THRICE Upon a Time...

~*~3~*~

It was ten o'clock, the sun rapidly rising into the sky.

The girls' notes were spread on the ground, on the bank of a pond. The three dipped their feet into the clear water and compared their interviews.

"I think Rough wrote the note." Rapunzel declared. Aurora and Snow White secretly agreed, but they had to be reasonable.

"Perhaps, but would he have the guts or the brains?" Aurora questioned. "Maybe it was Buff."

"Hmm, true. Built like CONCRETE, that guy."

Snow White was reading carefully over the notes. She picked up key words and curious sentences and circled them in red. She was not as stupid as she seemed. "I think," she piped up. "that we need to make a visit to the Ice Palace."

"Huh?" Rapunzel looked at her. "Why?"

"I think we need to talk to Arianne." Snow White pulled her legs out of the water with a splash and straightened her skirt. "Let's go."

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After much stumbling around in circles and asking for directions, they had arrived at the foot of the Ice Palace.

 It was, quite simply, huge blue and white toadstools stacked atop of another. Two tall, twisting swan plants stood on either side of the entrance---a wooden door made of soft, fallen bark.

"You are not permitted to enter."

Rapunzel looked up.

Two blue dragonflies stood guard at either side of the door, straight as a needle, holding spears to their chests. The one who spoke was slightly taller, his wings wider than the other.

"Excuse me?"

"Please leave now before further measures are taken."

"We ARE permitted to enter. We're special guests, invited by the Monarch herself." Snow White said clearly. "We're here to interview Princess Arianne Ice."

The dragonflies looked skeptical, but before they could speak, a window (made of broken beer bottle pieces, it seemed) on the second toadstool up swung open.

"Roe, Roxy, Roanna?" the edge of an exotically rich blue and deep indigo purple wing peeked out from the open window. 

The Assistants nodded.

"Oh, come in, please!" the butterfly flitted out. "Mum told me that you're our new visitors. She said you all might come over to pay your respects."

"Um, yeah, sure, that's what we're here for...why not?" Rapunzel muttered.

"I am Arianne, Princess Arianne. It's my pleasure to meet you. Guards, let them in."

And so the interview of Princess Arianne Ice began.

Except it wasn't really an interview. It was more of a suspicious conversation.

"So, uh, Arianne...do you...like stuff?" Rapunzel twiddled her thumbs awkwardly, after they've curtsied and introduced themselves.

"Oh, like what?"

"Well, it appears that...you're interested in the Mice brothers?"

Arianne glared at Aurora with a sudden hot intensity. "Are you one of those gossips? Those damn reporters? Is that why you're here, for the scoop on the Princess's love life?"

Urh, sort of. "No, no, not at all! I was simply, truly curious! Nothing else, I assure you."

"Curiosity killed the cat, have you heard?" Arianne growled. But then she sighed and leaned against her wooden wardrobe, wistful. "If you must know, I'm really not interested in any of them."