The Dog Princess: A Tom Holland Fairy Tale

Secrets and Passages

Rosemary's eyes shot open as she was awakened by the familiar, but always startling, pinging of the curse.

Oh no! Midnight! She thought frantically as she suddenly changed back into her human form, still wrapped up in Tom's arms. Luckily for her, he was dead asleep. To make matters worse, she was completely unclothed. The curse wasn't considerate enough to be practical, and a medium sized blue staffy can't wear a human sized riding gown. She did not think this through. She recalled stuffing her dress under a shelf back at the stables, but how was she going to get to it in this state?

First things first, she had to get him off without waking him up. Her inner desires teased her, enticing her to stay a couple minutes more wrapped in his strong, loving embrace. But no! She had to resist. With her luck so far she'd close her eyes and wake again when the sun came up, and she couldn't have that. What a scandal. She cringed at the thought as she carefully peeled his arm off of her, and tried her best to silently rise from the bed. But, of course, it let out a loud creak. She winced, glancing over as she heard Harrison rolling over in his sleep.

When it was safe to move again she tiptoed around to his trunk and grabbed another nightshirt to cover herself. She felt terrible, as he only had one spare. Taking a look into his trunk, she noticed he hardly had any proper clothes. Stealing from him broke her heart, but she wasn't about to run to the stables without something on, no matter how dark it was outside. She'd find a way to return it. After slipping it on, she was swept away by the scent. It was a sweaty but also a warm, woodsy type of smell, and strangely she couldn't help but breathe a little deeper to take it in. Snuggling up in his shirt, she took one last look at Tom still sound asleep in his shabby little bed. She knew it could very well be the last time she was this close to him, but the one thing in the world she wanted to give him was impossible unless she wanted to be his dog forever.

Finally ripping her gaze away she snuck out the back staircase they came in through and ran over to the stables as quickly and quietly as she could. She breathed a huge sigh of relief seeing there were no guards around. She fumbled in the dark for a bit before finding her dress. She dusted it off and threw it on over the nightshirt, wishing she could think of a way to get inside the castle and up to her room. The stable may have not been guarded, but she definitely knew most of the entrances were. She was still thinking while lacing up her boots when her heartbeat came to a halt.

"Tessa? Tessa?? Where are you, girl?" Tom quietly called outside, coming out of the door to the servant's quarters Rosemary had just escaped from.

She scrambled to finish lacing up her boot, severely hoping he wouldn't come up to the stables. But, as if her every wish came true in reverse, she heard his footsteps getting closer. She, ironically, was hiding in the same corner "Tessa" was found. Tom entered the stables, now wearing trousers with his night shirt tucked in, holding a small chunk of the larger candle she saw in his room. The light was small, but was enough for him to notice the movement.

"Tessa?" He pointed the candlelight in her direction. Their eyes widened in astonishment at the sight of each other. She was caught. "P—princess? Princess Rosemary?"

"Hello." She replied meekly, completely unsure of how she would explain.

"What are you doing here? I'm sure they must be very worried about you—oh my apologies!" He put his candle on the ground and bowed to her.

"You don't have to—"

"Let me help you." He nervously reached out his hand to help her up. She accepted, feeling the ping as well as a warm rush coming though her entire body as their hands touched.

"Thank you. You're very kind." She gazed at him in the moonlight, her hand still loosely holding onto his. She realized she must have held on too long, for he nervously jerked his hand away. For a few seconds they stood in silence, and she studied him as he fidgeted. She was completely drawn in, and she couldn't believe how he managed to make her heart flutter by doing almost anything.