The Curse of King James

She had her arrow aimed at the man's back, a perfect shot despite the crowded ballroom. She took a deep, steadying breath and pulled the bow taut, and prepared to let the arrow fly. But then her target turned and looked directly at her, finding her in the eaves as if he'd known she was there all along. He winked. Startled, she made her way to the door, deciding that tonight he would get away. Instead, however, he met her outside in the courtyard.

"What brings you here?" he asked.

"A continuum of terrible choices." she replied.

Then, as he let out a chuckle, he replied, "You'd be surprised how often people say that."

He leads his way closer to her slipping her arm in his.

"Shall we?" he asked with a grin.

"Do I have a choice?" she questioned.

"I guess not," he replied in a stern voice while brushing her golden blond hair from her stunning brown eyes.

"Shall we?" he questioned as he leads her back into the party. "Still your beating heart, hun. No one will recognize you under your disguise. After all this is the biggest mascarade ball of the century."

"I hardly find this to be apporpriate James. After all you wouldn't want your wife to wonder who you are dancing with. I hardly believe you can handle another scandal on your hands." she whispers into his ear.

"What kind of host doesn't dance with his guests and mingle?" he whispers back.

Annabelle grows uneasy as he continues to spin her round and round. "Why the bow and arrow Annabelle? I thought we were past this." he says with a devious grin.

"PAST THIS?!?! Are you kidding me?" she yells out as everyone turns to look at them.

"You blew our cover darling I suggest you leave." James whispers as he bows. "Please everyone go back to the party I will escourt her out." he says to the crowd as he and his guards walk Annabelle to the door. "Until next time?" James questions as one of his guards raise an eyebrow while eyeing the two.

"James, there will be no next time. I will be successful." Annabelle says as she bows to James and walks out. As Annabelle walks away into the night, James turns to Fredrick.

"Follow her. I want to know where she goes and who she talks to. Leave no stone unturned. Your orders are to be in the Queen's name." James says with haste. Fredrick looks puzzled.

"In- in the Queen's name? Sir are you sure this is what you want?" Fredrick asks with hesitation.

"Yes. In the Queen's name. No one must know I have ties to her outside of aquantences through the Queen." James replies, slightly ashamed.

"Sir. She will have your head for this." Fredrick replies.

"Fredrick. Am I your King?" James questioned.

"Yes Sir." Fredrick replies.

"Then don't question me. Follow her and find out who she works for, who she keeps company with and why she has been ordered to kill me." James orders.

"Kill?!?! Sir! Why did you not detain her?" Fredrick asked.

"That is my business. Do as you are told!" James snaps.

"Yes sir." Fredrick replies as he puts on his coat. By the time James and Fredrick finish, Annabelle is nowhere to be found. Fredrick heads into town and starts speaking to the local townsmen. However, no one knows who Annabelle is nor where she might be. Fredrick leaves for the mountains on foot. It's the only place that he hasn't checked for Annabelle. No one goes in there because it is believed to be guarded by a powerful witch. Fredrick has concluded that the witch will help him in the name of the Queen.

However, when Fredrick approaches the small cottage, he sees Annabelle standing there staring at him, grinning.

"I knew you were looking for me Fredrick. Aren't you curious why your King has sent you on a secret mission in the name of his wife?" she asks, gauging his reaction.

"Annabelle you must tell me why you are targetting the King." Fredrick mutters as his voice begins to crack in fear.

"You shall not fear me. I may be the witch you all have made out to be the villian in the mountains however your King sits on his throne of lies." Annabelle replies.

"Wh- What do you mean?" Fredrick inquires.

"I mean your King is lieing to you all but worst of all he is lying to his wife. Your Queen." she replies. "Please. Come in. You will want to sit down for this one." she motions to her cottage.

"How do I know you wont curse me?" he questions.

"And how do I know you aren't here to kill me?" she demands as she looks his face up and down.

"Shall we enter a truth bond? I know you enjoy those." he chuckles.

"A truth bond will tell you more about your beloved King than you can handle." she says in shock, "I am not sure you're ready."

Fredrick shifts his weight to his other foot. "I suppose I have to as we wont trust each other any other way." he says, uneasy.

"Okay. But remember you asked for this. Shall we?" she asks as she opens the door to the cottage. Fredrick steps in reluctantly, and to his surprise, the inside is as big as the palace.

"How?" he asks.

"Is that really the question you want to ask?" she looks puzzled.

"No. I would like to know why you are trying to kill our King." he demands. ""YOUR" King Fredrick. For now." she says as she pours two cups of tea. "To enter this trust bond you must drink my magic tea." she assures him.

"Okay. You first." he motions.

"So be it," she says as she drinks the glass of tea. Fredrick sips the glass as he watches Annabelle. He watches in disbelief as she turns from an old hag into a young maiden with long beautiful flowing hair and honey brown eyes that could make even a bumblebee jealous.

"You...he....why?!" Fredrick asks with deep regret.

"I assured you that you would learn things that the King does not want you to know. When you found me, he didn't think you would approach me. He believed you wouldn't trust me to drink the tea of truth." she replies in agony.

"Wait...are you....pregnant?" Fredrick asks as he falls to his knees

"Yes...for 400 years, James has cursed this whole kingdom to stay as they were the day he cast the curse." she says with a tear flowing down her cheek.

"May I?" Fredrick asks hesitantly while motioning to touch her stomach. "Yes," she whispers, fighting back her tears. Fredrick moves close to her stomach and lays his head upon her naval while holding her stomach, sobbing.

"Anna..." he whispers, looking up to her.

"Yes?" she says, trying to compose herself.

"Why did he curse us?" Fredrick asks in disbelief.

"Because when I turned your brother down, he read my mind to find out why I would turn away royalty. He found out I was ready to tell you I was pregnant and wanted to move to the cottage. Angered he told me I would regret it and should I approach you first our daughter and son would die and the curse would become permant." she states, crying more than before.

"I need to confront him. He cant get away with this!" he shouts as he slams the door open and disappears before she can stop him.

Annabelle begins to cast a spell to stop him until she feels an icy cold hand cover her mouth from the shadows. Finally, Annabelle becomes lifeless, and Jame lays her on the bed beside them.

"Did you think you could tell him that, and he would successfully remember in time to get back to me?" James chortles. Annabelle lays there looking at James, unable to move as a tear streams down her face.

"Don't worry, darling. This time he will forget you, and so will the Queen. This time you will be mine and be cursed to raise those babies as my children as you watch Fredrick toil. This time should you find a loophole to tell him he will die, and so will your children. I knew your love was too great, and he would find you right where I originally left you." James grins as he begins his new curse.

Once it is finalized, Annabelle takes the form of the Queen, and her cottage becomes the palace it once was. Unable to fight him, she goes along with his plan, being forced to watch every day as Fredrick is tortured in the dungeon for a reminder that not every story has a happy ending. Nevertheless, she must do whatever it takes to keep her family alive.

Annabelle knew that the only way to save herself, Fredrick, and her children would be to end King James. However, she did not know how to do it. James the II (her and Fredrick's son) was nearing his eighteenth birthday and coronated later in the week. Annabelle had no idea James the II knew the secret of how King James ordered Annabelle to see Fredrick every morning to watch him be tortured.

James the II figured that his mother had committed a scandal, and that is why the King was punishing his mother; however, he wanted to know more about what was going on in the kingdom and if his mother committed a sin with Fredrick.

"Father?" James the II asked.

"Yes son?" the King replied.

"Who is the man in the dungeon mother sees daily before breakfast?" James the II inquired.

"You mean Fredrick?" the King asked, intrigued however not surprised because he knew little James was keeping a close eye on his mother.

"Yes. Fredrick. Who is he?" James the II asked again, even more curious.

"That was the man your mother committed a sin with. Why do you ask?" the King questioned.

"No reason. I just was curious why she always sees him before breakfast with us." again, James the II replies; however, this time, he was angered.

The King figured that he was angered with Annabelle. Instead, however, he sensed a fit of growing anger as James the II zoned out. He was not sure where the anger was geared toward, nor did he know how James the II would react. While caught in thought, James the II noticed the King was lost in thought which he thought was concerning because it wasn't a look of anger but a look of enjoyment. James the II sensed something was not right with King James.

The children never questioned the King about being their father because the curse took care of that. James the II looked identical to the King, and Elizabeth looked identical to the King's mother. At this moment, however, James the II is questioning everything. The King notices the puzzled look on his face and quickly strikes up a conversation.

"So, James what do you want as the main feast for your and Elizabeth's corranation?" the King asks.

"Should Elizabeth be included in this conversation considering she is also part of this?" James the II snaps.

"What?!" the King demands.

"My apologies, father. I am just so drained from all my training." James the II replies, softening his tone.

"Yes. I forgot you are under a lot of pressure. I forget that it was not just yesterday you had started walking." the King replies, "I will leave you to it."

As the King walks away, James the II realizes he needs to investigate the situation within the castle walls; however, he cannot do that while the King is present. As he paces in his room, Annabelle knocks at the door. James the II is so lost in thought he hadn't noticed that his mother had been watching him for the last twenty minutes calling his name. Annabelle clears her throat, and James the II looks up.

"Mother!" James the II exclaims in shock.

"I am sorry, darling. You were late for our evening tea with Elizabeth, so I became worried. She left back to town and should be back in time for your party." Annabelle replies sweetly.

"Oh no! Was she too terribly upset?" James the II asked, concerned.

"Oh no dear. She seemed lost in thought. Kind of like you." she replies, looking at his concerned face as he continues to think about Fredrick.

"Mother?" he questions.

"Yes darling?" she asks.

"Who's Fredrick mother?" he asks, slightly angered.

"Fredrick? How do you know his name?" she replies hastily.

"I caught you sneaking to see him before breakfast." he snaps.

"James! How dare you speak to me in that tone!" she snaps back, "This conversation is over!".

James the II watches as Annabelle stomps out of the room. Before he can stop her, he catches a glance of the King in the other room who is pretending to be busy; however, the smirk on his face tells James otherwise. James now knows that something is not right. He knows that the King needs to leave now to speak to Fredrick.

"Father?" James says as he knocks on the door ten minutes later.

"James?" the King asks, looking up from a book.

"I have been looking for you everywhere." James lies, "Will you take mother to town? I seemed to have made her mad and she wont talk to me. Maybe you can speak to her?"

"Me? How do you know I can make it better?" the King asks with an eyebrow lifted.

"Well, mother won't talk to me, and she misses Elizabeth. Maybe you taking them to dinner can soften her up so I can speak to her when you get back." James insists.

"Okay. I missed Elizabeth when she was here anyways." the King replies.

After saying their goodbyes to James the II, the King and Annabelle leave the palace. James knew that this was his chance to meet Fredrick and find out what was going on. Like always, the King wasn't very good at making a curse with no loopholes. He had no idea James would find out about Fredrick. He assumed that James would always accept he was his loving father; however, James saw how the King favored Elizabeth as soon as the King's mother passed away. This caused James to stay close enough for the King not to suspect anything should James plan to leave the palace for good.

James hastily descended into the dungeon, greeted by a guard. Since James was the exact copy of the King, the guard didn't question him. "Good evening, your highness. I thought you were leaving for town with the Queen." the guard said with curiosity. James knew that his father did not speak to the guards but used the same hand motion for them to leave the room. James raised his hand and motioned for the guard to leave. "Yes sir." the guard replied and walked to the top of the stairs to wait.

"Why are you here, James? You have Annabelle. Leave me alone. Stop reminding me." Fredrick pleads with James the II.

"So it's true?" James snapped.

"You're not James." Fredrick replied in disbelief.

"I am James!" he exclaims, "James the II!"

"Annabelle gave him a child?!" Fredrick says as his voice cracks. Fredrick sits there in disbelief and anguish.

"Look me in the eye Fredrick!" James yells.

However, Fredrick will not. James realizes that Fredrick is covered in bruises and cuts from head to toe. Barely holding himself up against the wall, Fredrick glances up again.

"You are not his boy. James cannot have children that is why he stole mine. Did he put you up to this?" Fredrick cried out. "He did didnt he?!"

James stands there for a moment, wondering what is going on. What was Fredrick talking about, he wondered.

"What do you mean my father cannot have children?" James demands.

"James was cursed by your mother's father. James would not leave Annabelle alone so he cursed James to never have an heir to the throne. However, James isn't aware of that." Fredrick bellowed with a grin crossing his face.

James sits on the step as his head begins to spin. "Boy! You look sick." Fredrick whispers, trying not to alarm the guard. At that moment, James vomits everywhere. At this point, the guard runs down the stairs. "My Lord! Are you okay?" the guard askes, terrified. He cleans up the vomit and helps James to his feet. Again, James motions, and the guard returns to his post.

"Do you know who I am?" James asks, confused.

"No boy. I do not know who you are." Fredrick replies softly, "All I know is you are Annabelle's son."

James' head begins to spin more. King James did not know that the constant pushing against the curse would cause the children to become ill if they started to figure it out. He also had no idea that he (James the II) could push the curse so hard that it could break the same day. Fredrick saw James' true identity for a small moment and began to cry.

"James, you need to go lay down. Everything will be clear once you rest." Fredrick demanded.

"GUARDS!!!" Fredrick yells. They ran down the stairs with haste. "Take your Lord upstairs and get him some water. He does not look well." Fredrick demanded. Confused, the guards took James to the couch.

"My Lord. Are you okay?" one of the guards asks.

"Yes. I just need some water and then I am going to take a nap. Leave me." James replies.

After sipping some water, James returned to his room. The problem with the King's curse is that when James wakes, only he will see who he truly is, and Elizabeth will be able to see who she truly is. Annabelle and the King return angrier than before. "JAMES?!" Annabelle screams waking him up.

"Yes mother?" he asks, waking terrified.

"What did you say to Elizabeth?" Annabelle snapped.

"No-nothing mother why?" he asked, still feeling slightly ill. Before Annabelle could reply, she realized that James didn't look too well.

"James?! What happened? Are you okay?" she asks while running to him to hold him up. "Oh my! You are burning up!" Annabelle explains. She helps James back into bed. When Annabelle leans in to hug James, he whispers in Annabelle's ear.

"I- I know he's not my father." James whispers so low the King cannot hear.

"I know dear. I love you too." Annabelle replies, trying not to react. Annabelle goes through the motions of her Queen duties lost in thought. "How's James?" the King asks, interrupting her thoughts.

"He is running a pretty high fever but he is keeping down liquids." she replies, concerned.

"Should we hold off on their party darling?" the King asks while moving hair from her eyes.

"I think not. James asked that it continues as planned." Annabelle replies, ignoring his touch.

"After eightteen years you are still as cold as ice to me." the King says in a lowered tone.

"After eightteen years you still treat me like a prisoner James. What do you expect?" she asks softly.

As the King begins to speak, he notices James standing in the doorway. "James?!" they both exclaim.

"I am alright. Stronger than ever, actually." he exclaims, "Shall we? I believe Elizabeth has been here for over thiry minutes."

"W-what?" Annabelle asked as she looked puzzled.

"Yes. She woke me thirty minutes ago." James replies.

"Mother! Father!" Elizabeth says as she enters the room. Elizabeth appears to be struggling to carry the gifts in her arms.

"Darling, let me get that for you." Annabelle says while slipping out of the King's embrace while making her way to Elizabeth.

"No mother. Please sit. These are for father." she grins.

"Me? Why?" the King asks, confused.

"Because I was so harsh to you last night. Please." she says as she motions to the pile of gifts. The King makes his way to the gifts while smiling. Annabelle rolls her eyes and leaves the room, and James follows after Elizabeth motions to James to check on her.

"Mother? Something wrong?" James says as he grabs her arm.

"Nothing Darling I am fine." Annabelle states.

"You're liar mother." James snaps.

"I am not James. You have no idea what you are about to do!" Annabelle responds as she rips her arm out of his grasp.

"Oh. I see. This is about Fredrick." James replies with a low growl.

Annabelle turns around with ice in her heart, "You don't know what you are talking about boy and I suggest you go join your father and sister. I am taking a nap."

"So the King was right." James snaps as he leaves. However, James knows the truth, or so he thought. He knew that Fredrick was his father. However, he still believes that Annabelle cheated on the King. Annabelle grips his arm and drags him into another room.

"I dont know what he has told you; however, I cannot confirm or deny anything. If I do more, then I will suffer the price." she whispers in his ear. Elizabeth peeks out the door and motions James to go as she shuts the door after telling the King she has news. James did not know what that news was, but he grabbed Annabelle's arm and took her to the dungeon. Like before, he motions the guards away. Fredrick barely stood to meet Annabelle, covered in more blood than before.

"Mother, this is my father. The King said you cheated on him with him." James snaps.

"Fredrick....y-you didn't...." Annabelle plead.

"No Annabelle. I didn't. Though it is nearly done on the boys own doing." Fredrick mumbled, barely able to talk.

"I-it cant work." Annabelle whispered.

"What is going on Mother?" James demanded.

"I-I can't." Annabelle begged.

"I am going to kill him." James snapped, "And then I will deal with you." he said as he turned to Fredrick. At this time, Fredrick fell to the ground. "Mother lets go." James said coldly as he dragged her up the stairs and locked her in her room.

"Father, Mother said she doesnt feel well, and she needs a nap," James says as he enters the room. Elizabeth glances at the drinks in James' hands. "So this news, sister? Is there more of a celebration in order than our coronation today?" James bellowed to break the tension.

"Oh, James always wanting to drink to something. Yes, indeed there is. I am engaged." she says, glowing while extending her hand out. The King wasn't aware that this was part of James' elaborate plan.

"Elizabeth! That is fantastic!" James says while hugging his sister. "Do I know him?"

"Yes silly. It's Duke Leonard. He asked this morning." Elizabeth beamed. At this moment, James realized she wasn't playing a role, and this was real.

"Oh my!" he chuckles, "Where is he then?"

"He will be here after the coranation." she informs him.

"After the coranation?!" James asks concerned.

The King, still in shock, forgets he has a glass in his hand and looks down in realization. "To Elizabeth and Duke Leonard!" he says, breaking their excitement while taking a big gulp from his glass.

"To Elizabeth and Duke Leonard!" James replies as he lifts his glass and takes a big drink.

Suddenly the King falls to the ground.

"GUARDS!!" James yells at the top of his lungs. In moments three guards show up and see the King lying on the ground.

"My Lord!" the guards reply as they see the true James the II for the first time, "It's over!" they exclaim with joy.

To James' and Elizabeth's surprise, they both see a new person standing before them.

"So you were right?" Elizabeth mumbled sadly.

"Yes. Our father lives in the dungeon. I had to pretend I hated mother. I feel awful." James cries out, not realizing that Annabelle is standing behind him in shock.

"J-James...." Annabelle can barely squeak out.

"Mother....wait..." James says after caressing her cheek, "I will be back!"

He turns to the guards, "Follow me. I need your help." James said with urgency.

James and the guards rush to the dungeon and help Fredrick up the stairs. "Mother. I believe your happy ending is right here." he states as she turns around and sees Fredrick being held up by a guard and James.

She runs to his side and helps them get him to the couch. James turns to the guards and informs them to remove King James from the palace. James had not killed the King. Instead, he went to town and questioned the townspeople who were not included in the curse. Since Fredrick and King James were well known, they told James the II the whole story. Before leaving, he was met by a witch who told him how to break the curse without harming anyone. However, this would cause King James to lose his throne to James the II and never enter the kingdom again.

After some time, James the II changed his name to Alburtous after his great-grandfather. Alburtous (or Burt as his loyal subjects called him) ruled for a long time, and Elizabeth and Duke Leonard had a handsome baby boy named Fredrick the II after her actual father. Annabelle and Fredrick lived within the palace, and Burt learned that he and Fredrick were a lot alike. Burt was a loving King and later married in his thirties. He and his wife birthed a daughter named Germaine (after his great-grandmother). Thus giving Annabelle and Fredrick their happily ever after with the family they longed for and deserved all along.