Page 4: Bound by Destiny

Here we are, the first real day of school at Ever After High. We've talked about some unexpected pressures some of the students have experienced already, but now they'll all be going through the same things their parents did. Whether some of them believe their parents were ever young, or not.

Working a little personal observation into that one, dear?

I am not.

(I sure wonder that about my parents…)

Did you say something, Brooke?

I'm a little worried about Taylor Valiant and his friends, mom. Like dad said, he's had a hard time with those weird monsters. Now he's about to meet someone who'll really surprise him.

Been reading ahead again, young lady?

Only as much I need to be ready for the chapter.

That's better.

It's all I can read since mom locked up the rest.

Dear! Did you really?

She needs to learn she can't do her job properly if she peeks ahead!

Is she going to learn that if you keep her on a leash?

This could take a while. How about we check in on orientation?

It was an absolutely beautiful day, with a bright sun warming the first touch of the autumn chill off the students. They were all gathering on the assembly area out behind the school just above the back of the mountainside. Orientation was about to begin, and that meant an address from the head of the faculty.

Raven Queen held her hand above her eyes to scan the crowds of students, and most of them were happy to stay out of her way to give her room to look. She smiled with relief when she spotted Pyotr Lupus and Taylor Valiant picking seats, and hurried over to sit down in an empty one next to the two of them. The boy who'd been about to sit there started to protest, then recognized the Evil Queen's daughter. He flinched, held up his hands in placation and hurried to find somewhere else to sit. Somewhere far, far away from where he'd been planning.

"Hi, Raven," Pyotr greeted her, but there was a slightly disapproving cast to his eyes. "Staying out of trouble?"

She looked down at her feet. "Yeah."

"What are you guys talking about?" asked Taylor.

"Nothing," Raven replied. Taylor nodded, but the look on his face before he looked up at the stage said he didn't quite believe it.

For the moment, she was saved by someone walking through the archway on the stage. Green summer vines were still wrapped around it, looking much more youthful than the man passing under them.

The headmaster was an imposing figure. Or, so he might have liked to think. Milton Grimm was a portly man, his hair and mustache starting to grey. He wore a dark coat and vest that he imagined were the clothes of a distinguished gentlemen, although they were getting a bit small for his frame again.

That day, his attention wasn't on his pinching waistline. Headmaster Grimm put his hands on the podium and coughed loudly to get the students' attention. Talking continued in a few corners of the seats, but died when the students realized the headmaster was shooting pointed glares their way. With silence prevailing, he coughed again, and began his address. "Students! Inheritors of the great stories! You've all known what your roles would be since you were just children, but today is the day you begin learning those roles in earnest.

"Our kingdom's always been the home of the greatest stories, and our school's always been where the participants of those storied were trained. Today, you take the first steps in joining the great legacies of the past, and helping build the glory of the next cycle of all stories.

"Today, you are truly citizens of the World of Stories. I can think of nothing more appropriate to start the new year, than for the key players in the greatest story of them all to join me on stage and say a few words. Miss White, Miss Queen, if you would please."

A collective "WooooOOOooo!" went up from all over the seats as Apple White slipped into one of the isles. She smiled the glowing smile of a true glamorous queen, graciously waving to the students excited to her see going by. Someone shouted, "I love you, Apple!" and she nodded in the general direction it came from, widening her smile for a few seconds before she turned forward again to make sure she didn't focus too long on any one spot.

All the cheering suddenly stopped when Raven very reluctantly got up from her spot on the opposite side of the assembly area and was spotted by the other students. Everyone looked away as she passed, her shoes echoing against the floor with how the students seemed afraid to breathe now that attention was being put on the Evil Queen's daughter. She walked up the steps to the stage, and stood on the headmaster's right side while Apple stood on his left.

Apple glanced over at Raven, looking hurt for a fraction of a second but her grin returned before she took her place at the podium and faced her classmates again. "Hi everyone! I'm really honored Headmaster Grimm wanted me to say something encouraging…I just wish he told me before, so I'd have had a chance to think of something."

People laughed. Some boys and even a few girls held up their fingers in the heart shape. The princess waved some more and waited for it to die down before she went on. "Everyone has a place here. Hero, villain. Prince, princess. Wolf, troll, giant. People from humble beginnings become heroes in our stories, because of the challenges Ever After High teaches us to overcome." She extended her finger and swept her arm over the crowd, indicating everyone. "I'm looking forward to learning that with all of you!"

One more time, the student body cheered. It seemed like the assembly area might shake loose from it, and Apple stood at the podium waving and smiling to her public. After a little while she held up her hands to urge everyone to quiet down. "Thanks everybody!" Apple smiled. "Now, I'd like to turn the mic over to my costar, Raven Queen." She stepped back from the podium, bowing a little and holding out her arms to indicate it was Raven's turn to step up.

Very uncertainly, the dark princess did. "Uh, h-hi, everyone!" Raven said, trying to smile. She was rewarded with silence. Frantically, she scanned the crowd and found Pyotr, giving her a reassuring but cheesy smile and showing her a thumbs up. Raven tried to go on, "It'll be…different, studying with other kids now. I hope we can learn a lot of new things, maybe unexpected things about ourselves."

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted Headmaster Grimm, frowning hard and shaking his head. Raven tried a sheepish smile, and hastily concluded, "So let's all make this a great year! And I'll try not to curse too many people!"

Dead silence again. Headmaster Grimm stepped up and reclaimed the podium, saying, "That's all, everyone. Familiarize yourself with your schedules and start looking at the club offerings, don't try to just spend the rest of the day playing those computer games in your dorms. Miss White, if I may have a word before you go?"

The students, especially Raven, formed into a blob of people squeezing through the doors back into the main school building. Obediently, Apple waited behind, watching as Raven slipped away from her again.

Once the others were out of earshot, Headmaster Grimm leaned in and whispered, grimly, "Keep an eye on that 'costar' of yours."

Despite the headmaster's orders, not everyone set about learning the way to their classes, or other school things. A club drive had started out on the quad, though, and teens were handing out lanyards, brochures and even plushies to incoming students looking for something to join.

Pyotr Lupus and Taylor Valiant were two of them. They walked past a booth where one boy with glasses and an egg-shaped head was sitting, showing a trio of other boys with glasses and a collection of hygiene problems how to hack their mirrorphones. In the row behind that was the basketball team's booth, with last year's Most Valuable Prince regaling a collection of students—mostly girls—with stories of the previous season.

"Hey," Taylor nudged his roommate. "What were you and Raven talking about at the assembly?"

"You're gonna have to ask her yourself, T," Pyotr said somberly. "Contrary to my reputation, I don't do stuff like tell other people's secrets."

"Listen to the big words you're using," Taylor muttered.

All of a sudden, a voice rose out of the general noise around them. "Taylor!" It was both of them who turned around, and saw Cerise Hood running up to them. Panting a little as she stopped, but still smiling. "I thought that was you. Thinking about any clubs to join?"

Taylor shrugged. "I was sort of thinking about a sport—"

Cerise grinned. "Like track and shield?"

"Like that, yeah," Taylor agreed. "But I was really thinking of signing up for swordplay club, after…recent events. My dad would really like it if I was on a sports team, but I don't know if I should go ahead and commit myself that much. After…recent events." He stopped and took a deep breath. "What about you guys?"

Pyotr tapped his chin. "I'll probably try out for the bookball team when that opens up. Show Daring Charming I don't care what he thinks of me." Cerise chuckled when she heard that, prompting Pyotr to ask, "And what's so funny?"

She answered, "I don't think he'll have time! He tagged everybody on Fablebook like ten minutes ago, and he said he's joining like every team"

"He can do that?" said a very dubious Pyotr.

"Guess the prince gets special perks," Cerise chuckled, shaking her head as she couldn't quite believe it either. Taylor was laughing a little too when he saw someone approaching their group.

It was a girl, obviously another student. She had on a figure-hugging dress of purple silk the ended just above her knees, and she walked on golden platform sandals with elaborate lacing covering her shins. Wavy red hair cascaded to the middle of her back, decorated on top by a tiny golden crown leaning at an angle to her heart-shaped face. Captivating blue eyes and a warm smile were aimed straight at them.

Or rather, one of them.

"You're Taylor Valiant, right?" the beauty asked.

"I'm sorry, I don't think we've met," he answered.

She giggled, "Well, let's fix that! I'm Anna!"

Taylor gave her a blank look.

"Anna Weaver?"

The blank look stayed.

"The princess of your story?" she asked, her smile fading.

Taylor stepped away from his friends, and the girl introducing herself to him without success. "Can I talk to you guys later?" he asked. "I need to call home."

He walked away from all the booths, over to a quiet and shady side of the quad. Anna Weaver followed him, though. Saying nothing, but clearly not about to leave without getting acknowledgement. Taylor hit his father's number and leaned against a wall, while Anna did the same and started to flick through things on her mirrorphone.

After two rings, a familiar voice answered. "Taylor? Are you sick of your new school already?"

He was in no mood to joke around. "Dad, do you know about a girl named Anna Weaver?"

"Maybe. Is she pretty?"

"Yes," Taylor answered automatically, only realizing what he'd said when Anna turned to look at him for a second and smiled again. He frowned and turned back to his phone. "Dad, if you know something about this, please just tell me."

His father sighed, but answered, "Okay, sport, truth is we did know about you and Anna having the same destiny since you were both little. Your mother and I didn't tell you about her before, because we wanted to let things happen naturally between you kids when you got to school. From the sound of things, her dad didn't agree with our idea."

Taylor looked over at Anna, who looked back and waved. He focused on his phone again, and said, "Yeah, seems like she holds all the cards."

"Please don't take it personal, Taylor," said his father. "We were afraid you'd grow up getting all kinds of expectations about her. That's not a healthy way to start a relationship."

"I won't, dad," Taylor said, still not sure how to react. "I'll talk to you later. Love ya."

Anna put her phone away as soon as she saw Taylor hang up. In the next second she'd stepped to his side. "Let's go look at some clubs together," she beamed. "What were you thinking about signing up for?"

He shrugged, not sure about revealing too much about himself to a person he'd just met. Not after the weird black monster attacks of the last couple days.

Even if she was destined to be his True Love.

"I'm not sure, I only started looking," Taylor answered her. "Were you thinking of anything?"

Her face lit up at the question. It was a sight that would've melted most boys, and Taylor felt like he was about to. "No, not really! I just wanted to look around with you!" she exclaimed. Still smiling, Anna looped her arm through his and laced their fingers together, then half-dragged him back in the direction of the club drive. "Let's find something fun to join!"

Part of Taylor said to pull away, this was all happening too suddenly. His upbringing told him no, he couldn't say no to someone just trying to be friendly. Especially not…especially not to the girl destined for him.

All the same, Taylor was sure of one thing. This was not what he needed with everything already on his mind.

Like starting high school.

Looking down on the school, he considered his next move.

The previous two attempts had been foiled, by the power of something called Mendyr. Of course, this world contained many great secrets of magic. For all those years, he'd thought they were all known to him.

Clearly, there were exceptions.

Which, given the disruptions he was already detecting, was disquieting.

He turned away from the window overlooking the Ever After High campus, and walked the short distance to his desk. Atop it was a Ride Book, covered by a small black cloud. Its power laying dormant for the moment, still waiting to be inscribed with the face of the horror it would unleash.

First had come from the story of the dissident. Second had come from the story of the one who had befriended them.

Perhaps, it was time to look elsewhere for inspiration. Outside of the stories these particular youths starred in.

After all, was there not an entire world of grand stories to draw from?

For saying she wanted to look at the clubs with Taylor, Anna breezed right by most of the booths. He thought maybe she already had something in mind after all, then he thought maybe she just walked fast naturally. Deciding to play it gentle with finding out, he asked, "See anything that sounds fun?"

"Hmmm, not really. What about the cheer-hexers? Maybe I should think about joining them," Anna asked, pointing to the side of the quad where the fairies were performing an acrobatic display. Even though most of the spectators seemed to be boys there for the show, instead of any idea of joining.

"Gee, I don't know," said Taylor, who honestly didn't know what else to say to that.

Anna grinned coyly at him. "Oh? Don't want other boys staring at me? Okay, what about…" She looked around again, then again. "Uh, swim team? No, you don't want other boys staring at me," Anna repeated, giving a feeble laugh at repeating her own joke already. "Do you have any ideas?"

Taylor scratched the back of his head. "Well, I was sort of thinking about joining the swordplay club."

She squinted over at him in confusion. "…but there's no sword fighting in our story," Anna pointed out.

"I know, but it'd be cool! Would it be so bad having a hero who's a dashing swordsman? Besides, what if a dragon gets into town and Daring Charming's not around to slay it?" Taylor answered, just saying whatever came into his mind at this point. He honestly had no idea how to handle a girl putting him in a situation like this.

Right then, over Anna's shoulder, Taylor spotted someone watching them. Raven Queen. Her head tilted slightly, eyes a little wide, chewing on her bottom lip in bewilderment at what she was seeing.

He didn't have long to focus on Raven, because then Anna smiled again. A softer smile than before, but enthusiastic all the same. "That would be cool, yeah! But you have to let me come watch you at practice." She looked away, at all the booths. "I'll need to find a club to join that won't get in the way of that."

Without waiting for a reply, she led Taylor away, chattering about possible clubs she could join. He had only a second to meet Raven's eyes before Anna dragged him farther into the Ever After High club drive.

Shafts of moonlight were spilling through the windows of the boys' dorm by the time Taylor Valiant made it back. Pyotr didn't look up from his video game. "Didn't see you at dinner," he said. "How'd it go with your True Love?"

Taylor kicked off his shoes and fell down on his bed. "She didn't make up her mind about a club. After a while we went into town and wandered around until we found a coffee shop, and then she asked me to tell her about tailoring. I honestly don't think she knew what else to talk about. Then she invited me back to her room for dinner."

Pyotr crowed, "Oh, dang! You got into her room on the first day!...Is that cool, or weird, if you never met her before?"

Taylor sat up and looked around for something to do. Seeing nothing, he sighed, and went on, "Mostly, it felt weird. I tried to ask what she did this summer, but she didn't want to say. The food was good, though. Anna said she made it to celebrate our first meeting."

"What was it?"

"Bandersnatch steaks, fruit salad…I swear I didn't even know there were that many kinds of fairyberry. Best foxing crown cookies I ever ate in my life," Taylor rattled them off, but his voice was lifeless.

His earlier amusement gone, Pyotr asked, "So…does that mean you enjoyed it?"

Taylor groaned and rubbed his eyes with his palms. "I DON'T KNOW. I mean, Anna's beautiful, and nice, and she's a great cook, but…I just…feel like I've been dropped straight into dating her."

After saying that, Taylor laid on his side and shut his eyes tight, trying to start resting. There wouldn't be much time to get the mental energy to be ready for another encounter with Anna Weaver.

After all, as she'd reminded him over lattes, they were in the same Introduction to Heroics class.

First period.

Every day.

Mom?

Yes, Brooke?

Is it always like this?

What do you mean?

I mean…this. You always talk about how important Destiny is, but everyone in the story's talking about how they don't want to be like that. And now Taylor's really uncomfortable around his True Love.

Stories aren't meant to be resolved right away, sweetie. You need to be able to savor them, let them sit on your tongue and drip their flavor into your mouth.

Uh…nice metaphor, mom.

Next morning, Taylor was a little glad for the regulations letting princesses sleep in later to get mandatory beauty sleep. The toast and bowl of enriched Charming-O's helped him feel energized for the day, though, and he headed to the grimmnasium. Besides the main sports floor, there were other rooms off to the sides, and one of them had a mock-up of a castle with towers and turrets. It wasn't hard to guess what was going to be on the lesson plan for that day.

By the time the bell rang, a collection of other students—half boys, half girls—had assembled in the room with the artificial castle. The teachers came in from a side door. First a surprisingly short man, barely taller than the students, with thick red-brown hair and beard, wearing a green jacket and khaki pants. Second a regal-looking woman in a blue and white dress and pointed hat, contrasted with her cascading red hair and captivating green eyes. The man cleared his throat, and most of the students obediently looked over at him. "Hello, students!" he boomed with a smile. "I'm Professor Hood. This is Professor Marian. We'll be instructing you in the basics of rescuing, and being rescued."

Professor Marian coughed demurely into her hand. "Or, we could be a little less stuffy, about it, everyone. This is Robin Hood, I'm Maid Marian. Maybe you've even heard our story sometime."

One the girls hopped up and down, her hand straight up. "I did!" she sang. Her cheeks turned pink as she caught herself for being so excited. "Um, it had a beautiful rescue. I've kind of wished I could be rescued like that someday…" Around her, the other girls giggled. One of them was Anana Weaver, if anything looking even more beautiful than the day before, who saw Taylor looking her way and sent a wave back. He returned it quickly, and looked as hard as he could at the teachers.

Robin Hood spoke up, "Okay, boys. Since it's the first day, we'll keep it simple. You'll just have to throw a rope, climb it, and help your damsel back down from the tower."

"Simple, huh?" one of the other students asked.

"Yep," Robin Hood grinned. His eyes flashed. "By the end of the week we'll be having the other boys shooting the rescuer with bows! By midterms, it'll be with catapults!"

The boy stared at the teacher in horrified silence. Most of his classmates were smirking behind his back. "…are you serious?" he asked.

"Dead serious," Robin Hood said, grinning even more now. "Good heroes need good aim. Lesson number one."

A gulp came from the boy, and he retreated behind his classmates. Smiling downright devilishly, Robin Hood announced, "We'll be going in reverse alphabetical order. That means…" he paused to check a clipboard. "Mister Valiant and Miss Weaver will be going first!"

Anna squealed and hopped up and down in excitement. She walked quickly past the group, flashing her smile at him while she headed to the stairs behind the mockup castle. Taylor got a rope and grappling hook off the rack attached to the wall. By then, Anna had gotten to the top of the fake tower, and blew Taylor a kiss from the turret. With the eyes of the entire class on them, Taylor whirled the hook over his head a few times, then tossed it at the edge of the tower.

It missed. Anna yelped and dodged to her left to keep from being hit, stepping awkwardly and having to grab the edge of the roof to keep herself from twisting her ankle.

"You're not going to have a long Happily Ever After if that's how you throw when it counts, Valiant!" Robin Hood laughed, and most of the class laughed along with him. Taylor ignored them and stared straight ahead, so at least only Anna could see how red his face was turning.

She wouldn't tell, would she?

He had to throw two more times. The next time the hook bounced off the wall. Anna bit her lip while she watched Taylor whirl the hook then throw it, but it sailed past her and pull fast against the wall next to her. Taylor started hauling himself up the rope, straining his upper body to the limit until he was high enough to slither over the edge of the parapet. Once there he leaned on the edge and panted for breath.

His princess looked at him, chewing her lip again. "So, hey? Nice climb," she said, sounding very unsure if that was the right thing to say to her out-of-breath rescuer. "What do we do now?"

"Wait a second," Taylor answered. She looked away, getting even more uncomfortable. After a second Taylor stood up, mounted the ledge, and said, "Climb on." Anna reached out, for him, her hand flinched back for a second, but then she wrapped her dainty arms around Taylor's shoulders and her legs around his waist.

"If you're sure about this," she whispered.

"Hey, we just have to go down," Taylor tried to smile reassuringly over his shoulder. "That's the way everything goes."

With the rescued damsel on his back, Taylor hopped over the side. He almost lost his grip on the rope when his weight, Anna Weaver's added to it, caught on the side. His breath came out fast and strained from trying to hold up two people, and he climbed down as fast as he could. Anna got off him as quickly as possible, and cringed at the painful-looking red rope marks she saw on Taylor's hands.

Robin Hood grunted. "Room for improvement," was all he said, before ordering the next couple to get started.

Anna Weaver didn't even hear the teacher. She started at Taylor's hands, which he hid behind his back when he saw what she was looking at. "Sorry," he mumbled. "That probably wasn't your dream rescue."

"Well, it's…it's the start of the year, right?" Anna tried an awkward smile, but Taylor just looked away.

"Sorry," he repeated. Anna was quiet for a minute, looking over at the latest couple already on their way back down the mock tower. She went over to the water fountains, got a cloth out of her purse and soaked it.

She walked back to Taylor and, to his surprise, took his wrist. She pressed the damp cloth against one stinging palm, then took his other hand and put it on top so they were both rubbing against the wet material.

"Push down on that. It should help with the rope burn," she told him quietly.

Taylor met her eyes, his mouth slightly agape. "Thank you," he said. "I'll make sure to give it back later."

"Okay," Anna said, and her smile turned genuine.

Still, she went back over to wait with the other girls.

The next bell rang when one of the last boys was still halfway down the wall. Robin Hood barked at the departing students he hoped they'd been taking notes, while his wife calmly reminded them to go over the exercises in their heads that night and think about how to do better. Anna Weaver stood back as the other students left. Taylor caught her eye and started to say something, but she looked away, so he hurried to the next class along with everyone else.

Princessology was next for her, and Anna was very surprised to see Raven Queen sitting by herself a few tables over. Everyone knew about the villain in the biggest story of them all, but what was she doing in the class where royal girls learned to be prim and proper?

And why did she look kind of…sad? Wasn't she supposed to be vain, and vengeful, or something?

Even more confusing than that, when lunch period came, Anna spotted Raven sitting at a table with Taylor Valiant and Pyotr Lupus. All of them smiling and laughing while Taylor did an impression of one of the other boys, who'd had his rescuee hold onto his neck too hard and couldn't breathe.

Was Taylor friends, with Raven Queen?

Anna let the rest of the day pass, but hurried out of her last class to make sure she was in the main hallway before anyone else when the bell rang. So, she had no trouble spotting Taylor Valiant meeting up with his friends as class broke. She hurried after them as fast as she could in her tall heels, making sure not to lose sight of the three of them while staying out of sight.

Soon they spilled out the front doors of the school, probably along with most of the students thinking about a trip into town now that classes were over. Much to Anna's relief, they ran into another girl wearing a red hood, and she and Taylor went off together by themselves. It wasn't long before the students started to disperse, and she managed to dash up to where Pyotr and Raven were standing.

"Hello," Anna said, simply but a bit forcefully.

"Uh, hello," Raven said too, eyes wide with surprise. "Can we help you?"

Pyotr seemed to recognize her. "You're the girl from yesterday, right? T's True Love. What's up?"

Anna's gaped slightly at being received so openly by Taylor's friends, with the way things had bee. Still, that was exactly what she followed them hoping for, and Anna answered, "Yes, that's me. Look, you're both friends with him, aren't you? Is…is…" she tried, not sure how to ask now that she was there and they were listening to her. Finally she blurted out, "Is there something wrong? Is he mad at me for some reason?"

"What do you mean?" Raven asked, giving her a curious but slightly cautious look at the same time.

"I mean…!" Anna stopped, tripped up mentally and couldn't find the words to diplomatically say what she was trying to say. She sighed and reached back, tucking a lock of luminous red hair behind her ear. "I mean, I tried to hang out yesterday night with Taylor, and he seemed like he could barely talk to me. It was even worse this morning, when we did rescue training. Did he tell you anything? About me?"

Raven looked away, and Anna started to get annoyed, but Pyotr held up his first two fingers and waved them to quietly get her attention. "I think he feels like he's just been thrown into this situation all of a sudden."

"But…what does that mean? Have you been friends with him a long time?"

Pyotr smiled gently, seemingly trying to look reassuring, and shook his head. "We've only known each other a couple days."

"Well, what about that girl in the red hood he left with a minute ago?"

"Whoa-ho-ho-ho," Raven interjected, looking Anna in the eyes very sharply. Looking just like an evil queen, to Anna's mind. "Were you spying on us?" Raven demanded.

Anna stammered, "I…I…I wanted to talk to the people who know Taylor! We're supposed to be together! If something's wrong, I have to know what!"

"Why?" Pyotr asked, very quietly.

"Because we're supposed to be together!"

She was surprised by Pyotr holding his finger in front of his lips. "Look, Anna?" he said, still very quietly. "To me, the problem's pretty obvious: you and Taylor are coming into this with completely different sets of expectations. You got told how you and Taylor were supposed to get together a long time ago, I bet."

The princess shrugged. "Yes, but—"

Pyotr held up his fingers again, and Anna shut up. To say she was starting to feel indignant was an understatement, but where else was she going to get an answer to this problem?

If he told her to do something stupid as a joke, though, Anna Weaver promised herself this boy would suffer. Not her most maidenly thought, but she was getting stressed and frustrated with not knowing how to make this work.

"Look, you've been building up to this for a long time, right? Taylor just had it all dropped on him yesterday morning," Pyotr explained. "You've been coming up with how this is supposed to work for a long time, and he has to figure it out from zero."

"Look, I'm not trying to make this hard for him! Taylor's going to be my prince!" Anna exclaimed, then sighed. "I don't want him to hate me."

"He doesn't hate you, no way," Pyotr replied. "I bet he hasn't even had a girlfriend before, and he's just feeling overwhelmed."

"Wow, admit something like that about your friend," Raven rolled her eyes.

Pyotr stuck out his tongue at the dark princess. "I'm his roommate. Roommates have to razz each other once in a while. It's a rule."

"That is not a rule," Raven retorted.

"You're right, it's not a rule," Pyotr admitted. "It's a guy thing."

Anna stepped away from the two as they bantered. That possibility hadn't even occurred to her. After all, she and Taylor Valiant were destined to be together. Why would that be a lot to deal with? It was what everyone was at this school for: to get ready for their destiny.

But what if the weird boy was right? What if Taylor was feeling overwhelmed from meeting his True Love?

She slipped away without a word, but not unnoticed.

It had come.

A point where a canon pairing was endangered.

Not the most integral couple, but if the smaller cracks were ignored, that would only give them a chance to spread. He'd built such a beautiful world, he would not allow a bunch of malignant influences to tear it down with their teenage ignorance.

The Ride Book on his desk was actively bouncing around, waiting to unleash its power. Concentrated even more than before. He picked it up, tapped the cover, and let it fly from his hands. Out into the school to do its vital work.

Then Headmaster Grimm sat down at his desk, the dark glow fading from his eyes.

"You know Cerise, your pet…uh, friend's really cute. I gotta admit, I never played fetch like this before."

He threw the steak as far as he could, and it hadn't even flopped onto the grass before the gray wolf pup they were playing with jumped and snatched it out of the air with his teeth. The wolf turned and gave Taylor a judgy look while chewing on the meat.

Cerise Hood laughed, "That was the weakest throw ever after!" She stood behind Taylor and put another cold steak in his hand, then guided him into twisting his middle back. "You need to throw with your whole body, not just your arm." She looked away, at the wolf pup. "Hey Carmine! Go long this time!"

Uncertainly, Taylor twisted his torso hard as he threw, bending over so far as he finished, he almost fell down. Carmine ran down the field after the flying steak, and actually had to put on a burst of speed to catch it before it hit the ground. "Wow. That went a lot farther. Thanks for the tip, Cerise," he said with a smile.

"No problem," she smiled back. "Thanks for coming out here with me. I love Carmine, but it's kind of cool having someone I can just, you know, be with."

"Kind of speaking of, they just let you have a wolf in your room?"

She giggled. "That's nothing. I heard there's this one girl with a pet narwhal!"

"What's a narwhal?"

Cerise laughed. "I don't know!" Taylor gave her a weird look, but couldn't help laughing too. They stopped when they saw Carmine had come back, and growled at Taylor, then bit the leg of his pants.

"What?! No! Carmine! Bad!" Cerise yelled, until she realized Carmine was pulling Taylor back to the basket of steaks. Then he turned and looked down the field, waiting for a flying hunk of meat to enter his view. Obliging his new friend, Taylor threw another steak and Carmine took off. Cerise stopped by his side, giggling quietly. "He's warming up to you fast. I'm kind of surprised how fast, honestly."

After catching the latest steak, Carmine sauntered back, chewing swallowing the meat as he went. Suddenly he stopped, and turned his head toward a rustling in some bushes nearby. Immediately he dropped his steak and hurried over, teeth bared. Cerise and Taylor approached it too, but yelped and fell on their backs when Anna Weaver was suddenly yanked out of the bushes, caught in the arms of a shining black humanoid with spindly limbs and the face of an ant.

"What the hex is going ooooooooooooooooooooooooooon?" Anna wailed as the Ant disappeared with her into a hole in the forest floor.

She had no idea how fast they were going through the darkness. Thinking that she was being forced to ride on the back of a huge, ugly, chittering bug was more than enough to occupy all of Anna's thoughts. The darkness didn't engulf her for long, though.

Soon the Ant carrying her whisked out into a giant crater-shaped area, where other Ants were scuttling around on all six limbs. Sitting on a high pillar of rock in the middle of it all, on a throne of shiny black rock, was a slightly larger Ant wearing a golden crown atop their head that looked almost comical.

The Ant drone dropped her off next to the throne before crawling down the pillar again. Anna froze in place, not sure what to expect, and not wanting to say the wrong thing. Like demanding she be taken back to school at once, which was the first thing that popped into her mind.

Nothing happened, though, and she started shifting her feet uncomfortably. The Ant had brought her before its ruler because they had some plan for Anna…hadn't they? What else was she doing there? Why else was the crowned Ant staring at her the whole time?

Abruptly something stepped out from behind the throne. A human figure, or at least she thought so, wearing a tattered brown cloak and hood. The hood jerked up and Anna could see a steely grey eye looking back at her from the darkness.

"Wondering why you're here, I suppose, princess," asked a deep, unidentifiable voice from inside the shadows of the person's hood.

"Is this some kind of ransom scheme?" Anna replied, doing her best to sound calm. "Who are you, anyway?"

Whoever they were, they lowered their hood again. "You may call me the Keeper, my dear," they replied. "As for your first question, in a way, yes, it is a ransom. To see if your hero comes to your rescue."

Anna's eyes flashed angrily. "You think he won't? Just because we haven't—"

She stopped when she realized the Keeper was laughing. "Oh, I think you misunderstand my intentions. I'm sure he will. That's exactly what I want." Her blood seemed to turn to ice. What was that supposed to mean?

Standing over the hole where Anna Weaver had disappeared, Taylor didn't hesitate. He held his hand over his heart, and the magic sword appeared in response once again, with Needle Sharp Hero in his other hand. Before he locked it into this belt, Cerise asked something that stopped him. "What's that?"

Taylor followed her finger, and saw something on the ground: a piece of red and white cloth, divided straight down the middle, with an image of a golden unicorn rearing up on its hind legs. He hadn't even really looked at it before, but knew what it was: the cloth Anna Weaver had given him to deal with his rope burns. The embroidery was incredibly precise, now that he was actually looking at it. It hadn't been just any handkerchief from her purse.

"It was a…present," Taylor said, the gravity of the situation slowly dawning on him as he clutched the silk cloth she'd given him.

Anna Weaver had been waiting for years to meet him. Her expectations had been building up for all that time. Who knew what kinds of things, or people, or experiences she might have let pass her by.

Because Destiny had decreed that there was only one life for her. One person for her.

And that person was supposed to be him, Taylor Valiant.

It was hard for him to imagine how lost she had to feel, when he hadn't swept her off her feet right away, like she'd probably been expecting. But now she was in trouble, captured by more of those strange black creatures. Which meant it was time for Mendyr to act.

"I need to go," he told Cerise. Needle Sharp Hero was locked into his belt, but as it was he felt a surge of power rush through his body. It gathered in his hand holding the cloth, turning into an almost painful tingle as it rolled into itself, hardening into another Ride Book. Its frame was a pearly shade of white. Inside the frame was an image of a rearing unicorn, under the title "Charge Unicorn".

If that wasn't surprising enough, a plate with another Ride Book slot formed on his belt to the right of the front buckle. Taylor gave Cerise a questioning glance, but she only shrugged. Enough time had already slipped away, so he locked that Ride Book in and pulled his sword out of the buckle. "Turn the page!"

White armor formed over Taylor Valiant's body, but beside him energy started taking shape into the form of a horse, a horse that seemed to be made of plates of metal. A spiraling golden horn emerged from its forehead. It whinnied, shaking a metal mane that clattered against its armored neck, then lowered its head to Mendyr. His battle with an upright Unicorn made him unsure about riding this thing, but the thought of Anna being menaced by giant ants overpowered it.

"Alright, I'm going!" he declared, and his new unicorn approached the hole in the ground.

"Wait!" Cerise cried. "Let me help."

Mendyr shook his masked head. "If there's one ant, there's bound to be more."

"That's why you need somebody watching your back!"

Again he shook his head. "Stay here, Cerise. Please." And the unicorn charged into the darkness.

A powerful light pierced the darkness, shining from the unicorn's horn as it ran through the tunnel. Mendyr became worried as he rode on, and saw all the other tunnels branching off from the one he was in: there was no sign of any Ants, but where had a giant anthill come from so close to the school?

After a short ride they came to an opening, and Charge Unicorn jumped out, landing at the bottom of a huge crater. All around it were tall, but narrow stone columns. Atop one of them near the center of the area, Mendyr could see a small group of people standing. One was another Ant with a golden crown, but next to them was Anna Weaver.

"Taylor?" she called out expectantly, but her face fell when she saw Mendyr's mask. "Who's that?"

"I intend to find out," the Keeper snarled and shoved her backwards, getting an extremely indignant pout from the princess. Pointing an accusing finger at Mendyr as the masked rider approached, the Keeper demanded, "Who are you? By what power do you enter this sacred place?"

"Mendyr is my name, and the name of the power I wield," the warrior declared. "Release the princess before I'm forced to use it."

The Keeper laughed, then. "I think not, sir knight! Even a magic knight can't defeat an army!" He turned and faced the crowned Ant. "Queen, call your subjects, and overwhelm this nuisance." His orders delivered, he melted into the darkness behind her throne.

In response to the order, the Queen Ant stood up and shrieked, "SOLDIERS!" Immediately a hideous chattering started to come from everywhere it once, with more Ants crawling out of the holes all over the sides of the crater and standing up, ready to do battle.

Everywhere he looked, Mendyr saw more of these upright Ants than he could count. Nasty green saliva dripped from their jaws, and he had no plans of letting it get on him. "I hope you're ready to live up to your name," he whispered to Charge Unicorn. The metal mount reared back on its hind legs and let out a powerful whinny, then as soon as its hooves touched the ground again it dashed at the Ant horde closing in on them.

One jumped, and it was the first to fall to a stab from Sevener. More jumped, and Mendyr was able to impale three on one stab. He had to kick them off, managing to knock back a group of more Ants closing to attack by flinging the bodies into them.

Still, a wall of the Ants was rushing up from in front of them, and without Mendyr even having to think it, Charge Unicorn jumped. Its bronze hooves smashed into the closest Ants and knocked them onto their backs, then crushed them underneath it when Charge Unicorn landed.

"You're so strong!" Mendyr gasped in amazement, earning a very proud-sounding whinny from his steed. The unicorn kept running, bashing Ants aside while Mendyr impaled the ones close enough with his thin sword and threw them aside.

It was quickly becoming clear they weren't making much progress: no matter how many Ants they defeated, the swarm didn't look to be shrinking at all. Charge Unicorn seemed to sense what he was thinking again, rearing up and then firing a burst of golden rays from its horn that blazed through the Ants and cleared a circle around Mendyr.

"Let me see if I can get a few more!" Mendyr said. He reared back his arm, and threw Sevener. A strand of thread from the spool in the hilt was attached to his arm, and he managed to guide it in a loop around him, impaling Ant after Ant, pulling them behind as the sword flew out in larger circle after ever larger circle.

Then Mendyr jerked back on his arm, and the spool in Sevener started rewinding the strand, pulling the impaled Ants backward into a shrinking spiral. A trail of helpless Ants were dragged at high speed to where Mendyr waited, but his horse jumped with all of its might away. Just before the Ants slammed together and disintegrated with a horrific crash like a hundred mirrors shattering at once.

"He's…doing amazing," Anna breathed, with disbelief as she watched Mendyr fight against the seemingly endless hordes of the Ants, and still hold his own. Whoever he was, he seemed like a mystery even to that Keeper person. What was going on? Who were these people?

Anna only noticed the Queen Ant again when the Ant ruler suddenly launched herself down, tackling Mendyr out of the air, and vaulting off his side while he slammed into the ground. She reared back her head and spat a blob of green goo from her mouth, and Anna had to clap a hand over her own mouth to keep from vomiting. Mendyr's armor was sizzling where it hit, and when he recovered from being dazed he shouted in pain. He was about to try and brush the steaming goo away with his hands, but stopped, seeming to realize that would just get it all over his body.

Instead he threw himself to the ground and started rolling around in the dirt, scraping a lot of the goo off that way. Queen Ant kicked him clean off the ground and into the side of one of the rocky pillars, making it collapse on top of Mendyr. Surviving Ants had piled on top of the Charge Unicorn, dragging it to the ground even as it tried to struggle back to its feet.

One Ant even threw itself on top of the Unicorn's horn when it tried to blast its way free, exploding into fragments of black glass.

Watching from above, Anna gasped and took a step back in fear, but kept her eye on the back of the platform. "Keeper!" she shouted. "Where did you go? Get back here right this minute, and explain yourself! Why are you trying to hurt this young man?!"

All of the Ants, even the Queen Ant, looked up at her as she made her furious demand. Anna Weaver glared down at them, fire dancing in her eyes. For a moment, they were all distracted by the princess's disdain.

Which gave someone else watching the battle the opening they'd been looking for.

"Let's go, Carmine!" Cerise Hood whispered sharply to her wolf friend. The two of them slid down the slope of the crater. As soon as they hit the bottom Cerise and Carmine attacked: Cerise kicked the nearest Ant in the back, and Carmine bit down on another's leg and pulled, yanking it off its feet and making it fall down on top of the one in front.

One Ant shrieked as they noticed the intruders, and chased after Cerise, while the ones Carmine had bowled over chased after him. They were running in opposite directions around the edge of the crater, and more of the Ants spotted them and chased after them.

"Fox it, Cerise, I told you not to come!" Mendyr hissed to himself, but when the Queen Ant turned her back, he knew it was an opening he couldn't afford to let pass. He yanked his arm backward and Sevener reeled itself into his waiting hand. He lunged and stabbed its tip into the Queen Ant's back as hard as he could. She let out a shriek of pain but Mendyr just pressed his attack and stabbed two more times before she managed to turn around and face him.

A blast of her acid spit came his way but now he was ready. Mendyr vaulted over her head, touching Sevener to his belt to charge a powerful attack. "Miracle Stitching Slash!" Sevener flew from his hand while he was still in midair and wrapped around the Ants piled on top of Charge Unicorn. It flew in circles, tying them up with its thread, before return to Mendyr's hand. He swung its glowing blade, cutting through the Ants and smashing them into black shards.

Right away the unicorn jumped up and Mendyr jumped onto its back. Queen Ant spewed another blast of her acid at him, but Charge Unicorn was much too fast. And with the rest of her minions chasing down Cerise Hood and her wolf, there was no-one to come to her aid. The unicorn kept galloping in circles around her, building up force for an even greater attack.

"Riding End! Binding Shakes the World!" said the belt around Mendyr's waist. He threw Sevener again, the thread tying itself around Queen Ant. It kept going and tied its thread around the stone column where Anna Weaver was still trapped. Charge Unicorn ran with incredible speed right up the side of the column, pulling the thread so tight Queen Ant was trapped against the tall stone.

Mendyr grabbed Anna as they cleared the top of the column and sat her on the back of his saddle, then pulled as hard as he could on his sword and the thread it'd trailed. Queen Ant let out a last shriek of pain before shattering along with the entire column.

Around the crater the other Ants stopped exactly where they were in trying to chase down Cerise Hood. Each and every one crumbled to black shards now that the Queen was destroyed. Charge Unicorn landed next to the pile of debris that marked the scene of her demise, and peeking out of the debris was the top of a Ride Book. Mendyr reached down and snatched it, noticing the title—"Diligent Ant"—and the image it showed of an ant playing the violin in front of a table loaded with food while a despondent grasshopper watched through a frost-coated windowpane.

"What is that?" Anna Weaver asked over his shoulder.

"I think it's what created those things," Mendyr said, but even as he did the Ride Book turned black and crumbled to dust in his hands.

That wasn't all. Around them the crater, the stone columns and all the ant tunnels were crumbling away too. In only a minute they were all standing on a hill outside the school.

Anna sighed, and leaned heard against Mendyr's back. "Please take me home. I've had an exhausting day," she whispered.

Mendyr rode to the front path of Ever After High, and dropped off Anna Weaver before galloping away again before she could thank him.

No-one saw her at classes the next morning, and it wasn't until lunch period that she appeared again and approached Taylor, Raven and Pyotr at their table. All of them stopped and looked up at her, Taylor offering, "Hi, Anna. How's things going?"

"Can you meet me in front of the library after school?" she asked directly.

"Uh, sure."

"Thanks. See you then," she said, and walked past to sit down at a table with a group of other princesses.

Pyotr gave his roommate a questioning glance. "What do you think she wants to talk about?" he asked.

Taylor sighed and looked down hard at his princess-and-pea-butter sandwiches. "Guess I'll have to go and find out," he ventured.

After the final bell rang, Anna was already waiting outside the doors of the school library. She nodded at Taylor when he walked up. "Nice to see you. Can I show you something?" she asked politely, but all the enthusiasm she'd been showing the last few days was missing.

"Sure," Taylor answered. Anna didn't say a word while she was leading him up the stairs into the girls' dorm, the route to her room already starting to seem familiar to him. Once they were at her door, Anna waited for a minute, and took a deep breath. Then she unlocked it and pushed the door wide open.

"There it is," she said, and Taylor didn't need her to point it out. Hanging over her bed was a colorful tapestry that hadn't been there the last time he'd come up to her room. A castle on hilltop by a river. Just down the road from it was a party of royals on a hill. Flying by in the skies above was a red-scaled dragon, smoke trailing from its nostrils.

All Taylor could think to say was, "Wow." He looked over at Anna, was smiling a little again. "That's spelltactular!"

"Thanks," Anna said, looking proud.

"Thanks?"

"Yeah, I made it," she clarified.

"You made that?"

The princess closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Look, I didn't show you last time because…I thought we'd just click, and I could tell you later. If I told you I liked art and weaving, I was afraid of seeming like…a dork. I didn't want my True Love to think I was like that, but I thought about what I was doing, and I decided I wasn't being honest with you by trying to hide it."

Taylor looked away too, taking a minute to choose his words carefully. They were, "Anna, there's two things I need to say."

"Okay."

"Well first one is…where were you this morning?"

"Oh, that," she looked over at him. "Yesterday I got kidnapped by giant ants, and saved by this knight in weird white armor. I tried to tell Headmaster Grimm, but he didn't believe me. He said nothing like that could happen anywhere near the school, it's got too many defenses."

Taylor nodded slowly. "That's…kind of weird, yeah. But, ah, here's the second thing I wanted to say," he said, and took her hand. "Anna, do you mind if we kind of start over? Take things a little slower?"

She smiled, and squeezed his hand back. "I'd like that."

Smiling, he bowed, and tipped an imaginary hat. "M'lady."

"Ooooooooooh no!" Anna said, and yanked her hand away. "Don't do that. Don't ever say that again. I don't care if we are destined to be together!" she warned him, but she was smiling.

And Taylor was smiling back.

Down the hall, another girl was watching them. Raven Queen got out her mirrorphone, and dialed a number. She swore it hadn't even rung once before she got her answer. "Hey, Apple? Do you want to…hang out?"

Wow.

Wow, Brooke?

I didn't expect how seeing Taylor dealing with his problems with somebody would teach Raven about dealing with hers.

Something heroes of all kinds of stories learn is finding help in unexpected places. Vasilisa would've been lost, if Ivan hadn't earned the friendship of all those animals he'd been ready to hunt.

I'll keep that in mind.

That night, instead of doing thronework they already had, Raven Queen and Cerise Hood made their way over to the boys' side of the dorm. Dodging a game of hallway bookball, they knocked on Pyotr and Taylor's door. Pyotr opened it, waved them in and shut the door. To make absolutely sure no-one was listening in on them, Cerise got out her phone and started a Taylor Be Swift album playing over the stereo. Both of the boys, especially Taylor, cringed, but started the conversation they'd planned to have.

"So, you ran into those things again, huh, T?" Pyotr asked.

"Yeah, a whole anthill this time," Cerise supplied, then smirked. "I saved Taylor's butt."

"Thank you, Cerise," Taylor said, but Raven smirked too. "I found a Ride Book like the one I use in the remains of one of the monsters I fought, but it fell apart when I touched it. Between that and the ones we've already run into, I feel safe saying these are specifically based on famous stories."

Pyotr pressed his fingers together, making a thoughtful sound deep in his throat. Everyone looked at him, so he voiced his suggestion, "If these guys are gonna keep showing up, it'd help to have something to call them. They're like dark reflections of stories, right? What about 'Dark Mirrors'?"

"Wonder just how far that name might go," Raven muttered, her expression turning serious. "What about that Anna girl, Taylor? Are you going to tell her that was you?"

He shook his head. "I'm not ready for the whole foxing school to find out, I'm sure not ready for her to find out. Come on, Raven, that'd be so much to handle…I'm just a kid starting high school. I'm not Daring Charming."

Cerise muttered, "You say that like it's a bad thing." Speaking up, though, she asked, "Where'd you get that unicorn you were riding around, though?"

Taylor shrugged. "I was just holding that thing Anna gave me, and I thought about how I needed to help her, then it turned into another Ride Book. Maybe it'll happen again, I don't know yet."

"Another secret team meeting where not a lot changed," Pyotr observed, got up, and stopped the music from Cerise's phone. He sat back down, and also observed, "This is gonna be a pretty long story, seems like."

"A lot of the best ones are," his roommate reminded him with a knowing smile.

Well, the story's taking an unexpected turn. Quite exciting, I have to say.

A villain showed up, at least a little. He must be a really powerful wizard to make so many monsters at the same time!

Indeed, that was quite an unexpected adventure. Still, it looks like one hero met his True Love, and they can start preparing for their story together.

Or, dear, they could always get to know each other better and figure out something that's healthy for both of them.

Is that the only thing you guys can talk about? What about all the monsters attacking the kids!?

Oh, Brooke! Lots of stories have monsters in them, but the heroes always win in the end.

For once, I hope you're right. These aren't like the monsters in any fairytale I've ever narrated.

…what do you mean, "for once, I hope you're right"?

Looks like this is gonna last a while, too. Hope Taylor and his friends can handle what's next.

Again, this Mendyr had appeared in the middle of his plans to strengthen the course of Destiny.

Who was Mendyr? What was the source of the power he wielded? Power equal to the creatures he'd faced in every instance.

How was Mendyr's face hidden, even from the Keeper's eyes?

Why did he fight to repel Destiny, the very foundation of the World of Stories?

When would he appear again?