Rules of a Fairytale

I was in a dreamlike state where noises seemed muffled and everything looked hazy. My hands shook from the adrenaline coursing through me and my stomach had tied itself into hard knots, punishment for doing the stupid pageant. I felt like my legs were going to collapse from under me so I let myself sink onto the cobblestones and let the others come find me.

Tate was the first to find me when I got off the stage. My twin engulfed me in a bear hug. “Fairy farts, Tasha. I always knew you were good but that was just amazing. You totally won.”

I smirked. It’d been years since my brother had given me a compliment and he’d never done it in public. It was nice to feel appreciated. “You do know you sound like a chick, right?” I teased. I was on a strange adrenaline high and it was nice to banter with my brother like we used to. The long-forgotten playfulness set my nerves at ease.

“Really, Tasha, that was fantastic,” Ryder added, making me blush cherry red. I still wasn’t sure what to make of the prince, and the nicer side of him sent my thoughts into turmoil. I could handle his snide comments, but actual praise sounded weird coming from the jerk.

I tucked my hair behind my ear and suddenly felt self-conscious again. I cleared my throat awkwardly and a little bit of the heat faded from my cheeks. “Well that’s really up to the judges,” I mumbled.

“Well if you don’t get first there’s seriously something messed up going on here,” Brooke huffed indignantly. “I mean, sure, the other girls did great, but they were nothing compared to you.”

I gaped at her. This was the girl that made my life miserable at school. Had Brooke Cast, resident mean girl of Hancock High, really given me a compliment? A week ago she acted like I was so far below her she couldn’t be bothered to know my name. Now she was sticking up for me. “Oh, uh, thanks,” I stuttered stupidly.

The loud chatter of the crowd suddenly stopped and everyone was looking up at the stage again. The announcer, a five-foot-seven elf with long black hair pulled back at his nape, hovered nearly a foot in the air with a white card between his long fingers. Oh fairy farts. The butterflies were back. Did I really think I had a chance at this thing? I was so plain next to the other contestants who all sounded better than anything that played on the radio back home- not like that was too hard a feat. But really, I wasn’t “princess” material. What if I didn’t win and we couldn’t go see the fairy godmother? What were we supposed to do then?

“Ladies and gentlemen, I have here the name of our Diva Damsel Princess. And the winner is…” The announcer paused dramatically and looked out at the crowd with a wide grin. Ugh, why did these people always feel the need to drag it out? Just say the dang name! “…Tasha Wolfe!”

No, that couldn’t be right. I had to be hallucinating. For all my freaking out, I never actually thought they would say me. I was in absolute shock. My dark blue eyes were round as saucers as I tried to process what was going on. It seemed impossible that I could have won out of so many amazing singers, especially considering that my song pretty much said fairytales were stupid.

“Tasha, you did it,” Tate confirmed, sounding just as shocked as I was. “That means we can talk to the fairy godmother. Maybe we’ll be able to find out what happened to Mom and Dad.”

The audience clapped and the elf fluttered up to me to hand over a bouquet of the most amazing roses in all kinds of shades from midnight blue to creamy white. Thank goodness I didn’t have to go up on stage or anything because my knees were jelly and my feet were encased in cement blocks. The announcer floated back up to the stage to start the next contest, spell casting, and the focus shifted away from me, much to my delight.

“Miss Wolfe?” a soft voice like wind chimes asked while I stood at the back of the crowd still in numbed shock. I turned in a daze and saw the most beautiful fairy girl smiling at me. She was a whopping seven inches tall. Her white-blonde hair fell in long waves that framed her oval face. Her round eyes were the strangest turquoise color and seemed to be glowing against her pale skin. The wings peeking over her strapless green dress were shimmering gold as she floated level with my nose.

“Yeah.”

“Hi. I’m Reye, Fairy Godmother’s assistant. I can take you to see her now.”

“Well that was quick.”

“Fairy Godmother is very busy,” Reye explained as the four of us followed her out of the town square. “She has lots of appointments, but she set aside time today for the winner. You’re smack between a prince trying to rescue his true love from a dragon and a maiden living under an evil stepmother. They’ve been waiting months already so another hour won’t kill them; at least I hope it won’t.”

My eyes widened a bit. I felt bad about making someone wait, but our quest was kind of time sensitive. I set aside my guilt as we followed Reye into the stone cabin. The cabin itself was nothing like I’d imagined on the inside. It looked way bigger on the inside and instead of being homey, it was decorated like an office lobby and reminded me of the inside of the Empire State Building. The receptionist behind the big oak desk smiled and congratulated me, but soon we were out of the lobby and into an office that looked like it should have been the parlor of a mansion. Big, plush couches were arranged around a glass coffee table that held a short clump of purple daisies. A dark wood bookshelf covered in more porcelain figurines than books sat next to a large bay window. A fireplace filled the room with lavender-scented warmth.

Reye smiled at us and gestured to the sofas. “Make yourselves comfy. Fairy Godmother will be along shortly. Would you like anything while you wait? Tea or pixie pop, perhaps?”

Ryder ordered us all teas, but I didn’t touch mine. After the Gingerbread incident I was being extremely careful about what I consumed. Everyone seemed pretty relaxed, but I was a bundle of nerves. My foot tapped impatiently to its own random beat and I kept tugging at my hair just to keep my hands busy.

It felt like we waited forever before the office door opened again, but it was only a few minutes. Reye glided in scribbling away on her little clipboard. An older fairy floated in behind her. She looked to be 27 at most with glowing golden hair that framed her thin face, emerald green eyes, and a full pink mouth. She was slender and graceful, a foot tall instead of mere inches. I’m pretty sure she sparkled. She was the kind of woman that was too pretty, the kind that made all the other girls around her take a hit on her self-esteem. She was like the magical version of Brooke.

“Ah, so you’re Tasha Wolfe,” she exclaimed cheerfully. She fluttered up to me and kissed both my cheeks. “Congratulations, my dear. Now, what is it I can do for you? Do you want riches or love? Or maybe it’s beauty that you’re after?”

Okay, that was just insulting. I’ll admit that part of me was tempted to take her up on that offer but the more sensible part of me that didn’t care what others thought knew to stay on topic. “As awesome as that would be,” I said, letting sarcasm leak into my voice, “I have something more pressing. See, the thing is that I’m part wolf. I know for a fact that my parents, Cale and Lisette Wolfe, were here probably three weeks ago. We need to know what you told them.”

Fairy Godmother frowned slightly and took the clipboard from Reye and began flipping the pages. “Mm. Lisette and Cale? Oh, right, the ones that saved Sumpter with Sleeping Beauty’s grandson. You know, I’ve always been partial to Cinderella myself. But a-ha! Here we are. They came asking about a cloak and Sir Andrew. I told them that I couldn’t help find the cloak because it’s been cloaked .Haha, punny, right? But I did tell them where they could find Lisette’s father.”

“Where?” I demanded. I was getting very annoyed with the godmother’s over excitement.

Her frown deepened but she still looked too pretty. “Are you sure you don’t want beauty? It shouldn’t be too hard to make you pretty.”

My patience was wearing thin. “I’m sure. Where did you send my parents?”

She sighed like she was disappointed and read something more from her clipboard. “I told them that they would find Sir Andrew at the castle of the trolls. Oh, and it looks like he’s still a prisoner to the twins. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have more appointments to get to. Tata.”

The Fairy Godmother vanished as quickly as she’d appeared in a frenzy if motion. Reye showed us out but I was kind of in a daze so it took me a minute to realize that we were out in the warm sunshine. I felt icy, despite the sun. “Shoot. This isn’t good,” I mumbled.

“What’s wrong?” Brooke asked.

My brother started to explain while I paced back and forth in front of the cottage. “Well for starters, trolls are bad news. They’re violent and murderous and have no problem torturing. But to make matters worse, the twins that have our grandfather have a grudge against him. Sixteen years ago, they worked for Malinda to take over Sumpter and they tried to take our mother as a prize for their assistance. Grandpa’s the one that stopped them. He killed their father, the troll king during a battle that happened right before our parents went to Miami, and he stabbed one of them before they ran off. They run the troll kingdom now so they’ve got resources and stuff. Who knows what they could be doing to him.”

I sank down onto the perfectly manicured grass and brought my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on the platform they made. I’d heard all the stories, about how one of them used magic and a sharp whip to torment his victims while the other was more hands-on with his sword and a variety of knives, so I could all too easily imagine what was going on in the trolls’ castle. My grandfather was tough, but he wasn’t invincible. “Stop it, Tate. I can’t think about that or I’ll go crazy. The important thing is we know where he is and we can get him back. And with some luck, we’ll find Mom and Dad and that Red’s stupid hood on the way.”

“So what’s your plan?”

I looked up and found three pairs of eyes on me. I chewed my bottom lip for a minute and thought hard about what to do next, but there was no light bulb moment or brilliant idea. I was still in the middle of a panic attack for crying out loud! Finally I just answered, “We’re going to need some supplies. We need food for our trip and we’re going to need weapons.”

Food was easy to come by. Elf and fairy shop owners were happy to accommodate me because I was the winner of Fairy Godmother’s contest. One shop keeper was even kind enough to donate a packhorse and wagon to our cause. The wagon was big enough to fit all four of us and the horse was a big guy that had no problem with the task.

Weapons were another story entirely. The fairies were a peaceful breed and it was impossible to get anything we could use to go up against the trolls. I sighed. “We’ll be cutting through Redgrove again. Maybe we’ll find a town with a decent supply. Redgrove is supposed to have the best blacksmiths of all the Enchanted Kingdoms.”

“Why not call that king guy we met when we first got here?” Brooke suggested. “Your cousin, right? He couldn’t come, but maybe he can send help.”

“There aren’t any phones here. It’d take a few days to get a message through and a few more for a reply. We just don’t have that kind of time.”

She blushed a bit. “Oh, right. I keep forgetting.”

Ryder shot me a look, which I ignored and kept the horse at a steady pace. Soon, the only noise was the soft clip clop of the horseshoes on the dirt road. After a few hours, the sound lulled Tate and Brooke to sleep in the back and even I was a little drowsy. Ryder climbed into the wooden bench seat next to me and took the reins. “Get some sleep, Tasha.”

“I’m fine,” I insisted.

“That may be true but you’re also stressed and tired. Just relax for a minute. Let me handle it.”

I sighed and slumped in the seat, leaning against the back rest. “Okay, fine.”

There was a minute of silence and my eyes closed and I felt like drifting off until Ryder spoke again. “I don’t really know what a phone is, but I know we wouldn’t have to wait days to send a message. Why don’t you use the mirror King Steven gave you? You can use it to communicate across long distances.”

My eyes popped open. “Shush about that. I know that we’re gonna need help, but I’m a little reluctant to use it. The Empress is some sort of sorceress and if it’s really me she’s after, I won’t put anyone else in danger because I’m scared. If she’s got any power she’ll be monitoring mirror communication. I won’t be rescued at someone else’s expense. In fact, I should’ve gone off on my own the minute I found out I could be a target.”

Ryder glared at me. “Seriously? And what would the rest of us have done?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Gone back to your fancy palace to do whatever it is royals do. Why did you come anyway?”

Okay, so I don’t have a filter on my mouth but I wasn’t totally sure what I’d said to warrant the icy expression he gave me. It was more than the usual annoyance whenever I spoke. Prince Ryder was mad. “Well I certainly didn’t see you trying to get of the wolf when he volunteered to help.”

“You’re still complaining about Bo? What’s your problem with him? Tate is a wolf, too, and so am I. And it’s not like Bo was trying to steal Brooke’s attention like Tate does, yet you get along with my brother just fine.”

His face got red. “Forget it.”

“No, tell me. Why do you hate him so much?”

Ryder kept his gaze straight ahead and I knew he wasn’t going to talk any time soon. I growled, a small rumble in my throat, then leaned my head back once again. “Fine. Be like that. Just wake me up when we get to a town we can buy weapons from.”

As much as I hated to admit it, Ryder was right. I was exhausted and in desperate need of a nap. Once we stopped talking, I was able to close my eyes and I immediately drifted off to sleep. But it was anything but peaceful.

I’d grown up with the Grimm fairytales and heard the real stories from the kingdoms and Little Red Riding Hood was never a favorite of mine. So why in the world was I dreaming about it? It was like I was her. A red cloak hung around my shoulders and the hood was up, plunging most of my face into shadow. I carried a whicker picnic basket on one arm and pushed the door open to the large cabin with the other. “Mom I’m back.”

My mom walked out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a dishtowel. “Oh good. Now we can get started. Let’s hurry before your dad and brother get home and make a mess.”

I pulled flour and sugar from my basket and set them on the simple wooden table. My dad and brother came in not long after Mom and I had started baking a ton of sweet pastries. I smiled at them all. I’d missed spending time with my family in the last few years. Dad pulled me against him and kissed my cheek as he bit into a chocolate muffin. Mom and Tate joked about something on the other side of the kitchen and I thought that this was what my life had been missing recently.

Suddenly the light flickered off. Darkness plagued the kitchen so that I couldn’t see anything and I instantly went into panic mode. I could hear them screaming, the furniture in the room breaking, glass shattering, and some large thing snarling fiercely. My heart pounded in my chest as the unseen monster attacked. When the lights blazed back to life I wished they’d stayed off. Mom, Dad, and Tate were in a pool of scarlet on the ground staring with vacant eyes, they bodies mutilated. The scene was gory, like a slasher flick, and there was blood on my hands. I let out a desperate cry and tried to wipe the blood off on the red cloak but that only seemed to make things worse.

“Look at what you’ve done, Tasha. You’re a killer, a monster. You’re going to get everyone you love killed.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to block out the horrific sight before me and the voice accusing me of the horrendous act.

When I opened my eyes again, everything was bright. The sun was shining as our wagon entered into a bustling village. I was awake and for a moment, I could pretend my dream hadn’t left me terrified. Not just scared for those I loved, but terrified of myself.