The False Bride
By The Brothers Grimm
There was once an old queen named Helen, whose husband had been dead, many years. She had a beautiful son who, for some time had been betrothed to the son of a king who lived many miles away. When the boy was fifteen (considered the proper age for marriage at the time) the queen gathered the many beautiful and costly things she had collected as wedding gifts and gave them to her son whom she loved dearly. She also provided prince Duo with a maid named Relena and gave them each a horse for the journey. The prince's horse, which was named Shinigami, could talk.
When it was time for Duo to set out for his fiancé's kingdom, queen Helen pricked her finger on a needle and let three drops of her blood fall on a piece of white linen. Giving this to Duo she told him "as long as you have this with you, you will be safe. Do not lose it."
Duo bid farewell to his mother and after tucking the piece of linen into his breast pocket, mounted the coal-black Shinigami, and set out on his journey.
It was very hot then and after riding for some time Duo became thirsty. When they came to a stream he asked Relena "please dismount and fetch me some water in one of the cups from the pack." To which she replied "if you are thirsty then get your own drink for I'll not be your maid." So the prince got off his horse and quite cheerfully, as it was not in his manner to be annoyed for long, knelt and drank from the stream. As he did this, the scrap of linen said to him "if the queen knew of this it would break her heart." But the prince paid no attention it no mind and he never noticed when it fell out of his breast pocket and floated away down the river. Relena noticed this happening however and knew that now she could do as she liked with the prince, as he was powerless to oppose her. So when he turned to remount Shinigami, Relena said to him "Shinigami is mine now. I will ride him to the palace. You must ride my horse." Then she forced him to change clothes with her. After this she made him swear not to reveal his true identity to anyone least she kill him. Shinigami took care to remember all this but said nothing.
When they reached the palace, the prince came forward, and with a swiftly hidden grimace at the shrillness of the false bride's voice, helped her down off her horse, thinking 'she was much prettier in the portrait I was sent' (they thought Duo was a girl for some reason). While this was going on Duo was thinking to himself 'it doesn't matter much. I didn't really want to marry a complete stranger anyway.' But when he saw the prince he almost swooned. The prince was his age but a little taller, with spiky brown hair. But the thing that that made him stand out were his eyes. They were a deep, intense blue and seemed to rivet him to the spot as the flicked over him momentarily. He felt weak in the knees and awfully dizzy. His heart was beating so fast it felt like it would burst out of his chest at any moment. He watched in a daze as Relena was introduced to the prince. He managed to catch a name. 'Heero' he thought, 'that's what I need, a hero to save me.' He watched as Heero and Relena went into the castle, and having no where to go he simply stood in the courtyard after everyone else had gone, looking at the castle.
By and by the ginger-haired king looked out the window from where he was taking a break from screw... err... 'conferencing' with his longhaired captain of the guard. The captain asked him "Treize-sama? What are you looking at?" To which Treize replied "Look at that boy down there Zechs. I wonder why he's just standing there?" "Hmm... wasn't he the servant sent with the princess?" asked Zechs. "Yeah" said king Treize. "Let's go find out what's wrong."
So Treize-sama and Zechs went out into the courtyard and Treize, with kingly gentleness asked Duo why he was standing out there alone. Duo told him "I came here as a companion but I'm no longer needed because the bride has servants being provided so she dismissed me." Sympathetic to his plight, Treize said " I'm sorry that there's no employment in the castle for you, but I know of a boy your age who keeps geese. His name is Quatre. Perhaps he might give you a job." So Duo went and inquired with Quatre, who gave him a job helping to tend his geese (really the magnacs who were turned into geese by an evil sorceress for the purpose of this story)
Soon after this Relena asked Heero to have Shinigami destroyed. When he asked why she lied, saying that Shinigami had been mean tempered and hard to control on her journey. Heero rolled his eyes at this but ordered it done.
When Duo heard of this he sought out the person who was to kill Shinigami. It turned out to be a tall boy with weird thick bangs that hid one of his green eyes from view. He talked to the boy, whose name turned out to be Trowa, and promised him a gold piece if after the head of Shinigami was cut off, he would hang it near an old arch Duo and Quatre drove the geese through every day. Though he thought this was an odd thing to ask, Trowa agreed to do it.
The next morning, Duo and Quatre came through the arch just as Trowa finished hanging the head near the arch. Quatre cheerily started up a conversation with Trowa who couldn't help but smile at the cute blonde boy. After he left Quatre went on but Duo stayed back a bit and said to the horse's head "Shinigami do you know me?" and the head replied "yes. You are the prince's true fiancé and if your mother knew of this injustice it would break her heart." (Guess who's playing the horse) Quatre had come back a bit to see what was keeping Duo and witnessed this exchange. Then he ran back to where he'd left the geese as duo turned to catch up.
When they got to the place they were taking the geese, Duo sat on a rock, unbraided his hair and began to brush it out. Quatre was amazed at how long and beautiful it was, for Duo had, until then kept it hidden under an old black cap. Quatre wanted a lock of Duo's hair for himself but when he tried to cut off a piece Duo said "Blow wind blow. Take Quatre's hat in the air and do no let him catch it till I've done my hair." So Quatre's hat flew off his head and he had to go chase it.
By the time he caught his hat, Duo had finished with his hair. After these events had been repeated a few times, Quatre finally went to the king and told him "Sire there is a weird boy who helps me tend my geese. Every day when we drive the geese past an arch he talks to a horse's head and it answers him back 'you are the prince's true fiancé and if your mother knew of this injustice it would break her heart.' " Treize wondered at this and told Quatre to go about his day as usual. The next morning he hid in some bushes near the arch and waited.
When Duo passed through the arch that morning, he spoke to Shinigami's head as usual, saying "Shinigami do you know me?" And as usual the head said to him "you are the prince's true fiancé and if your mother knew of this injustice it would break her heart."
Upon hearing this, Treize stepped out of the bushes and took Duo to his chambers in the palace. Where he and Zechs gently pried what had happened on his journey there out of duo. After that they got him cleaned up and sent for some of his things from one of the trunks in Relena's chambers, prince Heero was summoned. Anyone else would have been amazed by the gorgeous boy he'd been called to meet but being Heero he was just mildly surprised.
After Heero had been told what had happened he was rather relived. He'd had a constant headache since Relena had gotten there because of her shrill voice and constantly yelling his name. 'And' he thought 'I like boys better anyway.'
So that night at dinner, they sat Duo to Heero's right side while Relena was on his left as usual. She didn't notice Duo for some reason (::cough cough:: maybeshe'sdense). Near the end of the meal, Heero began talking about a nobleman whose servant had stolen his horse and valuables. Since both the servant and the nobleman in the story were male, Relena didn't make a connection with what she'd done. When Heero was done telling the story, he turned to Relena and asked her "What do you think should be servant's punishment for this crime?" To which she replied "He should be ripped apart by wild horses and rolled down a hill in a barrel with nails and sharp pieces of glass and metal driven into it.
Heero said, "You've pronounced your own sentence" and he ordered it done.
Duo and Heero were married in a beautiful ceremony and lived happily ever after (as did Trowa and Quatre. They were both invited to the wedding and left as a couple)
THE END
:: stretches and yawns:: Man that was a lot of typing I got it done pretty quick too
:: Wufei walks into the room obviously pissed off::
Wufei: WOMEN WHAT'S THE IDEA OF CASTING ME AS A HORSE OF ALL THINGS? HAVE YOU NO HONNOR?????
::blinks:: Be glad I didn't give you Relena's part ::shudders:: I kinda feel sorry for her.
Wufei: BUT STILL A HORSE?????? HOW COULD YOU????? :: continues to rant::
Err... ::turns back to the keyboard and types:: 'And then the loud Chinese boy disappeared from the room he was in and reappeared in Treize-sama's chambers where he and Zechs were 'conferencing' once again.'
Wufei: POP! ::disappears and reappears as typed in the king's chambers::
::Treize and Zechs turn to look at the stranger who appeared in the room::
Treize: ::smiles and drags Wufei to the bed followed by Zechs::
THE END
(for real this time)
disclaimer: the characters in this story are owned by sunrise entertainment. The original version of 'The False Bride' was written by the Brothers Grimm who I think are dead so it's owned by their descendants I guess. I'm making no money off of this and I'm broke 99% of the time so it'd be a monumental waste of time to sue me
By The Brothers Grimm
There was once an old queen named Helen, whose husband had been dead, many years. She had a beautiful son who, for some time had been betrothed to the son of a king who lived many miles away. When the boy was fifteen (considered the proper age for marriage at the time) the queen gathered the many beautiful and costly things she had collected as wedding gifts and gave them to her son whom she loved dearly. She also provided prince Duo with a maid named Relena and gave them each a horse for the journey. The prince's horse, which was named Shinigami, could talk.
When it was time for Duo to set out for his fiancé's kingdom, queen Helen pricked her finger on a needle and let three drops of her blood fall on a piece of white linen. Giving this to Duo she told him "as long as you have this with you, you will be safe. Do not lose it."
Duo bid farewell to his mother and after tucking the piece of linen into his breast pocket, mounted the coal-black Shinigami, and set out on his journey.
It was very hot then and after riding for some time Duo became thirsty. When they came to a stream he asked Relena "please dismount and fetch me some water in one of the cups from the pack." To which she replied "if you are thirsty then get your own drink for I'll not be your maid." So the prince got off his horse and quite cheerfully, as it was not in his manner to be annoyed for long, knelt and drank from the stream. As he did this, the scrap of linen said to him "if the queen knew of this it would break her heart." But the prince paid no attention it no mind and he never noticed when it fell out of his breast pocket and floated away down the river. Relena noticed this happening however and knew that now she could do as she liked with the prince, as he was powerless to oppose her. So when he turned to remount Shinigami, Relena said to him "Shinigami is mine now. I will ride him to the palace. You must ride my horse." Then she forced him to change clothes with her. After this she made him swear not to reveal his true identity to anyone least she kill him. Shinigami took care to remember all this but said nothing.
When they reached the palace, the prince came forward, and with a swiftly hidden grimace at the shrillness of the false bride's voice, helped her down off her horse, thinking 'she was much prettier in the portrait I was sent' (they thought Duo was a girl for some reason). While this was going on Duo was thinking to himself 'it doesn't matter much. I didn't really want to marry a complete stranger anyway.' But when he saw the prince he almost swooned. The prince was his age but a little taller, with spiky brown hair. But the thing that that made him stand out were his eyes. They were a deep, intense blue and seemed to rivet him to the spot as the flicked over him momentarily. He felt weak in the knees and awfully dizzy. His heart was beating so fast it felt like it would burst out of his chest at any moment. He watched in a daze as Relena was introduced to the prince. He managed to catch a name. 'Heero' he thought, 'that's what I need, a hero to save me.' He watched as Heero and Relena went into the castle, and having no where to go he simply stood in the courtyard after everyone else had gone, looking at the castle.
By and by the ginger-haired king looked out the window from where he was taking a break from screw... err... 'conferencing' with his longhaired captain of the guard. The captain asked him "Treize-sama? What are you looking at?" To which Treize replied "Look at that boy down there Zechs. I wonder why he's just standing there?" "Hmm... wasn't he the servant sent with the princess?" asked Zechs. "Yeah" said king Treize. "Let's go find out what's wrong."
So Treize-sama and Zechs went out into the courtyard and Treize, with kingly gentleness asked Duo why he was standing out there alone. Duo told him "I came here as a companion but I'm no longer needed because the bride has servants being provided so she dismissed me." Sympathetic to his plight, Treize said " I'm sorry that there's no employment in the castle for you, but I know of a boy your age who keeps geese. His name is Quatre. Perhaps he might give you a job." So Duo went and inquired with Quatre, who gave him a job helping to tend his geese (really the magnacs who were turned into geese by an evil sorceress for the purpose of this story)
Soon after this Relena asked Heero to have Shinigami destroyed. When he asked why she lied, saying that Shinigami had been mean tempered and hard to control on her journey. Heero rolled his eyes at this but ordered it done.
When Duo heard of this he sought out the person who was to kill Shinigami. It turned out to be a tall boy with weird thick bangs that hid one of his green eyes from view. He talked to the boy, whose name turned out to be Trowa, and promised him a gold piece if after the head of Shinigami was cut off, he would hang it near an old arch Duo and Quatre drove the geese through every day. Though he thought this was an odd thing to ask, Trowa agreed to do it.
The next morning, Duo and Quatre came through the arch just as Trowa finished hanging the head near the arch. Quatre cheerily started up a conversation with Trowa who couldn't help but smile at the cute blonde boy. After he left Quatre went on but Duo stayed back a bit and said to the horse's head "Shinigami do you know me?" and the head replied "yes. You are the prince's true fiancé and if your mother knew of this injustice it would break her heart." (Guess who's playing the horse) Quatre had come back a bit to see what was keeping Duo and witnessed this exchange. Then he ran back to where he'd left the geese as duo turned to catch up.
When they got to the place they were taking the geese, Duo sat on a rock, unbraided his hair and began to brush it out. Quatre was amazed at how long and beautiful it was, for Duo had, until then kept it hidden under an old black cap. Quatre wanted a lock of Duo's hair for himself but when he tried to cut off a piece Duo said "Blow wind blow. Take Quatre's hat in the air and do no let him catch it till I've done my hair." So Quatre's hat flew off his head and he had to go chase it.
By the time he caught his hat, Duo had finished with his hair. After these events had been repeated a few times, Quatre finally went to the king and told him "Sire there is a weird boy who helps me tend my geese. Every day when we drive the geese past an arch he talks to a horse's head and it answers him back 'you are the prince's true fiancé and if your mother knew of this injustice it would break her heart.' " Treize wondered at this and told Quatre to go about his day as usual. The next morning he hid in some bushes near the arch and waited.
When Duo passed through the arch that morning, he spoke to Shinigami's head as usual, saying "Shinigami do you know me?" And as usual the head said to him "you are the prince's true fiancé and if your mother knew of this injustice it would break her heart."
Upon hearing this, Treize stepped out of the bushes and took Duo to his chambers in the palace. Where he and Zechs gently pried what had happened on his journey there out of duo. After that they got him cleaned up and sent for some of his things from one of the trunks in Relena's chambers, prince Heero was summoned. Anyone else would have been amazed by the gorgeous boy he'd been called to meet but being Heero he was just mildly surprised.
After Heero had been told what had happened he was rather relived. He'd had a constant headache since Relena had gotten there because of her shrill voice and constantly yelling his name. 'And' he thought 'I like boys better anyway.'
So that night at dinner, they sat Duo to Heero's right side while Relena was on his left as usual. She didn't notice Duo for some reason (::cough cough:: maybeshe'sdense). Near the end of the meal, Heero began talking about a nobleman whose servant had stolen his horse and valuables. Since both the servant and the nobleman in the story were male, Relena didn't make a connection with what she'd done. When Heero was done telling the story, he turned to Relena and asked her "What do you think should be servant's punishment for this crime?" To which she replied "He should be ripped apart by wild horses and rolled down a hill in a barrel with nails and sharp pieces of glass and metal driven into it.
Heero said, "You've pronounced your own sentence" and he ordered it done.
Duo and Heero were married in a beautiful ceremony and lived happily ever after (as did Trowa and Quatre. They were both invited to the wedding and left as a couple)
THE END
:: stretches and yawns:: Man that was a lot of typing I got it done pretty quick too
:: Wufei walks into the room obviously pissed off::
Wufei: WOMEN WHAT'S THE IDEA OF CASTING ME AS A HORSE OF ALL THINGS? HAVE YOU NO HONNOR?????
::blinks:: Be glad I didn't give you Relena's part ::shudders:: I kinda feel sorry for her.
Wufei: BUT STILL A HORSE?????? HOW COULD YOU????? :: continues to rant::
Err... ::turns back to the keyboard and types:: 'And then the loud Chinese boy disappeared from the room he was in and reappeared in Treize-sama's chambers where he and Zechs were 'conferencing' once again.'
Wufei: POP! ::disappears and reappears as typed in the king's chambers::
::Treize and Zechs turn to look at the stranger who appeared in the room::
Treize: ::smiles and drags Wufei to the bed followed by Zechs::
THE END
(for real this time)
disclaimer: the characters in this story are owned by sunrise entertainment. The original version of 'The False Bride' was written by the Brothers Grimm who I think are dead so it's owned by their descendants I guess. I'm making no money off of this and I'm broke 99% of the time so it'd be a monumental waste of time to sue me