A/N Last Guest who commented… something about squealing and weird looks? I totally understand because that's what I do when I read a really good one! So nice to know I'm not alone in that… anyway thank you for the review and the HUGE compliment! And away we go…
Everyone's POV
Sabrina looked in a mixture of awe and appallment at the beautiful fey dancing in midair as if they were on solid ground. The ballroom's ceiling was enchanted like Puck's room, reflecting the sky on the marble floor so it looked like if they took a step they would fall off into the night. The moon and starlight lit the room, illuminating the glow of the fairies and their sparkling wings, the only sources of light as far as Sabrina could tell. But it was enough. It was magic and wonder and… oh yeah, she didn't have wings.
Puck rolled his eyes at his companion, and a fairy dressed in a crisp white suit that matched his smile announced them.
"The Crown Prince, Puck the Trickster King, and his girlfriend, Sabrina Grimm, Queen of Sneaks." Sabrina's jaw dropped open.
"Um, Mr. Announcer, I'm not Puck's girlfriend, so could you just make a quick announcement about that?" Sabrina asked this sweetly, but accompanied this with her attempt to punch Puck, who was laughing so hard tears were coming out of his eyes.
"Girlfriend… Queen of Sneaks…Man, I am good." By this point Puck was doubled over, and the pair was getting stares from around the ballroom. Fey gracefully touched down on the ground to introduce themselves to Sabrina and welcome their crown prince back with knowing smiles.
The first to reach them was another fairy boy. He was almost as tall as Puck and had auburn hair and light blue eyes.
"Hey, Sabrina. Or, if you would like, Queen of Sneaks. I'm Aaron, by the way. Puck's best friend for the last 3,000 years, give or take a few."
Sabrina's mouth parted in surprise. "Hi, it's uh, nice to meet you. I don't think I'm ever going to get used to the idea of Puck being born before… well, just being that old, I guess. Oh, and Sabrina is fine," she said, shooting a glare at Puck for the last part.
Aaron chuckled, looking between Puck's smug smirk and Sabrina's pink tinged cheeks in amusement.
"Well, Puck, good luck with your mother. And even more, Moth. She's already having a major meltdown in the bathroom, refused to see your entrance with, and I quote, your ugly, fat, disgustingly human fiancee thief." His ice blue eyes swung towards Sabrina in appreciation. "She's going to be even more furious when she finds out you are neither ugly nor fat. I've got to hand it to you Puck, she's gorgeous. Prettier than Moth, even." he said with a conspiratory wink, and Sabrina flushed even more. "You know, fairies don't do that. Blush. It's cute. I'll catch up with you two later."
As Aaron walked off towards a group of beautiful girls waving to him, Puck slung his arm around Sabrina.
"So, Garbage-Breath, time to meet mother dearest. That is, if we can find her."
"Puck…" Sabrina started, looking out into the atmospheric room with a faraway look in her eyes that confused Puck.
"What is it Bri- Grimm? Spit it out I haven't got all day."
"Never mind." Sabrina shrugged his arm off of her shoulders and started to walk toward the center of the room, her reflection beneath her floating among the stars.
Puck reached forward and grabbed her arm, spinning her tightly into him. Sabrina caught her breath and looked up into his eyes. His scent enveloped her, and she could feel each muscle in Puck's chest against her back hard and unforgiving.
"What were you going to ask me, Sabrina?" Puck asked, green eyes dark and imploring as he ducked his head to whisper his question against her hair.
"Puck… people are watching…" Sabrina said softly, trying to concentrate on something besides their close proximity.
"Let them watch. I asked you a questions Brina, and usually people who get asked questions answer. At least people with half a brain." Puck taunted, one arm encircling her waist as the other held her hands together at her stomach.
"Are you saying I don't have a brain, Puck?" Sabrina bristled in a half-hearted attempt to maintain a healthy level of anger towards the fairy boy.
"Oh Grimm, I've been saying that for a while now. It's kind of sad to see that it's only getting through that thick skull of yours now." Puck couldn't help himself. The captivating, witty, beautiful blonde was at a loss for words, her face flushed and eyes sparkling, and the Trickster King reveled in knowing he was the reason for it.
"Robin. So I assume this is Sabrina Grimm. The girl responsible for breaking the marriage contract I spent so much time and effort creating so that it couldn't be broken. I never assumed you would reach the maturity level it takes to fall in love, my fault of course. I am Queen Titania, my dear. Such a pleasure to meet you." Puck let Sabrina go at the sound of a commanding, female voice coming from behind them. Sabrina whirled around to face someone befitting of the title of 'Queen' more than 'Mother.'
Titania was a regal woman, slim and elegant in a gold dress made of a shimmering material Sabrina had never seen before. She had Puck's dirty blond hair, but hers was straight and perfectly coiffed, not to mention topped with a gleaming gold crown set with sapphires and crystals. She was beautiful and sharp, her honey brown eyes hinting of intelligence. She wholly intimidated Sabrina.
"Mother, you are right, as always. Well, except for the whole 'Puck you're getting married and there is nothing you can do about it' thing. But yeah, you're right. This is Grimm."
Sabrina cleared her suddenly dry throat. "It's nice to meet you, Queen Titania. You have an exquisite home."
"Thank you, my dear. At least one of the future rulers of Fey has manners."
"Well, um, see, Puck and I… well, we- I mean to say that- what are you doing?" Sabrina finally asked. Titania was walking slowly around Sabrina and Puck. Puck looked bored,like he been through her scrutiny a thousand times before, which he had. Sabrina, though, was fidgety and unable to finish a complete thought while feeling like she was being circled by a hawk. Albeit, a beautiful hawk, but still appraising her like a piece of meat.
"Well, my dear, you and my son are a good height for each other, and you are proportionate to him and as an individual, all good things. Your face is symmetrical, and your eyes are a lovely shade of blue. And that hair! Well, you are certainly beautiful enough for my son, I can see how he would have fallen for your physical appearance. My grandchildren will be very good looking, an important thing since one of them will be the future King or Queen. Yes, you'll do nicely, if not my first choice."
Throughout this overview of Sabrina's exterior, the girl in question felt like she would scream if Titania kept talking about her like a doll instead of a person.
"Look, I get that you might have made marriages based on physical appearance or whatever 4,000 years ago, but we just proved that it's not going to work to marry your son off to someone with a contract based on looks and social standing alone. True love broke it anyways, and you can't decide who you fall for. If I was hideous, the contract would still be broken. If Puck is in love with me, it's not because I'm proportionate or have nice eyes. It's because of who I am, my personality, the way I think. And I am not having children right now, or taking over Fey, or doing any of that, not when I'm fifteen and not finished with high school. Your majesty."
Puck's eyes had grown wider and wider as Sabrina told his mother off. He was thinking of his mother's spiel about futures and growing up to lead the land asking and produce an attractive heir. In all his 4,000 something years of living, sure he had acted out and complained and pulled pranks on people to avoid taking his responsibility as King of Fey- and Moth's husband, but he had never done what Sabrina was doing in the first ten minutes of meeting his mother. Standing up for herself and telling the Queen of Fey the honest truth. And Puck really loved the fact that it was his girlfriend doing it, even if she didn't want to admit to being his girlfriend.
In reality, she was right. If Sabrina was ugly, Puck knew he would still think she was beautiful. She's Sabrina Grimm, and she is perfect to Puck. The real test was Titania.
"Well." The Queen smiled at Sabrina, a real smile as opposed to the tight-lipped, cold upturn of lips that she had initially showed the teenaged Everafter. "You are meant to be a Queen, my dear. Queens don't kiss up to people because they think it will help them get ahead. Your coronation as the Crown Princess will be scheduled for the night after tomorrow. It was a pleasure speaking with you, and I am glad you will one day be family. Now, if you'll excuse me. I have many important elbows to be brushing." Leaving with a conspiratorial wink, the Queen swept herself off to the next person she had to speak with.
"What just happened?" Sabrina asked Puck.
"I think you just won over my mother, Brina. And apparently you will be crowned princess the night after tomorrow. Which means the contract will be signed tomorrow night, twenty-four hours before the ceremony." Puck's mind was racing. How had Sabrina…? Well, she was a Grimm. He should have known she and his mother would get along.
"Puck, what contract? What ceremony? Why is this all happening so fast?" Sabrina was actually panicking.
"Calm down, frog-lips. The contract is our new marriage contract and the promise that we will one day produce an heir. Together." Puck wrinkled his nose in faux disgust. "They had better give us at least a thousand years. Procrastination is key."
"Puck!" Sabrina said, stomping her foot. "Quit it! I am not signing over my life tomorrow night! No way, no how. I need to use the restroom."
Sabrina took off towards the nearest restroom in an angry gold and blue swirl. Puck shook his head, a smirk plastered on his face. She was going to sign it. She would have to. It's her fault the first one didn't work, after all. You can't take a fairy's heart and expect to get away with it.
Sabrina was running towards the bathroom, tears already starting to form. How could her life take this turn? She just wanted to go back to high school, forget about some contract marriage and some ceremony that was supposed to change her life forever. She needed her parents back, awake and with her.
Opening the stained glass door to the bathroom, Sabrina went to the sink made of tree branches and flowers and looked straight into the mirror at her tear-blurred eyes. She could hardly recognize this person looking back at her. Beautiful, yes. She really looked like a fairy. But the thing is, she isn't a fairy. She is Sabrina Grimm. An Everafter, and a detective, and a girl who misses her parents and is falling for a boy she knows comes with more baggage than the entire proverbial airplane can hold.
"So. The Great Sabrina Grimm. I was wondering when I was going to meet you. Unfortunately your looks don't match your awful personality."
Sabrina turned around, wiping her tears from her eyes quickly. A girl around her age with black hair falling straight to her waist, long curling eyelashes, and purple wings stared back at her.
"Who are you?" Sabrina asked cautiously, the detective in her reminding her that it's weird for a stranger to know your name, even in another land.
"I'm just the girl you robbed. My future crown, you know. Puck was mine, you feckless human! I don't care if you're in 'love.' I should be the Crowned Princess, and eventual Queen, not some Everafter from the human world, for Fey's sake! You don't deserve it." The girl was pretty, but her features were sharp, twisting cruelly with her spiteful words.
Sabrina squared her shoulders and fisted her hands. No way she was going to let this spiteful, truly evil fairy talk to her that way. She was a Grimm, and Moth was a murderer. "So you're Moth. I didn't steal anything, and for all I care, you can have the crown. Except, I think that even a human turned Everafter would be a better candidate for Queen than a murderer. Wouldn't you agree?"
"You stuck-up New York bitch! You know nothing of Fey! I'm going to win Puck's heart, and through it the Crown. You can try to stop me, detective, but all's fair in love and war. And I never lose." With that, Moth stomped off haughtily, her lilac gown trailing behind her.
"Mean girls in every high school, mean girls in every land," Sabrina mumbled under her breath, not having enough energy to be truly angry that some stuck up murderer had called her a bitch and was walking freely down the halls of the palace. Everything in her life was so upside-down already, she just wanted to forget about it.
The blonde turned as the bathroom door opened once again, hoping it wasn't Moth coming back for another round. It wasn't. It was one of Queen Titania's handmaidens, a petite brunette. "Excuse me Miss, but the Queen has requested your presence in her private chambers for a moment."
Sabrina sighed and allowed the handmaiden to lead her through the castle to the Queen. As she passed through long halls with tapestries and rugs that seemed to stretch on forever, Sabrina thought that though Puck might have lived a life of royalty, her parents had always been one door away, in case of bad dreams, or if she or Daph were sick, and for Christmas mornings. Puck must have been lonely, his parents being on the opposite side of a beautiful, but cold castle, endless hallways and seasoned guards stationed between them.
At last we made it to a grand set of double doors, which Sabrina deduced was the Queen's private chambers.
The moment the pair made it through the formidable entrance, the brunette curtsied gracefully and left Sabrina with the Queen, closing the doors behind the two.
The Queen stood before her, and Sabrina suddenly felt the urge to curtsy.
"Hello, Sabrina Grimm." The Queen smiled radiantly, but Sabrina could see that there was a weariness to her, an exhaustion not from just one night without sleep, but many. Sabrina knew this well, as she didn't sleep for months when her parents went 'missing.'
"Hi, um, Your Majesty…" Sabrina said, not quite sure what to say.
"Titania is fine, my dear. We are to be family one day, hopefully sooner rather than later."
Sabrina shifted nervously at that thought. She didn't want her life planned out for her already, she wanted choice. Not that she wouldn't pick Puck… She just didn't like the idea of being confined to a life in this Palace with a job/position of Queen when a few months ago she had been playing with ideas of what she wanted to major in for college. Now Sabrina wasn't even sure if college was on the table, and her stomach clenched at the idea. Veronica Grimm had always had high expectations when it came to her girls' academics.
"Sabrina, we should go over some specifics. If I have been informed correctly, you didn't have much of a choice in this matter, and when you become Queen, you have to want it."
Sabrina visibly relaxed a bit. "What do I have a choice in? And how do I… I mean if you don't die, since you're an Everafter, too, then why can't you just be Queen?"
Titania's mouth turned up at the corners. "So fresh-faced. I'm glad Puck has found you. He needs a balance, a force that's just as much of a presence as he is. You are, my dear. I made a grave mistake with Moth. I knew she was a bit of a suck-up, but I thought I could control her. I needed to know that sometime in the future, Puck would have to take responsibility. And Moth's family are powerful, so I drew up the contract and everyone consented." Titania looked sad, almost depressed. "My selfish desire to know Puck would grow up cost me my husband."
Sabrina's mouth parted, surprised at how open Titania was being with her. The blonde stretched her hand out to Titania, grasping the Queen's hand tightly.
"I know how hard it is to lose someone and not be able to do anything about it. I'm glad you are telling me this, though it must be painful. Do not feel pressured to continue if it hurts too much." Sabrina looked into Titania's brown eyes with nothing but compassion.
Titania's eyes saddened even more. "That's very sweet of you. It hurts everyday, but I have made my peace with it. I am just glad my son will not be marrying his father's assassin. I know you're parents are under the Sleeping Curse. I can undo it, as the Queen of Fey, and as a stipulation of the new contract we will draw up. I was actually hoping to feel you out a bit on what you would like to come out of it. So, any requests?"
Sabrina bit her lip, overjoyed that her parents could be revived! She would, of course, have to be Queen of Fey one day if she wanted her parents back, but she knew she would gladly give her life to give Daph back her parents. "Thank you so much! This is the best news I have gotten!"
Titania smiled. "Yes, I'm glad as well. But you must think of your requests tonight, and any you already knew would be greatly appreciated."
The blonde tilted her head. "Well, I know I want time. And I want to grow up more with Daph and my parents, Granny Relda, even Mr. Canis. I like my new life in Ferryport. I don't think I could go back to New York after everything that has happened."
Titania nodded. "I can give you only five-hundred years, I'm afraid. After that, all of Fey will be accustomed to the idea of you and my son, and hopefully you will have grown warmer t the idea of ruling. I am sorry I can't give you more time than that, but even that amount is pushing it, as Puck and Moth were to be wed this very year."
Sabrina's eyes bulged. Titania was throwing centuries around like years! "Five-hundred years is enough, thank you."
"Good. During that time, you can finish your schooling in Ferryport and go anywhere you would like. Puck will stay with you to build a friendship. Trust is the basis of any true love, and I don't think you trust enough in each other as of now. You will have to return to the Palace a few times each year, for Puck's birthday as well as my own, and for the Winter and Summer Solstices. Your family is welcome to join. Is there anything else?"
Sabrina's head was whirling, and relief was welcome. She might be able to do this after all! "Well, when I do rule I would like my family to be able to come whenever they please, and live here if they want to."
Titania smiled. "A reasonable request. We will also send a scholar with you to tutor you for two hours each Saturday and to keep an eye on you at school. Anything else?"
Sabrina's smile was blinding. "That's all I can think of. I'm so grateful to you for making this something I could see myself enjoying, instead of the torture I was imagining."
"Dear, your contract is pebbles compared to Moth's. It's almost as if I am taking advantage."
"So I will see you tomorrow to complete it?"
"Yes. Thank you for being such a dream. Get some rest now, my dear. We want you alert for tomorrow's proceedings, yes?"
Sabrina curtsied awkwardly and hurried out the door. For the first time since she laid eyes on Moth's contract burning, she felt light and hopeful.
A/N I know this was a bit low on the Puckabrina, but hopefully next chapter there will be more. If you like it, review please.