I don't think this is what you wanted, but I hope you like it anyway. Awesome prompt. Oh and warning: DARK with corruption of fairytales.
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Once upon a time - for all such stories should begin with once upon a time - in a land far, far away – because these things never happen nearby, there were three young women. It wasn’t the idyllic land that children hear about in bedtime stories. There were no noble Princes, no benevolent Kings, and these girls weren’t princesses. It’s amazing how time can alter things, mix them up and switch them around until all that gets through is just the barest of truths.
Of course, some aspects were true.
In a manor just outside a city a young servant girl, tired of her lifelong servitude, rebelled and conned a fairy into turning her mistress and her daughters into pumpkins.
In a castle, a young girl, the ward of the King, found herself leaving a banquet woozily after only one cup of wine. When she woke up in the morning, she was in the Prince’s bedroom. It took them five days to find his body.
A young enchantress, who left home seeking power and wealth, tried to steal the spell books of an old witch and ended up trapped in a tower with no door, plotting her revenge. It took her three years to escape, strangling the witch with her own hair as she came to deliver her meal. When she found the spell books, it wasn’t difficult to leave.
“I hope you’ve got the money to pay for that,” the bartender said, leering over the counter. The woman’s face didn’t even twitch as she pushed a handful of coins across the counter at him. Without looking back she carried the three cupfuls of ale over to the back table and set them down.
There was only one person sitting at the table, though: a woman with short cropped blonde hair, fiddling with a deck of cards like a pro, shuffling, cutting and spinning them out between her fingers.
“He notice that you paid with his own money?” she asked, not looking up from where a card was dancing across her fingers.
“A meathead like him? Hardly.” She scoffed, sliding into a seat she hoped was only sticky with spilled ale. “Where’s Red?”
“You know she hates it when you call her that,” the other girl said, looking up.
“And I hate it when you fiddle with those things while talking to me… Doesn’t stop you from doing it.”
“As the only person here who can earn money in a semi-legal fashion, I pretty much get to do what I want.”
“Tricking drunken men out of their money with fixed card games hardly counts as legal.”
“I said semi-legal,” the other woman protested, straightening her cards in one hand as she took a sip of her drink.
“Whatever, Ella,” the first woman said, flipping her braided hair back over her shoulder. “If I knew what her real name was then maybe I’d use that.”
“She doesn’t have to tell us if she doesn’t want to…” Ella said, setting her drink down again and automatically fiddling with her card deck again. “You know what it’s like to have people after you…” There was a pause, and both of them followed cards as they passed from one hand to another. After a moment, a delighted laugh could be heard from the other side of the room, and they both turned.
The girl with the red hair was leaning over a table towards a large, red-faced man. His eyes were glued to the cleavage exposed by the top of her dress, and he was leering at her unpleasantly.
“I thought I told her that we weren’t clearing up another of her messes…”
“He grabbed one of the barmaids,” Ella commented, letting out a sigh. You know what she’s like.”
“It takes a lot of effort to hate men that much…”
“With a bit of luck she’ll at least leave this one in one piece.”
There was a creak as the door of the tavern swung open and their eyes darted over. It took less than a second for them to take in the uniform of the captain of the guard, another second to stand up.
“Grab Red,” The dark haired woman commanded, “I think we’ve outstayed our welcome.”
“I heard of a job down South, could earn us some real money,” Ella offered as she moved past, pocketing her cards.
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timeasmymeasure
No one Ever Lives Happily Ever After
Date: 2009-05-21 11:37 am (UTC)-
Once upon a time - for all such stories should begin with once upon a time - in a land far, far away – because these things never happen nearby, there were three young women. It wasn’t the idyllic land that children hear about in bedtime stories. There were no noble Princes, no benevolent Kings, and these girls weren’t princesses. It’s amazing how time can alter things, mix them up and switch them around until all that gets through is just the barest of truths.
Of course, some aspects were true.
In a manor just outside a city a young servant girl, tired of her lifelong servitude, rebelled and conned a fairy into turning her mistress and her daughters into pumpkins.
In a castle, a young girl, the ward of the King, found herself leaving a banquet woozily after only one cup of wine. When she woke up in the morning, she was in the Prince’s bedroom. It took them five days to find his body.
A young enchantress, who left home seeking power and wealth, tried to steal the spell books of an old witch and ended up trapped in a tower with no door, plotting her revenge. It took her three years to escape, strangling the witch with her own hair as she came to deliver her meal. When she found the spell books, it wasn’t difficult to leave.
“I hope you’ve got the money to pay for that,” the bartender said, leering over the counter. The woman’s face didn’t even twitch as she pushed a handful of coins across the counter at him. Without looking back she carried the three cupfuls of ale over to the back table and set them down.
There was only one person sitting at the table, though: a woman with short cropped blonde hair, fiddling with a deck of cards like a pro, shuffling, cutting and spinning them out between her fingers.
“He notice that you paid with his own money?” she asked, not looking up from where a card was dancing across her fingers.
“A meathead like him? Hardly.” She scoffed, sliding into a seat she hoped was only sticky with spilled ale. “Where’s Red?”
“You know she hates it when you call her that,” the other girl said, looking up.
“And I hate it when you fiddle with those things while talking to me… Doesn’t stop you from doing it.”
“As the only person here who can earn money in a semi-legal fashion, I pretty much get to do what I want.”
“Tricking drunken men out of their money with fixed card games hardly counts as legal.”
“I said semi-legal,” the other woman protested, straightening her cards in one hand as she took a sip of her drink.
“Whatever, Ella,” the first woman said, flipping her braided hair back over her shoulder. “If I knew what her real name was then maybe I’d use that.”
“She doesn’t have to tell us if she doesn’t want to…” Ella said, setting her drink down again and automatically fiddling with her card deck again. “You know what it’s like to have people after you…” There was a pause, and both of them followed cards as they passed from one hand to another. After a moment, a delighted laugh could be heard from the other side of the room, and they both turned.
The girl with the red hair was leaning over a table towards a large, red-faced man. His eyes were glued to the cleavage exposed by the top of her dress, and he was leering at her unpleasantly.
“I thought I told her that we weren’t clearing up another of her messes…”
“He grabbed one of the barmaids,” Ella commented, letting out a sigh. You know what she’s like.”
“It takes a lot of effort to hate men that much…”
“With a bit of luck she’ll at least leave this one in one piece.”
There was a creak as the door of the tavern swung open and their eyes darted over. It took less than a second for them to take in the uniform of the captain of the guard, another second to stand up.
“Grab Red,” The dark haired woman commanded, “I think we’ve outstayed our welcome.”
“I heard of a job down South, could earn us some real money,” Ella offered as she moved past, pocketing her cards.
“Good… About time we had something useful to do.”