One bright and sunny morning, a caravan could be seen passing through a mountain range, following its narrow winding paths. Among it were several figures on horseback wearing travelers' cloaks, leading the way for a cart pulled by draft horses.
Far into the mountains, the figures eventually came upon a pass, wherein they stopped. The figures dismounted from their horses. One in particular raised her hand and caressed her horse's head, feeding it an apple.
After they had been still for a moment, the woman removed her hood, so that her fair hair could be clearly seen. Her companion also removed his, revealing similarly light hair. As their group rested, the two smiled at each other.
"Are we close?" she asked. "Surely Shintaro is not far from here."
"Not far, my love. It should be over the next pass."
"Very well. I look forward to finally meeting the elusive Queen Vania." She smiled at the thought. "I must thank her for the wedding gift."
"A beautiful gift indeed," he said, taking her hand in his. "Perhaps she will be able to tell us what she knows about Echo, from when he passed through here."
"I do hope so. It would be a shame to not get to meet your brother, Zane."
"He would love you, Pixal." He kissed her hand. "I am sure we will find him."
Another one of their companions approached them, his hood still up. "We had best be going, your Highnesses. With such a short distance ahead of us, we will reach the ivory city before nightfall, but only just."
"Of course, Cryptor." Pixal smiled at him, and then kissed Zane briefly. "Come, let us not waste any time. Shintaro awaits us."
"Indeed it does. I am eager to show you." With that, the figures parted, all mounting their respective steeds. "To Shintaro."
"To Shintaro."
The caravan set off again, traveling northward to the ivory city. When it came into view, Pixal and Zane shared a smile. Then, they approached its gates, the sun setting in its rich hues behind them.
At last, we have reached the end of A Bride for the Prince, and with it, the end of another fairy tale! This story was a pleasure to write, and a lot of that was due to the reviews I received and the joy that comes from working on such a large project. All in all, this story took three weeks to publish, and it boggles my mind that I was able to write 32,000 words (give or take) for such a story.
I'd like to extend a very personal thank-you to everyone who read and reviewed this story. Your insight, opinions, and observations really helped me find joy in the writing process for this particular story (I've never been much of a fan of the original Cinderella tale, or the Disney adaptation). I especially loved seeing your reactions to hearing some familiar names (Dr. Julien, Shard, and Cryptor in particular, haha). It was so entertaining! As always, I cherish every review, and I'll be re-reading them for months.
For those who don't know, ABP is a story that is part of a full-fledged Fairy Tale AU, which I am working on with sarcasticunicorn20 (used to be saracasticunicorn220). She and I are really having a fun time writing all these stories! At the moment, there are two other stories, with another two yet on their way. The two stories so far are Hair as Gold as Straw (finished, on my profile) and Once Upon a Dream (in-progress at this time, on her profile). If you enjoyed this story, I highly encourage you to check those out, and to follow our profiles and/or stories! Updates are usually pretty frequent.
The next story I will post for this AU is Cursebreaker, based on The Little Mermaid! This story will focus on Kai and Skylor. Thank you for reading A Bride for the Prince, and I sincerely hope you enjoyed!