Crimson and Clover

Valek

Crimson/Valek

Red Riding Hood was not truly a story about a little girl bringing a basket of goodies to her grandmother. There was a young lady, a witch, the witch’s lover who happened to be a shapeshifter, a confused knight, and a curse.

The girl was a princess of a nearby kingdom, she wanted true love and did not want to marry the man her family picked for her. I was her guard, her knight, I knew of the man that she wanted to marry and he was a joke.

I tried telling the princess that it was a lost cause, no one should actually go into the forest. Definitely not to look for the witch and her lover. Greta was a stubborn and spoiled child, no one could tell her no, and I was a low-ranking knight on the food chain. I was most certainly not allowed to tell her NO.

I followed her into the woods, she was dressed to the nines in a silver and white dress, dripping with diamonds and pearls. She looked at me out of the corner of her eye and pouted. She was a stunning creature but she was vain and petulant. There was a time that I held a flame for her, but then I saw her for what she truly was.

“Valek, why do you follow me? I told Madame I would be alone.” I followed behind her as she continued to hum and peer into the dense trees looking for the cottage. I sighed and rolled my eyes, wishing I was able to wear my sword, but her mother insisted I go as her peasant servant.

“I follow you because you are stupid and think you can buy charms and trinkets to obtain the heart of the one you love.” She stopped midstride and turned on me. The monster that she truly was flashing behind her violet eyes. Then just as suddenly she was back to the cheerful princess that everyone saw. Only I seemed to see the true side of Greta Schafer.

“Duke Mueller does love me; he just needs a little push to realize how much he loves me.” I stopped and listened to the forest. Everything was quiet and I knew there was something wrong, the only time there was no sound was when there was a predator.

I just wish the Queen would have let Greta marry whomever she wanted. The stupid girl was going to cause a civil war if she refused the hand of her betrothed. She wanted an old man though; her betrothed was a prince of a neighboring country and fell in love with her. He even confided to Valek that he would let her take a lover.

Valek liked the prince and tried to tell him that he could do better than Princess Greta, Princess Serena was in love with the prince and worshipped the ground that he walked on. The prince overlooked her because she was not as stunning as her sister.

“Duke Mueller is almost seventy years old. He has one foot in the grave princess.” She tsked at my sarcastic dry tone. I really could care less who she fell in love with, I was not paid enough to even care about her love life and dalliances.

I was just around to make sure no bodily harm comes to her, that was the only reason I decided to follow her into the forest. She could be eaten by a wolf and I wouldn’t care but it would also mean that my head was on the chopping block. So I followed her around like a stupid puppy and made sure she didn’t hurt herself or get into trouble.

We were walking for hours and it also seemed like we were going in circles. I sighed in frustration again as we seemed to walk past the same moss-covered tree that had red flowers on it. The same circle of toadstools, the same rock I tripped over yet again.

“Are you sure you know where you are going?” She stopped and wiped the sweat off her brow, her golden hair hung limply down her back and her pale face was blotchy and red. A far cry from the beautiful dainty creature that lounges day and night.

“I was told to go into the woods and hum and sing, the witch will find me.” She was slightly out of breath and pushed tendrils of flaxen hair off her skin. She adjusted the bodice of her dress and looked around helplessly.

“How long are we going to look for her, your highness?” She shot me another look, the stormy eyes shooting daggers at me. She stomped her foot and held her breath, she was going to throw a tantrum, sighing I looked around again and cursed the damn witch for being so elusive.

That was when I saw the smoke curling through a particularly thick part of the forest. There were a few lanterns that seemed to float here and there in between the trees. Greta squealed and ran towards the lanterns. Sighing I followed her as she laughed and giggled, dancing between the trees and we finally came upon the home of the witch.

I was tired, hungry and my old battle wound was flaring up and making this trek through the forest more painful than it should have been. Muttering under my breath, I limped after the princess while she stood at the front door. The house looked like it was made of candy and gingerbread, the details were amazing and I had to admit that the home itself was spectacular.

“It looks like candy Valek! Oh, how darling! I would love a house like this.” I rolled my eyes and sighed inwardly again. I was getting whiplash from her mood swings. The door opened and a woman in a skin-tight red dress that flowed like water to the ground stood illuminated by the light from inside.

I could see the tensing of Greta’s jaw; she absolutely loathed any woman that was more beautiful than her. I was expecting a crone and instead, we found beauty, she was ethereal and I looked away because I could feel myself falling into her trap.

“Princess, I have been expecting you, please come in and let us consult the bones about your troubles.” The princess lifted her head and tried to make herself not look as sweaty and dumpy. I chewed my lip this was going to be interesting and I was going to have to watch the princess make sure that she did not insult the witch. Rolling my eyes, this was going to be more of a problem than she was worth.