Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Gladly, my little cygnet,” she replied, settling Wednesday on her knee. “What shall it be about?” The four year old’s forehead wrinkled as she thought about what she’d like to hear.

“You, and Mama, and a curse!”

“Oh my, certainly a tall order! But I’ll see what I can do.” She cleared her throat, and began to tell her tale.

Once upon a time, there was a weaver who lived in a small village on the outskirts of a beautiful kingdom ruled by a kind but mysterious queen. The weaver could spin wool into yarn and make fabric for anyone who needed it, but she was known for her beautiful tapestries. Her greatest honor was when the queen commissioned her to make a tapestry, which hung in her castle. Although the townsfolk didn’t see the queen often, they felt happy to know that she was watching over them. However, they didn’t know that sometimes the queen would be among them, hiding in the guise of a simple wood carver. She also happened to be gifted with magic, which she would only use for the good of her people. It was through this disguise that she was able to safely enter and leave the woods on the edge of the village.

Everyone said the woods were home to an evil sorceress, who was jealous of the queen and didn’t take kindly to trespassers. At first, the weaver thought the stories were ridiculous- but lately, she was beginning to think that they were real. The captain of the Queen’s guards had gone missing, and was never seen again. All that seemed to be left of her was her cape, tattered and worn. A few days after that, the village glass maker volunteered to go look for her.

“If I come back with her, start making wedding arrangements, boys!” he boasted. The next day, they found his dog barking frantically next to a pile of crushed stone. Suddenly, the stories didn’t seem so ridiculous to the weaver anymore.

One day, a messenger from a neighboring kingdom had come to deliver a message. The king had commissioned a tapestry to be woven to celebrate the birth of his daughter. The weaver was excited, and quickly got to work on her creation. Once the tapestry was finished, the weaver began to prepare for the journey that lay before her. She packed up the tapestry and brought some clothing with her, since she knew the voyage would be a fairly long one. Unfortunately, the quickest way to get to her destination was through the woods.

Early the next morning, she started her journey to the other kingdom. Just as she packed herself some food to eat on the way, she stopped short. “Should I even go?” she wondered out loud to her cat, “or would it be better to stay here?” The cat simply rolled over on his side and yawned. “No, you’re right, Binx. I was commissioned to make this, and it’s only fair for me to take the tapestry to the king. I’ll bring you some catnip, okay?” Binx meowed and nuzzled against her leg as she left her cottage. On the way through town, everyone muttered to themselves as they saw her heading towards the woods. She felt a hand on her shoulder- and was face to face with the wood carver.

“Please come home safely,” she said, a look of sadness in her dark eyes.

“I’ll try,” the weaver responded, and she started her journey. The whole town seemed to hold its breath as they watched her enter the woods, watching her until she was out of their line of sight.

Although the woods seemed tranquil, she couldn’t help but be on edge. Once she saw the pile of stone, she shuddered. That could be me, she thought. All I need to do is keep going and hope the sorceress won’t notice me.

But even she knew that she couldn’t keep walking forever, and decided that she needed to take a rest. Settling down in a quiet glen of sequoia trees, the weaver sat down and had her lunch. Once she had finished, she felt a presence behind her.

“How dare you enter my sanctuary?” a voice hissed. The stories were true- there was a sorceress who lived in the woods, and she was VERY angry with the weaver. Letting out a startled shriek, the weaver tried her best to get away from the woman.

“You don’t understand, I have to pass through!” she pleaded. “The king asked me to make a tapestry for his daughter!”

“You mean this rag?” the sorceress said, looking at the beautifully woven cloth that was wrapped up. She unfurled it and proceeded to rip it in half.

“No! What have you done?!”

“Now, I suggest you make a tapestry of me, and deliver it to your queen. I should be on the throne, and not her.” That angered the weaver- first she insulted her work, destroyed it, and demanded something from her in return?

“Never.” The sorceress was furious- but soon composed herself and turned to face the weaver.

“So be it. Since you decided to usurp my glen, then you might as well live here now,” she said, and began to cast a spell. The weaver tried to evade the magic as best as she could, but it didn’t seem to work. It seemed the spell had knocked her out, and the last thing she remembered was the smug expression on the sorceress’ face.

Once she came to, it was afternoon. “This is strange,” she said to herself. Although she was still conscious, she felt like she was trapped inside a small tower. But then she realized that the sorceress had trapped her- in a sequoia tree! She tried to call out for help, but no one seemed to hear her. A few weeks had passed, and it seemed that no one was coming to her assistance- until she heard the sound of hooves. The king went with his soldiers to search for her, but they couldn’t find anything. From her tree prison, she watched helplessly as he walked past her, only to find the ruined tapestry.

“She would never ruin her art willingly- the sorceress must have gotten to her! What a shame that such a masterpiece got destroyed,” he said, setting down the ripped fabric beside her stump. Suddenly, an idea came to him. Hurrying through the forest, he ran towards her village with one half of the tapestry in his hand. The next day, the townspeople were surprised to find a PIG, of all things, come running out of the woods with some fabric.

“The weaver’s tapestry! It’s ruined!”

“Claimed by the woods!”

“The sorceress strikes again!” Panic and despair spread across the village, but amid the chaos, the pig ran towards the castle. His frantic squealing alerted someone, who happened to be the wood carver. Examining the design of the ripped tapestry, she knew who it was. Working some of her magic, the queen restored the pig to his true form.

“That poor weaver,” he said. “I was looking forward to displaying her art in my palace. However, I did find this in a glen of sequoias. Perhaps that has something to do with her disappearance.”

“In that case, I know what I must do,” she said. The next day, the queen went into town with an axe.

“Please, don’t go in the woods!” someone shouted. The wood carver turned and faced the villagers.

“A good friend of mine has told me the truth. I need to save someone,” she said, and walked straight into the woods. The sorceress knew exactly what was going to happen, and she was eager to dole out a punishment to the next fool who would dare enter her woods. In order to trick the sorceress, the queen held her axe close to her, knowing that one way or another, the sorceress would appear. Finally, she arrived at the glen where the weaver was last at. Then, she found what she was looking for. Among the towering sequoia trees, there was one that was a bit smaller than the others.

“What a stately sequoia,” she whispered to herself, and then looked at her axe. “I’d hate to cut it down, but if it’s to break a curse, then so be it.” THUD! The weaver heard a blunt sound coming from outside, followed by many more.

“What is this?” she wondered out loud. Suddenly, she felt herself start to fall forward. “No, wait!” Once the tree was cut down, there was a bright flash of light. Standing in front of the wood carver, wearing a dress of autumn leaves, was the weaver.

“Oh… hello,” the wood carver said, blushing. “Y-you’re quite lovely. Are you a fairy?”

“N-Not exactly,” the weaver stammered, blushing as well. “It’s a long story.” She told her everything- from the captain’s disappearance, to the glass maker, all the way to her being turned into a tree. “Well, my work has been ruined now, so I’ll have to start my tapestry again. I hope the king understands.” She was confused when she saw the wood carver smile at her.

“Oh he will,” she said, taking off her hood. “I explained everything.” Gasping, the weaver curtsied when she saw who it was.

“Your Majesty! I- but… how?”

“I happen to be gifted with magic. I just had to hide it in order to keep evil at bay.” The weaver was amazed when she heard the confession- she wanted to ask so many questions, but was interrupted by another voice.

“Well, you certainly did a terrible job of that!” The sorceress had made her return, and was furious to see the queen and the weaver. “Once I get rid of you, I will rule the land. And no one will dare to try and stop me.”

“Enough is enough- you’ve made people suffer for too long, and I’m here to put a stop to it.”

“We’ll see about that!” The queen and the sorceress dueled each other, but it seemed that the sorceress was gaining the upper hand. The weaver watched the duel unfold in front of her, and got an idea. Opening her basket, she pulled out some bobbins of thread and a spindle from a spinning wheel. She attached the spindle to one of the bobbins and spun them around.

“I hope this works!” she said, letting the bobbins go. The needle pricked the sorceress, who shrieked in agony.

“The audacity! How dare you destroy my beautiful wickedness?” she yelped, as she slowly faded away and was gone. Now it was the Queen’s turn to be surprised as she glanced at the weaver.

“How did you…”

“Well, I figured that it’s my turn to surprise you,” she said innocently. But what happened after that wasn’t due to magic- the queen and the weaver seemed to gravitate together, and finally they kissed. “What was that?”

“It was true love, you think this happens every day?” After a while, they returned to the village, where everyone greeted them with joyful cheers. The captain of the guards was found- the sorceress had turned her into a bobcat, and just like what she did with the king, the captain was her old self again.

“What about the glass maker?” someone wondered out loud. Everyone looked at each other and shrugged.

“Oh, there’s a better one in the village,” the captain of the guards said. But what happened a month later surprised everyone. The queen and the weaver realized how much they loved each other, and they got married. And everyone lived happily ever after.

“That was quite a lovely story, Larissa,” Morticia said, as her girlfriend handed her Wednesday, who was fast asleep. “I take it Wednesday liked it.”

“Night, Mama,” Wednesday mumbled sleepily. “Night, Tía Rissa.”

“Good night, darling,” she said, and gave Larissa a kiss. “Thank you, my stately sequoia.” Larissa gave her a playful smile.

“Sleep well, my queen.”