Once Upon a Faerie Tale

Chapter Four

Four:

Cleo still had problems accepting Iseret’s insistence to be treated as an equal, especially when they wandered outside of the palace walls and into the market. It was common for Iseret to defy her father’s wishes and escape through one of the many secret passages that led to the world that was denied her.

On this particular instance, Iseret had convinced her that it would be a ‘grand adventure’ to venture into the forest on the East side of the wall surrounding the kingdom. A place that was even more dangerous than any they had traveled before. To the east, outside the kingdom wall was a place of unknowns and the potential for raiders from the East Kingdom. It was the place where no one ventured, and those that did, never returned. But with the princess, there were some things that were impossible to do; one of those was changing her mind.

They traveled the tunnel, the dirt floor littered with bugs, animal droppings, and unidentifiable white sticks Cleo did not want to think about. “Iseret, are you sure this is a good idea?” She asked, a knot of dread growing larger and tighter in her stomach. Something bad was sure to happen, and she didn’t want to be caught in the middle of the aftermath.

“Of course, it’s fine. I’ve done this before, there’s no harm in going past the wall.” The princess said, “All those stories about the East Kingdom aren’t true. Sure they kill crops and steal cattle, but they’re really harmless.” She sounded so sure and confident that Cleo just went along with it, she was supposed to stay with Iseret, and it wouldn’t be good for her to run away and leave her alone.

***

“What’s going to happen?” Darby asked her grandmother, she had dropped the edge of the blanket that she had been fiddling with idly to keep herself occupied while she listened to the story.

Verona smiled. Her granddaughter did not like to wait for things to come. She had seen her reading a book and flip to the last page when no one was looking. She had seen the creases in her paperbacks that stopped in the middle and picked back up at the climax. There was no middle ground for Darby, she needed to know what would happen, when it was happening, and she did not like to wait. “You’ll find out soon enough.”

A sigh that could only be conjured up by a teenager escaped Darby’s lips. “Can you just get to an exciting part?” She asked, pulling her left leg up to her chest and setting her chin on it. “I want some adventure!”

A chuckle escaped Verona’s lips. “This story has adventure, don’t worry, it will come very soon.”

“Good, because I want Cleo to get out of slavery, it just isn’t fair to her.” She said and waved her hand for her grandmother to continue.

***

When the sun finally warmed their faces on the other side of the east wall, Cleo felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She felt as though something, or rather someone was going to jump out at them. We should not be here, she thought, desperately looking in all directions like a deer about to step out into an open field where a hunter may be watching. “Iseret, we’ve seen it, now let’s go.”

Iseret smiled at the girl she had come to think of as her friend, “There’s nothing to be scared of! We haven’t even stepped into the forest yet!” She headed off boldly in that direction, pausing to look back at Cleo. “You’re coming with me.” She announced and walked into the forest and out of sight.

Because she didn’t want to be left alone, Cleo reluctantly headed into the forest after the Princess. The darkness swallowed her as soon as she stepped inside the tree line. “Iseret?” She called as she walked further into the dark forest, tripping over roots as she went. Small pockets of light filtered through the heavy green canopy above, birds chirped in the distant branches above her head, and low hanging branches grabbed her hair and dress, threatening to keep her trapped. “Iseret where are you?” she called again.

With no answer from the Princess, Cleo turned around to start heading back to the entrance of the forest, or where she thought the entrance of the forest was. As she started to head back, a twig snapped and she froze, certain a large animal was just beyond the trees, waiting for the perfect moment to pounce.

But when she turned around to see the monster coming to get her she was startled by Iseret jumping from behind a tree. “Iseret, you scared me!” Cleo said clutching the fabric of her dress at her neck.

“That was the point.” She said smiling.

***

“Is this your idea of adventure?” Darby asked as she bit her lip, her chin still resting on her knee. “Child’s games in the woods?”

Verona was surprised at the interruption. Normally Darby was willing to sit and listen, but something had her on edge today and she was determined to get to the bottom of it. “What’s wrong with the story?” She asked.

“Nothing,” The young girl said, rolling her eyes, it’s just that…well…I really like this boy at school. He’s really cute and he’s a sophomore! But I know he doesn’t like me, he doesn’t even know I exist, I mean what sophomore pays attention to a freshman? And he’s got a girlfriend who is really mean and I just want something to get my mind off it…something like a good action filled story.” Darby said quickly, stumbling over her words at the end.

Compassion filled Verona’s eyes. “Oh sweetheart, we all love someone we can’t have at one point or another in life. And this boy, he’s stupid if he doesn’t notice you.”

This comment brought out an even bigger eye roll from Darby. “Grandma,” she said, standing up and holding her arms out from her torso. “Does this look like the body of a fairy tale princess?” She asked. “I’m fourteen and I’m taller than all the girls in my grade, I still have braces, I’m as blind as a bat without my glasses and Mom won’t let me get contacts till I’m sixteen and I don’t have boobs! I haven’t even started my period yet! I don’t have a clue how to put a tampon in when it does happen either! The princesses in the stories, they’re always beautiful. They probably all have long flowing hair, perfect teeth, beautiful eyes that can see without any problem and most importantly they have breasts! Look at me! I’m as flat as a board!” She pulled her shirt tighter around her chest to demonstrate that there wasn’t even an inkling of a bump there.

She would never tell anyone, but sometimes she would flex the muscles in her arms and chest to try and make her appear as though she had some semblance of breasts beginning to appear, but she never even managed to fool herself.

“Darby, do you want to know a secret?” Verona said, taking her granddaughter’s hand and pulling her down to sit beside her again. When the girl nodded, she continued, “The most beautiful women are the ones that start late. Your mother is a beautiful woman isn’t she? She didn’t start her period until she was almost sixteen and then she blossomed into who she is now.

“I remember when your father, grandpa, and I moved in next door to your mother’s family, she was fifteen and as gangly as you are. Then, her family went away for the summer and when they came back, she was very beautiful. She looked like a completely different person.  You just have to wait for the beauty that’s inside you to leak out to show the world.”

Darby nodded and said, “Okay grandma,” She was still skeptical but she would sit still long enough to listen to the story. “Keep going.”

“Alright, where was I…”

***

Andrew Tanat was amazed at the good fortune they seemed to have stumbled upon. They had been planning simply another raid, but this was even better. As they had watched the castle from the forest on the east side of the wall surrounding it, they had been surprised by movement at the base of the wall.

Their surprise had grown when they realized that the movement had been caused by two women, one of whom was the daughter of King Hollisburg. The evil loved very few things more than his slaves, but one of them was his daughter. A plan began to form in Andrew’s mind, a plan that would gain them the attention that they needed.

He called one of his men to him quietly and told him the plan and sent him to inform the others. They would need to act quickly if he was going to successfully kidnap the daughter of his most hated enemy.

Okay guys, I’m going to put up a new chapter VERY soon, it’s already in the works and as soon as I get some comments on this I’ll be putting it up. So PLEASE tell me what you think. If you read it and you like it comment so I know, it keeps me motivated! ♥