Chapter Text
It was almost a miracle that the two of them met at all.
Josette was not yet a princess— her dad not yet the king. And Finch was not yet a knight— her family not yet allowed a certain degree of status. But they still ran in different circles. Josette was still noble, Finch still poor. They could not have lived in worlds more different to each other. Yet somehow, they managed to find each other, in the cracked corners of their youth.
They spent every moment they could together. Running through the world as if it couldn’t touch them, as if the differences between them could never pull them apart. They met in the gardens of Josie’s fancy estate and in the muddy corners of the city Finch lived in. They wandered and told each other tales and played make-believe, just as any other children might. They linked their hands together and they told each other that they were going to face whatever adventure life gave them, together. That they would never truly be very far apart.
They went to different schools, they had different friends, different responsibilities. But as time went on, they stuck by each other. Josie snuck Finch reasonable amounts of money and food when the winters grew harsh. Finch sheltered Josie when the pretty illusion of her life crashed and burned, and she realized that everyone was just as fake as their smiles. They had each other, even as their worlds tried to pull them from one another. They held on, tooth and claw, to the only thing in the world that was theirs and theirs alone.
Even when Josie’s father remarried. Even when she was set to become a princess and move away, they didn’t let go. Josie came to her with a notebook, a pen, and a plan.
“It’s enchanted. When you write with this pen, it will show up in my notebook.” Josie told her. “And when I write with mine, it’ll show up in your notebook. That way wherever we are, we can always write to each other.”
The notebook was thick. Enough pages in it to last them a good long while.
“So you’re really going?” Finch asked, taking the pen and notebook and clutching them to her chest.
“I don’t have a choice.” Josie swallowed. “Just promise me you’ll write as often as you can.”
“I will.” Finch stuck out her pinky finger and Josie interlocked hers.
Finch kept her promise. Throughout their teenage years they wrote to each other nearly as often as they used to play.
“Dear Josette,
They were selling strawberries at the market today.” Her first letter opened. “I know that isn’t much to you, but we don’t get strawberries down here very often. It was a treat I wished I could share with you. Have a strawberry today, for me.”
“Dear Finch,
We went to a play today. It was wonderful. I wanted to come home and tell you all about it, but you don’t live just a carriage ride away anymore. I wish you did. That way I could take you to the next one and you could see it yourself. Sneak into a play sometime, for me.”
“Dear Josette,
My other friends are glad that I’m spending more time with them. My dad is happy that I have more time to work our shop with him. No one knows it’s because you went away, but I’m not glad you did. I miss you. I miss looking at the stars with you. Tonight? Maybe? Our stars are the same, wherever we are. Sit under them tonight with me and write me everything you see?”
“I can see Gemini from here. Can you?”
“Yeah. They’re upside down for me.”
“That’s so weird to think about!”
“You were right, though. Our stars are the same.”
“Dear Finch,
The wedding is this week. They don’t love each other. I think they think they might someday. I don’t understand how anyone can get married to someone they don’t love. I know that I will likely one day have to. I don’t want to. I don’t think I ever want to get married. I want to be with you. I want to come back to you. I want to run away and live on some beach and share every adventure with you. Like we talked about when we were young. I miss you.”
“Dear . . .
Do I have to call you “Princess” now? Princess Josette?
I want those same things with you. I think my parents want me to find someone richer than we are. Marry above my station. I think I’ll have to, for them, to make sure we all live through another winter. Things are getting harder. I wish we could change things. I wish my parents didn’t have to work so much. I wish you could marry who you want. I wish we could see each other. I miss you, too.”
“Dear Finch,
You only have to call me Princess if you want to.
Things are. . . weird.
I might not be able to write much. I wish I could say more. I’m sorry.”
“Josie?
Are you there? Are you okay? What’s going on with you?
There’s a darkness on the horizon. Everyone in town keeps talking about it. My parents are worried it will take our crops. They’re signing me up to be a squire. They hope one day I’ll be a knight and have land of my own.
Please write me something. I need to know if you’re okay.”
#
The Darkness didn’t take Finch’s family’s crops. Instead it took the royal family.
The details the people are given are vague. The Dark Queen came, conquered, and put the family under a sleeping spell. Then shipped them all off to different hidden locations.
Finch wants to say that her meddling and scheming is for the good of all the people. That she’s trying to find Josie in order to take down the Queen. That she’s definitely not doing it because she misses Josie. That they haven’t spoken, or written, in a very long time now. And if Josie’s in trouble she wants to help.
Eventually she finds where Josie is being kept. She steals a sword, armor, and a horse and doesn’t think twice. She rides hard for several days. She climbs a tower. She fights off what must be the equivalent to a small army. And finally. . .
Josie’s not there.
She’s nowhere in the tower. At all.
Finch tends to her wounds, packs everything up and heads home. She hopes that she can beg forgiveness for the theft. What she doesn’t expect is that when she gets home, they knight her, officially. They say they need the fighters, that the new Queen has demanded it. They tell her that the Queen knows of what she did in the tower, that she fought admirably. Finch grits her teeth. Of course. She knew Finch was there and moved Josie somewhere else.
She’ll have to be more careful about getting her information next time.
It isn’t any different each time she tries. Finch spends what feels like years tracking Josie down from town to town, tower to tower, kingdom to kingdom. She crosses borders and oceans and still, every time, Josie isn’t there.
It’s only about a year, but through it all something interesting happens: a small group of resistors rises up. They help her on her little escapades because they think getting the royal family back and awake will help, but it’s not enough. The Queen always seems to know what she’s doing. She sweeps Josie out from under her every time. Which only proves to the others that what they’re doing is scaring her— getting them back is what will destroy her, otherwise she wouldn’t care so much.
So Hope and Landon, the hybrid and the phoenix in charge of the rebellion, search for Princess Elizabeth. They’re starting small; getting the princesses back is the first step. They don’t want to give the people hope by getting the king and queen back only to not know how to wake them up. Princesses first, then step two.
If they could just get one step ahead of the Dark Queen.
Fortunately, Finch might know how to do that.
“I have a plan.” Finch says.
“Oh no.” Hope closes her eyes and breathes deeply.
“I’m gonna infiltrate the castle.” Finch states.
Hope turns to her. “And do what, exactly, get murdered by an evil queen?”
“I’ll be careful.” Finch says. “I’ll pledge my loyalty to her, tell her that I’ve given up my crusade to find Josie. I’ll work my way up and I’ll find out where she’s keeping them and how she’s keeping an eye on us. I’ll be your inside woman, come on.”
Hope looks her up and down and is quiet for a very long time. Finally she says, “if you die, it’s not my fault.”
“Thank you.” Finch sets her shoulders, preparing herself mentally for what she’s going to do.
#
Finch doesn’t wear her armor when she wanders into the woods around the castle. She keeps her sword on her, though, unwilling to be completely unprepared. She doesn’t want to walk straight up to the doors, either. That’s too daunting. Too direct. And, anyways, something tells her that the Queen will find her wherever she is.
It takes less time that Finch guessed.
“You look lost.” she says.
Finch turns to face her. She has dark hair that’s pinned up and she wears a black dress that’s far too fancy for the woods. She doesn’t seem bothered by it getting dirty though. And despite never having seen a portrait of the woman, Finch knows it’s her just by the way she stands. How regal she looks. Beautiful.
“I’m looking for an audience with you.” Finch tries not to let her voice shake.
The Queen laughs and with a flourished wave of her hand suddenly the two of them are no longer in the forest, but in the throne room. The Queen sits down on her throne and crosses one leg over the other.
“Well, what is it you have to say?”