Chapter 3: Trial and error
Disclaimer: I am a fanfic writer. This is not original.
King Richard sat on a throne, greeting the latest slew of ladies as they came to visit him. This time it was two, only two, women with bright red hair and cheeky smiles. They looked eager, well, all of them always did, as they smiled up at him, slyly proclaiming their love.
The younger one didn't outright say she loved him, and what was her name again? Never mind, he'd forget it anyway. It wasn't important, because they were all the same.
A woman's face drifts to his mind's eye, concerned and eager to experiment on him. Andrea. She was so amusing, and he did hope she would find a cure so the pressure on him to marry would lessen, at least for a while. Now that he was king, he would be expected to marry sooner or later anyway. But it would be nice to be human again.
Did she actually have a chance? He considered this as his court started prancing around, chatting to themselves like a bunch of birds. He sighed, already sensing a coming headache. He should have gone outside again, but he couldn't run away every day. He only let himself escape to palace life once a week, like yesterday.
He couldn't believe she had found him. That small clearing was known only to him and his family. Or perhaps only to him. But he hadn't minded her company, and it had been really interesting near the end when she had begun blushing. Was she actually interested in him? Too bad that she wasn't willing to consider marriage.
She had looked sincere as she told him that she wasn't willing to get married. A shame. Andrea was beautiful, attractive in more ways than one. He might have actually considered trying to use her to break the cure, had she already refused. Still, he could become her friend. What was the harm in that? As long as he didn't fall for her. That would be a grave mistake.
Andrea looked at the King as he inspected her lab, his gaze falling over the organized mess of potion ingredients, lab equipment and more. The calculations of how the magic should be added were on the board, and she hoped it would work. She had done everything, now all she needed was a piece of his talon, and a hint of his magic. Andrea only prayed it would work.
"Are you sure?" King Richard growled as he gathered his magic in one hand.
"I hope." She took a deep breath and put safety googles on as the king aimed his magic into the potion. An explosion sounded, and a puff of hot pink smoke filled the room.
As the smoke cleared, the potion was still standing, now a healthy red. Andrea took it down with tongs, unwilling to touch it. She held it out for her king to drink. "Here. This should work. Or at least make you less Beastly."
The king looked terrified, and he raised his eyebrows. It was a funny picture, and Andrea tried to keep a straight face as she watched him gulp down the potion. He winced. "Cold." He licked his lips, his mouth opening to showcase those huge teeth of his. Did he need all of them? They would be useful for her experiments. But it was probably impolite to ask.
Andrea sighed, a bit disspaionted. But she perked up again as she thought of what the potion might do. Would it cure him?
King Richard started feeling a bit tingly. His body started humming and he felt the magic of the curse envelop him. He felt excitement. This was it!
In a puff of smoke, King Richard shrank one foot. Andrea burst out laughing at the look of surprise on his face, with the hopeful expression still frozen on it.
"Well, there goes try number one. Let's see what I did wrong." She looked at her notes, them hummed to herself as she erased some things and made more notes. "IF you come back here next week, I should have the next batch ready by then. I think the effects of the potion should wear off in about an hour. But-" He shrunk another foot, waving his arms wildly- "I don't know when you'll stop shrinking."
"Did you expect this to happen?" He felt cheated at the sight of her almost laughing face. But she was professional in her lab, and maintained concertation at all times.
"Well, I didn't expect to get it with one shot. But don't worry. We will figure it out soon." As the King left the room, he turned back one last time to apologize for his overreaction. He saw her whipping away a tear that had been flowing down her cheek. Had she been just faking laughter? Was she really sad that the potion didn't work? He caught a glimpse of her heartbroken face as she cleared the whiteboard. Perhaps there was more to this than he knew.
As the days passed, they kept meeting, sometimes in the oddest of places. Andrea was always pleasantly surprised when they met, and could never seem to stop thinking about the sweet king. And Richard? He never stopped bumping into her, on purpose, just so he could see more of her.
They were often talking about all kinds of things, and acting like the best of friends. But both knew that they were something more, although Andrea's shoved the thought deep down whenever it came up in a panic. She never wanted to fall in love, and even though her heart was betraying her, she had to stay true to her promise.
