Ever After

☾Chapter One- Rewritten☽

"In recent news, Prince Wylliam of Siral and Prince June of Rosenfelle have finally finished signing the peace treaty between the two kingdoms. Citizens from every kingdom believe that both of the young princes, as future leaders, are setting a prime example of keeping peace within all reaches of Ethelia. We are hoping that-" Ever clicked off the broken tv set and tossed the remote onto the counter. She was tired of constantly hearing the same, boring news.

Besides that, there was work to get done; She was already a couple shipments behind on her Good Cauldron deliveries down in the Magic District, and it didn't help that her last delivery boy was eaten by a Chimera.

Ever looked at the mass of ingredients she had sprawled across her table and let out a lengthy sigh. This is what she gets for living so far from society. She sat down on the rickety, old stool and began to pick up where she left off.

Suddenly, the door to the hut swung open and a particular overly cheerful fairy burst in.

"Good morning, Ever!" She yelled in a sing-song voice.

Ever sighed, "It's almost noon."

"Okay, so I'm a bit late." Aubergine shrugged as she sat down in the worn armchair.

"I wouldn't sit there-" Ever tried to warn but before she could finish her sentence a thick vine wrapped around Aubergine's arm.

She let out a shriek and stood up quickly trying to shake the plant off. "Why do you still have that thing!"

Ever laughed and got up from her work. She grabbed the carnivorous plant from the side table and placed it on the counter. She then proceeded to grab a dish of strawberries from the fridge.

"Sorry, they get cranky when they're hungry."

"You feed them strawberries?"

"It's better than human flesh," Ever chuckled. "Plus, look how cute they are! How can you say no to them?" Ever added as she nuzzled the top of on of the three-headed plant's heads.

"Cute?! They devour cute animals, what's cute about that!"

"That was one time." Ever rolled her eyes.

"Four."

"Well, I named them, and it's universally known that once you name something you can't get rid of it."

"You named a three-headed, man eating plant?" Auber raised a brow.

"Yes, I did, thank you very much. Their names are Chompy, George, and Wysteria."

Aubergine sighed in defeat.

"Oh!", Auber reached into her bag and handed Ever a rolled-up scroll, "You have mail."

"Mail?" Ever glared at the scroll in her hands with a raised brow.

Not even King Cornelius uses scrolls these days.

Ever unrolled the silky, white paper and rolled her eyes. "I'm not in the mood for pranks, Auber."

"What do you mean?" Auber peaked over the edge of the scroll and narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What the... is that even legible?"

"Not to me, it must be in a different language." Ever rolled the scroll back up and stuffed it into her bag on the table. "None that I know." Ever sighed, "I guess while you're helping me with deliveries, we can find someone to translate it."

"I guess... Hey, wait!"

Ever shoved a box into Auber's arms before she could protest.

"Just so you know, I didn't agree to this!" Aubergine argued as she followed Ever out the door.

"I know." Ever turned around and stuck out her tongue.

The mud squished under Ever's boots as she sat her and Aubergine's boxes onto the back of her old pick up truck. Quickly, Ever pulled her black and white hair back into a ponytail before heading out to make deliveries.

They neared the Magic District, recognizable by its tall, spiraling towers, and long buildings bordered by cobbled streets.

Ever pulled in front of The Good Cauldron, which was a rundown bar and apothecary. She grabbed a box from the trunk and handed it to Aubergine before heading inside, the chime of a soft bell signaling her entrance.

"Welcome to the- oh." A stout dwarf from behind the bar counter climbed down from his stool.

Aubergine sat the box down on an empty table and began to unpack the contents.

"Ever Lockewood, here I was thinking you'd never show up."

"Ah well, I'm a few days late, but everything's here."

"And here I was thinking my patrons would be without their-" Ever cleared her throat and nodded towards Aubergine. "Medicine." The dwarf forced a smile. "Here," The dwarf handed Ever a bag of gold, "This should be everything I owe you."

Ever opened the bag and examined the contents.

"I seem to be short a few." She said sternly.

"Well, your shipment was late." The dwarf clicked his tongue.

"I have to pay for a delivery boys funeral and because of that I have to spend extra time delivering shipments myself, and of course I have many customers to attend to." Ever smiled sweetly.

"That's not an excuse." The dwarf showed no sign of budging, so Ever decided to lay the charm on thick.

She began to comb her hair with her fingers and spoke shyly, "Not to mention having to work so far away in the swamp because society dislikes me." She added a fake quiver of her lips.

"Ever, I've got a family to feed."

Ever slammed her fists down on the table making everyone jump. "And I've got ingredients to buy so either I get paid in full or this is your last shipment! Good luck trying to find another witch willing to make your shipments, but I'm pretty sure I'm the only one left." Ever turned to leave.

The dwarf growled, "Fine." He placed another couple of coins into Ever's palm.

"Thank you." Ever dropped the gold into the bag. "Pleasure doing business with you." She then smiled.

Aubergine grabbed the empty box from the counter and followed Ever out of the bar.

"Just a few more deliveries and then I know of someone who might have an idea about this scroll." Ever patted her bag.

"You know you didn't have to be so rude?" Aubergine spoke softly.

"He sells me short ever delivery," Ever shrugged, "greedy dwarfs." She then cursed.

Aubergine sighed and started to braid her long purple hair.

"Besides, he doesn't actually have a family." Ever added.

Hello, Lovelies! It's been a while whoops! I got caught up with school and a bunch of stuff and haven't found the motivation to write or finish Ever After. But I am going through and rewriting every chapter for a smooth overall finish and am determined to finish this story and start on something new~ I'm super sorry for delays and I can't promise I'm going to be sticking to any schedule with the rewrites. Thanks so much to anyone who's stuck around T-T