The Law of the Prince Charming

Chapter 19.2 (Final)

Tabitha turns, her green eyes full of confusion.

"Godmother? What are you doing here?" Wildrose asks. "And what do you mean 'happily-ever-after'?"

"I said that because the tale is now over," I say. I study their faces closely, the faces I know so well. Faces I had watched through struggles and triumphs. Faces that had looked at me with trust. I will never see that again.

"Tale?" Tabitha asks. "What tale?"

"The tale I created. You were part of its third iteration."

"You ..." I see the realization come to her face. And the anger. "You used us!" Her sword forms in her hand, already colored sienna, as she charges toward me.

"Tabitha, stand down."

The command halts Tabitha in her tracks. Her chest heaves and her muscles tight against the magical restraint. Her sword shifts back into a ring on her finger.

"I watched you with a mother's love," I had convinced myself of this, and I hope it is still true. "And yes, I used you."

Wildrose steps up beside Tabitha, laying a hand on her arm. She glances at him and some of the tension releases. Wildrose's face is calm, free from any emotion. "How long?"

"I brought you into the Guild and trained you with my tale in mind," I say. "And I brought you and Gabir together for the same reason." And I had loved them, all the while struggling with the guilt. So much guilt, but any regret is meaningless now.

"What is your tale?"

I walk toward Tabitha, focusing on the command to keep her still. I reach into her tunic for the Storybook. I can feel more magic there than I have ever felt before. It was far more than had been gathered from the first two iterations. "Scriven Tale: The Storyteller." I turn it to face them.

"Once upon a time there was a prince. Her name is Tabitha, but no one calls her that ..." Wildrose continues reading silently, his eyes trace down the page. "You wrote this story while watching us? But you know her thoughts ...how?"

"Demon eyes," Gabir says softly. "She asked me for remnants from my demons ...I didn't know."

I nod. "I didn't want the story to feel distant."

"And that's the locus?" Wildrose asks.

I nod as I close the Storybook. My fingers dig into the leather. I can see the betrayal lancing through his blue eyes, dark with rage. It rips at my heart, scarring me far worse than I had imagined. I smile to push back the tears in my eyes.

"Why would you do this?" Wildrose asks.

"The tale required it. You had to live the tale, make the choices on your own."

"No. I mean why do you want to be a faerie?"

My breath catches. By the tales, I want to tell him everything.

"Who wouldn't want to be a god?" the voice beside me sounds of silver bells. I turn to see Lilystar. Part of me relaxes on seeing her face. Her perfection is seated so comfortably on her as she looks at me. "Hello, my dear."

I lay my hand on her arm.

"What does immortality matter if you have to give up your soul?" Wildrose says. "You said you would never become a faerie ...you told me!"

Lilystar turns to Wildrose, her face radiant, like sun on polished bronze. "You deny it, as many of us did at first. We'll see what happens when you grow closer to the end of your life. When you have relied upon magic for so much and for so long. Maybe it's just a little bit at first, to stave off the appearance of aging, or perhaps to replace something you lost." She looks pointedly at Wildrose's arm. "Then just a little more to make your body more youthful, and soon you'll realize you need more magic to keep up. That's when the idea of creating a tale will become tempting compared to the idea that you will die and simply cease to be."

"Never." Wildrose clutches his fake arm, though I doubt he's aware of it.

Lilystar turns back and strokes my cheek gently. "You have succeeded, my love. It is time for you to take your place with us." Her eyes sparkled, for a moment, with an added depth.

"I have worked so hard for this day."

"You're doing this to make yourself good enough for her?" Tabitha growls. "You said love is all-encompassing. Love is accepting everything that a person is, including the flaws."

I smile up at Lilystar. "Why would I settle for that when I can remove the flaws?"

"But that's not you," Gabir says with quiet conviction. I glance over, surprised to hear him speak. "Why would you choose to be a villain?"

My heart shatters then. All the pain and guilt I have felt up until now is nothing in comparison. I am leaving them confused and betrayed and I am doing in on purpose. They need to hate me.

"Fae are not villains, we are above such petty roles as that. We simply are perfect." Lilystar says.

"My love." My voice is shaking. "Please, can we finish the ritual?"

"Yes." She reaches forward, using Laws I do not understand, and the world splits open in front of us. Inside is a vastness of the Laws that fall away into infinity, but at the same time I can feel it all around me. For a moment I hesitate, but it's too late to stop now. My new role is waiting. I take the Storybook and place it into the fabric of the world. The split melds back together and I feel a rush of pain. It takes me several moments to realize it's magic forcing its way into my body and with it comes a flood of Laws. Those Laws move and shift within me, and knowledge pours into my mind. It is more magnificent than I had ever imagined. I am still myself, just the self I always wanted to be. Now I can see. The Laws, all of them, pass in front of my eyes in all of their perfection.

The emotions that had been strangling me drift into the background, and begin fading into memory. I am no longer human. I grasp at the last, desperate slivers of heartbreak.

"And now," when I speak, I can hear the harsh tone, and I fix it. The next words are softer than a unicorn's coat. I recite the words I had planned. "Wildrose, Tabitha, Gabir, I command you to go back to the Origin."

The three characters vanish. And as the last emotions of my old self fade to memory, I wish for them to be as strong as I hope they are, because their story has only just begun.