Courting the Beast

by
R. J. Ross


***

Published by:
R. J. Ross at Smashwords

Courting the Beast
Copyright © 2010 by R. J. Ross


* * *

Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously.  Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.


***


Courting the Beast


***

Chapter One


Once upon a time in a land far away, there lived a princess.  She was not a beautiful princess.  She was not a kind princess, nor a vague, yet still adorable princess.  In fact, she was none of the things one expected from a princess at all.  This princess was a tomboy.  When she turned twelve she had the royal guard set up basketball tournaments in the royal ballroom.  When she turned thirteen she rode as jockey in the royal races, and won.  And when she was fourteen she adopted a baby dragon from the “adopt-a-dragon” foundation and took up practicing mock knight and dragon battles with her new friend.
It quite befuddled her fairy godmother, to say the least.  It drove the poor dear to drink, actually, and this is where the story begins.

***

The GodLady bar and grill, hotspot for fairy godmothers everywhere, was crowded as usual, with a mournful fairy singing about where the cowboys had gone at the karaoke machine in the corner.  But it was a smaller crowd that had the most attention.  One of their own needed some sympathy.
“I don’t…” Marilynn said with a bit of a slur as she picked her “Sparkling Magician” up, peering into the contents of the purple drink for a long moment.  “I j’st don’t get it… How come I’m the only—the only one ta’ get stuck with a boy fer a girl?”  She looked around the table at the others in her profession, mourning her fate.  “An’ d’ya know how much of a pain it is ta get her a curse?  Prick her finger on a spindle, they say, she don’t even know how ta’ sew!  Live with dwarves in the woods, they say, she’d get tossed out before the day is over, she’s a slob!”
“You poor dear,” the fairies said as they patted Marilynn on the back.
“An’ ya’ can’t even send her off ta’ be captured by a dragon.  Ya’ know why?  Because she’s been adopted into the dragon clan, and every single dad-blasted prince in the area knows it already!”  Marilynn took a large gulp and let out a loud burp before going on.  “She’s gonna be seventeen in a month and not once has she been sick a day in her life!  She can lift her own weight, box like a champ, and I once caught her,” she moaned, horrified by the very idea, “watching football.”
“For the boys?” the fairy next to her asked hopefully.
“For the play tactics,” Marilynn wailed.  “She had the entire Royal Guard out in the back field the next day, playing football!  And not even tag!  The tackle sort!”  She sniffled and blew her nose on an overly lacy handkerchief, so loudly that it sounded like a goose’s call.  “I j’st… I j’st don’t know what to do about it anymore… I give up.  She’s a lost cause, and my name will be forever blem—ble—ruined!  I’ll be known as the not-so-fairy fairy godmother!”
“Well you’ve tried all of the usual routines, haven’t you?” the pretty little blonde fairy across from her asked.  Marilynn looked up at her through bloodshot eyes, not happy at all by the fact that she was at least four hundred years older than this little twerp.  She was also a good two hundred pounds heavier, as well.  She used to have a figure like that—
“I’ve been doing this job forever, you know,” Marilynn said, irritably.  “Of course I’ve tried all the usual routines!”
“Even the one with the three dresses and the walnut?”
“D’ya know how hard it us to get her in a skirt?  Making her dress in three different dresses would take more magic than all of us combined!  And her mother’s still alive.”
“Oh.”
“And isn’t nearly pretty enough for that curse.”
“Oh… right.”
“How about—“
“Excuse me.”  All of the fairies glanced up blankly as a distinguished looking man stopped at their table.  “I couldn’t help but overhear about your little… problem.  And I think I might just have a solution.”
“Take a seat,” Marilynn said, waving her drink through the air.  “It’s a free country, after all.  Well, it’s not, but right now I don’t rightly care.”
“My name is Winstead.  I’m a fairy godfather.  And I think we can help each other out a lot.”

***

Jaylee Andronia Rose Opal Jamison, Princess of the Royal Kingdom in the Hills, daughter of Matthison Michael Andrew Thomas Jamison the fifth, was making her way through the hills to Dragon Territory with a whistle on her lips.  She was covered in streaks of mud, her pants were torn at the knees and a faint trace of blood was still trickling from her wound.  Her boots were barely visible through the coating of dirt and grime.  All in all, Jay was having a good day.  “Hey, Bizby!!  Bizby, I know you’re here somewhere, it’s at least ten degrees warmer in these woods!” she shouted, looking around for the roly-poly dragon she had “adopted.”
She heard a soft snort from the right and started to turn and give chase.  “Bizby, my royal ass hurts!  I fell on it at least three times today, so don’t make me chase you down!” she bellowed.
“Ahem.”  Jay jerked, flushing slightly as she realized that someone was in the woods with her.  She turned, raising an eyebrow at the sight of a golden haired prince.  He wore old fashioned clothing of the finest silk, and had an almost glowing crown perched on his perfectly coifed hair.  “Forgive me this intrusion,” the prince said as he moved forward to take her hand.  “Could you help me?  I seek a princess.”
“You sure?” Jay asked.  “You might be better off looking for a prince.”
The prince blinked, reaching out to take her hand, only to grab thin air.  “You are not a princess?”
“I am.  But I never asked to be.  And I sure as heck don’t need a pretty boy like you ‘seeking’ me,” she said, turning away.  “Why don’t you try the Kingdom in the Valley?  They’ve got a couple of princesses to spare!  Bubbly airheads, every one of them.  I’m sure they’d just love that face of yours.”  She had never liked pretty men, and unfortunately all of the princes in the area qualified as that.
“You lack grace, respect, and gentleness.  You walk around in men’s clothing and frolic with beasts,” the prince said, seeming to grow in front of her until a tall golden fairy male stood where the prince had once been.  “If you seek to be a beast so much, then I shall grant you your wish!”  Before Jay could understand what he meant, a shot of white light came from his hand, hitting her square in the chest and knocking her backwards.  Her head hit something hard and she lost consciousness, never seeing the look of satisfaction on his face.
“Well, there’s step one,” he said as the glow dampened again. He reached into his golden cloak, pulling out a single pink rose.  Gently he dropped it on the chest of the beast, patting her now furry cheek with fondness.  “You know the rules, sweet, turn into a decent princess before the rose withers and dies or you’ll be stuck in this form.”  He disappeared, leaving the now furry and rather horrifying female lying on the ground.
As night fell over the woods a small dragon crept out of hiding, wrapping itself around the beast and letting out a mournful cry.

***

“Rumor has it that the old castle on the hill is haunted,” one buxom little brunette said as she leaned over the counter of the flower shop.  Alex didn’t even glance up from where he was getting her change.  The girls in the town always bought flowers whenever he was in, but that didn’t mean he had to be polite about it.  “By a werewolf,” she added, finally getting his attention.  He loved werewolf tales.  Horror stories of any type, actually.  And here was the promise of one living only a few miles away!
Alex was by far the best looking man in the kingdom, much to his irritation.  His blonde hair had a smooth, sleek gleam to it even when he didn’t wash it for a week, so he had wound up chopping it off.  It kept growing back.  His eyes were as blue as the sea, deep and mysterious even to him, which was why he had started wearing sunglasses every time he walked outside.  His body, no matter how much he worked out, never bulked up.  Sure he was defined, but every time he walked with a group of guys he looked like a “scrawny mama’s boy.”  And his skin, he thought in downright irritation, was as smooth and soft as a baby’s, regardless of how many hours he worked outside.
Girls loved him, guys hated him, and every single adult in the village swore that he was secretly gay.  No matter how much he protested it didn’t help, especially when strangers came into town, just to look at his face.
He had tried to get glasses, but his eyesight was perfect. He had tried to get braces, but his teeth were perfect too.  What was worse, though, was that his family ran the local flower shop.  Being surrounded by beautiful flowers just tripled his unnatural beauty, as he had been told many times before. He glanced up as he realized that the brunette was speaking again.  “But you wouldn’t be interested in that,” she said with a sigh.  “You’re much classier than that.”
“Not really,” he said as he handed her the change.  “Thank you for your business,” he added, fighting the urge to shove her out the door.  He turned and pretended to mess with the flowers behind him in order to make it clear that he was done with her.  After a few long moments he heard the bell over the door ring, and he glanced over to make sure she had left.  She had, much to his relief, so he pulled out his horror novel and went back to reading, leaning back in his backed stool and kicking his booted feet onto the counter.
Her words were stuck in his head.  An actual werewolf, how cool was that?  Not that he wanted to be attacked or anything, but still, if he caught it he would be considered a hero, a tough hero, at that.  Instead of “Oh look, there’s that good looking boy!” he would hear “Oh look!  There’s the werewolf slayer, Alex!”  Of course that would probably be followed up by, “isn’t he so good looking?” but it still would be the most important part!
He closed his book, riveted by that thought.  Being known for something other than his face would be great, no, better than great.  Even in school no one had believed he made his A’s in the correct way.  They thought he had suckered the teachers with his pretty face.  But no one could claim beating a werewolf was done by being pretty!  Werewolves didn’t care about looks, after all!  He brought his feet down, putting the book under the counter once again as he stood.  “Hey, mom?  Where are the camping supplies?”
“Are you going somewhere, dear?” his mother, a slightly plump, cheerful woman wearing jeans and flannel asked as she peeked out of the back room.  “Well, it is the weekend!  You and your friends have fun, okay?”
“Um… right.  But where’s the camping stuff?”
“I don’t know, ask your father!”
“Yeah, but dad’s in the fields!” he said as he headed up the stairs in the back of the shop to the second floor.  That was where he and his parents lived.  He had tried moving out once, right after graduating, but someone had given out his address and the entire place had been ransacked by girls.  Living at home seemed to be the best option, that or buying a giant guard dog.  He had been tempted several times to do that.
He started searching through the various closets, finding things he had never realized existed until he came upon the old tent that his parents had used when they were younger. It looked a bit worn.  He grabbed that and the sleeping bag beneath it, then started digging for the ice chest.
“You should probably rethink this.”  The voice came out of nowhere, and Alex groaned as the tell-tale sparks of gold appeared in front of him.
“Hello, Winstead,” he said irritably as his fairy godfather came into sight.  “Look, I swear I’m not going to marry a princess.  I wouldn’t have one of those air-headed bimbos if you paid me.  I don’t want a gold laying goose, I don’t have a cow to trade for beans, and for the last time, I will not chase after a dozen princesses, regardless of where they go to at night!”
“Yes, yes, I’ve heard it all before,” Winstead said, shaking his head.  “But I meant running off to chase a werewolf.  You realize that there’s a chance you could be cursed as well, don’t you?  And regardless of what I might have given you as far as protection spells go, it will not guard against lycanthropy.  Dragons, perhaps, the small ones, that is, but--”   He turned and followed as Alex grabbed the ice chest from the closet and headed for the fridge to fill it.
“So what?” Alex asked.  “I just have to keep from getting attacked, right?  And seriously, there’s no such thing as a dragon.”
“You believe in werewolves, but not dragons?”
“I’ve never seen one in my life.”
“Which?”
“Well both, actually.  But that’s not going to stop me from looking.”  Alex put his supplies down by the stairs and headed into his room to get his clothing for the trip, pointedly closing the door in Winstead’s face.
“Hardheaded brat,” Winstead muttered before he disappeared once again.

***

The castle was empty.  It had a hollow feel to it that almost sent Jay over the edge.  She stared down at her furry, clawed hands blankly for a long moment, not quite daring to go towards the mirror at the end of the main hall.  She was afraid of what she would see.  The gray fur was definitely not the color she would have picked.
Walking was difficult as well, she thought as she looked down at her arching dog-like feet.  Her boots were gone, lost somewhere in the woods on the way back here.  Bizby had left her as well, heading off to who-knows-where.  She could only hope he knew a way to fix her little problem.  She blamed the fairy man.  “I was right--”   She stopped, startled by the deep grumbling voice that came from her lips.  “Hello?” she asked, almost jumping as the sinister voice echoed in the hall.  “That… is going to take some getting used to,” she muttered, trying to keep it from echoing.  She sounded like a man!  A man with a long history of smoking, to be exact, and she didn’t like it.
“Chak?” she called, looking around the empty palace, feeling her heart pound against her chest.  “Guards?  Anyone?”
There was no reply.  Slowly she crossed the room, not quite daring to look into the mirror for a long while.  It grew old fast, though, so she glanced up, jerking back at the sight of a hybrid mix of her own face and a wolf’s.  Her eyes were the only thing unchanged, she thought as she stared into the dark brown orbs.  They looked odd in the gray and black furred face, especially sitting over a slight muzzle with sharp, deadly looking fangs.
Something swished behind her, and she turned, only to find herself facing the empty hall again.  Slowly she twisted, looking down behind her.  She had a tail, as well.  Wonderful.
“Isn’t it the prince that’s supposed to be turned into a beast??” she roared to the sky, shattering the mirror behind her with the loudness of it.  After a second she couldn’t help but look down.  At least she was still a female beast, she thought, looking for a good point in the situation.
Then again, she realized as she took another step forward, forcing herself to get used to the loping walk of her new form, she could probably rule on the basketball court with this form!  That was, if the guards were around to play against her.
She took the stairs three at a time, racing through the entire castle to see if there was anyone there at all.  Finally she found herself on the roof, staring through tears at the small village far down the hill.  There were people there, she thought numbly, people that would never accept a creature that looked like her.  With that last depressing thought she let out a howl.

***

The sound sent a chill down Alex’s spine.  He had barely started, he thought in disgust, and already he was jumping at the slightest little howl.  Pathetic.  He snorted and moved deeper through the woods, pushing a branch out of his way with his hand.  It was warmer in this forest than it was supposed to be, he thought in wonder.  Perhaps it was a magical forest that stayed the same no matter what season it was.  But that wasn’t true.  The leaves on the trees were changing color.
He took a deep breath and told himself it was his imagination.  Why would a forest be warmer than any other place?  It didn’t make any sense.  He shrugged his father’s fleece coat off, feeling overly warm, even if it was only his imagination.  The trees grew close together, making it hard for him to get through without getting scratched by tree limbs.  It was beginning to get irritating.  Why didn’t they have a road or something?
“Hello, sonny.”  The voice made him turn, almost whimpering at the sight of an old woman sitting on a stump in a clearing that he swore hadn’t been there before.  Yet another fairy planning to lure poor guys to their doom, he thought.  It was just too bad for her that he knew this tactic.
“I refuse to share my food with you, so you can make me ugly now,” he said pointedly.  “Maybe a horn, or some other disfigurement.  I’d prefer not having frogs drop from my lips when I speak, but it might stop those idiots from bugging me--”
“You are a cynical one, aren’t you?” she asked.  “How do you know I’m not just a poor old woman looking to rest her feet?”
“You’re in the middle of a forest that’s supposed to have werewolves,” he said.  “And I swear that clearing wasn’t there a minute ago.”
She laughed, changing into a rather plump looking fairy godmother with curly silver hair.  “Oh dear, you won’t work at all.”
“Won’t work at all for what?” he asked.
“You don’t know?” she asked, looking surprised for a second.  “Well of course you don’t.  You don’t happen to have a beer to spare, do you?”
“If I do, are you going to make diamonds fall from my lips whenever I speak?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Not unless you want me to.”
“I don’t.  Trust me I don’t.”
“My name’s Marilynn. And you are?”
“Alex Flowers,” Alex said, sitting down on the stump that appeared in front of the little fairy godmother before digging through his ice chest and pulling out two beers.  “And I’m here to hunt a werewolf.”
“Aren’t you a bit too…”
“Pretty?” he offered.
“Young, dear.”
“I’m eighteen, almost nineteen,” he said.  “And I’ve seen every werewolf movie ever made,” he exaggerated.  “I brought my dad’s old shotgun, and a silver fork.”
“Silver bullets?”
“I’m just a flower seller.  Those things cost an arm and a leg!”
“Ah, yes, yes…” she said as if that made perfect sense.  “You realize you’re probably not the one that’s supposed to be doing this, right?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well let’s say this is a wolf tale.  Now the obvious hero in a wolf tale would be the kind woodsman, right?”
“So what?  We’re both horticulturists.”
“Okay, let me try again,” she said as she took the beer he handed her and pulled out her own bottle opener, popping it open with expertise.  “Let’s say it’s a prince cursed because of his arrogance.  The obvious hero would be?”
“A girl,” Alex said, groaning.  “So it’s the beast story?  How do you know it’s not a werewolf that actually killed everyone in the castle and made himself at home?” he asked, not willing to give up.  “Including the woodsman!”
“You’re just intent on getting yourself killed, aren’t you?” she asked with a sigh. “Okay, go on.  But don’t say I didn’t warn you!”  She turned, waving her hand at the trees that blocked the way to the castle. They moved out of the way, opening a path.  “The castle is waiting for you, Mr. Horticulturist.”
“Wow… something actually useful from a fairy,” he said looking slightly awed as he grabbed his things and got to his feet.  “Thanks—”   He stopped as he realized she was already gone.  “Now why can’t I have a fairy godparent like her?”
He started down the path, feeling a little uneasy as a dark, unnatural fog appeared in front of him.  Soon it surrounded him, eclipsing his vision so he could barely see his hand in front of his face.  He stumbled, almost falling, but still he kept going.  He was going to catch that werewolf, darn it.  And even if he didn’t he wasn’t going to give up this easily!
He kept walking, moving his way up the hill and closer toward the castle, regardless of how many times he tripped.  Had this been a voyage to save a princess he wouldn’t have made this much effort, he thought irritably.  But this wasn’t a princess.  This was a werewolf!  With that thought he was energized again, and narrowed his eyes, peering left and right on an off chance that he might see it.  He had even brought his camera, just in case.  Not that he would admit to that.
“Go back.”  The voice was deep and gruff, startling him into standing still for a long moment as he tried to find the source.  “Go back, you’re not welcome here.”
“Who are you?”  Alex shouted, still unable to see a thing.
“Get lost already, you overly pretty moron!” the voice shouted.  “I’ve got enough troubles to deal with!”  He heard something then, a scrambling mess of twigs snapping and leaves being stepped on.  Whoever had been yelling was gone, leaving him standing blind in an unnatural fog.
How had it known he was overly pretty?
He grunted and kept walking.


Chapter Two

 
 “Princess….”  Jay jumped as she entered the castle again, looking around wildly.  “Princess… you forgot the rose.”
“What?” she asked.  It was bad enough that she had had to chase off that blonde boy, but now she was hearing voices?  Maybe she was actually just insane, she thought, almost cheered by the idea.  She was perfectly normal on the outside, and this was all in her head.  Yes, she could handle that.  They would stick her in some closet or tower and pass her off as the crazy relative that every good royal family had.  She would grow old and die in her little chair in the corner—
“You forgot the rose, princess.”  The voice came again and she jerked as she finally recognized it.  That was Chak, the head of the royal guards.
“Chak, where are you?” she asked, looking around.  Still there was no one there.  “Don’t tell me I’m even more insane than I thought.”
“The rose… you left it in the forest.  You have to—“   His voice faded, even for her enhanced hearing, and she groaned.
“Fine.  I’ll go get the rose.  Why not?  It’s not as if things could get more messed up!”  She turned and walked out of the castle again, wishing, just once, that she could have gone with a more convenient curse.  “Maybe dwarves aren’t so bad, after all,” she muttered as she trod through the woods.  “Sure, cleaning is a pain, and I’ve never cooked a day in my life, but at least you can see them when you’re talking to them!  Even if you have to look down.  This… this is just creepy.”
Invisible servants, furry skin, and a rose, that’s what she had now.  She scowled and scratched her neck, groaning as she realized something.  With fur came fleas.  She let out an irritated bellow, falling to the ground and rolling as they seemed to attack all at once.  She itched!  And the little suckers bit!  She bumped into a tree then leaned on it, rubbing her back against the bark with a grumble.  “Flea collar,” she muttered even as she twisted to get to another area.  “Gotta order a flea collar.”
She stopped as she smelled something tasty, turning and heading in the direction without a thought.  There was someone in her woods, and she didn’t much like it, but who knew when she would get a good meal?  Could invisible servants still cook?  She jerked to a halt as she realized who was sitting at the fire in the small clearing.  He hadn’t left?  That annoying pain!  And now that she looked a little closer, he looked a heck of a lot like the prince that the fairy man had been pretending to be.
That thought alone was enough to make her decide.  She had to get rid of this guy, and fast.  Especially since, much to her horror, he had already found the rose.  It sat in a beer bottle to the side of him, glowing for some odd reason.  Great.  There were two options.  She could either jump out to scare him off so she could get the food and the rose, or she could sneak around, steal the rose, and run.
Her stomach grumbled loudly and made up her mind for her.  With a growl she jumped into the clearing, knowing she would look ridiculous, but unable to think of anything else.  “Give me your food,” she growled.
He stared at her, not moving.
“I said to give over the food!” she bellowed.
His hand reached behind him, groping for his backpack as he started to stutter.  “Don’t—don’t leave until I get a picture,” he said, finally finding a pocket in the bag.
“A picture?” she demanded, unable to help herself.  “I’m about to kill you and all you want to do is take a picture?”
“It won’t take a moment,” he said, bringing up the camera and snapping a shot.  She yelped and covered her eyes as the flash blinded her, just in time for him to tackle her to the ground.  “Caught you,” he said.  “When they find out I’ve got a living werewolf--”
“Werewolf?  You idiot!  I’m cursed!”
“Lycanthropy--”
“No!  Fairies!” she said, struggling to get him off of her.  “I’m not even a prince!  My servants are invisible and I’ve got fleas!”
“Fleas?” he asked.  “Seriously?”
“No, not seriously,” she drawled.  “Yes, seriously!  I’m a walking carpet here, darn it, and I’ve got fleas!”
“You’re not a prince?”
“I’m a princess.”
Alex jerked back as if she had slapped him, groaning loudly.  “That bastard!” he said.  “Who does he think he is, making me chase after yet another princess?  I should sue!  Breach of contract or something, it’s got to be illegal!”
“Who said I wanted you to chase me?” she demanded.  “The last thing I want hanging around is a pretty boy with a werewolf fetish!”
“I do not have a werewolf fetish,” he snapped.
“You were probably hoping I was a prince instead of a princess, too.  You look like a girl.”
“Yeah?  Well at least I’m not the one with fleas!”
 “I dislike you,” she hissed as she got to her feet, standing in all her furry, dirty glory.  Her clothes were a little tighter, but were still the ripped, muddy mess that she had been wearing that morning.  Her tail was driving her crazy, it kept moving when she didn’t expect it to, and it made her jump.
“You sure as heck aren’t my favorite person, either,” he told her.  “Just what kind of princess has fleas?”
“One that’s been cursed to being a beast!”
“What, couldn’t get the dwarves to accept you and your fleas?”
“They’d prefer you, no doubt. You just need to use more padding.”
“I am not a girl!”
“Doesn’t really matter to me.  Just as long as you get off my property!” she bellowed.
“Fine.  I’m leaving,” he said as he grabbed his things and the beer bottle with her rose in it.  She didn’t even notice. She was too busy gloating over her win as he stormed away.  She dropped down next to the fire and started eating his meal, groaning and falling back in contentment as her hunger was appeased.
“Good riddance,” she said as she started to get to her feet.  Only then did she notice that the rose was gone.

***

“Winstead!” Alex bellowed as he stormed up the stairs leading to his home above the flower shop.  “Winstead, I demand that you come tell me what in the heck you were thinking!”
“Alex?” his mom asked as her sleeping hat clad head poked out the door of her and his father’s bedroom.  “What’s the problem, sweetie?”
“It’s nothing, Ma.  Just a little problem with a lying, no-good fairy godfather,” he said, heading for his bedroom.  “Winstead!  I swear if you don’t--”
“I told you not to go,” Winstead said from where he was lounging on Alex’s bed, reading a book.
“She’s a princess!”
“She’s a beast,” Winstead corrected, putting the book down on the bed.  “That supersedes her princess status.  But the point is, you’re back and I take it the curse isn’t broken.”  He stopped as he noticed the rose in the beer bottle that Alex was still holding.  “And you brought that home because?”
“Huh?” Alex asked as he looked down at the rose.  “It was going to die if I left it out there.  Pretty, isn’t it?”
“You should take it back.”
“And what?  Give it to that flea ridden princess?  She’d kill it within a week.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Winstead said before disappearing, leaving the book lying on the bed, open to a very familiar old story.  Alex walked over and glanced down at the picture of the beast, then promptly slammed the book closed.

***

The next night Jay went to get the rose back. She twitched as she was almost seen by a group of teenagers necking behind one of the stores.  The last thing she wanted was for everyone to see her and run screaming.  Well, it might not be so bad, but only if she could get that stupid rose back first.  Then again towns were more apt to form lynch mobs than run screaming, it was some unwritten magical world law.  Jay didn’t feel like burning any time soon, thank you very much. 
She looked around, wondering just where that overly pretty boy had gotten to.  Did he live in this town, or was he out on a quest?  Maybe he was a prince in disguise.  She sniffed the air, trying to smell her rose.  It was a pathetic idea, she told herself even as she tried harder, just because she looked like a beast didn’t mean her smelling—“Found it,” she whispered in surprise.
With a glance to the right, then to the left, Jay set out at a trot, heading for the back of a two story building, her nose twitching once in a while to make sure she was right.  The smell was stronger, so she started up the fire exit, peeking into a window to see who was there.  An older woman was in the kitchen, bent over and looking through the fridge.  She had a pile of food in her arms, and looked as if she was about to start a meal.  She turned to put the food on the table, and caught sight of Jay.
A scream escaped her lips as the food fell to the ground with a loud crash that made Jay wince. She was about to run away when footsteps echoed through the room, and the same blonde boy from the woods came in, an old, rusty rifle in his arms.  The older woman turned, pointing at the window, and the boy lifted the gun, aiming it straight at Jay.
“Oh crud,” Jay muttered before backing up slowly, both hands up.  She wasn’t ready to be shot just yet!  All she wanted was her rose!
Alex cursed and lowered the gun, heading for the window and slamming it open.  “What do you want?”
“Shoot it, Alex!” his mother cried behind him.  “It might be carrying rabies!”
“It’s not, Ma, just fleas,” Alex said, glancing over his shoulder for a second before looking back to Jay.  “What are you doing here?”
“You stole my rose,” Jay said irritably.  “Give it back!”
“It was lying on the ground in the middle of the woods.  It’s not your rose!”
“It is too!”
“Just give it its rose back, Alex!” his mother said from behind him.
“Stay out of this, Ma!” Alex said over his shoulder.  “It’s her fault I got stuck chasing through the woods in the first place!  And it’s not her rose!”
“Her?” his mother asked.
“I’m a cursed princess, ma’am,” Jay said, rolling her eyes as she fought to keep from gazing at the food on the floor.  She hadn’t eaten since the meal the night before, and that cold ham was starting to smell awfully good.
“Oh you poor girl,” his mother said, her tone changing completely.  “Alex!  How dare you be so rude to a princess?  Come in, sweetie, you look like you’ve had a rough time.”  She pushed past Alex and opened the window wider.
“You can say that again,” Jay said as she let herself be pulled through the window.  “I was turned into a monster, my servants and guard are all invisible, and I keep itching!”  She probably should have changed, she realized a bit belatedly.
“Well dressed like that, it’s no wonder,” the woman said.  “My name’s Bertha, and my rude son is Alex.  John should be getting home from the fields soon.  Why don’t we get you cleaned up?”
“Don’t let her in, Ma, she’ll bring her fleas with her!” Alex protested.
“Fleas?” Bertha asked.  “That’s terrible!  Alex, go up to the pet store and get some of that special medicine, would you?  The money’s in my purse.”
“What?” Alex demanded.  “She’s a werewolf!  We don’t--”
“Alex Matthew Flowers, don’t you dare talk back to me!  I thought I raised you better than to treat a lady like this!” Bertha said, glowering up at her much taller son with her hands on her ample hips.  “Now go get the girl some flea medicine and clothes!  And don’t you go talking back to me about this!”
Alex stared at her for a moment before looking at Jay with a scowl.  “Fine.  But we’re not keeping her,” he said coldly before turning and storming away.  Jay growled, startled at how much more impressive it sounded in this form.
“There, there dear, he’s all talk,” Bertha said, patting her on the head.  “Now let’s get you in the bath.  That will help with the itching problem.”
“Yeah, I guess I could use a bath,” Jay admitted reluctantly as Bertha led her to the bathroom.  She only glanced over her shoulder at the food on the ground once.

***

 “Stupid mutt…” Alex said irritably as he made his way through the pet store, stopping at the counter and looking blankly at the various dog flea medicines.  “How the heck am I supposed to know how much she weighs?” he asked, feeling his headache growing larger.  After a moment he just grabbed the largest weight limit available and cursed as he realized he had forgotten to get his mother’s money.
A hand reached out, dropping a golden plastic card on the counter.  Alex groaned as he looked up at Winstead.  “Thanks,” he muttered reluctantly.
“It’s the least I can do,” Winstead said.  “So she’s at your place now?  Because?”
“The rose.”
“Ahhh, yes, I figured that might happen,” he said as he took his card back from the dreamy eyed girl at the counter.  “But I’m sure you’ll get rid of her soon enough.  At least I hope so?”
“You’re up to something,” Alex accused him even as he took the bag from the girl, not even glancing at the telephone number written on the receipt.  For a long time he had thought that happened with everyone’s receipts, and then he had gotten a guy salesclerk.
“I am positively up to nothing.  We need to get her back to the castle so her prince can come and save her,” Winstead said.  “Although I am having a difficult time finding princes that haven’t met her before.”
Alex snorted.  “So you are involved with this curse!” he said as they headed for the door of the pet store.  “I knew it!”
“Yes, I am, but you were never supposed to be,” Winstead said, shaking his head slightly.  “Princess Jaylee is, obviously, supposed to wind up with a prince, or barring that, a young man with a good heart and natural leadership ability.  Not to mention good sports abilities.”
“I don’t think I like what you’re trying to say there,” Alex said coldly as he headed down the street.  “I should have gotten her a bag of dog food while I was at it…”
“What I’m trying to say?” Winstead asked innocently.
“I’m perfectly fine at sports,” Alex told him.  “In fact I was on Varsity.”
“Yeah, but that’s nothing compared to what she’s used to.  She had the royal guard playing professional style football just a few weeks ago.  She’s the quarterback.”
“Touch football, right?”
“Full contact.”
“She’s a man!”
“No, she needs a man.  It’s annoying, but necessary.  She is a princess after all.”  Winstead shook his head, waving it off with a graceful hand movement.  “It’s in all of the rulebooks.  The princess must be married at either sixteen or eighteen. She’s sixteen now, and turning seventeen in a month.”
“Why would anyone want to get married that young?” Alex demanded.  “She’s just a kid!”
“True,” Winstead said as they reached the flower shop.  “Unfortunately, that’s what tradition dictates.  And because she was so stubborn, we had to go a bit farther than usual.  Your interference is causing us a lot of trouble, you realize.”
“You think I want her in my house?” Alex asked, not admitting that he was more bothered by the age thing than he liked to be.  “I’ll send her home tonight,” he added as he headed through the door of the shop and to the stairs.  He glanced over his shoulder when Winstead didn’t respond, not too surprised to see that the fairy godfather was gone once again.  He probably didn’t want Jaylee to see him, Alex thought in disgust.  But he didn’t blame the guy.
He took the stairs two at a time, wondering what had happened while he had been gone.  Hopefully the beastly princess had decided that it wasn’t worth sticking around for, and had left.  For some reason he doubted it, though.
“Jaylee…?” he heard his mother say, a hint of laughter in her voice.
“Jaylee Andronia Rose Opal Jamison,” he heard the beast’s deep voice rumble off.  “But everyone either calls me Jay or Princess.  It took me a year just to remember all of it myself.”
“Well it is a bit of a mouthful.” Alex groaned as he heard his father’s voice.  There was a hint of fondness in it already that said he obviously approved of the furry brat.  That wasn’t how the story was supposed to go, darn it!  The father was the one that was supposed to hate the beast the most!
Then again, that was for the female beauty in the original story. Alex wasn’t the beauty, nor was it his father that was supposed to get involved.  They were ruining the curse, after all.
“Alex?  Is that you, dear?  Come into the kitchen!” his mother called.  “Dinner’s ready!”
“Yeah, coming,” Alex called back as he dug the box out of the plastic bag, looking at it for a long moment before rolling his eyes and walking in.  “I got the flea medicine,” he said, glancing over at the werewolf girl.  His eyes narrowed as he realized she was wearing his old high school jersey and a pair of his knit shorts.
“You forgot the clothing, didn’t you?  Well I figured that would happen,” his mother said.  “So we borrowed some of your old things.  They fit rather well, surprisingly enough.”
“Actually the shirt’s a bit tight through the shoulders,” Jay commented innocently.  “You’re kinda scrawny, aren’t you?”
His eyes narrowed and he fought the urge to yell at her.  Cheeky little brat.  But he said nothing, merely opened the box and pulled out one of the flea packs, walking over to her.  “Lean forward.  This is supposed to go on the back of the neck.”
“Wha--”   She stopped as he pushed her head down, practically jumping as the cold liquid hit her skin.
“There you go.  You can leave now.”
“Alex,” John said, looking at his son with a hint of warning.  John was still in pretty good shape for being almost fifty.  He had a bit of a spare tire around his waist and a receding hairline, but his shoulders were still broad and his face square and defined.  He was a big man.  For the life of him, Alex couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t built like the man.
“I talked to Winstead,” Alex said, rather than argue outright.  “We’re interfering in her curse.  She should be waiting for her prince to show up at the castle right now, not hanging out here.”
“One meal won’t hurt,” Bertha said firmly as she put the meal down on the table.
“Winstead said that?” his father asked, raising an eyebrow slightly.  “Jay, are you looking for a prince?”
“No thanks,” Jay said. She had no idea who Winstead was, but he was probably right.  She just didn’t care.  “I’ve met all of the princes in the surrounding kingdoms.  They’re annoying.”  She smiled as Bertha started filling her plate.
“Well if it’s a beast curse, shouldn’t a good looking man be the answer to the problem?”  Bertha asked.
“Good looking men give me hives,” Jay said cheerfully.  “All those experiences with princes, after all.  No, I think I’ll have to come up with another way to break the curse.  Maybe Bizby can come up with something.”
“Bizby?” John asked.
“He’s my dragon,” she said before digging into her food almost messily.  She still hadn’t gotten used to the claws, or the muzzle.  A slight flush crossed her cheeks as she realized they were watching her.  “Sorry,” she said as she gulped loudly.  “I’m still not used to this form.”
“It’s ah, fine, dear,” Bertha said.  “But you have a dragon?”
“He’s just a baby,” Jay admitted.  “I got him through the adopt-a-dragon foundation, but really, he’s not an orphan at all, he just wanted a playmate in the area.  His mother was worried that he would never get a princess complex if he didn’t get one at an early age.”
“A princess complex?” Alex asked, looking shocked.
“Every male dragon should have one,” Jay said as she finished off her food and tried to drink out of a glass.  Her eyes crossed as she realized that her tongue didn’t work the right way any longer.
“Why should every male dragon have a princess complex?” Alex demanded.  “It makes no sense.  They aren’t even the same species!”
“It’s part of their job,” Jay said.  “Male dragons kidnap princesses and keep them in towers, so the knights have to fight to save them.  I wouldn’t have minded that, so much, but everyone already knows I’ve got a dragon of my own.  And I wouldn’t want him killed.”
“That makes perfect sense to me,” John said firmly.
“Thank you,” Jay said.  “I should get going though, since the last thing I want is for the town to see me.”
“Alex will escort you,” Bertha said.
“But Ma, she’s a--”
“A teenage girl should not go through the woods alone at this time of night!” Bertha said firmly.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Alex asked.  “She’s a werewolf!  She’ll be--”
“Alex, do what your mother tells you,” John said.  Alex’s eyes narrowed, but he grunted, getting to his feet.
“Fine.  Let’s get going,” he muttered, picking up his plate and cup and taking them to the sink before he grabbed his coat.  He didn’t even glance over as Jay said her farewells to his parents, irritated by the fact that they got along so well.  Just who did she think she was?  She had nearly given his mother a heart attack earlier, and here they were forcing him to walk her home, like she was a normal girl!
“I’ll take those, dear,” Bertha said before Jay could grab her dirty dishes.
“Thank you, ma’am,” Jay said.  “It’s a wonder such nice people could have a son like Alex,” she added with a dark look at Alex.
“Usually he’s not this bad,” John said, shaking his head.  “But he hasn’t had many good experiences with princesses.”
“Heh.  Well thanks, anyway,” she said before heading for the fire exit window, much to Alex’s surprise.  “Are you coming?” she asked him.
“We do have a front door, you know.”
“I’m a werewolf, remember?”
“Oh, right.”


Chapter Three


“You can go now,” she said only a few moments later as they reached the outer edge of the town.
“I wish,” he said, still following her.  “If I showed up back home this quickly my parents would kill me.”  He shoved his hands a bit deeper into his pockets.  “You didn’t rip a hole in my shorts for that tail of yours, did you?”
“No.  Your mom cut it.”
Alex cursed.  “Those were my favorite shorts!”
“Yeah, right,” she said.  “Like you’d be seen in public wearing something as ratty as this.”
“You know, I really don’t like how you judge me without knowing me.”
“Oh yeah?  Who’s the one going off on how all princesses are evil?” she demanded.
“How about the one saying ‘good looking guys give me hives’?” he asked right back.  “You’re such a hypocrite.  I bet you were just as pretty as a princess as the rest of those bimbos.”
“I was not!” she growled, turning to glower at him.  Her eyes gleamed eerily in the dark forest, almost sending a twinge of fear down his spine, which he ruthlessly curbed.  She was just a little brat in a big body.  She wouldn’t know how to hurt a fly.  “I was average looking at best.”
“So that’s why I’d never heard of you!” he said with an evil laugh.  “Nobody pays attention to an average looking princess.”
“Shut up,” she said coldly.
“And they sure as heck don’t send guys like me after them,” he went on callously.  “Even the fairy godparents know better than to send a really good looking guy like myself after a drab looking princess.”
“You really are a bastard, aren’t you?” she demanded angrily.  “This is why I hate good looking guys.”
He fell silent, suddenly feeling guilty.  He shouldn’t have said that, and he knew it, but she just got under his skin!  “So what kind of guy are you looking for?” he asked reluctantly.  The least he could do was scout someone out to give her a hand breaking the curse.
“What?  Now you’re going to offer me pity?” she asked scathingly.  “Thanks but no thanks.”
“Oh come on, already.  You might as well break it as soon as possible!  You can’t even go shopping in that form!”
“So?  I’ll hunt.”
“Really.”
“Really!  I can hunt!  I’m not like your average princess, you know.  I learned all sorts of things from my royal guard.”
“Yeah, I knew you were really a man!” he said derisively.  “Don’t you have any feminine traits?”
“Feminine traits are overrated,” she said.  “Like a princess is ever going to have to do her own sewing--unless she gets stuck with the dwarves for a curse, that is.”
“Yeah, yeah… okay, how about dancing?  Can you dance?”
“Do you seriously think it matters when I’m in this form?”
“Good point.”  He thought for a long moment.  “Then what about breaking it for your servants and guards?  They’re invisible or something right?  I doubt they like that.”
Her shoulders slumped.  “You’re right… This stupid curse isn’t fair!  If it was just me that was affected I wouldn’t care!  But the guards and the servants are my friends.”  Jay fell silent for a long moment, trying to think of a way to break her curse.  “Fine.  I want a guy that can beat me at basketball.”
“In that form?” Alex asked.  “That’s not possible!  Make it a draw and I’ll see what I can do.”
“No, this is tradition,” she said.
“Not once in tradition has the beast made the beauty play basketball!” Alex said.  “You’re just saying that because you don’t want to break the curse!”
“I do want to break the curse!  But I’m not going to get stuck with someone that doesn’t like the same things I like!”
“Fine,” he said finally.  “I’ll get the basketball team out here this weekend, alright? We’ll have a series of one on ones, and whoever wins--”
“I have to at least like the guy, too, you know.”
“You’re too picky!”
“And I don’t want him to be younger than I am!” she added as they reached the courtyard of the palace.  There were vines growing up the walls of the palace already, sharp, prickly looking vines with large red rose blossoms at intervals.  “Those weren’t there when I left.”
“It’s probably to set the mood,” Alex said.  “Curses like this should always be overdone.”
Jay rolled her eyes and started for the gate, not surprised when it swung open in front of her.
“Hey,” Alex said, not really wanting to, but unable to help himself.  “Is there anything that you really need?  You know, stuff from the store that you can’t live without?  I mean, I could probably bring it by sometime.”
“Um, well…”  She flushed slightly beneath her fur.  “There is something I’m going to need pretty soon… but you probably--”
“Just tell me already.”
“Kotex?”
“Ko—huh?”
“They’re um… well… maybe your mom should get them.”
“They’re—oh.  Those.”
“Right.  Those.”  The silence that followed that was too awkward for either of them to want to break.  “Thanks,” she said finally before running away.
All the way home Alex was fighting the urge to blush like an idiot.

***

“We’ve got a special visitor, boys!” the coach called to the lanky teens in the changing room.  Most of them were either not dressed or half dressed, and all of them looked irritated at the sight of Alex following their coach into their room.
“No thanks, we don’t like guys,” one called from the back, earning laughter from the group.
“That’s not why he’s here,” the coach growled, irritated by the whole thing.  The kid hadn’t even told him why he wanted in, just said that it was something important.  He hoped it didn’t take away from their training time.
“Okay, so everybody knows I have a Fairy Godfather, right?” Alex started out, not liking this job one bit.  He had never gotten along with the basketball players.  He could barely tolerate the football team.
“Didn’t you graduate already?” one of the kids asked.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t matter.  I’ve got a problem, and she insists on it being someone that can beat her at basketball--”
“She?” another asked.
“The werewolf princess on the hill,” Alex said, earning a silent look of shock from each and every one of them.
“You’re kidding me, right?” Bobby asked from where he was sitting in the corner, wearing only his boxers.  “You’re trying to set one of us up with a princess?”
“Yeah, why didn’t she just take one look at you and fall in love?” Mick, a shorter player asked from the other side of the room.  “Hell, if you were wearing a skirt, I would--”
“Oh shut up already man, that’s sick!” the kid behind him said, slapping Mick upside the head.
“She says that good looking guys give her hives,” Alex said with a snort.  “So one of you guys should be just fine.”  At least five water bottles were thrown at him and he lifted his arms to block them.  “She’s got a basketball court, I’m betting.  So all you have to do is show up at the palace on the hill this weekend and challenge her to a one on one.  She has to like you, too, so be on your best behavior and try not to cringe when she growls or something--”
“You’re serious?”  Bobby asked.  “She’s a werewolf?”
“It’s the beast curse.  You know, where the prince gets stuck in the form of a monster and someone comes and saves him?  Well it’s a bit… screwed up this time.  So we’re looking for a guy.  One that isn’t me, got it?”
“You ever see those old movies?  The ones about the basketball playing werewolf?” Mick asked.  “I always wanted to play him.”
“You’re too short.  You won’t win.”
“Yeah, but I can try, dammit.”
“I’m going to try, too,” Bobby said, much to the others surprise.  “This weekend, right?”
“Yeah,” Alex said, wondering why he wasn’t more ecstatic with having at least two of them volunteer.  “Show up Saturday around one, alright?”
“Yeah.”
“But why aren’t you trying for her, Alex?” Mick asked.  “You seem the type to get a princess.”
“I don’t like princesses.  They give me hives,” Alex said dryly as he headed out the door.

***

It was hard to pass when your teammates were invisible.  Jay sighed, scratching her neck as she gave up on team play.  “Go sit this one out, guys.  I can’t really play when I can’t see you.  I keep worrying about slamming into you.”
“Yes princess,” she heard one say.  She knew they didn’t worry about her slamming into them, but she did.  She weighed more in this form, not to mention she had claws.  She started to toss free-throws, wondering how Alex was doing getting challengers.  Even if she was beat, could she love the guy that beat her?  And what would she do if they were too scared of her face to play?
“I’m going to break this curse, guys,” she said as the ball swished through the hoop.  “I swear.”
“Princess--”
“No, I’m serious.  This curse really sucks.  If I had known it was going to mess up everything for everyone, I would have taken the dwarves.”  The brooding silence that this comment got bugged her, but she ignored it.  “It won’t be too bad, you know?  If I find a jock to marry, then he can play with us, right?”
“You’re supposed to become a princess,” Chak said.  “That might mean no more sports.”
“What?  No way, no how,” Jay said, actually missing the hoop because she was so shocked.  “They can’t take my sports away!  That’s just—that’s not fair!”  She flushed as she heard them clearing their throats.  “Oh, come on, there’s no rule that says a princess can’t toss a ball!  You hear stories about them throwing balls all the time!”
“Balls are parties,” Chak said.
“Football parties,” Jay said firmly.  “I’ll throw one every Sunday if you want!  We’ll get out the big screen and some popcorn, and--”   She dropped to the ballroom floor, burying her furry face in her hands.  “I don’t want to become a princess that doesn’t play sports,” she whispered, almost jerking as she felt a hand pat her on the back.  But that one small act of kindness was too much for her.  She started to cry.
“Hey… um… Jaylee?”  The shout came from the courtyard, but her hearing had improved.  She jerked and wiped at her tears quickly, wishing that Alex had better timing.  “I brought what you wanted!”
She got to her feet, shrugging her shoulders once before she headed out the door and to the courtyard.  Alex stood there with a convenience store bag in his hand.  He was staring up at the statue in the corner.  For a long moment she just watched him, noticing how perfectly sculpted his face was, and how his golden hair caught the light just right, making him look like an angel come to earth.  It was enough to make her feel sick to her stomach.  No normal peasant should be even better looking than the princes in the area… or princesses, for that matter.  She cleared her throat loudly.
Alex turned to her, looking a bit flushed as he held out the bag.  “Your stuff.  And I talked to the basketball team.  There should be at least two showing up on Saturday around one.”
“Oh… thanks.”
“You don’t sound too enthused,” he said.  “You know what all I had to do to get that?”
“No, really, I’m happy.  I mean--”   She took a deep breath and reached for the bag. “Thanks.  Really.”
“You do have a court, don’t you?” he asked.  “Or maybe I should have snuck you into the gym--”
“No, I’ve got a court.”
“Can I see it?”
“Oh… sure, I guess it won’t hurt.”  She turned, her tail drooping even as she led him to the ballroom.  “My parents didn’t seem to mind,” she said with a vague hand motion to the basketball court that had been set up there.  “They aren’t too big on parties.”
“This place is huge,” Alex said as he looked around.  “Is basketball the only game you play?”
“Of course not.  I like football, soccer, baseball, volleyball, not tennis so much, but—well, most sports, really,” she admitted, cheering up at the subject.  “I also always wanted to try canoeing.  I was going to ask for a river to be built for my next birthday.  It wouldn’t have to be a big one, of course, but something I can try on.”
“There’s a river not too far from here.”
“But it’s not on my property.”
“I doubt people will mind if you use it,” he said, shaking his head slightly at the thought of building a river just for that one reason.  “Just because you’re a princess doesn’t mean you can’t deal with the rest of the world.”
“Oh really?”
“Really,” he said.  “These are the people you’re supposed to be ruling over, right?  That means you have a vested interest in how they live.  Or you should have.”
“Huh.  Well I’ll have to try it sometime,” she said finally.  “And thanks for this,” she added, lifting the bag slightly before she walked away.
He watched her for a moment, his hands shoved in his pockets, a thoughtful look on his face.  Then he shook his head and walked away.  He had a shift to pull.

***

“We’re early,” Mick said as he stared up at the large wrought iron gate that barred them out of the courtyard.  “You sure this is the place?”
“It’s the palace, right?” Bobby asked, his words not quite as confident sounding as he had wanted them to be.  His favorite ball was under one arm and he wore a pair of baggy shorts and a tank top, perfect clothing for playing basketball.  “You think he was pulling our legs?”
“Alex?” Mick asked.  “Nah.  I heard that when he was twelve he had already been forced to chase after twelve princesses twice.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, but he always wound up falling asleep.”
“That must suck,” Bobby said, looking down at his shorter teammate for a moment.  Mick wasn’t bad looking, really, he guessed, just short and redheaded.  It wasn’t like either of them was fat, he added thoughtfully.  Just neither of them compared to Alex in the looks department, if his sister was to be believed.  He sighed, running a hand through his short brown hair.  “You think even if we win we’ll have a chance?”
“At the princess?”
“Yeah.  She’s seen Alex, right?”
“You’ve never even met her, man.  Who knows if you’ll like her?” Mick asked.  “I just came to play some ball.  And besides, she’s a werewolf, right?  How many chances do you get to see something like that in real life?”
“You’re right,” Bobby said, cheering up.  “Let’s go see how good a player she is.”  He almost jumped out of his skin as the gate opened in front of them with an unearthly creak.  “Um… thanks,” he said, even though he didn’t see anyone there to open it.  It was only good manners when dealing with what was obviously a cursed castle.  “Now where do we go?”
“I have no idea,” Mick admitted cheerfully.
“Down the path and to the left.”  The voice came out of nowhere, making Bobby jump again.  “Princess Jay waits for you in the ballroom.”
“Um… thanks again,” Bobby said as he started down the path to the castle.  He could only assume that there was an entrance to the ballroom nearby.  He pulled to a stop as he realized that there was an entire wing of the palace to the left, with large doors swung open in an inviting way, and the sound of a basketball bouncing against the wooden floor coming from inside.
Mick was the first to go in, leaving Bobby to follow or feel like an idiot.  He stopped at the sight in front of them, feeling a tremor of fear hit him before he forced himself to relax.  She was most definitely a werewolf, complete with the fur and fangs, which were flashing in a grin as she pulled off an excellent slam-dunk.
“Not fair,” Alex called to her from where he had just been jumped over.  “You’re taking advantage of your new form!”  Alex, for the first time since Bobby had ever seen him, looked like hell.  He was sweating and panting slightly, even as he shoved his hair out of his face.
“If you’ve got it, flaunt it,” the princess taunted as she dropped lightly down from the hoop.  “And you seriously suck.”
“I played football in high school, not basketball.”
Mick cleared his throat and both of them turned and look at him.  The werewolf princess actually grinned.  “Oh good, finally some real players!” she said in a deep, dangerous sounding voice.  “Which one of you goes first?”
Both boys looked over at Alex, who snorted.  The older male had his hands on his knees and was trying to get his breath back.  “Flip a coin,” he suggested once he could breathe enough to speak.  He stood upright again, shoving at his hair and digging a coin out of his pocket.
“Heads,” Mick said before Bobby realized that he was still staring stupidly at the princess.
“Then um… tails, I guess,” Bobby said as he glanced over at the blonde male.  “You sure about this?”
“Sure about what?” Alex asked as he flipped the coin.  “Heads it is.  Mick, you go first.”
“Sweet,” Mick said as the other two moved off of the court and Jay grinned, bouncing the ball once before checking it.
Alex and Bobby headed for the bleachers, dropping down to watch the game for a moment before Bobby went on.  “About this… you know, giving up your princess.”
“She’s definitely not my princess,” Alex said, glancing at the younger male in surprise.  “I just get stuck with stuff like this because of Winstead.  He’s my fairy godfather.”
“So you’re doing this because you like your fairy godfather?”
“Right now I hate the bastard,” Alex said with a shrug.  “But my Ma seems to like Jay, so I figured the least I could do was help her break the curse.”  He leaned back against the bleachers, watching the game for a moment.  “Watch her left, Mick!  She’s got a trick shot—too late.”
“Man she’s good,” Bobby said, distracted for a moment by the play.  “You sure she’s a girl?”
“Yeah, she’s a girl.”
“She plays like a guy.”
“She plays with her royal guard most of the time.  Or she did until they became invisible.”  Alex shrugged.  “And if neither of you win I’m going to have to go recruit the football team.”
“To play basketball?”
“She plays football, too.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah,” Alex said, shaking his head slightly.  “She’s an all-around jock girl.  Complete tomboy, actually, which is why she got stuck with the beast curse.  Only problem is, I think she’s starting to like it.”
That startled a laugh out of Bobby as he turned back to watch in silence for a long moment.  “I’ve never heard of a princess like this one.”
“You’re not the only one.”
“I win!”  Jay crowed as she made another slam-dunk, dropping to the wooden floor with a smug look.  “But you’re pretty good,” she added.
“I want a rematch,” Mick said.  “If I can beat you, they won’t keep sticking me on the bench through the whole game.”
“No way, man, this game’s mine!” Bobby said, getting to his feet abruptly.
“You don’t need the practice, I do,” Mick said, looking stubborn.
“Go sit down for a while to cool off,” Jay said.  “Then after um--”
“Bobby,” Bobby supplied.
“Bobby’s game I’ll give you some hints,” she said.  “I’m used to playing guys a lot taller than I am, after all.”  Mick nodded, relaxing as he headed over to the benches, dropping down next to Alex.
 “She’s great,” the shorter male said with a hint of wonder in his voice.
“She’s a man,” Alex replied.
“Nah.  She’s just better than you are,” Mick said with an evil grin.  “Not only can she play basketball like a pro, she’s not obsessed with your face. D’ya know that no girl in the entire town will look at me when you’re around?  Much less offer to give me tips.”
“What are you trying to say, Mick?” Alex asked, his eyes narrowing for some reason.
“I’m saying that it might take me a bit of time, but I’m going to beat her,” Mick said.  “She’s great.”
Alex fell silent, wondering why that statement irritated him so much.  So what if she was willing to help the guy with his game?  It didn’t mean she liked him!  She was just a sports nut.  “Next weekend’s football,” he said coldly.
“Did she say that?”
“No.  I did.”
Mick snorted, leaning back and making himself comfortable.  “It doesn’t matter.  I’m still coming.”
“I win!” Jay said cheerfully.
“I want a rematch,” Bobby said just as quickly as Mick had.  Alex couldn’t help himself.  He groaned.


Chapter Four


“I like this,” Jay said almost three hours later, right after Mick and Bobby had finally left.  After the games she had given them both pointers on how they could improve their playing.  They were both really nice guys, and the best part was, they weren’t far too handsome for their own good.  “We’re going to do the same thing next weekend, right?”
“I thought I’d invite the football players this time,” Alex said.  “Since you said you played that, too, right?”
“Yeah, I do.  Good idea,” she said, taking the water bottle that appeared in midair.  “Thanks,” she said to the invisible servant, taking a long drink.  “Think you’ll get more than two?”
“It doesn’t matter.  Mick and Bobby already said they’re coming back.”
“But they play basketball.”
“Doesn’t matter.  Mick’s in love with you.”
“Huh?”
Alex shrugged.  “He plans on beating you sooner or later.”
“When I look like this?” she asked with a glance down at her fur covered hands.  “He probably just wants to improve his game.”
“I don’t think so,” Alex said honestly.  “You’re not what most guys are used to.  It’s… interesting, I guess.”
She rolled her eyes, not very impressed with that explanation.  “He’ll get over it.  Once he fixes his game he’ll be chased by regular girls.”
“Did you like either of them?”
“Huh?  They both seemed pretty nice to me, if that’s what you mean.”
“I meant—oh, forget it.  I should get back home.  Anything you need me to pick up for tomorrow?”
“No, I should be fine,” she said.  “Thanks.”
Alex nodded and stood, walking away slowly.  He wasn’t even surprised to see the ballroom door swing open to let him out.  “Thanks,” he said, following Jay’s example without a thought.  Then he paused, looking back at her.  “Hey, if you want we can try canoeing sometime this week.  It’ll have to be when most people aren’t around, though.”
“No, I don’t think so,” she said, shaking her head.
“Huh?”
“Wet fur smells really bad.  Trust me on this.”
“Oh,” he said as he shoved his hands into his pockets and walked out the door for real this time.  He told himself that that hadn’t been a rejection.  The only problem was that it felt a lot like one to him.

***

“We wanna go.”  Alex glanced up, raising an eyebrow slightly at the group of guys standing in front of his counter.  At least half of the basketball team was there.  “Ever since Mick got back from wherever you guys went, he’s been playing a hell of a lot better.  He wouldn’t tell us what happened, but we want to go.”
“Too bad.  This weekend’s football,” Alex said as he went back to reading his horror novel.
“You can do football the weekend after.  We want to go,” one of the older guys said.  “Come on, Alex, if Mick keeps beating me in practice, I’m going to be the one on the bench.  And this is my senior year!”
“Then you should practice more.”
“You’re a real jerk, you know that?” the guy said.  “You’re the one that invited us in the first place!  What’s the matter, decide to keep the princess for yourself, after all?”
“What do you mean by that?” Alex asked, finally putting his book down.
“What he means is that you’re keeping her all for yourself!  You probably think that she’s bound to fall for that pretty face of yours--”
“I am not keeping her for myself.  But I do think she can do a hell of a lot better than you guys!”
“What’s that, pretty boy?”
“You don’t even want to meet her.  You’re just out to improve your game,” Alex said coldly.  “I’m not going to let you waste her time just because you can’t get better on your own.  This is about breaking the curse, not about your position on the bench, got it?”
“All I get is that you’re being greedy.”
“I don’t even play basketball!  How can that make me greedy?” Alex demanded, getting to his feet.  “Get out of my shop.”
“And what are you going to do if we don’t?”
Alex’s hand fisted at his side, but before he could throw a punch a bright light flashed, slamming into the male’s face and knocking him back into his teammates.
“What the--”
“He’s a freak!” one of the younger players said, grabbing his teammates and running.  The group practically scrambled over one another in their attempts to get out.  Soon the room was empty, save for the sound of the bell over the door still knocking against the wood, and a stunned looking Alex, staring at his fist in horror.
“Ma?” he asked softly, far too softly for his mother to hear.  His voice cracked on the word, like a pre-teen’s.  “Ma!” he shouted after clearing his throat.  The sound of someone hurrying down the stairs made him look up.
“Yes?  What’s the matter, Alex?”
“Explain this, would you?” he asked, holding up his now glowing hand for her to see.
“Oh… dear,” she said, looking suddenly pale.

***

“Are you sure you did the right thing?” Chak asked as he followed her into the invisible, yet bustling kitchen. He had obviously been holding on to that question for a while.  Jay stopped at the door, not willing to walk into the room while she watched the food apparently making itself.  She had realized that the servants were still doing their jobs when she had tried to get a snack in the middle of the night.  Her hand still stung slightly from the whack that had gotten her.
“What do you mean?” Jay asked.
“Turning him down.”
“Huh?  I didn’t turn him down.  I just said--”
“You said that you wouldn’t go canoeing with him.”
“Oh get off of it already,” Jay complained.  She felt guilty now, and she knew that was stupid.  Alex didn’t like her any more than she liked him.  He was just being nice to her because he wanted the stupid curse broken, and by someone other than him.  “It must really suck being good looking,” she commented idly as she felt herself shooed from the kitchen, and an apple pressed into her hand.
She actually knew the face of the one that did it, and for a second she swore she saw the older woman’s movements.  It made her grin even as she walked away from the kitchen, taking a bite of her apple.  Things hadn’t really changed, save for the fact that she just couldn’t see them.  “Hey… Chak, you guys can see each other, right?”
“Yes, Princess.  It would make us ineffective if we couldn’t.”
“Then it’s just me and outsiders that can’t see you?”
“It seems so.”
A bit of relief ran through Jay’s body.  If they could see each other they wouldn’t feel so strange.  “That’s good,” she said.  “I mean, how could you court that little maid of yours if you couldn’t?”
Chak coughed rather than answer that, and she let out a laugh before taking another bite of her apple.  The hall was empty, but she didn’t feel quite as alone as she had at first.  “I should go see Bizby after dinner.  He’s probably feeling lonely.”
“Princess--”
“I’m not giving up my dragon, either, Chak.  So don’t ask me to.”
“Yes, Princess.”
She jerked suddenly, her eyes widening in horror as she realized something very important.  “The rose.”
“Princess?”
“I’ll be back.  Tell everyone to eat without me, but make a plate,” she said before racing for the door.  She had forgotten to get the rose from Alex again!  She had been so busy talking to his parents that she had completely forgotten what she had gone there for!
It was really pathetic that she only realized it a week later, she thought in disgust as she started running through the woods.  Her stomach grumbled its irritation, telling her that the smells from the kitchen were stuck firmly in its memory, but she ignored it.  She had to get that stupid rose.  It played a big part in this curse, and how was she to know when time was almost up when she couldn’t even see it?  With her luck that idiot Alex would know a trick to make it bloom faster!  That was the last thing she wanted!
She jumped a log, skidding to a halt at the edge of the town and looking at it blankly for a long moment.  It was still light out, much to her irritation, and a soft pink color washed over the small brick buildings in front of her.  Faded signs and flickering lights gave it a worn, yet comfortable feel that she almost wished she had time to enjoy.  But she didn’t.
With that thought she headed for the back of the flower shop, taking the fire exit to the kitchen window once again and peering in.  There was no one there, but she could hear faint voices from inside.  Her ears twitched slightly and she leaned against the window, wishing she had a cup of some sort to enhance the sound.  Then abruptly her hearing sharpened and she could hear every word.  Quickly enough she wished she couldn’t.

***

“Well… son,” John said, looking a bit uncomfortable where he was standing in the middle of Alex’s bedroom.  He had come in from the fields early for this, and he wished he hadn’t had to.  “And before I say anything else, I want you to know, no matter what, you’re still our son.  We raised you, and we love you.  But--”
“But what?” Alex asked.  The magic on his hand had finally faded, yet he could still feel a slight tingle there, and it made him feel irritable.  “You’re just now telling me that I’m not really your kid?”
“You are our kid!” Bertha said urgently as she moved to his side, getting to her knees.  “Your are our beloved son, and no matter who might have given birth to you, you always will be!”  She took his hand, holding it tightly.  “We just wanted you to have a normal childhood.  Something that we could provide that your real father couldn’t.”
“My real--”   His eyes widened as everything snapped into place.  “Winstead!”
“Well, yes, actually,” Bertha said with a sigh even as sparks appeared in the corner, and an oddly subdued Winstead stepped into sight.
“So you’ve told him?” Winstead asked.  “Has he decided yet?”
“We haven’t gotten quite that far yet,” John said a bit irritably.  “Give us time.  Or better yet, maybe you should explain.”
“Yes, father,” Alex drawled sarcastically as he looked at the fairy godfather.  “Why don’t you explain?”
“Well,” Winstead said as he grabbed a chair from the corner and sat down.  “It all started almost twenty years ago, when I met a stray Little Red Riding Hood.”
“You pedophile!” Alex shouted as he shoved himself to his feet, about to beat his god—no, his father.
“She wasn’t that young!  She was at least seventeen!” Winstead argued.  “Maybe older.  Her curse had been ruined, though, since her grandmother ran off to Vegas with the woodsman before the wolf could get to her.  So I took her in.  We fell in love, and you were born.”  He fell silent for a moment, his jaw tightening.  “But one day when she was out gathering herbs the wolf that was supposed to have been killed by the woodsman came back.  She was killed.”
Silence filled the room as Alex forced himself to deal with that scene.  “So you brought me to my parents?”
“They’re good people,” Winstead said.  “And I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the best father figure.  Godfathering I can handle, but being a dad?  No, John’s a much better father than I am.”
Alex fell silent, reluctantly acknowledging that there was logic in Winstead’s plan.  He had had a good childhood, other than the looks—“Wait,” he said.  “So the perfect hair, the face, all of that wasn’t just some blessings you gave me as a child?”
“In a way, yes… but not really.  You were born the way you are.  You have the ability to become a fairy godfather if you wish,” Winstead admitted.  “That was the decision I was talking about earlier.  You’ve already been working as my assistant in the beast case, whether you realize it or not.”
“Not just the beast case, is it?” Alex said in a numb tone.  “I’ve been working as your assistant all along, haven’t I?  With the twelve princesses, with--”
“Well, yes, actually.”
“You bastard!” Alex said, jumping to his feet.  “You didn’t even pay me!”
“You have a savings account that I’ve been putting the money in,” Winstead said, waving it off.  “It’s been collecting interest for years.”
“Oh,” Alex fell back on his bed, turning to look at the pink rose in the beer bottle on the dresser.
“You really should give that back to the princess,” Winstead added.  “It’s starting to bloom.”
“Alex, you didn’t give that poor girl her rose?” Bertha asked, sounding shocked.
“I keep forgetting,” Alex said.  He didn’t appear too bothered by that fact.  “So my job with Jay is to find her a prince?” he asked Winstead as he sat up again.
“She’s a difficult case,” Winstead admitted.  “Her parents are happily married, with no stepmothers to speak of.  They’re touring the islands right now, actually.  The local dragons love her, and she isn’t in a position where she would have a wicked sorceress hating her.  She’s not pretty enough, you see.  In fact the sorceresses in the area adore her, since she makes them seem so classy.”
Alex groaned.  “She would, too.”
“She’s not a bad kid, either, although she’s a bit rough around the edges,” Winstead went on.  “Had she been born a boy she would have been the perfect prince.  Unfortunately, she’s a female.”
“There’s nothing wrong with her, in other words.  She just doesn’t fit into the mold people want to stick her in,” Alex said coldly.  “So if I were to become a fairy godfather I could break the curse without forcing her to marry some stranger.”
“No,” Winstead said. “Because that wasn’t the curse in the first place.”
“What?”
“Well, yes, marriage is the traditional way to break the beast curse.  But that’s not the case here.  All I asked was that she becomes a proper princess.  Love usually changes a woman, this is true, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that.”
“Why in the hell would you ask for something like that?” Alex demanded in sudden outrage.
“Well, she is a princess--”
“Who cares if she’s a princess?  She’s the first princess I’ve ever met that doesn’t make me want to slam my head against a wall!” Alex said.  “She cares about her kingdom, she knows her guard by their voices, and she isn’t hurting anyone with being a sports nut, even if it is a bit overblown!  So what if she’s a bit rude at times?”
“You don’t seem to understand,” Winstead said calmly.  “She’s a princess.  Unless she learns proper manners her kingdom is doomed in the future.  Proper manners are one of the greatest arsenals in a ruler’s possession.  Her parents have been much too lax.”
“And what about the deadline for marriage?” Alex asked.
“That I expect you to come up with a resolution for,” Winstead said.  “You’ve been doing a great job finding potentials so far!  Keep up the good work,” he added before disappearing from the room.
Alex scowled, falling back on his bed once again and staring at the ceiling.
“We’ll just leave you to think, Alex,” Bertha said as she got to her feet.  “I’m sure you’ll make the right decision.”
Alex could only snort derisively.  Was there even a right decision to make?  It seemed to him that it had already been made for him.
“Great… just great.”

***

Jay’s heart was pounding hard against her chest.  She had run as soon as she realized what had happened.  Somehow Alex was the son of the very fairy that had cursed her! She had recognized that voice the moment she heard it. And he was helping that fairy!  He had deceived her.  That was the only reasonable explanation.  He had deceived her from the very beginning, and—she sniffled loudly, hugging her legs to her chest as she stared blindly at the woods that surrounded her.  She had thought he was her friend!  But a real friend would have told her that he knew who was responsible for her curse!
She was an idiot.  That was all there was to it, she thought with a sigh.  She was an idiot to trust a guy with a face like that.  Not once had she had a good experience with a guy that good looking.
“Princess…”  The whispered call made her turn, her eyes widening at the sight of a tearful looking Bizby watching her from the trees.
“Bizby?  Where have you been?”
“Looking for a cure,” he said as he lowered his head onto his giant claws.  They were too big for him, still, but she realized he would grow into them sooner or later.  His blue scales looked faded, as if he hadn’t been feeding himself properly.  It made her worried.
“Did you find anything?” she asked.
“Sorry,” he said, starting to back away from her.
“No, Bizby, don’t leave me,” Jay pleaded, holding out her arms as tears threatened.  “Please?”
He nodded and slowly approached her, his nostrils flaring as he caught her scent, as if he wanted to run.  But slowly he stopped next to her, dropping down at her side and letting her lean against him.  “Why are you crying?” he asked.
“I’m not crying.”
“You smell like salt water.”
Jay snorted, wiping irritably at her face.  “He’s not worth crying over,” she told the dragon.
“Who?”
“No one important,” she said, relaxing against his warm body with a sigh.  “You need to go hunting, Bizby.  You could be knocked over with a strong breeze in this state.”
“I’m not hungry.”
“Then eat for me,” Jay said.  “I can’t let people think I have a starved dragon, now can I?”
“I’m worried,” Bizby admitted.  “I don’t like you furry.”
“Me neither.”
“Yeah.”  He fell silent for a long moment before speaking again.  “Your curse… it’s attracted a lot of bad things to the area.  So be careful.”  He pulled away from her, flapping his wings once, then twice before he took to the air.  “Go back to the castle, Princess.  I have to go hunting.”
She sat there, not sure what he was talking about.  Bad things?  What sort of bad things would a beast curse bring?  She shook her head and shoved herself to her feet.  Bizby knew what he was talking about, no doubt, so she would be better off just doing as he said.
Unlike Alex, Bizby had been nothing but trustworthy.

***

“Look, it’s not like we need that guy to lead us to the castle,” Jack said to the rest of the basketball group.  He was still stinging from the attack Alex had hit him with, and he wanted revenge.  He looked over the small group that had come with him, noting how worried they looked as they glanced at the woods behind him.  “We’ll go up there on our own.  If this chick can make Mick such a better player, then think of what she can do for us, right?”
“Yeah!” they said, but their voices seemed to peter out a bit as a howl filled the air.  The only thing that kept them from running away was that they were in a group.  There was power in numbers, they agreed silently.
“Then let’s get going!” Jack shouted, raising a fist to the sky.  They bellowed in response, racing into the woods at full speed, led by the slowly rising full moon.

***

Mick was lost.  He stared stupidly at the wall of thorns in front of him, shoving his hands a bit deeper into his pockets as he looked around.  He could have sworn that this was how he had gotten to the castle the first time!  “Maybe I should have called first, or something,” he said to himself as he turned.  The forest was eerily silent, but he only noticed that absently.  His mind was already working on other paths that he might take.
“Are you going to the princess?” a voice asked from the trees, making him turn and peer into the darkness.
“Well I was thinking about it,” he admitted, not sure he should be talking to strangers.  Then again, he wasn’t a kid anymore.  He could handle a curious stranger.  “But it looks like she’s busy right now.”
“She was never meant to be turned into a beast,” the voice said with a hint of mournfulness.  “She was so beautiful, so perfect.  And now she’s a monster thanks to those meddling old busybodies.”  A sigh filled the air and Mick suddenly felt a little too warm.  He reached up, tugging at his t-shirt collar.
“Really?” he asked.  “You knew her before she was changed?”
“Of course I knew her,” the voice said with a hint of irritation.  “She’s mine, after all.  My little princess.  You know…”
“Yes?”
“There’s a way to turn her back,” the voice said.  “It wouldn’t take much trouble at all.  And she would really appreciate the person that did it for her.”
“It’s marriage, right?” Mick asked knowingly.  “Yeah, I heard all about that.  But first I have to beat her in basketball.  I’ve gotten better already, I think--”
“There’s another way.”
“Huh?”
“The only reason she’s a beast right now is because of the fairy that cursed her,” the voice said.  “Take the magic from the fairy and the beast becomes a girl again.”
“Yeah?  How do you do that?” Mick asked.
“Simple.  You kill him.”
“Whooooah,” Mick said, moving back quickly.  “I’m not a murderer.  And I’ve heard some scary stories about those fairy people.  They’re dangerous.”
“Not nearly as dangerous as I am,” the voice said as its owner stepped into view, eyes gleaming eerily in the full moon light.  Mick went still, his face going completely blank as his eyes flashed once.
“Kill the fairy. I wonder why I never thought of that before,” Mick said finally, rubbing his chin slightly as he turned and walked away.
The voice and the glowing eyes disappeared as if they had never been there.


Chapter Five


“What do you mean the basketball team is missing?” Alex said in shock the next morning.  Bobby stood in front of him, looking stressed.
“Just that, okay?  I heard them talking last practice about going to ask you about the princess.  What did you tell them?”
“I told them that this weekend was football,” Alex said, not mentioning the spark that had hit their leader in the chest.  “I don’t know what they did after that.”
“Fine,” Bobby said, taking a deep breath.  “Maybe they just felt like skipping out somewhere.”  He ran a hand over his face.  “Man what lousy timing… we’ve got a game coming up!”
Alex fell silent, feeling a hint of worry creeping over him.  This was starting to sound like another aspect of the Beast curse.  The mob part.  But if it was a mob—He stood abruptly, startling Bobby.  “I’m going to the castle,” Alex said as he rounded the counter and flipped the “closed” sign on the door.  “You should get back to school.”
“I’m going with you,” Bobby said.
“Are all of them gone?” Alex asked.  “The entire team?”
“No, just Jack and a few others.  Mick didn’t seem too bothered by them being gone.  But he wouldn’t be.  With Jack gone his place in the game is pretty much a sure thing,” Bobby said with a hint of irritation.  “You don’t think they went to bug the princess, do you?”
“If they did, we’ll find out soon enough,” Alex said as he slipped on his sunglasses and headed for the woods.  Bobby followed, falling silent.  There was a strange feel to the woods, Alex realized as they got there.  It was foggy again, he noticed.  That same heavy fog from his first trip had returned, with a vengeance.
“It wasn’t like this when Mick and I came,” Bobby said.
“Yeah,” Alex said, shoving his hands into his pockets.  “Something’s wrong.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean something’s not right.  Something’s changed in this curse.”  He wasn’t sure how he knew it, but he did.  “Then again, it’s been messed up since the beginning.”  He looked around, searching for the same woman that had helped him through the first time.  She was nowhere to be seen.  “Winstead!” he bellowed instead, looking irritable.  “Winstead, you annoying pedophile fairy! Where the heck--”
“What are you thinking, man?  You don’t talk to fairies like that!  He might turn you into a frog or something!” Bobby said even as golden sparks appeared in front of them.
“I am not a pedophile,” Winstead said with a highly offended look.  “But what is it?”
“The basketball team’s gone missing,” Alex said.  “And something’s weird about this place.”
“Hmmm,” Winstead said as he looked around.  “You’re right.”
“So do something about it!”
“Unfortunately, this is something that won’t stop until the curse is broken,” Winstead said.  “Your friend might be able to help out with that.”
“What about the basketball team?”
“I have no clue,” Winstead admitted.  “I’m a fairy godfather, not God.  But you should probably find them soon.  I’ve got a bet on that game, you know,” he said before disappearing in front of their eyes.
“Maybe they’re with the princess?” Bobby suggested, not sounding very positive about it.
“Let’s keep going,” Alex said, not replying to that idea.  He couldn’t see more than a foot in front of him, and Winstead hadn’t cleared up the fog, irritatingly enough.  “He could have at least helped us out,” he complained.
“He’s your fairy godfather, right?” Bobby asked.  “I heard that you had one--”
“He’s my old man.”
“What?”
“I just found out myself.  Not the best news I’ve ever had, trust me,” Alex said, biting back a curse as he tripped over a vine.  He barely managed to keep from falling flat on his face.  That would have been impressive, he thought dryly.
“So the pedophile comment?”  Bobby asked.
“My mom was a failed Little Red Riding Hood,” Alex said.
“Ooooh.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s… awkward.”
“Yeah,” Alex agreed as he ran straight into a wall of thorns.  He pulled back, grateful that he had been reaching with his hand before moving forward.  The hand was bleeding.  “Great.”
“What is it?” Bobby asked.
“A wall of thorns,” Alex said, wiping the blood on his jeans, only to groan as more blood flowed.  “It got me pretty good, too,” he added as he sat down, ripping at his worn t-shirt to make a makeshift bandage.  He wrapped the hand up somewhat clumsily then stood again to look at the wall.  “We need an ax.”
“What?”
“An ax.  We won’t be getting through without one.  Preferably an enchanted ax or something.  Do you know any woodsmen?”  But he really didn’t want to bring a woodsman into this situation.  He was really starting to dislike those guys. First there was the conversation with that female fairy, then there was the fact that his grandmother… or great grandmother, had run off with one, and then—
“Not really, no,” Bobby said.  “But the school janitor might have one.  I’ll go see if I can get it.”  He turned and ran before Alex could reply, leaving the blonde boy staring at the wall of thorns, still bleeding.
“I’m supposed to become a fairy godfather, right?” Alex asked himself after a long moment of silence.  “Then I should be able to clear the path.”  He cracked his knuckles, ignoring how his injured hand still stung.  “Except I have absolutely no idea how to do that,” he admitted, feeling like an idiot.
He rubbed his temple, sensing a headache coming on.  The basketball team was either at the castle, or somewhere in this forest, possibly dead.  He had heard of curses that got a lot of people killed before they were broken.  But the Beast curse had usually only gotten one or two killed.
“What’s going on here?” he demanded angrily of the woods.  “This isn’t how it’s supposed to go!”
The only response he got was a bird taking flight, startled by his yelling.  He took a deep breath and his shoulders slumped.  “Jay… you better not be dead,” he whispered as he turned back to the wall of thorns.  “Get out of my way,” he told it, his hand fisting at his side.
There was a slight rustling sound and slowly the vines started to unravel, leaving a hole just large enough for him to walk through.  He did, wincing as the vines snapped right back into place behind him. “Thank you,” he said stiffly before heading to the large, suddenly sinister looking gate of the castle.  It swung open slowly, as if it were reluctant to let him in.  “Where is she?”
“The Princess is in the ballroom,” one of the invisible guards told him.  His voice was weak, and Alex could barely hear him.  But he nodded, heading down the path to the now familiar open doors.  Yet another sign that things weren’t going well, he thought in irritation.
“Jay!” he called as he caught sight of the werewolf princess.  She was alone, standing at the free throw line with her basketball in her hands.  But she just stood there, staring up at the basket blankly, and it worried him.  “Hey, Jay, have you seen the--”
“I’m not talking to you,” Jay said, not even bothering to turn around as she finally let the ball go.
“What?”
“I hope you brought my rose, because I never want to deal with you again.”
“I uh… forgot it,” he admitted.  “I came here because the basketball team is missing.”
“And what?  Do you think I’ve captured them?  What in the world would I do with a basketball team?”
“No, I didn’t--Are you mad at me?”
“Why on earth should I be mad at you?” she asked, grabbing the ball as it bounced back. “Oh, I know!  Maybe it has something to do with your father, huh?”
“My father?  Did he do something to you at dinner?”
“Not that father!  The other one!” Jay said as she finally turned to look at him.  Without a thought she threw the ball, hitting him hard in the chest with it.  “Your fairy godfather daddy.  The one that changed me into this thing.  Understand?”
“You knew about that?”
“I do now.”
“Jay, I didn’t—I swear I didn’t know it was my father that did this to you.  I--”
“Don’t lie to me, Alex.  I’m sick and tired of people lying to me.  You’ve been helping him out, haven’t you?  You probably knew the entire time that this was going to happen!  I hate you!”
Alex went perfectly still, her words repeating in his mind over and over again until he felt something snap.  “Well I’m not too fond of you, either.  And you know what?  I don’t care if your curse never breaks.  You can just stay like this for the rest of your life!  I’m through with trying to make things easier for you,” he added before turning and storming away.  The large doors of the ballroom slammed shut behind him, leaving Jay standing there alone.
“Fine!” she bellowed a bit too late.  “It’s not like I ever asked for your help in the first place!  You—you stupid pretty boy!”
The only response she got in return was the basketball’s slowing bounce before it rolled across the wooden floor and hit her foot.  She was tempted to kick it, but instead she turned and walked away, her hands fisted at her sides, tears threatening to fall.  She was better off this way, she told herself.  “Yeah… better off.”
Her voice wasn’t even strong enough for the words to be echoed back.

***

“Jack…”  The word was faint, barely reaching him through the darkness.  “Wake up, Jack!  C’mon, man, you have to wake up!  If you don’t, we’ll all wind up dead!”
Jack opened one eye, looking blankly at the guy leaning over him for a long moment before realizing where he was.  “What the--”   He looked around, taking in the strange cage of thick vines that surrounded him and the other basketball players.  It wasn’t dark anymore.  There was a hint of light leaking through the vines--just enough to give it an unnatural feel, enhancing the shadows.
The air was still, with a hint of humidity that reminded him of every horror movie that he had ever seen taking place in the woods.  There was no sound, save their breathing, which rasped in his ears, grating on his nerves.
“We fell… I think,” one of the guys said. It was Jimmy.  Jimmy was with him, and alive.  He turned, counting heads.  They were all with him, some more tattered looking than others, but awake.  “We’ve been here all night. School’s already started.”
“Anybody got a knife, or something?” Jack asked.  He ignored the school statement.  There was nothing he could do about it.  “Even a pocket knife is better than nothing.”
“I do,” Jimmy said, digging in his pocket.
“Then start trying to cut through this stuff,” Jack ordered.  “Does anybody have a fairy godmother, or father, or any of that kind of bull in this group?”  One by one each of them shook their heads, looking ashamed.  “Well, neither do I, so don’t worry about it,” he admitted as he leaned back and rubbed his temple.  “We’ll take turns with the blade.”
“What do we do when it goes dull?” Jimmy asked.
“We look for another way out,” Jack said, staring at the ceiling of vines.  They hadn’t fallen into this place.  If they had there would have been a hole there.  No, they had been put there.  But the real question was, by whom?
“We’ll get out of this, guys.  I promise,” he told them firmly.  “In time for basketball practice, even.  We’ve got a game coming up, right?”
“Yeah… yeah, Jack,” Jimmy said, not sounding nearly as confident as Jack wished.

***

“That annoying, no good, stuck up little brat!” Alex growled, more than halfway home by now, but still going.  “I was right about princesses after all!  They’re all a pain in the neck!”  He turned, shouting at the woods, his hands waving in the air.  “You can have her, you stupid woods!  For all I care--”
“There is power in words,” Winstead said from behind him, making him jerk and turn.  “Especially yours, Alex.  I would be careful about what you say in anger if I were you.”
“I never wanted these stupid godfather powers, Winstead.  This is all your fault!”
“You’ve been in many situations like this before,” Winstead said, a curious look on his face as he took in his son’s anger.  “You’ve gotten mad at me before, as well.  But something’s different about this one.”
“Yeah?  What about the fact that you’re responsible for all of this?  Is that enough to make it different?”
“No, since I was responsible for most of those in the past, as well,” Winstead said, much to Alex’s shock.  “I’m afraid fairy godfathers play the role of the villain more often than not.  That’s why fairy godmothers are mentioned more often.”
“Wait.  You’re saying you usually cause the problems that I have to help clean up?”
“Unfortunately that’s how things work in magical stories.  Someone with power has to cause them.  For every good story there has to be complications.  I just help add those complications,” Winstead said with a shrug.  “It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.”
“Things would be a lot better off without you, you mean,” Alex said.  “And you expect me to take this job?  Knowing what you just told me?”
“Do you really think things would be better without me?” Winstead asked with a hint of hurt.  “Princes would never have to overcome trials to find love, peasants would never become princesses, frogs would never be kissed, and you would have never met Jay.”
Alex went perfectly still, his expression patently blank.  “Like I said.  Everything would be better off.”
“You don’t mean that,” Winstead said.  “If you really didn’t like her you wouldn’t be so mad.”
“You want a bet?” Alex demanded.  “I’ve made my decision, Winstead.  I don’t want to go into the family business.  Got it?  So no more princesses, no more curses, none of that.  Just leave me alone.”
“And what about the basketball team?” Winstead asked as Alex started towards the town.  “What about all the people you’ve dragged into this curse?  There’s only supposed to be three main players, but you’ve pulled far more than that into it.  Take responsibility for your actions, Alex.  Your face isn’t going to save you in this one.”
Alex froze, feeling the irony slap him in the face as Bobby came from the town, an ax in his hands.  “I got the ax!” Bobby called.  “We can cut—um, am I interrupting something?” he asked as he looked from Alex to Winstead then back.
“As a matter of fact, you are,” Winstead said bluntly.  “But we were about finished, weren’t we, son?”
“I’ll fix this one,” Alex said coldly, not looking at the fairy.  “But after this is over, I don’t want to have anything to do with you,” he finished before walking away.
“But weren’t we going to the castle?” Bobby asked.
“He already has,” Winstead said.  “Be careful when you go into those woods, Bobby.  Things are not as they should be.”
“What does that--”   Bobby stopped as he realized the fairy godfather was gone.  He stood there, abandoned by both Alex and Winstead, the ax in his hands.  For a long moment he looked at the woods, a chill of worry running down his spine.  Was he strong enough to go in on his own?  Who knew what had happened to Jack and the others?  And they had gone in as a group.  This wasn’t normal forest problems, like wolves, or poisonous plants, this was magic. And Bobby was just one guy.
He let the head of the ax hit the ground, leaning on it for a long moment as he tried to decide.  After a time he picked the ax up and turned back to the town.  Once school was over he would get Mick and make him come with him.  “Sorry guys,” he said, feeling like a coward.  “But I’ll be back.  I promise.”

***

“This isn’t good, this isn’t good,” Marilynn said as she paced through the Fairy Bar and Grill, not even touching the drink she had left on the counter.  “Oh dear, oh me, I don’t know what to do.”
“Things will work out.”  She glanced up as Winstead appeared on a stool next to the bar, picking up the drink she had left there.  “My son is on the case,” he added as he took a gulp.
“Your son?  You mean that blonde boy that has no idea what he’s doing?”
“He’s not quite that bad,” Winstead said.  The older fairy just looked at him for a long moment until he was forced to take another drink.  “Okay, so this is his training.  He’ll figure something out.  He’s far more responsible than I am, you know.”
“Have you seen the vines that overrun the forest?” Marilynn asked pointedly.  “That’s a clear sign of the Sleeper curse.  The curses are getting mixed up, Winstead, and I blame it completely on you.”
“There are roses in the Beast curse, Marilynn.  I highly doubt it’s a mixing.  I think this curse has just been a bit… changed,” Winstead said, but the hesitation in his voice with made her eyes narrow on him.  “We expected that, you recall.  Changing a princess into a beast is going to result in such things.”
“Then why did we do it?” she asked.
“Because you were drunk and I needed a harder challenge for my son’s training,” Winstead said bluntly.  “He has the ability to become one of the best fairy godfathers out there, you realize.  He just needs to be challenged.”
“At the risk of my godchild?”
“Your godchild is perfectly safe at the moment.  It’s a few of the local boys that seem to be in trouble.”
They both fell silent, until Marilynn spoke.  “The boy in the woods, Jack, was it?  He was supposed to receive beans this weekend.  It’s one of the younger godmother’s jobs.”
“The beanstalk curse?” Winstead asked, surprised.  “In this day and age?”
“You know as well as I do that these curses have nothing to do with what age it is,” Marilynn said as if quoting something she had memorized a long time ago.  “They are classics that surpass all boundaries.’”
“We should consider ourselves lucky that he’s not going to be there,” Winstead said, completely ignoring the quotation.  “The last thing we need in this area is a rampaging giant.”
“Isn’t that the truth?” Marilynn admitted as she finally sat down on a stool, leaning back against the bar.  “I fear I’m a bit too old for this job.”
“Honestly, you look younger than you did when I first saw you,” Winstead told her.  “Action seems to agree with you, Madame.”
“You’re just trying to butter me up,” Marilynn said dryly.
“Ah, perhaps a bit,” Winstead admitted.  “But it’s true.  Action seems to suit you better than inaction.”
“Well… thank you.”
“And you don’t seem to be drinking as much now, either,” he added as he put the empty glass down on the bar and stood, tossing some money down.  “The last thing this world needs is a drunken fairy,” he added before disappearing.


Chapter Six


 Depression sucked.  It was a waste of time and energy, and she wasn’t going to deal with it anymore.  Jay sniffled angrily, taking one last swipe at the tears that were slowly trickling down her face before she got to her feet.  She would solve this curse on her own.  Then she would never have to deal with Alex the betrayer again.
She headed out of the ballroom and into the castle, taking the grand stairs three at a time because they were shallow.  When she reached her own rooms she headed for the closet, pulling out clothes at random, until she found what she was looking for.  Alex’s father had said something about learning to be a princess.  When she learned to be a princess the curse would be broken.
So she would just learn to be a princess, she thought as she stared at the ball gown in her hands with a hint of horror creeping down her spine.  She hated these things.  She would rather face down dragons barehanded, or climb up towers, or, well, anything, really.  Anything was better than wearing sixty pounds of cloth and makeup.  But it wasn’t the dress she hated the most, she thought as she reluctantly placed it on the large bed.  It was the pantyhose.
“You don’t expect me to shave my legs in this form, right?” she asked the room.
“Well, princess,” a soft female voice started out.
“No, seriously, I don’t think it’ll work,” Jay said.  “This is a beast curse, right?  Who knows if the hair won’t just grow back the moment you shave it.  I think we’ll just have to ignore the pantyhose this time.”
The silence told her that she had won that point, so she started stripping off her clothes, then reached for the dress, cursing as her claws ripped through the delicate silk with a sickening sound.  “I swear I didn’t do that on purpose,” she said, dropping the ruined dress and taking a step back, her hands in the air.
Soon there was a bustle of clothes being moved around her, draped over her head, wrapped around her waist.  She didn’t even have time to complain before she was wearing a full set of silk undergarments, save for the pantyhose.  When she lowered her hand to touch it she almost jumped as it was slapped.  “Oh, right, um, sorry,” she said, holding both hands up.
The hands were taken and she was led by the invisible grip to the vanity, where she watched in amazement as files appeared out of nowhere, filing down the claws before they were painted a deep burgundy red. A slight tick started developing in her jaw, but she ignored it.  She was having enough trouble breathing in the undergarments as it was.  The last thing she needed to do was talk more than she had to.
This, she thought as they started brushing her fur, was hell.  She winced as the comb hit a snag, trying not to growl.  It wasn’t their fault that her fur tended to tangle. It wasn’t their fault—“Why are you plucking?” she demanded as she jumped to her feet.  “I’m covered in fur!  You don’t pluck your dog, don’t pluck me!”
“Princess, your eyebrows are too bushy.”
“Of course they are!  All of me is bushy!” she said even as invisible hands pushed her back down in her seat.
“But we can fix the eyebrows,” the voice said firmly before the tweezers went back to work.
“Ow… ow… owww,” Jay muttered, hating being a princess more with each and every pluck.  “What do thin eyebrows have to do with running a kingdom?” she asked.
“Nothing, if you’re a male,” the voice replied.  “But people like to see their female rulers as being beautiful and graceful; which means no excess facial hair.”
“I’m not beautiful,” Jay said irritably.  “I wasn’t even beautiful when I was human.  This is a waste of time.”  She tried to get up, but several hands held her down at once.
“You were not blonde and bubbly.  That does not mean you weren’t beautiful in your own way,” the voice said firmly.  “Or would have been, had you put some effort into it.  Not all beauty is on the outside, though, and you of all people should realize this.”
Jay sighed, falling back into the chair and resting her chin on her fist as they went right back to their tweezing and brushing.  “Ow… ow… owww,” she muttered.  “It’s not fair, though.  Alex is super good looking, and I give you odds he doesn’t have to go through this sort of thing.”
“It’s so true,” a different, younger voice complained.  “Men are so lucky.”
“I’ve met many a man that would benefit from a good plucking job, thank you very much,” the voice that was obviously the woman in control said.  “It’s not that they’re lucky, it’s just that women are less demanding than they are.  You don’t hear me complaining that my husband has a bit of paunch around the waist, now do you?”
“You just did.”
“That was an example!”
“But Alex is different,” Jay said.  “I bet he would look perfect even after a week of sleeplessness.  He’d probably even look good as a beast!  It’s completely not fair.”
“Well she’s got that right,” the younger voice said.  “He’s so tasty looking that it gives a girl hunger pains.”
“Marie!” the older voice said in a reprimanding tone.  “You do not speak of such in front of a virgin!”
“Just because the princess is a virgin doesn’t mean she’s blind, Miss Pheobe,” Marie said.  “Why I bet babies still in their diapers realize what a beautiful man that is.  She was just complaining about it, weren’t you, Princess?”
“He’s too good looking if you ask me,” Jay admitted.  “He’s probably never had to work for anything in his life.  All he has to do is flash that smile of his and he gets whatever he wants.”
“Well either way, up with you.  We need to get your dress on.  Then you can work on your dancing in the ballroom.  That is, if you haven’t destroyed it completely with your game playing.”  Hands pulled Jay to her feet and she let them finish dressing her in a gown that had a skirt so large and poofy that she couldn’t see the ground unless she leaned forward.  It was blue, she thought, and it made her fur look grayer.  But she didn’t dare mention that in case they decided to change her from the bottom up again.
“Shoes!” Marie said.
“No way,” Jay said, grabbing her skirt with both hands and heading for the door at an almost run.
“But Princess—”
“Let her go.  Those feet of hers would never work with shoes, anyway,” Pheobe said as the door closed behind Jay.  Jay let out a relieved sigh, heading for the stairs and slowing down to take them one at a time.  The last thing she wanted was to fall head over heels down the steps.
“See this?” she asked the house once she got to the foyer.  “I’m dressed as a princess.  I’m taking the stairs one at a time.  I even had my eyebrows plucked!  Tell me that’s not enough to break this stupid curse!”
There was no reply.  She could feel a cold breeze flow through the foyer as the doors in front of her opened.  But she still couldn’t see her servants.  Her shoulders slumped.  “Then fine.  I’ll dance,” she said as her jaw tilted up stubbornly.  She headed for the door, still holding her dress up so she didn’t step on it.  “But I won’t like it!” she added.
“Princess?”
“Not now, Chak.  I have to dance to break the curse.”
“But Princess, one of the males that was here the other day has returned,” Chak said.
“Huh?  If it’s Alex, I don’t want to see him,” she said even as she moved out the door, heading down the path that led to the ballroom. There was an entrance to the ballroom from the main castle, but she preferred going outside, especially when all the clothing she wore threatened to overheat her.  The fur wasn’t helping with the situation, either.
“No, Princess.  It’s one of the basketball players,” Chak said as he followed her to the ballroom.  Jay pulled to a halt as she saw the redheaded male from before standing in the middle of the ballroom, a serious look on his face as he turned to her.
“Princess,” Mick said.  “I mean… wow.  You look really pretty.”
“You’re kidding me, right?” Jay asked.  “I’m a werewolf in a skirt.”
“Well, yeah, but,” he said as he looked down at his baggy knit shorts and t-shirt with a shrug.  “You’re really pretty for a werewolf in a skirt,” he said with a grin.
“Thank you,” she said with a smile.  “Sorry I can’t help you with your game right now, I’m--”
“No, it’s fine.  Really,” he said.  “But why are you dressed like that?”
“I’m trying to break the curse by dancing,” she said.  “I’m not sure it’ll work, but I figured I might as well try.”
“But… who would you dance with?  There’s nobody here.”
“There is now,” she said, holding out her hand.  “Will you dance with me--”   She stopped, looking at him.
“Mick,” he said as he took the hand.
“Mick,” she repeated as they started to dance.  Was he the one?  He was a little short, but it wouldn’t kill her.  He wasn’t nearly as good looking at Alex was, either.  But he liked to play basketball.
“Do you know who put this curse on you?” Mick asked, cocking his head slightly as he looked at her.
“Um… yes, actually,” she said, distracted from her thinking.  She winced as he stepped on her skirt, but said nothing.  It wasn’t as if she was that great of a dancer, either.
“Really?  It’s not just some random evil wizard or something?”
“No, it was a fairy godfather.”
“Alex’s fairy godfather?” he asked.  There was something different about his tone, Jay noticed, and for some strange reason the fur on the back of her neck threatened to stand up.  She looked closer at him, a frown pulling at her lips as she caught sight of a strange gleam in his eyes.
“Yes, actually,” she said, wondering why he seemed so interested.  “Mick, are you not feeling well?”
“I’m fine,” he said, shaking his head slightly as if trying to clear his mind.  He stepped back, letting go of her.  “But I should get going.  Good luck with your dancing!” he added before turning and running for the doors.
“Mick?” she called after him.  He glanced over his shoulder, looking at her for a second, as if confused.  “Mick, are you--”
Then he was gone, running away before she could even finish the question.

***

Alex stared at the almost fully bloomed rose on the counter.  It was glowing, a soft pink color that radiated from the center of the rose.  It would start to wither soon, he realized.  And when it did, Jay would be stuck in the situation she was in.
He reached up and rubbed the bridge of his nose to try and ward off the headache that thought was giving him.  Did it matter if Jay was a werewolf for the rest of her life?  Yes, he admitted as he leaned back, staring at the ceiling.  “No one deserves to be stuck like that.”
The bell on the door rang loudly as it opened.  “I’m out of school,” Bobby said as he walked in, the ax in his hand.  “But Mick disappeared sometime when I wasn’t looking.  Nobody knows where he’s gotten off to.  So will you go with me?”
“Are you sure Mick didn’t go with the other guys from the basketball team?” Alex asked.
“No way.  I told you, I saw him this morning, remember?  And Jack hates him.  He’s scared that Mick’s going to take his place in the game coming up, remember?”
“Oh… right.”  Alex took a deep breath and got to his feet, grabbing the rose from off of the counter.  “Then let’s go.  I’ve got something I need to give Jay, anyway.”
“That rose?”  Bobby asked.  “Is it a gift?  I mean, if you’re--”
“This is her rose,” Alex said, feeling a hint of heat creep up the back of his neck at the thought of taking her flowers.  Why would he do something stupid like that?  Seriously, he was playing the role of the fairy godfather’s assistant, not perspective lover!  “It comes with the curse.”
“Then… why do you have it?” Bobby asked.
“Because the little idiot left it in the woods the first day she got it,” Alex said.  “I picked it up, and have been taking care of it ever since.  But--”   He looked at the rose.  “She needs to see this.”
“Oh.”
They headed out the door without a word, each glancing at the rose once in a while, as if it would start to wilt during the time they looked away.  “You know,” Bobby said after a while, “I’m kind of young to get married.  I mean, she’s a nice girl and everything, but--”
“You think you’re too young, just look at her.  She’s not even seventeen yet,” Alex said irritably.  “It’s not fair, forcing some kid to marry that young.  She should at least have time to figure out what she wants, you know?”
“Yeah,” Bobby said.  “It’s not fair.”  He kicked at a rock in the road, looking irritated with all of it.  “You know, people tell you all these stories when you’re a kid, and you think they’re great.  But when it happens to you, well…”
“Trust me, I know what you mean.”
“Alex!”  Both males jerked, looking towards the forest as Mick came towards them.  “Hey, man, you’re just who I’ve been looking for!” the redhead said as he reached them.  “I was just talking with the Princess--”
“You were?” Bobby asked.  “But we tried to get there this morning, and couldn’t.  There was a wall of vines blocking the way.”
“Really?” Mick asked.  “Well, maybe it was there this morning--”   He went still, his expression going blank for a brief second before he shrugged.  “But it wasn’t there when I came at lunch,” he said simply.  “Here, I’ll show you!”  He reached out, grabbing Alex’s wrist and hauling him towards the woods.
Something was wrong, Alex realized as he was pulled into the vine wrapped woods.  Something was different, and that blank look had meant something.  “Mick, hey, Mick, running in this place is stupid!  Think we could slow down?” Alex asked.  “Right, Bob--”   He glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the vines snap closed behind them, leaving Bobby behind.  “Mick, we lost Bobby!  Slow down so he can catch up!”
Mick stopped finally and turned to look at Alex with a strange gleam in his eyes.  “I’m glad.  Bobby’s always been a good friend.  He can be my best man at the wedding, I think.”
“Mick?” Alex asked, suddenly worried.  There was definitely something wrong.  “Mick, you’re acting strange, man.  You didn’t get poisoned or anything, did you?”
“No, I didn’t,” Mick said as his hand tightened on Alex’s wrist.  “You’ve got a fairy godfather, right?  You’re always going on about how special you are, because of that.”
“I never meant it to sound like I thought I was special,” Alex said.  “I hate having a fairy godfather.  He’s a pain in the neck that keeps dragging me into things I don’t want to deal with.”
“That’s good… that’s real good,” Mick said.  “Then you won’t mind when I kill him.”
“What?”
“I’m going to kill him.  It’s the best way to break the curse, you know?” Mick said as if it made perfect sense.  “So get him to come here, okay?  Right now.”
“So you can kill him?” Alex asked.  “How are you going to do that, anyway, Mick?  You’re just a human, he’s a fairy.  He’s been changing people into different things or putting them under strange curses for years and years, man!  All that trying to kill him will accomplish is irritating him!”
“That’s why you’re going to help me,” Mick said.  His eyes were gleaming unnaturally, and his smile seemed to be a little too wide.  “I’m going to threaten you, and he’s going to do whatever I want.  What’s more important to a fairy than their godson?”  He reached into his pocket with his one remaining hand, pulling out a small golden comb.
“Where did you get that?” Alex asked.  “That’s not a part of this story!”  He jerked, trying to pull free of Mick’s hold.  The younger male seemed to be a lot stronger than he looked.  Insanity did that to people, Alex thought.  “That’s part of the dwarves curse, not the beast!”
“It was given to me,” Mick said.  “I don’t know--”   The gleam in his eyes flickered once, as if his sanity was trying to come back.  Then it was back, stronger than ever.  “It was fated to be mine.  Now call for your fairy godfather!”
“I won’t,” Alex said through gritted teeth.  “Mick, you’re not a killer.  You know it as well as I do.  Now put the comb down--”   The sharpened tines of the comb stabbed into his arm, drawing blood.  For a long moment Alex stared down at where it had penetrated him, a look of shock and horror crossing his face as he fell to his knees.  “Mick,” he whispered even as darkness overwhelmed him, forcing him to the ground in an unconscious slump.
Mick took a step back, then another, looking far more horrified than Alex had been.  What had he done?  The last thing he remembered was sitting in class with Bobby, wondering where Jack and the others had gotten to. But suddenly he was in the woods with a body at his feet.
He took a step back, then another, blood rushing from his head until it felt like he would faint at any moment.  He had killed Alex.  Every child knew what the golden comb was.  The golden comb was death.  And stuck in the arm like that—Mick turned and raced away, guilt overwhelming him.  What had he done?

***

“It’s not working, Jack,” Jimmy said after yet another hour of trying to cut through the thick vines that held the group caged.  “They keep growing back.  And they’re starting to get thorns.”
Jack looked at him, a tick developing in his jaw.  “I can see that,” he said darkly.  “So what do you suggest we do, Jimmy?  Cry?”
“I never said that!  I just said this isn’t working!”
“Then come up with something that will!” Jack bellowed.  “I’m not the only one with a brain in here, am I?  Or were you all dropped on your heads when you were babies?”
“We could try catching it on fire,” one of the other guys said.
“Yeah?  And what, get us stuck in a burning cage this time?”
“They’re plants, right?  Maybe it’ll fall apart if we did that.”
“Does anyone have a lighter, so we can test this grand theory?” Jack asked.
“You know, Jack, you’re really starting to piss me off, man,” Jimmy said, his hand tightening on the handle of his pocket knife.  “You’re not the boss here, you know.  Just because you’re a year or two older than most of us doesn’t matter right now.  We’re all stuck in the same position.”
“You--”   Jack started to lunge forward, but the cage they were in suddenly shuddered, rocking wildly back and forth for a moment as something extremely heavy landed on top of it.  All of the boys looked up, completely forgetting the fight that had been about to break out.
Each scrambled back, so their backs were against the sides of the cage, staring up at the large shadow that eclipsed what little light that could get through.  None of them could speak.  Their mouths were all too dry to rasp out a single word, until a large claw easily ripped a hole in the top of the cage for them.  They screamed like little girls as a dragon’s head appeared through the hole.
“Now isn’t this convenient?” the dragon asked cheerfully.  “I should have done something like this years ago.”
“Done—done what?” Jack asked.
“Made myself a lunch box, of course,” Bizby said with a hint of pure evil in his eyes as he reached through the hole, grabbing Jack with one large talon and pulling him out.  The dragon took to the air, the sounds of Jack’s screams echoing through the forest even as the hole in the cage closed on its own.  It left the other teammates stuck there, awaiting the same fate as their “leader.”
Of course, by then most of them were unconscious, anyway. 


Chapter Seven


 The faint strains of music came from a tiny stereo sitting in the corner of the room.  Jay was dancing once again, this time with one of the invisible guards.  She had stepped on his feet at least three times, but he never once complained.  “I swear I’m really trying not to do that,” she told him after a fourth time, feeling a bit strange touching but not seeing the fellow.
“It’s fine, Princess,” he said.
“No it’s not,” she said, letting go of him and stepping back.  “I know I’m supposed to be proper, and what all, but stepping on people--”
“I’m wearing steel toed boots, Princess.”
“Oh,” she said, flushing slightly under her fur.  It didn’t help that several coughs came from around them, obviously hiding laughter.  “How was I supposed to know that?” she demanded of the group, feeling irritable.  This time they didn’t even bother to hide their laughter.
“You weren’t, of course,” she heard Chak say.  “But that’s why we picked him to be your partner.”
“Thank you so much for that vote of confidence,” she said, turning toward the sound of his voice.  She was about to go on when a flicker of bright light appeared in front of her, followed by the very fairy godfather that had cursed her in the first place.
“Before you ask,” Winstead said quickly, holding up both hands to ward her from attacking.  “You’re doing okay.  You might lay off the smart aleck comments, but your respect and affection for your people is admirable.”
“Then why am I--”
“Please, Princess Jaylee… save my son,” Winstead said, his face gaunt.  “No one else can do it, not even me.”
“Save--” Jay started out, but Winstead disappeared before she could finish that question.  “You could have at least told me where he was!” she bellowed as she grabbed her skirt and headed for the door.
“Princess!”  Chak called from behind her.
“Don’t try to stop me, Chak!  I--”   She stopped as a large, deadly dagger appeared when it was shoved into her hand.
“Take this.  We’ll follow you,” Chak said.
“Thank you,” she said as she headed for the large open doors, intent on finding Alex.  Jay stopped and looked around, staring in horror at the thick tangled vines that blocked her way.  It was as if she were in a cage, she realized as she looked upwards.  Even the sun was blocked out by the wild, thorny vines.  It hadn’t been like this earlier, she thought dumbly.  The vines had grown while she had been dancing.  “So fast,” she whispered, tightening her hold on the hilt of the dagger.
“Princess--”
“No.  I’m going,” she said as she squared her shoulders.  “I might not like Alex sometimes, but I--”   She shrugged and headed for the vines, her determination showing as she started hacking at them angrily.  Soon she disappeared into the green maze, not realizing that those vines snapped shut behind her, blocking the royal guard from following.
The thorns caught her large, poofy skirt, trying to stop her from going forward.  Without a thought she reached down, ripping the skirt away until it hung in tatters to her thighs. Her maids would yell at her, but she didn’t really care.  “Alex!” she bellowed.  “Alex, where are you?”
There was no reply.  Not even the birds called out in fear.  For a second she just stood there, feeling lost, until a familiar scent caught her nose.  “My rose,” she whispered, turning and heading for it without a second thought.  She had found the rose once, she would find it again.
“I’m coming Alex.  Just hold on for a little while longer,” she yelled, hacking through the vines with all her strength.  She would find him or die trying.

***

He was going to be eaten, Jack thought almost numbly.  The dragon’s claws dug into his arms, making them feel as if they would be ripped off at any moment.  He couldn’t even scream anymore, pathetically enough, his throat was so raw.  And he had wet himself somewhere over the last two trees.  The smell of urine was starting to make him feel sick to his stomach.
Bizby jerked as he caught sight of something below, changing his direction and heading down to the ground, his prey hitting the dirt before he did.  He put one large claw on the boy’s chest to keep him from running before he looked at the redhead in front of him.  “You haven’t done your duty yet,” he said.
Mick let out a yelp of horror, moving back automatically, only to trip over a vine and fall onto his backside.  “Who—who are you?” he demanded.  “What are you doing with Jack?”
“I’m going to eat him,” Bizby said, as if explaining a very simple thing to an idiot.  “Now why haven’t you killed the fairy godfather that did this to my princess?”
“I—I killed—”  Mick’s eyes flashed, as if the brainwashing was trying to take over once again, but he shook it off.  “I stabbed Alex.  I don’t know why—I was just trying to—I don’t remember what I was trying to do--”
“You were supposed to use the comb on the godfather!” Bizby bellowed, stepping towards the redheaded boy and unconsciously freeing Jack from his hold.  “I gave you the comb to kill the godfather and break the spell!  You incompetent--”
“So you’re the one.”  Both dragon and boy looked over as golden sparks flew through the air, Winstead stepping into sight.  None of them noticed that Jack took this opportunity to crawl away as fast as his trembling body would let him.  “You’ve caused a lot of problems in this curse, dragon.  The princess won’t be happy.”
“Don’t you dare tell me what my princess will be,” Bizby growled as he lunged towards the godfather, his jaws snapping as he tried to take a bite.  A sense of satisfaction welled through him as his mouth started to close on Winstead.  He snapped his jaws shut, only to snort and shake his head as he his mouth was filled with golden sparks.  “She was supposed to be mine!” he bellowed as he looked around wildly for the godfather.  “And then you made her furry!  I hate furry food!”
“You were supposed to be her friend,” Winstead said.  “Have you forgotten that?”
“I was her friend!  I loved her!” Bizby shouted as he caught sight of the godfather behind him.  “And I plan on loving every last little bite of her!”
“I think not,” Winstead said, pulling a long, slender wand out of his coat and aiming it at the dragon.  “Not in a curse I’m in charge of,” he said as a spark of white gold light flashed from the tip of the wand, slamming into the dragon.  Mick watched in wide-eyed shock as the dragon went still, his scaled hide turning to stone with a look of horror and rage forever etched on his face.
The vines that surrounded them turned black, dying as quickly as they had grown.
“Mister—Mister Godfather, sir, Alex--” Mick started out, finally able to speak as he turned to Winstead.  Tears filled his eyes and he didn’t bother to fight them as he admitted his sin.  “I killed him.”
“Princess Jay will save him,” Winstead said as he pocketed his wand again.
“Are you sure?”
“I sure hope so.”

***

The vines she had been working so hard to get through before now fell with the barest touch, hitting the ground and disappearing entirely.  Jay wondered what that meant, but she didn’t have time to go inspect.  She was getting close to her rose, and hopefully, to Alex.
“Alex!  Where are you?” she bellowed once again as she pushed a thick wall of dead vines out of her way.  She almost tripped over Alex’s prone body.  “Oh lord,” she whispered as she fell to her knees beside him, searching for his wound.  Her eyes widened in horror as she caught sight of the gleaming gold comb sticking in his arm.  Everyone knew of the comb.  She just didn’t know how it had gotten into her curse.
“I’ll get this out,” Jay told him as she took hold of the comb, pulling it out with a jerk.  The sight of blood trickling down his arm made her wince.  “C’mon, Alex, wake up,” she said as she shook him.  “Wake up, please…”  She reached up, touching her furry hand to his smooth cheek, brushing it gently as silent tears started falling down her cheeks.  “I’m sorry.  I never meant for anyone to get hurt… I never wanted anyone to get hurt.  I just wanted to play basketball.”  She let out a watery laugh, sniffling as the tears started falling harder.  “Don’t die on me, Alex, I--”
His skin was so cold.  “I might not like you some times… but I think I love you,” she whispered, not really thinking about the words as she leaned down to press a kiss against his lips.  It was awkward with a muzzle, but before she could pull back her body jerked, making her faint with the pain of being turned back into a human.  She fell to the ground unconscious and battered looking, right next to Alex’s inert body.
A step sounded beside them, and Winstead looked down at the two for a long moment before he disappeared once again.

***

“Why do I still have to beat you at basketball?” Alex demanded a week later as he and Jay played one on one in the ballroom, surrounded by her royal guard.  The basketball team was sitting on the bleachers, waiting for their turn to go one on one with Jay patiently, even Jack, still wearing a cast, sat there to observe.  Mick had taken his place in the game, after all, but he couldn’t complain.  Playing with a broken arm wasn’t his idea of fun.
“Because I have high standards,” Jay replied evilly as she shot the ball.  Alex barely managed to knock it off course.  “You broke the curse, so you’re going to have to marry me sooner or later.  But that doesn’t mean I’m going to make it easy on you!”
“Who says I have to marry you?” he demanded, snatching the ball and heading for the basket again.  “You broke your own curse!  You became a princess like lady!  For a little while, at least.”
“Oh, give up already.  This is how the curse works!” she told him as she stole the ball again.  She jerked as he grabbed her, narrowing her eyes.  “And this is a no-contact sport,” she added even as he pulled her close, kissing her full on the mouth.  Her eyes were just starting to close as the tale-tell sound of a ball swooshing through the hoop made them jerk open again.
“I win,” Alex said evilly.
“I want a rematch!” she bellowed as the guards started to cheer.  “That was cheating!  Manhandling!  I demand a rematch!”
“Now you’re just being a bad loser!” he taunted.
“I am not being a bad loser!  You cheated!” she bellowed as she chased after him, intent on getting revenge.
“She’ll never be a true princess, I’m afraid,” Marilynn said from the door, glancing up at Winstead with a sigh.  “But at least she’s happy.”
“They both are,” Winstead said.  “Come on, I’ll buy you a drink to celebrate.”
“Make it non-alcoholic and it’s a deal,” Marilynn replied with a smile.  “The world doesn’t need a drunken fairy, after all.”
“That sounds like a plan to me,” he agreed as they disappeared in a flash of sparks.


####

About the Author

R.J. Ross has been writing since Junior High, when she discovered it was a great way to save her English grade.  She’s written everything from short romances to full-length action packed YA novels.
If you’re interested in leaving feedback, or just dropping a quick hello, you can go to her blog at: http://www.klavercreations.com/briarpatch/  Feedback on the smashwords page would also be highly valued, as well!