come in." She snapped quickly, without thinking it through completely. The second the doorknob turned she realized she could have made mistake. In fact she was almost certain she had, she could think of no one she wanted to see in that moment. When the door cracked open and Michelle's face peeked into the room Amy let out a sigh of relief. Her friend was the only one she would tolerate or had any desire to see – though it took actually seeing her to realize that.

"I would say what's wrong, but I think that would be a pretty invalid question at this point huh?" Michelle slipped in and closed the door behind her. She watched Amy for a minute. It was hard on Michelle, hard to see her friend that worked up not to mention simply the complications of shouldering what they had to endure over the last 24 hours.

"Pretty much." Amy, much to her dismay, heard her own voice crack and felt her shoulders sink as her head turned to the ground in her sadness. The anger meter had finally cracked and the well of sadness that has acted as the mercury measuring the level of emotion bubbled over and Amy suddenly felt the rush of it all at once. In the safety of her room, opposite the only person she was comfortable allowing to see that amount of emotion Amy let the long held tears escape. It was a somber rapture to her as she moved over to Michelle and slowly draped her arms across her friend's shoulder and let the tears come, lining her face in neat little rows.

"It's stupid." She managed. "Stupid that I'm sad over this at all. I'm stronger than this." She finally sucked in a chocked little breath and she laughed at her self, pulling back and wiping the tears from her face. "I'm ready." She told Michelle. "Get your stuff together – we're going home."

"Home?" Michelle asked, with a confused little smile.

"Yep." Amy agreed. "The only home we have now. That castle up there. It's home Michelle…its home."

Michelle gave a sad little nod, unsure if it was good or bad that Amy had accepted it. She seemed to think it was better, but only time would tell for sure she figured. "Yeah, home."

"We'll leave in the hour."

Tony ran. He followed the corridor to the south wing only to realize the king wasn't there and he darted back to the north wing – again unsuccessfully. He gave an annoyed huff and leaned on the balcony to catch his breath when he spotted Wendell down in the gardens.

He gave himself one final second and in an extra push of effort darted to the nearest stair well and sprinted out to where Wendell had been. He stopped a few feet away from where his friend was. "Cured…" he gulped in air leaning over, pressing his hands to his knees while he tried to catch his breath. "You're cured right?"

"The lilies have been destroyed." He said pointing over to a bare patch of flowers off to the side. "And the petunias too." He nodded in the other direction. He didn't look over to Tony, he merely stood staunch and still with his hands behind his back as he surveyed the area. There were many beautiful flowers in bloom, but it was hard to miss what he was speaking of. "All at my hand, because I was a fool." He slowly turned to look at his friend. "Isn't that right Ant'ony?"

Tony's lips turned down in a sympathetic frown and his brow arched with concern. He knew what the king meant, he had had all the flowers cut for the wedding gala he'd planned for that night; some of them to be reserved for his wedding. "It wasn't your fault, it could have happened to anybody."

"When are you going to stop saying that? It didn't happen to anybody…it happened to me! Just like the dog fiasco and now this. I happened to me Tony and I must face the responsibility of it. It was me who did it, not you, not Wolf, not even Princess Amelia – it happened to me." Wendell's nostril's flared in slight aggravation but more in his lame defense against his own embarrassment.

"Yeah, maybe so but, but, but your majesty that just means it's you that needs to fix it. If you want more flower then have them planted – or better yet do it yourself." Tony shot back in a kindly and hopefully helpful way as he pointed at the bushes.

Wendell was watching this friend. The words simply bounced off from him at first. However a moment later he actually heard what he'd said and somehow it sank into Wendell's mind. He didn't have time to respond, though his face brightened just as Tony went on.

"Besides, it's that princess you have to thank for saving you. It was the kiss…her kiss that released you from that god awful spell." Tony shook a parental finger at the king. "I saw it, and that bard said that it was true love's kiss that would break the spell. I saw it." He reiterated.

"True love…" Wendell's brow furrowed and internalized the words quickly reflecting on them. His eyes finally darted back up to Tony while he reasoned exactly what that meant, it anything at all. He understood spells and decrees, fairy tales and potions more than any person should. Wendell had no choice but to believe the words Tony had spoken – it all seemed to make some kind of sense as Wendell was painfully aware that as the innocent and friendly kiss happened he had started to feel himself gaining control of his being again. That fact coupled with Tony's previous statement Wendell began to piece it together further. "You're right old chap," he said reaching out and clapping Tony on the shoulder. "You're absolutely right. If I want to repair this, to fix it, I must do it myself."

He turned on his heel and marched back into the castle. There was a new boldness in the king – a new hope. He even wore a triumphant smirk as he walked proudly across the castle accepting that he had a full understanding of why all of this had happened and exactly what he was supposed to do about it. Now that his eyes were opened to it the rest would just fall into place.

Tony followed closely behind with a sort of hopefully and smug grin of his own. He had helped the king, in his mind he was responsible for his change of heart; perhaps even his own epiphany.

Wendell stopped at Amy's door and gave it a knock. "Princess…" However the door sung open the second his knuckles collided with it. "Er…" Wendell took a step into the room to find it vacant of all personal effects and Alice pulling a fresh set of sheets down on the bed. "Alice? Where's the princess?"

"Left your highness." Alice stopped to give the king a curtsey. "She left word with Lord Rupert on the matter. She said she wished to see you in person to wish you off but you were missing – none of us could find you."

Thank you so much to all of you who have read and reviewed this story (a special thank you to starbuck2008 who is kind enough to check up on me and remind me that there are people who are reading and would like to know the outcome - I do think I owe this very update to you :) ). I appreciate all of your amazing words and encouragement very much. :) I'm sorry this update took so long but this week just happened to be a doozy. I do expect to be back to regular updates from here on out. Again thank you so much and please let me know what you think.