A/N- Sorry for the long wait, all. Anyhow, it has just occurred to me that I've been throwing a lot of weird place-names and just general names out there. For your benefit, I can do a glossary of sorts, if you want. Now, here's where you get to choose. Do you want me to put it up on my profile or do you want me to post it at the end of every chapter? It's up to you. Well, on with the show!

Chapter Five

The morning had come, and Snow White was pleasantly surprised to find Cinderella still in the room. She would have thought that the "master spy" would have skipped off into the night. Something Snow had said the night before must have truly gotten to the haughty princess. The ebon haired princess stood, yawned, and stretched. She turned, looking down her nose at the sleeping—snoring—figure of Cinderella. She gave her a quick, hard jab with her finger and ordered, "Wake up."

Cinderella sat bolt upright in the bed. Snow shook her head. The blond grumbled something unintelligible and fell right back into a sleeping position. Snow jabbed her again. She pulled a pillow over her head.

"Goodall's Pixies!" Snow White swore, pulling the feathered pillow from the spy's hands. "You are your kingdom's most proficient spy? Really?"

"Leavemealone. I work nights," she grumbled, standing.

Cinderella stretched much more extensively than Snow White did. She fell to the floor to stretch her legs and back, and she pulled her arms in every which-way to make them stretch. When she was done, she stood and raised an eyebrow at her roommate.

"Where did you sleep last night? I know we both tried to share the bed, but…you just disappeared during the night. Did you end up on the floor?" she asked.

Scowling, Snow replied, "Yes. I did. You hogged not only the covers, but the entire bed also. I didn't mind. I'm used to sleeping alone anyway."

At this statement, Cinderella—who was spot-cleaning her clothing, which still hung from her body-—smiled wickedly.

"Your prince never submitted to you?" she asked, her tone becoming sort of a choked singsong.

"No. It was custom among both our peoples that men and women were not to take one another to bed until the marriage night."

"You mean…you're a…?"

"Yes."

Cinderella erupted, almost violently, into laughter. Snow White huffed and turned away. She took up the rag that the cackling princess had tossed aside and began spot cleaning her own outfit. She had finished, and Cinderella was still chuckling under her breath.

"What's the big deal?" Snow demanded, throwing the rag down so that it hit the table with a dull thump.

Cinderella shook her head violently—her hair unmoving for she had already pulled it back up into its tight little bun.

"Nothing. It's just that for all your toughness, strength, and resilience…you're a virgin!" She laughed again. Then, after thinking a moment, she added, "I guess that makes sense, though."

And the matter was dropped. The two completed their packing in silence. Slinging their bags over their shoulders, they tipped the innkeeper and left to the stables to get their horses. As it turned out, Cinderella did have a horse. He was a beautiful, white stallion with a flowing mane and tail. The princess kissed his nose and murmured some loving baby talk at him before she mounted her saddle. Looking over at Snow White—who looked like she was about to be sick—she smiled sheepishly and said, "I'm glad I didn't end up stealing your horse. I would have missed Bunny too much."

"Bunny?" the other princess asked, disbelief and a tinge of loathing lurking in her voice.

"Isn't your horse named?"

Snow stared down at her large, black Belgium. Looking back up, she answered, "Yes. He was a gift from Rothgar. His name is in my prince's native tongue. I could never hope to pronounce it."

That seemed to satisfy the other. The two rode out of the stables, making their way slowly through the town. Snow flipped a coin to a beggar woman, who blessed her as she rode pass. Cinderella's eyes darted back and forth as if she were in a fever. She never met any of the street-goers in the eye. Snow smirked, wondering if the family of the man Charin's princess had killed the night before had started looking for the murderer yet.

Once safely out of the town, Cinderella seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. They stopped at a fork in the road near noon, and Snow turned to her companion.

"Where should we head to gather some more forces against my mothe—Malice?" she asked.

Cinderella seemed to be studying the signpost that stood before them. It was old, gnarled, and the words on the signs were only just readable. It looked as if it had been there for decades, and probably had.

"Well," she said, "we could go left to go to the Kingdom of Atlantis—that's a seaside kingdom—or we could go right and go to the Kingdom of Radishia."

Snow rolled her eyes. "Brilliant deduction, Cinderella. You're not your country's most intelligent spy, are you?"

She narrowed her eyes over at the black-haired princess. "Ha ha. By the way, just call me Cin. It's so much shorter."

"Fine, Cin. Now, which way do you want to go!"

Cin's lips parted, but before she could force an answer—sarcastic or other—out, a chorus of three tiny voices came up from the road leading to Radishia.

"Help! Help our mistress! Please! Please!"

Both princesses looked up the road, their eyes narrowed in confusion. At first, it seemed as if the voices just formed from the thin air. Then, as the cries grew closer—but none the louder—they could make out three tiny, glowing forms. Each one—which was each a different color—suggested that the beings were simply light given a small human form. They closed in upon Snow White and Cinderella, and now the two royal girls could see that the pink bodied one had little spurts of light coming out of its back. Looking closer at the green and blue ones, they could see the same. All three had the shapely forms of women with hair that flowed upward and to the sides of their head. Snow was sure that if they were to turn this instant and fly away their hair would flow beautifully behind them.

"What are you?" Cin asked.

She pulled on Bunny's reins, making the horse prance backwards away from the luminescent creatures. Snow looked up at her and sighed. However, she had turned her attention back to their guests when she replied, "They're fairies, Cin."

"Help us! Our mistress is being attacked!" they said in unison.

"I thought only the most powerful of magicians could summon fairies to be their familiars," Snow said, thoughtfully crossing her arms.

"That's true!" said the pink one, rather shrilly.

"Be kind to them, Lily!" commanded the blue one. "We need their help!"

"Then, why can't your mistress save herself?" Cinderella asked, picking up on Snow White's interrupted thought.

"The bear caught her off guard! She's very young in her magic! Please, just come and help!" the one named Lily all but shrieked.

"I guess we're going to Radishia," Snow murmured.

She swung herself up into her horse's saddle and whipped it into a run. Cin was right behind her, followed by the three fairies.

End Notes: And there you have it. Now, don't forget to tell me where you want that list. Or if you want it, for that matter. And sorry for the cliffy. You'll get to see what princess it is that gets saved…if you haven't figured that out already.