‘Oh,’ Gertrude called after them, ‘before I forget.’
Edward turned. ‘What?’
Gertrude sat back in front of the fire. ‘You must kill the girl you kiss when she turns into a frog.’
‘You left that part out!’ he snapped.
She cackled. ‘We both know that killing innocents isn’t beneath you.’
‘Suppose,’ he replied.
She laughed. ‘Were you trying to turn over a new leaf?’ she asked. ‘Get it, frogs, lily pads?’
Henry opened the door, and Edward looked back at Gertrude for hopefully the last time. ‘Worst. Joke. Ever,’ he replied, annoyed.
‘Good luck, little prince,’ she called out before Henry slammed the gingerbread door behind them, making crumbs fall onto the sticky candy mat below.
MAGIC HAIR
Rapunzel was brought into the throne room. King Stefan lowered his gaze down to his daughter. ‘I know you have always been a free spirit,’ he spat. ‘I have had that burden since the day you were pushed into this world!’ He stood up from his throne and walked down to Rapunzel and Rapunzel’s mother, Marie, who held a stiff upper lip and crossed her hands in front of her green velvet dress.
Rapunzel stepped forward. ‘Father, I—’
‘Majesty,’ he corrected. ‘It’s Your Majesty.’ Rapunzel nodded and stepped backwards. Her father towered over her. His barrel chest and muscular arms were intimidating enough.
He often liked to display his strength against anyone he could. Unlike Rapunzel, he had a wide jaw and eyes the colour of the deepest ocean; a blue so dark they were almost black.
‘This is a step too far. Half the kingdom thinks you’re crazy!’ he boomed.
‘Telling everyone you were turned into a frog? That’s just ridiculous. Magic may do many things, but there is not much magic in this kingdom, let alone enough to turn anyone into a frog.’ He slammed his fist down on the table.
‘The ones who do believe you think that you’re a witch. So many rumours are attached to your name. I cannot have you in line to be the next queen. The kingdom will do better under the rule of your cousin—’
‘No,’ Rapunzel shouted.
Her father ground his teeth and looked over at an expressionless Marie. ‘She will need to be locked up!’ he shouted. ‘Guards,’ he said, and the guards stepped forward. ‘Lock my daughter in her chambers. Do not let anyone in and do not let her out.’
‘Please, Father,’ she cried. ‘I mean Your Majesty.’ She sniffed. ‘Please don’t. I’m telling the truth.’
He looked his daughter up and down. His expression faltered as he saw nothing but honesty in her eyes. ‘Maybe we could have a trial.’
She knelt, thanking him, but as she cried, her hair began to glow. She wished to be free to live her life when suddenly she was lifted from the ground and her father was pushed backwards.
He fell onto his throne as Rapunzel swept through the air to the door, looking around, confused at what was happening. ‘Magic hair,’ her father gasped. ‘Witch!’ he shouted. ‘Grab her.’ The guards ran to her. She dropped to the floor, but her magic put a barrier between them and her. King Stefan shouted, ‘Jacqueline Malasini.’
A witch appeared in the room. Her greasy black hair and muddy brown eyes suited her dirty ragged brown dress. ‘What?’ she asked, bored. She sat down on the throne.
King Stefan rolled his eyes. ‘Did I pull you away from doing nothing?’
‘Actually,’ she said, ‘I’ve been struggling to keep my home.’
‘Too lazy to actually keep the magic up?’ Stefan asked. ‘As always. Anyway, I have proposition for you that won’t require much work.’
She stood up. ‘I’m listening,’ she said and looked over at Rapunzel who was sobbing by the door behind a barrier spell. King Stefan looked at Rapunzel. ‘My daughter has lost her mind. I will give more than enough gold coins and a tower I own deep in the forest. All you need is to put a strong spell up around the tower to keep her in there and look after her. She’s sixteen, so she wouldn’t require much caring for.’
Jackie nodded. ‘She is magical,’ Jackie said, sensing Rapunzel’s magic. ‘From a leftover curse, it seems. It seems to have trapped itself into her hair.’
Stefan ground his teeth. ‘I don’t care. Use her magic. Just take her.’
Jackie nodded. ‘Of course, Your Majesty. I know the tower you mean.’
Jackie walked over to Rapunzel and grabbed her arm. Rapunzel screamed as she was transported by Jackie to the tower. Betrayal rippled through Rapunzel’s mind as she was thrown to the stone floor.
Jackie smiled. Gold coins, a home, and a girl with magic hair that she could use to channel the magic and keep the barrier spell up. One day, she could even take Rapunzel’s hair when there was enough magic.
Magic left over from a curse is powerful, powerful enough that in ten, maybe fifteen years she could syphon enough magic to be able to build the home she always wanted. She could turn so many men into her servants. She would never have to lift a finger again.
Jackie put up the barrier spell, unknowingly to Rapunzel, channeling the magic from her hair.
Rapunzel tried to use magic again to escape, but it didn’t work, due to the channeling. She looked out of the arched window and wept. She was now locked away with a lazy witch. She was trapped in the tower for all the time. She would never see her love again and her dream of being queen was as lost as her freedom.
DOPEY
Henry looked around in the dead forest. ‘I’m freezing.’
‘As am I,’ Edward replied from the satchel where Henry was carrying him.
‘We can take the shortcut,’ Henry offered, pointing at a path that wound around the trees. The path was covered with overgrown ivy and brambles. ‘Not many have gone down it.’
‘Great,’ Edward replied. ‘More reason why I don’t want to take the shortc- OW!’ Edward fell out of the satchel and frowned at Henry. ‘You fool!’
‘Sorry,’ Henry replied and picked up the satchel. ‘I have always been a little …’
‘Dopey?’ Edward asked smarmily. ‘Take better care!’
Henry nodded. ‘Of course. I am so sorry. Are you hurt?’
‘No.’
Henry smiled. ‘Good. I really do think we should take the shortcut.’
Edward sighed. ‘Fine, get on with it. I want to get this over and done with.’ Henry carried the satchel and proceeded down the winding, uneven path. The dead trees creaked in the wind as the light faded until Henry and Edward were showered in the moonlight.
They avoided the small frozen pools that littered the path; winter had come, leaving the woods looking as depressing as Edward’s life had become.
Henry’s stomach rumbled loudly.
‘I’m starving,’ Henry said and huffed. It was getting darker by the second, and he hadn’t eaten all day. To distract himself from the hunger, he opened the satchel slightly and looked down at the frog. ‘So you told me that you are looking for a princess to kiss and turn into a frog, but you didn’t tell me the whole story. You know what they say—time passes quicker with good conversation.’
Edward grumbled. ‘Ugh, fine.’ Henry took Edward out of the satchel and almost dropped him but caught him just in time and placed him onto his hand. ‘Careful,’ Edward shouted. ‘Right, Dopey …’ he started. ‘It was some years back now. I was with a woman I loved, Lori, but she wasn’t all that. So I cheated on her with one of her ladies. Beautiful, she was, but Lori got jealous of her and killed her. To punish me, she turned me into a frog. I’d promised her marriage, and she had devoted her life to me, so she saw it as a fitting punishment to add in that I could only turn back into a man with a true love’s kiss. If a princess could love me despite looking like a frog. It had to be a princess too because she knew princesses could be vain. She knew I’d never find a princess to fall for me while I looked like this.’
Henry pressed his lips together. ‘I can see why she was hurt.’
Ed
ward nodded. ‘Guess so, but I think she acted irrationally. I mean she wasn’t the nicest person to begin with. She was jealous of everyone, all the time. It was annoying.’ Edward looked out through the dark trees and sighed. ‘I expected her to turn me back once she had moved on from it, but she never did. Anyway, Gertrude changed the spell so I could kiss any princess; it didn’t have to be a true love. The problem was the spell didn’t work properly, but then Gertrude changed it so …’
‘Yes,’ Henry said. ‘So you have to kill the princess once she is a frog. Isn’t there any other way? I mean couldn’t you just leave her as a frog?’
Edward sighed. ‘I wish. No, I have to kill the princess once she is a frog.’
Henry almost dropped Edward again. ‘Sorry. Look, I don’t think I can assist you with murder!’
Edward tilted his head. ‘You have no choice.’
The sadness around Henry’s heart tightened as he battled with his morality. ‘I guess I don’t,’ Henry said sadly.
They reached a clearing in the woods where they found a small cottage, and outside the cottage stood the most glorious apple tree either of them had ever seen. ‘They look delicious.’
‘No,’ Edward whispered. ‘Look around you, every tree is dead except that one. I sense magic, bad magic. Do not—’ Henry pushed Edward back into the satchel and ran over to the tree.
He picked the reddest apple he could see and held it in his hand. It made him feel warm inside, and the smell coming from the tree was glorious. He bit into the apple and let the sweet taste run down his throat. As he enjoyed his apple, he didn’t notice he was shrinking until he was four foot tall. ‘What the …?’
Edward climbed out of the satchel and looked at Henry. ‘Crikey, you’re ugly!’
Henry ran over to the cottage and looked in the window at his reflection. ‘It’s taken my looks,’ he said then gasped as a face of a woman smiling evilly looked through the window back at him. He jumped backwards and sent Edward flying. Edward only caught a glimpse of the door opening before pulling the satchel over to Henry and making them both vanish and reappear in the main town of Northmanni. ‘Why didn’t you do that to begin with?’ Henry asked.
Edward jumped back into the satchel and poked his head out. ‘I have little magic left. I must save it, and thanks to you, it’s almost gone! You’re even dopier than I first thought.’
Henry looked around at the dimly lit town, quaint shops, and glorious inns and smiled. ‘Pretty town.’
‘We need to go to an inn!’ Edward barked.
Henry laughed. ‘I don’t have any money … And you don’t unless you’re storing them in hidden frog pockets.’
‘Funny.’ Edward snorted. ‘I’ll do what I always do, at least until I return home. Trick them into letting me stay!’
They passed the shimmering river that ran through the centre of town and headed over to an inn. Edward grinned. He was finally going to get his kiss and get to go home.
He was finally going to get his happy ending.
***
The following morning, Henry and Edward walked through the picturesque town and stopped by the river.
Edward poked his head out of the satchel, careful not draw any attention to himself, and looked up at Henry. ‘Henry,’ he whispered. ‘We can’t just waltz right into the palace and demand the princess kiss me. We must find out her weaknesses before we make our move.’
Henry bit the inside of his lip. His morals were being twisted in a way he hated, but when he thought of saying no, the sadness around his heart tightened.
He had no choice but to help Edward kill a woman. He couldn’t wait until he was free again. So he could finally fall in love, have children, and live happily ever after.
Some would have called Henry lucky—he had snuck into the witch’s cottage as a child to eat the candy. Gertrude caught him and his friends. She cooked two of them, and luckily, she was full so made him run errands for her under a spell until she felt hungry again.
However, over the next few days, she realised that having him as her servant made her life a lot easier, so he was spared his life in return for his eternal service.
He would have rather died.
He was forced to lure children to the cottage for the witch to eat, and then clean up after she had finished. He had tried to help the children, but her spell on him was too powerful.
But now, he had a chance at freedom. He may be ugly and small, but looks had never mattered much to him anyway. Henry had one simple dream; to fall in love.
He looked across the river dreamily and squinted. He ignored Edward as he droned on about a drawn-out plan, and instead focused on the beautiful woman who was feeding swans by the river. Her hair was jet black, reaching down to her shoulders, and her smile was so contagious that Henry found himself smiling just watching her from afar.
‘Henry,’ Edward hissed. ‘Pay attention!’ Edward looked over at what was distracting the man who was supposed to be helping him. ‘She is quite beautiful,’ he admitted. ‘But no time! We must find the princess.’
Henry pushed the prince back in the satchel. ‘Give me a minute.’
He walked over the wooden bridge and hurried toward the bench where she was sat. She looked at him as he approached with the kindest gaze he had ever had the pleasure of seeing. ‘Do you mind?’ he asked, gesturing to the spot on the bench next to her.
‘Not at all,’ she replied. Her voice was soft and lulling so he couldn’t help but smile.
He sat down and breathed in the beautiful, floral scent. ‘Sorry, it’s just I have never seen such a beautiful woman in my life. I know that’s forward, but I just had to come and say hello.’
Her smiled widened, and her cheeks flushed. ‘Thank you, but I know you’re just saying that because I’m a princess. They all do.’
‘You’re the princess?’ His eyebrows shot up.
‘Princess Mary.’
‘I’m Henry.’ He shuffled uncomfortably as he felt the prince try to get out of the satchel. ‘Well, it was nice to meet you, your highness,’ he said, jumping to his feet.
She stood up too. ‘Wait,’ she said. ‘You’re leaving?’
He nodded sadly. ‘I have some things to take care of.’
She looked down at the small, ugly man yet felt warm inside. She hadn’t had anyone look at her in such a genuine way since her husband died. ‘I’m actually having a ball tonight to celebrate my daughter’s fourteenth birthday. Would you like to come?’
‘Uh.’ He hesitated as he pinched the top of the satchel, making sure that the prince couldn’t come out. ‘I—’
‘Here,’ she said, handing him an invitation from her bag. ‘It’ll be good to see you again.’ She walked off, leaving Henry and Edward alone. Edward climbed up, and Henry finally let go of the top of the satchel once the princess was out of sight. ‘You really are dopey! That’s our princess, and you declined to spend more time with her?’
Edward would have struck him down with his sword, if he still had his sword, and you know, he wasn’t a frog. ‘We are going to that ball, and that’s that!’
‘No,’ Henry protested, but the sadness coiled around his heart pushed hard.
The urge to help the prince was the same urge a parent had to protect their child. The potion was strong. He couldn’t hurt the prince, and as much as he didn’t want to do this, he had no choice. ‘If we go and you do what you have to do,’ he said, annoyed, ‘then I go free?’
‘Yes,’ Edward said. ‘Go a million miles from here—the farther the better. Now, come on Dopey, we have a ball to get ready for. Well, you need to anyway.’
Edward had to conjure a suit up for Henry. Due to his height, there just weren’t any suits that fit him.
Not only was Henry the size of a child, but he was muscular, which meant the children’s dress clothes just didn’t look right on him, and if Edward cared about anything, it was people looking their best. They walked up the long winding road to the palace. The sounds of carriage whe
els going along the gritty road were mixed with the sound of drunken cheers as people made their way to the princess’s ball. Henry walked over with the frog in his pocket and handed the invitation to the guard. He nodded and allowed Henry to enter. He gasped as he walked in.
He had never seen such a beautiful place. Huge chandeliers hung from the ceiling, glistening against the white stone roof. The room was so big that Henry had to squint just to see to the other side of the ballroom. Along the side of the room were several tables decorated with ice sculptures.
Bowls of delicious foods, including the finest oysters shipped in from Forosh, juicy venison from Dolorom, and spiced foods from Agrabah.
On the balcony, overlooking the room, the king and queen sat on red velvet thrones. The flag of their kingdom hung down the front of the balcony.
A band stood on a small stage, overlooking the crowd of people dressed in their finest garments. They continued to play the beautiful music from their brass instruments. Henry spotted the princess by the table holding the hand of a miniature version of her; he guessed that must be her daughter. Snow lived up to her name; her skin was as white as snow, but her lips were the colour of blood, and they looked striking. Her eyes were as green as the emeralds on her necklace, and her hair, which fell to the small of her back, was as black as ebony. Although only fourteen, she looked older. She walked with such grace and spoke quickly yet clearly. Her eyes sparkled with wonder as she looked around the room decorated in silver, white, and red. Henry gulped and took a deep breath. His hands were clammy. He held onto the gift he had managed to get for Snow.
Edward had encased a snowflake in some strange, see-through substance, so it looked like an ornament, then shaped into a circle. It was small, the size of a gold coin. Edward had helped him turn it into a necklace. He peeked into the black box to look at the beautifully encased snowflake on the sparkling, white gold chain and smiled.
He walked over to the princess and bowed. ‘Majesty,’ he said.
Princess Mary smiled widely. ‘I’d hoped you come! This is my daughter, Snow,’ she said, gesturing to her beautiful daughter.
The Enchanted Kingdoms (Haunting Fairytales Series Book 1) Page 2