A/n: So I've been watching a lot of British TV shows lately and I've discovered some useful research information for this fic…
Did you know that in olden times the greedy royalty was able to quiet revolts from the oppressed people by spreading the superstitious rumor that the land would die if the monarchy were overthrown? There is whole concept of being better than others just because of their blood, and that how only certain noble jobs can be accomplished by people of a certain heritage! This is useful information to me because it helps me get ideas on how to write about the Royals and their beliefs. I suspect that if this were a more in-depth older person show and not a kid's show they'd be showing Royal values similar to the British class system.
It makes more sense for Apple to be so tied up about everyone following their inherited duties if she had this class-is-everything-good-in-life mentality (only in a nicer way than what is mostly depicted of the British aristocracy), other ways of doing things is completely foreign to her, she has so much faith in the system and in the looming threat of disappearing completely.
It's really stressful and terrifying to her for the whole Rebel thing to exist, and she is only human (and I mean that in a- she's not an all round flawless princess god or something- sense) so after a very stressful week she'd be more likely to do something rash to save her worldview.
I haven't gotten that far yet but I can tell it's going to be an interesting thing to write about what happens when she finds out that it's all been one big lie… maybe for this fic I'll have the whole reason for the Book of Legends to exist be about something frivolous like the ancestors attempting to uphold their power over the people and over the generations it got out of hand.
And Faybelle seems like the manipulative type, it would be just like her to keep riling Apple up just to see how much of a threat she is to her goals (since Apple has a lot of influence on Raven's day-to-day life) this could play into Apple's reaction to when she finds out everything she believes in has been a lie.
But I'm not that far yet so we'll just have to see.
XXX
"Cutest unusual pet?" Raven muttered darkly as she looked at her first place prize ribbon in her (non-animal) hand. "That wasn't even listed as a prize! And I wasn't nearly as unusual as some of those real pets…" The witch continued to mutter under her breath as she sat on Faybelle's bed.
Faybelle smirked looking up from reading the books on witch and fairy law she had checked out of the library earlier that morning, to glance up to her note board and at the two pinned coupons she had been given as her reward for winning the competition. One was a week of free meals at one of the fancier restaurants in the village and the other was a voucher to get twenty percent off of animal food for an entire year at a local supplier (she intended to give the latter to Rosabella in exchange for a future favor).
"What were you fighting about with Apple?" Raven asked out of the blue.
"Hmm?" Faybelle hummed not turning around. "I was taking pity on you, those reports you gave me made me more spiteful than usual."
"How so? From the judging stage I could see you and her in the center of a crowed, she looked really angry." Raven commented uneasily.
"I told her that it wasn't honorable for her to condone letting them give you prizes you don't want, for a competition you never signed up for." Faybelle told the witch easily. "She didn't like that much, she's under the impression that she can bribe you or trick you into becoming the perfect evil little pet she had always wanted you to be."
Faybelle heard Raven sigh heavily. "Did… was she worried about me?"
"All I heard was her ranting on about your supposed destiny as her villain." Faybelle said honestly, the fairy could practically feel the witch slump in disappointment. It was odd; she would've thought that Raven would be more… protesting to Faybelle making Apple out to be a control freak (and the princess was a control freak in the fairy's opinion) that was treating Raven like some sort of exotic pet.
"Why are you so concerned about how she feels about you, or about the things she wants, even after all the grief she's given you?" Faybelle asked with a shake of her head as she twisted around to look at the witch. "You almost sound like you're in love with her or something."
Raven blushed looking down.
"Ah." Faybelle said with a grimace. "That would explain a few things… don't you do anything the easy way?"
"I try but it doesn't always work out that way." The witch shrugged sadly still looking down.
"Hey Raven, do you suppose the Headmaster would let me win back all of the trophies for the villain contest if I said that I had turned you into a cat for the weekend?" Faybelle mused, partially to distract her from the melancholy air the witch was giving off.
"Probably not." Raven shook her head. "When he saw my name on the sign up sheet he had gotten so excited that he called me into his office to congratulate me. I think I hurt his feelings when I told him that I never signed up for anything and that I didn't want to participate."
"What a big baby." Faybelle sneered, now admitting to herself that Raven going into hiding wasn't as much as a cowardly thing to have done. "I'm pretty sure he just broke a bunch of his own rules by not letting you drop out and staging the competition."
Raven rolled her eyes in agreement. "He's really determined to make me out to be the unsporting bad guy and I don't want you to get into trouble too, not when you are freeing me of my title… and being so helpful with hiding me from the competition."
"Don't worry so much about me." Faybelle sniffed. "It doesn't matter if I get into trouble, as long we can do this in a way that makes you look like the helpless maiden who made a deal to save herself from winning a prize dishonorably, and I turn out looking like a proper Evil Fairy and Evil Queen. Think of it as propaganda, if people put my worth for obtaining both titles into question then all I have to do is refer to this competition to get them to shut up."
Raven hesitated. "Well I guess if you think that it's for your best interests in the long run…"
Faybelle's phone chimed indicating a call.
"That should be my cousin, the one I told you about? With news on whether or not we can do this quietly." Faybelle informed picking up her phone.
Raven got off the bed to peer over Faybelle's shoulder.
Charlotte's grey eyes blinked at the sight before her. "Greeting's cousin, and cousin's lovely guest." The platinum blonde witch smirked in amusement at the two.
Faybelle rolled her eyes. "Charlotte meet Raven, Raven meet my cousin Charlotte, now can we get down to business?" The fairy waived her hand impatiently.
"Eager are we?" Charlotte teased her darkly tanned hands reaching for something off screen before coming back with a heavy book and a mirrorpad. "You're lucky that there's an entire shelf devoted to the laws of titles and more than a few helpful books devoted solely to the transfer of them." The witch commented.
"So you were able to find something?" Faybelle asked leaning forward slightly.
"Quite a bit." Charlotte nodded. "But before I begin… Raven Queen, are you sure that you want to keep all of this under the radar for now?"
Raven cleared her throat nervously, her heart pounding in her chest. "Well the Headmaster here probably won't be too pleased with this and Apple, she's the future Snow White, would throw a fit if she knew I was even thinking about this. They'd both would try to put a stop to this before we even have a change to go through with it…" The witch paused before looking worriedly to the side, in the direction of Faybelle's mirror. "Plus there's the risk of my mother finding out…"
Charlotte stiffened, her attitude turning serious. "I thought that the Evil Queen had been imprisoned somewhere secret by Headmaster Grimm." The blonde witch stated her expression tight.
"Raven's been sensing the Evil Queen's presence watching her through the mirrors." Faybelle informed. "A simple privacy spell seems to be stopping it and we can't be sure that it is the Evil Queen… but there is a definite possibility that someone is watching her."
"So we want to go with the super secret stealth option." Charlotte nodded opening the book in front of her and searching the table of contents.
"There are a few options… but not many of them might be possible for your situation… how do you two feel about an old fashioned magic duel? Only instead of fighting on equal ground Raven Queen throws it after a few minutes."
"There is no way anybody in the Royal faction here will accept that as legitimate." Raven shook her head. "Besides my magic doesn't always work right so it wouldn't be much of a show."
Charlotte looked up her brows furrowed. "Doesn't always work right? How do you mean? Like just generally or do you have trouble with spells and potions?"
"All of the above?" Raven shrugged helplessly. "Well it's mostly when I try to do something that wouldn't fit under evil spells or intentions, I try to… like say heat up a cup of coffee to a certain temperature with a worded spell, and instead of heating it up the liquid inside my mug sets itself on fire or the mug disintegrates, no matter how well I pronounce the words it always turns out badly. I've been told that it's because I'm supposed to be evil… so I don't use my magic all that often."
Charlotte shook her head. "I'd suggest that you no longer associate with those people who've been telling you that ridiculous lie." The witch told the other firmly. "In fact it's probably best that you steer clear of them all together because magic by itself doesn't have any preference for good or for evil, you power up, speak your spell, and your magic should weave itself to work to your intentions."
"How long has this been going on?" Faybelle asks Raven from over her shoulder.
Raven scratches her head. "Sometime after… Wonderland was poisoned…?" the witch bites her lip.
"Kingdoms." Faybelle swore. "That long? And no one thought to bring you to a healer? What were you raised by humans or something?" The fairy spat.
"They did the best they could raising me." Raven defended tightly. "But there were a lot of threats on my life so they kept me hidden."
Faybelle rubbed her temples. "Right. On Monday morning you had better report to the Healer's office, ask for Phalange, she has the personality of a lizard but at least she cares more about the student's health opposed to the Royal-Rebel conflict."
Raven nodded reluctantly, feeling a little… she wasn't sure how to feel, surely if there was something obviously wrong with her magic somebody would have clued in to it… unless nobody noticed? Or didn't believe her when she said it was an accident?
But why not tell her or confront her about it?
"Cousin, is there anything in that book that will help us transfer the title and stop all outside opposition from legally being able to stop it?" Faybelle nearly begged, the more she found out about Raven Queen's past and current situations the more alarmed she became at the sheer amount of people willing to go great lengths to ensure that the witch was used for their own agendas.
Faybelle needed to be the one with the agenda that won over all the others, to gain the title of Evil Queen and restore her mother's honor. Whether or not she was aiding an outsider to her family was of little professional consequence, though sticking one to the Evil Queen through her own daughter, by helping Raven break free of her destiny… that was going to be a revenge sweeter than a nectar from the gods.
Now that her goal was in her sights Faybelle was willing to do anything to succeed, and she suspected that Raven felt the same, giving the fairy a leg up over the others.
Charlotte visibly hesitated.
"Come on Charlotte, out with it." Faybelle prompted. "I highly doubt that whatever you've found will be enough to completely shock us into a faint."
"What if I told you that she'd have to become your blushing bride cousin dear?" Charlotte asked primly clearing her throat.
Faybelle and Raven stared at the witch on the phone's screen for what seemed like an eternity.
"What?" Raven asked her voice two or three octaves higher than normal.
"Well…" Faybelle licks her lips. "At least it isn't an exchanging of a blood sacrifice, or something involving one of those ancient stone burial mounds."
"What?" Raven asks again panic rising.
"I've heard about some real freaky dinky things that happen in one of those burial mounds." Faybelle shrugged. "While I'm not hexactly happy… it is a far better option than what I had feared it would be…"
"Your okay with this?" Raven asks outraged.
"Would you rather strip down, cover your entire self with the ashes of the dearly departed, paint magic symbols on your naked body with animal blood, and then spend three days and three nights in a drug induced haze inside a damp hollow mound of stacked rocks and grassy dirt filled with the skeletons of the ancestors, doing who knows what with each other?" Faybelle asks as she turns to the witch beside her. "And that's not even the weirdest part of the full ritual."
"Actually that exact same ritual does legally apply." Charlotte commented. "The only thing is that the drugs that used to be used is kinda totally illegal now and as a necessity for your protection and verification that the ritual happened you will have to be monitored, meaning that there will be a video file out their of the two of you doing things that you probably would prefer no one knew had happened."
"I need to sit down." Raven declared moving to the bed.
"Perhaps I spoke too soon about the fainting thing…" Faybelle admitted as she watched Raven flop down onto her mattress.
"It'll only be a token marriage, after the fairytale stories have finished you two can either go your separate ways or, if you become so inclined, can stay married if you decide to stay together." Charlotte assured. "But there are some extra rituals that the both of you will have to go through. Nothing as dramatic as a wild night in a bone-filled tomb, the most that will happen is that Raven Queen will have to chop off a decent amount of her hair and wear our family's crest for all to see… unless she's allergic to the plants used to make the special henna tattoo paste used for extended ceremonies."
"Magical henna tattoo paste?" Raven asked faintly.
"It won't be permanent, it's just a skin stain that'll be spelled to last the duration of your marriage." The other witch assured.
"Perhaps you should walk us through from the beginning." Faybelle suggested.
Charlotte nodded flipping a page and leaning forward to read, a tan finger moving down the rows of letters as she read. "It's a ritual designed to forgive a family name of their dishonor, the stipulation being that they must give up their title to an outside honorable family through token marriage. It takes about six rituals to complete which makes it perfect for you because they can extend the time between each ritual if needed, and as long as you can get away with wearing long sleeves and gloves, no one will really suspect that anything is up until the last two of the rituals, by that time it would be very difficult for anybody from the outside to stop the completion of the marriage through the sixth ritual."
Charlotte leaned to the side in order to pick out a smaller book, opening it and turning it over so that her audience could see diagrams of where the henna designs would go.
"As you can see, nearly the entire body of the bride will become covered by the end of it all, but the designs done to the neck, hands, and face will be the last to be done in the final three rituals. Designs leading from the arms to the shoulders will be first, then legs to up along her sides, the back and front, that will be the point where her hair needs to be cut and full rights to the title will have successfully been transferred, but to restore Raven's honor she will then have her hands done, followed by her neck, and part of her face, then finally the final detailing will be done on her face and all over her body in the traditional symbols of the family she's married into." Charlotte explained pointing areas out as she went.
"Just me getting the tattoos?" Raven sighed, sounding nearly defeated. "Not Faybelle?"
"Faybelle's hands and feet will be done up the first two rituals, the rest of the time she will be helping preform the ceremonies as your official spouse and Lady laying her claim on you." Charlotte explained.
Raven lay back on the bed and took calming deep breaths. "Just a token marriage right? Afterword I can leave with my newly restored honor if I want with no strings attached?"
"Yes." Charlotte nodded even though only Faybelle could see her at the moment.
"And there is no other decent option?" Faybelle asked.
"Not unless you want to run the risk of someone being able to legally oppose you." The fairy's cousin shook her head.
"Raven bride of the Thorns… sounds downright medieval." Faybelle muttered as they all lapsed into silence.
After a very long while Raven stirred, turning to lay on her side in the fetal position as she eyed Faybelle. "I'm out of options…" She whispered.
The fairy met her gaze, an unspoken mutual understanding passed between them. "Yes you are." Faybelle agreed.
"It is possible for me to fight this by being a Rebel but… I can't pass this up… without this there is no guarantee…" Raven trailed off.
"As if Apple or the Headmaster wouldn't panic and do something drastic as graduation nears." Faybelle snorted.
"…And you want the title, would be a far better Evil Queen than I ever would." Raven pointed a finger at Faybelle.
"Starting with the endearing flattery already I see." The fairy grinned, all sharp teeth and a primal gleam in her eye.
Raven ignored her despite the fairy reminding her with that expression that Faybelle's species of fairy had descended from a carnivorous variety, and had once looked far less humanoid and much more like a two legged creature that was all wings, claws, and teeth.
"And Apple… she can have a concrete assurance for a happily ever after." Raven swallowed closing her eyes. "Once all is said and done… she won't be worrying herself sick trying to get me to become anything, she can be certain that she won't disappear, she can breathe easier."
Faybelle regarded the witch for a moment, mind working. "You think that once I have your title she won't be worried about you disappearing anymore?" Faybelle asked carefully, trying to feel out the meaning behind the witch's words and wondering if it would become necessary for her to begin putting a figurative wedge between Raven and Apple, and whatever kind of relationship they already had.
Raven's half lidded eyed gazed at the floor.
"…Sometimes I wonder… if I wasn't born to be destined for the title of Evil Queen… would… would she have bothered with me at all?" The witch confessed closing her eyes in resignation and turning over.
Faybelle took a deep breath through her nose. "Charlotte, could you please warn our mothers about this, give them all the information about Raven's past and the current problems we face, she and I will call them tonight around ten our time, six o'clock in the morning their time."
Charlotte nodded. "Good luck." The witch said before hanging up.
"I need to call Maddie, and my father." Raven sighed getting up to retrieve her phone from her kit and turning it on.
"…Oh dear…" Faybelle heard the witch whimper nervously over the sound of a nearly constant beeping.
"What?" The fairy asked turning to look at the witch, who was staring at her beeping phone in horror.
Raven handed her device over for the fairy to look at. "Can I… use your phone? Apple has… well I think I've made her mad… and with that many messages still coming in I don't think I can place any calls…"
"Holy motherfucking sprites!" Faybelle hissed. "You're gone just a night and a day and so she goes and… where does she find the time to send this many?" The fairy demands utterly appalled at the sheer amount of growing voice and hext messages displayed on Raven's phone. "She's going to kill it at this rate!"
Raven bit her lip. "Maybe I should-"
"No." Said Faybelle.
"But she must be really worried." Raven argued.
"And you can claim all innocence once we go through with my evil plan tomorrow." Faybelle told her serenely. "But if it'll make you feel better… if she doesn't stop once night falls then I'll send her a few hexts… alluding that you are still in the land of the living and you don't want to deal with being forced to being a part of a competition that has been unfairly fixed. Because I'm concerned that your obvious feelings for this princess will make you want to spill you whereabouts, and I can't have any outside interference until I've secured both you and your title."
Raven crosses her arms opening her mouth to say something but Faybelle waives her off. "I promise to be perfectly polite and sound positively maidenly… even though I'll be running the risk of my teeth rotting from all the sweetness." The fairy stuck out her tongue out as she handed Raven her own phone.
"I'm not that far gone with my feelings for her." Raven grumbled looking down.
"Then look me in the eye when you say it and I'll believe you." Faybelle dared the witch sounding bored.
Raven looked her in the eye, swallowed nervously, and then looked down again.
"Maybe… I think I'm a masochist and I haven't realized it yet…" Raven muttered looking like she had just swallowed something sharp.
"The sooner you move on to better pastures, the sooner you'll get over her." Faybelle assured.
Raven let out a huff. "Yes dear." She said sarcastically as she began to dial.
XXX
"She's still not back." Apple growled as she sent Raven another hext. She was sitting cross-legged on Raven's bed while Ashlynn and Briar had retreated to Apple's bed across the room and a safe distance away from the increasingly agitated princess.
"She did hext you as much hours ago." Briar reminded tightly as she put on her sleeping mask and laid down on the apple red comforter. "She also told you that she was not going to accept any ill gotten trophies from a competition she never signed up for. And why are you continuing to try to get through to her phone when she said that she'll be back either Sunday evening or Monday?"
Apple stilled her fingers.
"I… I'm just trying to get her to stop acting so… so cowardly! This isn't proper behavior for a villain at all!" Apple whined in frustration. "And it's just not like her to ignore me like this!"
"Are you worried that something might… happen to her?" Ashlynn, who had been silent up till then, spoke. "Since she is acting unusual towards you?"
"Not at all." Apple stated coolly as she began typing again. "Evil Queens aren't afraid of anything, and if something does happen Raven would give in to her true evil nature and take care of the problem."
"So all of this is just because you want her to come back and enter the competition?" The shoe-loving princess asked sounding a little disappointed.
"If I can just get Raven to expose herself to something that'll draw out her inherited evil side she'll see the light and sign the Book and give me my happily ever after like she's supposed to." The blonde spoke determinately; her fellow princess's tone was lost on Apple. "Then this whole Rebel nonsense will dissolve and everyone can sign the Book! Just think about it; everything will be as it should be."
Ashlynn slumped her shoulders feeling hurt at not only her friend's words and lack of concern for Raven's safety but also at her blatant disregard for Ashlynn's own choices and beliefs.
"I just remembered something important that requires my attention. It might take a while so don't wait up for me." Ashlynn spoke, getting up and heading to the door.
"What's so important that you have to leave?" Apple asked not looking up from her phone.
The door opened and closed.
This made Apple look up. "Ashlynn?"
"Good job at being such a supportive friend." Briar said sarcastically. "I think that you just lost the last bit of faith she had in you. Truly this is the top of the cake for all you've done this weekend."
"What did I do?" Apple asked offended.
Briar sat up, ripping off her mask. "Where do I begin?" She asked incredulously. "First you sign Raven up for that competition without her permission, putting her on the spot with the Headmaster, then when Raven makes herself scarce so that she wouldn't have to deal with the mess you put her in, instead of rectifying your actions and try to convincing the Headmaster to just drop the issue you openly support an obviously rigged competition by accepting rewards that Raven never should have won, and then you try to organize a mob of Royals to go out and search for her and harass her via your phone when she obviously just wants to be left alone!"
Briar inhaled casting Apple a glare. "That was far too low for you, Now Raven's in trouble with the Headmaster, in trouble with your Royal followers, and now public enemy number one with a great deal of the villain population of the school! You don't think that people like Faybelle won't be going after Raven in retaliation? And then you keep going on about how perfect everything will be for you once Raven signs the Book and everything will go back into step with tradition in front of Ashlynn, who doesn't want to become Cinderella."
"Over some boy!" Apple argues, a little feebly. "She's throwing her entire life away over some boy! If she becomes Cinderella then she can marry a prince, and with a prince she'll gain a kingdom! She and her family can finally close up their shop and live like proper royalty again!"
Briar shook her head. "You don't get it do you Apple? It's more than risking it all just for some boy, who's got a name by the way, Ashlynn loves her current life, she loves her family's shop, it's a shoe store for kingdoms sake! She loves shoes! And it's right next to the forest so when she isn't surrounding herself with shoes she can enjoy the great outdoors! Being free of kingdom duties means that she can live her life how she wants to, what she does on her own time is her own private affair since there's not a constant crowd of people following her around everyday and she doesn't have a bunch of royal responsibilities. She loves her life just the way it is! And so do her parents, and they adore Hunter, they totally approve of him dating their daughter!"
Apple stared speechless; Briar could see the gears of her mind turning as she tried to process the brunet's words.
"She… likes being a princess without a kingdom?" Apple asked; the concept was foreign to her.
"Not every princess has the same royal goals desires as everybody else." Briar pointed out. "While you want to gain a title and a prince when you graduate Ashlynn just wants to run her family shop and live a simple village life. And a real friend should be more supportive of her life decisions for the pursuit of her own version of a happily ever after."
Apple's walls of indignity crumbled, the princess setting down her phone and looking to the ground in shame.
"What has gotten into you girlfriend?" Briar asks completely mystified to her friend's recent actions.
"I thought that Raven would see the importance of going through with her destiny by now." Apple confessed. "But… she's not backing down, she wants nothing to do with her heritage, she's really set on escaping her destiny… she's been especially persistent about it all week and I… I panicked okay? I'll admit signing her up without her permission was not one of my better moments, but then she disappears like I'd just sent the hounds after her and then Faybelle starts going on about me finding a different villain and how Raven is dishonorable… I just don't understand why she's doing all of this."
"Have you ever asked her?" Briar asks.
"Do her reasons matter? This is my story that's on the line here!" Apple demands tensely the words her tutors made her memorize at the front of her mind. "For the sake of everybody she needs to become the Evil Queen and I have to become Snow White!"
"Kinda yes…" Briar says slowly. "It kina matters a whole lot knowing exactly why becoming the Evil Queen would be so terrible for Raven. And Faybelle's right; you could always demand a new villain to take Raven's role."
"…But then Raven wouldn't be in my story, she was born specially made for me-… she was born to poison me. There cannot be any other way, we were all bred and raised for our roles and we must follow them." Apple shook her head, the words that had been drilled into her since she was a child flowing out as if they had been rehearsed hundreds of times (and they were, before the beginning of each new day of private tutoring Apple was made to speak the same monologue of why sticking to the script was so important).
Briar sighed. "Apple… Raven's a witch, she was raised differently than you, trust me on this; witches, fairies… mages… they subscribe under a different value system and the most recent polls Blondie's conducted for her blog says that nearly ninety percent of magic-users don't believe that we'll disappear if we don't sign the Book, and what little percent does believe it to be so are under the impression that it'll be just the humans who'll disappear because they aren't born with the magic to protect them. In Raven's case it could very well be a combination to the overwhelming dishonorable shame her mother has disgraced her family name with, making her a pariah in her own witch's state as well as the other human kingdoms, and that belief that all the disappearing rumors the Headmaster's been spreading is just a tall tale designed to keep us in line." The dark-haired princess explained gently.
Apple was silent as she digested Briar's words.
"I need to apologize don't I?"
"Big time." Briar nodded. "But look on the bright side; at least Raven can't completely deny her destiny until graduation so you two have got plenty of time to sort something out."
XXX
Two sets of stoic eyes appraise Raven through Faybelle's full-length mirror; the witch in question is kneeling on the ground as a sign of humility and a silent cry for mercy; begging for help.
"We have reviewed and evaluated your request little witch, be grateful for we have decided to pity you and will help you restore your honor in exchange for my daughter to receive your title and take revenge on the Evil Queen by taking away the one thing she has taken great pride in; you." The current Evil Fairy says making Raven relax by fractions from her position on the floor.
"This Friday will be thronecoming, we will smuggle you out for the weekend during the dance to complete the first ritual, keep as quiet about this as possible and it should be obvious for you to be weary of mirrors. Do you understand us?"
"Yes honorable ones, I do." Raven's voice was clear, albeit a little muffled by her position.
"You may rise." The Evil Fairy's sister allowed.
Raven sat up on her knees, her face streaked with grateful tears as she peered up at the two taller fairies.
"Well Raven…" Faybelle drawled. "Welcome to the family. Now help us destroy our mutual enemy."