Not so Happily Ever After

The hour was late, the night dark. He had nowhere to go, no place to sleep, and he longed to see his beloved children... one last time.

 Chapter 1

 

     The hour was late, the night dark.  He had nowhere to go, no place to sleep, and he longed to see his beloved children.  He looked around, frightened at the smallest sounds of the owls or rabbits that inhabited the old forest.  He glanced into the distance through the trees, and saw something that seemed too strange to be in the forest of green and brown, and decided it might help him find safety, if only for the night.

     As he crept through the forest, hoping not to step on anything, he came closer to what had been the disturbance, and saw that it was an old brick building.  It was run down and crumbling, so bad that he thought it couldn’t possibly be livable. He stepped out of the bushes and watched a faint line of smoke coming out of the chimney.  Out of his regular frame of mind, he thought nothing of strangers or evil.  All he wanted was a way out.

     The man moved to knock on the door, but before he had a chance to, the old wooden door swung open with a loud creek.  It’s unstable frame caused it to wobble as it was pulled backwards to reveal an old woman, looking to be hundreds of years old.

     Her long, stringy hair swayed in front of her face, the fraying ends reaching halfway down her back.  Her nose was slightly curved to one side, centered in the middle of her face.  The dress she was wearing was fraying at the ends, and looked to be as old as the woman herself.

     “Yes, young man? What do you need at such a late hour?  I’m an old woman, and I need my sleep.”  The man almost cringed at the raspy, terrible sound that even sounded ancient, but he thought better of it.

     “I’m lost, I can’t find my way, I need to get home, and I want to see my children again, if only you can help me, please, do you know…”

     “Young man, please, if you will only calm down, I can help you…” the old woman cut him off, in his haste at making his point.

     “You can?  That’s wonderful!”

     “For a price.”

 “A… price?”

“Come in, come in, we will discuss.”  He followed the woman into her cramped hut, where a beautiful girl sat embroidering cloth.   She looked up and smiled at the man.  He took a long look at the young woman, involuntarily shuddering.  Yes, she was magnificent looking, but she was not pleasing, he could not look at her without feeling cold, and hopeless all over.

“So you see her.”

“The girl, miss?”

“Your price.”  The woman had a wicked grin on her face.  “You must take my daughter out of the forest.  Take her and never bring her back.  You must marry her, and make her queen.  Or you can starve in the forest and never see anyone again.”

The man suddenly came to his wits.  This woman knew he was the king, but lived far enough out of his kingdom to even know who he was.  She lived in the middle of the forest, and knew he was in a desperate situation right now.  How did he even know he could trust her?

“I would suggest you make your choice quickly, my daughter is quite impatient.”

“I…  uh…”

“Quickly, your majesty.”

“I accept your offer.”  Suddenly the old woman began cackle a wicked laugh, and the man suddenly feared for his life.

“Good.  Very good.”

Suddenly the king thought of his seven children.  He thought of what could happen to them if the young woman who he had just agreed to marry was really as wicked as he felt she was.

“I must come back for her in a week.  I cannot let a beauty like her come to the castle while it is unprepared.”  The king hoped his bluff was convincing enough.  He was gaining confidence when the girl blushed and began to giggle.

“I suppose.  But, I see regret in your eyes, fearfulness, and a… well, I can’t quite place it, it’s almost as if protection, but for what, may I ask?  Not for the wife you once had, although I’m sure she’s rolling over in her grave right now.  I cannot see who it is.  Tell me.

“It’s no one, I… I don’t know.”

“I would be more careful if I were you.  I would not like to be you once I found out you lied to me.  But, seeing as I have no proof I will watch you.  And, if you break your promise, I will find you.”

Suddenly, everything went black.  The king would be calmed for what would be the last in a very long time.

 

     *          *          *          *          *          *

     Reinhold awoke in his bed, momentarily forgetting what had gone on only a short while before.  Then it crept back into his mind, like a bad dream unfolding out into all corners of your memory, making you unable to think of anything else.

     He slowly lifted the covers off of himself, and stepped onto the frigid ground.

     He walked out of the room, and passed the many servants, and hired help that worked at the palace.  He ignored their stares, normally, he was up long before now, and he ran to Rolf, Franz and Gustav’s room.

     “ We’re leaving.  I expect you to be ready in five minutes.”

     “But dad, I want to sleep…” muttered Rolf sleepily.

     “you can sleep when we get where we’re going.  Come now, I’m going to get your siblings.”

     Reinhold ran into the other’s rooms, hoping that the witch couldn’t somehow see what he was doing.  Within ten minutes, each person was ready to go, a handbag packed for the travel.

     “Daddy?” asked young Gustav.

     “Yes, son?”

     “Where are we going?”

     “Away.  You’ll see soon enough.”

     Reinhold called for his faithful friend, Helmfried.  They had been friends since childhood, and Reinhold trusted him with his life.  He told him of the witch, his quest to find a safe place for his children.  He told how horrible he would feel if anyone was hurt because of his stupid mistake.  Helmfried was to take over the kingdom until the king could return, which date no one knew.

Author's Note

It hasn't been edited yet, so feel free to edit if you want to, but don't base it on that. Also, if you have any good titles from this so far, that would be awesome. More coming soon!