The Law of the Prince Charming

Chapter 9.6

As they walk out of the Guild's building, an einree slips out of a pocket in the Keeper's shirt and flies around her head. Tabitha follows in silence, her mind going over what had happened. She still feels the desire to find Wildrose, to apologize. She resists.

Stupid Laws.

"It's been a long time, my Lady," the Huntsman says. "It's good to see you."

"I don't need pleasantries, Black Storyteller," the Keeper says stiffly. "I just need to know what happened."

The Huntsman glances at Tabitha, but she ignores the look to stay lost in her thoughts. "We went to the Cartographer for the Prince to find out where his tale was pulling him. The map pointed here, to Prism, and Rose realized that meant the Prince was tied to his tale. He wasn't happy about that, so he resisted and broke the tale. And the locus went wild."

"Tales, the willpower required to do that ..." the Keeper sighs. "I never would've expected that kind of carelessness from him. He's one of our most dedicated Storytellers."

"Yeah, but no one knows what's going on inside his head," the Huntsman says.

That statement pulls Tabitha's attention. "You don't? You guys are such good friends."

"We're not friends," The Huntsman says. "I don't know anything about him. He saved me from my castle so I agreed to be his teammate, and even then he only wanted me because of my experience fighting mythics. Did you notice he never tells me anything about what's going on? For any reason. I didn't even know which tale he was part of, I just guessed."

Wildrose told me things about himself, but did that only happened because of the tale? She wonders if any of their interactions had been real, of it had just been the Laws pushing them to be together.

"So where are we going?" Tabitha asks. The city vanishes behind its invisible barrier and now they are surrounded by the grassland of the valley.

"Need to get rid of this." The Keeper lifts up the box still clutched in her hands.

"But you stopped it."

She laughs. "I contained it. Even a keepsake box can only hold a locus so long."

"So how do you stop it?

"I don't. The Cartographer's room is sealed, so it hopefully didn't pull in too much magic, but the Little Wildrose tale has Royalty in it, so it's anyone's guess." She takes a step back and examines the surroundings quickly. "Black Storyteller, if you would put up a barrier please, centered here." The Keeper points directly in front of her, and then walks forward a good distance away, taking deliberately sized steps. When she halts again, she reaches into her pocket and withdraws a dark stick. She begins tracing a circle in the dirt, it's path burns away the grass beneath it, leaving a glowing line.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Tabitha asks.

"Can you link the Law of Erasure to the Law of Encompassing without it destabilizing?"

"I ...no."

"Then you have your answer."

The Huntsman pulls out his Storybook. "Cast: Protection Barrier." A shimmering dome springs up around him and Tabitha. The Keeper finishes tracing the glowing design and sets the box in its center. "Is it ready?" she asks them.

"Yes, my Lady." The Huntsman replies.

The Keeper says something to the einree on her shoulder and the bird flies back into the barrier to land on Tabitha's shoulder. It chirps.

"Releasing." The Keeper flips the latch up on the keepsake box and turns to sprint toward them like there is a dragon behind her.

For a moment nothing happens. Then the design on the ground flares like an enraged hellhound, the light blinding, hanging in the air before it vanishes. The world warps and stretches in toward the box. Then it shoves outward in a visible wave just behind the Keeper as she throws herself into the protection barrier.

The ground crumbles under Tabitha and she falls with an surprised scream. There is only empty space all around her. Something catches Tabitha around her waist and jerks her upward. The Huntsman dumps her and the Keeper onto solid ground before the wings blur and fade from his back.

"Are you okay, my Lady?" the Huntsman kneels by the Keeper.

"Didn't catch it nearly fast enough." The Keeper lets herself fall onto her back, letting out a heavy sigh. The einree alights on her chest, the markings on its wings now red. "It was far bigger than I thought."

"What happened?" Tabitha stares at the gaping hole just behind them. The ground had been carved out in a half sphere, the edges of it are perfectly smooth.

"That is what happens when wild magic isn't enough to diffuse a gathering of lawless magic, such as a failed freecast or a broken tale," the Keeper says. "Or in laymen's terms: it's a Collapse."

"It's gone."

"Yes it is." The Keeper pushes herself up and sighs. "Thank you for the save, Black Storyteller."

"It was my pleasure, my Lady," the Huntsman says.

Tabitha cannot tear her eyes away from the empty space. "If this ...happens, then why would the Lioness try and make a tale fail?"

"The Silver Lioness?" the Huntsman frowns. "Did she say that?"

Tabitha stands up. "I have to go."

"Go where? We need to find Rose first."

"No. I don't need his help."

"A lady shouldn't travel alone."

"And I don't need your help!" Tabitha snaps, her last nerve frayed. "I grew up as a prince, and I didn't fracture. So why do you think I'm suddenly different just because you found out I'm female?"

"It's just what's proper."

"Proper ...?" Tabitha springs at the Huntsman, punching him squarely in the face. He catches himself with a step back, his hand going to his jaw.

"Woah, woah!" The Keeper scrambles up.

"You didn't even try and defend yourself." Tabitha scowls. "Last time I attacked you, you tried to kill me."

"It isn't proper to hit a lady."

"Would it be easier to hit me if my name was Thomas?" Tabitha demands. "Tales, why is it okay to hit a man and not a woman in the same circumstance? We all need to stop hitting each other!"

"You're the one who hit him," the Keeper interjects.

"Look, I know you're just upset right now, and that's fine," the Huntsman says. "I know girls can get emotional, and after what happened with Rose, I don't blame you."

"You ...you ..." Tabitha feels the anger rage inside her. She gabs a finger toward the pink scarf tied around the Huntsman's arm. "You'll never get your Lady of the Maze." She is too angry to see the extent to which the Huntsman tenses, his eyes growing narrow. Tabitha turns and walks away.

I just lost focus.

She is ashamed of how she became so distracted by girly thoughts of love. Tabitha knows she has the Law of the Prince Charming, and intends to play that role. She will complete a tale, any tale, and she will do it alone.