Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 52915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52915 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 265(@200wpm)___ 212(@250wpm)___ 176(@300wpm)
“So good,” I groan.
“Could you bring my queen some coffee, Whiskerton,” Charming says. “I believe she enjoys a stronger brew.”
“How did you know that?”
“I feel I know many things about you.”
“Of course, your majesties. I have taken the liberty of bringing today’s paper.”
He hands Charming a thick bundle of newsprint. The headline on the front is jubilant.
“DRAGON SLAYED, EVER AFTER FREE!”
“The dragon was slain?” I frown. “When did that happen? When we were…” I feel myself blushing. “I mean, last night?”
“Yes,” Charming says. “Last night the dragon breathed his last.”
I find myself feeling quite sorry to hear that. “Poor dragon,” I muse. “He seemed nice enough to me. He saved my life. We should have done something to save him.”
“You were never going to be able to save the dragon,” Charming says. “That is just not how any of this works. Do not be sorry he is gone. Be glad. The entirety of the kingdom will rejoice, I can tell you that. There will be great celebrations at our wedding.”
“Oh? And when is that?”
“Tonight, when the full moon rises, we will be joined under the stars. It will be a wedding blessed by destiny, a union of joy. The entire kingdom has been invited. Every soul will do their very best to attend, of that I am absolutely certain.”
I feel a sudden flash of nervousness. I have yet to meet anybody, really. I know King Charming and his very nice mouse butler, but it seems as though there will be many more attendees, as this kingdom clearly has the population to support a printed newspaper.
“So there’s going to be a lot of people looking at me? A lot of strangers?”
“It will be perfect, and you will be perfect,” he assures me. “Once we are married, no evil will befall us. Our union assures Happily Ever After.”
I have some doubt, but he speaks with such conviction and passion that I begin to believe, or I at least set my own concerns very much to the side. I want to marry this king with all my heart. He has swept me off my feet, he has thoroughly charmed me, he has loved me more wholly than anyone in a very short span of time, and he intends to devote his life to me. What madness would it be to reject his offer?
“You will spend the day preparing,” he says. “As will I. There is much to be done. Let me bring your ladies-in-waiting and handmaidens.”
“I have ladies-in-waiting and handmaidens?”
“Of course. You will have an entire court at your disposal, princess. You will live as a royal and never want for anything ever again.”
“Sounds amazing,” I say, biting into the butteriest, loveliest toast I’ve tasted in a long time. Maybe this is all possible and real. Maybe sometimes a common girl does get to become a princess and live happily ever after. Why not? This is a universe of infinite possibilities. Why shouldn’t I be one of the lucky ones?
When we are done eating, Charming calls my ladies-in-waiting. They are not what I expected, but I try not to let my disappointment, or is it more confusion, show on my face.
Women enter, of all apparent ages and sizes, humanesque bodies much like Whiskerton, but with the heads of various creatures. There is a ginger cat lady who purrs her welcome, a sloth woman who remains clinging to the doorway for an inordinate amount of time, a wicked smart-looking fox lady, and an officious looking hen overseeing all of them. They are all wearing light gowns and silken gloves, like ladies wear in those period dramas everyone is super into.
They curtsey very low upon meeting me, the hen’s comb shaking with the intensity of her supplication.
“It is an honor to meet you, Princess Emmaline,” she says. “I am Lady Feathering. These are junior maids, Miss Fluffy, Ms Slow, and Miss Fox.”
The names fit them well enough that I will not be overly taxed by trying to remember them, and for that I am grateful.
“We will be in your dressing room when you are ready,” Lady Feathering says, curtseying again before sweeping the other ladies away with her arms.
“King Charming?” I am formal, because I am trying to be polite, because I am very confused as to what is happening here.
“Yes?”
“Why are all the people in this realm… why do they all have… why are they animal headed?”
“Oh,” he says. “Well, that’s more or less just sort of how it is.”
Hardly a deeply satisfying answer, but it’s as good an answer as I’ve gotten for many phenomena on Earth.
I do not have much time to think about the specifics and the oddities of my situation. As Charming predicted, I spend the day being prepared for my wedding. I am washed, plucked, preened, and dressed by my maids and ladies-in-waiting, all of whom are very nice to me and highly complimentary. This is all going very well indeed.