This is the original ending for “Fairy
Godmothers, Inc.” I don’t like it quite as well as the one that made it into
book – I wasn’t quite as good at juggling multiple people in the same scene
when I wrote this, so certain characters were kind of shuffled off to the side –
but it’s an interesting look at the different ways you can take a scene. The
beginning and ending of the chapter will be very familiar to those who have
read the book, but the middle plays out quite differently.
Chapter 26: Heroes and Fairy Godmothers
Even
though she’d known it was coming, Kate couldn’t help but tense at the word
“arrest.” The hand that wasn’t holding John’s reached into her pocket, fingers
curling around the vial that she’d slid in there at the last minute. She
trusted John absolutely, but he of all people would approve of having an
emergency backup plan.
The queen,
however, was having none of it. She’d shot up out of her throne, face blazing
with royal fury. “How dare you speak that way of a princess-to-be?” John had
teased her about hiding under the stairs when his mother had come by earlier,
but Kate had known that it would be a lot easier for the queen to defend her son’s
sweetheart if she hadn’t actually met her yet. “You’re the one who should be arrested!”
Bubbles
swung her gaze back to the queen, suddenly dipping into a low bow as her
instincts for dealing with upper management finally started to take over. “You
don’t want this woman as a daughter-in-law, Your Majesty. She’s an employee of Fairy
Godmothers, Inc. who has stolen valuable company property.” Her gaze slid back
over to Kate for a second, rage flickering in the depths of her eyes. “Let me
take care of the problem for you.”
The
queen’s brow lowered as she looked at her son. “I’m not particularly concerned
with this ridiculous stealing business, Jonathan, but I warned you about
marrying a Fairy Godmother.” She looked over at Kate, looking oddly regretful.
“I’m sorry, my dear, but a princess can’t very well be employed by the people she’ll
outrank.”
Hesitantly,
Kate raised her hand. “Actually, I quit, which means that I’m technically not a
Fairy Godmother anymore.” She pushed the cloak off her shoulders, stretching
her wings out briefly in sheer relief. “I’m just a fairy.”
John
grinned over at her. “And after she marries me, she’ll be a fairy princess.”
The
queen’s face cleared instantly. “Oh how fabulous.
I’ve never had the chance to accessorize wings before.” Before Kate had a
chance to get nervous over that last thought, the queen was glaring at Bubbles
again. “I’m still upset with you, peasant.”
Bubbles
glared right back. “She broke the law,
Your Majesty,” she said through clenched teeth. “You don’t want that kind of
embarrassment.”
“What’s
to be embarrassed about?” John’s voice was easy, but pitched just right to
catch the entire crowd’s attention. When they turned to him, he stepped forward
and gently tugged Kate with him. “Her true love was being tormented by the
effects of a wicked spell, and she stole the item needed to set me free. It’s a
nearly textbook definition of a quest, and as such everything Kate did in the
last 48 hours is covered by questing law.” He smiled, and Kate tried to look as
relaxed and confident as he was. “The fact that the shoe fit merely confirms
that she is, indeed, my true love.”
Both
the king and queen were now staring at John with lowered brows. “Why didn’t you
tell me you were under a wicked spell?” the queen asked, warning in her voice. She
turned to her husband. “Did he tell *you* he was under a wicked spell?”
“There.
Was. No. Wicked. Spell,” Bubbles insisted, glaring at John’s parents as if she
could make them agree with her by sheer force of will. “It was merely a
misunder—“
The
queen’s gaze snapped away from her husband, the righteous indignation rising
again in her expression as she glared right back at Bubbles. “I should think my
son can be trusted to know whether or not he was under a wicked spell!”
Bubbles
grit her teeth, a muscle visibly working in her jaw by the time she turned back
to John. “So you’re going to continue with this ridiculous claim? That a simple
business tool was some sort of terrible villainy you had to be freed from?”
“Your
‘business tool’ held my mind hostage.” The room fell silent at the quiet
intensity in John’s voice. “It kept trying to steal my free will and turn me
into your little puppet.” Kate could hear the tension building with each word,
and she squeezed his hand in an attempt to offer comfort. He glanced over at
her, expression softening briefly as he gave her a return squeeze. “It tried to
make me betray the people I care about most.”
Bubbles’
glare only deepened, and Kate suddenly knew for certain that management had
known exactly what happened to the
people who didn’t accept the True Love.
John
smiled slowly at Bubbles, the expression remarkably similar to what Kate
imagined a dragon would look like just before it decided to swallow the knight.
“Which means that you, and by extension Fairy Godmothers, Inc., have a decision
to make. You can walk out of here right now, cancel any and all contracts you
might have on anyone in this room, and do your best to forget that Kate or any
of the rest of us even exist. Or you can explain to all of those royal families
whose sons and daughters married people they didn’t really approve of that you drugged them into thinking they’d fallen
in love.”
Bubbles
eyes went wide. “You wouldn’t—” Her mouth instantly snapped closed, as if she’d
realized how ridiculous the words were.
John’s smile
merely widened. “I wonder what percentage of Fairy Godmother-created marriages
would suddenly explode in messy, scandalous divorces. And the lawsuits …. The
company’s reputation would be destroyed in a matter of what, days?”
Bubbles
stared at him, unable to speak for a moment, but the situation had collapsed
too fast and she was beyond horror. Kate understood exactly what that felt
like, which was why she wasn’t at all surprised when her former boss simply
redirected her glare towards Kate. “It’s utterly beyond me how these people could
be interested in anyone as irrelevant as you are, but for the good of the
company it seems as though you’ll temporarily escape the consequences of your
actions. Undoubtedly the royal family will come to regret making such a
powerful enemy in the long run—”
“No.”
It took Kate a second to realize that she’d actually said the word out loud,
but her voice was sure and steady as she slid her hand out of John’s hold and
headed down the stairs towards Bubbles. “No more last-minute bluster. I may
have started this mess, but I refuse
to let anyone I care about have to keep worrying about you.”
Kate
stopped only a few inches away from her former boss, close enough that the
older woman was forced to look up slightly to glare at her properly. “What do
you think you’re going to do?” Bubbles sneered. “The only part in this entire
escapade you haven’t managed to fail at completely is theft.”
“True
Love, however, never fails.” Kate pulled out her company issued bottle, undoing
the spray top and holding it up directly in front of Bubbles’ eyes. “Maybe we
should see what your romantic destiny
is.”
Bubbles
actually paled. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh,
but I’m pretty sure I would.” Kate smiled, feeling more than a little like a
dragon herself. “You did it to John, after all. And I want to make sure that
you’re really persuasive when you
explain everything he just told you to management.”
Bubbles’
eyes narrowed. “I won’t pursue the contract, but I am not going to tell—”
Kate
shook the bottle slightly. “I wouldn’t want to bespell any of the poor men
behind you.” The four security guards that had followed Bubbles in immediately
backed away in unison. “But I’m sure one of the palace guards would be happy to
lose a boot to the greater good. Or maybe we should keep things simple and have
you fall in love with the company uniform you’re wearing. I’m sure the two of
you would be very happy together.”
Bubbles
teeth clenched. “How dare you think
you get to be the hero in all this!” she hissed.
“Actually,
he’s the hero,” Kate said softly, tilting her head back towards John. She put
the spray cap back on the True Love, dropping it into her pocket as she took a
step back. “I’m just the Fairy Godmother.”
There
was a heartbeat of total silence, then the room broke into wild applause. At a
gesture from John the guards dragged Bubbles and the men she’d arrived with out
of the building, and everyone immediately swarmed together with cheers and
congratulations.
Kate just
watched it all for a minute, still reeling from the realization that everything
had actually worked out like they’d hoped it would, until Rellie appeared and
threw her arms around her. “That was so cool!”
she laughed, squeezing tight until Kate had the good sense to hug her back.
“You and John totally have to start
that company so I can be a Fairy Godmother just like you are!”
Then Ned was
there, and Rellie immediately launched herself into his arms. Over her
shoulder, Ned grinned at Kate. “You did good, Boss.”
Kate grinned
back. “So did you.” The shock had given way to sheer relief, and when Lawton’s
hand touched her shoulder she impulsively hugged him as well. “Sorry you didn’t
get any of the good lines, Lawton.”
He chuckled as
they pulled away. “As long as my sacrifice is duly noted.”
A moment later
she felt a hand, warm and gentle, on the small of her back. “Doesn’t the hero
get a hug?” Without a word she turned and threw herself into John’s arms,
pressing her face against his neck and holding onto her happy ending for all
she was worth.
She didn’t let
go even when she saw John’s mother approach, still looking royal despite the
chaos that surrounded her. The queen gave both of them a long, carefully
evaluating look, then sighed. “As much as I appreciate the way you and Jonathan
verbally decimated that peasant, I do
ask that you remember to use the term fairy princess instead of Fairy Godmother.
When can we start your fitting for the wedding gown?”
“Actually,
we’re planning on an extended engagement,” John said quickly, and Kate decided
that it was close enough to the truth not to argue. “You’ll still be seeing her
around the palace, but I’ll be giving her some kind of managerial title until
she’s officially a princess.” Ned would be hired on as her assistant, they’d
decided, and Kate would do what she could to distract Rellie (and John,
probably) from the idea of a brand-new Fairy Godmother company.
The queen
looked appalled. “You can’t hire your
future bride! It’s just not done!”
“Okay.” John
shrugged, then grinned at Kate. “You have to help me run the kingdom and keep
my sanity out of the goodness of your heart, but you get free run of the
treasury.”
Kate nearly had
a heart attack at the words “free run of the treasury,” but it was very hard
not to be okay when John had his arms around her. “Sounds fair.”
The queen
opened her mouth again, clearly not feeling similarly settled about the matter,
when a little girl suddenly appeared from between two people and dove beneath
the edge of her skirt. The queen jumped, frantically trying to lift the layers
of fabric hiding the child from view. “Jonathan, I’m certain I didn’t approve my gown being used as play equipment!”
Kate and John
grinned at each other, then she pulled out of his arms to crouch down in front
of the queen. “If I may, Your Majesty?” She lifted several layers of skirt just
far enough to reveal the curly-haired child, who giggled at being discovered.
John leaned
forward. “Hide and seek, I presume?”
Just as the
girl nodded, a much taller figure burst through the crowd. “Lucy, I told you you’re not supposed to go ….”
The voice trailed off, and the little girl dashed off again as everyone else
looked up at the suddenly frozen Rupert.
He stared at
his mother. “Um … hi?”
The queen’s
eyes widened with delight. “You’re back from questing! Oh darling, this is
wonderful! I have so much to talk to you about ….”
Panicked,
Rupert glanced over at John, then sketched a quick bow to his mother before
turning and disappearing back into the crowd.
The queen’s
eyes narrowed again as she whirled on her youngest son. “Jonathan, explain.”
John sighed,
and Kate smothered a laugh as she put a consoling arm around his shoulders.
“It’s a long story.”
