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The Queen paced back and forth in her chambers, while Brighton stood in the doorway.
She faces him when she came to a decision. "I want him killed."
Brighton's eyes widened. "Killed? Your Majesty, isn't that a bit rash?"
"He is...a threat to everything. Take him to the woods and feed him to the beast. And throw in the little maid as well. With any luck it'll devour her first and he'll have to watch." The Queen spat viciously.
"Is this about the costumes?" Brighton asked.
The Queen turned to face him and shot him a venomous glare. Brighton knew the best thing for him to do is to shut up and do what she says.
...
"Keep moving." Brighton ordered.
He stood behind Winter and (Y/n), leading them through the woods with their hands tied behind their backs.
"Just let us go, I swear you'll never see us again." Winter pleaded.
They were still wearing their costumes, except they didn't have their head pieces or wings on anymore.
"You think I want to be here? You brought this on yourselves. You never should have upstaged the Queen and now we're both paying the price." Brighton snapped.
The three of them kept walking through the woods, until Brighton told them to stop.
(Y/n) looked over her shoulder at him. "Brighton, please..." she begged with teary eyes.
"Turn around." He said.
"At least let (Y/n) go. It was all my idea, please don't kill her. You can take my life if you want, but please don't hurt her." Winter negotiated.
"I can't! The Queen was very specific, she wants you both dead." Brighton insisted. "Now turn around."
They did as he said, and some rustling could be heard amongst the trees. A flash of something gray flew over the night sky.
"I don't want to die like my father did." Winter confessed.
At those words, Brighton grabbed Winter's arm. "Your father was a good man. He was always very kind to me. In return, I shall give you one small piece of advice." He took out a small dagger and began cutting their ropes. "Run. Run as fast as you can and as far away from here as possible."
He freed their hands, and Winter instantly pulled (Y/n) into his arms.
"Just run." Brighton insisted.
More branches snapped in the trees.
"Like this..." Brighton turned and started running away. "Run!"
Winter took (Y/n)'s hand and they both ran deeper into the forest. The beast howled behind them, and they ran even faster, dodging and twisting through trees.
As they looked to glance behind them, they weren't looking where they were going, and ran into a branch, hitting their heads on it.
Winter and (Y/n) stumbled and fell to the ground, the last thing the saw before they lost consciousness was a sign.
'No entry over 4 feet.'
...
Brighton came back to the castle, muttering to himself. "What do I do? Gotta figure someway out. She'll never believe me."
"Brighton!" The Queen called from somewhere in the palace. "Brighton!!!"
"Coming! Coming!" Brighton yelled.
...
Brighton entered the Queen's chambers and she exited her bathroom, dressed in her nightgown.
"Is it done?" She whispered.
"Oh! Just as you instructed." He placed a small bag on the table and opened it to reveal a bunch of body parts. "That's some of there livers, kidneys, spleens...and a few other assorted parts." He said, pulling out a string of sausages, before quickly stuffing them back in the bag.
Luckily, the Queen didn't see them as she was busy walking over to a small table in her room.
"I'll admit...I'm impressed. You're not as pathetic and wimpy as I have always believed." The Queen said.
Brighton smiled. "That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"Wow!...I feel amazing! Positively lightheaded. Finally, no more Winter to irritate or annoy me, no more watching him chase after that stupid maid like a lost puppy, finally, they're both just...gone." The Queen breathed.
Brighton shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just happy to see you in such a good mood."
The Queen rushed forward and took Brighton's hands. "Yes! We must spread the news of the tragedy, right? The usual stuff. You know, 'struck down in his youth,' 'terrible loss.' Well fly the flags half mast."
"Flags throughout the kingdom, or just within the palace grounds." Brighton asked.
The Queen thought about it for a moment, and dismissed the idea. "Oh, it's too much trouble. Forget the flags."
Brighton bowed and grabbed the bag and the dagger on his way out.
The Queen fell back on her bed happily. "Glory!"
...
Winter's brows furrowed as he slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he noticed when he regained his senses, was that there was a very heavy weight on his chest. He looked down and saw (Y/n) was half laying on him with her arm around his middle, and her head resting on his shoulder.
He then proceeded to look around the place where he had woken up. They were inside a small hut that was built underneath a giant tree stump. It was small, but cozy, and has a small staircase leading up to a loft.
Although Winter thought the hut looked nice, he couldn't remember getting here. The last thing he remembered was running through the forest with (Y/n).
Speaking of (Y/n), she has finally started to stir, and blinked her (e/c) eyes open at him. Winter sighed in relief seeing she was alright.
"They're awake." Someone said.
Winter and (Y/n)'s instantly looked around and noticed several dwarves staring at them, Winter instinctively wrapped an arm around (Y/n) and protectively pulled her closer to him.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"We ask the questions here." The leader told them. "Who are you?"
"My name is Winter."
"And I'm (Y/n)."
Hearing Winter's name, all the dwarves gasped in unison.
"Winter?"
"That's not possible."
"Winter's a defective troll."
"Yeah, they keep him locked up in a tower."
"Maybe this is a different Winter."
"Huh?"
"It's not such an uncommon name."
"If you're Winter, then who's your father?" One of them asked.
"The King." Winter answered.
"He is Winter, see?"
"I say never trust anyone over 4 feet."
"Yeah. Let's drag them back to the woods and pretend like we didn't see nothing!" One of them suggested.
"No, you fools! He's a Prince." The leader snapped.
"That's means he's valuable."
"We should hold him for ransom."
"He's worth gold."
"Lots of gold."
"What about the girl?"
"Is she his princess?"
(Y/n) shook her head. "I'm-I'm not a princess. I...I work at the palace as a maid."
"A maid? We won't get any money for that." One of them scoffed.
"I say we throw her back into the woods."
"Maybe we should get to know her first." One of them sighed.
Winter sat up, still holding onto (Y/n) tightly. "You are not throwing her out into the woods. Besides, you won't get any gold for me. They want us dead. The Queen sent us out here to be killed by the beast."
The dwarves all gasped and murmured amongst themselves.
"Why would the Queen want you dead?" The bald one interrogated.
"Because she's a bitch." (Y/n) muttered.
They all murmured in agreement at her comment.
"She's evil."
"She's a witch."
"Remember that time?"
The bald one whacked his hand on one of the beds to get the others attention.
"Sorry. But we have an appointment to keep. He said, sliding down a pole from the loft to the bottom floor. "So it's time for the Prince to take his girl and shuffle along."
"Wait, please don't kick us out. We have nowhere else to go." (Y/n) pleaded.
"Look, if the Queen finds you here, she'll kill us too."
"All we're asking is to spend one night. Please." Winter requested.
"Huddle!" The leader yelled.
All the dwarves got in a circle to discussed it.
"Alright guys, let me hear it."
All the other dwarves started talking all at once, their thoughts overlapping with one another.
The leader jabbed his staff on the ground twice, and they all fell silent.
"All in favor of letting them stay, say 'aye'."
Six of them put their hands in and said 'aye.'
"Opposed."
"Nay." The bald one said.
The dwarves all groaned and turned to (Y/n) and Winter.
"Tough luck you two. All votes need to be unanimous."
The dwarves all glanced at the one who opposed at he sat at a table eating. He noticed all the others staring at him as well and (Y/n) and Winter and sighed.
"One night." He relented.
"Thank you." Winter said.
All seven dwarves started grabbing their stuff, getting ready to head out.
"Wait, we don't even know your names." (Y/n) reminded them.
"I'm Butcher." The bald one grumbled.
"Will Grimm." The leader with the staff introduced.
"Half Pint." The next one said, sending (Y/n) a wink.
One wearing a pirate hat with a small mustache and goatee stepped forward and bowed. "Napoleon."
"Grub." Another waved, carrying a piece of food.
"Chuck." One with a top hat said.
"But you can call him chuckles." Grub told them.
The final guy stepped forward, wearing a wolf skin over his body. "And I'm Wolf." He greeted, letting out a loud howl.
...
The dwarves all stepped out of their hut and began prepping to go rob some more people.
"I don't think she should be staying with a boy by herself. I think I should stay with her, she might be too uncomfortable." Half-Pint ranted.
The dwarves ignored their comments and started putting on their stilts.
"Boys...I like them." Napoleon stated.
"Me too." Will Grimm agreed.
"The girl will bring a feminine touch." Napoleon said.
"If you ask me, they're just gonna bring the Queen's guard." Butcher voiced.
"You think (Y/n) has a boyfriend?" Half-Pint asked.
"Yeah. The Prince." Butcher told him.
The dwarves extended their accordion-like stilts and ran off into the forest, looking for their next victims to rob.
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