Fiona wasn't sure how long she had been laying, listening to the gentle ticking of the clock, staring at the bow and arrow mounted on the wall above her. She would close her heavy eyes every now and again, wishing desperately for the impossible release of sleep. In all her lost thoughts and non thoughts, coping and shaking, she didn't hear the quiet footsteps approach her room. There was a slight tapping on the door that made her jump. She let out an involuntary squeak as her body protested the movement, throwing her eyes closed, forcing her breath to be steady. Of course they'd check on her, of course it wouldn't be that easy, of course-

"Fiona?"

It was her mother's voice.

"Darling?"

The door was closed softly. Fiona stayed silent and still. The footsteps approaching her bed were singular, the peace her mother brought uninterrupted.

"Mom?" Fiona whispered, blinking her eyes open as they welled up with tears.

"Oh, my dear-"

Fiona shushed her, glancing to the empty windows. She did all she could to stay quiet, conveying what she needed with as little movement as possible. Lillian followed her gaze. She briskly walked to each window, checking, before returning to the bedside. Her guard was up, they were on the same page - Fiona could tell.

"The curse isn't broken," they spoke in unison, halting in surprise at each other's words.

"I'm so sorry, Fiona," Lillian spoke first, in a hushed voice, "I should have told you last night, but I wasn't completely sure of it myself.

"He's Fairy Godmother's son… he isn't my true love," Fiona whispered, the defeat washing over her again. A tear traced itself down her cheek. Lillian caught it with the softest touch, wiping it away. In fact, it looked as though her eyes were sparkling with tears too.

"I never trusted that woman," Lillian let out her true feelings, "I should have listened to my doubts all those years ago."

"You knew her?" Fiona's interest was truly captured. Lillian gently sat on the bed beside her. She was careful enough that it didn't move the bed much, but Fiona could still feel it. The change in pressure against her back seemed to move across her skin like sandpaper. She steadied her breathing, watching her mother intently. Her curiosity dampened the pain - not much, but enough - she held onto it.

"Yes," Lillian nodded gravely. She took a moment before meeting Fiona's gaze. "When you were first cursed, Fiona, there was no end. You were to turn from human to beast forever. We sought out many magic users, sorcerers, and wizards from kingdoms far and wide to assess you - to do anything to help you. The answer was always the same, a curse should only be broken. Removing the ogre part of the curse was possible, but they all warned the replacement would be far worse…"

"What?" Fiona would have gasped if the sudden inhaling of air wouldn't hurt her so much. She had never been told the full story of her curse it seemed. It had always been a constant, unchangeable, unshiftable, until… now.

Lillian hummed in thought for a moment. "I learnt a lot about curses when it first happened to you. You were cursed to change from sundown to sunrise. An ogre was the chosen form you would take by the witch who cursed you." Her mother paused, carefully swallowing down her emotion. "Incredibly advanced, expensive magic users claimed to be able to remove the ogre part of the curse, but it would need to be replaced by something, not that we were able to choose. It doesn't work like that. I don't claim to understand magic, nor what happened to you. They told us if they removed your ogre form, instead from sundown to sunrise it would feel like you were walking on glass shards and your body alight in flame. Forever." Her brow then furrowed, she paused for a second. "In hindsight, perhaps it was not our finest decision - we decided perhaps you would grow used to the pain, doctors could help you manage it, it meant you wouldn't need to hide away each and every night. We decided to pursue the removal of the ogre, for your own good. And yet, suddenly your father changed his mind. He said that we shouldn't and that there was one more person we could try; the Fairy Godmother. She was the only one who could add an addition to the spell; the breaking of the curse, the true love's kiss clause."

Fiona once again found herself in a battle with her own thoughts. The burning within her caused beads of sweat to pool on her forehead and she could feel how damp the bedsheets were beneath her. She was an adult, capable of handling pain entirely independently. She couldn't imagine being a child experiencing this, perhaps she would have passed away entirely, perhaps the stress would have been too much, perhaps she would have been better off after all.

"Does dad know?" Fiona focused her thoughts back on her mother's words. Her father wanted to trust the Fairy Godmother. She thought back to her father over her childhood. There were many ways to describe him but suspicious was not one of them - at least not through her eyes.

"I believe not-" her words were paused as she stared right through Fiona for a moment. "I don't know," she settled on, her lips sewn together.

They were silent together for a small while, save for Fiona's laboured breathing and Lillian's comforting support. She didn't know what to say, she didn't have much brain capacity to think about that. Instead, her brain was buzzing with her mother's words. She'd learnt more about her past than she could have guessed. All those countless hours she'd spent in the tower thinking of reasons why a witch would curse her. How many more she'd spent scouring her memories of the help her parents had brought to her. She'd desperately tried to piece things together, but could never come close.

Finally, after quietly recovering from a slight shift in position, Fiona's defeated thoughts landed on helplessness. "What do we do, mom?" she asked. Waiting for someone to save her was all she knew. It seemed terrible that she needed saving from the very person who saved her. Who could possibly help her now?

"We'll figure something out, darling." Her mother's empty words weren't reassuring, she could feel the panic growing within her, the burning becoming slightly more intense.

"They're pushing forward the wedding…" Fiona winced as she shuddered at the thought. "It's tomorrow." It certainly put a time limit on their ability to figure things out.

Lillian only shook her head. "No, I won't allow them to force you to marry him. Your father is the king. We shall provide our evidence and have them locked away."

As much as the princess desperately wanted to believe her mom, she couldn't. It wasn't going to be easy. Another tear traced down her face, or was it sweat? She couldn't tell. "Look at how far they've come already," her words were hurried, desperate, "She used magic on me… they just tried to force me into taking a potion. I had to trick them into thinking I was asleep. They're not going to back down."

The reality of her situation made it harder and harder to keep her breathing steady, the fire only getting hotter within her. She grew more and more aware of how the soft sheets carved into her skin, while her breath burned through her nostrils and down her throat.

Lillian shushed her, gently stroking her hair once more, only this time it didn't help. "It'll be okay, it's our job to protect you, Fiona," she spoke those soothing words, "We couldn't for so long… we're going to now. I will now. I'll find somewhere for you to hide…"

Fiona's frenzied mind stopped listening to the empty plans her mother spoke at her - more details about a suitable hiding place, explaining things to her father; nothing of any substance, nothing that would work. The plotting fairy and her horrid son already had her laying in a pool of her own sweat and tears… perhaps blood would be drawn next. Despite keeping her body still, her eyes were frantic, as if she was reading the top of the four poster bed like a book - trying to make everything make sense. Surely she couldn't hide in the castle, she was too easily within reach. Her parents would need to send her away yet again. Perhaps to a less dreadful place than the tower, but elsewhere nonetheless, with no contact lest someone trace it and find her. She would be hidden away so tightly not even her real true love would be able to find her. And she would lay writhing in unending pain every single night, while she waited for her parents to fix things. While she was helpless and out of control all over again.

"I have to run away," Fiona whispered her interruption. She didn't have the time nor brainspace to be polite and allow her mother to finish.

Her words were enough to give Lillian pause, catching her speechless. She wasn't the little girl they left in the tower anymore, certainly not now.

If the curse wasn't broken, and far worse than before, she knew what she had to do. "I have to find my true love."

"Where will you go?" Lillian's expression was just a little short of horror stricken.

Ideas danced around Fiona's mind. "Anywhere." The thought was a little dizzying, or perhaps it was her lack of sleep and head pounding. "But not here, not in Far Far Away." Her erratic gaze met her mother's. "If I can find my true love, we can get married in secret and it will break the curse. Then Charming can't be king."

"Fiona…" Her voice was sad and hesitant.

Fiona wasn't about to back down on her plan now. The clarity in her mind dulled the panic, and less panic brought less pain. She breathed out slowly, squeezing her eyes closed for a moment; the tremendous ache in her body easing just a little. She opened her eyes, her head pounding in protest. "True love wins all, right?" she spoke with childlike wonder despite her situation.

Lillian smiled at her, gently tucking a lock of her hair away from her face. "Yes, it does."

"My true love will help us. Help us defeat them."

The hope - that hope that kept her going for so many years in the tower - rekindled itself. She could feel it burning brighter than before. If her true love was out there looking for her, surely it would double the speed if she were to join him. They'd find each other in no time. She was sure of it.

"Fairy Godmother!" The princess beamed at the fairy from where she was standing on the raised platform. She tried to mimic the smile from the doctored photo - she was to be a picture perfect bride, after all.

The seamstresses worked diligently at the dress she wore, removing pins from the bottom of the gown and replacing them with hand stitches. They'd been pinning the fabric around her for at least half an hour already. The dress was huge, glittering white with giant puff sleeves. She wore a hoop skirt and a thick layered petticoat. The dress trailed behind her in a train that would have been longer if it wasn't for the veil that seemed to continue on endlessly. It was heavy and her heels were higher than she was used to. She was thankful she wouldn't wear it past the fitting; she wasn't sure how far she would get on a sleepless night of pain and pure adrenaline with a giant dress slowing her down. The wedding was scheduled for the mid afternoon, she was sure it was only that late to ensure the extravagance would be prepared in time. Still, she took the delay as reassurance that she'd done a good job of convincing them. Their confidence was showing. Fiona had to be careful about her own.

"Princess Fiona!" The fairy greeted her with matched enthusiasm, "Look at you! How are you, dear? Did you sleep well?"

Fiona forced a grin onto her face, chewing back a remark about how she actually spent the night. She nodded. "Wonderfully, thank you. The sleeping potion worked like a dream."

Fairy Godmother beamed at her, the happiness was radiating from her, she was getting what she wanted. Fiona glanced at her mother's reflection, she was sitting at the edge of the room, quietly watching - it was her daughter's wedding day after all. Fiona noticed it now, the way the fairy avoided Lillian's gaze, in fact, barely acknowledged her presence.

"That's actually what I needed to speak with you about…" Fiona began. Her mother and her hadn't seen eye to eye on this part of the plan. Lillian deemed it playing with fire, but Fiona needed something to quell the pain at night, especially if she would be tackling it alone. In the princess' mind, she figured she was only playing into their confidence. "You said it would take a while for my body to withstand the curse being gone…"

"Oh, I don't think it'll be too much longer, Princess." There was a twinkle in her eye.

Fiona pressed on, "But you see, tonight it'll be our wedding night, and… well… I wouldn't want you to need to interrupt anything to give me a potion." She laced her words with implications, avoiding her mother's gaze in the mirror - she decidedly didn't tell her mother this part.

It worked, the fairy's smile humorous at what she was saying. "Trust me, dear, I really don't think you'll need more."

Fiona blinked back her frustration. "How do you know that?" her tone was just a little sharp.

The challenge caught her by surprise. "Oh... no I don't know that, of course not. I just predict..."

"So you could give me a week's worth, just to be on the safe side." Fiona nodded at her, before fluttering her eyelashes. "I can imagine I will be very distracted, and don't even want the worry of pain to ruin anything." The godmother hesitated. "As a wedding gift to us, it's all I ask you," she found herself begging, "I fear that I will be terribly anxious if not."

Fairy Godmother sighed. "Okay," she relented, "just to be safe, so you can enjoy your nights without worry."

"Oh, thank you!" Fiona gushed, turning to her, holding a delicate hand to her chest. "Please leave it in my room for me, as soon as possible, before the wedding," she forced as much of a suggestive tone into her words as she could. It made her want to vomit as she watched the smug pleasure the fairy was taking out of the conversation. She turned back to the mirror lest she actually throw up. "Tell Charming I love the dress."

"Fairy Godmother," Lillian rose from her seat, taking her part in the plan, "I shall escort your leaving to get the potions, there's much I would like to discuss about the wedding. I also request your assistance once you return."

Fiona met her mother's eye, they smiled at each other, hiding their nerves and hesitation. The pair left, leaving Fiona alone with the seamstresses. Her mother would attempt to ensure the fairy would provide the potions as soon as possible. She could only hope it would work. She needed to escape before anyone came to find her to get ready; it didn't leave her much time. Lillian had suggested she escape at sunrise, it was the least risky option, but she wouldn't have what she needed. And who knew what abuse they'd be enduring already. At least by delaying her departure Fiona could delay the godmother's wrath. She just needed to secure the sleeping potions and hope that they were just that and nothing more.

And she did. As Fiona entered her room, safely back in her own clothes after being poked and measured and turned around, the potions were sitting on her vanity. She closed the door behind her and locked it. There was only a small amount of time she had to herself before the planned chaos would engulf her. She had already taken some smaller adventures earlier that morning: sneaking into the kitchen to secure some food and water for her journey, acquiring a knife for her own personal comfort, and slipping into the workers' quarters to steal an unsuspecting woman's dress. She only hoped she would be forgiven.

She leaned around the side of the vanity, and pulled her satchel of items from where she'd securely tucked it away. She pulled the dress from within and changed. As she turned back to the mirror it gave her pause. The blue dress was certainly different. The fabric felt a little rough on her skin and it was slightly too loose around her middle. It was nothing like she'd ever worn before. But… clothing wasn't enough. Even without her tiara, she still looked unmistakingly like herself.

Hesitantly, she pulled her braid over her shoulder. Her fingers lingered, tracing the woven pattern in her hair until she hit the hair tie. With lightly trembling hands, she slid it out of her hair and pulled the braid loose. She raked her fingers through her untangled locks, allowing it to fall in thick waves around her hips. Her hair had always been long and beautiful. It was attractive. Taking a breath, she allowed herself to realise it was far too eye-catching. Barely giving herself time to think about her decision, she opened the satchel again. She quickly found the fabric bundle, she'd wrapped the knife in to save herself from any accidents. Carefully, she unwrapped it. As a child, her mother had always insisted her hair was beautiful and needed to be left to grow long. She'd been taught how to delicately trim her own hair while in the tower, so it didn't become unmanageable. It was nothing like what she needed to do now.

She roughly split her hair into two, pulling both sections over each shoulder. With one hand, she gripped onto one half of her hair just below her shoulders, and with the other she firmly held the knife. She hacked through her tresses, fighting back any emotion that was threatening to spill over. She'd always liked her hair, but she'd always wanted her freedom; one could only come at the cost of the other it seemed. She dropped the hair that was left limp in her hands and moved onto the other half. Finally, she stared at herself, knife in hand, hair unkempt and mostly uneven. She screwed up her face, blinking furiously - she couldn't cry, not now.

Taking another deep breath through her nose, she wrapped up the knife again and shoved it into her satchel. She ignored the glimmer of her tiara in the corner of her eye and stepped backwards to see the full result of her appearance change. It worked. She barely recognised herself, standing in common clothes with shoulder length hair, no royal symbols to be seen. It made her uncomfortable to look at. Her brain asked her once again if she was doing the right thing-

"My princess, my beautiful bride, my love!"

Charming's voice emanated loudly from outside of her room, startling her. She stared in horror at the locked door before jolting herself into action. She stuffed her loose hair into a drawer and ran over to the door, pressing her back against it.

"My prince!" she returned as sweetly as she could muster, "You shouldn't be here, we can't see each other before the wedding."

"Last time you insisted I shouldn't see you, you were a dreadful ogre," he spoke playfully. "Just one peek?"

She widened her eyes, feeling her heartbeat race even harder. "No!" she objected lightly. She gripped the door handle firmly, she wasn't an ogre now, not like the last time she had to take the same precaution.

"Fiona, I want to see you," there was a serious edge to his tone.

"It's bad luck," she spoke firmly, "You don't want me thinking unfavourably of you, do you?" She couldn't help herself, though in his sudden silence she forced herself to laugh at her words, as if it were a joke. He didn't return in kind. Her brain scrambled for something else. "Well… I'm here, against the door." She pressed a palm against the wood. "Press yourself against it too," she gently instructed him. A strange wave of a different sadness hit her. Her prince was on the other side of a locked door once again, but this time she didn't want him to come in. "This is as close as we can get," her voice faltered a little, it helped her case, "I wish it could be closer, but, we'll be much closer tonight."

She heard him follow her instructions, he leant against the door.

His tone completely softened, "This is why I love you, Fiona, so poetic and beautiful - I shall see an artist recreate this right away."

"We are the story creators after all." She raised an eyebrow at her own words. She listened to him hurry away, giving herself a second to breathe. A second was it; she couldn't allow herself time to process what was happening in her head. For all she knew he was going to report back to his mother that she wouldn't allow him to see her and Fairy Godmother would come and check herself. She needed to leave now.

. . .

The story is really only just beginning and we're - check's wrist - only 8 chapters in! Thank you for the reviews :)