The Dove Princess Chapter 13: The Waltz of the Flowers, a brothers grim fanfic

You see, it wasn't so bad for Wilhelm after all. Even though he's stuck in that awful spell, he'll be much too busy at banquet to worry so much and at least he isn't in the tower all alone any more or in the dungeon with the rats! Now wouldn't that have been just terrible? Oh, would you be so kind as to put the kettle on for more chocolate? Yes, thank you, that's a good lad. So where was I? Oh yes. Well, Jakob is about to be on his way to the old witch's castle, but first he has a task to complete. He is about to find out just how beautiful the world can be and nothing is as beautiful as...

The Waltz of the Flowers

Jakob sat perched on a tree stump with his head in his hands, studying his boots. Every wrinkle in the leather and every grain of sand and mud looked like the deepest valleys and highest mountains that seemed insurmountable to him, like the task at hand. He was tired and was at a loss as to what to do now. With his brother so far away locked in the tower and Frederick and Katherine gone he was alone with no one to turn to for advice or ideas but himself. At this point he was still three days away from the castle and had no idea how he was going to rescue everyone and was at a total loss as to what to do next.

"Fear not! You are not alone Master", said the ugly little man, shaking Jake from his thoughts and leaving him wondering just how he could read them. "You still have two wishes left. What is your bidding Master?"

"I've no idea what my next wish should be. Sweet Christ, I've no idea who I am or what I'm even doing here anymore!" He'd felt an overwhelming sadness and guilt ever since he had fallen into the well as well as a strange emptiness. He hadn't felt like this since the months after he had lost his dear sister and it was almost too much to bear. "Oh, I just wish I knew how to save everyone, but I don't!" he blurted out without thinking, lost in his despair.

"Very good, Master. That's number two", said the little man.

"Oh no!" shouted Jakob in a panic, standing up and waving his hands at the little man. "That's not good at all!"

The little man just smiled his crooked smile at him. Jake was sure he hadn't said that right and now he had wasted a wish and most probably his most precious commodity, his time. He slumped back down on the tree stump and sighed loudly.

"I will tell you this only once". The little man told him seriously, "So pay attention!"

Jakob looked at him over the top of his glasses and frowned as he listened intently to the little man's words.

"Go climb a tree", he said flatly.

Jakob was now absolutely sure he'd thrown his only real opportunity to do the right thing out the window with his sanity. Now what was he to do?

"What do you mean 'go climb a tree'? Ach, this is just horrible!" Jake stood up with his hands outstretched, his face pleading and looking as if he would go to tears at any moment.

The little man only pointed to a tall pine tree a few paces away and nodded towards it as well. Jake saw little choice and followed the instruction. He had nothing else left to lose, save his own life and even that didn't feel like it was worth too much at the moment. When he had reached the top, he looked down expecting to see the little man gone leaving him to sit in a tree like a fool, but he was still there looking up at him.

"Look to the West", the little man said, "There you will see the tallest tree in this forest. That is where you must go. Just beyond that you will find the clearing where all manner of beautiful flowers grow. Look for the one with the petals of the purest white and the heart of a pearl. There is a trick to seeing them though, for they will not appear to just anyone. You must answer one question of the fairies that guard them and answer carefully. You must answer truthfully anything they ask of you and the flower will be yours. Touch the flower to the golden cage to free your love."

Jakob could see the tree towering well above the others in the forest. It was at least another days travel away. Looking to the North he could see the castle looming before him on the ragged hillside and he knew this would delay his arrival there, but it had to be done. Climbing back down, a thought struck him and he peered at the little man with a puzzled look.

"What did you mean by 'free my love'?" asked Jake, pointing at the little man and squinting at him over the top of his glasses. Pushing them back up with his index finger, he tried to sound serious in his explanation, but with his hands flying about punctuating every half finished sentence, his frustration at trying to sound serious was showing in a very comical way. "I'll have you know I'm doing this to free the Princess that's held there, so I can take her back to her father, break this nasty spell and get my brother Wilhelm out of prison. It has nothing to do with any one girl, you know. Just the Princess…who is a girl actually… and if it did, which it doesn't, then really…in the grand scheme of things, it wouldn't be so important…as important, or really…you know, well… she is important to me…but not in a way that…well maybe not that so much…and I don't have any bloody idea why I'm explaining this to you at all."

He threw his hands up in the air in exasperation and planted them on his hips. He hung his head and began to study his boots once again. The little ugly man just smiled his crooked smile at Jakob knowing better than he what his real priorities were. Jakob's little dance of denial just made him want to smile wider. After all, had he so quickly forgotten that he was there when Jake found Katherine in her glass tomb?

"If that is all for now Master please take out the little box with the blue light and open the lid so that I may jump back in and rest." asked the little man. "When you need me again, for your final wish, just open the box and I will appear."

Jakob was glad the little man let him out of any further explanation and removed the glass box from his pants pocket. As he opened the box, there was a bright blue flash and the little man disappeared. The lid of the box snapped shut with a sharp clack and the little golden latch clicked closed. In the daylight, he could barely see the blue glow from the box. Jake grabbed his pack off the ground from next to the tree stump where he had been sitting and carefully placed the box inside. Then making sure he was altogether, he threw the pack over his shoulder and made off through the forest towards the big tree.

Jakob traveled as fast as his long legs would carry him. Even with taking no breaks it took a better part of a day to reach the tree, but at last he found it. Old and gnarled, the magnificent oak towered above the forest; its base was big enough that if it were hollow, a man could make a home inside it quite comfortably. From its huge base between two roots the size of the other trees that surrounded it, sprung a pool of water so clear and fresh Jakob couldn't help but want to drink from it. Even the air around it smelled so pure and fresh he could only imagine this was what heaven smelled like.

He sat near the edge of the pool and ate the last bit of food he had in his pack, a small piece of dark bread. The rest of it unfortunately had gone off in Fred's pack into the gingerbread house earlier, so he had to make do. When he had finished, he drank deeply from the spring and amazingly he felt as if he had eaten a banquet full of food and he was refreshed and invigorated as if he had slept for a week. His sudden boundless energy was unlike anything he had ever felt before.

Following the path of the spring as it flowed away from the tree, he hunted for the clearing where the flowers were to be found. About fifty paces from the old oak, Jakob came across a large clearing in the forest just where the little man said it should be and as he said, it was decidedly empty save for a few weeds here and there. Jakob looked about wondering just how one goes about finding fairies, since it had really never occurred to him before that one could. He also pondered what sort of question a fairy might ask.

He wasn't left to ponder very long however. In the scrubby bushes off to his left, tiny golden lights began to appear and flicker brightly even though the sun was still up. The lights came toward him and were flitting around him like tiny golden snowflakes on a breeze. It was a marvelous sight to behold. Jakob adjusted his glasses and squinted, trying to concentrate on them and get a better look. They were lithe creatures, both male and female as far as he could tell and wondrously beautiful to behold.

"Hello", he said softly, but the sound of his voice still made them scatter in surprise.

"He can see us!"

The tiny voices of the fairies repeating the words came from different directions making Jake look around to find the speakers, but their constant movement made that an impossible task.

"He drank from the spring!"

The chorus continued as they flitted about his head and shoulders. Jakob decided to stop trying to follow their movements. It was making him extremely dizzy.

"Call the Queen!"

A warm glow formed the hedgerow where the other fairies had first appeared. It was larger than the others, floating slowly toward Jakob. The glowing globe pulsated slowly as it stopped and hung in front of his face. He reached out to touch it, but it moved away.

"Ahem, well yes…I suppose that won't work", he said to himself as he pulled his hand back and used it to rub the back of his neck.

He rested his other hand on his hip and studied the glowing orb, his face scrunched up in thought. After a few moments he supposed he would try something a little less threatening. In a more inviting gesture and to show he meant no harm, he turned his hand over, palm up and held it out in front of him hesitating every few inches so as not to frighten it away again. The glowing orb came to rest in the palm of his hand and as the glow faded, a sight even more wondrous met his eyes. A tiny fairy stood in his hand. She was only three inches high and captivatingly beautiful with wings as tall as she was. They looked as if they were made of golden lace. She was also quite naked except for a gauzy strip of fabric that was draped around her hips and the scepter she carried, whose tip glowed like a torch. Jakob was so taken with her and the wonder of it all; he nearly forgot the task at hand. If she hadn't spoken, he might have forgotten the entire quest altogether.

"What is your name and what do you seek here?" she asked in a voice so soothing and melodious that to listen to it lulled the listener into a dreamlike state.

Jakob let out a sigh and a silly smile spread across his face. He was beginning to feel quite giddy, but at the last second he realized that this might be the important question he had to answer, so he tried his best to focus. 'It couldn't be too hard, after all I am a truthful man', he thought. He cleared his throat and placing his other hand in the center of his chest trying to look as noble as possible, began to explain.

"My name is…is Jakob Grimm", he said carefully, "I seek…", he paused for a moment to make sure it came out sounding right, "I seek the flower with the petals of pure white and the heart like a pearl to…to…free the Princess and break the evil spell that has been cast over this land and…and so that my brother may be freed from his prison as well". 'That should do', he thought.

"Who do you truly love?" she asked not missing a beat.

"Uh well, I um…", faltered Jakob. He swallowed hard, unsure of what to say to that and half afraid he would get it wrong.

"Who do you truly love?" she repeated, "Remember, you must answer truthfully or you must leave this place with nothing more than you have now."

Jakob was beside himself, so truly befuddled for an answer he couldn't think at all. Embarrassment welled up inside him making his cheeks turn pink. He decided to stick to the true reason for his starting this whole thing, thinking it was best to stay focused on the real objective instead of silly whims of the heart. After all, he'd only kissed her once and what did that mean really? No, he had to stay on track. With his mind flipping back and forth like a fish in the mud and a strange kind of panic overtaking him, he blurted out an answer.

"Will! It's Will, my brother!" he spouted as he pulled his hand from his chest and extended it towards her in a begging gesture, his face pleading with the fairy Queen to accept the statement as truth.

The fairies flitted and danced around him giggling and laughing at his pose. The Fairy Queen only smiled at him sadly, only kindness in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Jakob, but the flower cannot be yours. Your answer had to be a truthful one and even though you do love your brother very much, he is not the one you truly love"

"He lied!"

The fairies danced around him as the Queen rose from his hand and waved her scepter as a farewell before returning to the hedgerow from where she had first appeared.

"Good-bye!"

The fairies clustered together in a small group and followed their Queen back to the hedgerow. Jakob just stood there with his mouth hanging open, stunned at what had just occurred. Then quickly reality kicked in. He had apparently not told the truth and had now lost the flower he so desperately needed.

"No wait! I'm sorry!" he pleaded as he followed the cloud of lights, "Please no, I need those flowers! Wait!"

In an act of sheer stupidity and desperation he reached out and grabbed hold of one of the fairies. Jake had a young male fairy gently trapped between his thumb and forefinger and it was not very pleased about it. It promptly bit him on the thumb, hard. Jakob immediately let go and ended up flinging the poor fairy several feet across the clearing.

"Ouch!" yelled Jake as he shook his hand vigorously from the pain, then stuffed his thumb in his mouth and sucked on it. After pouting for a few moments, he examined his thumb for blood, but found none. It stung wildly like he'd been bitten by bee, so he stuck it back into his mouth to ease the pain. He wondered if anyone had ever died due to a fairy bite and though he had never heard of it, he certainly hoped he wasn't going to be the first.

Looking around the clearing, he was lost as to what to do now. He couldn't imagine why the Queen didn't think his answer was truthful enough. After all he did love his brother very much despite all the bullying and arguments throughout the years. He had grown quite fond of Katherine, but love her? He had only known her a few weeks, how could he possible love her? It didn't make sense in his head, but that was the whole problem. When he answered the question he had given the answer that made sense in his head, not his heart. He began pacing around the clearing with his thumb still in his mouth trying to work out how he was going to fix this. He had made a royal mess of everything.

'Oh you've screwed it well this time Jakob Grimm', he thought, 'No flower means the Princess can't be saved and my brother will die, Fred will be eaten and Kate will be stuck in a cage for all eternity! You couldn't have made a bigger mess of things if you had tried!'

He felt the worst for Kate for she was a true innocent in all this and it was his entire fault she was even here. She could have been safe at home now if he had only had the guts to simply say no! Jake felt as if his heart were breaking.

"Damn that witch and her bloody rhyming spell!" shouted Jakob forgetting all about his thumb.

At that moment a light came on in his head illuminating an idea and more or less talking aloud to himself he began formulating it, "Yes, the spell! What if I can use this spell against her? All someone has to do is recite a rhyme and it comes true, so if I choose one of my own it should work in the very same way. At least I think so."

There was nothing left but to try it out and see if he could use it to his advantage. He began running through all the nursery rhymes he remembered from his childhood that involved flowers, but none of them seemed quite right.

"No…No, not that one…not that one either. Come on Jakob, think! Yes, that's it! It's perfect!"

Jakob recited the rhyme and hoped it would have the desired effect.

Mary, Mary, quite contrary

How does you garden grow?

With silver bells and cockle shells

And pretty maids all in a row!

Jakob waited, but after a few moments it seemed that this idea was not going to work out as he wished it would. He threw his hands up in frustration and turned his back to the clearing now feeling lost. Then something caught his eye. A large yellow butterfly the likes of which he had never seen before meandered past the end of his nose. Had it really worked? Elated he turned around to face the clearing once again.

A fresh, cool breeze had begun to pick up, giving him goose bumps and the warm sun began flooding in. At the same time a heavy mist filled the air clinging to everything as if heavy dew had fallen. From the sun drenched, heavily saturated ground flowers began to spring up of every size, shape and color. Jakob looked down and watched the flowers spring up around his feet. Green, delicate tendrils sprang up and wrapped themselves around his legs, growing quickly up to his knees and as they grew pink and blue bell shaped flowers burst forth from the vines. The clearing was now filled to brimming with hundreds of flowers of every type, size, shape and color. Bees, butterflies and humming birds flew, darted and meandered through the most amazing garden he had ever seen. Most of what appeared before him, he had never seen before even in his dreams and their fragrance was like sheer ecstasy. Jakob felt as if he were transported to the Garden of Eden.

The dewy mist settled on the flowers and they sparkled like jewels in the sunlight. Jakob was overwhelmed beyond words. He raised his hands in front of him as if to embrace the entire scene before him and looked back and forth across the amazing beauty of the garden "Oh…oh…", he said quietly , his breath ragged as he spoke, his eyes filling with tears of joy. "Yes!" he shouted as he threw his hands into the air, "Oh yes!" He let his arms fall limp to his sides in great relief that yes indeed, it had worked.

The fairy Queen reappeared and floating near his ear, she whispered softy to him, "Dear Jakob, your heart has told me all I needed to know even when your voice could not. What you seek is there." She pointed her scepter to the right side of the garden, the torch like tip illuminating a small patch of white flowers that were nestled between deep blue patches of forget-me-nots sitting near the water that flowed from the spring.

In all his excitement Jakob has quite forgotten the vines that wrapped themselves around his feet and legs. In trying to take a step towards the flowers, he found himself stuck and nearly fell on his face awkwardly.

"Oh, right", he laughed nervously and carefully unwrapped himself so as not to damage the delicate vines that embraced him.

He picked his way just as carefully through the garden so as not to crush anything underfoot and knelt down in front of the patch of flowers. They resembled the small lilies that bloom after the spring rains except that they were radiantly pure white like the gown of a virgin bride. The centers had collected a large drop of dew from the mist that had filled the clearing and it shone in the sun like a perfect great pearl.

"You only need one to free them all. As long as your heart remains pure and honest the flower will never die", The Queen told him.

Jakob smiled shyly at her and nodded. He wondered just how he was going to go about carrying the flower away and an idea suddenly hit him. He fished around in his pack for a moment or two and came up with a small earthen pot with a wide mouth and a cork lid. It was one of Katherine's pantry jars that she had packed and it once contained honey. As it was now empty, he thought it would be perfect. Tossing the cork into his pack, he washed the jar carefully in the little stream then after filling it with earth; he carefully dug up one of the flowers and planted it in the jar. Oddly the flower felt as if it was made of the finest crystal and really wasn't a plant at all. When he had finished, he placed it in his satchel next to two ink jars to keep it from tipping.

"Thank you for the flower, Your Majesty", he said apologetically, "It was very kind of you to give it to me after what I'd done."

The Queen laughed heartily, "Silly boy! I had nothing to do with it. You did it all yourself!" She floated up and kissed him gently on the forehead making Jakob blush slightly and bite his bottom lip. "As long as my kiss remains, you will be protected until the end of your quest. Farewell Jakob."

In a twinkling she was gone and as he rose to leave he saw that the garden was now also gone. Quickly he checked his satchel and was relieved to find the flower still remained inside. Now his thoughts turned to getting to the castle. It was at least four days off on foot now and Wilhelm's thirty days were sure to run out before he could return with the Princess. What to do now? Well if the rhyme worked before, it surely should again, so Jakob thought hard about which one might be handy in getting to the castle quicker. A rhyme came to him that might be just the thing and he hoped the outcome would be as successful as the last one.

Ride a cocked horse to Banbury Cross,

To see a fine lady upon a white horse;

With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes

She shall have music wherever she goes.

Jakob wasn't exactly sure what he was going to get for his efforts, but he waited patiently for the results. He was rewarded by the sound of tinkling bells coming from the forest beyond. He held his breath as he scanned the tree line looking for the source of the sound and it shot out of him in a loud, long gasp as his eyes fell upon what the he had created with the rhyme.

A fine white stallion, quite a handsome animal indeed, cantered out of the forest. It long white mane and tail had been carefully braided with gold and sliver rings though them. It bore a blue saddle of handcrafted leather, the color of the late twilight sky, edged with silver and crimson cord set with tiny rings that tapped together as the horse walked making a most beautiful tinkling sound. The bridle was equally beautiful and small silver bells adorned the leather straps. The animal made Jakob's horse, as grand as it was, look like an old plow horse; that is before it had become enchanted and died. He had missed riding him a great deal.

However the horse bore something else as well. It seemed the fine lady was part of the package and she wasn't just any lady. Tall and willowy, she sat in the saddle, her eyes as blue as the skies and her hair golden as the sun. She was barefoot and her big toes were adorned with a silver rings with a small silver bell attached. On each of her fingers was the same, however, that is all she wore. Jakob looked away embarrassed as he realized that her long golden hair that fell to her knees was the only thing that kept him from seeing things he shouldn't. He cleared his throat and nervously began to speak to her all the while having what seemed to be a conversation with her right foot, for looking up at her was quite out of the question for him.

"Um…hello", he began.

"Why hello", she replied sounding a bit forward.

"Ooo dear…um well yes", Jakob was fidgeting nervously trying to get the words out, "If…if you don't mind, I need to borrow your horse. I need to get to the castle on that hillside yonder in a great hurry, so it's really important that I ride your horse. That is if you don't really mind of course."

A small, slender hand came into his field of vision, palm up, as if inviting him to take it. He looked at it nervously. Her foot slipped from the stirrup, bells tinkling.

"Well of course you may ride", the lady purred, "I will take you anywhere you wish to go. Take my hand and we'll be off."

Jakob had little choice. It was either that or steal the horse from her and of all the slightly shady things he'd done in his life under Will's direction, horse thievery wasn't one of them and he wasn't about to start now. He swallowed hard and took her hand, placed his foot in the vacated stirrup and tried his best to mount the horse; all the while keeping his eyes averted from the lady.

"Best to hold on tight", she cautioned, "My Rapunzel flies like the wind."

'Oh dear!' he thought. That part hadn't occurred to him before he had gotten on.

"What should I hold onto?" he asked lamely, "Perhaps we could do this some other way." But it was too late for further discussion. The lady dug in her heels and shouted at the horse. It reared back, neighing loudly and took off at a speed that Jake had never seen a horse accomplish before. It was as if its hooves never touched the ground, but literally flew through the air. He had little choice than to hold on to her around the waist or be thrown backward off the rear of the horse.

Despite being quite embarrassed about this turn of events, he found himself quite amused at it all. He couldn't wait to tell Will about it knowing it would make him downright jealous that he could conjure up such a lovely creature out of thin air and he wasn't anywhere around to take advantage of the situation.

They were moving through the forest as if they were the wind and nothing could get in their way. It almost seemed the trees and bushes magically moved out of their way to let them through. Jake was sure at this rate he would make it to the castle in no time at all.

This was another of my favorite chapters to write. Jakob is completely in his element now and is busy being, well Jakob! As always, thanks for reading and I'm looking forward to your reviews.