Little Red

Chapter 7

Today is May 20th,or otherwise known as 'Prisoner Day.' Every prisoner facing execution will either be hung, drugged or decapitated publicly within the castle walls.

Today is also May 20th, my wedding day. As the king proceeds with the execution, I am supposed to get ready for the evening. The royal court pokes and prods me with several needles, stitching each garment in place. The stylists, who are loyal to the king, playfully curl my long, brunette waves, and I watch without resistance in the mirror. Behind the stylist, is a wall. On the other side of this wall, is a path leading to some stairs. Beneath these stairs is the main entrance of the castle. But this isn't my lifestyle.

I'm no princess, like Belle or Ariel. I'm Red, and my best friend is the wolf who everyone who ever reads my story assumes is the bad guy. However, there is no bad guy in my story. That's why I must save Vince by all means.

---

Due to my request, my wedding dress was custom created to be a elegant rose toned red, and my hair flowed from a diamond encrusted hair clip that had once been the king's mother's.

I was escorted out of the castle by one of the stylists, who led me to a carriage covered in puffy lace and white carnations.

The carriage ran threw the market, where in the center was the king, Vince tied together and a couple guards. Demanding, I ordered the driver to stop, and he proceeded without hesitation.

The king stared upon me, in almost a gaze. Vince was yanking at the ropes, trying to get loose. The wooden box beneath his feet wobbled unconsciously, making me feel queezy. The rope shaped into a hoop around his neck looked serious and deadly, while the several guards took a step towards me.

"Let him go." I broke in, angrily.

"You get 5 minutes, my queen." The king bowed in front of me, and I pushed aside. I ran up to Vince, who's glassy blue eyes dug deep into my soul.

"Don't do this." He begged with sorrow and pity.

"I will always find you." I promised, my voice clear and secere.

"I love you." He finally spoke, shaking his head toward the ground, allowing his hair to cover his eyes with a gloomy shadow.

"I love you too." I didn't cry, insted I yanked out the knife I had in my bra and cut the hooped rope hanging around his neck. He lost balance, and fell on me, just as the guards began swarming the location.

They pulled him off of me, beating him senseless. The king held me as I sobbed.

A guard held a gun to his head, getting ready to shoot, just as I break loose from the king's grip and dash towards Vince, shouting "Go wolf!"

He transformed, and I hopped ontop of him, allowing him to sprint off as the guards recover from confusion.

----

We reached the woods before sundown, and set up a fire to keep warm.

"You saved me." He reminded, laying on his back.

"You didn't kill me." I pointed out, recalling the day in the cell when he attacked me.

"But you came back to me insted of taking up the crown." He stated politly, while performing this whole finger gesture like a scolding teacher.

" 'Cause I'm not a princess." I smiled, plummeting myself onto the ground beside him, allowing him to wrap his long arms around my waist and pull me in.

"You are to me." He yawned.

"Your so predictable." I spoke, listening to his soft snores. He was asleep.

He wasn't dead yet.

-----

He was awake long before I, and he even managed to hunt without me noticing he was gone. Suprisingly, I awoke to him kissing me out of nowhere.

"What the he--" I began, noticing his cheeky grin of satisfaction spreading across his weary face.

"Killed two guards out this morning." He noted, still smirking with pleasure. I slapped him across the face, which was shocking to me, because I didn't plan it at all. "Oh...right. Sorry." He muttered, rubbing the side of his face calmly.

"I'm sorry." I called out as he began walking away.

"No. It's fine." He retorted.

We walked to the huntsman's son's house in complete and utterly silence, which annoyed the heck out of me. But nobody mind's my opinion because I'm the scared little eight year old girl who's granny ends up swallowed by some nasty wolf and a man has to save me.

Once we reached the house, the young lad greeted us by offering tea, which I hate less than the king.

He went by the name of Nathaniel Prince.... and he wasn't all that bad looking.

"So...You know my dad...how?" He asked as we sat in his casual family room in his cabin.

"He kind of saved us from the royal court." Vince said, not looking at me, but instead, fingered the top of his teacup gently.

"Well, I have no business with people like you two, so I don't know why you bothered coming here in the first place." Nathaniel gestured around the room like he was showing what very little he had to offer us.

"It's alright." I finally spoke up, staring hard at the ground, but trying to smile. "We don't expect you to waste your life on us like your father had, but we came to ask one thing."

"What is that?"

"Tell us about your uncle, the king of this land." I spoke roughly as if trying to prove a point.

"Okay." Nat sat up straight in his chair and sighed.

"Okay." I eyed both the boys with caution.

"Okay." Vince butted in.

-----

Nat told us all about the king; Even more than we had known already, but the king's men had tracked us down and carried us all away into a carriage where we'd be drug back to the castle...for the 20th time in this stupid fairy tale.

When we reached the castle, we bowed in front of the dirty king, and one guard pulled me up to my feet by my hair.

"You missed execution day." The king informed Vince, who was still kneeling before the king.

"Yes Sir, I know." He responded so bravely, and a guard kicked him in his side with the tip of his muddy black boots.

"And you? Betraying family?" The king narrowed toward Nat.

"I'm sorry uncle."

"My queen...How could you?" The king sounded hurt, as if being turned against by the only people he cared about in his life.

"Stop calling me that. I'm Red. Little Red Riding Hood." I grinned, and the guard yanked harder on my hair. I groaned.

"Take them away." The king waved off and the guards trudged us downstairs to the cell rooms. Each one of us got our own cell, but next to one another so we could see our emotionless expressions of fear.

Having very little courage, I laid against the bars of the cell connecting both mine and Vince's cells together. "I love you." I whispered.

"Silence!" A guard boomed from just outside the darkness. "You have a week till your execution. Perhaps you'll live your last days to the fullest in here."

The tears fell out as the guard shut the metal door. Vince, in wolf form, continuously attacked the bars, but nothing changed. Nat comforted me as close as he could between the bars as we watched, or rather, heard Vince growling and his teeth hitting the thick iron material.

I fell asleep in the arms of Nathaniel and the harsh, ice bars.