Just Another Red-Headed Chosen One

Chapter 1 Crumble

I do not use italics for time stamps. It's difficult for dyslexic readers to see them.   But I don't use bold at any other place. 

Thanks to all the readers who gave lovely comments. 

Janky Fluffy

The Cave

Two days passed since I saw the prince, and I was worried that they killed him with their so-called protection, but no one loved him as much.

"Rose-Red, it's up to you, and I will meet up with you," my mother said from the shadows. "I don't trust the chosen one."

"But what if I fail? What if he dies? Hanna lies less than I do."

"No, she lies more. You never lie to me or yourself."

I left the safety of the darkness to find him, to save him.

Sunny Day

"Once Upon a Time are words I hate." I punched the traitor guard in the mouth because I'm not a delicate princess.

He dropped his dagger and lost his chance to steal my heart. The coward fled.

"I could have bested him, but I wanted you to die," Hanna said.

I ignored her insults. "Hanna, you and Wicker need to escape through the mountains. I know a safe passage. Just tell me where you hid him," I said.

Castle stones fell around us in what was the royal tea garden. Crushed roses and carnations, bruised and dying plants covered the grounds.

Hanna didn't answer.

I clutched her wrist. "Don't go through The Forgotten Woods."

"Wicker isn't allowed to talk to you anymore." She huffed and brushed my tangled red hair out of my face. "I'm the chosen one, not you. What are you going to do, use a whoopee cushion? I can disguise myself with magic."

"He is an adult." I raised my voice. "You can't fight ten men at once, and three days of training isn't enough." I stared at her perfect face.

Her hair changed from gold to raven, but her face remained the same. She removed the pixie dust from her pocket and blew it in my direction. Each sparkle was shaped like an apple.

I ducked, and the guard behind me fell asleep on a dusty tea table. I shook him awake.

"Hanna is stronger than you," the guard said.

Hanna laughed at me and tugged at my tie-dyed shirt. "Rose-Red, you're just an extra body, and I'm the lead in this fairy tale. You can't even dress right."

I screamed at her. "It's not a story! Our friends and family are dying."

Hanna spoke. "I'm prettier than you, therefore, I'm more important. The magic hunters don't notice your boring face. The king consort chose me to save the kingdom." Hanna sniffed the air. "Their forces are coming closer, and I must save the ugly fae prince."

"Wicker has a name, and don't you dare mock him!" I clenched my fist, but I didn't strike her.

"You actually have a pathetic crush on him. It's almost sweet." She shoved me to the ground.

"Are you trying to kill me?" I flung my body upward to avoid the large marble statue of Wicker's grandfather crashing to the ground, but by the time I leaped up, Hanna and the guard were gone.

The hollow marble broke open, and a stone heart tumbled art and shattered. No, the king consort couldn't be willing to give his youngest grandson's heart to bring back the queen of death.

I ran through the tea garden, screaming. "Hanna, it's a trap." The sky darkened.

Wolves scattered to hide from me, there are no alphas. The leaders of the pack are the mother and the father, and the others are their pups. The wolves were raised with more sense than Hanna.

She stood in the distance with the fortune-teller and the king.

The king consort grinned at her. "Are you sure you can lift this curse that plagues my grandson? I don't care if he dies in the process, as long as he's a beautiful corpse."

"No," the fortune-teller said. Her wings feathered wings fluttered.

"She is wrong." Hanna turned to me. "You're in the way." She blew fairy dust in my direction.

I coughed, and the dust struck me, but not directly.

"Kill her! She won't get in my way of releasing my grandson from the curse. They might not kill him if I offer them the true heart of magic."

"You don't have it," the fortune-teller said.

I staggered into the cottage where the seven dwarf princes once lived. My eyes closed for a moment.

The magic mirror in the cottage came alive. It didn't rhyme or call me beautiful.

It screamed at me. "It's time to run!"

I leaped through the window as the King consort's guards bust into the room with swords.