Apple's Shoe

Chapter 1

Once upon a time, but quite a few years after Snow White's happily ever after. Snow White and her Prince, Prince Ferdinand, married and had a beautiful baby girl. Legend states that she has the hair the color of copper, and eyes that are darker than emeralds. The king and queen named her Apple, after her red locks. I am her. Legends of my birth are far and few. I think there as only been one story that mentioned my name. This story starts out very similar to a tale that everyone should know.

It starts with a christening, my christening to be exact. The king and queen invited everyone from everywhere to be a part of this great occasion. There were no evil fairies at my christening, yet a spell was cast. I'm sure you know by now where this story is going. A queen who stood in the midst of the crowd was jealous of my mother. For she had had a daughter two months previous to my mom, but her daughter had been stolen by an evil witch. When it was this queen's turn to bestow a gift, she gave a curse instead. Instead of cursing me with a hundred year nap, she cursed me with eternal darkness.

This queen's name is Queen Aurora; most prefer to call her Sleeping Beauty. Perhaps you've heard of her? This queen was cursed to face a hundred year sleep when she was 16, yet, she was saved by true love's kiss. Lucky her. You would think that she of all people would know what it is like to have curse over her head, but no; she had to keep the cycle going. That wasn't even the worst part. The worst part happened to come a day later; when Aurora announced that a friendly fairy had bestowed upon her a son to replace the daughter she had lost.

Some say I should be thankful that she didn't curse me to face the same fate she did. In all honesty, though, I'd have preferred a hundred year nap.

Sixteen years have passed since then, and I have an older brother, Jack. Jack is my chief seer. He describes the world to me. Jack tells me that he has dark brown hair and light blue eyes. What I can say about my brother for sure, is that he has a deep voice, not quite has deep as my dad's. No, his voice rumbles much softer, it has more of a musical quality to it than my dad's. I can tell you that he is outgoing, and he spends his days outside, sparring with the Knights. Most nights, he'll sneak into my room and tell me of all the grand adventures he's had that day. His stories are told with such clarity and detail, that I can practically touch the grass, and smell the sea salt in the distance.

The holidays are drawing closer. The castle smells of cinnamon and nutmeg. Father and mother are in such a high spirits, spending their time singing and down the halls. At least that's what Jack and the servant's tell me. I do know, however, that they have been singing more than usual, and their footsteps have been lighter and quicker than usual.

Sometimes I'll sit out by the kitchen door, listening to my mom sing as she bakes her signature holiday pie. Her voice is just as the fairy tales describe. Her voice is sweeter than a sparrow's and calmer than a lullaby.

Everyone thought they were excited for holidays; we didn't know that they were excited about something entirely different.

We found out what their happiness was truly about on of the day of the first snow of the season. Dad, King Ferdinand, called for the family, and servants, together to have a talk.

"The reason I have called you here today is to tell you guys some very exciting news." I can hear the servants murmuring in excitement, sounding more like a dull roar than actual voices. "Apple has been invited to spend the holidays in Euradon."

I could feel my blood run cold, and I can feel the servants staring at me. Waiting for my reaction. How was a princess to act in this situation? Was she suppose to smile and accept her fate? Or was she allowed to be outraged, and demand that she not go? I hoped that the latter was acceptable. Luckily for me, Jack reacted before I did.

"Euradon?" he asked, his voice full of incredulity. "As in King Philip and Queen Aurora?" I didn't hear my parents response, but the cries of the servants told me what I needed to know.

Queen Aurora, being the kind soul that she was, decided to invite me over for the holidays.

The person who made me blind wants me to spend a month in her company. The worst part about this whole thing? My parents were excited. They didn't care that they were shipping me off to the family that cursed me.

I give them what I hope is an outraged look, as I stood up. I hear Jack stand up to my right.

"Do I have to?" I ask, waiting in silence for what seems like hours.

"Yes." my dad tells me. His voice was full of authority.

"Why?" I ask, trying to keep my emotions at bay.

"Queen Aurora want to apologize for what she has done. She seems genuinely sorry for what she's done." my mother tells me.

"Does that mean that the curse will be lifted?" Jack asks, a hint of hope in his voice.

"We don't know." Dad answers, sounding like a guilty child.

"How do you not know?" Jack asks in outrage, "shouldn't that have been one of the first things you ask?"

"There never seemed to be a good time to bring it up." Mother steps in.

"Then how do you know she's sorry?" Jack asked. My parents are silent.

"I'll go," I tell them, surprising myself. Why did I just say that? I didn't mean to say that. What had made me say that? I hear my mom give a happy gasp, and hear her step toward me, enveloping me in a hug.

"Great," she squeals, "they'll be here tomorrow morning to pick you up."

"But what about packing, and saying goodbye?" I ask her. My mother steps away from me.

"There will be plenty of time for that tonight. I've invited some of the neighboring kingdoms to come and say their goodbyes," she says, her voice is reassuring, but her words are anything but; how long had everyone known about this? How long had they been keeping this from me?