It was easy to figure out the rest of the way. All she had to do was follow the yarn after she unwound it and tossed it on the ground. It went through increasingly dark, dense paths and thick undergrowth. She had to hack her way through with the knife in some places. The thorny bushes scratched her arms and legs and tore at her gown, but she kept going.
She stopped at a small clearing for lunch. The apple was juicy, the bread chewy and moist. There was a nice view of the woods around her, too. It helped settle her nerves for what lie ahead.
It was nearly dark before the yarn led her to a malevolent pile of stone and brick glowering between towering black evergreens. The fortress was even taller, dark and foreboding. Thorny vines wrapped around the massive tower, blocking most of it from her sight. The yarn rolled right over the drawbridge that crossed a murky river and through the entrance.
“Hello?” The halls were pitch-black and deserted. Her voice echoed on the rocky edifice. “Is anyone there? Stephen? I know you can’t talk, but please bang on the wall or something!”
As she followed the yarn into a wider hall, she sudden heard a massive growl. “Hello?” She gulped. “I hope that was my stomach!”
A long, lean lion padded out from one of the open doors. Growling, it sniffed at her, baring its sharp fangs as it tried to decide if this human was worth attacking. The long whiskers twitched as the great paws with their velvety black pads circled her, ready to pounce.
She slowly reached into the basket. “Here,” she whispered gently as she pulled out the sausage. “You look like Harron never feeds you. Do you want something to eat?” The poor thing was so frighteningly thin for such a large cat, you could see its ribcage through the soft gold fur. “You’re all skin and bones! That’s no way to treat an animal.”
It nosed the sausage for a good long while before it slowly gave it a lick. She held her breath as it sniffed around it, then nudged it with its nose, before it finally slurped it into its mouth. Cora tip-toed away while it chewed.
The entrance to the largest tower was blocked by a heavy door made of strong cherry wood and iron. It was a very old door, with rusty hinges that screeched when she opened them. “Owww!” she yelped. “That noise is awful! Harron needs to hire a housekeeper to take better care of this fortress.”
She poured a little oil on the hinges until they moved silently. “There. That’s better.” As she opened it all the way and walked through, she could have sworn she heard a faint “Thank you!” coming from the door’s direction.
The stone tower was ancient, musty, and dark. Its crumbling steps forbid all but the bravest - or the most foolhardy - from climbing them. Cara was frightened, but she was also determined. There was a man at the top of those stairs who didn’t deserve to be trapped in a monster’s body for the rest of his life.
The further she went, the harder it was to make her way through the vines that choked the passageway. They became knottier and thornier as they tore at her skirts, tried to wrap around her arms and legs, and tangled around each other to impede her progress. She managed to free her hands from them long enough to get to the knife in her basket. The harder she cut at the vines, the more they retreated. They hadn’t expected her to fight back.
As she got closer to the top, she heard a deep canine growl that reverberated on the thick stone. She thought it was her stomach…until she made it to the last two steps. The door at the top was guarded by a massive dog with gleaming fangs that dripped with saliva and paws the size of her head.
“Nice dog,” she squeaked. “Good dog!” Even as she reached out to pet him, he snapped wildly at her. She ducked away, glad that she still had a hand. “Here.” She held out the loaves of bread. “It’s not meat, but it’s all I have. Your cat friend downstairs ate the sausage.”
The dog’s large brown eyes flitted between her hand and the loaf of bread. It took a deep sniff, then another. It seemed like centuries before he slurped up the first loaf. “You liked that?” She tossed him the other. “Here. The cheese and apple were enough for me anyway.” She ducked past the heavy old door and into the tower while he focused on the second one.
The tower room was filled with nothing but dolls. Big and little, richly dressed in silks and satins and undressed, beautifully made of fine porcelain or crudely carved from wood or stitched from cotton. She’d never seen so many dolls in one place. They lined the curved walls of the tower, covered every single possible crevice.
“Hello, my bride.” Harron stepped out of the shadows. Given he was dressed from head to foot in start black, she could barely tell it was him. “Welcome to my playroom. What do you think of my little doll collection?”
Her growls nearly drowned out the ones from the dog and lion. “Where’s Stephen? What have you done with him? He’s in here,” she swept her arm around the doll room, “isn’t he?”
Harron smirked. “I made him more useful. He’s among the dolls, a doll himself. The way he should be. Now I can manipulate him however I choose, and he’ll never again defy me.”
Her fingers went around her knife. “You are a cold-hearted ass. He’s a man, not a toy for your amusement. Let him go.”
“Only if you play a little game with me.” His long, bony fingers ran over one of the pretty porcelain dolls. “If you can figure out which doll he is and free him, I’ll release both of you. Choose wrong, and you’ll become a doll, too.”
Cora glared at him. “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”
“Not really,” Harron tittered.
She searched every nook and cranny of that overstuffed room, carefully checked every doll, toy, and stuffed animal. None of those glassy faces even remotely resembled the Stephen she saw in her dream. Those porcelain faces held none of Stephen’s gentle strength or mournful kindness.
The princess was about to give up when a bit of wood and cloth wedged between two bookshelves caught her eye. Tugging at it finally revealed a lumpy cloth doll stuffed with sawdust. It had carved wooden mittens and boots for arms and legs and a stiff thatch of hair made from unraveled twine. The shift and trousers were made from scratchy burlap and his face was little more than four crudely painted black lines.
Her fingers ran over the wooden mittens. “The way your hands are turned out…you look as if you’re reaching for someone. Like you need someone. Someone who can work with you, be a partner. Someone who doesn’t care what you look like on the outside.”
She kissed the doll on its black line lips. As she did, a soft tingling sensation ran along the length of her body. Golden flecks danced before her eyes, and she coughed as smoke drifted past her nose. The gold grew brighter and brighter, enough that she closed her eyes and threw up her arm to protect them.
“Cora,” a familiar baritone rumbled, “you can open your eyes. It’s me.”
When she did open them, she found herself looking into the eyes of the man from the portrait - and her dream. It was him. She was sure of it. His high tanned cheekbones were streaked with dust and crossed with angry red scars, and his thick black curls had been cropped close to his head and now stuck out in short, choppy strands, but it was still him.
“Cora,” his long, dirty fingers gently traced across her cheek, “it’s me. It’s Stephen. You broke the curse.” He pulled her into a hug as tears left tracks in the dust on his cheeks. “You did it! I knew you were the one!”
“NO!” Harron roared as the vines crept in and wrapped around him. “Why did you choose him, out of all the dolls? All these beautiful dolls in silks and satins, and you picked that…that thing?”
“He’s not a thing!” Cora growled. “He’s a human, and he’s five times the man you are!”
Harron snorted. “That’s the voice of a little girl talking. I thought you were a woman. It would seem I was wrong.” Those little eyes became redder as the vines took over the room, growing up every shelf and cracking many of the dolls. “Power is what matters, you ignorant chit! He,” he waved his hand at Stephen, “never understood that, either. Power and how you use it. No one looks at you if you can’t hold power over them.”
Stephen was barely able to shake a finger at him without his knees buckling. “You’re a strong magician, Harron. Instead of hating people, you could use those powers of yours to help them. There are so many in the kingdom who could use your services, and not just the wealthy, either. You’re missing a great opportunity.”
His cousin let loose with an ear-shattering shriek, a parody of his usual silly giggles. “Opportunity, cousin? OPPORTUNITY? Opportunity for what? To be walked on? To be laughed at and ignored by those wealthy merchants? I offered my services to them before. Told them I could boost their profits and eliminate their competition. Do you know what they did?”
The vines tightened and curled as Cora pushed Harron away. “They turned me down! Threw me out, just like you. Just like everyone. Well, look who’s making their own opportunity! I’m the only one I care about now.” He sighed. “Cora, I’m going to have to destroy you. What a pity. I was hoping you’d be my bride.”
She glared at him. “You don’t want a wife. You want a doll, something else you can play with and show off to those wealthy patrons you manipulate. I’m not a doll. Stephen isn’t, either. We are living, breathing people with feelings and lives of their own.”
The vines nearly shoved out the windows and through the roof as Cora leaped back. “If you won’t marry me,” Harron snapped, “you’re expendable.” His eyes blazed as he raised his hand. A vine moved on its own and flung itself across the room, straight at Cora’s head.
Cora screamed and threw up the knife. She hacked at one vine, then flung the other back at Harron’s face. His screech when the thorns ripped across his face nearly shattered her eardrums.
“My eyes!” He shrieked. His hands couldn’t hide the long rivulets of scarlet blood that dripped from where his eyes had once been. “What have you done? My eyes…my power…can’t focus my power…can’t see…”
The vines wound around the room, engulfing the dolls on the shelves. Thorns sharp as swords cracked the wax and porcelain and wood faces. Silk and satin dresses and cloth bodies were shredded until little more than rags hung off the prickers. Cora didn’t hesitate a second. She grabbed Stephen and pushed him to the door. “Dog!” The sorcerer wailed to the creature at the door. “Stop them!”
“Why should I?” the dog barked. “That lady gave me fresh bread. You never even give me a bone to gnaw on. I’d much rather stay with someone who’s nicer.” With that, the dog turned around and followed Cora and Stephen down the stairs.
Cora tried to move as fast as she could, but Stephen was too worn out to run. He’d been abused, starved, and beaten so badly, he could barely move. He stumbled and wobbled, but she did finally get him through the door as the thorns broke through the roof of the tower.
That same door slammed tight when Harron managed to feel his way down the stairs, held fast by vines. “In all the years I’ve opened and closed for you,” the door squeaked, “you never once cleaned or repaired me, or anything in this building, but that lady had good oil for my hinges.”
The vines in the hall gave way as they stumbled past the lion. Stephen looked uneasy, but Cora gave him a scratch on his soft mane. The lion licked her hand and nosed in her basket.
“Sorry, friend. There’s nothing left in there.” She dug in her pocket and came up with a bit of dried beef. “Here. The maid I borrowed this dress from must have intended this for a snack.” She gave some of it to the lion and some of it to the dog. They slurped it up happily as Stephen starred in surprise.
“How did you tame these animals?” Stephen scratched his head. “Normally, they tear apart anyone who gets near them.”
Cora smiled. “Kindness works wonders, doesn’t it?” She jumped as the vines broke through the roof and continued climbing, crushing the solid rock walls. “Let’s get out of here, before vines get out of control and break up the entire building!”
They made it to the door before a shredded figure almost fell in front of them. You little bitch!” Harron’s once-beautiful face was now covered in red. Empty eye sockets bled scarlet; hideous scars from long thorns obscured his once-handsome face. “Look at what you’ve done to me!”
Cora screamed and ducked away as the lion leaped between her and Harron. “Get out of my way, you hairy bag of bones!” He tried to look into its eyes, but the sightless orbs wouldn’t focus. His power didn’t come. “You will obey me! You are nothing but a stupid animal! I’m the greatest magician in the universe, and you will do what I say!”
The lion growled and pushed back on his haunches, ready to pounce, as the sound of crunching wood and cracking porcelain reached their ears. Vines snaked rapidly out of every window and crevice, crushing everything in its path. They tore apart wood beams, smashed through stone, and engulfed the tower roof.
She didn’t stop to breathe, or even think. The second the tower came down, she shoved Stephen out the door and over the drawbridge, with the dog hard on their heels. The trio followed the yarn down the dirt trail, leaving the remains of the tower and its owner far behind them.
“Harron!” Florrie ran out of her cottage the second she saw them. “My boy! I’ve missed my boy so much! I knew she was the one who would break the curse. You can go home now, my boy. They’re waiting for both of you.”
Stephen leaned heavily into her arms. “Florrie, I can’t go back. They…my own men beat me, Florrie. Harron looked into their eyes, and they thought I was an impostor. They beat me, Florrie. Beat me with their lances until I couldn’t move. Harron ordered them to. Florrie, they didn’t know me. I was their king, and they didn’t know me!”
Cora frowned. “What curse? I don’t understand any of this.”
Florrie led Stephen to her bed in the cottage. She cradled him in her arms like a baby, then gently laid him under the covers. “Harron wanted the kingdom, pure and simple,” she explained as she pulled the covers up to his chin. “He made every citizen believe their ruler had always been a handsome, arrogant ass who chased wenches, stole their land, and raised their taxes.”
“I’d argued the point with him for years,” he croaked. “Harron thought I was too soft-hearted and kind to my people. He came to me several times over the years, claiming he could toughen them up and make them obey me.” Stephan narrowed his eyes. “I’ve seen too much violence on the battlefield. I don’t want it in my kingdom.”
“Harron took one of their lances and slashed my face with it. Especially this one right here.” His fingers, now long and lean, went to his scarred cheeks. “He said…he didn’t want anyone to recognize me and know the truth.” Those long fingers moved to his throat. “I told him I’d find a way out. My people would know me no matter what he did. He just laughed, and…he cursed me. Took my voice, so I couldn’t tell the truth, then sealed my mind in a monster’s body. If no one could see the human in the monster and kiss me before you and Harron married,I’d be trapped in that body forever.”
“But why me?” Cora gently squeezed his hand. “Why did you want me?”
He gave her a wan but very sweet smile. “Cora, I loved you from the moment your parents sent word about you. I wanted so badly to greet you and your parents, but Harron locked me in the kitchen closet when you arrived. He said he didn’t want me scaring you. One of the maids let me out. That’s why I was so late bringing you that sunflower. Your parents mentioned that they were your favorite flower.”
She blushed scarlet to the roots of her velvet brown hair. “Thank you, Stephen. That was a lovely flower, and you were so thoughtful to bring it. Harron never once brought me a flower, or anything else.”
“By day, I was in that hunchback body,” he rasped. “I couldn’t speak. My fingers were too stubby to grasp the quill, so I couldn’t write. I couldn’t fight anyone or correct them. The only time I could be myself was at night, in dreams.”
Florrie made a face. “Harron banished me, that little jerk. He didn’t want me giving anything away, either. The troops threw me out. I was able to use my magic to let Stephen appear as himself in your dreams. It was the only way he could get through to you.”
“The curse said I had to serve Harron, no matter what.” Stephen’s tired hazel eyes fluttered. “I could never disobey him or go against him in any way. I knew the curse was weakening when I was able to attack him.” He gently squeezed her hand. “You did that, I think. You were nice to me, even when I was hideous.”
“Because you were good to me. Harron never was.” Cora frowned. “The Harron I saw never measured up to the one everyone in Pennlyn gushed about, no matter how good-looking or personable he was.” She rubbed his cheek. “Even when he hypnotized me, or tried to, I knew something wasn’t right.”
Florrie grinned and took their entwined hands. “It’s over now, my children. The curse is broken. Go home. Live your lives. Harron will never bother you again. Even he couldn’t survive the destruction of the tower and that angry lion.”
Even as Florrie spoke, Cora could hear people in the distance calling their names. “But what about you?” she asked as Harron’s eyes drooped.
The older woman waved a hand dismissively. “Me? Oh honey, I’m fine here. Harron may have done me a service in banishing me. I like it here in the woods. It’s pretty and peaceful. Good place to retire.”
“Oh. Here.” Cora handed her the knife, yarn, and basket. “Thank you for letting me borrow these! They were more helpful than you know.”
Florrie pushed them back in her arms. “Keep them. You may need them again in the woods someday. Anyway, how else are you two going to come out and visit me?”
Cora hugged her. “Thank you, Florrie! For everything.”
“You’re welcome, dearie.” She nodded at the woods as the sounds of voices calling their names grew stronger. “Soon as Stephan’s finished his nap, you two can go home. Your people are looking for you.”
“Hello?” Charelton poked his head into the cottage. “Mistress?” His round eyes widened. “Your Highness! Cora! We found you! Half the kingdom is looking for you and Stephen. What happened? You just ran off two hours before the wedding! We had to call it off. There’s a lot of dignitaries who were extremely upset that they wasted all this time coming here for nothing!”
“Charleton?” Stephen struggled to sit up in bed. “Is that you?”
“Stephen!” Charelton rushed to him and gave him an enormous hug. “What happened to you? You just…vanished! Where have you been? You too, Lady Florrie.”
Florrie put up a finger. “Shh, Charelton. I’m hiding.”
Stephen coughed. “Charleton, I’m glad to see you too…” He frowned as Charleton let him go. “Charleton, do you know me?”
He raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “Of course, I do!” His fingers ran through what was left of Stephen’s ringlets. “Your Majesty, pardon me for asking, but…what did you do to your hair? It looks like someone took a hacksaw to it. We’ll have you see the castle barber right away.”
“Someone did.” Stephen leaned into his arms. “Charelton…you know me. Does everyone know me?” His voice dropped. “Do they know Harron? He took over the kingdom, Charelton!”
“He did?” Charelton’s eyes widened under his thick spectacles. “I don’t remember that! All we knew is that you were gone. Something happened…a lot of people aren’t happy. We’ve had complaints from many of the peasants that they were cheated.”
Stephen grinned as his guards stormed into the garden. “I’ll fix it, Charlie.” He put an arm around Cora as she kept him from collapsing. “No, we’ll fix it. We owe this woman our lives.”
“Princess Cora, you’re here too!” Charelton hugged her even harder. “I’m so glad. We were all so worried when you ran away!”
“Oof!” She chuckled. “I’ll be fine when you let me go. Let’s say I had to find Stephen. He was carried off by an evil sorcerer.”
Charleton gasped. “You must tell me all about it when we get home, Your Majesty!” He turned to Florrie. “Lady Florrie, are you coming too? We’ve missed your wise counsel and your wonderful liquor cabinet.”
She shook her head. “I’m fine right here, Charlie. You get those two back to the castle. Stephen looks like he’s sleeping standing up.”
Stephen waved her off. “Florrie, I’m fine,” he said as his knees buckled. Two of his guards rushed over and helped him to their carriage. Cora held his hand as she followed with the basket, while Charelton brought up the rear, fussing all the way.
Harron’s first order when they returned to the castle was to call off the wedding. “For one thing,” he croaked from under the thick quilt on his bed, “I’m not up to it. I also don’t want to force you into anything. If you’re not ready, we can wait.”
“I’m not.” She leaned over and kissed his nose. “I would rather you courted me and we got to know each other better first.”
That’s just what Stephen did. Once he had recovered sufficiently to leave his bed, they explored every part of his kingdom. They oohed and ahhed over book shops and antique stores, bringing home bags of wonderful old books and tools for the garden. Cora joined Stephen in the garden, strolling hand in hand or helping him and Moriyata weed and fertilize the flowers.
Stephen introduced Cora to many of the peasants. He lowered taxes, restored their land, and donated piles of food leftover from Harron’s parties to the poor and destitute. He gave her books and flowers, and she gave him notebooks and quills. They would sit in the garden, under a shady cherry tree with beautiful pink blooms, and talk about everything and nothing.
It was in the garden on a beautiful, warm day in late spring that Stephen finally got on his knee and asked Cora to be his bride. She happily agreed. She had come to love him deeply, seeing him as someone who was as quiet and shy as she herself was.
As Florrie said, Harron never bothered them, or anyone, ever again. The day after they returned to the castle, Cora gave the King’s Guards the yarn and sent them to the fortress to see if anything remained of the wicked sorcerer. They found a hungry lion, but not much else besides a few bones and bits of fine silk and satin. The lion was brought to the castle and restored to health before being sent back to its home in Africa.
The dog remained a loyal friend, rarely leaving Cora and Stephen’s sides. It was always said that he was the best watch dog in the castle. Nothing and no one got past him. He chased away any thief or villain who might try to attack his beloved humans.
Cora and Stephen did marry, in a small ceremony in the garden. Only Cora’s parents, Charelton, and Florrie were present along with the castle priest. They remained beloved by their people for the rest of their lives for their just, wise council and kindness towards even the smallest and poorest citizens of their kingdoms. Before she returned to the forest to enjoy her retirement, Florrie cast her own spells to keep dark magic away from the kingdom for good.
And they all lived happily ever after for the rest of their days.
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