So many *wonderful* reviewers! Thirteen in four days! Wow!
Anjali Sahra- Yep. Taboo is right. I guess the subject of fathers marrying their daughters has always been taboo.
Jenny the Chica- Nice review! So wonderfully long! Boy, have you got your Robin McKinley down! Hee hee. Thanks for the review on Lack-Beard.
Mischief Mayhem, and Chaos- Wrong is right! Ha, ha that didn't sound quite right.
Firebird- I don't quite get your meaning. I don't really get what you're saying. Thanks for the review anyway.
Fufie- What, you think Isabelle is going to marry her dad?! What do you think I am? Of course she's running away!
Spirit-Savior- Thanks, I pride myself on character descriptions. I work hard on that seeing as how if I don't try I suck at it.
To Mackie, I would like to make it clear that this is not my story, I do not own any part of it, it is a Brothers Grimm story and not mine at all. Thanks to that other person who defended me.
Star*- Glad you like it.
Rampant- The story I am using is actually called Catskin, but I have heard it called Furball, Deerskin, The Fur-Bride, and lots of others. I guess it just varies from book to book.
Shrouded Spirit- Glad you like it too.
Nina- Of COURSE the father is demented!!!
Ok, whew that was a lot…now without further ado, on to chapter 2. (That rhymes!)
"I won't do it!" Isabelle shrieked into her bed-pillows, thrashing blindly at any servant who tried to come near her, even her most trusted and loyal servant, Angie.
"Isabelle, Isabelle! Listen to me!" cried Angie, grabbing Isabelle by the shoulders, turning her over and shaking her vigorously. "You have never acted like this before. Now is no time to cry; it doesn't help a thing!"
"Well then what am I to do?" she wailed, tears streaming down her crimson cheeks.
"I don't know!" said Angie. "Ye must think of something, however! Anything! Fake illness, run away, pretend to die!"
"Are you sure that would work? Everywhere I go people recognize me."
"Well, how about this? Ye could give yer father impossible tasks to do!" said Angie. "And ye will only marry him if he does these tasks."
Isabelle stopped crying for a moment, breathing rapidly and wiping away tears. "Like what?"
"Oh, like how about this: Tell him ye will only marry him if he makes ye three dresses: One as golden as the sun, one as silver as the moon, and one as dazzling as the stars."
"Well, a bit unorthodox, I'll admit, but it might work," sighed Isabelle. "But that's not that hard to do. How about this as well? I must have a mantle of a thousand different kinds of furs put together, to which every beast in the kingdom must give a part of his skin!"
"Good thinking, child. Maybe he'll get these stupid notions of marrying ye out of his head once ye tell him to do those tasks."
So Isabelle left her room, and addressed the king and court.
"I have made my decision," Isabelle said regally to all of the subjects, "I will only marry my father if I am given three dresses: One as golden as the sun, one as silver as the moon, and a third as dazzling as the stars. Besides this, I must have a mantle of a thousand different kinds of furs put together, to which every beast in the kingdom must give a part of his skin!"
The court whispered to each other, "Clever girl! That is a fine way to get her father's stupid whims out of his head."
The king stood. "I will do it!"
Silence fell. A courtier rose tentatively.
"But Sire, how can you possibly do that? There are more creatures in this kingdom than stars in the sky, and you cannot possibly make dresses as golden as the sun, as silver as the moon, and as dazzling as the stars. It's not possible."
"I will try!" the king roared, "I must try, or I will never have a wife!"
"King Richard, there are many beautiful maidens in the land, why don't you choose one of them for your bride?"
"No," he replied, "it's either my daughter or no one."
Murmurs rose throughout the entire court as Isabelle paled.
"Very well, Father," she said, lips stretched out in a thin white line. "You do those tasks for me and I shall wed you."
The murmurs continued, people looked at each other in shock and horror. Incest! No good could come of it. But the court knew Isabelle well, and had a feeling that she had another plan up her sleeve.
***
"Angie, what will I do?" Isabelle moaned. "What if Father completes the tasks? He already has hunters out in the woods, and the most skillful workmen in the kingdom weaving three dresses."
"Dear Isabelle, I am sure ye won't have to marry yer father!" Angie said comfortingly, giving Isabelle a warm hug. She had been the closest to a mother figure Isabelle had ever had, starting with bedtime stories in the crib. "We will think of something! I am sure it will all turn out okay. These kinds of things always do."
"You think?" Isabelle seemed quickly convinced by Angie's warm words.
"I know," she replied. "Oh, that reminds me…" she said, getting up, "I have my birthday gifts for ye."
"Oh, Angie, really, you didn't have to."
"I insist. I have been saving these for a long time." She dug through an old wooden box, a trinket box that was beaten up and faded. It had worn- down carvings on it and a little gold clasp discolored with age. "Here we go!" she said cheerfully, pulling up a tarnished golden ring, necklace, and brooch. "They were my mother's."
"Angie, you didn't--"
"And since I have no daughter of my own to pass these on to, and you're the closest thing I've ever had, I give them to you."
"Well, thank you Angie." She fingered the jewelry, trying to catch the light on the ring.
"And they aren't just any old pieces of jewelry, they're magic."
"Magic?"
"Yes. My great-great grandmother was an enchantress. I know it seems kind of silly to a princess like you, but these pieces of jewelry are enchanted so that if ye put them in any dish of food they will make that food taste like the most delicious thing on earth. Just remember to take them out before ye serve the food."
"Really?"
"Yes, it's very useful for kitchen-maids like myself."
"And does it work?"
"Why do ye think I'm still here?" She laughed. "I know a princess like you probably won't need them; but ye never know."
That was chapter 2!!! I know the whole jewelry thing is kind of cheesy, but that is important to the story and it comes back later! (Hint hint)!!!
Anjali Sahra- Yep. Taboo is right. I guess the subject of fathers marrying their daughters has always been taboo.
Jenny the Chica- Nice review! So wonderfully long! Boy, have you got your Robin McKinley down! Hee hee. Thanks for the review on Lack-Beard.
Mischief Mayhem, and Chaos- Wrong is right! Ha, ha that didn't sound quite right.
Firebird- I don't quite get your meaning. I don't really get what you're saying. Thanks for the review anyway.
Fufie- What, you think Isabelle is going to marry her dad?! What do you think I am? Of course she's running away!
Spirit-Savior- Thanks, I pride myself on character descriptions. I work hard on that seeing as how if I don't try I suck at it.
To Mackie, I would like to make it clear that this is not my story, I do not own any part of it, it is a Brothers Grimm story and not mine at all. Thanks to that other person who defended me.
Star*- Glad you like it.
Rampant- The story I am using is actually called Catskin, but I have heard it called Furball, Deerskin, The Fur-Bride, and lots of others. I guess it just varies from book to book.
Shrouded Spirit- Glad you like it too.
Nina- Of COURSE the father is demented!!!
Ok, whew that was a lot…now without further ado, on to chapter 2. (That rhymes!)
"I won't do it!" Isabelle shrieked into her bed-pillows, thrashing blindly at any servant who tried to come near her, even her most trusted and loyal servant, Angie.
"Isabelle, Isabelle! Listen to me!" cried Angie, grabbing Isabelle by the shoulders, turning her over and shaking her vigorously. "You have never acted like this before. Now is no time to cry; it doesn't help a thing!"
"Well then what am I to do?" she wailed, tears streaming down her crimson cheeks.
"I don't know!" said Angie. "Ye must think of something, however! Anything! Fake illness, run away, pretend to die!"
"Are you sure that would work? Everywhere I go people recognize me."
"Well, how about this? Ye could give yer father impossible tasks to do!" said Angie. "And ye will only marry him if he does these tasks."
Isabelle stopped crying for a moment, breathing rapidly and wiping away tears. "Like what?"
"Oh, like how about this: Tell him ye will only marry him if he makes ye three dresses: One as golden as the sun, one as silver as the moon, and one as dazzling as the stars."
"Well, a bit unorthodox, I'll admit, but it might work," sighed Isabelle. "But that's not that hard to do. How about this as well? I must have a mantle of a thousand different kinds of furs put together, to which every beast in the kingdom must give a part of his skin!"
"Good thinking, child. Maybe he'll get these stupid notions of marrying ye out of his head once ye tell him to do those tasks."
So Isabelle left her room, and addressed the king and court.
"I have made my decision," Isabelle said regally to all of the subjects, "I will only marry my father if I am given three dresses: One as golden as the sun, one as silver as the moon, and a third as dazzling as the stars. Besides this, I must have a mantle of a thousand different kinds of furs put together, to which every beast in the kingdom must give a part of his skin!"
The court whispered to each other, "Clever girl! That is a fine way to get her father's stupid whims out of his head."
The king stood. "I will do it!"
Silence fell. A courtier rose tentatively.
"But Sire, how can you possibly do that? There are more creatures in this kingdom than stars in the sky, and you cannot possibly make dresses as golden as the sun, as silver as the moon, and as dazzling as the stars. It's not possible."
"I will try!" the king roared, "I must try, or I will never have a wife!"
"King Richard, there are many beautiful maidens in the land, why don't you choose one of them for your bride?"
"No," he replied, "it's either my daughter or no one."
Murmurs rose throughout the entire court as Isabelle paled.
"Very well, Father," she said, lips stretched out in a thin white line. "You do those tasks for me and I shall wed you."
The murmurs continued, people looked at each other in shock and horror. Incest! No good could come of it. But the court knew Isabelle well, and had a feeling that she had another plan up her sleeve.
***
"Angie, what will I do?" Isabelle moaned. "What if Father completes the tasks? He already has hunters out in the woods, and the most skillful workmen in the kingdom weaving three dresses."
"Dear Isabelle, I am sure ye won't have to marry yer father!" Angie said comfortingly, giving Isabelle a warm hug. She had been the closest to a mother figure Isabelle had ever had, starting with bedtime stories in the crib. "We will think of something! I am sure it will all turn out okay. These kinds of things always do."
"You think?" Isabelle seemed quickly convinced by Angie's warm words.
"I know," she replied. "Oh, that reminds me…" she said, getting up, "I have my birthday gifts for ye."
"Oh, Angie, really, you didn't have to."
"I insist. I have been saving these for a long time." She dug through an old wooden box, a trinket box that was beaten up and faded. It had worn- down carvings on it and a little gold clasp discolored with age. "Here we go!" she said cheerfully, pulling up a tarnished golden ring, necklace, and brooch. "They were my mother's."
"Angie, you didn't--"
"And since I have no daughter of my own to pass these on to, and you're the closest thing I've ever had, I give them to you."
"Well, thank you Angie." She fingered the jewelry, trying to catch the light on the ring.
"And they aren't just any old pieces of jewelry, they're magic."
"Magic?"
"Yes. My great-great grandmother was an enchantress. I know it seems kind of silly to a princess like you, but these pieces of jewelry are enchanted so that if ye put them in any dish of food they will make that food taste like the most delicious thing on earth. Just remember to take them out before ye serve the food."
"Really?"
"Yes, it's very useful for kitchen-maids like myself."
"And does it work?"
"Why do ye think I'm still here?" She laughed. "I know a princess like you probably won't need them; but ye never know."
That was chapter 2!!! I know the whole jewelry thing is kind of cheesy, but that is important to the story and it comes back later! (Hint hint)!!!