After their speedy wedding, Driz and Peter went back to their room to celebrate, but it quickly dawned on them the reason why Maddie insisted on them getting married right then and there. She had said, "Call it a dying woman's last wish." Everything after that happened so fast that her words were unable to be comprehended fully by the young couple, and they were soon surrounded with cheers and bliss after their "I do's," that the words she spoke had escaped them.As soon as they realized what she had meant, they hurried back across the hall to find the door was locked. "Maddie!" Driz yelled out and Peter rammed himself into the door in an attempt to br
* * *EllaAfter Maddie's death, a cold gloom hovered around the castle grounds. There was less laughter, fewer smiles, and no one knew what to do with their free time now that they couldn't come to Maddie and speak and gossip with her.The King ordered a proper burial for her to be laid to rest with her parents in the West Village. Malcolm had planned to stay in the village that they gr
* * *EllaAfter Maddie’s wake, we were all very quiet, but I couldn’t get over the likeness of the charcoal portrait that Charlie drew of her, and I wanted to know more about his hidden talent.“Charlie, where are we going?” I asked with an amused smile as he pulled me. I didn’t know where we were going, but we were heading towards his private quarters, and I became slightly nervous.“I want to show you something,” he said from in front of me. There was no way that he would be taking me to his bedroom, no, that was absolutely absurd.We stopped outside a regular-looking wooden door and I concluded that this was not his private bedroom, and I let my shoulders relax.“Close your eyes,” his voice was calm and playful, and I didn’t detect anything sinister going on, so I did as he asked and closed my eyes, covering t
Years after getting her revenge on her old babysitter, Lucinda returned to normal life as a young woman looking for a future husband. She was fifteen and gorgeous, flowing brown hair and brown eyes like chocolate, curves that caught every man’s eye, she walked around the village with utter confidence.There was only one other woman in the village that Lucinda considered being as beautiful as herself, and her only competition was Malinda Reed. Lucinda loathed the woman, they looked quite similar, except for their skin and eye color. Where Lucinda’s eyes were brown, Malinda’s eyes were blue. They had the same long, dark hair, Malinda's was more black where Lucinda's was
After finding Lucinda trying to sneak out of the castle, the King dragged her by the arm to the ballroom, which when there isn’t a party, he uses to conduct work with the village magistrates around the kingdom. The room had a certain echo when it was not filled with numerous guests, and Archibald wanted to put Lucinda on blast.“Your majesty, I swear, I came to warn you!” Lucinda pleaded as she fell to her knees in front of the King as he sat on his throne and glared down at her, just as he had glared at her daughter a month ago for similar reckless behavior.
* * *AnaSeeing mother in the ballroom with her eyes full of mischief and how she blamed Ella for the outbreak, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was entirely my mother’s doing and she was only framing Ella for the plague outbreak.Mother never liked El
It was just past nightfall and the threat of bandits was high for the group to leave for the Tremaine house on horseback, so the Prince offered a large carriage to escort everyone. Peter would act as the coachman because of how protective he is and his keen sense of incoming trouble. Barely an hour passed and the group made it to the Tremaine household. It was dark since no one was present in the home, but the girls knew their way around so well that they pushed through the darkness and lit candles around the house to light their way. Handing a candle to each person, everyone took a separate room of the house to search.
* * *CharlesI left my art studio and ran outside to get some fresh air. This day had been the absolute worst; First, Maddie dies and we aren’t allowed to give her a proper funeral, so instead we hold a small wake in her old bedroom. Second, my fiancée gets accused of being the reason for the plague outbreak and is sentenced to death. Third, I learned that I have a bastard brother, who is none other than the palace guard, and my friend, Peter, who will take the throne if I refuse to wed after Ella’s execution.I became dizzy, my breathing became shallow and I was unable to bring any significant amount of air into my lungs, I felt as if I would die right then and there, and at the moment, I was alright with that. I dropped to the ground and gasped for breath, but I felt like I was slowly drifting away. I stopped fighting, and let the darkness take me.When I woke, I was back in my room and on my
Five years passed after Lady Tremaine’s death and Driz and Peter had now assumed the throne. A new mailman was appointed to share the news, and the royal colors had been changed from purple and gold to navy blue and white, same as Driz's dress at the ball.King Archibald remained on the throne for an extra year to prepare Peter and Driz for their ascension, stepping down when he felt they were ready. He now lived in the West Village with Malcolm and Alma, helping to repair the village after Lucinda's attack there.Peter had worked things out with his parents and used his new power as King to bring new plants overseas to learn their medicinal properties - the plants were left in his parent's garden to grow and the experiments were handed to Driz to conduct and discover their benefits.They built a hospital in the center of the kingdom, equal distance from each village, and put former coachman Davis in charge as the
* * *AnaThe surprise of our uncle showing up after neither of us remember meeting him and our mother telling us that he ran away a decade ago was perplexing, and neither Driz nor I knew just how to feel about it, or about him. He seemed an odd man, but then again, his entire family was killed, possibly because of his own sister, God, how I wanted to be in that dungeon to hear everything.It was barely midday when Joseph showed up, and it was now dinner time, everyone was gathered at the table for once, enjoying our time together.“Is Joseph still in the dungeon with mother?” I whispered to Driz from her side.“He must be, no one has mentioned seeing him since,” she responded. It was odd that Joseph had spent hours in the dungeon alone with our mother, then again, he seemed like an odd one from the beginning. “They haven’t seen each other in nearly a decade
The dungeon was now only occupied with Joseph and his sister Lucinda, waiting patiently for her sentencing to commence. The sibling's reunion was a difficult one, Joseph had kept his word about looking over his sister until she wed, but Lucinda thought that he took the easy route by marrying her off to the first man he could, and she blamed Joseph’s wife, Danielle, for the influence.The man that he married Lucinda to, was a kind one, tall, good-looking, well-spoken, and they began a family in no time, but he was the first man to show interest in Lucinda after Archibald left her for Malinda; She was heartbroken at the time, and longing for attention to bandage her wounded heart, so she didn’t fight it and married the man who would give her two beautiful daughters in the coming years.Her husband died of natural causes, leaving Lucinda and her young daughters alone until they showed up on Joseph’s doorstep one day, begging f
* * *DrizellaAna and I headed back to the receiving room where Derek was supposed to bring our uncle Joseph after tending to the horses, they should be there by now after our walk to find Charles and ask if it was alright for Joseph to speak with her.“What is he like?” I asked Ana before we reached the room, “our uncle, what is he like?”Ana took a moment to calculate her response and the silence made me slightly nervous, “He is very much like our mother, I’m afraid. Mannerisms, expressions, features, I don’t know about tendencies, though.”“Good to know,” I nodded my head at her as we continued to walk that way. We had to be careful who exactly to trust now that we learned our mother is a murderer and someone who scrapbooks her tortures.Ana and I took a deep breath before we turned the corner to enter the rec
* * *AnaDerek and I walked into the cottage with Joseph just behind us and looked around; the house was cozy and looked like it housed a large and happy family for years. The tapestries were colorful and there was a full china cabinet, trinkets along the fireplace shelf, and wind chimes you could hear from outside filled the house with a whimsical charm.“Can I offer you two some tea?” Joseph said but I denied, still wary of the gentleman. We all sat down on sofas that were opposite each other and stared at each other for a good moment before he spoke again with his palms facing upward as he asked, “What can I do for you two?”I had no idea what exactly we were doing here, so I looked at Derek and let him do the talking, “We heard of your in-laws passing and wanted to offer our condolences.”Joseph’s eyebrows shot up for a moment, “Oh, why that
* * *AnaI was swooning around the castle after seeing Peter propose to Driz, it was straight out of a fairy tale that I got to witness, and my heart was so happy for my sister, I know how much she loves him. I began twirling in the hallway as I walked back to my room and of course, I tripped.Derek caught me again, just as he had caught me the first time I ever saw him in the castle, only this time he held me there midair longer, just looking at me before pulling me back upright.I straightened my dress and cleared my throat, “Thank you, please excuse me,” I bowed my head quickly to him and continued on my way to my room. I could feel that he had stayed where he was, watching me as I walked away, but I paid him no mind. He left me after we kissed and then got all awkward about it, I didn’t want to be around him after he embarrassed me like that, even if there were no witnesses to my humiliation
* * *PeterI knew exactly what I wanted to do to ask Driz to be my queen, I would ask her the way that I had originally planned to ask her to marry me. I ended up asking her to marry me while we were lying in bed the night after I saved her from the bandits, I was watching her rest peacefully next to me, and she had a black eye, which had thankfully healed quickly.My original plan was to wait until I had my blue roses and present her with one, but thinking back on the idea now, it seemed too weak, I needed to go big.“Derek!” I caught him in the hallway and rushed to him, “I need your help with planning a proposal for Driz,”His eyebrows scrunched together, “But you are already married?”“Not to be my wife, to be my queen,” I told him and his face lit up, his eyebrows went back to normal and he smiled broadly at me.
* * *DrizellaPeter seemed lost in his thoughts as we tended to the new patients in the castle, I feared that it was my mother’s doing that made these ten people fall ill suddenly overnight, and guilt came over me as I looked at them.We were walking together towards Charles’s room where he and Ella had been staying when I asked him, “What are you thinking about?”He continued looking forward when he answered, “You know, if we end up really doing this, we will have a lot of support behind us,” he looked at me with a twinkle in his eye that made me smile, “I am shocked at what they said, but I got thinking of everything I could do, that we could do, and it’s really exciting, don’t you think?”I smiled back at him, “Yes, it is exciting, it will take some time to get used to being referred to as ‘your highness&rsquo
* * *PeterDriz and I talked some more and decided that no matter what happens, we will be strong enough together to get through it, but the decision was a massive one, and we wanted to speak with Charles and Ella together before deciding anything and announcing it. We were leaving our room when I saw Derek running towards us, a slight look of panic across his face.“Pete! I just talked to one of the servants and he said that ten more people have fallen sick just overnight,” he was panting from his run.I looked at Driz and she had the same startled look as I did initially, but then her face turned to determination and she said to me, “I’ll be in the greenhouse,” and I knew that she was going to make some of my signature brew for everyone.I grinned at her and kissed her forehead before she left and then looked back to Derek, “Take me to them,” and he