A Spell, Shattered
by Kip-chan

~

"A kiss that has no ropes, no strings
No obligations..."

~
Part One

1415

The kingdom was celebrating. After nine long months of waiting, the prince had finally been born. The king and queen were elated; their son would make a fine heir, they felt. To honor the prince, they held a great banquet, and everyone was invited.

Everyone, that is, except for one woman, and she made her appearance quickly enough.

Just as Queen Anne set the baby in the bassinet next to her chair, a cloud of smoke appeared above the table. A loud bang could be heard, and the smoke vanished. In its place, a blond woman hovered over the table.

"Having a party?" the woman taunted the queen. "Where's my invitation?"

"Kathy of Greenwood," the queen said, staring down the woman. "I thought I told you to stay the hell away from here."

Witch Kathy shrugged. "You can't make a witch do anything," she said.
"Didn't you know that? Magic will get around anything."

"Go home, witch," King Rolf said. "Guards! Seize her!"

The palace guards tried to trap Kathy, but she kept vanishing and reappearing. They tried for fifteen full minutes to catch her, but were forced to give up after that. The food was getting cold; people wanted to eat, and besides, Kathy wouldn't dare pull something in the middle of a crowded hall.

Or would she?

Just as everyone dug into their plates, Kathy made a grab for the baby. She caught the edge of the young prince's bassinet, dragged it out into an open area, and lifted the baby into her arms. "Hahaha!" she cackled. "I have him now! The prince is mine!"

Queen Anne screamed and fainted. Six of her ladies tried to revive her, but it was no use. King Rolf was pissed, needless to say.

"You idiot!" he shouted. "Now look what you've gone and done!"

"Oops," shrugged the witch. "Listen up, folks. I'm sick of being excluded from all of the kingdom's feasts and fairs. You're not going to get away with leaving me off the guest list!" She mumbled an incantation, causing a bright light to engulf the prince. "He's cursed, this child," Kathy continued. "On his fortieth birthday, he will prick his finger on a spinning wheel and die."

"A spinning wheel?" asked one of the royal ladies. "Why would a prince be anywhere near a spinning wheel?"

"I don't write these curses, I just put 'em on people!" Kathy sighed. "Anyway, he's going to die. Nothing you can do about it. I don't even think I could reverse this one if I wanted."

"Oh, shit," the king said before following his wife's example.

Something started beeping, and the witch checked her pocket watch. "Oh! Time for my next appointment. Something about a little girl and some ruby slippers. I'll just be going now." She set the prince down and snapped her fingers, causing a nearby broomstick to jump into her grasp. Mounting it, she flew away. As she flew, she called, "I hope you'll let me come to his wedding!"

Once she was gone, three fairies gathered around the bassinet. "He looks okay," the tallest one said, pushing his glasses farther up onto his nose. "Except for that little black star below his left ear, you'd never know he's been cursed."

"What can we do?" asked the second fairy. "I'm not that good with curses, I'm afraid."

"We can give him a few gifts," the first fairy said. "Remember? We were going to make sure he had a happy life through magic."

"I wanted to make sure he was well-endowed," pouted the third fairy. "Greg, can't we just watch the boy?"

"No, Tony," the first fairy, Greg, said. "It won't be enough to just watch him. We have to use our gifts."

"Fine," said the second fairy. "I hope he's not mad at us for not giving him better gifts."

"I would think he'd rather be dead than have a big-" began Tony, but Greg clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Not in front of the baby!" Greg admonished his colleague. "Save that for later." Greg winked, and Tony turned bright red.

"Okay, babe," Tony said, pulling out his wand and rolling up his sleeves. "Well! Who's first?"

"You are," said Greg. "Unless Richard would like to be?"

"No, no," the second fairy, Richard, said. "You go right ahead."

"Okay!" Tony chirped. "My gift to the prince is grace."

"Grace? What for?" asked Greg.

"So he won't trip and fall onto the spinning wheel, of course," Tony smiled. "Richard?"

"My gift to the prince is song," said Richard. "This way, if the witch catches him and makes him sing, he won't be completely lost."

"You two are hopeless," Greg said, slapping the backs of the other fairies' heads. "My gift is kind of complicated. The prince will prick his finger on the spinning wheel, there's nothing we can do to change that, but he'll only go into a coma."

"How does that help him?" wailed Tony. "He'll be a vegetable for the rest of his life!"

"Let me finish, will you?" asked Greg. "He won't age, he won't die, time will just stop for him. Because we don't want anyone else around the palace getting their knickers in a twist, the entire place will just freeze. The only thing that will break the spell is a kiss from his true love."

"Oooh!" said Richard. "What about the castle itself?"

"We'll add a few vines and things, just to make sure that it's really his true love trying to wake him up," said Greg. "Only his true love would try to break through all that."

"Um, Greg? You do know that they don't let women become knights in this country, right?" asked Tony.

Greg looked a bit embarrassed, but shrugged it up. "Eh, he can be gay," he said. "You and I are, remember?"

"Oh, yeah," said Richard.

"Not you," Tony snapped, and it was the piano player's turn to blush.

"So! I think that's about it," said Greg. "Any other details you'd like to add?"

"Not a one," Tony said. "Well done, Greg."

Just as the fairies were about to leave, the king and queen woke up. "Wait!" they called. "Don't leave us yet!"

"Well, what else can we do?" asked Tony. "We've already done the bestowing of the gifts bit, and we can't do much about the availability of spinning wheels in this kingdom..."

"You could raise him," suggested the queen. "Maybe if the witch didn't know where to look, she would just give up on trying to hurt our baby boy."

"Yes!" said the king. "Wonderful idea! Take him away and don't tell us where you took him. Raise him well, please; we don't want just anyone ruling our kingdom."

"Are you sure?" asked Greg. "I know this witch. She doesn't give up."

"But she might!" pressed the king. "Please!"

The three fairies shook their heads. "If it's really what you want..." Richard said.

"It is," the queen said.

"Then it is done," Tony said. "We will take him. You will not be allowed to see him until his fortieth birthday, at which time we will bring him back to the palace."

"I'll be old then," the queen said, tears coming to her eyes. "I might even be dead." Still, she kept the tears from falling. "I want him to live, though. Our prince is yours."

Greg picked up the baby and looked him over. "Nice eyes," he said. "Blue, but most babies' eyes are. That'll probably change; they'll be brown, with just a hint of green. Blond hair, by the looks of it. He'll probably be as gentle as his mother but as good a ruler as his father."

"That's all I wanted to know," the king said. "Now, you'd best leave. I
don't want to change my mind and have to run after you three screaming."

The fairies smiled, each smile like that of the Cheshire Cat. "It is done," repeated Tony, and with that, they disappeared.

That night, a proclamation went out: all of the spinning wheels in the kingdom were to be burned. Women would just have to spin the old way, by drop and spindle. Also, the witch Kathy of Greenwood went to the top of the Twenty-Two Most Wanted list.

Rolf and Anne were, once more, without a son. That was all right with them. They knew it was only temporary. This way, their son would have a chance to ascend to the throne and keep it.

"It's for the best, dear," the king comforted his wife. "I hope."

Together, they watched the bonfires that night, all of which were made of spinning wheels.



Part Two

1455

"Colin!"

A bald man dressed in green lingered on the edge of the forest. He made his home, with three other men, in a peaceful little cottage by a peaceful little stream. He had no idea that a world outside of their forest existed.

"Colin!"

His friend was calling him, the one with the glasses. "I'll be right there, Greg!" he shouted. "Just give me a minute." Colin had been hunting around for flowers for the dinner table. It was Sunday, and every Sunday they had a feast. His friends did the cooking, but it was his job to make sure everything looked all right.

Wandering further into the forest, he found a patch of wildflowers growing around a few trees. "Perfect!" he cried. He knelt and began to gather the brightly colored flowers, singing a little song to himself as he did. He was so wrapped up in his song and his flowers that he didn't see the other man until he turned around.

"Oh my God!" Colin shrieked, tossing his flowers every which way. "Who are you?"

"Prince Ryan," said the man, bowing. "I was riding through here and I heard your voice. Tell me, are you from around here? You do have...a lovely voice."

"Thank you," said Colin. "Um, I live right over there." He pointed to the cottage. "I live with three other people. They're kind of weird, but mostly harmless. Do you want to meet them?"

"Sure," shrugged the prince. *Nothing to lose,* he reasoned. "Want a ride?" He motioned to his horse.

"Why not?" wondered Colin. He let Ryan help him up, and waited for the prince to swing onto the horse as well. "The horse can't come in, though. Greg won't like that; he just polished the floor yesterday. Getting him to do it was like pulling teeth."

In literally no time at all, they were at the front porch of the cottage. Disembarking from the horse, Ryan tied it to a tree nearby. He and Colin went inside, where Colin was greeted with hugs and much laughter by his roommates. These were, however, no ordinary roommates. Ryan's eyes were as round as saucers as it dawned on him.

"You're the fairies!" Ryan said, pointing at Greg, Tony, and Richard.

"Who are you calling a fairy?" squawked Richard. "Try being politically correct, won't you?"

"Shut up, Richard," hissed Tony. "That's the prince!"

"But I thought -he- was the prince," Richard argued, pointing at Colin, who merely shook his head and went into the kitchen.

"What prince?" asked Ryan, and all three fairies turned to look at Ryan.

"Oh, shit," said Greg. "Cat's out of the bag now, I guess. How much do you know about the history of this country?"

"I know there was a prince born in 1415 that was supposed to inherit the throne," Ryan said. "He was exiled the same day, or so the king and queen said."

"Well, you've found him," said Greg. "And now that you have, I suppose we should tell Colin who he really is."

"Do it soon, okay?" requested Ryan. "Apparently we're engaged, and he's going to be married on his fortieth birthday."

Greg looked panicky. "When exactly is that?"

"Just a minute," said Ryan. Pulling out his datebook, he flipped through it until he found the appropriate page. "Ah! Here we go. It's tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" This time all three fairies panicked.

"I'm afraid so," said Ryan. "Well?"

"Go get him, Richard," sighed Greg. "Tony, be a love and go pack Colin's bags." The leader of the fairies sank to the floor, his head in his hands. "Damn it! Why didn't those two idiots warn us?"

Ryan knelt beside Greg. "You're going to miss him, aren't you," he guessed. "Perfectly natural."

"Not only that," Greg sniffed, "but now we have to find a new housekeeper!"

Colin and Richard came out into the main room of the cottage. "You wanted to see me?" Colin asked.

Greg stood up. "Colin, I've got something to tell you."

"You're leaving Uncle Tony?" asked Colin. "Oh, no! I knew it." His lower lip began to tremble, but Greg shook his head.

"No, no, no!" said Greg. "Wherever did you get that idea?"

Richard turned red and ran out of the room.

"So what's the big news?" asked Colin.

"I don't know quite how to put this," began Greg. "It seems your 40th birthday is coming up. On that day, you must return to your real parents. You see, you were born a prince. A witch came to your christening and cursed you, so we took you out here to keep you safe. So far, it's worked, but we don't know how we'll be able to protect you at the castle. We don't have any spells set up, and one day is definitely not enough time to set them up."

"What was the curse?" asked Colin. "Am I doomed to die alone with no money? Will I turn into a pumpkin when the clock strikes twelve? Or will some big bad wolf come and huff, puff, and blow my castle away?"

"Nothing that ordinary," Greg said. "You're going to prick your finger on a spinning wheel, fall into a coma, and not be awakened until your true love happens along and kisses you."

Colin looked down at Ryan, who was still kneeling. "I take it that's where you come in."

Ryan nodded. "I'm the closest thing to true love you've got right now," he said. "You just met me a minute ago, but we've been engaged for thirty years."

"Damn," said Colin. "They start young in this kingdom, don't they?"

Ryan smiled. "I see why these three fairies love you so much," he said. "If it helps, I'll do everything I can to keep you away from any spinning wheels. I can't be there all the time, but I can try."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Colin. "I can't be late for my own wedding, can I?"

TBC.

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