Wonderstruck

Book 1: When the Snow Melts, What Does it Become? It Becomes Spring

Chapter 1:

The ogre wars tore the lands apart for many years. Every time their rebellion seemed to die down, they would appear again twice as fierce as before and begin their assaults. This was the world of the Enchanted Forest that Princess Emma White Swan had grown up in. It was hard in a way knowing her beloved father, King James, had been cut down by an ogre's hand when she was only eight years old but her mother, the veritable Queen of Queens had protected the White-Swan Kingdom by herself from the moment the news had come that the King had fallen in the battle.

Princess Emma, now almost 20 summers, was a beautiful sight to behold. Queen Snow watched from the high stone balcony as her daughter pulled back on the bow and sent the arrow flying directly at the target that had been set up in the courtyard for her training purposes. Emma, the queen noticed, hit the red bulls eye dead on. The arrow quivered from the sheer force the Princess had used to put it there, it's light blue feathers shivering in the wind. She smiled sadly, knowing her daughter wanted to be like her father more than anything. With the sun sparkling on her golden hair, which she'd tied back with a simple leather thong and the leather pants and tunic she insisted on wearing she could see the countenance of the fallen King.

"You'd be so proud of her Charming," She murmured as she spun the green stoned ring on her finger.

"My liege?" She twisted, looking to her general.

"Yes?" She asked as the older man stepped into the room with a deep bow. His armor clanging a bit as he moved but she didn't mind. The former Leviathan was the only true protection she had since James had fallen in battle. Though not many realized the Queen had just as much ability as her daughter to protect herself, she chose to allow Lancelot to protect her.

"The war council is meeting your grace in the throne room. If it pleases her majesty to join us…"

"I will be right there." Snow offered the man a small smile to which he returned.

"Lancelot?" She called as he turned his helmet still in his hands.

"Your grace?"

"Thank you."

"For what your majesty," The man arched an eyebrow. In his youth, he was a handsome man. War had aged him rather prematurely.

She reached up touching the scar that ran across his cheek and down towards his collar bone. "I never properly thanked you for trying to save my husband that night. I'm sorry for that."

"You don't owe me anything. If I had been faster, the King would still be with us."

"As is you risked your life for his. I owe you a great deal of thanks for that. You brought him home." She offered him a small sad smile which he returned.

"It was an honor to serve under him. He was a great man."

"Yes, he was. May I beg another favor of you my friend?"

"Of course your majesty; anything you ask is yours." The man lifted a hand from his helmet and pressed it to his chest with a closed fist.

"Protect my daughter. Should she ever need it."

"With my very soul," He bowed his head to her.

Snow smiled sadly. "Hopefully it won't come to that."

"If it does your grace I will not hesitate. The princess will be safe no matter what it costs me."

Snow nodded, "Please don't let her know that I've asked this of you. She'll never forgive me. She's too much like her father."

"Yes, she is her father's daughter your majesty."

Snow offered him a small sad smile. "We should be going. This war won't win itself."

Lancelot nodded and offered the aging Queen his arm. She was still as beautiful as she had been but the war and losing her beloved had taken its toll on her as well. He could see the way she carried herself when in private. Her shoulders hunched a little, her mouth downturned. The sparkle that had once been in her eyes was rarely seen now.

"It would be best your majesty to marry your daughter to Prince Stefan of Moonshollow." After the meeting with her war council, the nobles had commandeered a meeting with her to discuss the politics of the realm and the things that needed to be done to ensure the safety of the Kingdom.

"They have a strong army and with the never ending forest at its borders it will be difficult for the ogres and giants to come through to get to them. It would also provide us with a powerful ally to the east that will protect our borders." Lord Roderick seemed to be the leader of this band and as such stepped forward to speak on such matters.

"Queen Rapunzel and I have spoken of a marriage contract," The Queen began slowly, as soon as the words left her mouth the men seemed to titter like old maids in excitement over the prospect of the Queen having listened to their wants. They were dying to marry Emma off to the nearest Kingdom hoping to strengthen their borders and provide more able bodied men to defend their sorry hides.

"However it is difficult for me to allow my only child to be forced into a loveless marriage." The Queen steepled her fingers in front of her, jade eyes that she shared with her daughter staring around at the various men sitting around the large table. She'd kept the round table her husband had insisted on when they took the Kingdom. She almost regretted that decision now given that she had to look at these idiots on equal footing.

"Your grace, surely the good of the Kingdom trumps one marriage." Lord Roderick immediately protested, his dark eyes flashing with anger.

"The good of the Kingdom will not be had by forcing my child into a marriage she does not want nor need. With the mountains at our back, we have a natural defense that Moonshollow is lacking. We also have the dwarf mines there with their endless supply of fairy dust." She nodded to Grumpy, who gave her a small nod of his head but remained quiet.

Despite his gruff exterior, he was Emma's godfather and as such he didn't much like the way they were trying to force his favorite (and only) goddaughter into a marriage. He folded his arms, cutting his eyes at the spoiled dandy that dared try to protest against his Queen's words and his goddaughter's happiness.

"She's nearly twenty years old your grace. She reached marrying age at sixteen. She is being viewed as an old maid by civilized society."

"Watch your tone." Grumpy snarled and reached for his axe, his eyes cutting at the white haired lord who swallowed and shrunk slightly into his seat before sitting forward again as though the threat weren't very real.

Grumpy grinned clearly ready for the fight; his teeth gnashed as he pushed himself up out of his chair. Snow smiled softly and shook her head subtly earning a slight pout from the prickly dwarf. He sat back down with a muttered curse under his breath clearly wanting to defend Emma.

"My daughter is not an old maid. She is my only comfort without my dear husband. Everyone understands a mother's want to be with her only child since she is the only blood family I have left." Snow explained slowly though she too was growing angry with the way they were speaking.

Lord Roderick opened his mouth again to protest but Snow lifted a hand halting him. "Emma's birthday fast approaches. She will be twenty summers in barely a moon. We will throw a ball and invite our allies. Should someone catch my daughter's eye, we will make the proper movements to join the Kingdoms together at that point. Until then I beg you my lords allow me a bit of peace so that I might enjoy what's left of my time with my daughter before she is married and moved away from me." She rose to her feet, Grumpy, taking her silent signal, moved to her side.

"Good day my lords," She dipped into a slight curtsy as the men rose from their chairs and bowed deeply to her in return. She moved away from the round table and head towards the door Grumpy following close behind.

"Thank God that's over with sister." He muttered as soon as the doors fell closed behind them.

"Yes thank God indeed." Snow's shoulders hunched once more as they often did when in private.

Grumpy bit his lip shifting from foot to foot. He wasn't good at this comforting stuff. He was more of the smack you on your back and tell you to get over it persuasion but it was difficult to do that with Snow. He knew how hard the King's death had been on her. Even harder still because Emma while old enough to understand a bit of what was going on, still didn't want to believe that her Daddy was gone.

"Did Queen Rapunzel and King Flynn actually make an offer of a contract?" He asked, knowing Snow well enough to know that she may have lied to get the council off her back.

"No. They didn't. No one has."

"What are you gonna do?" He asked, carefully putting his pickaxe through the strap on his back.

"I don't know. No one wants a marriage contract with Emma."

"Why do you think that is?" Grumpy cocked his head.

"Because she's my daughter; and James'…she has my stubbornness and his head for strategy. She's a good warrior too. They're threatened by her. They say she's too masculine, that she doesn't know her place in society."

"They want a wife that's gonna have a head full of hot air." Grumpy pointed out in his usual blunt manner.

"Yes, they don't want an equal. They want a woman that is content to be left at home with the children. Emma won't tolerate that. She'd insist on being in the middle of battle with her spouse. That's just her way."

"Just like you." Grumpy sighed as they entered the Queen's chambers.

"Yes, just like me."

"You're afraid they'd break her spirit aren't you sister?"

"I know they would. Whoever marries Emma must be forward thinking. She won't allow herself to be barefoot and pregnant in the traditional sense of those words and I'm afraid none of the Princes in the surrounding Kingdoms view things that way."

"What about her friend Pinocchio? They always seemed close." Grumpy offered as the Queen moved to the balcony once again. She could usually be found out there staring off at the mountains as though it would bring James home.

"The nobles would never agree to such a union. He isn't a prince nor does he wield any particular type of power or sway. He would be perfect otherwise. Unfortunately we're royalty and as royalty we're expected to marry other royals."

"That's some sort of bullshit if I ever heard it."

The queen smiled at his language and gruff tone. She knew it was only because of his protective feelings for Emma and herself.

"So my goddaughter gets to suffer because they can't get their heads out of their asses." He continued to rant as moved up beside her on the stone balcony.

"Grumpy,"

"No, Snow. You know what I'm saying is true." He waved a gloved hand in her direction.

"I do." The Queen couldn't deny his words for a moment.

She and Grumpy had always been close. Though she adored all the dwarves, they had a special bond. James once commented that he wouldn't be surprised if he awoke to find Grumpy wedged between him and Snow at night. Until Emma had been born and then he always suspected the dwarf would sleep in the bed beside their daughter's crib because he wanted to see her safe. He always did adore that Emma was so like him in nature despite the fact that Snow and James both tried to nurture that out of her.

"So what's our next move?"

"Ours?"

"You screwed it up enough by not telling them to shove it up their asses back there. I'm not going to stand around and let my goddaughter suffer because they're too stupid to see the light. She doesn't need a husband. She needs a partner." He wouldn't tell Snow what he knew about Emma. Truthfully, he felt that was up to Emma to tell her mother though she often confided in him for fear of angering/upsetting her only blood relative.

"I don't know how to give her one." Snow shook her head, her eyes trailing away from the mountain and back to Grumpy, who moved closer.

"Plan the damn ball and see what she does. She might just take you by surprise." He turned, "I'm going to find Emma. We had plans to spar."

"She'll like that. She's missed having you here."

"Yeah; I missed being here." With those parting words, the scruffy dwarf left leaving the White Queen to her thoughts.