Wicked Ugly Bad (A Kinda Fairytale) (38 page)

Scarlett
kissed him back.  “I know.”  She used the jagged glass from the broken vial to
slice through the binding on her wrists.  “Don’t go anywhere.  I’ll be right
back with your proposal.”  She handed the glass to him so he could free himself
and quickly stood up, heading for her stepsister.

“Uh-oh.” 
Cinderella watched her advance and began to look worried.  “Jack, skip to the
‘pronouncing us man and wife’ part.”

“Highness,
I think we should get out of here before…”

“Just
do it!”

He
glanced back down at his wedding script, his voice racing over the final
words.  “By the power vested in me by her resplendently majestic Cinderella, I…
Shit!
”

Scarlett
stopped the ceremony by punching the bride.

Jack
caught Cinderella as she careened backwards.  The two of them went tumbling
into the floral arch above the altar.  The whole rose-covered monstrosity tipped
over in a crash of pink petals and crystals.

“Have
you lost your mind?!”  Cinderella cried.  Shoving Jack away, she stumbled to
her feet.  She batted the crushed flowers from her hair with an agitated hand,
blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.  “You’re ruining my wedding.
Letty!”

“You
sicced a dragon on my True Love, stole my sister’s prince, locked us in prison,
burned down my grandmother’s house, and tried to kill us with flying monkeys.” 
Scarlett shouted back.  “To hell with your tacky wedding!”

“Tacky?” 
Cinderella gasped.  “Do you know how much these decorations
cost?
 This
wedding is befitting a true princess!”

“You
aren’t a princess!”  Anger was coursing through Scarlett’s body, driving her
onward.  “
Drusilla
is the princess. 
You
are the psycho who’s
kidnapped her groom.”

“Dru’s
nothing but an ugly stepsister.  She doesn’t deserve Charming or my palace!”

Scarlett
hit her, again.

“Highness!” 
Jack gasped at Cinderella fell to the floor.  His beady eyes narrowed at
Scarlett.  “How dare you strike the ruler of the Westlands, you bitch…”  His
insult stopped mid-word as Marrok leveled a gun at him.

“I
wouldn’t.”  Marrok advised.

Jack’s
mouth slammed shut so fast his pointed teeth clinked together.  He raised his
hands in surrender.

“Coward!” 
Cinderella gave him a shove.

Marrok
grabbed a set of keys from Trevelyan’s belt.  The dragon wasn’t waking up unless
his True Love arrived and, honestly, that didn’t seem real likely.  For all
intents and purposes, he and the sleeping rats were incapacitated forever.

Stepping
over the dragon’s eternally slumbering body, Marrok headed for Charming. 
“Here.”  He tossed him the keys to the dog collar and chain.  “Get out of
there.  You have a bride to save.”

Charming
quickly freed himself.  “Nothing can stop me from reaching Drusilla, now.”  He proclaimed
grandly.  He gazed at Letty and Marrok in deep gratitude.  “I owe you
everything
.”

“No
shit.”  Marrok agreed.

Scarlett
rolled her eyes at that typical display of tact.  “Charming, you and Dru belong
together.  Of
course
we’ll do whatever’s necessary to see you reunited
and happy.  We know what it means to have a True Love, don’t we, Marrok?”

Marrok
flashed her a smile.  “We sure do, baby.”

“
I
am Charming’s True Love.”  Cinderella screeched.  “You may have ruined this
wedding, but I’ll have another and another and
another
until I have
him!”  She darted for the exit, her tiara sitting lopsided on her head.  “Nothing
will stop me from having what’s mine!  No matter what I have to, I’ll…”

She
threw open the door and ran straight into dozens of pissed off Bad folk.

Scarlett
grinned as Cinderella’s escape was blocked by all the people she’d treated like
dirt.  Letty couldn’t have been a hundred percent sure that her pointed remarks
to the camera would inspire anything, but she’d hoped.

Now,
Bad folk were standing up for themselves.  Not allowing Cinderella to take what
was theirs.  Stopping her from fleeing justice.  Cindy tried to backup, her
eyes wide with horror, but there was no place for her to go.

“You’re
headed to jail.”  Scarlett watched as her stepsister was seized by Charming’s
staff.  “Take it from someone who knows: It’s not the honeymoon spot you’ve
fantasized about.”

“You
can’t do this to me!”  Cinderella seethed.  “
I am Princess of the Westlands!
”

“Actually,
you’re about to be prisoner number one of the new and improved WUB Club.  Don’t
worry.  I have it all planned in my head.  We don’t torture and starve people
anymore, but it’s a hell of a lot harder to break out.”  She stalked over to
grab the crown of Cinderella’s head.  “And I’ll be taking
that
for my
sister.”

Cinderella
gave a shriek of indignation as she was dragged away.

“Well,
that was fun.”  Marrok came to stand beside Scarlett and arched a brow.  “So…
Something you want to ask me?”

She
glanced up at him and bit back a smile.  “You already know what I want to ask
you.”

“Tell
me anyway.  I like the words.”

“Oh
alright.”  She heaved a mock sigh.  “Do you want to marry me or not?”  She
demanded, paraphrasing the same words she’d used to convince him to escape the
WUB Club with her.

He
pretended to think it over, looking amused.  “It depends.  Can we have ice
swans at the reception?”  He gestured towards Cinderella’s buffet table, where
the stupid sculptures were already beginning to melt.

“Nope.”

“Well,
what do you know… We really do think alike.”  He hugged her close and let out a
contended breath.  “I am yours, baby.”  He whispered in a more serious voice. 
“I’d die to marry you.”

“Well,
there’s always the possibility you
might.
”  She wrapped her arms around
him and gave him once last chance to make the rational choice.  “There will
probably be a lot more days just this weird in your future.  Dangerous, insane
things just happen around me.  Felonious grandmothers, and founding kingdoms
for Baddies, and escaped mental patients.  Are you really prepared for all that?”

“Yep.”

“Good.” 
She gave him a smacking kiss.  “Because, I’d just talk you out of it if you
tried to leave me.  I’m pretty good at convincing people to do crazy stuff, you
know.”

“Trust
me, I’m not going anywhere, Red.”  His hand wrapped around hers, holding tight. 
“You are my very own happily ever after.”

Every
person in the Northlands adored their generous prince.  He brought sunshine
into the grim lives.

Even if
those peasants didn’t deserve it.

The
Official and Authorized Biography of Prince Avenant

The
dream came as it always did.

Every
night since Avenant escaped, Belle relived the same memory, as vivid as it had
been all those years before.  She was back at the auction, watching her
family’s possessions get sold to the highest bidder.

It
was the only way to settle the debts that her parents had left, but it meant
that everything she had --everything that was familiar and safe-- was being
ripped away.  Belle sat silently on her father’s armchair, which would only be
hers for another few moments, and wished she could feel hatred for the people
preying on her misfortune.

All
around her, her neighbors meandered through the house, scrutinizing her
belongings and appraising their worth.  Dimly she heard comments about the
quality of a rug or the weight of a silver candlestick.  A few people had the
decency to lower their voices.  Most didn’t bother.

Belle
was too numb to even feel violated by the mercenary invasion.

She
just wanted it to be over.

She
had no idea where she’d go after the auction.  There was no place for her stay
that night or any night after.  Her parents had been beautiful flighty people,
who’d expected their innately bookish daughter to be the same.  Because she’d
tried to make them happy, she didn’t have a job.  Didn’t have any money.  All
of her friends were actually her parents’ friends and beautiful flighty people
didn’t make deep connections.  Belle was all alone.

She
was too numb to care about that, either.

She
was beaten.

A
butterfly was flitting in the garden outside the window.  She watched it
through the glass, mesmerized by its dance through the flowers.  So much of the
year, the Northlands was white and cold.  The brief days of summer always
seemed like magic with their warmth and color.  If her parents had to die, at
least their final memories were of the strong sun and brilliant greens
surrounding them.

The
auctioneer was loudly listing off the key features of her mother’s art
collection.  It all sounded like white noise.  Someone held up a painting of
abstract shapes that Belle had always hated.  So had her mother.  But, the
artist had been the height of fashion two years before, so of course she’d
bought the biggest canvas in his studio.  Belle watched as it sold for a tenth
of what her mother had paid for it and didn’t feel a thing.

“What
a hideous painting.  Honestly, you’re better off without it.”

Belle
turned to see Avenant standing beside her chair.  Of course, he’d show up to
gloat when she was at her lowest.  She was just surprised that she hadn’t seen
him enter.  Usually, she was morbidly aware of his presence.  It went to show
how far gone she was in her depression.

“I
should’ve known you’d come.”  She muttered.

“Yes,
you should have.”  To celebrate her misery, Avenant wore the white and gold
regalia of the palace, complete with the circular crown of the prince.  His stunning
face surveyed the goings on with a sardonically amused expression.  “How could
I miss the social event of the season?”

Belle
watched as her father’s chess set went on the block.  He hadn’t played, but the
game had been a decoration in the study for as long as she could remember.  She
had a brief flash of moving the pieces around the board as a child while her
father laughed.

It
sold to the obnoxious neighbor down the street for fifteen gold pieces.

Avenant
made a scoffing sound at the price.  “Everyone here is astoundingly cheap.”

“If
my parents had been cheaper, maybe I wouldn’t be in this mess.”  The family china
was up next.  Belle turned her head away, not wanting to see it go.  It was one
of the few things she had left of her grandmother.

“Are
they really going to sell one object at a time?”  Avenant checked his watch. 
“This will take forever.”

“Feel
free to leave if my poverty is cutting into your busy schedule.”

“Not
until I have what’s mine.”

“Nothing
here is yours, Avenant.”

He
arched a brow at her.  “We’ll see about that.”  He turned towards the
auctioneer and raised an imperious hand.  “Six million.”  He called casually.

Belle’s
attention snapped back to him.  The last bid on the china had been forty gold
pieces.  Was he out of his mind?

The
auctioneer clearly hoped so.  “Six million, Prince Avenant?”  He repeated
eagerly.  “Well, I don’t think anyone will go higher on this lovely lot of…”

“Six
million for all of it.”  Avenant interrupted.  “The furniture, the house, the
garish plates.  I’ll take everything.”  He looked around.  “Anyone want to up
my bid?”

No
one did.

It
was double what the estate was worth.  Enough to pay off the debt and then
some.

Avenant
was going to win it all.

“You
really are a beast.”  Belle whispered.

Avenant
ignored that.  He smirked as the auctioneer’s gavel came down and he bought
everything she owned.  “See?  All mine.”  He headed over to the mantle where
the first place trophy Belle had received in high school debate still sat.  “This
should have gone to me.”  He picked it up, his eyes glowing with triumph.  “Now,
I finally have it.”

Rage
filled her.

For
the first time since her parents died, Belle was consumed with honest and real
emotion.  It felt wonderful.  “
I
won that debate
and you know it, you bastard!”  She surged to her feet and advanced on him.

All
their lives, the two of them had been locked in an endless conflict.  Belle
wasn’t even sure how it had happened.  In school, they consistently scored one
and two on every assignment and activity, so their only competition had been each
other.  It led to an unhealthy rivalry.  Why the hell had Avenant joined the
debate club if not to screw with her?  Why had Belle volunteered for the dance
committee if not to try and block his chances at being prom king?