A Grim Fairy Tale

Chapter Fifty-Nine

Millie spent half the night and most of the next day working on Charlotte's dress with Charlotte herself working with her. Both women enjoyed sewing and doing needlework, it had always been a very relaxing hobby for them, and Millie had often seen it at as way to release stress. Well one way to release stress. She had two common methods of stress release. Sewing and taking her fury out on abandoned buildings, fallen trees, and the occasional asshole. Charlotte quickly learned that Millie was a woman who Dolores would describe as "A lady who at times will wear gloves of lace and an iron gauntlet at other times." In other words, she was a woman who could hold her own but was still in touch with her feminine side.

"I started teaching myself how to sew when stealing clothes started to get more risky." Millie explained as was sewing a sleeve on to the dress. "And when I realized that I wanted to wear something nice for my husband once in awhile."

"Really?" Charlotte said, as she was doing some embroidery on the skirt of the dress. "From what I've seen, your husband thinks you're the most beautiful woman in the world."

"Oh he does. He thinks I'm lovely no matter what I wear or how I look. But I still like to impress him. Surprise him with something different."

"I decided to learn how to sew when I found out it was one of my mother's favorite pass times." Charlotte said. "According to my father, he would come home almost everyday to find her doing some sort of needlework while singing to herself. So not only did I learn to sew and embroider but I would also sing for my father, especially whenever he was really sad and missing my mother."

"Did it help?"

Charlotte smiled as recalled the first time she ever soothed her father's grieving heart. She had been playing hide and seek with Niffty and was looking for a hiding spot. She decided to hide in the old chamber down the hall because she presumed that no one ever went in there and that Niffty would never think to look for her there. But when she opened the door, she discovered her dear father sitting alone in that room, weeping over the portrait of her mother that hung there. She had been too young at the time understand the reason for the king's sorrow but immediately wanted to do whatever it took to make him smile again.

So she slowly approached him from behind, he turned around and tried to wipe his face with a handkerchief.

"Don't cry Papa." She had said. "I'll make you happy again. I'll sing to you, Niffty always said music made you smile."

And so she sang the lullaby that Niffty had taught her, unaware that it had been the very same song her mother used to sing all the time. Hearing from his daughter's lips, the man's tears became renewed and flowed even more. For a moment the child feared that she had made things worse.

"Oh Papa I'm sorry! I didn't mean to make you even more sad. Please, please don't cry."

But then king smiled and said with all the love in his heart.

"They're tears of joy my little dove."

Afterward he swept her up into his arms and she hugged his neck tight. From then on, she decided to sing only for him and that in itself made it easier for him to bear the loss of his one true love.

"Yes it did." Charlotte said. "Oh I miss him so much. I pray every night that he's still alive and that he'll come back someday. If he doesn't, I don't know what in the world I'm going to do."

"Well." Millie said as she pulled the threaded needle through the fabric. "Technically, if your father does not return, you will eventually have to take his place. Become the new queen of Germany."

"Yes, about that." Charlotte suddenly started to look very uncomfortable. "I don't think I want that."

"What do you mean? You are a princess and the king's only heir. By birthright, you are meant to someday ascend the throne."