The Tangled Princess Bride

by Wolfram-And-Hart

Chapter 1: A Bedtime Story

It was a normal evening in Corona, except for one detail: It was a quiet night. Ever since the former lost princess and the prince consort were blessed with twins, Corona Castle had rarely been this quiet, especially when bedtime came. However, this night was different. Not only were Prince Zachary and Princess Rose sick in bed, but their parents were away on state business. Having the flu was bad enough, but missing their usual bedtime story left the royal five year olds feeling down.

"Hello, children." The Queen said, as she came into her grandkids' room to put them down for the night.

"Hi, Grandma." The twins croaked in unison. The two children looked positively miserable. Rose was curled up in bed, as if trying to fall sleep and escape the horrible feelings running through her body. Zachary sat up in his bed, his arms crossed in an angry pout at the sickness and the absence of their parents,

"How are you feeling?" The Queen asked, pushing the chestnut brown bangs away so she could feel Rose's forehead.

"Not good, Grandma." Rose said, as Pascal jumped onto the bed and began nuzzling her cheek. Their mother had charged Pascal with remaining at the castle and watching the kids while she and her husband were away, and he wasn't about to let them down now.

"I hate being sick." Zachary grumbled as the Queen felt his forehead.

"I know, it's no fun." The Queen. said, smiling sympathetically as she stroked his short blond hair. "Well, it's time for you two to go to bed."

"Well, we've had to stay in bed all day, so what's the big deal now?" Zachary said sourly, pulling his blanket around his shoulders.

"Now, now, Zachary." The Queen scolded, kissing him on the forehead. "I know you aren't feeling well and you miss your parents, but that's no excuse to be rude."

"I'm sorry, Grandma." Zachary sighed, but he still wasn't happy.

"I wish Mommy and Daddy were here." Rose said, before sneezing. She turned her head to see a Pascal passing her a tissue. "Thank you, Pascal."

"I know you miss them and I bet they miss you two just as much." The Queen said, taking Rose's hand. "But, your grandfather is on his way to read you a bedtime story."

"He is?" Rose asked, smiling excitedly.

"Yep, he'll be here any minute." The Queen said, smiling.

"It won't be the same, but I guess it's better than nothing." Zachary sulked.

"Who's ready for a story?" came a booming voice from the door.

"Hi, Grandpa." The twins said as the King entered the room.

"How are you two feeling?" The King asked.

"Still feel yucky." Rose said, as Pascal scampered onto her head.

"Well, we'll see if we can't do anything about that." The King said, pulling a chair up between the twins' beds.

"Well, if you have things in hand, I think I'll be going." The Queen said. She stooped down and gave her grandchildren their good night kisses and turned to leave. "Don't keep them up too late, Dear. They need their rest."

"I won't, Sweetheart." The King said, smiling as she left the room. "Now, about that story..." The King pulled out a very thick book with the number 80 on the cover.

"What book is that, Grandpa?" Rose asked, looking at the huge book.

"Well, you see, several of the world's greatest authors came together to collaborate on a series of books. They decided on making an anthology series." The King explained.

"What's an an-thl-ogee?" Zachary asked.

"It means this book isn't all one story. It's a collection of many different stories all in one book." The King showed off the cover of the book to them. "In fact, each volume has eighty stories written in it. There are nineteen volumes in all. That's why the series is called the Nineteen 80s."

"What kind of stories are in there, Grandpa?" Rose asked.

"Oh many kinds. There's one about a group of men who find a way to fight ghosts. There's one about a young man and an old man who make a machine that can travel back in time. There's one about a group of kids who are searching for a pirate's treasure. There are three of them about an adventurer who finds ancient treasures like the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail." The King listed off from the table on contents.

"Those sound cool!" Zachary said, scooting closer to the edge of his bed. "So, which one are you gonna read us?"

"Oh, it's a very special one. It's actually one of the newer ones." The King said, flipping through the book. "Let's see... Gremlins... The Breakfast Club... The Secret of NIMH... Ah! Here it is. The Princess Bride."

"Ooh." Rose's eyes lit up at the title.

"No way!" Zachary said, thoroughly disgusted. " Please, anything else! Something with a name like that can't be any good!"

"No good?" The King asked, putting a hand over his chest in mock hurt. "This story has sword fights, pirates, giants, barbarians, intrigue, conspiracy, torture, monsters, true love, magic, revenge, miracles and death."

"Oh..." Zachary said, his eyes widening at the description. He quickly shook the excitement away and mumbled, "Doesn't sound so bad, I guess. I'll try to stay awake."

"How nice of you." The King said, smirking at his grandson's reaction.

"Forget, him, Grandpa." Rose said, throwing a crumpled up tissue at her brother. "Go on and read!"

"All right... Ahem. The Princess Bride by S. Morgenstern Grimm and Greno Howard..."

Author's note. Yeah, it's Tangled meets The Princess Bride. So, if Disney cheesiness mixed with one of the best bits of 80s cheese ever doesn't sound good, you're probably not gonna like this. Then again, if you don't like Tangled, I don't know why you're reading this to begin with, and if you haven't seen The Princess Bride, click off this site, step away from your computer and go watch it now. I'll wait.

I'd also like to give credit to Dinosaur Barbecue for writing the first Princess Bride/Tangled story and inspiring me to make this.

I'm gonna have to give a few parts to other Disney characters, cause the cast of Tangled is actually kinda small and almost none of them are given proper names.

Oh and one more thing. See the pretty review button? Click it if you believe in wuv, tru wuv, that will fowow you foweva.