"Sleeping Beauty-like story. Kol is Prince Philip and Caroline is Princess Aurora." –Ebyenvloed

Okay so I put my own twists on the fairytale since I never liked the damsel in distress trope and Caroline is too badass to not be her own knight in shining armor. Also the arranged marriage trope has never been romantic for me. As you saw in the previous fairytale prompt I did with Swan Princess, Kol and Caroline weren't happy about their betrothal either there.

Seriously, this is my third fairytale AU (not counting 'what a mess i leave to follow' which was inspired by Peter Pan). First was The Little Mermaid then The Swan princess now Sleeping Beauty. I still have to do a Beauty and the Beast prompt and I'm pretty sure Kol's getting sick of it. He's just in a corner trying to set things on fire so he can be a villian or anti-hero again. He doesn't like being Prince Charming. Caroline enjoys being a princess but Kol is suffering. Stop.

Inspirations were Reign and Once Upon A Time. References from The Great Gatsby, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid.

I grew up in a small cottage in the forest. It was a simple life with my only companions being three elderly women who warned me to never speak with strangers and not to wander very far from their sight. I knew little of my real family except that they had been a peasant couple who had lost their lives young and Rebekah, Elena and Bonnie had taken me in as a result. I sometimes wandered about them and then squashed the thought as an ache that could seem to never really go away bloomed in my chest.

I was grateful to the women who took me in and raised me to the best of their ability. Though as kind as they were I tended to be lonely and found myself longing for companionship of someone perhaps my own age. I had never been to town and would only catch the occasional glimpse of a woodcutter here and there before I had to go back to the cottage before I was missed. The elderly women just wanted me safe after all and I understood that, the forest could be dangerous at times and one should not wander there for long.

Still, I liked to linger in the forest when I would forage for our food whether it be berries for pie or potatoes for the stew. I liked to take my time soaking my feet in the cold water of the pond till my toes were almost numb. Or I would sing a lovely tune and listen to the birds repeat it back to me. I enjoyed these peaceful moments and sometimes made excuses to leave the house just so I could have them more.

My life as simple and pleasant as it was took an unexpected surprise when as I was singing a lovely duet with the birds, a man lands in the pond in front of me, splashing me wet. I gasped in shock and got up already feeling myself shiver from the cold. The man in question floundered in the shallow river for a few moments trying to gain his bearings as his cloak now heavier from the water pulled him down helplessly. I rolled my eyes at the display and from the edge of the pond offered my hand to help him out.

He blinked at me in surprise before taking my hand. I pulled him out with some difficulty as he was heavier than me but as soon as his foot was on earth again he regained his bearings and pulled himself the rest of the way. I dropped his hand as he took off his soaked cloak and hung it on a low tree branch, his hands going to his wet dark hair. I wrapped my arms around myself and tried to control the little tremors overcoming me as I stared at him.

Even wet as a duck, I could see he was handsome. Dark hair and eyes, pale skin with high cheekbones and pink lips. I've only seen glimpses of the woodcutters that came into the forest but they paled to this young man currently shuddering like a perturbed owl. His clothes I could tell even wet were finely tailored and I wondered who he was.

He sat down under the tree and took off his boots, placing them beside himself as he moved to remove his tunic and undershirt. I blushed and looked away, wondering why I hadn't already picked up my basket and left. I'd have to explain why I got wet to the elderly women but surely spending time with a half-naked stranger was not the better option. He cleared his throat when I started to step away and I glanced behind me to see him looking sheepish.

"Pardon me, miss," He said, his voice had a lilt I wound sometimes hear Rebekah speak with when she didn't think I noticed. It sounded funny even but clear and lovely. "I should not be removing my clothing in front of you but as I am quite wet…"

I giggled despite myself and fiddled with my wet skirt. "I see that, sir. I am quite wet as well."

"My apologies," He said. "My horse had thrown me off it."

"Why would he do that?"

He winced. "I was riding too fast. It's dangerous, I know, but I was quite in a hurry to get away."

"From what?"

Fear started to crawl into me and I should probably stop asking questions. If this young man was running from something he could be a criminal. One with weak to non-existent morals and would prey on young gullible girls like me.

"My life," He explained after a moment. "I just wanted to get away from it all sometimes. Do you know what that's like?"

I felt myself calm at his words, such a twin to how I usually feel. "I do. If you'd believe it."

He smiled then and it was sweet and charming. There was a fluttering my chest cavity like a little bird was trapped in my rib cage and tried to escape. I blushed feeling my whole face was aflame and looked away as he hung his wet tunic next to his cloak. "May I ask what is your name, miss?" He asked.

"My name is Candice, sir." I replied, still not looking at him and his naked torso all lean muscle and pale skin like a blank canvas. "And you, sir? What is your name?"

"Candice? That's a pretty name." He murmured before he answered me. "My name is Nathaniel."

"And do you live in town?" I continued asking questions as I he rustled about behind me.

"I live in the castle actually." He replied easily. "Hand me those sticks over there, I'm going to make a fire to keep us warm and dry in no time."

I did what he said and in a few moments we had a nice little bonfire. We sat on the ground soaking up the warmth as the sky slowly darkened. The elderly women would begin to wonder where I was now but I did not want to leave yet. I had been starved for new companionship for so long I could not seem to find it in me any desire to desert it so soon.

"What do you do in the castle?" I watched the fire as we continued to converse. "Are you a lord?"

"Not an important one, not particularly wealthy either." He explained, feeding more sticks to the fire, "My father's a mere country lord and I stay in court as a companion to the prince."

That explained his clothes and accent but I thought he'd be…more. Still, I shouldn't think myself so interesting to be meeting a wealthy lord in the middle of the forest. But a companion to the prince? "What's he like?"

"The prince?" He pursed his lips in thought before speaking. "Most women find him handsome, clever, charming, virile, a great conversationalist, an excellent rider…"

He went on to spout the virtues of the prince of the kingdom. I've seen the castle from the distance and heard the bare minimum of what the royal family was like from the elderly women but I'd sometimes wondered about the prince and heir apparent of the kingdom. From how his friend had been going on about him, he couldn't possibly be real. "It seems from your description, he is something out of the realm of fiction. No human being could ever be so perfect."

He went red at that and scratched the bridge of his nose. "Well…"

"You must really enjoy his friendship to have nothing but compliments for him." I smiled at him as his fingers ruffled through his hair. "Is he that kind to you?"

"He has his moments," He fiddled with a stray twig. "But recently he's been out of sorts."

"Oh? Is that why you were running away into the forest?"

"I just wanted time for myself," He reasoned. "The prince is not a bag guy. He's just been stressed with upcoming events."

"Such as?"

He blinked at me in surprise and disbelief. "You really don't know?"

"About?" I gave him a look. "Lord Nathaniel, I live in a small cottage in the forest. There is very little I know about what goes on in town much less the castle."

He conceded at that. "The prince has been betrothed since he was very young to a princess of the neighboring kingdom of Forbes. Prince Kol has never even properly met Princess Caroline but as his duty dictates he is to marry her after her sixteenth birthday."

"Well, if he is so miserable why can't he just break off the engagement?"

"Because doing so would ruin the plans of his parents," He sighed. "Forbes is a wealthy kingdom and would further richen Mikaelson with this union."

"But Prince Kol and Princess Caroline don't even know each other!" I suddenly found myself outraged at the thought these two people yet so young were forced to be married because their parents dictated it so. "If he's not so keen on the wedding, I doubt she is as well. They'd be miserable together."

Kol was grimacing now at the fire. "I know which is why he's been acting off lately. He's thought about ways to get out of it but each one is unviable."

"How cruel…"

He looked at me in confusion. "Why do you say so, miss?"

"How cruel it must be to be so privileged and yet so chained,"

His eyes were nearly black, obsidian with specks of chocolate brown and he was looking at me with such sorrow in his eyes. "Money and prestige always comes with strings that bind you to things we'd rather escape."

"Well, we must count ourselves lucky then, my lord." I told him. "For we are neither that wealthy or important."

"A small blessing, I guess." He agreed before standing up to check if his clothes had dried.

That's when I realized my dress was already quite dry and with dawning horror saw that the sun was nearly gone and the forest would be in darkness very soon. I got up as well as Kol started to put on the white undershirt. I picked up my cloak and put it on quickly. "I must go. It is nearly dark and my family must be wondering where I am."

He finally noticed the disappearing sun as well and dressed faster. "I must return as well. The prince cannot be ignored for very long."

I gave him a smile as I'd felt like I've made a friend in him and picked up my basket as I turned to leave but he stopped me with a hasty "Wait!"

I turned around slowly to see him look nervous as he smiled at me warmly, much like the bonfire we had both shared. "Will I see you again?"

I should refuse. Despite the bonds of empathy, I still did not know too much about this young lord and despite my burgeoning fondness for him it was still not wise to meet with a practical stranger in these woods. I have not witnessed them myself but horrors have been committed in the shade of these trees and to be fall a similar fate was not pleasant. I should tell him no and be on my way.

But the potential of something I could not quite name yet, something I might've glimpsed in books and ignored was there. The way he looked at me made me feel light and I wanted that feeling always. I wanted him to tell me of his troubles in front of a nice warm fire again and I'd tell him it'd all be alright. This was foolish but I found myself eager to be a fool.

"Perhaps," I finally answered and his smile felt like a whole world had just opened for me.

I returned to the cottage and the sun was already gone but the path was familiar to me and I found my way without difficulty. However, the moment I entered the little home the three women all stopped what they were doing and surrounded me, hounding me with questions of where I'd been and why I was gone for so long and I could not come up with an excuse. When I couldn't answer though Rebekah had looked at me suspiciously before grabbing my face in her wrinkled hands, forcing me to meet her eyes, a shade of light blue that remained youthful despite the rest of her and she frowned at what she saw and released me, shaking her head as she took a seat at the tiny dinner table. "No, no, no," She mumbled to herself and we all looked at her in worry.

"What's wrong?" Bonnie asked, taking the seat opposite Rebekah and tried to placate the other woman. "What did you see, Rebekah?"

"She's met him," Rebekah answered, looking deeply troubled. "Her one true love."

Elena gasped beside me and grabbed my arm tightly with more strength than I thought her capable of having. "Is it true, Candice? Did you meet him?"

"I don't know what you mean." I was confused and wondered what my caretakers were speaking of. They sounded something out of an old tale – cryptic and odd. "What do you mean my 'one true love'?"

Bonnie looked up from where she was comforting her friend and motioned for me to come closer. "Come, Candice. It is time for you to know the truth."

"The truth?" I obeyed and took a seat at the table. "About what?"

"About who you are." Elena continued still not taking a seat at the table as Bonnie stood to stand beside her. Rebekah followed until they were all standing before me, all looking grim.

I wanted to ask them what they meant when they all began to glow so bright I had to look away to shield my eyes. When I looked again the three old women were replaced by beautiful, youthful ladies with shimmering skin and dressed in fine silk gowns that seemed to be light as air. They all varied in appearance but all equally as compelling. They seemed to not even be human for things that lovely could not be merely human and I started to fear what truth I was about to learn.

"How-" I shook my head in disbelief. "What happened? How did that happen?"

"We have revealed to you our real forms," Rebekah answered, her voice lacking the rasp of old age and was warm and rich, sounding much like Nathaniel's even more now.

"For it is time for you to learn the truth of your identity," Bonnie continued.

"And the story your life will play out," Elena ended, looking forlorn. "For it is to be a tragedy."

I stiffened in my seat. "What do you mean?"

"You're name is not Candice." Rebekah explained. "You are the only child of King William and Queen Elizabeth of Forbes and you are Princess Caroline of Forbes, heir apparent to the throne."

I wanted to laugh, felt it trying to escape my throat in hysteria. For this must be a silly joke, a far-fetched farce for I could not be a princess, surely not. But all three women looked so serious about this like it wasn't just some hallucination caused by some such matter here or there. People got sick all the time in the kingdom, I must surely just be ill of fever and was dreaming all of this.

"You're having a lark," I said and they looked at me in shock. "I'm not a princess. I grew up in a cottage in the woods cut off from other people aside from the three of you. I know nothing of how to be a princess of a kingdom. I cannot be a princess!"

"But you are!" Bonnie insisted, looking frustrated. "We know this is a lot to take in but it is the truth."

"And why should I believe you then?" I retorted. "If what you're saying is true and I am some princess then what are you three then to not only have kept this truth from me but to keep me away from my own kingdom, one I am meant to rule?"

"We are your faerie godmothers," Rebekah enlightened with a sigh. "Your father invited as at your christening to bestow upon you gifts. I gave you the gift of beauty and as we all can see you grew up to be very lovely."

"I gave you the gift of song." Bonnie smiled at me. "And as we've all heard you sing, your voice can outmatch any songbird."

"And I was supposed to give you a different gift but plans changed," Elena said, cryptic again until I prompted her for more. "My twin sister, Katherine, was not invited to your christening-"

"And with good reason too," Rebekah cut in. "She's the most dark of faeries."

"-and she took offense for not receiving an invite," Elena continued. "So her vengeance was to curse you."

"With?" My voice was barely a whisper, I was afraid to know but to be ignorant would be even worse. "What did she curse me with?"

"Upon your sixteenth birthday you are to prick your finger on the needle of a spinning wheel and fall into a sleep-like death," Elena stared at me with watery dark eyes as she choked back a sob. "And all of the kingdom shall follow. We will all wilt away until nothing is left."

My stomach was in knots as I processed this information. The fear inside me was lead in my stomach and I felt like I was being dragged down to a bottomless ocean. My voice wavered as I asked, "The kingdom will fall because of me?"

"No! It is not your fault!" Rebekah exclaimed, shocking me as she moved towards me and kneeled down till I was looking down at her exquisite but sorrowful face. "Katherine did this! She cursed an innocent child because of a social faux pas! She's the one to blame, not you! Never you!"

I could not hold back my tears anymore and let Rebekah envelope me in a tight hug. Her scent hadn't changed even with the physical transformation. She was still all raspberries and mint, sweet and light and a memory of childhood comfort. Bonnie came forward to hug me next and whispered assurances in my ear until I finally calmed.

Elena remained where she was, looking guilt-stricken. "I had a chance to stop all this, you know? I had a chance to kill my sister long ago before she became what she was and I didn't. I couldn't kill my flesh and blood."

"She may be your blood but her sins are not yours," Bonnie told her. "As we have told you time and time again, what Katherine became and chooses to do is not for you to bear but hers."

Elena hung her head and finally came forward, taking Rebekah's spot to kneel in front of me and capture my hands in hers. "Despite such reassurances, I still feel guilty and after Katherine cast her curse, I could not remove it but merely soften it.

"So I gave you the gift of true love," She cupped my cheek in her warm, smooth hands. "For there is no curse on earth that true love's kiss cannot break."

"And who is he? My true love?"

Hope began to grow inside of me for all was not lost. I could still save everything. It was there a solution. True love, like a tale of promises and dreams, was to be our salvation.

The three faeries exchanged looks before turning to me, Bonnie clarifying, "We took you from the palace and raised you here so you might not meet him."

"But if he's my true love and he can break the curse why would you try to prevent us meeting?"

"I softened the curse so that if you met your true love, he'd be able to break the curse," Elena looked uncomfortable, her face pinched. "But if you had never met him…"

"…the curse would not have activated," I finished, closing my eyes as realization made me heady.

The curse was now activated because I'd apparently met my true love and I had met someone today. And this someone made me want to be foolish and long for a world I thought I'd never need. And finding him would kill me but his kiss would save me. It seemed true love was both a curse and a gift.

"His name's Nathaniel," I finally said, looking down at my hands as I spoke. "He's an unimportant lord that lives at the palace, a companion of the prince."

"A companion?" Bonnie looked perplexed, staring at Rebekah for answers. "But you said Prince Kol was her true love."

"He is!" Rebekah returned irritably. "I am never wrong about these things."

"Prince Kol? Why would my true love be Prince Kol?"

I was getting more confused for I did not know Prince Kol, never got to see a glimpse of him and now they were telling me he was my true love and not Nathaniel? Besides, Prince Kol was already betrothed to-

I gasped loudly in horror. "Princess Caroline is betrothed to Prince Kol! I am betrothed to Prince Kol!"

"Well, yes," Bonnie agreed glibly. "Ever since you were born actually. Your parents arranged it."

"But how can he be my true love?" I was getting hysterical, these were too many shocks for one night. "I have never even met him!"

"You met him today." Elena supplied.

"I met Nathaniel today!"

"It wouldn't make sense for some random lord to be your true love because Elena tailored the gift with Prince Kol in mind," Rebekah expounded. "He is your true love not this Nathaniel."

"Unless…" Bonnie stood up from my side and up to the second floor of the cottage to her bedroom, she returned with a beautiful silver hand mirror with painted roses at the back. "This was a gift from another faerie friend of mine. Her godson is a beast of a boy as she says."

She handed me the mirror and just saw my reflection. "What am I supposed to be looking at?"

"This mirror will show you anyone you wish to see. All you need to do is think about them,"

I pictured Nathaniel's face in my head and watched in surprise as the mirror glowed green and my reflection shadowing until the vision changed to that of a large, elegant room, something certainly to that of royals. It had to be the castle and the man and woman with crowns had to be King Mikael and Queen Esther. And there before them looking miserable and angry was Nathaniel, wearing a dark coat with the royal seal of Mikaelson.

I nearly dropped the mirror but Bonnie's quick hands caught it in time before it broke into a million tiny pieces. I got up from my seat and started pacing the length of the small room. Anxiety was overcoming me but anger was even stronger. "He lied to me!"

"About his identity?" Rebekah scoffed. "Well, of course. He's an aristocrat, not an idiot. He's not gonna tell some random girl in the forest who he was. You might've been a forest bandit for all he knew."

I gave my faerie godmother the darkest glare I could muster. "He doesn't even want to marry me! That was why he was in the forest because he wanted to run away from the responsibility of having to marry someone he didn't know! And quite frankly I understand where he's coming from!"

"Arranged marriages aren't ideal," Bonnie tried to placate me. "But it is what is usual for royalty. It is your duty but I assure you – all of us do – that you will find love in him. He is your true love and that purest form of magic cannot be wrong."

"Forcing strangers to marry isn't wrong?" I spat, feeling my heart breaking. "Being taken from my family and leaving me ignorant for years isn't wrong? Being forced into a duty I never knew I had isn't wrong?

"How could you all be so cruel?" I choked on a sob as I let out words formed by my anger and resentment quickening into something toxic. "I hate you! I hate all of you and your gifts of unwanted true love! I hate Katherine for being such a petty little bitch! And I hate Prince bloody Kol for not running in some other part of the forest today!"

They all stared at me in horror and shock as I ran past them and upstairs to my room, locking the door behind me by a chair and then collapsing on my bed, sobbing out all my emotions until I felt hollow.

I woke to a birthday cake and a beautiful blue gown of the softest material, my fingers touched the blue fabric with cautious fingers until I stopped to look at my antsy faerie godmothers. I was still not used to not seeing them as aged and worn but these striking otherworldly creatures which bring such good and bad into the world. For magic is real and the world is a lot scarier than I was once told it could be. And I wanted to scream but all my emotions had been exhausted the night before.

"Happy Birthday!" They all greeted me, sweetly but subdued.

I could not even fake a smile and instead eyed the cake, the candles seemingly not melting and staying the exact same size. It must be magic. They must've been doing small things like this my whole life there and I hadn't bothered to notice. For they had told me themselves that such things were impossible, only to denounce such statements now.

"The curse happens tonight, am I correct?" I asked and they all winced.

"Yes," Elena grimaced. "Tonight."

"Will it be here?" I looked about our small cottage and imagined the doom of a kingdom to happen at such a quaint place. "For I have noticed we don't have a spinning wheel."

"There aren't any at the castle either," Bonnie spoke. "The details are unknown to us but tonight you must return to your real home and to your parents who have missed you dearly."

"And shall Prince Kol be there?" I dreaded the thought of seeing him but it was inevitable.

"Yes," Rebekah let out a breath as she came closer, lifting the gown from the chair. "You must dress for the ball. You two are to meet officially tonight."

"Oh," I eyed the gown in her hands. It really was pretty, something for a princess. But it didn't feel like me. I didn't feel like a princess. "When do we leave?"

My godmothers had helped prepare me for the ball with a new dark cloak keeping me warm as they brought me to the castle. Our steps light and quick on the forest floor as nightfall came quick. We reached Forbes as the sun disappeared in the horizon. My cloak kept anyone from seeing my face as we made our way to the palace through a secret entrance.

The castle was larger than I could've imagined and all the halls felt identical. It was all of expensive rugs and tapestries, large oak doors and floor-to-ceiling windows. I was led inside a room, bigger than our cottage in the forest and untouched, everything in it looking new. "Who's room is this?"

"Yours," Elena led me to the vanity table and made me sit down. "For the princess of the kingdom."

Her hands were on my shoulders as she turned to Rebekah who was at her side in a minute. I watched through the mirror as she and Bonnie conjured up a golden crown. "And our last gift to you, princess," The blonde faerie said with a sad smile. "A crown fit for your royal station."

Bonnie's hands were light as she placed the crown on my head and I saw then what they were saying. I saw Princess Caroline of Forbes but Candice was gone. This was who I am and yet she looked a stranger. She was name, a promise for a future. I was merely in her clothes, sitting in her room.

My godmothers noticed my distress and placated me with a kiss on my forehead, the top of my head and my cheek before they departed from the room. That was their goodbye and as soon as they were gone I cried. I cried for them, for the kingdom, for Kol and for the girl once named Candice. And how easy she was to kill.

I cried till the tears dried on my cheeks, till I smelled of salt and bitter words. I tried to imagine my life after this night. I tried to imagine life as a princess and then a queen. I tried to imagine life with Kol. I tried to imagine everything but how it would feel to escape from this castle and be free.

I could live in a forest again. I'd done it before. I understood it better than this world I was being dragged into. I could have a life I choose,

Just as I thought that the mirror of the vanity started to smoke over my reflection, much like Bonnie's mirror had done until I saw a vision of something else there. I saw me wearing a crown, looking older as I watched Kol chase a young boy who looked like him around the room. Was this my future? I looked happy as the boy ran to me and hugged me tightly.

The image was gone in a moment and I stood up as the room was enveloped in a green and cold light. I looked behind me to find the exact replica of Elena but instead of my godmother's airy blue gown, she was wearing a black and violet gown. It was Elena's twin sister, Katherine, and the faerie who cursed me. She looked smug as a spinning wheel appeared out of nowhere, probably by magic.

"Hello princess," Her voice was huskier than Elena's and her nimble fingers danced on the wheel. "Do you know what this is?"

"A spinning wheel?" I groused and she looked annoyed at my sass before shaking it off with a smirk.

"Yes and do you know what it's for?" She enunciated each word slowly before grinning brightly. "This is my curse activating. With your death and the kingdom's, all of what the proud Forbes family has built is about to rot away into nothing."

"Wow," I started laughing, the hysteria I'd bubbled up since last night finally escaping. "You are one wicked faerie like the absolute worst."

I stepped closer to the spinning wheel and looked directly at this vicious faerie as I placed my finger on the needle and pricked myself. I hissed slightly with the pain and eyed the droplet of blood that was there before looking back at Katherine who looked gleeful. She waited for me to fall to the ground and be cursed into that death-like sleep and soon the whole kingdom would follow.

But it didn't happen. For I didn't fall into a death-like sleep, I just had a sore finger. And Katherine looked dismayed as minutes ticked by and nothing happened.

"What did you do?" Katherine demanded. "You should be cursed by now. How are you still alive?"

"Because your curse activates when I meet my one true love," I told her with a grin as malicious as hers. "And I don't love Nathaniel – Kol or whatever his name is.

"And you know what?" I took off the crown on my head and tossed it at her feet. "You can have that. I don't want any of this either because…"

I looked her in the eye as I said my last words to her. "I'm not Princess Caroline."

She looked absolutely furious before gasping in shock as she's overcome by green flames, burning into ash within seconds of my sight until there was nothing but dust on the floor. The spinning wheel vanished and I looked around the scene in shock. What had happened?

"The curse broke," That made me turn to the door where Elena was standing, awed. "You broke it."

The forest felt like home even as I sat there on the forest floor still wearing that lovely blue gown. A fire kept me warm despite the cold night and I listened to the sounds of nighttime birds. A horse stopping behind me made me turn around and an odd sense of déjà vu greeted me as Kol dismounted his horse.

"Well, at least you weren't thrown into the pond this time." I quipped, making him frown as he took a seat beside me to share the fire.

"I kind of learned my lesson with that one,"

"Good," We were silent for a moment before I spoke again. "Why did you lie to me about who you are?"

"I just didn't want to be Kol for a day," He admitted with a shrug. "I wanted to talk to a pretty girl without being who I am rise expectations. Having the same pretty girl actually turn out to be the princess I'm betrothed to is just an odd coincidence."

"According to my faerie godmothers, there is no such thing as coincidence," I told him. "We were supposed to meet so you could break the curse Katherine cast on me when I was a baby."

"Speaking of," Kol said. "What did happen to that curse? Because I saw everyone was wide awake during the ball."

"I broke it myself." I scooted closer to the fire and a bit away from him. "I didn't need true love after all."

"Might as well,"

"Why?"

He smiled at me, cheeky but sweet. "Because it wouldn't have been true love,"

"Exactly. We don't know each other," I agreed. "And you've proven yourself to be a liar so trusting you enough to give you my heart is unlikely at this point."

"Not to mention you spent the first sixteen years of your life in a forest, learning absolutely nothing about how to run a kingdom," He nodded at his own thoughts. "It would've been a terrible match."

"Catastrophic," I shook my head. "What were our parents thinking?"

"Money," He supplied. "Land, soldiers, and grandchildren."

We both winced at the last one.

"I don't see true love at all," I frowned resolutely. "And I don't care what my parents say. I'm not going to marry someone because they tell me to."

"I told my parents the exact same thing," Kol smirked as he explained. "They were unhappy at my rebellion but since I am their heir, they agreed to my terms and ended our betrothal. They told your parents at the ball when you disappeared."

I was looking at him in shock, wanting to hug him and so I did. I barely knew him but I was happy because he'd set us both free. "Thank you." I whispered, my cheek pressed against his and he sighed deeply and hugged me back.

"Careful, Candice," He murmured, his breath warm against my skin. "The third gift was true love."

"This isn't love," I pulled away to look at him and his dark eyes were boring into mine, drinking me in like I was something profound. "We don't know each other."

He grinned at me, slow and warm. "Of course but there is always potential."

I took in his words about potential love between him and me. For love was rarely instantiations and what we felt was attraction towards something more than fondness that could be the true love everyone waxed poetic about. I liked his smile and he seemed to like me for whatever reason. And was that enough?

"You had your parents break our betrothal contract so we didn't have to marry each other and now you talk of possibilities?" I pursed my lips at him. "You are very inconsistent."

"Who said anything about betrothal contracts and marriages yet?" He was still smiling at me, his fingers caressing my cheek. "We are just going to get to know one another and if we find this supposed true love between us – well, we make our parents very happy."

"And if we don't?" I can't help but ask.

"Then I'll hire another evil faerie to lock you up in a tower as I slay a dragon to rescue you. And if you're not impressed by that, you are a fool."

"A beautiful, little fool?"

"The best thing a girl can be in this world," He leaned closer until his breath was all I could focus on, his lips inches from mine. "Be a fool, Candice. Fall for me."

"I'm not from your world," I protested but it was weak.

"Then be part of it," He countered. "I'll teach you all about the thingamabobs."

I laughed softly and smiled as he finally kissed me. It was slow and deep and I was almost afraid to breathe. The pleasant suffocation the best feeling I've ever had until he pulled away from me. His smirk was most charming and arrogant at the same time and I wanted to either slap him or kiss him again.

"How's that for true love's kiss?"

"Close." I kissed him again. "We'll work on it."