The Fearsome Four

Chapter Fear

The crossdresser and the twig

    The others had finally stopped laughing at Mario and he once again joined the group. Gaston set out more mellow marshes and ate a few of them.
    “Alright then i’ll go next.” Gaston said.
    “Yeah you bet you will.” Mario commented grumpily and Gaston slapped the back of his head.
    “Shut it Mario. Now this is going to be quite the shocker to all of you so, let me begin...” he paused dramatically.
    “So, You all know king Mort-vivant Fantôme Right?” They all nodded.
   “Well, my actual name is Gloria Fantôme.”
    “No way, your the princess??!!!” Mario said in shock, dropping his mellow marsh.
    “How did I not notice it before?” Alexis said as she held up the picture of the princess next to Gaston.
    “Oh my god he actually is.” Ardele said shocked. Gaston sighed.
    “Will any of you let me finish?” They hung their heads down.
    “Thank you, Now as you know, now at least, I am the Princess that everyone has been searching for. And before you ask ‘But you are a princess! You had everything you wanted, why leave?’ Well being royalty is not all fun and games.
    You see when I grew up I could never do anything any other kid would do. And being an only child made it worse. I had to learn how to rule and how to act properly, heck I didn’t even have any friends besides the servants. My Father was very overbearing and expective. Although now he seems to be acting worse than when I was younger.
My Father was going to have me married off to some random prince I have never heard, let alone seen, In my entire life. I was willing to give it a shot, after all who knew maybe he was nice? I was strongly mistaken. The day I first met the prince was the day that changed my entire life, and a day I will never forget.”

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    The day in question was warm. Gloria was wandering through the gardens with one of her closest friends, of the few she had, her butler Lancer. She was slightly nervous about meeting the prince, and for many reasons. He was someone of importance for starters, and she was supposed to marry him. Lancer could tell she was nervous.
    “My lady there is no need to worry, I am sure the prince will be as gentlemanly as ever. After all you were raised to be the most lovely women ever, and even a little more.” She chuckled as he poked at her cheek.
    “I know, but what if he's a jerk? I would have to marry him! I don't want a husband who treats me poorly.” She sighed as she sat down on a garden bench, Lancer sat next to her.
    “My lady, let me tell you something. When I met my wife Martha she was about as brash as any rebellious teen could possibly be. But after only spending a day with her she showed me her sweet side. And that side of her is the only side I see anymore. Even if they seem bad at first, things can always get better.”
    “Isn’t Martha moody now? I mean she is pregnant and I've heard that pregnant people are moody right? ” He sighed
    “Unfortunately she is rather moody. But I know she will be an even sweeter mother than she is a wife to me.” They laughed as a messenger boy ran up to them.
    “The prince, my lady, is here, hurry to the great hall.” Lancer got up with her and they ran to the great hall. She stopped just outside the hall and looked over her appearance. Her long white hair tied in a braid, and her dark green dress complimented her curves. Lancer pushed her inside the hall as he walked her towards the king's throne. Where she stood beside her father as they waited the entrance of the prince.
    Finally the doors opened and servants entered and bowed. Another king entered with a boy who looked around 18, Glorias age. He was also as thin as a twig. The king bowed to her father who stood and bowed in return.
    “My name is king Barbare, And this is my son Salem. We are here to arrange the marriage.” King Barbara's son interrupted him.
    “Dad I thought we were headed somewhere else, not this dump. Who would even live in such a place? Certainly no one even worth beauty.” His father nuged his son.
    “I apologize dearly. My son is quite brash.”
    “Brash? More like this place is trash. Can we leave now? I mean look at that servent girl over there, she has such an ugly hair colour, and an ugly dress.” His father gasped in disapproval.
    “Salem! Do not say such things! We are guests. Mind your manners!” Gloria was fuming. She thought she looked nicer than she normally did. She could have almost swore he didn’t even look at her. She looked at her father, whom had a deep frown on his face.
    “Fath-” Gloria started.
    “You may leave now, such ugly words should not be directed at me or my estate.” She nodded and headed out of the room quickly and shut the door behind her. She ran to the garden and started to walk towards the middle of the hedge maze, where a small pavilion covered in rose vines stood.
    Apparently a few minutes later the prince had been sent out, after being told who he insulted. He had followed the strange butler he saw leave the room before he entered. He was holding drawing utensils and a notepad. The butler was walking to the gardens and he followed jumping from bush to bush, avoiding being seen. The butler worked through a hedge maze before coming into the center where the girl from earlier sat.
    “Lancer, how can I marry such a rude man like him? He hadn't even looked my way and had already insulted me.” She sighed and slouched in her seat.
    “Now now lady, slouching is terrible for your back. As rude as that child may be he is still a prince. Perhaps you can get along? At least try, after all your father may not even decide to let him marry you, after insulting his pride and all.” Lancer handed her the notepad and retreated, winking at the prince as he walked by. The prince stood out from his hiding spot and approached the pavilion. He looked up at the princess he was supposed to marry and stopped in his tracks. He had never seen anyone so beautiful in his life, and he had called such a gem ugly. He internally cringed at his earlier mistake.
    “Ahem, my lady.” He caught her attention as she looked up at him glaring.
    “Oh look the twig prince of ‘insult my entire lifestyle and person’. What do you want?” she glared at him harder and he sucked up his courage.
    “Well I will admit my mistake, you are not ugly. But the rest of that statement is true, after all your gardens are herocious, I mean look at the flower beds! They look as if a child planted them.” He examined the poorly constructed flower arrangement.
   “That’s because I planted them. When I was seven.” she crossed her arms and turned away from him.
   “O-oh? You did, well then they look fine?” She only huffed at his statement.
   “Don’t speak a statement like its a question, it's obvious you’re lying, you twig.” Suddenly the two kings walked into the quartyard and entered the maze. The prince and princess looked at their respective fathers.
    “Gloria, we have come to a conclusion. You will marry Prince Salem.” She gasped in horror.
    “Father! You can't make me marry someone so rude! Let alone someone who insulted me!” He father huffed in annoyance.
   “Child you will listen to me and you will listen well. Your personal feelings don’t matter once you become a wife, you will do all of his bidding, you will be wed tomorrow evening. No objections or so help me you can starve on the filthy streets.” he yelled as she looked down in shock and horror. Her father had never yelled at her, sure he had raised his voice, but never yelled, and in such a harsh tone.
   The kings walked away and she turned away from the prince, who looked just as shocked as she did, and ran straight to her room. Running past Lancer who followed behind. She opened her room door and collapsed on her bed crying. Lancer tried to stop her but she pushed him away, and he left her be.
    The sun was starting to set when she finally stopped crying. She looked up at her mirror and thought to herself on what her father had said. She wasn’t going to marry that wretched, awful prince over her life. So she took her father's advice. She changed into some male servants clothes that she had gotten from the servants barracks, grabbed a bag of food, money, extra clothing, and wrote a letter to her father and one for Lancer. She was going to head out the window until she remembered something. She reached under her bed and grabbed a small box filled with a picture of her mother, father, and her, a gold bracelet, and the family heirloom.
   She dropped out the window and made her way to the horse stables. Picking a simple white horse and racing off into the city and out toward the west.

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    “Later on, I found out that the other king bribed my father to marry me off. So that could be one of two possibilities of why he wants to find me.” Gaston said casually.
    “You just drop a barrel of information we never expected to come from you, and you say that like we’re talking about the weather.” Mario commented as his mellow marsh fell on the dirt ground.
    “What do you mean one of two possibilities.?” Ardel asked.
    “Well I did take the most precious thing in the entire kingdom.” Gaston said.
    “Man and now my story really sounds weak.” Alexis commented and Gaston laughed, the others joining in. The thick tension suddenly broken.