The Swan Queen | Sherlock

Together... Forever...

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a young beauty with hair as dark as ash and skin as light as snow. She lived in a tower with her uncle and his companion, and together they solved mysteries.

One day, a beast came to town and with him he brought a trail of destruction and terror. He became obsessed with the inhabitants of the tower, playing games with her uncle and tormenting the people she loved. Soon his attention turned to her and he gave the beauty an ultimatum, run away with me to my castle and I will set your uncle free... or deny me and I will hunt them for all of time.

Her decision was made almost instantly, for she would do anything to save her family, even if it meant spending the rest of her life living with a beast.

Perhaps she would come to find out that there was a man underneath the monster after all, and they would live happily ever after.

Or, perhaps she would discover that while monsters are real, happy endings were only meant for fairytales...

*

Do you want to know why what I said was a lie? It was a lie because I hadn't told him 'a lie,' singular, I had told him 'lies,' plural. I was waiting for him to ask me what the lie was. But he didn't, not right away.

"I'm impressed," he said, "You're usually a terrible liar. I can always tell."

I shifted uncomfortably, my back still pressed against the wooden post.

"Alright then, put me out of my misery. What was the lie?"

Yes, the lie, which one was the lie? I had to be careful here, I couldn't afford to slip up.

I smiled and shrugged my shoulders. "Kids." I could tell from his expression he wasn't expecting that. "I lied about wanting kids. Truth is, I'm twenty-four, and I haven't made up my mind yet. What if I wake up one day and decided I want to be a mum? What then?" He was silent. "You say I can have anything I want, but what if there's something I want that you can't give me?"

"If it's what you really want," he began, caressing my face gently, reassuringly, "Then I'll give it to you. All you have to do is say the word."

He leaned in to kiss me again, his lips barely brushing against mine, when suddenly... there came a knocking on the door. He was surprised but also annoyed. I was more surprised than he was. I couldn't imagine anyone ever knocking on his door for a social call, or even just to bring news. I can't say I ever really saw him interact with another human in front of me, especially one of his people. Sure there had been times where there had been other players in his games, other pawns, but those moments were fleeting, few and far between. And while I always used to see Sebastian Moran, I never really saw them have a conversation with each other. A proper one.

"You'd think they would read the do not disturb sign," he said with annoyance, tearing himself away from me to go over to the door. "This had better be good!"

I felt my hands tremble for the first time when his back was turned. I reached behind me to grip the wooden bedpost, steadying myself. I breathed deeply and slipped to the side of it so I could sit down on the bed. I felt tired. It had been a long day.

"Oh darling," he sang in a sing-song voice from the doorway after speaking in hushed tones with whoever was there, "The contracts are done. Are you ready to make a vow and sign yourself to me?"

Was I ready?

"Can I read them first?" I asked, "I was always told never to sign anything unless I've read the small print."

"I'm hurt, it's almost as if you don't trust me."

I have reason not to. "I was lied to my entire life about who my parents are, can you blame me for having trust issues? Right now, I don't trust anyone. And I'm about to 'sign myself to you,' as you put it, so forgive me for wanting to check you're not screwing me over."