Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters mentioned in this story.

They all belong to their rightful owner: Craig Bartlett.

Title: "The swineherd"

In the last chapter: The former princess was on the brink of tears as she followed the former swineherd into the forest. He told her to stick with him and he would protect her and help her learn the ways of a commoner, a life she had to live from now on. Despite the contempt for her new situation brought on by said man, she followed him obediently into the cabin in the forest.

The next day Helga and Arnold went to the market together in order to buy her a new dress and shoes, but Helga surprised everyone with her wits and ability to see through the sorry excuses for crooks in the stalls. She was paid by more than one man for saving them from being tricked and she even got herself both a new dress and shoes, which she got the chance to try out at the festival by the end of the market day.

The former swineherd was full of surprises as he proved to not only be a capable dancer, but also knowing a folklore from Helga's country, which they sang together. Just as they were about to move closer, they had to leave the market in haste to escape from the police. They returned home, the fallen princess confused by her own actions and feelings around the swineherd.

Author's 1st note: Ah, the last chapter. It's not been a long journey at all, but it's been fun to write.

[Please notify me if you notice any grammar mistakes. This isn't my first language, so there's bound to be mistakes.]

Chapter 3: "I got my princess"

Helga had never thought waking up to the smell of soup would become a thing she looked forward to. She stayed under the covers for a bit, stretching and arching her back. Her tender body was most definitely not used to this sort of bed and so her bones cracked when she sat up. She hissed as she put her hand over her shoulder, attempting to massage it, but she didn't know how.

"Are you in pain, your majesty?" she heard Arnold ask as he turned away from the pot and looked at her.

She frowned at what he chose to call her, but decided to ignore it. "Yes. I believe the bed isn't very compatible with my back just yet." She admitted and swung her legs out of said bed, her ankles making a sound when she stretched them. "Or the rest of me…"

"Oh, no…" Arnold muttered with a worried frown, Helga couldn't help but smile at. She had never met a person who was this worried for her and he wasn't obligated to even take care of her at all. "Do you want me to help you?" he asked.

"How so?" Helga asked and watched as he put the lid over the pot, which she didn't know the meaning of, before he walked towards her.

"I could try and massage you for a bit, your highness." He said innocently, not a hint of something indecent behind his words.

Yet Helga's face flushed at the mere idea and she put her hands up in defense. "N-No, that's quite all right. I'll be fine, thank you." She said and pulled her feet back into the bed as if they could protect her from him even though he had stopped approaching her.

Arnold looked at bit hurt at her reaction, but nodded at her nevertheless. "Very well." He said with a smile and returned to the pot.

Helga sighed in relief, her hand going to her beating heart. Lately she had start feeling this way whenever the swineherd came a little too close to her. He made her nervous and tingly through her entire body and she didn't understand what that meant at all. She stole a glance from him before she stood up and went to grab her new dress. Well, it wasn't very new anymore, at least not by a princess' standards, but she still adored it despite the simple design. Well, simple by a princess' standards.

Helga looked at Arnold over her shoulder, confirming that he wasn't looking at her before she started to undress. She trusted the swineherd with all her heart, but she felt nervous in his presence, especially in the morning and in the evenings. It made her feel strange and happy to know she would wake up next to him the next morning the same way she would fall asleep next to him as well.

"Princess?"

"Y-Yes?" Helga replied just as she finished tying the corset behind her back. She looked at him, feeling her cheeks flush in urgency as she waited for him to continue speaking.

"Do you remember how to get to the castle?" he asked.

Helga nodded. "Yes, I do." She answered, but then frowned. "I still cannot believe how you managed to convince them to hire me."

Arnold sighed awkwardly. "Well, I know one of the kitchen maids there…" he admitted and then felt a strange presence behind him.

"Oh, do you?" he heard Helga ask and he turned to look at her, only for her to turn her head away from him as she sat down near the table.

He tilted his head curiously and then smiled. "She's my cousin." He added as casually as he could, but smiled even more when he saw how her face brightened at his words.

"Oh." She said and looked at him again. It was hard for him not to point out the obvious jealousy he had just seen on her face, since it made him so happy, but he decided not to push his luck.

"She promised me to find a way for you to work with her in the kitchen. I cannot promise whether you'll be a kitchen maid as well or a scullery maid, but both are paid rather well. I believe king Arnold also let them take home whatever there is left from the food as well."

Helga huffed. "How generous." She said somewhat sarcastically. "The king won't come to the kitchen, will he?"

"Why?"

"I may not look like myself, but I do not wish to risk that he sees the woman he once proposed to in his own kitchen. Who knows what kind of humiliation he will have me feel?"

"I believe king Arnold isn't quite so cruel. If anything, he might pity you."

"And that is better?" Helga asked with a bit of venom in her voice, but it disappeared quickly as she smiled at him in a way he had only seen her smile since yesterday. "It smells good." She complimented.

Arnold smiled back, deciding to look back in the pot before he said anything that might make her feel embarrassed. He adored the smile she had been showing him. The first time she had shown him that smile was yesterday when he had told her he would go to the castle to ask for employment on her behalf. She had told him she didn't like the thought of being left alone in the cabin, but had smiled like that at him when he swore she would be safe and he would be back soon.

Arnold stared absentmindedly into the pot as he started thinking about the trip back to his castle this very morning. His staff had barely recognized him as he had walked inside, wearing these dirty, old clothes, but his smile and his voice had convinced them.

"Your highness!" the cook had bellowed when she had recognized him. "What are you wearing? What wouldn't your friends think if they saw you now?" she asked and huffed.

Arnold merely chuckled. "Oh, they are used to a bit of everything from my side." He jested and continued his way into the kitchen, his staff's eyes curiously on him. "I bring a surprise with me."

"Oh, yes." The butler said and stepped forward as he readjusted his moustache. "We were starting to worry for you, your majesty. We feared the emperor had put you in his dungeon. Where have you been all this time?"

"Now be quiet and let me explain." Arnold said with a laugh, the butler huffing as if he was insulted, but listened intensely anyhow. "As you all know, I went to propose to the emperor's daughter."

"Since you are still wifeless, your highness, I assume it didn't go as planned?" a scullery maid asked, curtsying as she did so.

Arnold nodded. "I believe the princess liked my presents, but in the presence of the emperor who did not like them, she scorned at them and threw me at the gates." He said, his loyal subjects all gasping in horror and anger. "So…" he continued and gestured to his clothes. "I disguised myself as a swineherd in order to get inside the palace and meet the princess alone."

The kitchen staff all chuckled. This was very much like their beloved king; not to give up and go to such extreme measures for a woman they didn't believe deserved him.

"What happened then?" the cook asked curiously.

"Well." Arnold said with a smile. "I created an instrument that enchanted the princess enough to let me kiss her on the cheek to make the instrument hers."

The kitchen staff gasped again, some of the younger girls giggling childishly.

"I created yet another instrument that almost earned me a kiss from her lips…" Arnold continued dreamily and coughed awkwardly when the butler nudged his elbow at him to get him out of his reverie. They all looked at him with understanding smiles, waiting for him to continue his story. "But the emperor and empress saw us and threw the both of us out of the palace!"

"How horrible!"

"Poor princess!"

"They are awful human beings."

Arnold gestured for them all to quiet down so he could continue, but he was happy they were all so angry on princess' behalf. "So I brought her here to the land of Fairytales on foot."

"On foot?!" they all bellowed, staring at their own feet in horror.

"Yes." Arnold confirmed. "We are living together in a cabin in the woods and are very poor. That's why she's going to come here and seek employment in the kitchen."

"Here?!" they all repeated in shock.

"Yes." Arnold confirmed once more. "And you will hire her as whatever you see fit, but do not be cruel to her." he warned.

"Goodness… This is an ever so interesting story." one of the kitchen maids uttered under her breath.

"And you, Lila." Arnold said and approached her, the redheaded girl curtsying before him. "I have told her I have a cousin here in the castle and so she will seek you out when she comes here. I told her you would help her find a job here."

Lila smiled. "Yes, your majesty." She answered and couldn't help but lean closer, knowing very well that not even that could muffle her question enough to the curious ears around them. "Are you in love, my liege?"

A smile spread on the king's face as he nodded. "Absolutely." He replied and they all bellowed happily as they had waved him goodbye. Arnold had then returned to the cabin, ready to prepare the soup before the princess woke up.

"I believe the soup is finished." Arnold stated, deciding to come back to the present instead of worrying about what had happened earlier this morning back at the castle.

The princess put a hand over her mouth as she yawned. "Excuse me." She said and arched her back. "I'm not used to getting up quite this early."

Arnold held a comment back about how he had been up before sunrise as he served the soup for her. They started eating quietly, Helga moving the spoon around the bowl absentmindedly.

Arnold looked at her with worry. "What is on your mind, princess?" he asked.

Helga growled and put the spoon down on the table harshly, causing Arnold to flinch in surprise. "Well, first of all, would you please refrain from calling me princess? I do not care for being reminded of what I used to be." She answered and looked back at her bowl, a hint of shame in her eyes.

"Do you wish for me to call you by your given name then?" Arnold asked unsurely. Helga blushed at the thought, but simply shrugged. What else would he call her after all? "In that case… Helga." He corrected and saw how she turned her head so that her blonde hair covered most of her face. He could see a hint of red behind the blonde locks and smiled, but decided not to point it out. "That was first of all… what is second of all?"

"Huh? Oh…" Helga said and looked down at her bowl again, ignoring the way her heart was beating from simply hearing her name out of the swineherd's mouth. "I suppose I am merely nervous about today… I have never physically worked one day of my life. Frankly, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do."

"Don't worry." Arnold said and put his hand on top of Helga's, ignoring the way he felt her muscles tense at his touch. "I have told my cousin to take good care of you so there is no need to be so nervous." He told her and pulled his hand back. He could feel her staring at him before she started smiling, whispering a small thank you under her breath.

Despite Arnold's encouraging words and the giddy feeling she had felt when he had waved her goodbye, Helga still felt like she would faint before she could walk into the kitchen. She took the deepest breath she had ever taken in her whole life and walked inside, looking around. Mostly women, but also men, dressed like the typical domestic servant were calmly chatting as they prepared what Helga assumed was lunch. She gulped nervously as she stepped inside and soon a woman approached her.

"Hello, young lady. What do you want?" the woman, whom Helga recognized as the cook, asked with a smile on her face.

Helga felt suspicious attt the way the woman was smiling so knowingly at her, but she ignored it. "My name is Helga." She started, noticing how some of the servants started snickering.

The cook hushed them even though the smile never left her face before she turned and looked at Helga again. "That is the same name as the princess of the kingdom next to ours, is it not?" she asked teasingly.

Helga felt nervous in the woman's presence, but she frowned at her for the silly question. "What astute observation skills…" she muttered under her breath, but remembered she wouldn't get hired if she wasn't kind. "I-I was hoping I could seek employment here at the castle…" she said and the woman's face almost cracked due to her smile. "It doesn't matter what." Helga insisted, fearing the woman would throw her out.

"We are actually in ever so much need of a kitchen maid." A younger girl said, one with red hair.

"Very well then." The cook said and gestured for Helga to walk over to the redhead. Helga quickly curtsied, unsure what else to do before she approached her.

"Good morning." The girl said kindly and sat down on footstool, gesturing for Helga to sit down on the one next to her. "We are peeling potatoes right now."

"Good morning." Helga said and sat down, looking at the big bag of potatoes in front of her, grabbing one of them and the tool the girl just gave her. "Excuse me…" she whispered and the girl smiled at her. "Are you Lila?"

"Why yes, I am. How did you know?" Lila asked, smiling casually and ignoring the snickers from her coworkers.

"I know your cousin." Helga explained, happy to have found the right girl so quickly. She looked down at the potato and the tool, copying what Lila was doing the best she could.

"Oh, yes. The king told me about you." Lila said, her face painted with panic when she realized what he had just said. "K-King-Kingston." She corrected with an awkward cough, listening to her colleagues sigh in relief.

"Kingston?" Helga repeated in confusion, looking at nothing in particular as she repeated his name in her mind. "Somehow the name doesn't suit him…" she stated.

Lila bit her lip nervously. "He's been told that many times." She insisted, hoping the former princess would believe her.

Helga shrugged thoughtfully. "Oh, well." She said a little dreamily and started smiling. "I suppose a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet…"

Lila looked at her colleagues curiously, all of them holding giggles down. "Oh?" Lila probed, trying to get Helga to say more.

"Huh?" Helga said and felt her face flush bright red. "O-Oh, I mean, I was merely trying to, I meant nothing by what I-I said, I, uh…" she said nervously, her words falling over each other before she gestured for a potato without its skin on. "Is this good enough?"

Lila snickered at the choppy potato, part of its skin still hanging loosely on it. "You have never peeled a potato before, have you?" she asked as she grabbed it, eyeing it curiously. She watched as the blonde girl shook her head in embarrassment. "Look here. I'll teach you." Lila declared before starting to peel the next potato.

Helga couldn't believe how comfortable she felt around the servants within few hours. Lila was a very sweet girl, perhaps too merry for Helga's taste, but nevertheless kind. She chatted with them all in a friendly way, sneaking around any questions they asked her about herself before she came to the castle and turned the questions on themselves. By the end of their working hours, the servants had changed their minds about the emperor's daughter. She was definitely a woman worthy of their kind-hearted king.

Helga had been about to leave the kitchen when a stranger came into the room. "My ladies." The dark-skinned man greeted before bowing for the ladies. Helga gasped when she recognized him as the squire who had accompanied king Arnold when he had attempted to propose to her. He looked at her and gasped as well. "What is she doing here?" he asked with a small frown.

Helga was sure she had been found out, but Lila approached the squire. "Why, Gerald." She said casually. "This is our new kitchen maid, Helga."

"Kitchen maid?" Gerald repeated in a snicker.

"Yes." Lila hissed, but forced a smile on her face. "She lives with my cousin Kingston out in the forest and Kingston asked if she could work here. Naturally, I said yes."

"Kingston?" Gerald repeated and smirked at Helga who crossed her arms, ready to be told that he recognized her, but to her surprise, he simply nodded at her. "Well, I'm sorry, my dear lady. I didn't expect a new kitchen maid." He said, still with a snicker in his voice.

Helga was sure the squire recognized her and was mocking her. "It is quite all right, thank you." She said and bowed before him, playing the part of a servant of a lower status perfect.

Gerald looked at her in surprise. He hadn't expected the haughty princess he had met few days ago to bow before him; in disguise as a kitchen maid or not. He would have to ask his king about this when he got the chance.

"What are you doing here?" a scullery maid asked as she dried her hands.

Gerald smiled. "The king has returned from his… journey." He answered. "And he wishes to celebrate with a small, casual banquet for us all to enjoy."

"King Arnold." Helga huffed under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, the kindest king in the entire world." The cook insisted in a warning tone. "It's such a shame that he isn't married."

Helga almost felt guilty at her words; she had rejected said king not too long ago after all, but she didn't feel any regret. She wouldn't have met her bellowed swineherd if she hadn't. She was sure he cared for her and she was slowly coming to terms with the fact that she might just care for him as well. Perhaps more than she was likely to admit out loud, but she knew it in her heart when she looked at him. No, king Arnold was definitely no match for her swineherd.

"Wait." Helga said when she realized something. "Are we allowed to go to the banquet hall? Is that not only for nobility and royalty?"

They all laughed. "Oh, king Arnold does not care much for status or riches. He cares for kindness and fairness." Gerald explained and gestured dramatically to them all. "So what do you say, ladies? Would you be up for a dance or two before you go home for the day?"

The girls all bellowed happily, throwing their aprons casually away as they stormed towards the banquet hall. In the excitement, Helga followed them and forgot that king Arnold would be there and he was likely to recognize her. She did not think of that before she was standing in the grand hall and so, she attempted to hide behind a pillar as she watched them all dance to joyous music. She looked around for the king, but he was nowhere in sight, which both comforted and yet worried her. After all, if she could not see him, it meant she couldn't hide from him.

A hand on her shoulder caused Helga to turn her head around. A man she had only seen once, or so she believed, was standing before her with a kind smile. "King Arnold…" she stated in panic and quickly curtsied, hoping her blonde hair would hide her face and he wouldn't recognize her.

The king bowed for her as well and then held his hand towards her. She looked up at him in shock, forgetting her plan to hide her face from him. He was smiling kindly at her and she saw no recognition in his eyes so she took his hand and let him lead her out to the floor. She wasn't exactly in a position where she could refuse a king after all.

As they started to dance, Helga stared in the green eyes that belonged to the king. This man had proposed to her, but it felt so long ago. Everything had changed, she had changed and today, she wouldn't have scowled at his kind gifts. She would have thanked him despite her father's words. She considered revealing her identity to him in order to apologize for her behavior, but she changed her mind or rather, her thoughts went somewhere else.

There was something familiar about the way king Arnold was holding Helga. She could recognize his warms hands, his green eyes looking at her as if she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, but that was impossible. She had met the man once or twice, there could be no familiarity between them and he had most definitely never been allowed to hold her like this before. Yet she felt an off sort of safety in his arms.

"I must say…" the king suddenly spoke, earning Helga's full attention. "I had not expected to see you ever again… and in my own kitchen nevertheless."

So he did recognize her, Helga thought and swallowed the lump she had in her throat. It was humiliating how the tables had somehow turned, but she ignored the feeling of shame she felt. "I assume you do not wish to see me there again all things considered?" she asked.

"Of course I don't wish to see you in my kitchen." The king replied matter-of-factly. Helga sighed, nodded and was about to step away, but he continued to dance with her. She looked at him in confusion, silently asking him to explain himself. "I wish to see you dance in this banquet hall, walk in my garden and read in my study." He continued with a smile. "And next to me in my chamber when I wake up in the morning. I still wish to marry you, your highness."

Helga's eyes widened and she forgot to move and so, she and Arnold almost stumbled over each other. He managed to stop moving before they collapsed though, but they had earned the attention of everyone else in the room and the music even stopped.

Helga was staring blankly at the king before her. "You are not serious." She stated almost stubbornly. She didn't want him to be serious.

He simply smiled at her though. "I am very serious, my lady. I have wanted you as my wife since the first time I saw you." He said, took her hand and kissed it.

"I am not even a princess anymore." Helga reminded him a little coldly.

"I do not care for status. I want you, Helga."

Said girl felt flattered at his words, but she still shook her head. "My answer is still no. I am very sorry." She said, pulled her hand back and started to walk. She figured she would have to find a job somewhere else, but she didn't get to take three steps before a few guards blocked her way. "Excuse me." She said and tried to walk past them, but they simply followed her. She turned to look at the king, seeing that he was gesturing for the guards to keep her there.

"May I at least ask why?" the king asked. "You have been thrown out of your kingdom, you have nowhere to sleep and I am offering you the comfort of not only a castle, but the way of living you have grown accustomed to. What could possibly be better?"

Helga frowned. How did he know she had been thrown out? She assumed the gossip had spread between nobility and so she didn't bother to ask him. "Nothing could be better, your highness. What you are offering is generous, especially since I have already rejected your advances once."

"But…?"

"But… I have gotten to learn more about myself these last few days than I have ever thought possible. I have considered myself useless as a princess most of my life, but have enjoyed the comfort and security there is with the title. When I was thrown out, I thought I could do nothing, but someone taught me that I can do more than I think. I have wits and that is more valuable than a title."

Arnold smiled. "Who is this someone who taught you this?" he asked.

Helga looked away, her eyebrows knitted together thoughtfully. "I think his name might be Kingston…" she muttered, earning some laughs from the people who heard her.

"You're not sure what his name is?" Arnold asked, gesturing for the others to be quiet.

Helga growled in embarrassment. "I admit I lack enough in social skills to have forgotten to ask for his name." she admitted. Others started to laugh again, but grew quiet when the king gestured for them to do so. He was about to say something, but Helga opened her mouth before he did. "I do not care what his name is. Be it his name, occupation, past, family or lack thereof; all that matters to me is his kindness and what I feel for him."

Arnold felt his heart beat once, but roughly against his chest and he shot his subjects a warning look when he saw they were about to laugh again. "And what do you feel for him?" he asked gently and so seriously that Helga felt like she was being interrogated.

"I…" Helga started nervously, looking at everything else but the intense eyes that were on her. It felt as if the last days were passing before her eyes; meeting the swineherd, growing accustomed to his face and his voice. Expecting his smile when she woke up, the feeling of his hand securely around his and his comforting words whenever she needed it. "I think… I love him." She admitted and her hand went to her throat when she said it. She realized it was true, so very true that she was ashamed of herself for not having realized it sooner. "I love him."

Helga didn't see the smile, which grew on the king's face after hearing her words. She simply looked at him with determination in her eyes. "I love him." She stated again, feeling a smile spread on her own face because it felt so liberating to say it aloud. "And not all the riches in the world could change my mind!"

Helga watched as the king sighed happily, something she hadn't expected, before he took his feathered hat off and bowed for her. "I have waited to hear you say that, my love." He said and looked at her, gesturing for the squire to approach him. She frowned at his choice of words, but watched curiously as he gave the squire his hat only to take another one the squire was holding for him. She recognized the small, blue hat almost immediately and she felt her body freeze.

"I am not quite as dirty as you remember me, Helga, but it is nevertheless me… the swineherd and king who loves you with all of his heart." Arnold said and arched his back. Helga kept staring at him as she took a couple of uncertain steps towards him. Her eyes were glazed over with shock and incredulity as she approached him, eyeing him over.

It was him. It was definitely the same man who had both proposed to her as a king and kissed her cheek as a swineherd who was standing before he and when she understood that, she lifted her hand and slapped him across the cheek. The sound ricocheted in the banquet hall and they all gasped. Guards were about to grab Helga, but the king lifted his hand to stop them. He looked at the seething girl in front of him, his face showing no surprise at her action at all.

"How… How dare you…" Helga whispered, her shoulders shaking with anger. He didn't say anything, so she continued. "How dare you trick me like this?! Dressing up like a swineherd, letting me believe you were the only person who had never lied to me and then pulling of this… this… cruel prank?! Was all this revenge? Was it amusing to you when I was thrown out of my home? Did you enjoy watching me live in a shabby old cabin, all the while knowing that one word from you and we could be here?! I misjudged you or rather, I was right the first time. You have no sense of common courtesy, you're infuriating, you're - - "

Helga's angry words were muffled when the king stepped forward, putting his hands around her neck and kissing her sweetly. They all looked at him in surprise, half-expecting the girl to slap him once more, but she leaned into the kiss instead, her hands even moving up to rest on his shoulders.

Lila leaned closer to Gerald, whispering in his ear. "What's going on?" she asked, but he simply shrugged, just as confused as she was.

Arnold let go of Helga, watching her as she still scowled at him, but her face was softer now. "Well…" she said. "I suppose I have the rest of my life to avenge myself."

A smile spread on Arnold's face and Helga smiled as well before they kissed once more, this time eliciting an excited applause from the people watching them. He lifted her into his arms and swung her around. "I got my princess!" he shouted happily and she laughed happily as well. And speaking of happily, yes, they did indeed live happily ever after.

The end.

Author's 2nd note: I admit the slap was not very fairytale-like, but somehow it seemed so fitting xD I wanted her to get angry at him, I think she had a right to get angry with him; he tricked her after all and like she says herself, she has her whole life to get back at him ;) I hope you enjoyed this small three chapter story with a twisted take on the old fairytale. I might do something like this in the future, it was definitely amusing to try out though I'm not sure what other fairytales I'd like to take a spin it. We'll see :D