As the years went by, King Percival continued to fight alongside the crusaders, leaving his wife in complete control of the kingdom which unbeknownst to him, grew ever darker and colder during her reign. Poverty seized hold of the once thriving kingdom, starvation increased for the peasants as each season passed, they were all forced to give up every last coin to the queen's impossibly high taxes. But probably the most wretched of all was when the queen would occasionally order a young woman to be brought to the palace and she was then never seen or head from again. No one outside the castle knew whatever became of those poor women yet they were certain that their fates had not been pleasant.

However while the kingdom itself was shrouded in the ugly appearance of famine and poverty, the queen herself remained taut and flawless. Not a line marked her face. Not a single grey strand among her black mane. It was as though she had not aged since the royal wedding. Rotten to the core but the fairest of the fair. And she knew it.

She knew it because she had spent many times in front of her magic mirror, consulting with it, and asking the same question,

"Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"

And many times the mirror answered,

"It is you, Queen Desdemona. In all the land, there is no trace of anyone more fair of face."

This knowledge alone would have the queen feeling such contentment. A joy that she had never felt with anything or anyone. Not even with her own child.

Speaking of which, her daughter and her stepdaughter had both blossomed into two charming young women. Of course that was no surprise given that they were solely raised by the wise and good Dolores. And seeing what the children had grown to be, filled her with her heart with great pride.

Vagatha was now quite the captivating woman, with her rich olive skin tone, hazel eyes which were identical to her late father's, cinnamon colored hair, and lips that could shame the most crimson of roses. Those who lived within the forest for years would say that she was the spitting image of her grandmother's youthful form and that her mother had been wrong to ever think that she would be homely for she was not in the least. And behind her attractive features there was a strong-will, a cunning mind, and an unsway-able sense of honor and loyalty. However she had also grown to be very snarky, cynical, and difficult to gain the trust of. She had also developed a hatred toward predatory beasts and over the years she had trained herself to become the best hunter in the entire Black Forest, determined to protect her small family by any means necessary.

Charlotte had grown up to be blessed with beauty as innocent and enchanting as she was. Long marigold tresses that trailed down her back, delicate blue eyes that could soften one's heart if you looked deeply into them, cheeks with a tint of raspberry, and skin as radiant and white as the freshly fallen snow. Her stepmother's attempt to spoil her loveliness with heavy toil had failed, rags could not hide her gentle grace and with her incredible beauty there came a sweet disposition, a pious faith, and a loving heart. There was no creature she would deny compassion to, no help she would not lend to someone in need, no pain she would not try to ease. But kindness was not her only strength for she had also made herself an educated woman, knowing that she would one day ascend the throne she made certain that she would read and learn everything there was to know about the kingdom. She obtained her knowledge through books which she would purchase with money given to her by grateful residents of the forest whom she had aided and although she would protest once the money was offered, her fellow neighbors insisted.

It was almost like magic, how so many could be effected by this one woman. Dolores brought her up as a second grandchild, Vagatha loved her as a sister, their neighbors adored her almost instantly, and it wasn't just people, the animals favored her as well. Predators did her no harm and prey did not run from her in fear. It raised a few questions but no one would dwell on them for long.

She had successfully managed to turn a difficult situation to her advantage. Labor and humble living had strengthened her instead of weakened and through it all she remained ever gentle and kind. Never stopped dreaming or hoping that there was a rainbow even on the stormiest of days.

Dolores was pleased that Charlotte found happiness in her care but that fact also worried her. Charlotte was such a lovely princess and this made the old woman fear that this fact could someday inspire her own daughter to do the girl harm. But as long Desdemona continued to be the fairest beauty in the kingdom, Charlotte was safe from her stepmother's cruel jealousy.

"Good morning." Charlotte greeted a group of birds who were perched on the well that was just a little ways from the cottage. "Would you all like some breakfast?"

She took a handful of grain and dried corn from her apron pocket and threw it out on to the ground. The birds fluttered down from the well and began to eat their fill. After that, each of them gave her a little peck-like kiss to show gratitude for their morning meal.

"You're welcome." She giggled. "I don't like to waste food so I figure why not share what we have too much of?"

After feeding her friends, she began her usual chore of fetching water from the well. She had just lowered the bucket down below when one of the birds, the nightingale, began to chirp a sweet melody. Charlotte smiled, she thought that Nightingales always did have the most perfect songs and she loved listening to them in the early morning. Sometimes she would become so awestruck by the bird's tune that she would find herself thoughtlessly singing.

"Lavender's blue, dilly-dilly,

Lavender's green.

When you are king, dilly-dilly,

I'll be your queen.

Who told me so? Dilly-dilly,

Who told me so?

Twas mine own heart, dilly-dilly,

That told me so."

According to her father, it had been her mother's favorite song and throughout their marriage, he loved it when she would serenade him with it because her voice was said to be the music of Heaven itself. A beautiful voice who's equal was quite rare. Rare yet not non-existent for her daughter's voice was the exact same. However unlike Evangeline, Charlotte was very shy about expressing her vocal talents so she would only sing when she was certain that she was alone.

"If your dilly-dilly heart, feels a dilly-dilly way,

And if you'll answer yes.

In a pretty little church,

On a dilly-dilly day.

I'll be wed in a dilly-dilly dress of...

Lavender's green, dilly-dilly,

Lavender's blue.

You must love me, dilly-dilly,

For I love you."

But today someone in the forest heard her song. Someone who had never heard anything more beautiful and found his heart deeply touched by her singing. He followed the song with the stealth of a cat and when he finally beheld the owner of the voice he wasn't surprised at all. He only smiled mischievously and slowly crept up behind her.

"Now we shall dance, dilly-dilly,

Now we shall sing.

Cause I am queen, dilly-dilly,

And you're my king."

"Lovely. Simply lovely."

"Ahh!"

Charlotte screamed, turned bright red in the face, and dropped her bucket upon discovering that she was not alone. Looking behind herself, she found a sight that made her speechless. An extremely tall and scarlet-hair covered figure bearing claws, fangs, antlers, but an almost human face. A frightening appearance but it was not his features that scared her. It was her life-long fear that she had embarrassed herself again.

"Alastor you know I hate it when you sneak up on me." She said after taking five minutes to regain her ability to speak.

"My apologies, but I assumed that if I had made my presence known that you would have not finished your song." He said in his usual courteous tone.

"You're right. I wouldn't have."

"Why ever not? If you ask me you've committed a great sin by not allowing anyone to hear your beautiful singing."

"I'm..." She was still blushing. "I'm a little shy...I prefer to keep it private and...And...Why are you here anyway? I thought you'd be away hunting."

"And miss today of all days?"

She looked at him confused, then he produced something from his coat pocket that was wrapped in an old rag.

"Happy Birthday."

Her anger and bashfulness instantly transformed into great joy.

"You remembered." She smiled taking the gift from his hands.

"Sorry it's wrapped so poorly but I'm afraid it's the best I could do."

"That's alright. You know appearances have never meant very much to me. So what did you get me? A new book? Some flowers perhaps?"

"Well open it up and see."

She did as he told her and what lay beneath that rag was a glistening diamond about the size of a strawberry. Charlotte was beyond shocked and awed.

"Where in the world did you get this?"

"I pocketed it from when Blitzo tried to get me into mining again. Forces me to dig in that wretched underground hovel for six hours and he expects me to give him everything I dig up? I think not."

"But Alastor I can't accept this. You should keep it for yourself. Sell it so you can maybe buy yourself a proper education."

"Sorry Charlotte, I promised Millie that I would never use their diamonds for selfish reasons. If you don't take it, I'll be breaking that promise."

She chuckled softly, her smile grew bigger, and the stunning girl threw her arms around him.

"Thank you so much."

Alastor held her so very close when he embraced her, his grin of mischief turning to one of joy as he revealed in the feel of having her so close to him. Poor fellow had been desperately in love with Charlotte from the very moment she offered friendship to him. Though intrigued by her beauty, it was her kindness and spirit that had bewitched his heart. However he dare not breathe one word of what he truly felt for her because you see he believed that he was far too hideous and she was far too beautiful for either one of them to be anything more than friends.

"Will you join us for breakfast?" She asked him.

"No. I can only make a quick visit now. I have somethings I have to take care of but I will come by for dinner if I'm invited."

"Of course. See you tonight."

They bid farewell to one another and she happily returned to the cottage while admiring her birthday present.