Once Upon a Faerie Tale

Prologue

The little girl sat in her pink room, filled with dolls, ruffles, and baby animals. She was spoiled with all of her toys. Her parents had tried so desperately to have a child for so long but were unsuccessful. AFter nearly ten years of trying their miracle baby was born. Darby was your typical four year old, happy, healthy, and a trouble maker.

Despite Darby's less than adorable antics her grandmother visited her frequently always telling her stories. Verona  Marshall, Darby's father's mother loved to tell her faerie tales. At her age they were small and simple, but they provided a sense of learning for the child. 

Standing in the doorway, now, Verona watched the small girl with her blonde hair pulled back in a long pink ribbon stare at a painting of Cinderella. The child soon looked up and saw her grandmother, her eyes lighting up instantly and cried, "Grandma! Tell me a story!"

Laughing at her granddaughter she sat down on the bed and began, "Once upon a time...."

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 Ten Years Later...

"Grandma," Darby said as she scooted over for the older woman to sit on the bed. As Verona sat down she examined her granddaughter and smiled at her awkardness. Her blonde hair was pulled back in a sloppy pony tail at the base of her neck, the many strands that managed to escape frizzed around her head giving her a blonde halo. Her braces showed as she spoke and the brightly colored bands were enough to look odd. The bottle neck glasses that had a habit of sliding down her nose were dirty from the carelessness of a young teenager.

She's going to be so beautiful one day, Verona thought, she'll be the ugly duckling turned into a beautiful swan. That swan would be a tall statuesque woman with a dazzling smile.  She just has to grow into herself. 

"Darby, would you like me to tell you a story again?" Verona asked, brushing back the frizz from her face.

"Yes! Only, are there any stories that aren't quite as..." She struggled to find the word, "generic? I think you've told me the stories everyone else has heard, but are there any others?"

Verona smiled, "Of course there are. I have on in mind-"

"Grandma," Darby stopped her, "Are there ones that don't always end with a happily ever after? One where maybe the Prince doesn't get his Princess. Or maybe one where the Princess just waits in her tower forever until she gets old and then the Prince comes."

"Well, I've never hear of a princess staying in a tower for so long she gets old, but I do have a story that is along the lines of what you are looking for." Verona said quietly. Realizing that now was the time to dip in a little deeper, back to another time when things were more uncertain for herself.

"Once upon a time," She began, "in a land that was once connected to ours, that could only be found by traveling deep within a cave, passing the red boulder, jumping the white picket fence, and parting the green curtain, there were two large kingdoms. One ruled the Eastern Border as well as that to the South, the other ruled to the West and North. The kingdom to the East was prone to war and raids against the other kingdom because of their horrible vice, slavery. 

"Slavery was the one thing the East kingdom refused to tolerate and so they fought. But when tragedy struck the kingdom, they had no choice but to stop their war..."

Thank you so much for reading! This is an idea that I've had in my head for a while now and I hope that you like it! I'm putting the next chapter up immediately after this so that you can continue the story. Please let me know what you think of it by commenting, voting, or fanning! Thanks again!