Summary: The Old Hero Queen left two children; Logan and Andrea. As the former became the King of Albion, the latter was destined for something greater. Together with her mentor, Sir Walter Beck, she travels the country to gain followers to overthrow Logan and repair the Albion he had destroyed. She knows it isn't going to be easy. She did count on meeting dangerous enemies and gain a few scars, but she never thought she'd meet the devilishly handsome sharpshooter Captain Benjamin Finn, and her quest becomes much more complicated than she first expected.

A/N: So, I've finished the game like.. three times, and every time I drool over Ben Finn. I know, I know; I'm pathetic, but I know I'm not the only one! Anyways, when I first understood that he wasn't romancable, I was furious (HOW COULD YOU DO THIS, PETER MOLYNEUX? TT_TT) but THANK GOODNESS for fanfiction, right? ;) Anyways, here's the first chapter of The Sorceress and the Sharpshooter.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fable world, only my own characters and my own little twists in the plot.

The Sorceress and the Sharpshooter

Chapter One
The Mourningwood Fort

The Old Hero Queen had been dead for almost fourteen years. Sir Walter Beck had accepted that, even though her death still pained him. He remembered looking at her with the highest of respects, and even with adoration. The least he could do was to protect her daughter. Princess Andrea was just like her mother. Only seventeen of age and already well on her way of becoming a great Hero. But for the moment, he feared for her health. The trip through the Hole had taken its toll on her, both on her energy and her body. Mourningwood Fort wasn't far away, and if they would just find refuge there, he was sure Andrea would recover swiftly.

Andrea and her furry friend, Bernard, walked right behind him, just as relieved as he was to see the sunlight again.

"Is it far still?" Andrea asked, exhausted.

"No, it should be—yep, there it is." He stopped to put his hands on his hips. "It might not be much, but here dwells the best of men; Major Swift and his soldiers."

Andrea nodded.

As they approached the fort, a red-coated soldier stood on the crest of it, aiming a rifle at them. "Cease your movement! Be you men, or be you Hollow Men?"

"Have you gone you daft, boy?" Walter boomed. "Open up the doors."

"O-oh, Sir Walter… I-I didn't see you... I'll just—open the gates!" The rather young and gangly soldier turned to shout the orders, and the gates swung open.

Walter and Andrea entered after Bernard, and were greeted by Major Swift himself. "There he is! The one and only Major Swift!"

"Ah, Sir Walter!" the tall, old soldier said with his pipe in his hand, as usual. "What a pleasure to see you again, old friend!"

"Swift, you old sod!" Walter laughed as he embraced his old friend and gave him a pat on the back. "So, this is what Logan has forced you to do? Hide in the Land of the Dead?"

"And dead it is," Major Swift said with a sigh. Then he looked over at Andrea. "I see you've brought company."

"Ah, Swift, this is Andrea, the—"

"The Princess of Albion, of course," a soldier next to Major Swift said and smirked with a vexing, women-hunting smirk. "A pleasure to meet you, your Highness. I'm—"

"Ben Finn, you keep your mouth shut!" Walter boomed. He wasn't particularly fond of the young captain. A sharpshooter, indeed, but was just as sharp-tongued and could drive any man to madness. It was not the kind of man he wanted to represent the army to the Princess.

"Well, Wally," Ben laughed. "Aren't you overreacting just a bit?" Then he turned to Andrea again. "I'm Captain Benjamin Finn of the Albion Royal Army. Well, what's left of it, anyways."

"Greetings, captain," Andrea said and nodded.

Walter was proud of the strong authority in her voice. She was after all, if the revolution went as planned, to be the new Queen of Albion.

"Ah, yes," Major Swift said. "Logan's sister. You've made a foolish and brave decision to come here, I hope you're aware of that?"

"Indeed I am, good sir," Andrea said. "But my brother needs to be stopped. This has gone too far."

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" Ben Finn said and smiled broadly and winked at the Princess.

Walter harrumphed loudly.

"What?" Ben asked and shrugged.

Major Swift rolled his eyes. "Captain Finn, take the Princess to the mortar and show her how to use it." Then he looked at her. "You'll probably be using it the whole night."

"I thought the Hollow Men were just myths," Walter said lowly.

"So did we, before we came here," the Major said. "But we have lost many men. Lieutenant Simmons, for example, was killed just recently."

"Nasty creatures," Walter muttered. He didn't like it one bit. If he would decide, he would be lying on the beaches of the lightest, largest and friendliest of places there was. Instead he was stuck here, in Mourningwood, preparing for an encounter with the living dead.

.:*Ö*:.

"Have you gone daft, boy?"

Andrea laughed a bit at the soldier's nervous reaction. Walter could be a bit harsh some times, but he never meant anything bad. But Andrea was grateful to see the heavy wooden gates open before her, when she knew that rest and food awaited her. She was sure that Bernard shared her enthusiasm, too, for he ran ahead of them, into the fort. She was tired, and hungry and feeling dirty. Not more than a few weeks ago she was living like the Princess she actually was, and now, she was ankle-down with mud, bloodstained, sweaty and just plain dirty. No doubt she smelled, too. It was no appropriate way for a Princess to look. And now she was to mingle with soldiers, and probably soldiers that hadn't seen anything even close to a woman for a long time. She was nervous, but had decided to show them that she was above them, as their Princess and soon-to-be Queen. She straightened her stature and held her head high. If she smelled ill, then let is seem like she meant to smell ill. As they entered the fort, she couldn't keep from looking around. The red-coated soldiers were all pausing in their activities to look at the new arrivals. Two soldiers greeted them; one tall, slender, older soldier with a rather large moustache and a smoking pipe, and one younger, just a little bit shorter with dirty blonde hair and eyes blue as forget-me-nots. She straightened herself a bit more, to compensate for her lack of height, and was determined to look down upon these men.

"There he is! The one and only Major Swift!" Walter and the taller man, Major Swift, greeted each other as old friends, but the other soldier kept his eyes on her, and she did not like that. Perhaps it didn't mean anything and was nothing but a simple lingering in the lack of anything else to look at, and she was just overreacting, but she did not want to come off as an object of sight.

"Ah, Swift, this is Andrea, the—" Andrea was ready to greet the Major with the correct formality, but was surprised by the younger soldier cutting in.

"The Princess of Albion, of course," he said as a crooked smile appeared on his lips, and Andrea had to tighten her jaw to not look upset but keep her face and posture. "A pleasure to meet you, your Highness," he continued and reached out to grab her hand. "I'm—"

"Ben Finn, you keep your mouth shut!" Walter cut in and the soldier lowered his hand.

"Well, Wally," he laughed heartily, "are you not overreacting just a bit?" Then he turned his blue eyes on Andrea again. "I'm Captain Benjamin Finn of the Albion Royal Army." Then he shrugged. "Well, what's left of it, anyways."

She struggled to find a good response to it. He had behaved gentlemanlike after Walter had barked at him, but he still gave her the impression of being a worthless scoundrel. "Greetings, captain," was the only thing she could manage to say, and gave him a nod to show him respect.

"Ah, yes," Major Swift said and waved his pipe around. "Logan's sister. You've made a foolish and brave decision to come here, I hope you're aware of that?"

"Indeed I am, good sir," Andrea said. But she wasn't even too sure if she really knew what she was getting herself into. Her brother had always been a good leader, and a fantastic big brother, but of late, he had been the worst. Neglecting his kingdom and causing poverty and suffering wasn't like him at all, and she didn't want to believe that perhaps he had just turned from a good-hearted King to a tyrant overnight. Something must have triggered him. Nevertheless, these last few years were enough for him to be both hated and feared. "My brother needs to be stopped. This has gone too far."

"I couldn't have said it better myself!" the blonde captain smiled and set his hands on his hips. Then he winked one of his blue eyes, to her, and she wanted to gasp at the inappropriate behaviour, but kept her face stiff.

Walter harrumphed just as he always did when mare villagers glanced at Andrea in Bowerstone.

"What?" the captain asked nonchalantly and shrugged. Andrea wanted to slap him and tell him to respect the ones with higher rank.

But Major Swift rolled his eyes with a light sigh. "Captain Finn, take the Princess to the mortar and show her how to use it." Then he looked at her. "You'll probably be using it the whole night."

Andrea nodded, but inside, her heart sank. Was she really going to have to be alone with that obnoxious, nonchalant captain? She'd rather spend some time alone with a Hobbe. But she followed Captain Finn away from the safety of Walter and towards the crowd of red-coats.

"Well, Princess," Ben Finn said light-spirited. "Welcome to Mourningwood Fort and the best and bravest bunch of sods you'll ever meet."

More soldiers greeted her as she walked pass them, and some gave her very inappropriate looks, which was what she had dreaded. However, the captain saw how they were looking at her, and immediately put them in place.

"Back at yours stations, buck privates!"

"Yes, sir."

"Forgive my men," Ben said and looked over his shoulder towards Andrea. "They have been out here far too long, with only each other as company. I bet your Majesty can imagine what they see when they look at you." That crooked, nonchalant smile spread across his face again as he turned his head forwards.

Once again she fought the urge to slap him. He knew who he was talking to, yet he dared to speak as he did. She found that utterly unprofessionally for a Captain. Although, she had to admit, that his fearlessness might be what they needed to overthrow Logan.

"Now, here we are," the captain said as they reached the head of some stairs. Looking out over the woods was a heavy iron mortar, and next to it was rather young soldier almost covered with bandages. "Ah, and here's Private Jammy. He's called that because he'd the jammiest sod in the bunch. He'll be your loader."

"Wounded seven-hundred and twenty-four times and still standing!" the youngster said proudly. Andrea only looked at him astonished.

"You'll get used to him," Ben assured her. "Now, if you walk to stand by the mortar I will instruct you of how to use it."

Andrea did as told, even though she did it with authority and pride. She took a grip of the handle, but as she moved it about, she found it extremely difficult to keep it steady.

"No, no," Ben Finn laughed. "You need to be more firm yet gentle—here, let me show you." He then stood behind her, gripping the handle himself, his hands over hers, and pinning her between himself and the mortar. Her heart was racing; this was an abomination! "Now, Princess," he said in her ear, "when you move the mortar, you'll have to think of it as… well, think of it as a woman; headstrong, but needs a firm hand. Not to firm, though, because if ruled by too firm a hand, it will only disobey you even more. I bet that is how you work, your Majesty." He squeezed her hands, and she gasped.

"Mr Finn!" she said and pushed him aside with all the might she could gather. It wasn't very impressive yet, but in a few years, men like him would respect her just as greatly as the people of Albion had respected her mother. "Don't forget who you're talking to!"

"Oh, my good lady, I would never forget who you are," Ben smirked. "Now, try doing as I told you, and you'll see it will be much easier to operate."

Andrea clenched her jaw and gripped the handle again. She tried to push the captain's inappropriate behaviour out of her mind, and concentrate on the mortar. But his voice echoed in her mind; "Think of it as a woman; headstrong but needs a firm hand… I bet that is how you work, your Majesty." The worst thing, really, was that he was right. Ever since she was a child, she had been head strong. Her brother had been the firm hand, leading her onto the path of righteousness. Without him, she didn't even want to imagine where she would be now. With that heavy acknowledgment, she took a deep breath and slowly moved the mortar. It was still hard for her to keep it steady, but by doing what Ben had said, even though she didn't like it, actually helped a lot. She had been moving it too fast before, and its weight had worked to her disadvantage and swung more than she wanted it to. But this time, she could keep it steady.

"Alright!" Jammy said. "Aim for the scarecrows. We use them for practice all the time."

Andrea nodded and fired her first shot. A direct hit. At least, that Captain Finn couldn't tease her about. She fired again. Direct hit, again.

"She's bloody brilliant, she is!" Jammy exclaimed towards Ben.

"Of course she is," Ben smirked. "She's the Princess, Jammy."

"Oh—you Majesty, I'm sorry!" Jammy gasped.

"Now, now, Jammy," Ben said. "Don't you worry. This one is a rebel."

"Yes, well, this rebel requires some rest for now," Andrea demanded, tired of his remarks.

"Of course, Princess," Ben said and pointed towards the stairs. "After you, my lady."

Andrea left the mortar and headed down the stairs again, followed by the captain.

"There isn't much entertainment for a Princess I bet, but at least we've got warm fires and good food." Ben laughed a bit and came up next to her. "Then of course, that depends on what kind of entertainment you seek."

"You are forgetting yourself again, Mr Finn," Andrea growled. "I did not say I sought entertainment, but rest." Then she felt her belly rumble.

"And food too, I suppose," Ben smirked. Then his smirk cracked up in a smile. "Don't be so serious, Princess! The situation has the responsibility for all seriousness. That means that you are allowed to joke around a bit. Skip the stiffness. You aren't in the castle anymore, Princess."

She couldn't argue on that.

"Anyway, here we have some of the men." They had stopped by three men talking by a camp fire. "These soldiers over here are Gould, Grove and Tick."

Andrea nodded, but did not open her mouth to speak.

"My, my, Finney, who's this lovely creature?" one of the men said with a big grin.

"That, Private Gould, is the Princess of Albion."

"Oh…" The soldier stood up and cleared his throat. "Welcome, your Highness!" He bowed deeply, and Andrea smiled. That was how they should greet her.

"Loosen up, Gould," Ben said. "The Princess here is tired and hungry. Why don't we all sit down for a game of cards and a round of ale? That's the least we can do until nightfall when we'll shatter some Hollow Men." Then he leaned over to whisper to Andrea, "That's when the entertainment begins." Then he sat down by the fire.

Andrea wanted to give him a smart retort, but found herself speechless. So that's what he had meant by "entertainment"? Killing Hollow Men? She almost felt ashamed by thinking something else. Obviously, she had been living for too long under the rule of her overprotecting brother who had taught her that every man out there wanted only one thing with her. Oh, how he hated Elliot. Elliot… just by the thought of her love, her cheeks flooded with blood, and she had to close her eyes. All those people had to die for her to rescue him. It wasn't fair. And now she was afraid she'd never see him again! If she knew her brother correctly, he would question Elliot first of Andrea's whereabouts, but Elliot didn't know… what would Logan do to him then? Pain shot through her chest as she imagined the worst.

"The Princess doesn't want to play cards!" another soldier said. "We're only soldiers."

"Yeah, your Majesty," the third one said. "We don't have much to offer, but a straw bed and some meat and ale, if that suits you?"

"That will do just fine," Andrea said and managed a smile.

"Oh, come on, Princess!" Ben urged. "A game of cards? Of course you can join us!"

"Well," Andrea said, uncertain of what to say next. "I believe a game of cards won't do any harm."

"That's the spirit!" Ben exclaimed and patted the ground next to him. "Have a seat, Princess."

Andrea hesitated before she took a seat next to the captain. But it felt good to sit down, to rest a bit. The fire gave comfortable warmth, and when she before felt uneasy mingling with the soldiers, she now found a strange safety sitting next to the rude captain and his men. They passed along goblets of ale, and slices of dried meat. It tasted salty, but good, and the ale was rich. "What do you play?" Andrea asked.

"Oh, it's simple, Princess," Ben said. "It's called the Chieftain. The goal is to get as high a score as possible where the King is the highest and the Ace is the lowest. Everybody starts with three cards each. Then we place out first bets. Since money means very little here, we bet bullets. When we're content with our first bets, we receive another card each, place our bets, and when we're content with that betting, we receive our last card each. Then we make our final bet, and the one with the highest score wins. Easy, ey?"

"I believe so," Andrea nodded.

"Well then," the captain said, "share the deck, Grover."

The soldier shared the deck of cards, and there were more soldiers who came to join and soon, the game was on. The men betted wildly and when it was Andrea's turn, she dithered. She had only two twos and one five. Not a very high score. But she decided to stay in the game and placed her bet. "Three bullets from my Bonesmasher." She threw the ammunition in the pile with the other bullets, and the soldiers moaned loudly.

"The Bonesmasher?" one cried. "I fold."

"Fold."

"I fold."

"Wimps," Ben laughed. "I raise the bet with four bullets from my Red Dragon. It's an antique." He threw in four round bullets in the pile, and another soldier folded.

"Right, next card!" another soldier demanded. They were now four left in the game.

They received another card, and placed their bets. They all betted four regular bullets, and the final cards were given to them.

"Five regular bullets," Grove said.

"One used bullet from Reaver's Dragonstomper .48 from my own collection!" one soldier smirked and threw it onto the pile.

Ben laughed scornfully. "One used—my, oh my. Five silver bullets. Your turn, Princess. It's going to be hard to beat that."

Andrea looked at her cards. Two twos, one five and two Kings. She had a good chance. But Ben was right; five silver bullets were hard to beat. She could throw in her ring. It had been a gift from her mother, containing the bullet she used when the shot Lucien Fairfax. It was unusable, of course, and held a high value to her, but she had nothing else to offer. And she didn't want to fold.

"Have nothing else to bet?" the captain teased.

Andrea sighed. "I'll throw in my ring. It is the bullet that killed Lucien Fairfax. Whoever wins this must promise to guard it with its life and not to sell the ring."

"A soldier's promise!" Grove said.

Ben Finn nodded, as did the other soldier.

"Show the cards!" Ben said, and the four players exposed their cards.

"Ah, bloody hell!" Grover complained. "Three tens and two twos… thought I'd make it with that."

"Well, I only have two eights, two fours and one six," the other soldier said.

"Guess it's between you and me then, ey, Princess?" Ben smirked.

"Two twos, one five and two Kings." Andrea crossed her arms over her chest nonchalantly, certain of her victory.

"Well, I have one two, two fives, one Queen and one King. I win."

As the realisation sank within her, she gasped. She had lost her ring. She had lost her ring to a rude scoundrel! How could she have been so reckless? "One more game. Sudden death, you and me, all or nothing?" She tried.

Ben just laughed. "Sore loser?"

"I beg you!" she tried again.

"Well—" Ben began, but was interrupted by Jammy who stood shouting by the mortar.

"They are here!" he yelled. "They come now!"

Ben's face changed immediately from smug to serious. "Showtime." Then he rose and dragged Andrea to her feet. "Go up to the mortar. It's at a safer distance for you. Try to shoot as many as possible, and if you can, shoot them in groups." Then he picked up his rifle and turned towards the big gates right across from the gates Andrea and Walter had come through.

"Wait!" Andrea cried, and the captain turned. His blue eyes were burning. "Aren't you going to help me? What if I can't steer it again? What if I make a mistake? What if—"

"You'll do just fine, Princess," Ben assured her. "Just remember; treat it like you want to be treated." With a wink from his eye, he gave her that crooked smile and headed towards the gates.

"Yes, sir," she said, without thinking, and headed towards Jammy and the mortar. Why on earth did she call him "sir"? It was he who should acknowledge her as a superior! Nevertheless, she had to put all of their differences aside as she now realised that she really wasn't in the castle anymore. She couldn't keep expecting that people would treat her the way they did there. These people were revolutionaries. Rebels. They were to join her on the hunt for the throne. They would treat her like any other rebel. Not like royalty. As she reached Jammy, she could now see how the living skeletons were popping up one after another. She quickly grabbed the handle of the mortar and steadily moved it to the first target. "Load on, Jammy." She heard the mortar being loaded, and she fired her first shot. It smashed three Hollow Men. Then she kept on going. She smashed at least thirty more Hollow Men before the soldiers shouted at each other by the gate.

"We can't hold them any longer!" one soldier shouted.

"Prepare for battle!" Major Swift commanded.

"Your Majesty!" Jammy said and looked at Andrea. "We need to get down there!"

Andrea snapped her head towards the gate. It was shaking. Five men were pushing it back, but as the thick wood broke, skeleton hands reached in to grab the soldiers. Andrea quickly released the mortar and inhaled deeply. She felt how the warmth of the magic in her blood rushed through her, and as she exhaled she released a ball of fire towards the gate, only hurting her enemies. Then she drew her sword and hurried down to the rest of the soldiers, followed by Jammy. She came to a halt next to Walter.

"Nice work, Andrea," he said silently to her.

"Thank you," Andrea answered. She tensed as the Hollow Men smashed at the gate. All the men fell silent as they all waited for the ultimate assault. The enemies behind the gates roared and moaned ghostly as the gates smashed open, and dozens of blue orbs came flying into the fort. As they popped up from the ground, the soldiers started to fight for their lives. Andrea killed a few by herself, but the sword wasn't her strong side. Neither was is the pistol. She was much better at the magical stuff. Although, it took too much energy, and now before she had built up her magical strength, she had to be careful not to exhaust herself. But she managed to keep herself from harm. Walter was fighting by her side almost the whole time, probably to make sure she wasn't hurt. The Hollow Men kept coming, and Andrea slashed all she could. Then all of a sudden, she received a blow towards her arm, and she dropped her sword and fell to the ground. She was just about to reach for her sword again, when she heard a shot, and some cheers. She looked up into the captain's blue eyes, and his crooked smile. He reached out his hand to help her up.

"They're all gone now, Princess," he smiled. "We got them."

She took his hand, and he dragged her to her feet. Her arm hurt, but it didn't bleed. "Was that all of them?"

"There'll be more tomorrow, if you're still hungry for them," he smiled and winked.

She smiled weakly. Then she looked at Walter. "I think my shoulder is dislocated…"

Walter looked horrified.

"Ben in an expert on dislocated body parts," Major Swift said, but Walter objected.

"Ben Finn is not to touch the Princess!" he barked.

Andrea rolled her eyes. "Walter, please." She looked at her mentor. "I don't care who it is, as long as he gets my arm fixed. I can't fight like this. And it hurts."

"Let me see that, Princess," Ben said and grabbed her arm. "Oh, it's dislocated, alright. Now, hold on tight. This might sting a little. On the count of three; one…" Then he twisted her arm, and she screamed.

"You said three!" she yelled.

"It's better if you're not prepared," Ben said and shrugged.

She cradled her arm and whimpered. Then all of a sudden, a huge orb came flying, and dashed into the ground where Lieutenant Simmons was buried.

"I thought I told you to stay dead?" Major Swift growled.

"Does nobody listen to orders anymore?" Ben growled.

The deceased officer released a wave of magic, which took out all the other men, and left Andrea standing along against the enemy. She gasped loudly. Her arm was hurt. She couldn't use it well. The Lieutenant slashed his big swords, towards her, and she rolled away. "Walter!" she cried, but he lay unconscious on the ground. "Major Swift?" But he too lay unconscious. "Captain Finn?" No one could aid her. The skeleton Simmons charged at her, and she once again rolled away and managed to strike a blow towards the Lieutenant's back. But it was far from enough. She knew what she would have to do. She hurried away from the beast and concentrated hard. The magic inside her stirred. She had to charge a strong enough fire spell to vanquish the enemy. She felt the heat rise, and as the dead man sprinted towards her, she inhaled deeply and exhaled in a big, fiery explosion. The bones of the Hollow Man shattered, and as the fire faded, so did Princess Andrea.