Thanks to Elisabeth Ward for betaing
"So the prince, now blind, wondered throughout the whole world for several years as he searched for his beloved Rapunzel. One day he heard a familiar singing and followed it with great hope in his heart. He followed it and found his beloved Rapunzel who had given birth to twins in her husband's absence. When she saw he was blind, she wept over him and her tears restored sight to him. Then the prince took his wife and children back to his kingdom where they lived happily ever after."
Gabrielle smiled and closed the fairy tale book and smiled at her children..
"Now wasn't that a sweet story?" She heard a sniffle from her son with curly golden hair.
"Oh, Helios, sweetie, did that make you sad?" Gabrielle knew that Adrian would scold her for allowing their son to cry over something like a fairy tale, but Gabrielle always argued that he was still a little boy. He had the rest of his life to be tough. The golden haired boy gave another sniffle and whipped his wet eyes.
"It is...just so sad...the daddy was away from his wife and babies." He sniffled a bit more and Gabrielle picked him up and moved him to her lap to sooth him. "And-" He continued, "-she saved him with her love." At this point the little boy was in full blown tears and Gabrielle wrapped her arms around her son.
"It's okay, sweetie." She looked across to her white-haired and green eyed daughter. She had her usual neutral expression on.
"That story made no sense." She bluntly stated. "How could a man traveling blind survive that long by himself? How did Rapunzel give birth to her twins by herself? It makes no sense." Gabrielle gave a little smile. She only read fairy tales to Atropos when her brother was around. When she went to her room to read a bedtime story it was always a children's history book. She especially liked books about battles and victories.
"Well maybe Rapunzel and the prince had help from characters that were not mentioned in the story to save time?" She suggested, as she rocked her son. The white haired girl furrowed her eyebrows.
"Then what is the point of fairy tales then?" If you are going to make them so short to the point where they make no sense then what is the point of them?" She questioned.
"Atropos, do you remember what I told you about how my stepmother treated me?" All children were curious to how their parents were as children and Gabrielle couldn't bring herself to lie. She told the truth, but censored the worse of it.
"Yes, mother, I remember-" Then there was a bit of a glint on her eye that worried her mother "-and father took vengeance for you by killing her."
"Which I wish he did not." She quickly told her daughter, again. "It is better to forgive and live your life in love than let hate ruin you." She told her daughter. From Atropos' expression it was clear she did not believe her mother, but she was wise enough to say no more.
"Well anyway, my point is that my book of fairy tales is what helped me get through those rough years. Stories like that give people hope. It gave me hope." Atropos seemed unmoved by this.
It was times like this that she thought back to Asura's warning about her daughter. She wondered if Adrian's lack of heart had somehow affected her daughter. However, Atropos did have moments of kindness and affection, mostly to animals, but it was still there.
She gently coxed her son off her lap and picked up the fairy tale book and placing it in her satchel, before getting up.
The queen tossed her satchel over her shoulder and looked down at the prince and princess.
"Soon it will be time for lunch...and then naps." At this she heard a collective groan from her children.
"I think I am too old to take a nap" Argued Atropos
"That's the funny thing about naps, sweetie, when you are young you don't want them, but when you are old you wish you still had them." Atropos now had a serious look in her green eyes.
"Then if adults want our naps they can take them." Gabrielle laughed at this and then took one of each of the twin's hands into hers.
"Now let's go the long way back to the palace because it is good for you to walk and it will put off nap time." Both twins nodded eagerly at this. She smiled and they started their walk through the paths. She neared the swan lake and she couldn't believe it had been over five years since Adrian had first taken her there to shoot bows. If someone had told her five years ago that she would go from sleeping in straw to being queen she would have run away in fear of them being insane. But it was true.
Hestia and the other Gods had truly blessed her with far more than she ever felt she deserved. But then she felt a tightening in her heart. Was there a price for such happiness? She thought back to Asura and her warning. Her husband had used every resource he had to find out more about the fae and more importantly on how to capture or destroy her, but the only thing he got was warnings of her power.
Was this peace only an illusion. She subconsciously squeezed her children's hand a little tighter. She tried to shake these thoughts out of her head, knowing it would only drive her crazy to think about such things. But she was a mother and it was only her nature to fret and worry over her babies. While lost in her thoughts, she suddenly felt Atropos pull herself free of her mother's hand and ran off the path.
She gasped at the sudden lost and pulled her remaining child along as she followed her daughter.
"Atropos come back here! It is not safe!" Of course, the royal grounds should be the safest place around, but with Asura around...it wasn't. Atropos did not heed her mother and kept going. Gabrielle tighten her hold of her son's hands and rushed after her with Helios in tow.
"Atropos!" She called out, but her little daughter gave no head to her mother. If not for her holding Helios' hand she would have been able to easily able to catch up to her, but she was afraid of losing both children. She called her name several times, but Atropos never stopped or said anything to her mother. Gabrielle went through the thicket as she tried to track her daughter.
Then finally Atropos stopped and knelt to the ground. Gabrielle and Helios finished running up to her. While she was fine, she heard her son breathing heavily.
"Atropos! That was a naughty thing you did, leaving us like that. Wait till your father hears about this." The queen scolded her daughter. But the princess paid no head to her mother's threat. Gabrielle suddenly realized her daughter was holding something, and curiosity overtook her. She circled to the front and now saw her daughter was cradling the dead body of a bird in her small hands.
"Atropos, is that bird why you ran all this way?" The blonde could feel her heart began to twist.
"Yes, mother."
"But how did you know. We weren't even close to where the dead bird was." A part of Gabrielle didn't want her daughter to answer. She wanted to pretend this had never happened. But she was a mother and couldn't.
"Because I can sense death." The white-haired princess answered with a bluntness that chilled her mother's soul. Gabrielle couldn't find the words to say. But soon another wonder came. A white glow began to fill Atropos' hands and the glow began to cover the bird.
"Atropos, what are you doing?" Her mother whispered.
"Reversing death." With that the wings of the bird started to flutter and in a moment the previously dead animal flew away. For a long silence nothing was said. Gabrielle was absolutely stunned.
Her daughter...just brought the dead back to life? In her dumbfounded state, she barely registered her son's hand sliding out of her palm and he raced over to his sister.
"You brought a birdy back to life!" He asked as though he would boil over with excitement. His sister turned to him and gave a simple nod.
"Can you teach me?" He asked, still full of enthusiasm. Atropos turned her head toward him and simply nodded no.
"No, this was something I was born with." Her tone had its signature emotionless tone, but it wasn't full of arrogance at her power at all. Helios frowned.
"You are so lucky, Atropos." He told her sadly. Atropos shook her head.
"No, my brother, you are the lucky one. You got to be normal." Before Helios could say anything, the mother found her voice.
"Helios, Atropos." She knelt beside them, "It is important that you keep this a secret. There are many people out there who are afraid of things they don't understand and they could hurt Atropos, or use her for to do bad things." Her son looked horrified at the suggestion, but Atropos merely nodded. She had already realized this already. With a worried heart, Gabrielle took both of her children's hands and together they walked out of the forest back toward the footpath.
Neither of her children said anything, not even Helios. This was much to the queen's relief. Her thoughts were scattered everywhere. Is this what Asura had meant those five years ago? Atropos had the power to bring the dead back to life, on animals, as far as Gabrielle knew. But that didn't sound like a bad thing. But magic had a cost. Was there a price that Atropos and the rest of the family had to pay for such a God-like power?
These worries laid heavily on the Queen Gabrielle's mind as she and her children made her way back to the palace. The guards greeted them at the gate and it took all Gabrielle had to feign a smile for them. If the usually happy queen look distressed it could cause rumors and the last thing that Gabrielle needed was for rumors to start about her.
"You came just in time your majesty, and highness's. Court just went on lunch break." One of the perks of being a mother was that she was able to take time off court to raise her children. This was rather unusual for a queen. Most queens usually gave their children to nurses to take care of. But Gabrielle didn't want that. She didn't want that and Adrian easily relented and allowed her to do such. But she still had to attend court three times a week at least.
The golden blonde thanked the guard and took her children and herself into the palace. They quickly made their way to the private lunch hall where the father of her children was waiting. Upon seeing her father, the king, the princess went ran right up to him and hugged him, followed by the prince. Atropos was defiantly a daddy's girl while her son seemed to prefer the company of his mother.
Gabrielle slowly walked up to her husband and took a seat and Helios took a seat next to her. As usual, Atropos sat near her father. Gabrielle and Adrian were facing each other.
"My lord," Gabrielle addressed her husband. Before the twins were born she could call Adrian by his name in private, but now that they had children she had to look respectful to the king in front of them.
"Yes, my queen?" Adrian looked at her, studying her features. "What's the matter?" Adrian was always good at reading moods and being married to Gabrielle for close to sex years had made him very aware of her moods.
"Atropos and I would like to speak to you...in private." The king raised a brow at this uncommon request, but nodded.
"We can meet in my library, after court." Gabrielle's stomach grew heavy with lead at the thought of Adrian's reaction to this. She could imagine him being being thrilled at having such a power, but at the same time knowing it would likely come at a cost. After all he was aware of the dangers of magic like she was. No, even better than she was.
"It looks like the Kodasian King is stirring up trouble. He has declared unless we repay him back for all the damage that was done to his country during the war that he will declare war on us." He said in a voice far too calm for a man who might soon be at war.
"But, my Lord, you said that Kodaisia was far too devastated for such an act."
"They are, but the king is an arrogant fool. If such a war happens it will be over quickly." Gabrielle frowned, she knew Adrian was strong, but no woman liked hearing of her man going off to war. But Atropos seemed to have other ideas. She excitedly began to ask her father about possible battle strategies that he could use and all sorts of thing. He grinned at his princess.
"But how do I know I can trust you?" He teased, "You could be a Kodasian spy for all I know." At this the princesses' green eyes narrowed, clearly offended.
"I am only loyal to this family, father." She said, sternly. Adrian nodded.
"Of course, you are, my little general." Atropos had never liked being referred to as princess and her father called her general instead. She seemed to prefer that much better than princess. So her father talked about battle strategy in the best way to describe it to a five year old. Gabrielle said nothing, as she continued eating, not wanting to ruin the father-daughter bonding time.
Finally, when the meal was almost over, Adrian turned the conversation back to his queen.
"I have word sent from my father, that he will be visiting within the month." King Oswald usually made a trip once a year from the island to see his grandchildren.
"Grandpa is coming!" Shouted Helios a bit too loudly. He was quickly reprimanded by his father for being too loud. Still the golden haired prince kept smiling. He and his grandfather got along very well. While Atropos was more, or less unattached to him, but she was unattached to most people to begin with.
"He is also bringing Alona with him." Alona was an Island woman who had become Oswald's lover. He had often mentioned her in letters and Adrian had a feeling his father had found love again on the islands. Gabrielle was very happy for the former king if such a thing was true. The Gods knew that her father-in-law deserved some kind of happiness after being robbed of love because of one woman's ambition.
"Who is Alona?" questioned Atropos.
"She is a friend of your grandpa." Gabrielle quickly explained, not wanting to discuss such intimate things with her daughter while she was still five.
"Auntie Estella, and Auntie Rosella, and Uncle Peter, are coming right?" The prince asked excitedly. Gabrielle turned and smiled at her prince.
"Yes, they are, dear. In fact, we might have them all around at the same time. Wouldn't that be wonderful." The prince eagerly nodded at that. Helios talked excitedly over the thought of all his relatives coming over at the same time while the servants were cleaning up.
"Now, I think it is time to say goodbye to your father and your afternoon lessons." Helios gave a loud sigh at that. He hated his lessons, except for reading and music. Atropos was the opposite she seemed to think doing her best meant being the best. She pushed herself hard on her schoolwork in everything she was taught. The twins bowed and said goodbye to their father and hurried off to their lessons.
Now without either her twins, or husband, Gabrielle was left to worry about her daughter. She had reversed death. How would Adrian take it? What did this mean? These thoughts tormented her. Gabrielle tried to read to escape her troubles, but found she could not. So she put her book away and let anxiety take over as she waited for court to end.
Finally, after what seemed like countless hours she got word that her husband was ready for her from a servant. She rushed off to his study and found her daughter was already there. She quickly curtsied to her husband.
"Now, what has made you so at unease, my queen?" Gabrielle took a deep breathe and began to explain how Atropos had ran off without warning and her finding the bird corpse.
"Then...suddenly there was a white glow...and the bird who was dead...suddenly..flew away. As healthy as it could be." For once Adrian had a look of absolute shock on his face. The man who seemed to know everything was completely dumbfounded. He looked down at his young daughter.
"Is this true? Did you really bring that bird back to life?"
"Yes, father, I reversed death." She spoke as though it was nothing extraordinary.
"But how...and how long have you been able to...reverse death?" The white-haired girl looked up at him with her green eyes.
"I don't know how I do it. Reversing death is as easy as breathing to me. It is just something that I do and I've known for a few months when Sagittarius was dying...and I healed him." Gabrielle stared down at her daughter, her mouth agape. Sagittarius had been one of the palace horses and Atropos was terribly fond of him. A few months ago he had gotten deathly ill and the palace animal doctor said he only had a few weeks to live. Then as though a miracle Sagittarius had miraculously gotten better and is as healthy as could be.
At that time Poseidon was thanked and sacrifices had been made to him. But in reality it was the little princess who had saved the horse. The king knelt down before his daughter and took her hands into his.
"My general, you must never let anyone, but me, your mother, and brother know of your gift. You must resist using it as much as possible." His tone was stern. He rarely talked so sternly to his daughter because she pleased him so well. He did often use that voice with Helios though, much to Gabrielle's utter distress.
The princess simply nodded, "I know father. Mother has said the same thing as well."
"Your mother is wise and you are too." Adrian got up from the floor, and dusted his clothing. "You are dismissed, general." Atropos gave one last curtsey before leaving. Now Gabrielle was left alone with her husband. She turned to him with an anxious face.
"All magic has its price." She whispered. Her husband's ice blue eyes narrowed as he clasped his hands behind his back and walked to the window, staring out. Gabrielle quietly moved beside him.
"Adrian.." She whispered, "I am so worried, what is going to happen to our daughter?" It was a foolish question to ask. Of course, her king didn't know what was going to happen, but a part of her wished that he did.
"I am going to keep her safe." He said with full conviction. "We will make sure she is never unattended and that she is kept away from the animals as much as possible." Gabrielle frowned,
"But she loves the animals." She didn't like the idea of taking one of the few things that her daughter seemed to really cherish away from her.
"She does and that is a problem to keep her safe we must do what we can. She must remain mostly indoors. We should limit the staff as well around her. The fewer who know the better. Also I don't trust Helios to keep this a secret." The queen's heart froze at this.
"What do you mean about Helios. He loves his sister. He will not put her in danger!" She argued.
"I will order to erase his memories of such an event." Gabrielle gasped,
"No, you won't! I will not allow that." Adrian turned and gave his wife a stern look.
"As your husband and lord, I command you to not argue with me over this." Gabrielle paused, she knew very well that this was a great command. He was both her husband and king. By laws of both God and me she should be subservient to him and allow him to have his way.
"No, I will not!" She said, as she bucked off countless centuries of female submission. "She is my daughter and he is my son. I will not have my daughter locked away from the world." She turned to leave, but felt an iron grip on her hand and she was jerked back.
She came chest to chest with her husband. Adrian glared down at her.
"You dare disobey me, woman? Your lord and husband. Do you not claim to worship the goddess of the home and now seek to defy its natural order as the man as the head?" Gabrielle didn't flinch.
"In the name of all the goddesses, the queens, and down to the peasant woman, I dare for the sake of my children." Gabrielle had always been the submissive one, but this time she wanted to fight against him. Her children's happiness was at stake here.
"Gabrielle, don't you see that I am doing this to protect you all?" She could feel him trembling; from anger or rage she didn't know. Gabrielle couldn't find the words in her throat to speak, but she didn't have to. The door suddenly burst open. Adrian turned his wrath to the new intruder, but he kept his wife in his iron grip. Gabrielle found it in her to turn away from her husband and looked at the door. There stood a guard with a greatly disturbed expression on his face.
"How dare you barge into my private study without permission!" Growled the king. The guard immediately knelt to the ground.
"A thousand pardons, your majesty, but I bring terrible news. The Kodasians have launched an attack on the towns south of the capital. There have been reports of murders, rapes, looting, and burnings flooding in." At this Adrian released his queen and turned his new found wrath towards the threat to his kingdom.
"The Kodasians? They dare attack me when there army is so week. Their king is a fool who has no business wearing a crown. I will take his kingdom from him and add it to my own." He marched forward, "Send orders to prepare the army." He was about to leave, but stopped.
"This is not over, Gabrielle. I will have a talk with you when I come back." He didn't even turn to look back on her as he said that and then he left. Gabrielle felt her heart sink. Her husband didn't even kiss or say goodbye and he was going off to war. How could he? At times like this she remembered her husband didn't truly have a heart. It was something she liked to pretend that wasn't a problem, but it was.
Gabrielle resisted the urge to cry. She couldn't cry. She wasn't the maiden under the hands of her cruel stepmother. She was now the queen of one of the most powerful kingdoms in the world. With that she held her head high and left the studies.
She vowed to find a way to protect her children.
The next few days were tense as she comforted the ever crying prince over his worried of his daddy going to war, but Atropos seemed to show no emotion to this. Though Gabrielle suspected she was as worried for her father as everyone else.
But within a weak good news came. Her stepsisters and Peter arrived for a visit. They hugged each other and Gabrielle was thankful that they lived on the opposite side of where the war was being held. They greeted their nephew and nieces with presents and they have a pleasant time. But Gabrielle was always on her nervous as she thought about what her husband would do when he came back and also flashbacks to her last meeting with him.
"It's bothering you isn't it?" Estelle asked, later that day.
"What do you mean, Estelle?" She felt a lump in her heart.
"You are worried about your husband being away at war. You have been so quiet and sad looking." Gabrielle swallowed and nodded. Inside she felt guilty for not worry about Adrian's safety. She was so worried about what he would do when he got back to worry if he came back.
"Don't worry, Gabrielle. Your husband has survived countless battles so far. He will come back to you and your children." The queen forced a smile and nod. A few days later her father-in-law and his lover arrived.
Helios was so happy to see him and chattered with him endlessly. Gabrielle was grateful that Helios now had a male figure in his life that he could talk to without his father there. Then again, it was not like Helios never had an easy time talking to his father to begin with. Gabrielle had tried to mend the distance between father and son, but she failed. In the end they were just so different and Adrian expected a lot out of his son. Inside Gabrielle knew that Adrian wished Atropos had been the boy and Helios the girl.
But the fates had cast there die.
News was received that the battles were going well and Adrian had called on Kodasian nobles on the border to surrender to him and many gladly did and lent money and men to his army. It looked like Kodaisia would fall into Adrian's hands.
Gabrielle just hoped that this wouldn't give Adrian a taste for wanting to build empires.
–-
Six years. Six long damn years. She had been in this prison. She was suppose to be queen not that blonde whore. Alisha paced her cell. She should have killed her son when she had the chance. If she had done that, she would have still been in the lap of luxury. She thought back to that girl...that girl who had taken everything from her. Oh, how she wanted to wring that tiny, delicate neck of hers until her eyes popped out and the last bit of life was chocked out of her.
"My such vengeful thoughts you are having." Came a familiar voice and chuckle. "I love it" She turned around to see a sight she never thought she would see. Asura. Anger flushed in her.
"Six years! Six fucking years and now you visit me!"
"Ah, come now. I was busy and it wasn't the time, but now is" The former queen blinked.
"What do you mean it is now time."
"Why time for you to take back the kingdom from that silly little girl. Your son is away at war and your daughter-in-law and grandchildren are without their defender. It is time to make your move." Alisha crossed her arms over her chest.
"But what is the price for this? You fae always have a price." She had learned that all too well. At this Asura smirked.
"Why your heart." At this Alisha began to laugh. So the fae wanted the same thing she took from her son.
"I haven't had need of my heart for a long time. It is yours to take." Asura grinned.
"Excellent." Then the black haired woman held out her hand and a dagger appeared.
"What is that?" Questioned the former queen, still suspicious.
"It is the dagger of the soul. A thing I collected many centuries ago. It is a powerful blade. It not only pierces the heart of the body, but the heart of the soul. Once it is in the victim there is no way any medicine can save them." The fae held it out to her. Alisha greedily grabed it.
"Now, let's begin to restore the rightful queen to her place." Alisha gave a crazed grin.
"Yes, lets." Oh, her son and his little whore and their bastard offspring were going to pay.
And pay dearly they would