King Roland of the sixth Kingdom sat with his mouth wide open as the graceful she-witch before him simply stood, with her hands on her hips. This was now the second time she had visited him – the last time hadn't been much of a success as he had fainted upon seeing her. Her gown of silken snow hung languidly around her hips, and fell in a sheer cascade towards the floor, highlighted in places by the glowing light of sunset.
After much deliberation, Roland's mouth decided to co-operate with his brain, albeit very slowly. "Y-Y-You're th-th-the w-w-w-…"
"Witch? Yes, yes I am."
"Wh-wh-why a-…"
"Why am I here? Well King Roland, I believe it is time you paid attention to those worthy of notice and consideration."
At this, Roland's mouth finally woke up. "What must I take notice of?"
The witch began her reply whilst walking slowly towards the king's table, whereupon sat mounds of cash. Roland held his arms around the mountains protectively, keeping a close eye on the witch.
"It is time that you realised the difference between witches and fairies. Your new ally King Isaac has known for many years, but he has not shared his knowledge with you, the fairies' evil influence was far too great a burden upon him."
"I'm not sure I understand. You mean… fairies are evil?"
The beautiful witch nodded her head gravely. "Yes, I am afraid you have all been deceived for much too long now."
The witch did not continue for sometime, since it would have been pointless to make the effort of being heard, what with Roland's exaggerated laughter filling the hall so stubbornly.
Now whilst Roland is laughing at the graceful and, might I add, very very very powerful witch – Thanks I'll take the cash later – might I remind you about the princess? Okay, here we go…
---
Rose sat dismally upon the cold stone floor of the dungeon, a very painful task in itself what with the thorns upon the dress poking through her skin at all angles. This was her wedding eve – she was betrothed to a boy she hadn't seen since she was six, and just that day she had given herself to a complete stranger.
To top it all off the berry juice from the dress was beginning to stain her ankle.
This was surely the worst day of her life. For the first time, Rose had found her humility. She sat in complete silence, even when the fairies glanced in upon her through the door, standing on their footstools to cackle through the mesh slot.
Without much success, Rose tried desperately to remember the curse that was placed upon her on her sixth birthday party, but all she could remember was waking up in the forest, surrounded by three wholly remarkable fairies.
She now knew that all this was forged. She had been kidnapped, they had put a trance upon her, and she had lived with them for over ten years.
As much of a revelation this was to Rose, she couldn't help but giggle at the thought of the stress and strain she had put the fairies through over the years. Serves them right she thought. If they don't have the common sense to make me forget I'm a princess too…
The mere thought of her royal heritage was enough to make Rose collapse into fits of tears once more.
---
Prince John stopped in the courtyard, where he saw his father's ample frame blocking the large stone archway, which led into the castle. He climbed down from Deathbolt, gave him a pat on the neck, and handed him over to the stable boy.
King Isaac sneered as his son came closer. He saw the look of happiness on his face. He's up to something. This was not what he needed. Already his temporary powers given to him by the fairies were waning – he could control his son no longer. He was becoming… good.
Isaac gulped before speaking to the Prince. "Good-day my boy. Pray tell where the hell you have been for the last six hours?"
"I've been into the forest father, I met the most beautiful girl!"
Isaac stuttered. Girl? In the forest? There was only one girl in the forest, and that meant… "She's still alive? Oh er, that is – what girl my boy?"
"A beautiful fair flower among all thorny roses, the most delicious one of te whole bunch!"
"Stop talking nonsense boy! Who is she?"
But he could drive no more sense from the prince, who was now dancing around the courtyard, humming a tune under his breath. With one swift motion John dodged past his father to get through the archway, leaving Isaac stuttering in the courtyard.
Then this was it, Isaac thought, he had lost control over his son. No more would he scowl, or screech, or shout at the stable boys. And he knew why… He had a few fairies to see.
---
"But she can't be in danger! She's marrying Prince John tomorrow!"
The witch sighed, the last hour had been very trying on her patience – it had taken the majority of her precious time to break Roland's laughter, and now that she had his full attention, she would need it. "Exactly, and I believe that she should still do so, only if my plan goes correctly, she will not marry a prince, but a King."
Roland's ears pricked up on cue. "A King? What about Isaac then eh?"
The witch smiled, graciously spreading her elegant body over the chesterfield in the corner. "We will deal with him appropriately."
---
A sharp squeak from the heavy wooden door brought Rose to her senses. She looked up quickly to see Isaac sneering at her. "King Isaac! You've come to rescue me!"
Isaac could not help but give a hearty chuckle at the girl's impetuous manner. "Hardly, my dear princess. No, on the contrary, I have come to seal your doom."
Rose's brow furrowed as she looked at the king. No, he didn't look the same as usual. The black cape covered with green stars and the pointy hat definitely did him no justice. She could not remember him being attired in such a fashion in her childhood. "Why are you wearing those?"
"I'll ask the questions if it's all the same with you. You've been a naughty little girl today haven't you?"
Rose frowned yet more. "What do you mean?"
"In the forest my dear girl. It had not struck my attention before that a princess could have her filthy way with her husband to be before the wedding day."
A faint gasp which fell from Rose's lips only caused the words to pour even faster from Isaac's mouth. "Yes, that was John, and I thought he looked strange when he returned. Now let me tell you a tale my dear, of a beautiful princess, adorned with gold and spoiled horribly from her birth. Let me also tell you a tale of a king who arranged for this girl to be kidnapped by three wicked fairies in order to make a bit of excitement in his life more possible. Then, I shall tell you the epic tale of a prince, no doubt on his way to save the grown up princess from sure death."
Rose never heard the tales of course, but she heard what all of them would supposedly be about, and the thoughts did not give her any comfort. While she cowered beneath Isaac's stern gaze, Prince John and the witch Synna rode with purpose towards the dungeons.