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In the Land of Stories Old
Pino, Noki and Kio traveled quickly in the little walking machine they had built, and made it to the small inlet in the mountains in two days. The woman they had come to see was lounging on a chair with a drink in her hand, enjoying the sun, and she almost spilled the drink when she saw them. “What do you want?”
Pino bowed. “We came for a kiss.”
The fairy princess had been about to tell him off, thinking they were there to ask her to remove the curse, but that threw her. “What?”
This time Kio bowed. “As we three are rarely apart, my lady, we have not only grown used to the way we now look but even come to like it. To some men you may not be as pleasing, but to us? You are a very beautiful woman.”
“And as you said we needed a kiss from the most beautiful woman,” Noki said, offering her a bow of his own, “we have come to you to get one.”
“We would be content to stay in this form,” Kio told her. “But our friends, they are fussing. And poor Merlin is about to worry himself into an early grave fearing we will need to almost die as he and Jack did to see the curse broken.”
She put the drink down on a little wicker table. “What do you mean, almost die? I didn’t…that’s not a condition of the curse!”
Pino shrugged. “Arthur did not almost die, but he is also the Crown Prince of Avalon and a greater magic is on him. And Hans…” He sighed, shaking his head. “I do not know what to even think about that. It may be possible that the ravening ghoul he encountered broke the curse with her own magic.”
The fairy princess was really horrified now. “A ravening ghoul?”
This time Kio shrugged. “She found him out hunting truffles and attempted to steal his food.” He snorted. “Of course, she had no way of knowing that Hans is only too happy to share his food with people. He fed her, and had her sleep by his fire, and then made her porridge fit for a princess with rose petals and honey the next morning. She was apparently so pleased that she kissed him and his curse was broken, and then she disappeared.”
“Merlin realized what she must have been when Hans returned to the castle,” Noki said. “He went out and found her remains and gave them a proper magical burial. He says that wood may be a remnant of an ancient cursed forest, so we are keeping an ear out for any more terrible stories coming from that area.”
The fairy princess dropped her head into her hands, her wings appearing and fluttering in distress. “I can’t believe this! I’d never cast that kind of curse on someone. I just wanted a bunch of arrogant princes to learn not to judge people by appearances!”
Pino put a small hand on her shoulder. “If it helps, Merlin and Snow believe this all may have been fated; Merlin even says he is not sure you were responsible for what came of it, as there is a magical pattern very similar to what happened which runs through both of their families.”
“That just makes it worse.” She raised her head. “You really think I’m beautiful?”
He smiled. “Yes, or I would not have come to ask for my kiss. A man of Vinci does not lie to a woman to gain her favor—he should have no need to.”
She kissed him right on the mouth, and as soon as the magic had stopped flaring he went to one knee. “I would ask for another, but that would be presumptuous of me.”
“Maybe,” she said, and beckoned the other two dwarfs forward. Two kisses later three handsome young men were kneeling before her, and she wasn’t really sure what to do next. So she said so. “I’m really not sure what to do next. My magic has never gone…wrong like this before! And no man has ever…approached me this way.”
“Would you like three handsome boyfriends?” Kio blurted out. “We are marvelous inventors, you know.”
“Yes, we can make wonderful, whimsical things for you,” Pino agreed. “Or lovely and practical ones. Anything you want!”
“And jewelry!” Noki said. “We will have Jack choose the finest jewels to adorn you with!”
She gave them a long look. They were handsome young men, tall and well-muscled with unruly deep red curls and bright, intelligent blue-green eyes. And not one of them looked like they were anything but serious; in fact, the way they were looking at her was making her cheeks grow more than a little warm. “You still like me.”
“We want to take you home with us,” Pino told her. “We have discussed it at length, the three of us. Our friends will understand once we explain things to them—Merlin, as I said, already believes Fate was responsible for the way this situation worked out.”
“We are often busy and distracted making things,” Kio said. “But as we are three, at least one of us would always be available for you when you want us. And when you do not…well, there is plenty of room in the castle. We have already set aside rooms for you near to our own.”
“We have a home of our own, of course,” Noki assured her. “But at present we are needed in the Black Castle, so that is where we have chosen to stay for the time being.”
The fairy princess thought about that for a minute, and then she stood up, folding her wings away. “Kiss me again, and if you really mean it I’ll give you the power to change back into dwarf form whenever you want,” she said. “But are you sure your roommates are going to be okay with me moving in with you? Because I owe them an apology and I’ll give it to them, but more drama is the last thing this situation needs…”
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