A Grim Fairy Tale

Chapter Forty-Three

"Don't say that." Alastor said. "Blitzo will take you for every gem you've got, and you shouldn't have to pay anything. You're my friend, and friends don't have a price."

"But she's not my friend." Blitzo said.

"Alastor it's fine. I wouldn't feel right staying here without some form of payment to your family." Charlotte then turned to Blitzo. "When I was born, my father put together a small chest of diamonds, rubies, pearls, and emeralds for when I am to marry. That shall be your reward for helping me."

"Oh we couldn't possibly-" Moxxie said.

"Shut it Moxxie!" Blitzo spoke up. "Alright a chest of jewels is just the right price. But when do we get them?"

"Right now they're in the castle vault and I won't be able to get to them for sometime, but I will. I give you my word, and while I'm staying here I'll keep house. I'll cook and clean and sew. I did it all the time when I lived with Dolores. Please, I have no where else to go."

"I'm not one to trust to credit."

"Oh let her stay Blitzo." Moxxie said. "She looks honest enough and we could always use the extra help."

"Yes and if she keeps house, then all four of us can work." Millie added. "And she can keep Alastor out of trouble when we're gone."

"Alright you've twisted my arm. She can stay."

"Oh thank you." Charlotte said gratefully. "Thank you so much. You won't regret this."

"That's what Millie said when I told her she could keep Alastor." Blitzo said. "And she was wrong."

Alastor only smiled at the alp. 

"Then it's settled." Millie said. "Now let's all have a hot meal and get some sleep. Tomorrow is another day of hard work."

"Or swindling." Alastor muttered. "Listen if all three of you are going out tomorrow, I think I'll stay home with Charlotte and help her with the chores."

"Alastor you know I can do housework just fine on my own." Charlotte said. 

"True but I don't think it would be wise to leave you alone. Not when there's someone out there who wants to kill you. I hope you don't mind but, until circumstances change, I insist that someone always be with you. Now don't misunderstand, you're a very clever and capable woman but you're not very experienced in defending yourself from dangers like man-eating beasts and witchcraft. We are, so it would be best if at least one of us was always around to keep an eye on you."

"We did the same thing with Alastor when he first adopted him." Millie said. "We were terrified that dangerous strngers might come by the house so for the first five months we had him, he was always supervised."

"I understand." Charlotte said.

"But in the meantime, I can educate you on how to defend yourself from such things." Moxxie said. "That's what I did with Alastor, and it was only until he knew how to defend himself that we finally started leaving him home alone. Of course we forgot to consider that he might try to sneak out once in awhile."

"Well can you really blame me for getting a little restless?" Alastor said. "This house is so small, I can barely stand up straight in here anymore. I need wide open space."

Charlotte laughed. When she first discovered that Alastor had been raised by alps, she was very surprised. From what she had been told, they were selfish and greedy creatures. Not capable of kindness or love. Made her wonder how someone like Alastor could be the way he was under the care of such beings. But meeting these three explained everything. One was mischievous, witty, and blunt. One was clever, polite, and reasonable. And one was gentle, kind, and protective. Alastor's entire personality had been a learned inheirtance from all three of them.

"I think I'm going to like living here." She thought.

...

Alastor's wild goose chase had worked perfectly. Striker had followed the scent coming from the lock of Charlotte's hair tied to the leg of a falcon, and by the time he figured it out, it had started to rain and that made it all the more difficult for him to locate the princess's scent.

"Shit!" He cursed. "Not again! First the brat got away and now this! Serves me right for trying to kill that woman here, I should have known someone would have interfeared like last time!"

Striker was mad. Mad and worried. This wasn't going to be like last time. Unlike the last failed assasination, the one who called for his services was expecting proof of his kill. He couldn't go back to the queen empty handed. She had requested that he bring her Charlotte's heart and there was no chance of him getting it tonight.

Suddenly his highly advanced hearing picked up the sound of a wild pig, snorting and digging around for truffles. The animal had been to gluttonous to seek shelter from the rain and was exposing itself out in the open. Striker then thought to himself,

"Heart of a woman, heart of a pig, what human with average senses can tell the difference?"

He then proceeded to slowly approach his chosen kill.