Little Red Cinderella and the Three Beanstalks

When the Queen was... devoured, for lack of a better word, the effects of her magic faded almost instantly.

The invisible shield blocking the open doorway dissipated, and the Ex-Queen's ever so loyal guards fell through it. Half of them took off at a dead sprint down the hallway, probably planning on getting the hell out of dodge before anything else could go down. But many of them seemed too stunned by the way events had unfolded to do much more than stand around blankly, unsure of what to do next. The spell on the Huntsman was broken as well, though I wouldn't realize this until later.

It took me a while to make sense of what had just happened, leaving me gaping at my own reflection for several moments before I finally came to my senses. Then, I remembered, remembered everything that had happened during that odd, one-sided battle between us and the Queen, and I forced myself to my feet, stumbling across the throne room on shaky legs as quickly as I could manage.

“Ezu! Ezu!” I cried out, falling onto my knees beside him. He was still laying as still as stone in the middle of the long hall, pale faced and curled on his side as he he were merely sleeping. The bright red apple was only a few inches away from the fingers of his outstretched hand, the inner flesh where he had been forced to take a bite already growing brown around the edges.

I rolled him over, dragging him half into my lap.

“Ezu, can you hear me?” I asked, pulling up one of his eyelids, to see an unchanging pupil staring sightlessly back up at me, rimmed by a blue iris. I held his face in my hands, and couldn't help but notice with a shudder how cold his skin was. “Ezu, wake up! Now is not the time for stupid games!” I shouted at him, but I knew he wasn't faking it. I just didn't want to accept it. “Get up! You idiot, just get up! She's dead, the Queen is gone! You don't have to be under her spell any more, just get up!”

I didn't realize it, but tears were spilling over my cheeks as I shook him and pleaded. I was surprised to see them fall and land on his shirt, dotting his chest with tiny little dark spots. When I realized I was crying, suddenly a dam within me broke, and I couldn't stop the rest from coming. I sobbed hard, holding Ezu's dead weight against my chest. I cried for him, I cried for myself, I cried for the Huntsman and all the soldiers who had died that night on both sides. I even cried for the Queen, that stupid bitch, who was so caught up in herself she let it corrupt her like a piece of rotting fruit, infecting everything she touched.

Someone came up beside me, and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. I turned and looked up, to see Jameson, the captain of the Queen's guard, his expression sad and weary. He didn't speak, there was nothing he could have possibly said, but he crouched at my side and sat there with me, while I cradled Ezu in my arms and cried.

Someone else approached, and it was a man I did not recognize. He was skinny, as if he was malnourished, with hallow cheeks and sunken eyes. His hair was long and unkempt, and a scraggly beard covered his chin. One of his legs dragged slightly as he walked, and blood ran into his right eye from a cut on his forehead, but he picked himself up off the ground where he had lain in a crumpled heap and forced his protesting body towards me as well. He fell hard on the ground in front of me, Ezu between us, his face contorted in pain.

“You... you saved me,” he said, in a voice that sounded as if it had grown unused to speech.

“H-huntsman?” I hiccupped.

“My name is Thomas,” he replied. “But yes. You killed her. You killed the witch.”

I shook my head. I was sick of death. “It wasn't me. I didn't do it. The mirror...” I broke off, choking back another heaving sob. Ezu's head lolled back, his white neck exposed, and the sight sent me back into hysterics. The two men, both well into their thirties, possibly forties, just watched me in sad silence.

“Is there nothing you can do to break the spell?” the Huntsman—no, Thomas—asked me quietly, after several minutes. “You broke the one on me. And the one on the Princess, on Snow White.”

“I can't, I can't,” I gasped between shaking breaths. “I didn't break those spells, that had nothing to do with me. I don't know how-” But that wasn't entirely true. My breath caught in my throat, and a crazy thought came to me. I hadn't even considered it at first, because it didn't even register as a possibility. But I did know one sure fire way that always broke even the worst of curses. I looked down at Ezu's face, his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open, a picture of quiet and peaceful death in my lap.

“True love's kiss,” I half whispered. The words felt stupid coming from my lips and I nearly cringed. It was ridiculous, something out of a children's fairy tale—but that was exactly what we were was inside.

But... did I love Ezu?

I mean, I did, just like I loved Jack, and Alfred, and my family, and everyone else who meant anything to me. But would that be enough? Did I need more? Did I have more?

I stared at Ezu, the tears drying up as quickly as they had begun, and thought about him, about us, about everything we had been through together and everything I had ever felt for and about him.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?!" A voice bellowed beside me.
"I'm helping!" I said defiantly, spinning to face the boy. I took another wild swing, knocking another canine away from me.

"We need to what?" Ezu said, very quietly.
"Erm, we need to find a miller's daughter who is being kept locked in a tower, break into the tower without letting the king know we’re there, and switch a room full of hay with gold thread..." I muttered, hopefully too fast for him to hear. But I had no such luck. Ezu let out a huge groan and collapsed to the ground, head in his hands.
"What did you do?" He cried, his voice muffled.
"I kinda... killed Rumpelstiltskin..." I coughed. Ezu glanced up at me through his fingers, his expression incredulous.
"I don't even want to know." He said, stopping me as I tried to explain. "Do I have to baby sit you forever or something?! If I had known how much trouble you were going to cause me, I'd have left you to be eaten by those wolves!" He complained, now struggling to his feet. I grabbed his arm, ignoring his protests, and pulled him up.
"I believe you've said that before..." I said, my lips a thin, hard line. "But... you will help me, right?" I pleaded, giving Ezu my best puppy dog eyes. He just glared at me, unfazed. "If I don't get to that girl in time, she'll be executed..." I begged, tugging on his arm lightly. Ezu's eyes softened a tad bit, and I jumped on it. "This poor girl, her father told the king she could weave hay into gold, and now the king will lock her away, and if she doesn't transform the whole room by sunrise, she’ll have her pretty little head cut off! The only person that could possibly help her apart from us is dead, we’re all she has now!" I pleaded, trying to look as helpless as possible. Ezu's fierce expression faltered, and he bit his lip. I batted my eyelashes at him. He broke.
"Fine!" He spat. "Fine, I'll help her. But how the hell are we going to get that much gold?" He growled.

"Ezu!" I shrieked. I dashed over to him and leapt on the bed, sending him and his blankets bouncing in the air. He gave yell as he awoke and trashed out violently--only to get even more tangled up in his sheets. He struggled for a few moments until he gave it up for a lost cause, and plopped back down on his pillows uselessly. I crawled over him, grinning widely.

"Who are you?" The soldier snarled, turning to face Ezu. Taking his sweet time, Ezu set his mug down on the table and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. He waved Jinx away, who came to alight on my own shoulder, buzzing warningly.
"I," Ezu began calmly, crossing his arms over his chest, "Am a very close personal friend of this lovely lady. And I don't think I appreciate the way you're looking at her."

"I thought you said you weren't going to apologize," He said quietly, not quite looking me in the eye. Absently, he wiped his thumb along my cheek, smearing something wet across my face. "You're crying again." He said. "I thought you knew I hate it when ladies cry."
I pushed his hand away from my mouth and blinked away the tears

"Do you know..." He began, his voice dry and cracked. He licked his lips, eyes sliding out of focus for a second before snapping back to me. "Do you know how beautiful you are in the sunlight?" He whispered hoarsely. Now I was sure the boy was sick. Even on a good day I was a long distance phone call from a beauty queen. And this was definitely not a good day.
"Come on. We have to get you to a doctor before you lose something else besides your mind." I huffed, now completely dragging Ezu's limp body through the trees. Just a few more feet to go...
And then in one swift movement, Ezu mustered up enough strength to pull my face towards his, and the next thing I knew my chapped lips were pressed tightly to his feverish ones.

"Sorry, babe. I don't swing that way." He shoved the Prince backwards, and before I could even comprehend what had just happened let alone protest, Ezu had reached out and spun me into a tight embrace.
And the next thing I knew, his mouth was pressed firmly to mine, in one of the most passionate kisses of my entire life.
As much to my shock as to Ezu's- who obviously had been expecting a violent reaction on my part if his braced stance and fearfully closed eyes were anything to judge by- I didn't exactly kiss back, but I definitely didn't pull away.

I glanced at Ezu out of the corner of my eye.
His gaze was fixed on Jack, studying the taller boy's every movement. Ezu stood motionless, like a statue. As a faint breeze ruffled his blonde hair, a name came to mind. Eros, a blonde himself, represented in statues everywhere, the god of love.
Love. Ezu had teased me, told me I was in love with him.
But I wasn't. Of course not! I could barely stand him most of the time.
We were friends by circumstance, at best.
So why did I feel so awkward when I thought of Ezu and... the 'L' word together in the same sentence?
I was now staring at him unabashedly, trying to work out the conundrum that was the obnoxious boy before me.
The moody, unpredictable, fierce, brave, awkward boy; man, really, who, for some reason, was still here, by my side, trying to help fix my mistake.
In the moon light, he seemed washed out, like a black and white photograph. His hair was silver instead of blonde, and his smooth skin almost milky white. The only color on his at all were his eyes, shining in the semi darkness. His blue eye was sapphire bright, bluer than the depths of the sea. As if sensing my gaze he turned his head slightly, and I caught the golden flash of his other eye, as yellow as a cats'.
"What?" He asked, meeting my stare. I shook myself, tearing my eyes away from his, trying to recollect my thoughts.
"I don't love you, you know." I said, out of the blue. I don't know where that came from--it just slipped out. I was thankful the color of my blush was drained by the pale light.
Ezu didn't seem surprised by the sudden outburst. As he looked at me, I saw something flicker in his eyes that made me think he had also been thinking about the very same thing.
"I know. Trust me, if I thought for a moment you had any feelings for me, or I for you for that matter, I would have crushed it right then and there." He said, quietly. I stared back, slightly shocked. Whatever I had been expecting, it wasn't that.
"What?" I asked, unsure how to react.
"All that love business causes is problems. Love screws up your judgment, clouds your path." Ezu remarked coolly, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking away. "Love might work out fine for princes and white knights, or worthy youngest sons. But for nobodies like me? That's not my story. It would just end in tragedy." Ezu's voice was suddenly bitter, and he kicked a small stone viciously, sending it flying into the wall with a clatter. I jumped at the noise, but nobody, not even Jack, seemed to notice.
I wanted to say something, anything. But what could you say to a comment like that? Ezu knew how this place worked far better than I. And even with my rudimentary knowledge of fairy tale workings, I knew that some characters just weren't meant to come out on top.
And yet, I just couldn't see Ezu winding up as one of those characters. He was too... real, too determined, too alive to just fade away into a background like that.
"You know what I think?" I finally whispered, gently touching Ezu's arm with my fingertips. "I think we should forget the book. Nothing has gone according to plan so far, has it? Screw the stories, the rules. We'll get you a story of your own, even if we have to write one ourselves." I promised.

I loved Ezu. I had loved him for a long time now, even though neither of us had been willing to admit it. I loved him more than I had ever loved anyone in my whole life. He had faithfully stuck by me through all of the insanity and life threatening situations I had gotten us into, he had helped me drag myself out of the darkness when panic or despair threatened to overcome me, and I had done the same for him. He had defended me when I need him, and he had let himself open up to me and let me help heal the hurt he carried with himself. We were more than just friends bonded through circumstance, he was my rock, my lighthouse in the darkness; and I really believed that he felt the same way about me.

We had hinted at our feelings, so long ago now it felt like years, but had been forced to put them away in a locked box and throw away the key, too busy trying to save the world to deal with those confusing feelings at the same time. Now, however, I couldn't keep that little box hidden any longer. It thumped against my chest, and the lock broke, and all of those suppressed feelings came bursting out, making my heart ache. I loved Ezu so much, so much that I might be able to save him.

I laid him down gently on the cold marble floor.

“What are you going to-?” Jameson began, but I shushed him with a wave of my hand. I knelt over Ezu, the dark curls of my hair falling into my face, sniffing away my tear-induced runny nose. I did not make a pretty picture, crouched over the motionless form of the scruffy young man, my eyes red and puffy and looking as though I had been dragged to hell and back, but it was appropriate, considering that was how we seemed to spend so much of our time together.

I cupped Ezu's cheek in one of my hands, turning his head slightly to face me. I knew what came next, but I couldn't help but hesitate. We had kissed before, twice, though he only recalled one of them. This would be the second time he wouldn't be conscious enough to remember it. But for me, it would be the first time I really meant it. It was a little frightening.

I leaned down, until my lips were a centimeter away from Ezu's. I could see everyone of his eyelashes, his pores and premature frown lines. His lips were slightly cracked from the weeks we had been spending out of doors, and no breath came from between them. I closed my eyes, urged my heart to be still, and pressed my mouth against his.

He was cold and unmoving against me. I kissed him harder, putting all of the feelings I had for him into that single kiss. I held him with both hands, my eyes screwed tight shut, trying to fill that kiss with every missed moment I had wanted to but didn't.

Over and over again in my head the same mantra rang: I love you, Ezu, please wake up!

Finally, I pulled back, gasping for air, and waited.

Nothing happened.

A frown creased my forehead, and I felt his skin again. Still icy cold, still no pulse or sign of breath. I went back down, touching his lips with my own again. Still, nothing. Not a flicker of life. My heart started to pound, even harder than before, and I could feel myself beginning to hyperventilate. I pulled him back into my lap and kissed him again, and again and again, his cold lips unyielding every time.

“No, Ezu no,” I gasped, the tears beginning to well up despite myself again. I kissed him harder. “Ezu please, I love you, please get up!”

“My lady, he isn't-” Jameson tried to say softly, reaching out to take my by the shoulders. I shoved him away, shielding Ezu with my body.

“Get away from me!” I sobbed. “He's going to be fine! He has to wake up, he promised he would finish this with me!” I kissed him again, but my lips pulled back from my teeth as I struggled to hold back my tears and gasps, and I was just pressing my face against his as my shoulders were racked in silent shudders. “You idiot!” I choked out. “You can't leave me like this! You stupid, stupid...” I hit him weakly in the chest with a balled fist, and then once more, harder. Hard enough to dislodge the little piece of apple stuck in his throat.

Suddenly, he was coughing, his eyes flying wide open, gagging as he choked on the piece of fruit. I gave a strangled cry of surprise, actually dropping him off my lap, and when he hit the floor the bit of apple went flying out of his mouth and nearly hit me in the eye.

He gasped, his chest heaving as he took great breaths of air, the color slowly returning to his ashen face. I stared at him open mouthed, tears still streaming silently down my cheeks.

“E-ezu?” I squeaked.

“The... the Queen... is she... are you... hurt?” he managed to ask. I threw myself on him, crying and thanking every star in the sky.

“Oh God, Ezu, I thought you were dead!”

“That wouldn't be the first time, would it?” he replied a tad hoarsely, trying to pry me off of him. “Oh, Rikki, please calm down. I'm alright, see? I'm fine. Stop crying.” He struggled into a sitting position, unwrapping my arms from around his neck and drawing me in for an embrace of his own. He held me tight against his chest as I gave way to my hysterical relief, trying to calm me down.

“I didn't know what I was going to do! I thought I lost you!”

“Don't be ridiculous. I won't go down that easily. But... what happened? Where is the Queen? And who...?” he looked from the Huntsman in his human form, and then to Jameson. At the sight of the guard, his eyes narrowed, and he held me a little tighter while he searched for his sword. I finally withdrew from his arms, a fraction calmer than I had been before.

“She... Jack, and the Prince, they made it. They got to Snow White, they woke her up. I saw it in the mirror. The spell, or some spell, was broken, and the mirror it... it ate the Queen. She was going to kill me, but the mirror came alive and swallowed her. She's dead, or gone or something. That's the Huntsman, all her spells were broken too when she... when it got her. And don't try to fight him” I meant Jameson there, “nobody is fighting anymore. There has been too much death today. No more fighting. He hasn't tried to hurt me or any one else.”

Ezu didn't relax, but he stopped going for his sword.

“The Queen, she's dead?” he heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank God. Thank God. I didn't know how we were going to get out of that one. I thought I was going to have to watch you die, and I wouldn't be able to do a thing about it.”

I laughed, wiping the tears from my eyes. “I did watch you die. Or come close, anyways. It was the worst moment of my life.”

“I don't die, Rikki, don't be ridiculous,” he smiled at me. I smiled back, but it quickly faded. “How did I come round, anyways?” he asked.

“True love's kiss,” the Huntsman—Thomas! It was hard to make the switch in my head—said, trying to be helpful, I'm sure. I shot him a poisonous look.

“What?” Ezu said, confusion warping his features.

“The bite of apple she made you take, it got lodged in your throat. I was stupid, I forgot how the story went—the real story, I mean. Snow White, she only woke up because the coffin was jarred and the bite of apple was knocked loose. I was so stupid, I was just so afraid that you were gone for good, I forgot. But I hit you, and you coughed it up,” I explained, leaving out my first attempt.

“But what was that about a kiss?” Ezu asked, apparently not knowing when to drop it.

“Nothing,” I replied quickly.

“She loves you, mate,” Jameson told him. I shut my eyes, and willed myself not to add two more numbers to the night's body count.

When I finally opened them, I saw Ezu was staring at me, with an odd expression.

“Rikki?” he said, quietly.

“I...” I didn't know what to say. Now that he was awake and sitting in front of me, suddenly all the things I had felt like I needed to tell him didn't seem so urgent anymore. In fact, they felt more than a little embarrassing, and more than, I was afraid. I was afraid of how he might react. What if... what if I was wrong, and he didn't feel the same way about me?

“Rikki, is that true?” Ezu asked again, more forcefully. I looked anywhere but in his eyes.

“It is.” I finally managed to force out. “But... I think you knew that.”

He was quiet too, for a long while. “Yeah, I think I did,” he eventually said. Silence fell between us, while he stared intently at me, and I looked everywhere but at him. I wanted to ask him what that meant, then, but before I could muster up the courage, a person burst into the throne room, skidding across the marble floor with the speed of his arrival. It was Jack, of course.

He spotted us immediately, the four of us huddled on the ground in the middle of the room, and heaved a huge sigh of relief.

“You guys are alright!” he cried out, and he ran up to us. “And... who are they?” he added, looking uncertainly from Thomas the Huntsman to Jameson. “He's one of the guards, isn't he?”

“Not any longer,” Jameson answered for himself, standing up and holding out his hand for Jack to shake. “It has been a strange past few years for me, and an ever stranger past hour or so. I have been living under that woman's rule for a long time now, but now that she's gone, I'm nobody's man but my own.”

“Oh, that's good, I guess,” Jack replied. “And him?”

“That's the Huntsman. The Queen's spell on him broke, he's a human again,” I explained. Jack's eyebrows made a skyward jump, and he gave a low whistle.

“She really did a number on you. You're a mess, but at least you're human again. I have to say, you're a lot less terrifying this way.”

The Huntsman smiled weakly up at Jack. “Thank goodness,” he said.

“And you guys,” Jack continued, turning to me and Ezu, “how did you do it? How in the world did you stop the Queen?”

I told him everything, from the moment he and the Prince had left to go find Snow White, to waking up Ezu—minus the bit about the kissing, of course. Jack just looked incredulous and shook his head the entire time I told the story.

“I can't believe you guys are alive.”

“Us either,” I almost laughed. I tried to ignore the fact that Ezu still hadn't said a word, and focused on Jack instead of the feeling of his eyes boring into my back behind me. “But what about you? How did you manage to find and save Snow White?”

A wide grin broke out over Jack's face. “Explosives. Lots and lots of explosives.”

And he explained all about how they had made it to the dungeon, thankfully having to fight their way through little to no of the Queen's guards, since she hadn't even wanted anyone to know where she was keeping the entombed Princess. With the help of the book, they were led to a brick wall at a dead end, but assuming the Princess was behind it, they had no way of getting to her. Until, of course, the dwarves suggested simply blowing a hole in the thing.

Jack hadn't wanted to, fearing the blast might cause more damage than it was worth, but the Prince was determined. The plan was put into action, and somehow managed to go spectacularly right rather than horrifically wrong. Jack read the rest of the story to the Prince, and he carefully pulled the piece of apple from Snow White's throat, awaking her at last from her seemingly endless slumber. After that, suddenly most of the Queen's men suddenly seemed to lose their will to fight, as if they were coming out of some sort of trance. The rest fled, led by some who were hollering about the death of the old witch. Jack had left the group then, to come looking for us.

“I can't believe that worked,” I breathed. “This whole mess... we've only gotten by by the skin of our teeth. Stupid dumb luck, all of it. I can't believe how wrong this all almost went.”

“We all really almost died this time!” Jack laughed, giddy at the thought of our narrow escape this time around.

“Yes, we did,” Ezu said, in a quiet, sober voice. I stiffened, but didn't turn to look at him.

“Oh, and Rikki?” Jack added, coming down from his I-just-escaped-death-by-the-skin-of-my-teeth high to give me an oddly serious look. “Once we get this all settled, I have some serious questions about that book of yours I don't think can wait any longer.”

I swallowed. “Ah. Yes. I thought this was coming.”

But that—among other things—had to wait, for the meantime at least. By then all of the other guards who had been in the throne room with us had fled or wandered off, and so it was just the five of us, Ezu, myself, Jack, Jameson, and the Huntsman—who had to be carried between Jameson and Jack—who walked out into the hall and down the spiral staircase, all of us making a pointed attempt to ignore the bloodstains and scorch marks on the steps as we went.

We found those who remained of our party gathered on the inside of the castle doors. I was both pleased and dismayed to see we were short perhaps twenty or so men. I was grateful the number wasn't greater, but heartbroken that there were men missing at all. But other than that, most everyone seemed alright enough. Blood splattered here and there, a few men being carried as the Huntsman was, but nothing that seemed life threatening to me.

The Prince was there was well, Snow White at his side.

She was a tiny thing, even shorter than me, with waist length hair so black it actually seemed to absorb light, and cherry, or perhaps blood, red lips set in bright contrast against a wash of porcelain skin. But you already knew that, of course. The Prince stood with his arm draped protectively over her shoulders, and I had to admit they made a lovely pair. I didn't think I could ever stand having to spend more than ten minutes at a time in the pompous Prince's company without wanting to throw myself off a cliff, but he was a brave and loyal man, with good enough intentions and a decent head on his shoulders. I knew nothing about Snow White, but the Dwarves, who even now hung about her skirts, seemed very fond of her, and I found myself hoping they would be happy together. It was funny, I had been so cynical at first, when I had found myself pairing up princes and princesses. The Miller's Daughter had been vapid and selfish, and the King even more so. I had liked Danielle, the Donkeyskin girl, well enough considering I only saw her for a few minutes, but the Prince she loved had been nearly as bad as his father.

But Prince Charming hadn't been so bad, his heart had been in the right place, even though he had been more than a little wishy-washy; and Cinderella had seemed genuinely sweet, though she had never acted for herself, only waiting for others to help her or tell her what to do. And I had real respect for Snow White's Prince, and couldn't say anything bad about the girl herself, at least not yet. If things kept going in this general direction, the rest of this adventure might not be so unbearable after all.

“I'm glad to see you're all alive,” the Prince said with a tired smile when he saw us approaching. “I owe you all a very large thanks. The most dire threat to my country has been defeated, and I've had the pleasure of meeting this delightful creature,” he smiled down at Snow White, who blushed and giggled to the Dwarves, who all exchanged knowing glances, “thanks to you. Jack, Ezu, Rikki, Roland, all of you Dwarves, and even the Huntsman. Speaking of which, I take it this is him?” He looked over Thomas's sagging form between Jameson and Jack.

“I am,” he said hoarsely.

“Don't worry, you will have asylum with me. We shall have you repaired in no time.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

“And him?” the Prince turned to Jameson.

“He's alright,” I spoke up in the guard's defense. “He's a good guy, I would have been dead right from the start if it hadn't been for him. I think he just wants to go home.”

“If I had a home to go to,” Jameson said, smiling sadly.

“If Lady Rikki will speak in your defense, then I will be glad to treat you with the care I do of my own citizens. I can provide you with all you need.”

“Thank you, your highness.” Jameson bobbed his head gratefully to the Prince.

Roland came forward finally, he had been tending to the wounded until then. I rushed forwards and embraced him.

“Thank you so much,” I said into his breastplate. “We couldn't have done any of this if it weren't for you.”

“I'm just glad I was right to trust you when I first met you on that stump!” he laughed.

“I have appointed Sir Roland with a lordship for his aid here today,” the Prince explained. “He was released from his service to seek his fortune, and yet he remained ever loyal to his duties as my Knight. He will be well provided for. But tell me, what can I do for you three, for your help?”

I exchanged a look with Jack, and even cast one over at Ezu, though I quickly averted my eyes when his met mine.

“Supplies,” I suggested. “We were already knighted at the last trip we made, and we don't have a lot of time left for that sort of thing anymore anyways. We have some other people to go help, and I don't want to make them wait too long.”

“Fresh clothes, rations, horses maybe, if that's possible,” Jack added. “And maybe a promise of a free meal and a warm bed to sleep in if we ever find ourselves in your kingdom,” he said with a grin.

“You are possibly the easiest heroes to accommodate I'd ever had the fortune to meet!” laughed the Prince. “I can do all of that. If your next adventure is anything like this one has been, I will also be glad to give you as many of my men as you wish to aid you along the way.”

I shook my head. “Thank you, but it doesn't really work that way. We'll be alright, just the three of us.”

He still insisted on fitting us out with more supplies than we could even carry. Much, I am not ashamed to admit, was ransacked from the Queen's castle. There was plenty of fresh food in the larder, and after we had all had an impromptu feast right there in the royal pantries, what remained was divided between our small group and the Prince's large one.

We had little use for the jewels and precious gemstones and golden jewelry the Queen seemed to have hoarded, but the Prince gifted all three of us with hefty bags of gold and silver coins. We all got fresh clothes, this time from the servant's quarters—which, oddly enough, looked as though they had been deserted for some time—and were able to each find clean outfits that suited our tastes. The Prince even pressed some of his soldier's armor upon us, as much as we could reasonably carry anyways, insisting we might be grateful for a little extra protection someday. I certainly couldn't argue with that logic.

I did, however, try to argue when he insisted on giving us not three, but four of his party's horses. I told him that wasn't fair, his own men would certainly need them, but the Prince said it wasn't so far from his own kingdom that not having the extra horse would make much of a difference. Eventually under Jack's urging I gave in, and I had to admit it was nice having the extra steed to help carry all of our new gear.

That night we all slept in the castle, all of the prince's soldiers, plus Jack, Ezu, myself, the Huntsman, Jameson, and the Dwarves crowded into the guard's barracks, which wasn't terribly comfortable, but everyone was too tired to even think of complaining. The Prince himself and Snow White were not with us, of course. Snow White still had a room of her own in the north wing of the Castle, which had been blocked off by the Queen but easily opened, and the two of them retired there.

Not once did Ezu speak to me the entire night.

He didn't look angry or upset, but I didn't like the expression he wore whenever I caught him staring at me. I focused on distracting myself by talking to Jack and the Dwarves, asking Roland what he planned on doing as a Lord, and hearing all about how the Huntsman was going to finally go home and see his family again—his wife, and his two daughters who he hadn't seen in so long—but when everyone finally went to sleep I felt so alone with just my thoughts, staring at Ezu's back on the wooden cot beside me.

We all parted ways the next morning.

The Prince and his men were headed north, back towards their own kingdom. We had to keep heading East, along the little red path Prince Charming had drawn for us, leading us to the next quest, the next Princess, the next life-or-death struggle. We waited with our four horses in hand just outside the castle gates, waving at the diminishing forms of the small army until they finally disappeared from sight.

Then it was just the three of us, and that feeling of tension bubbling away beneath the surface of calm began to rise again. A few conversations needed to be had, and I dreaded all of them.