Ever After

Caesar purred softly as I stroked the fur under his chin, causing him to roll onto his back gracefully, his paws swiping the air as he elongated himself so I could tickle more of his fluffy skin. I laughed softly, yawning a little as I stroked the top of his head where his fur turned a slightly orangey-auburn colour. The rest of him was pure white, kind of like snow, except for his head and his tail. I picked him up, hugging him once before Eskimo kissing him, placing him on the end of my bed. He whimpered and I just rubbed his stomach once more before standing up, stretching my long limbs as I popped my shoulders and me neck. I saw Caesar realise that I wasn't going to massage him any more, and sulkily padded off out of the room to where Mama was probably going to be making breakfast or cleaning the main room.

I covered my mouth as I tried to keep in another yawn, my eyes meeting my dishevelled reflection in the mirror that was leaning dangerously against a pale yellow wall, cracks running from the worn and aged floorboards all the way up to the low ceiling. I sighed at my reflection, twiddling a lock of knotted brown hair. Mama and Papa both had sunny blonde hair, and what was I left with from the gene pool? Mousey brown hair. It wasn't even luscious or anything, looking more like the mop Mama uses to swab at the cobwebs than hair.

I used my fingers to comb through my hair, patting down the mess before straightening out my clothes; a pair of tight brown pants that clung to my pasty skin, and a white long-sleeved shirt that was much too large for me, since it was Papa's old shirt. It had been thinned out, since Papa had been wearing it ever since he was a wee tot, and the flared wrists had frayed a little at the seams. I couldn't complain though- we didn't have enough money to spare on such luxuries.

Mama and Papa had jobs, but only as simple village bakers. If brought in a little income, but it was just enough to scrape by without losing our cottage, which was already quite shabby. It was a very small cottage that could barely stand up any longer. It was just big enough to fit two bedrooms, one for Mama and Papa and the attic for me. There was a kitchen-dining-living room, which only had the stone oven and the fire pit, a hard and rickety bench, and the dining table was an old two-seater piece of furniture, which the three of us had to cram onto so we could eat our meals. The only other room was the lavatory, which wasn't anything as extravagant as the ones in the richer estates- it was a hole in the ground the channeled through the wall via a pipe the led to Mama's wilting flower patch. Mama and Papa often longed for a better lifestyle, but I was content- they did all they could for me, and they had been secretly saving up a little bit of money in a glass jar under their bed for me, so when I turned eighteen I could find a respectable job, unlike their occupation as bakers.

I tucked in my shirt, tugging a little on the strings at the collar, and pulled on my scuffed brown work boots, wrapping my leather wrist bands around my arms before clumsily hopping down the wooden ladder that connected my attic-bedroom to the main bulk of the tiny cottage. I closed the trap door, coughing a little as the dirt and dust pooled around my nose and mouth, and hastily and noisily climbed down.

"Good morning, love," Mama greeted, her voice lacquered with fatigue as she placed a small bowl of watery soup on the table, along with a piece of slightly browning bread that smelled amazing. Mama and Papa made the best bread, but due to our circumstances the only people who know that are the villagers who are as without money as us. I walked up behind Mama, who was getting back to kneading some fresh dough, hugging her pudgy build as she laughed softly, kissing my forehead. "I am so lucky to have you, River. You're so precious to me." I flushed a little as she said it, hugging her again. Mama and Papa always said things like that- I didn't mind it, but every time they said it they had this look in their eyes, this sad, lonely look. I didn't know why they always looked like that- I had asked, but they had never told me.

"I love you, Mama," I said gently, and she nodded, kissing my forehead again.

"You're such a big boy now. Isn't he, Edgar?" Mama said, turning to Papa briefly before peering at me, looking me up and down. Mama was short, only at exactly five-feet, but I was only a few inches taller than that, sitting quite unhappily at five-five. "Already a man of fifteen! I remember the day you were just a little tot! Oh, remember the day when Caesar was the same size as you?" Mama chuckled as Papa clapped me on the shoulder, his naturally red face beaming. Papa was a stocky man, and I knew some of the younger kids in the village were a little scared of him, since he was so tall, but everyone who had met him knew he was the kindest, jolliest man ever to exist. He was always smiling, but sometimes I would see him staring out the back window at the garden in the property behind us with a forlorn look in his eyes, the same one he would have when he told me how lucky he was to have me.

"He'll be having to find himself a wife in the next few years! Choose a pretty one, my boy," dad chortled, and I flushed bright crimson. "The daughter of the barber a few turns down is quite the looker. Do you know her, River?"

"Y-Yeah, but... I don't think..." I stammered, and Papa ruffled my hair again before rolling up his sleeves, checking on the stone oven for the latest batch of bread.

"Edgar is only teasing you, River," Mama said, giving her husband a look, which he shrugged at, winking at me. "We'll be happy no matter who you choose. We all know that girl is lucky to have been chosen by you!"

"Mama!" I shouted, and she pinched my cheeks. I turned around to cover my flaming cheeks, shuffling to the now luke-warm soup the was gradually losing heat on the table. I hopped up onto the long-legged stool, picking up the thick spoon, swirling the soup around it. I took a sip before nibbling on the bread, resting my head on my arm as I looked out the window at the familiar cottage beside ours. I had never seen anyone go in or out of it, yet it always seemed to have a candle flickering inside. I often wondered how the tenant could have such vibrant and flourishing plants, especially that rampion. I had always wondered what such nice rampion would taste like, but when I had mentioned it to Mama she had frozen in her spot, telling me that rampion was the thing of the Devil.

Every other family had rampion for dinner and lunch, but Mama and Papa never even let me speak of it, let alone try a little. It looked so tasty, but Mama and Papa knew best, so I wasn't going to go against them.

I quickly sculled down the rest of my soup, whacking my fingers together to rid them of the bread particles, before getting back up, grabbing my leather coat off the hooks that hung on the wall.

"Mama, Papa, I'm going to Carsen's place. He wants me to help him make a birthday gift for his sister," I said, referring to my closest friend, Carsen. I had known him ever since we were both only little boys. He had always been taller and stronger than me, so I thought he would have just been on of the boys who pushed me around, but instead he was the only one to stand up to me when the bullies were pushing my head in cow's manure. We had been friends ever since then. He was the son of a carpenter, but he had no skill in that area whatsoever. He was an excellent horse-rider though, unlike me who could barely climb on in the first place.

Carsen had a sister, and every time I saw them together I felt a pang of some sort. I had often wondered that it would be like to have a sister, but I was Mama and Papa's only child. I was a miracle apparently, since Mama was quite ill, but she had been getting better as the years grew longer. Papa once told me Mama was so ill she looked like a ghost. I never wanted to see Mama like that.

"Erm... River..." Mama said, her eyes flicking to her feet as she stopped kneading. Papa had stopped staring at the oven as well, an odd look on his face as he frowned. Mama shuffled her feet slightly, looking nervous.

"Yes, Mama?" I asked, a little worried.

"Edgar and I have something to tell you... we didn't know how to tell you but since this has happened..." she said, smearing some flour across her cheek as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, looking at me.

"Is there something wrong? Can I help?" I asked, and she chuckled, shaking her head.

"It's not exactly a bad thing, but... I'm not sure how you will take it..."

"You can tell me, Mama. You don't have to worry about me. I'm fifteen, remember?" I smiled a little, and she nodded, looking and Papa briefly before her lips moves again, in words that just made me gape at her like a fish out of water.

"You have a sister. She's two years older than you. She was... taken away from us when she was born, so you have never met her. We wanted to tell you, but we were so afraid that you'd be taken away from us too that we couldn't bring ourselves to tell you about her," Mama had whispered, and I struggled to take a breath as I comprehended her words, looking between the both of them.

"W-why are you telling me this n-now?" I asked, Mama's eyes glistening with tears as Papa hugged her reassuringly. "Is she okay?"

"Rapunzel more than okay," Mama laughed, wiping her eyes a little with her apron. "She... she is coming home, but she'll be coming home engaged!"

"Wait, r-really?" I asked, shocked. I didn't know what to think. Mama had just told me that I was not an only child, but that I had an older sister, who was stolen away from Mama and Papa when she was born. It felt unreal; imagine finding out that you had a sibling whom you had never met before. And to think that she was now engaged just made me heart go a mile a minute as my head whirled with thoughts and what-if scenarios. "Who is she engaged to? Is it someone I know?"

This made Mama and Papa beam, as if they had just found out they were to be crowned king and queen.

"You see, River..." Mama started, the smile stretching further.

"Your sister is engaged to the Prince," Dad ended, and I felt all air around me just fizzle into nothing.

"Dear Lord," I gasped, my heart stopping. What just happened?