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By day, the Beauty kingdom was a bustling place. Under the sun, townsfolk ventured around the kingdom, buying and selling, mingling and conversing, laughing and singing. There was always light, color, and melodies all around, and the kingdom was as beautiful as its name suggested.
Even at night, when the townsfolk were tucked away in their homes and their slumber, the kingdom was just as beautiful. The songs of humans were replaced by those of animals and insects, singing their lullabies to the starry sky. Moonlight gave the kingdom an ethereal glow, letting nature breathe while mankind was asleep. It was a different place, but still as magical as ever.
This particular night, though, the beauty seemed to have deserted the Beauty kingdom, a sickness that was coming from inside the castle walls.
It would make sense to blame this on the temporary desertion of the queen, but that was not the reason why. Queen Rosabella left every month to travel to the other Beauty kingdom, the one where her cousin Briar was in her hundred year slumber. It was almost like a grieving ritual, like visiting the grave of a lost loved one. Maybe it was essentially the same thing as this, considering that Briar wasn’t going to wake in the lifetime of any who had loved her. She was only five years into her hundred year sentence, ninety-five years left to rest in the highest tower of her castle while those who had known her in her waking years would be gone within seventy at best.
Still, the kingdom wasn’t nearly as cold during Rosabella’s trips as it was that night. The castle was lonely for King Daring Charming without his love around, but it was never like this. There was something in the air that didn’t feel quite right, like there was a weight waiting to crash down.
Daring didn’t know what this weight was, but it was keeping him awake. The hours were passing by, midnight coming and going, but he was still as alert as ever. The stars were glittering outside of his window, beacons of light in the navy blue night, something Daring was trying to find some solace in as anxiety raged on in his heart and soul.
It wasn’t working, though, and he knew he had to give it up and try to get some rest, no matter how hard that may be.
The minutes kept ticking by as Daring lay restless, sleep still refusing to wash over him. He wanted it, but it wouldn’t come. The night was just too tense, the darkness too deep, the tapping on his window too persistent…
Wait.
Why was there tapping at his window, anyways? His room was away from any trees that could be trying to break in. Maybe it was a lost bird, but it was far too late for them to be flying.
Still, he had to make sure there wasn’t a bird or any other animal trying to get inside. Rosabella would flip her crown if she found out there was an animal in need and he ignored it.
Sure enough, there was a bird tapping at the window, but a bird only in name. He was actually a man of twenty-three, one Daring had known since they were about fourteen, one with auburn hair and olive green eyes that matched the clothes he was clad in. He still looked about as much like a rockstar as he did when he was a teenager, but age and the burdens of his destiny had hardened him beyond his years. He was still the same, yet different at the same time. A changed man, one who had seen the world as it was without the rose tinted glasses of teenagehood.
“Sparrow?”
Daring couldn’t believe his eyes. He hadn’t seen Sparrow since graduation, five years prior. Almost immediately after they left Ever After High, Sparrow had gone home to Nottingham to take on his father’s footprints as the next Robin Hood, and Daring found himself as the Beast to Rosabella’s Beauty. The two would end up married and as the rulers of Rosabella’s family kingdom. Sparrow ended up marrying Daring’s cousin Charity, who ended up in the role of Maid Marian, and the two stayed in Nottingham to live out the rest of their lives.
If he was to be completely honest, Daring never thought he would see Sparrow again, outside of a potential parents day at Ever After High in the future. He didn’t like to think about that, though, and that was probably for the better. It was easier for him not to think about Sparrow, and to not get lost in the memories of the years they shared. It was easier not to think about their friendship, or whatever it could be called. Both boys knew there were too many strings attached to call it that, too many feelings they couldn’t speak about.
After all, those feelings were forbidden. It wasn’t because they were two boys, the gender roles and the rules of love in the most ancient fairytales were starting to unravel. It was because they were from two different tales, and that kind of love was the most forbidden of all in their world.
Maybe it didn’t matter when they were young, but it mattered now. They had fulfilled their destinies, found their wives, and were soon to be producing their descendants. Their feelings were something of the past, locked away in the deepest dungeons.
At least, they were, until Sparrow Hood was climbing through Daring Charming’s window again, the way he used to do at school when they were sixteen,
“Hey Charming. Been a while, huh?”
There was something raspy in Sparrow’s voice, something that had not been there as a teenager and that Daring was sure came from years of his Godmother-awful singing. Still, he was Sparrow, and he was standing in Daring’s bedroom.
Daring’s bedroom, that he shared with Rosabella, while Daring sat on the bed he shared with Rosabella. Once upon a time, he used to find himself sharing beds with Sparrow, but those days were long gone.
“What are you here for, Sparrow? You’re aware we have a front door, right?”
It was a fairy-fail of a question, and Daring knew it. He knew exactly why Sparrow was coming in through the window, force of habit and probably some unresolved feelings.
Daring wouldn’t say he knew that out loud, though, and he knew Sparrow wouldn’t admit it either.
“Oh, just because,” Sparrow said with a shrug. “I just wanted to talk.”
“About what?”
There was something in Sparrow that looked hesitant at Daring’s inquiry, almost like he didn’t know how to answer. Or maybe he didn’t want to. Daring couldn’t tell what the hesitancy meant, only that it was there.
And then, as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared into something more like nonchalance and Sparrow was back to being relaxed.
“Not much, I was just wondering…what’s it like when you become, like, not human? Like when you were the Beast before Rosabella turned you back into you. What was that like?”
Out of everything Sparrow could’ve asked, this was not what Daring was expecting. He was bracing himself for something about the feelings they left behind in the halls of Ever After High, but this was nothing to do with those. This was something different, something Daring didn’t think he would ever be asked, much less by Sparrow Hood.
Still, it felt like he needed to answer. He could feel it deep down within himself somewhere that there was something deeper behind this inquiry, something that refused to be left unsaid and untouched.
“Well…” Daring trailed off, trying to find the right words to say. “I was me, just not in my body. I was in the beast body, but I was still me inside. I still had my mind and feelings.”
It wasn’t until the explanation left Daring’s mouth that he felt a weight in his gut, a sinking feeling about why Sparrow was asking. There was a reason behind it, and Daring had a feeling not only that he knew what it was, but that it was going to sting if or when Sparrow came clean about it.
“Does that hold true for all destinies that turn humans to animals or other creatures?”
And there it was. Sparrow wasn’t specific, but Daring knew exactly who he was talking about.
And if Daring didn’t admit that this knowledge left a feeling like molten lava settling in his stomach, he would be lying.
“Is this about Duchess?”
Duchess Swan had always been a sore point in Daring and Sparrow’s relationship. It had always been very, very obvious that Sparrow loved her more than he loved him. Daring never quite understood it, she was always bitter. This was, in a way, understandable, as her destiny consisted of being doomed to be a swan for all eternity after losing the man who was supposed to be the love of her life.
In some ways, Daring was somewhat relieved that this was how the story went. The man who broke Duchess’s heart was his cousin, Fearless, and Daring knew that if Duchess was still a human that she would never let anyone in the Charming bloodline live this down, like the vindictive being she was.
Daring didn’t know what Sparrow saw in her, only that she was the true object of his affection while Daring was nothing more than the forbidden side piece that only existed in the middle of the night. Not that this was supposed to matter, anymore. Duchess was a swan now, never to be a human again. As unfortunate as it was, this was the way of the world, and the way it was supposed to go.
Sparrow sighed. “Listen, I know, I know, but I need to know…is it the same for her? Is she still…her? Even though she’s a swan now, does she still have her human mind?”
Daring froze, trying to choose his words. He knew the story of Swan Lake well, it was one of the ones that was told throughout his family growing up with the warning that a prince who did not uphold their name could very well become the prince of the tale, the unlucky Charming that fell for the villain and let the princess essentially die off. Therefore, he knew the answer to Sparrow’s question, he just wasn’t sure if he wanted to answer it.
“Daring, please. I need you to tell me it’s not over yet.”
That was what it took for Daring to understand that Sparrow hadn’t gotten over Duchess yet. Even after all these years, and all the time he spent going between her and Daring, Sparrow still loved Duchess more. It was something he knew deep down all this time, but there was a sting in truly realizing it.
Something about that made the truth leave his lips.
“I can’t.”
“What do you mean?”
“That’s not part of her destiny. I was destined to become a human again, so I didn’t become a full beast. It felt like a costume, I was in a beast body but I was still myself because that’s who I was supposed to be again at the end. Duchess isn’t supposed to become human again. Her swan form is final. When she went into it, her human memories disappeared. I’m sorry, Sparrow.”
Sparrow nodded and seemed to be trying to act nonchalant, but Daring could see the hurt in his eyes. “I…alright, yeah…yeah…thanks for explaining that, Daring.”
There was something about Sparrow’s hurt that broke something in Daring. While he could accept Duchess’s fate, he knew Sparrow was struggling with the concept and he couldn’t blame him. Just because he could accept it didn’t mean he didn’t think it was tragic. It really was awful, the fact that this was how she was supposed to live the rest of her life. Nobody deserved this, even someone as bitter as her, but it was the way of the world, no matter how messed up it was.
“I know it’s what you didn’t want to hear.”
How could it be? Destiny was a cruel thing sometimes. It was the true ruler of the land, though, one that could not be defied.
“I visit her lake every now and then. Once a month, usually, just to see her, talk to her, leave her flowers from Charity’s garden. I know it’s stupid, but…” Sparrow trailed off.
“It’s not stupid,” Daring said. “Rosabella visits Briar once a month, you know. She’s on her monthly visit right now. It’s just something she does to cope, I guess. Or to grieve, I don’t know. It’s something that helps people deal with it all, so it’s not stupid. If it helps, it helps.”
“I guess,” Sparrow said with a shrug. “Speaking of Briar, I saw Faybelle at Duchess’s lake last time I went to visit. She created a shrine there, with flowers, ballet memorabilia, old high school pictures, letters from classmates that think Duchess’s destiny was unfair, all of that.”
“Faybelle did all of that?”
If anyone were to dedicate a shrine to the memory of Duchess’s human life, Daring did not expect it to be Faybelle Thorn. She was the Dark Fairy, the one who condemned Briar to her hundred year slumber, a villain that not once doubted the role she had to play. In fact, she cherished her evilness, it was the thing that gave her worth and a destiny she was never afraid to fulfill. She had happily poisoned Briar to sleep, her purpose in life fulfilled with the pausing of Briar’s. This same Faybelle had set up a dedication to Duchess’s memory, an act expected of a princess?
Then again, her and Duchess were friends back in school, Faybelle being one of the very few that could handle her foul attitude. Would even Faybelle do something like this for a friend?
“Yeah, they were friends, remember? Faybelle’s evil, but she’s not mean. She has a heart deep down. I talked to her a little when I saw her, actually-” Sparrow lowered his voice before continuing, as if the rest of what he had to say was forbidden to speak too loudly. “-she regrets what she did to Briar.I always thought it was all she wanted in life, but it wasn’t. She thought it was what she wanted, too, but it wasn’t. Briar’s asleep, Faybelle did it, and now she wishes she never did. Destiny is a cruel thing, huh?”
All Daring said was stay silent. He didn’t disagree, but he felt like he couldn’t say it. Sparrow wasn’t scared to be the voice of that thought, after all, he was meant to be a rebel by all the rules of the world. Daring was not supposed to be that person, he was supposed to be the king who upheld the rules. He wasn’t supposed to defy destiny. Sparrow wasn’t either, but his claim to rebellion was cemented by destiny, so the stakes were lower in a way.
“She loved Briar. She wasn’t supposed to, but she still did.”
It was those words that stuck with Daring. “She loved Briar. She wasn’t supposed to, but she still did.” How many people were cursed to love outside of the lines of their stories, love the people who they were not destined to have? How many people would watch the apples of their eyes suffer on the pages written in their story while they sat on the sidelines or sat unaware, unable to stop these stories from being written?
Even Daring wasn't innocent. Even he didn’t follow all the rules of this life. He loved Sparrow, but he wasn’t supposed to. Sparrow loved him but loved Duchess Swan more, and was now struggling with the fact that she was gone forever. Physically she was here in a different form, but she was gone. Everyone had hurt because of their destiny, both of the boys had loved outside of the pages and watched it fade to nothing, and everyone paid for what destiny was supposed to do.
“She’s not the only one who has loved and lost their love,” Daring mused.
Sparrow gave him a look, and Daring knew he heard him and knew what he meant. This was about them, about Sparrow and Duchess, about Faybelle and Briar, about all of them.
This was especially about him and Sparrow, though, even though he knew neither one of them would say it, him because he was scared to and Sparrow because he didn’t want to accept the implications of this.
“I know, Daring. I’m sorry. Thank you for everything.”
The thanks was for more than that night, Daring knew it deep down, Paired with the acknowledgement and apology, he knew Sparrow was talking about everything that had happened between them, and he didn’t quite know how to handle that, except to swallow down his feelings that he was now sure meant nothing at all.
“Of course, Sparrow. I’ll see you around, yeah?’
Both of them knew this was a lie. They would not see each other around, not until some fifteen to twenty years in the future when they see each other again at their future children’s school events, but by then everything would be completely said, done, and buried.
“Yeah. Bye, Daring.”
And with that, Sparrow was out of the window he entered through, leaving Daring alone in the night once more.
Daring sighed a heavy sigh, and lay down on his bed. He needed to get some rest, but now it was written that this would be a sleepless night. Too much had happened, too many feelings were dug up by Sparrow, and it would take time to bury them all again.
They would be buried with time, though. Sparrow would become a fragment of the past again. Rosabella would come home and the Beauty Kingdom would be beautiful once more, all things back to normal, back to the way destiny dictated, in all her power and unspoken of cruelty.
Daring just wished he could decide when all of this would happen.