Tatterhood relentlessly chastised those who were in the room with Cassandra, those who should have been responsible for stopping her foolishness- right down to the king and queen themselves. Cassandra, for her part, merely went to all fours and gamboled over to share in the sweet grass with Tatterhood's goat, who was glad of the company.
Tatterhood then explained, calmly, and with great care, that her father must fit out and trim his fastest ship so that she might go and retrieve the sweet, stolen prize of the goblins. It took a while for the king to assent to this request, especially once Tatterhood made in plain that only she and what remained of her sister would be going on this particular quest.
But Queen Beatrix knew that it must be so. She somehow knew that God had sent this wild, willful, zephyr of a girl into the world for such a reason as this- to prove her mettle by protecting and defending her sister. Many were the princesses born into the world who shared Cassandra's good looks and sweet spirit, but none were so blessed as to have a sister of such strength and determination that she tamed a goat in the womb.
And so it was that all was in place. Tatterhood, Cassandra, and the goat set sail to find the Island of Ghouls and undo the horrid magic that had taken Cassandra for its victim.
It was not so long a journey as a strange one. But, being born of flower and weed fed by moonlight next to the Sanguine River, both of the sisters withstood all challenges most bravely and with their humor in tact (though it was difficult to tell what Cassandra found humor in, seeing as lowing became her typical response to all situations). Finally, the sisters arrived at the Island of Ghouls.
Like many terrible things in life, when faced head-on, the Island was not to very terrible as its reputation. True, it was surrounded by clouds and it seemed no sunlight could penetrate its fortress-like cover. True, the trees were heavy and thick, and there was not so much as a path to be found from the craggy shore, but goat-riders need not fear such things, especially with a strong wooden spoon speared out before their faces for clearing branches and brush.
And so Tatterhood, who had left Cassandra locked safely below deck on the ship, wended her way through the trees and through the trees, venturing ever closer to the abode of the goblins. She knew was going in the right direction because the goblins were making an unholy lot of noise and the rest of the forest was silent. At first she thought they were having funeral rites of some sort for the queen. But upon reaching them, she saw the dingy tin crown atop the head of a certain goblin, and realized that they were celebrating his coronation as their new leader.
The goblin house did not seem too peculiar except for one important quirk- it had no doors or walls. It had a ceiling supported by beams, but it was wide open. This was how Tatterhood came to spy her sister's head, sitting on a mantle, watching the going-on of the strange creatures with a look of complete horror and disapproval.
Sparing not a moment for hesitation, Tatterhood spurning her goat on and, quick as lightning, rode into the house, such as it was. She grabbed her sister's head before riding away again, at an equally great speed.
In fact, she was so swift that she was a fine distance away before the goblins even realized she'd been there. But then, oh then, they gave chase. Then they flew on their broomsticks and flew so fast they soon caught up to Tatterhood.
As one of her arms were now holding her sister's head, she could not grab and kiss as she would have liked. Instead, she had to settle for lashing out with her wooden spoon, bopping the goblins on the head when they got close enough, swatting them on the pants if they were in a position for that. Soon they all, one by one, fell to the ground, howling, clutching whichever part of their unfortunate anatomy had met with her painful wooden spoon. By the time she reached the shore and her goat leapt them both back onto the deck, the goblins had all fallen to the wayside, deciding to find something to amuse them besides the girl who only doled out punishment and cruelty. Besides, with their queen dead, none could remember why Queen Beatrix or her daughters had mattered in the first place.
Tatterhood forgot the goblins, though, in her hurry to return Cassandra to her natural state. She rushed to unlock the door, behind which was her sister. Once the calf's eyes made eye contact with Cassandra, the spell was revoked and both were where they rightly belonged again.
But, having begun on this adventure, the sisters felt more inclined to continue on their way than to return home. They took one of the messenger birds that King Hal kept on board, and sent a message home- it said that they were both whole and healthy, but the call of the sea was one they would answer.
Beatrix shook her head and smiled ruefully upon receiving the letter- through complete accident or inescapable fate, the Goblin Queen had kept her promise. She had taken away the Queen's daughters. But, Beatrix sighed, this was what she'd raised them for- to dree their own weird, to follow their path, and to not be satisfied with anything but their heart's desire. She said a prayer that they would find it, and that it would bring them home eventually, and went for a turn about the garden with her husband.
For three years the sisters sailed hither and yon, near and far, out and beyond and back again. They had many, many adventures, which I won't share here because they are not this part of this story (although, sometime, I'll tell you how Tatterhood bound Death itself in a canvas bag and beat it with her spoon). This story comes around three years after the girls, now definitely women, set off to sail beyond the sunset.
Those years had been good and fun and all sorts of other things, but Tatterhood took it into her head that Cassandra must be wed. Cassandra did not necessarily see things thusly, but figured she might as well wed as not, so she promised to do what Tatterhood thought best.
It came to pass that the sisters steered their boat into port in a kingdom called Olledrob on a fine Spring day. They were the only ones on the water, and everyone on land soon took notice of them. They took even greater notice when it was observed that there was no visible crew for the small ship- but there was a young woman wearing ugly clothes, waving a spoon, and riding a goat around and around on the deck! Such oddness soon became the talk of the entire community.
The next day Tatterhood was out riding on the deck again when the harbormaster approached her. He asked her name and she said she refused to answer. He asked a few more questions, but she as steadfastly refused to answer all of them, except to offer that she was a princess and would only answer the questions of a prince.
Finding this odd, the harbormaster decided to send the message to the palace and wash his hands of the whole affair.
That night Cassandra asked if she'd stayed hidden long enough, and Tatterhood replied that, no, hiding was still necessary, but not for much longer. Cassandra was actually having fun being below deck and polishing all of the treasure they'd accumulated over the years (she knew it sounded silly, but making things shine the way they wanted to shine made her feel happy). And so, the next day, she remained there, and Tatterhood returned to the top deck and continued riding.
At noon an envoy came, and there could be no doubt who was involved- the banner of the royal family was carried at the lead of the riders. Heading the party was a man of dark complexion and upright carriage- he could only be a prince, Tatterhood decided, and grinned, knowing her plan was working for the good of all involved.
As for Prince Barney, he was quite pleased that the sight he now beheld was every bit as odd as what he'd been hearing. Rumors of the unusual ship and its still more unusual inhabitant had reached the palace almost as the boat had docked, and he found his curiosity aroused. He wanted to see the quirk of a boat manned by a single lass, and she one with ugly clothes, red red hair, and a goat for a beast of burden. Really, he thought to himself, who gets to see such a thing in their life?
When the harbormaster had passed along the message that the woman claimed to be a princess and would only converse further with a prince, Barney had leapt to the challenge. Let his older brother, Prince Damien, skulk about the palace and see to the tedious day-to-day chores of being the first-born. He, the younger prince who was allowed to follow his whims more easily, would investigate the first interesting person to arrive in the kingdom since that nutty old man who claimed to be a wizard who could remember time backwards.
And so he came, and he saw, and Prince Barney laughed with joy at beholding the vision before him. He rode his horse down the beach, leaving his fellow riders behind, and shouted to the ship.
"Princess- my name is Prince Barney and I bid you fond greetings!"
Tatterhood laughed and rode to the rail of the ship.
"Greetings to you, Prince Barney! My name is Tatterhood and I wish you good morrow!"
"Will you tell me if you are all alone on your ship?"
"Yes, I'll tell you. If you'll finish a sentence, you may meet my shipmate. Agreed?"
"… certainly!" Barney had no idea what she was on about, but somehow knew only good things would happen if he played along.
"One sparrow does not…"
"… a Spring make."
"Excellent!" Tatterhood clapped her hands and the goat pawed the planks of the deck, seemingly in agreement. "A bird in the hand is worth…"
"Two in the bush!"
"Delightful!" Tatterhood flung out her arms and laughed. Though he knew not what amused her so, Barney found her laugh so infectious that he shared in it and sent it rippling back to her.
"Tell me now, Prince Barney- one last question if I may." He nodded his assent, a smile still on his face. "Are you the oldest?"
"Nay, good lady. I have a brother to bear that burden. I am the younger of the two princes of our royal house."
"If that be the case, Prince Barney, please come aboard!"
Tatterhood lowered the gangplank and ran to fetch her sister.
"Cassandra- he has met my standards for you and if you want, he's yours for the asking. He has the kindest eyes and wisest laugh- and he knows his proverbs. I think he'll be fine match for you, if you'd like to have him. Come with me."
And, so, when Barney reached the deck, he was soon met with the vision of the woman of his dreams emerging from below deck. True, Cassandra's hands were covered in silver polish and she was wearing an ugly old smock so as not to dirty any of her regular clothes, but he looked to her and saw only the sweetness in the curve of her lips, the slight gap in her front teeth, the welcome in her eyes, and courage of her heart in the way she moved. He took one instant to take this all in, recognize Cassandra for what she was, and immediately lowered himself to one knee.
"My dearest lady! If you be not married, please grant me hope that you may accept my proposal- your sister says she is princess, and I believe you must be one as well, and I know this modest offer is hardly the appropriate way of approaching such a lady, but I am moved to speak at once. Marry me! We can live here, we can go to your kingdom, we can sail the seven seas or settle in a hovel on the mountaintop. If you give me your hand, all of my fortunes at your feet I'll lay, to follow you, my lady, around the world."
At this he moved to take her hand, but just then Cassandra became suddenly mindful of the polish on them. She averred, but he won out. It was his eagerness to bespoil his white gloves with the black polish, just to hold her hand, as much as the honesty of his outburst that moved her to lower herself to her knees as well.
"Sir, though we don't know each other, I feel getting to know you, and learning to work together for the good of both our kingdoms, shall be the great delight of my life. I accept your offer- on one condition."
Tatterhood looked at her sister, wondering where this odd stipulation was leading, but Prince Barney leapt to his feet.
"Name it, and it shall be yours, I swear it!"
"I've no desire to leave my sister to be alone when I am married. If you have someone that will marry her- a prince, of course- I will marry you."
"Absolutely not! I'll not be had as a bargain for some grumpy first-born who doesn't want me but whose brother forced him into an arrangement in order for him to have the greater prize of you!"
Prince Barney was standing, amazed, trying to work out exactly how to bend his brother to his will in this matter. Of course, Damien must take the Tatterhood- there was no way he would be deprived of his bride, and if her happiness hinged on marrying off her sister, he would see it done. Surely, there had to be some matter with which Barney could blackmail his brother- if he could only think of it…
Cassandra took Tatterhood aside and whispered.
"You think I ought to marry? Fine- I accept your judgment regarding the matter. I trust you in all things, you know that, Sister. So, we come here, and you find a man that, even I can see, is so well-suited to me, I might have ordered him special from a store. This I accept, for this I am pleased.
"But what of you? Perhaps I believe it is also time for you to marry! Perhaps I worry that, wherever I go with Prince Barney, you may not be there. Perhaps I must see you taken care of and loved- where would you be with no one to love you? Who will love you if not me? I tell you, Sister- I see good things coming to pass if you only go along with this plan of mine. It shall all work out and we shall all be happy- trust me."
"I will not be bought in this manner, but I will consent to meet the brother. Is that enough for now?"
Cassandra laughed and nodded. She kissed her sister's cheek and turned back to Barney, who was still trying to recall if Damien had ever done anything immoral and if he, Barney, had any proof of it. To Damien's credit, there was nothing, which accounted for Barney's confusion.
"My sister says she would like to meet your brother, but does not promise to marry him. I propose this- tomorrow, you will ride down here, to our boat, with an entire retinue. I will be waiting for you, to go to your palace and meet your family, so we can be married within the week. When you come tomorrow, your brother will accompany you, and as we ride to the palace, he will ride as companion to Tatterhood."
Barney almost floated away in his relief and joy at Cassandra's words. He embraced her and then jumped back, afraid he'd been improper. She laughed (he found her laugh to be even more infectious than Tatterhood's and envisioned a life filled with making that sound come from her lips constantly) and threw her arms around him. Tatterhood stood to the side, shaking her head- trust her sister to decide that this situation was the time for her to attempt to earn her name…
Author's Note: Again, I can't thank enough the people who have said kind and encouraging things in the writing of this story- you'll never know how much it means to me! We're nearing the home stretch with this one, there should only be one more chapter left... Thank you all for reading and please review if you'd care to- I appreciate it so much!