Gabrielle - After Happy Ever After

“I agree with Red,” Leaf Fall announced. “The trolls have never been active in the Council. Why are they here?”

“Because, you hot-headed brats, they are rulers of a kingdom, too, as disgusting as that kingdom may be,” Cinderella snapped, but broke into coughing.

“Well, I never!” Riding Hood exclaimed.

“Bound to happen one of these days, girlie,” Burly said.

“Nicey nice shoes, though,” Blabberwort consoled her.

“Yeah,” Bluebell agreed.

“You trolls have been attacking my border villages for years and you expect me to talk civilly with you?” Riding Hood demanded, incredulous.

“Would you sit down?” Hermann, the dwarf representative, asked irritably. It aggravated him enough being around these people and having them all look down at him. He didn’t need them standing up.

“Oh, shut up, Shorty,” she snapped in reply.

“Shorty!” Hermann cried, standing up in his chair so he was level with her.

With that, the Council of the Nine Kingdoms broke out into arguing. By the time they all left in disgust at the others, every kingdom had threatened war with the others except for the Fourth, whose ruler was not present. And Queen Riding Hood had officially declared war on the trolls of the Third Kingdom, who seemed all too eager for it, considering how badly their last war had gone.

Ivy thought about telling Faolan about her dream of Snow White, but she decided against it. She didn’t know what she would do if he didn’t believe her. So instead she walked silently along next to him as they made quick progress along the path.

The sun was just now coming up, signaling a new day. Ivy wondered absently if the others were okay. Since she couldn’t really do anything to help them and the last thing she needed was more worries on her mind, she didn’t think about it too directly. But she did wonder if Danielle had had that dream about Snow White and if she knew what this place was.

Suddenly, Ivy felt the strong sensation of worry and the need to hurry. Ivy stopped in her tracks and gasped out loud at how sharp the sensation was. And the clear distinction that they weren’t her feelings. And that she knew exactly whose they were. Ivy closed her eyes until the sensation passed.

“Ivy?” Faolan asked.

Ivy opened her eyes and saw he was looking at her, worriedly.

“What happened?” he asked.

Ivy shook her head. “I’m not sure. All I know is that something bad happened to Danielle. She’s very worried and she…she feels she needs to hurry before it’s too late,” Ivy said, trying to make sense of it herself.

“How…? How can you know that?” Faolan asked with a frown.

“I don’t know,” Ivy confessed. “I was wondering if she was okay and all of a sudden I felt what she was feeling.”

Faolan didn’t look too pleased with that. Randal, too, had now noticed that they weren’t with him and had returned.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Not now, Randal,” Faolan said off-handedly. “Have you always had this…ability?”

“No,” Ivy said immediately, then felt the need to explain. “I…I used to be able to kind of know what people are thinking, but it might have just been because I know them so well. I don’t know. And, I used to have little dreams at night that would come true. It was weird. But never anything like this. Never anything this definite.”

“Are you a witch?” Randal asked.

“No!” Ivy said quickly.

“Shush up, Randal,” Faolan said with a little growl. “Are you okay now?”

Ivy nodded. But she really wasn’t that okay. How had she been able to do that? Could she do it again? “I’m gonna test it,” Ivy said suddenly.

Faolan shook his head. “I don’t think…” he began, but Ivy had already closed her eyes and started whatever it was she did.

Ivy concentrated on Faolan. That way, if it worked and she felt things again, he could tell her if it was right.

Ivy gasped again as a rush of feelings hit her with a distinct Faolan feel to them. She felt worry, but not as strong as Danielle’s. Confusion, a little, too. And… Ivy quickly broke off whatever connection there was. She opened her eyes quickly and looked down at her feet.

“Well?” Faolan asked.

“It works. I think,” she said quietly.

“Who…?” Faolan started to ask, then his eyes went wide. “You didn’t…”

Randal looked from his big brother to Ivy in confusion.

“Guys?” he asked.

“Randal, why don’t you scout ahead?” Faolan said with a little too much force to the request.

Randal backed up, then turned around and started off. Something was definitely up, but since neither of them was going to tell him…well, there wasn’t much he could do.

“You were…focusing…on me, weren’t you?” Faolan asked.

Ivy nodded.

“So you…you know?” Faolan asked.

“I don’t know anything,” Ivy said softly.

“You’re not the best liar, you know,” he commented.

Ivy looked at him. She blinked in surprise. “We…we should probably get moving,” she said slowly.

Faolan nodded. They both started walking.

“Wolves mate for life, you know. At least, here they do,” Faolan said.

Ivy didn’t respond.

“You know how I feel about you.”

“I…I don’t wanna talk about it,” Ivy said quickly. With that, she ran off to walk with Randal.

Faolan looked after her. “She is scared of you, Faolan. Just, maybe, not the way you thought,” he said out loud.

Danielle ran as long as she could, then slowed to a walk, then ran again. She talked out loud to herself even though she knew she should save her breath.

“At least…your life…isn’t boring…anymore, Danielle,” she said in between breaths. “Too bad…you…weren’t better…at gym. Should have…spent more time…staying…in shape…instead of…on the couch.”

Danielle slowed to a walk and took a drink from her waterskin. She thought she had come pretty far. It was still morning (it had to be), but it seemed like she had been going forever. She hoped she would reach that castle soon.

“That’s it!” Breena exclaimed. She had figured it out! She knew what she had to do to save Wolf and Virginia and their unborn child! She had to get Wolf to see Virginia’s true form. It was the only way.

Breena flitted over in front of Wolf’s face. He was fading fast and Virginia was going hysterical trying to help him. But her baby’s condition was worsening, too, and she would be next.

How to get Wolf to see her, that was the first question. Breena was glad of the short rest she had gotten while she tried to think of a plan. It would help now. Breena used the last of the fairy magic she had and zapped Wolf with it. Wolf jumped and yipped in surprise. He saw Breena hovering for a second in front of him. But she couldn’t fly anymore; she was too exhausted. She dropped out of the sky and to the ground. Wolf picked her up carefully.

“Breena?” he asked weakly.

“Yes,” she coughed.

“Wolf? Who are you talking to? Are you delusional? Who’s Breena?” Virginia asked in a too high voice.

“She’s…” Wolf started to explain.

“No, don’t tell her. She won’t understand,” Breena said quietly. She couldn’t muster the strength to talk any louder. Luckily, Wolf had excellent hearing. She hoped he would understand. “Listen, Wolf. I don’t have the strength to repeat myself. That is not Virginia. It’s just her dream-self. You have to ignore her. Look through her. You have to see the real Virginia and wake her up. If you don’t, you will all die,” Breena said.

“But…” Wolf protested.

Breena shook her head wearily. “It’s true. You’re the only hope for all of you, Wolf. Please, try,” Breena said and was still.

Wolf was worried about the little fairy who might very well be dead. Although he doubted it. A wolf could usually sense those things. And he didn’t sense death from her. Just exhaustion. She had probably fainted. But that wasn’t the important thing. He could sense that he was fading fast. And that his little baby boy was, too. And Virginia wasn’t all too well, either. If the fairy was right, he would have to ignore their suffering and his own. He didn’t know if he could do that. But he would try. Anything to save Virginia and his cub.

Wolf pushed himself up into a sitting position, ignoring the pain it caused. He looked around, using his senses to the fullest. He sniffed and realized that the fairy was right! There was no smell coming from the Virginia that was trying to get him to lay back down. But Virginia’s scent was close. He just had to reach her.

Wolf couldn’t get to his feet, so he got onto his hands and knees and crawled after the scent. He stopped when he felt a rock before him. Virginia, she was here. Wolf felt with his hands and found her face. He held a hand over her mouth. She was breathing, but it was very shallow. Too shallow. He had to wake her up!

Wolf placed both hands on either side of her face and leaned over and kissed her. Suddenly, the other Virginia disappeared and Wolf could see the true love of his life. She opened her eyes and they were wide with fright. Wolf pulled back quickly. Virginia sat up and threw her arms around him.

“Wolf,” she said with such distress in her voice that it made Wolf ache inside. “Oh, that was so horrible. Are you okay?”

Wolf nodded. “Yes, yes. Huff-puff, I’m fine now,” he assured her.

Virginia sighed, so glad to be awake from that dream. She couldn’t believe Wolf was really here. “I can’t believe you are really here,” she voiced her thought.

“Oh, I am. Don’t worry. I won’t ever leave you again,” Wolf said. His arms tightened around her and Virginia sighed again. She never ever wanted to be alone like that again.

Suddenly, they both heard clapping from all around the clearing. They looked around to see the fairies were the ones clapping.

Wolf growled. “Why are you doing that? You caused all this!” he said angrily.

Trinity flew away from the others and over to them. “We had to. It was foretold that one day, true love would be tested again and would win out in this clearing. And that when it did, the clearing would lose its power. Today’s that day!” Trinity said and took up the clapping herself.

Virginia didn’t care. Either way, those fairies had almost put her through the deaths of those closest to her. One of her greatest fears. No explanation would justify that to her. She just wanted the fairies to leave her and Wolf alone.

The fairies must have sensed their hostility because they all began leaving. Except for Trinity, who landed next to Breena, who was still lying, unmoving, on the ground.

“Breena, wake up,” Trinity whispered. Breena didn’t stir. Trinity sighed and zapped Breena with her own magic. Breena started awake, looking around furiously. Trinity, seeing she was okay, took her leave quickly. Breena glared after her. Prophecy or no, they shouldn’t have done that. At least, they wouldn’t do it anymore. Now that the spell was broken.

Ivy made it a point to walk with Randal the entire day. She didn’t want to be cold towards Faolan, so she talked with him and answered his questions as long as he didn’t comment on that morning. She pointedly ignored that entire episode. She knew that it was annoying Faolan that she was doing that, but he didn’t confront her on it.

“Do you read about wolves often?” Faolan asked, pointing to her backpack to indicate the book she had.

Ivy shrugged. “I read about a lot of things. I’ve read every book in the county library at home on horses, orca whales, dolphins. I’ve read a ton of fantasy books. I read a big, huge book of Grimm fairy tales. They aren’t as mushy as Disney makes them seem. They can be pretty gruesome,” Ivy commented.

“Who is this Disney?” Faolan asked.

“And what’s an orca whale?” Randal piped in.

Ivy brightened at the chance to explain about one of her very favorite animals. She might have a little trouble explaining Disney, though. “An orca is the biggest member of the dolphin family, but they call them whales anyway for some unknown reason. They are also called killer whales, but I don’t like that name. It makes the whales sound bad,” Ivy started explaining, picturing Shamu and Free Willy in her mind.

Breena landed on the rock next to Virginia and Wolf. Wolf turned to her.

“Thank you,” he said sincerely. “Huff-puff, I could have lost my Virginia and my little cub!”

Breena nodded her acceptance. “You're welcome. I would like to get us all out of here now, but I don’t have near enough strength. We are close to Wendell’s Castle, though. By this evening, I should be able to zap again and find Danielle,” she said before he could ask.

Wolf nodded, knowing there was nothing else to be done.

Leaf Fall had tried to organize another meeting for the Council of the Nine Kingdoms. After the last meeting, she had gone off by herself to think and to cool off. She had come to the decision that they had to meet again. The Nine Kingdoms could not break out in war! She could not let that happen!

But Leaf Fall’s attempts were thwarted. Her pleads through her messengers had been turned down with the added warning that any farther presence in their kingdoms would be considered acts of war. She couldn’t risk that either. So Leaf Fall sat in her castle, angry at the ungrateful, bratty, stupid rulers of the other kingdoms.

“I tried! I did try! No one can deny that I did! But did they listen? No. Of course not. They have to go and be hair-brained imbeciles!” she fumed, pacing in her throne room. “I can stand it no longer! Summon my general!”

A servant hurried to do as she commanded. Leaf Fall slumped in her throne. It had been specially crafted to accommodate her wings. “If it’s war they want, then it’s war they will get,” she said quietly.