Once upon a time, there lived a widow and her two sons. She was a mean-spirited woman and gave her elder son everything that his heart could desire while giving nothing to her younger son. The elder son grew up to be much like his mother, nasty and vile, while the younger son was sweet and beautiful.

One day, the younger son was ordered to travel his way up the steep hill to fetch them water.

It was a thankless and grueling task but he did so and, at the crest of the hill, he encountered an old woman by the well. She begged him to draw her up a drink of water and he kindly did so, asking her if she needed anything else.

She did not but, so touched by his gentleness, she revealed to him that she was a fairy and bestowed upon him a gift. "I am grateful for your kindness. Let this be your reward: whenever you speak, pearls and diamonds will flow from your mouth."

"Oh," said the son. "That's— well, thanks. Um. Yeah, thank you very much."

When he returned, his mother was furious, for he had taken quite a time on the hill.

But when she found out what he could now do and that a fairy disguised as an old woman had bestowed it upon him, she greedily plotted. She turned to her eldest son and instructed him to go to the well, draw water from it and to wait for an old woman to appear. The eldest son griped about it while shooting his brother hateful glances, but in the end he obeyed.

What was waiting for him after he had drawn up the water was not an old woman, it was a beautiful noblewoman who begged him to draw her a drink from the well.

"What? No. Get your servants to do it," the eldest son scoffed.

As soon as the words passed his lips, the woman's face grew stormy. And, in a flash, she revealed herself as the fairy his mother instructed him to find. "What terrible manners you possess. I curse you: from here on, when you open your mouth, snakes and toads will spew from it."

The son scoffed at first but, when he returned, when he attempted to tell his mother what happened... a snake slithered from his throat. He screamed, choked, clawing at his throat as he turned and fled into the forest...

And here is where our tale begins.

For how many days and night had Rolf desperately scrabbled his way through the forest, cheeks scraped raw by brush and thorns? He had lost track, fleeing something with a desperation that he didn't know he had in him. Eventually he stopped, slowed, resting his sweat-soaked body by a river as he shuddered in the cold. When he opened his mouth, to say something (even to himself), a croaking frog landed on the ground and he retched, coughing up bile into the grass as the toad watched him placidly.

Cursed, was he? Cursed never to speak without this unholy punishment?

Rolf rocked, clutching his throat as the night fell around him.

From that day onward, he could only describe his life as hell.

He had fled from his mother, but now he thought he ought to have gone back. That damn Verde, they could've bought so much with the diamonds and pearls he coughed up. But he had lost the way, knew not where he was. It was a fault of his upbringing, he being spoiled and uneducated to Verde's cleverness. He knew his younger brother had always snuck off to read and study and whatever else.

Well, it gave him a good reward in the end.

Rolf approached the first traveller he happened upon but, when he went to speak, they screamed and fled from him as snakes dripped to the ground below. He clutched his mouth and throat, fighting the urge to throw up again as he quickly came to realise one important thing: he could not talk to people like this.

What's more, he had little money on his person. More fool him, running into the forest without snatching up one of the jewels that had sat around Verde's feet.

He would—he would find the nearest town and somehow indicate to the people that he needed to return home but he was lost. Coin would serve him fine, there was few things people wouldn't do for coin!

So he thought, but when he went to the village and tried to wordlessly plead help from people, they avoided him. He was ragged, unkempt, unshowered and unshaven, his fine clothes shredded all to pieces. When he went to the inn to book a room to stay a night and attempt to get tidied up, the innkeeper eyed him skeptically as they tested the authenticity of his coin right in front of his face.

How dare they! Stewing with fury, Rolf was unable to voice his thoughts. If he did, surely he would be chased from the town.

He was limited to silence and notes, what he could write out on paper in a clumsy hand. His attempts to seek out his home were rewarded, however, and several men agreed to take him back there. It took the last of his coin, but it would be worth it. Once he returned, he could use Verde's gems as much as he needed!

—or, that was how it went in his mind.

Being pressed face-first into the ground did not do much for him. He choked and coughed as the robbers rifled through his things, clicking their tongues when they found no more than what he had given him.

"What a waste of time," one of them said disgustedly. "Suppose we could always sell him."

Rolf gagged as a knee pushed into the back of his throat. Sell him? To what ends?

"Bastards," he slurred and, from his mouth, slithered a serpent who hissed up at the man who had him pinned. The man shouted, lurching back away from him and Rolf gagged, spitting up onto the ground as the huge snake slithered forward, its fangs visible as its mouth opened.

"What in the seven hells," another muttered.

"If you think," Rolf started, coughing up a toad, which croaked, "that's disgusting, how about," a garter snake, slithering to join the others, "these?"

He retched as the serpents hissed and flicked their tongues, and the men swore, exclaiming they had touched a cursed man and fled as fast as their feet could take them. Exhausted, Rolf lay on his side, put his cheek on a ground not covered with his own throw up, and stared with a sickly pale face at the snakes.

The large snake that he had spit up when he cursed the thieves wound closer, flicking its tongue against his cheek. Rolf flinched from it, disgusted, thinking he should do something like stamp the creature to death. However... it looked at him with such intelligent eyes that it gave him pause and he took another look, struggling through his initial reactions, his mind that played out an image of it sinking its teeth into his neck.

It was long and handsomely coloured, all dark like the finest black leather but its underbelly was entirely red. Rolf didn't know serpents, didn't know what this one was, but it was a fine specimen. For a snake, anyway.

He put out his hand tentatively, reluctant to touch the reptile, but he found the skin oddly warm and silky soft.

"Huh," he muttered as the snake watched him calmly, tongue lazily flitting in and out of its mouth. He almost immediately clapped a hand over his mouth, but apparently small exclamations weren't enough to have him throwing up toads and snakes again. He thought what he wanted to say instead: it would be useful to have something like this snake around.

He slid his hand tentatively under its body and lifted it, startled by its weight at first. The snake went, as docile as a pet, and settled gamely around his shoulders when he put it there. It hardly moved, simply snuggled up to him as its fellows disappeared into the brush.

What a strange beast.

The initial disgust had waned and Rolf busied himself looking around the camp. There wasn't much left—aside from a tattered cloak that the thieves had left behind. He picked it up and threw it on, shivering as he bundled himself up in it as much as he could.

Now what, he thought, staring off into the night, more lost than he ever had been.

Rolf never did find his way back home.

Oh, he had tried. For a time. However, he people were even more reluctant to help him when he had no coin, wore a raggedy cloak, and walked about with a snake around his neck. Some villages had begun to whisper about him, calling him a snake charmer, and he didn't think it a compliment.

He had been furious to begin with. How dare these commoners speak about him like that? He was far above them in rank! He was smarter, better-spoken, better off than they had ever been! He had never had to be ankle-deep in dirt and mud trying to till a farm or other such nonsense. He had tried to sic the snake on them for a while, but the snake only ever stayed close to him, snuggled in, docile as a bunny.

...Eventually, he realised that his past didn't matter. His status didn't matter in this world at all.

He was forced to beg for food and water, shelter of any kind, scribbling out pleas on discarded pieces of parchment. People were cruel to him, treated him unkindly, looked at him with suspicion and fear of the snake he carried around his neck like a scarf. He was made to do menial tasks. He scrubbed dishes, floors, he buried latrines all the while he gagged at the smell. He once found himself elbow-deep in animal excrement and the only thing that kept him from storming away in fury and indignation was the snake's tongue flickering in encouragement (he thought) against his cheek.

That was the one thing that didn't leave him—the serpent. Though he slipped up when he was alone, muttering to himself in the dark and coughing up toads and snakes, only the big black snake remained of all those. It even grew larger, lengthening and thickening up, as though it were in the prime of its youth and had plenty of room to grow yet.

Taking the risk of toads or serpents, one day he told the snake he would call him "Magnus". The snake hardly reacted save to flick out his tongue, but Rolf was satisfied anyhow.

His hands, once soft, grew calloused and scarred. Nicks appeared on his body and his arms grew stronger from the physical labour. As he grew, so too did Magnus, who could wrap the entirety of his shoulders in his body and then some. Rolf knew that he was heavier than he had been but, to his surprise, he didn't notice.

Of course, with this came the negatives. People didn't trust him but, gradually, some people who gave him work again and again saw that he was willing to do it. He had discarded his selfishness out of necessity and a want to live, and people came to know Rolf as hard-working and diligent. He did not speak and had that peculiar pet, but nevertheless he wasn't a bad fellow to ask if you needed something.

He gathered all his coin, saving it up. He purchased a small pouch and he tied this to Magnus's body. This pouch was where he kept his money and no robber or bandit who saw the serpent and its pouch of coin was willing to risk it.

One sunny day, heaving crates of vegetables and fruits from the back of a cart, Rolf overheard some of the merchants and village people chatting.

"The king will be passing through here soon!"

"The king? Oh, my!"

Magnus stirred, lifting his head and looking to Rolf, who had stopped with his head cocked. When he saw the snake looking at him, he gave it a grimace-smile of apology and got back to work. Still, he listened closely, curiously. Here he thought he had lost the taste for gossip after being on the receiving end of it so often. Not so, eh? he thought with wry amusement.

"And they say that the king is bringing his betrothed with him."

"I heard that the king married a man," another villager whispered—a very poor whisper, given Rolf could hear it even when he let a crate thud down on the ground, fetching another.

"You heard right, my dear lady," the merchant replied. "Indeed, the king's partner is a man. He is apparently fair and beautiful. They say that pearls and diamonds flow from his lips when he speaks—"

Rolf choked.

His instinct was to shout, but training himself kept him from that.

Verde? he thought incredulously. Verde married the king?

It could be all hearsay, just an expression, a funny turn of speech given that some of the village people were laughing, but Rolf wasn't that gullible. There was something to rumours (yes, even ones about himself), and if Verde had married the king, then—

So what? a voice murmured insidiously in his head. So he'll save you from this life? After the way you treated him all his life? You foisted the chores off on him while you languished, you whined to your mother and saw to it that his life was a living hell.

Rolf's stomach clenched and he looked down at the crates of vegetables, at his well-worn hands.

He shook his head, dark hair swaying back and forth over his forehead. No... no... Verde wouldn't save him.

Something rubbed his cheek and he sighed as Magnus nuzzled first his head and then much of his sinuous body against him. The snake coiled a little tighter, tucking his head underneath Rolf's chin, like he was a baby cozying up to his mother. Rolf smiled crookedly, bitterly, and stroked the snake, whispering to it in his head: I guess it's not so bad. I've got you, Magnus. And, we've saved up a lot.

He flicked his finger against the coin pouch on Magnus's body.

We'll buy a house and then we'll keep living like this. Villagers aren't afraid of us anymore, either, he continued, leaning his cheek against Magnus's muscular body. If Verde comes through, then I'll—

He was at a loss. What would he do?

Magnus looked at him with his deep, intelligent eyes, and Rolf nodded to himself.

He lifted up the crates on the ground and marched into the store.

He wouldn't do anything at all.

He watched, that was all. Honest. He had resolved to do nothing, but Rolf was still damned curious about the whole affair. He hung back, far out of the way as people on horseback came through the village. He was wrapped up in his cloak and some of the village children familiar with him screamed around his ankles, jumping up to cling to it excitedly before racing closer to the streets. He petted Magnus for comfort, his gaze riveted as the largest and grandest carriage of all followed in the procession.

The windows of it were open and, carefully, he crept through the crowd closer, lifting his face so he could see over heads.

His heart seized, tightened up, because in the window was Verde. He was almost as Rolf remembered—except, even more lovely. He was clothed in finery, a circlet about his forehead, and he spoke with a soft smile to a man on his left that Rolf couldn't see. Sure enough, diamonds and pearls dropped past his lips, but he seemed as if he had gotten used to them, like Rolf had gotten used to his curse.

Verde turned, to gaze out fondly upon the village people—and met Rolf's eyes.

His eyes widened, his smile disappearing, and Rolf's heart lurched uncomfortably into his throat. He stared back, rigid, one hand on Magnus underneath his cloak's hood. Something uncertain swam on Verde's face, something like fear or apprehension, like he didn't know what he would do should Rolf cry out to him.

Rolf didn't.

Instead, discarding the last of his foolish pride, he put his free hand to his chest and bowed deeply to the carriage.

All he saw was dirt—and dark scales, out of the corner of his eye. Magnus rubbed affectionately under his ear and he sighed, relaxing. It was a move of self-satisfaction, but he had wanted to take away Verde's fears that Rolf was still the same terror he had been. How cruel he had been, a fact he only recognised after he had experienced the same cruelty from people.

"Stop! Stop the carriage a moment, please—"

What the devil? Rolf lurched upright and saw Verde fling himself from the carriage, frantically scanning the crowd for him. Oh, blast it, no.

Very courageously, he turned and made a run for it.

"Wait! Rolf, wait!"

Nope nope nope nope, Rolf replied in his head, frantically chanting as he dodged through village people. Ones that knew him by name and knew that the king's husband called for him stared at him with wide eyes and open mouths and he groaned. Magnus, naturally, didn't care and just was along for the ride, his tongue flicking in and out.

As luck would have it, the village people saw this chance to betray him. Some moved to get in his way, people he recognised, people who he'd worked with before—good people, ones he could call friends. He opened his mouth to shout at them to move but brought his teeth together, grinding his molars to crush his voice to silence. Glancing left and right, he was already too late.

Verde knocked into him bodily from behind and, with a yelp, Rolf went tumbling, falling flat on his face.

"Oh, thank goodness," he gasped, and Rolf felt pearls or diamonds or both raining down on his back. He grunted in discomfort and Magnus uncoiled from around his neck so that he could slide free of his shoulders. "I was so worried you'd leave, forgive me for doing such a rough thing—"

"Nrghh," Rolf grumbled into the dirt.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry," Verde spluttered and leapt to his feet. Sore in various places, Rolf reluctantly got his feet under him, scooped up Magnus with a hand, and turned to face his brother while shaking his hood down around his neck. "Are you okay? Oh no, you're bleeding."

Rolf waved off the offered handkerchief, shrugging to say it's nothing as he draped Magnus casually about his shoulders once more.

Verde looked at the snake with surprise, before looking to Rolf's face. Rolf wondered what he thought of what he saw—Rolf was careful to keep himself clean shaven, hating facial hair, but his dark hair had grown out long, but too short yet to be pulled into a tail. His face was certainly more tan than Verde had ever seen it, and combine that with the simple clothing he wore... he was the quintessential villager.

Except he had a goddamn big snake, but that was neither here nor there.

"It's been such a long time," Verde said, biting on his lower lip. "You're—you look different."

Rolf nodded. You were always good at phrasing things politely, he thought.

"Will you... not speak to me?" Verde posed.

Rolf looked around them, and then raised both of his eyebrows significantly at his brother. He jabbed a finger pointedly at Magnus, then at his throat, and Verde clapped his hands over his mouth. Good gods, Verde had forgotten! Well, not that Rolf could blame him. In retrospect, Rolf wanted to forget all about his past self too...

"Okay, all right, um, come this way! Excuse me, if I could just get through..." Verde tried to lead the way but the amazed villagers weren't having it. Rolf made a face and gestured threateningly, pulling Magnus into both hands and holding him out. The snake didn't make a move at all (he looked ready for a nap), but the villagers all backed up, most of them still nervous of a big snake.

Except for the kids. They couldn't get enough of Magnus.

"Thank you." Verde smiled at him and grabbed him by the arm, leading the way back toward the royal carriages. Magnus settled back about Rolf's shoulders, and Rolf sat in very uncomfortable silence once he had been herded inside with Verde and the king himself.

"So this is—your brother?" the king looked at him apprehensively (it was the snake thing) and curiosity. There was a lack of comprehension there, and Rolf assumed that Verde hadn't told him about what a fucking tool he'd been to him his whole life.

"Hi," Rolf said shortly. He was safe with short words, but once he got to talking, this whole carriage was going to be turning into a paradise for toads and snakes.

"He got cursed a while ago," Verde offered. "When, er, when he talks snakes and toads kind of..." He gestured at his own mouth, where pearls and diamonds still dropped, littering the floor of the carriage. It actually crunched to shuffle his feet—Rolf could only assume he and the king had had a grand chat their entire journey.

"That's troubling," the king said, looking at Rolf sympathetically.

Rolf shrugged. "Deserved the curse," he said, and coughed up a small frog into his palm. Verde looked surprise. He held it out the window so it could hop to freedom, and felt the carriage begin to move, rocking back and forth. "Where we going?" Another small frog, a friend for the one he'd just released. They were cute, blue and yellow with googly black eyes.

"Just a little outside the village. We'd planned to stop to lunch there anyway," Verde replied. The king seemed aghast, thrown off by Rolf coughing up frogs as easy as that. "I hope you don't mind catching up with me?"

"If you don't mind," Rolf answered and heaved up a little snake with a grimace. It wrapped around his hand and he rubbed it with his thumb until they stopped and he could let it go in the grass. He followed the king and Verde as the entourage set up a—a damn picnic for them, and there was an incredulous look on his face.

It was very Verde, though, of what he remembered of his brother.

Things he had once thought annoying or stupid, now he saw through fresh eyes. He observed his brother's mannerisms, the shy way he flitted close to the king and then flitted away, the significant way that he touched him. They were small gestures, brushes against his elbow, but filled with such affection that Rolf's chest ached with loneliness.

The closest thing he had to a friend was Magnus. And Magnus couldn't talk with him.

He leaned his cheek on the snake for a moment before following Verde's beckoning to a picnic blanket separate from the king's. He observed as food was laid out, uncertain what to do in face of such delicies, food he hadn't had in—well, forever.

"'S it okay not to sit with His Majesty?" Rolf asked, dropping a toad off to one side.

Verde nodded, his eyes on Rolf's. "I've wanted to speak with you for such a very long time. The king understands."

Rolf shifted his own gaze away uncomfortably. He pulled Magnus off of his shoulders, letting the snake stretch out in the sun on the blanket. "Surprised you do," he said. "I'm sorry, by the way." He made a face. "That doesn't sound like I mean it, but I do. Not just 'cause I got cursed, either." He coughed up a snake and let the black reptile (like Magnus but baby sized) slither away into the grass. "I was an ass to you my whole damn life. Not sure how I managed it from birth, but I definitely did."

He folded his legs and awkwardly looked at Verde's face. Verde was staring at him, stunned, and Rolf grimace-smiled, looking down at his knees instead. This was so awkward. How were you supposed to talk nicely with a brother whom you had never spoken nicely with in your whole lives together?

"Thank you," Verde said, after a moment. "I appreciate that. I don't know that I'll—" He paused, his face twisting in effort, like it was unbearable for him to say something that wasn't gentle or kind.

Rolf barked out a laugh. "Not asking you to forgive me," he said. "Don't expect you to. An apology doesn't make up for a lifetime of tormenting."

Verde said nothing but he nodded. After several moments of awkward silence passed between them, Verde murmured, "I wish I could solve your curse, though."

"Huh?" Rolf blinked. "Oh. Don't worry 'bout it." He reached for some of the picnic food, not deterred at all by the green snake he'd just spit out. He'd long gotten used to eating after that, no longer disgusted or put off by it—though Verde might be.

"No," Verde said quickly. "I'm worried about it. It must be hard not being able to speak with anyone."

"Fairy put the curse on me," Rolf replied, frowning. "Don't know how to take it off. I doubt she'll be wanting to." He scoffed lightly and ran his fingers down Magnus's back as the snake coiled closer to him, resting his head upon Rolf's knee.

"We don't know if we don't ask. Though I'm not sure how to find her—ah!"

Rolf startled at the exclamation. "What?"

"The house! I bet if we return to the house and to the well, we'll find her!" Verde exclaimed, leaning forward with his hands on his knees, his eyes sparkling as much as the diamonds that dropped past his lips.

Rolf could only stare.

There was an acidic taste in his mouth. He knew the roads upon which the carriage traveled, and only sunk down lower in his seat. Not even Magnus's vehement nuzzling against him could soothe his anxiety or his faint sense of fear. Here—would his mother be here? Verde thought not, he told him, but there was also the matter of the fairy. He didn't want to meet her. He clenched his teeth and buried his face in Magnus's body as the snake circled his head, tongue flicking comfortingly against his cheek.

When the carriage stopped, the fear nearly overwhelmed him.

"It'll be all right," Verde said, and Rolf wondered when he had gotten so strong and sure. "You'll see. Let's go, Rolf—we'll be back soon, Your Majesty."

The king, just along for the ride, smiled gently and squeezed Verde's hand before leaning back in his seat. Together the brothers exited the carriage and turned toward the house.

It was abandoned. That much was obvious by a glance.

The front door hung open and when Rolf tentatively approached it, a family of mice scattered under his feet. Magnus watched them intently, but stayed in place around Rolf's neck as he looked into the house he had once called home. It was so familiar... but everything was covered by dust. Plants had begun to creep into the building and animal droppings were scattered across the floor.

He'd almost feared he would've found his mother's corpse here. But, no, there were just plants, dust, and the sound of animals skittering through the rafters.

He pulled back from the house and glanced at Verde, who shook his head helplessly. But he slipped inside, leaving Rolf at the entrance. He heard his brother shuffling around and walking around inside, wondering vaguely what he was looking for—before it all became very clear. He returned carrying two jugs in his hands.

One was the heavy jug Verde had always used, and the other was the silver pitcher that Rolf had taken for its light weight.

Now he moved to pluck the heavy jug from Verde's hands with a crooked smile. "Princes shouldn't carry heavy stuff around," he told him matter-of-factly and Verde's mouth hung open before forming into a tentative, sweet smile. It was interrupted only by Magnus, who hissed softly (he never hissed) and butted his head hard into Rolf's cheek. "What? What's the matter with you, my little king?" Snorting, Rolf scratched underneath the snake's chin.

"Maybe he was jealous," Verde suggested with a laugh and Rolf rolled his eyes.

Together they headed up the hill, tracing a familiar path. Rolf had only been up it once, but he remembered it all too well, even if it was overgrown with weeds by now. At the crest of the hill was their old well, sitting innocuously, as if it had been untouched since that fateful day.

Verde looked at him and went to draw water from the well.

The bushes shook and out stepped a woman. She was neither old nor young, a middle-aged woman of plain appearance. She had a mild look on her face, a look that changed into surprise when she looked from Verde to Rolf, as though she wasn't expecting them. "My apologies for interrupting you, gentlemen," she said, and Rolf knew at once what she was. "I don't suppose you could spare a little water for a simple woman's throat?"

"Of course," Verde replied gently, likely how he had many years ago, and offered her the pitcher. She looked at the vessel with surprise, but drank a modest sip from it before smiling at him.

"It's been years since we last met. I see pearls and diamonds still flow from your lips. I hear tales too of your kindness," she said. Rolf hung back and said nothing, stroking Magnus who had tightened his coils around Rolf's shoulders. "Would you wish from me another reward?"

"No, good fairy," Verde said. He placed the silver pitcher carefully on the well and offered her his hands. "I only wish that you may take back the reward you gave to me many years ago. My kingdom is already rich and bountiful—I need not add any more to it besides what I can do with my own honest efforts."

The fairy widened her eyes, but then she laughed and nodded. "As you wish. I will take back my thanks... in gratitude to you."

Verde bowed deeply and took several steps back, further until he was just watching.

Without looking at the fairy, who calmly observed him, Rolf approached the well. He craned his head to look into its depths and Magnus hissed low in his ear. Putting the heavy jar onto the hook, he easily lowered it down into the well and filled the vessel, drawing it up and holding it in his hands. The water flowed cold over his palms and Magnus leaned his head to look down at it before he perked up to stare toward the fairy.

"My thirst is not yet quenched," the fairy said thoughtfully. "Would you spare me a drink, sir?"

Rolf nodded without vocalising a reply and turned to her. He awkwardly met her eyes and paused in the act of handing her the jar. "Hang on," he said, and scanned the ground and surrounding trees. He plucked a large leaf from a nearby tree and poured a drink of water into it, offering it to her.

"...My thanks," she said and drank all of the water.

"More?" he asked when she had finished.

She shook her head, looking down at the leaf in her hand, and then she smiled abruptly. It was a quiet, melancholy smile. "It has been a long time since I last saw you, as well. The last time we met, you were unmannerly, you were unkind." Rolf looked down, tightening his grip on the jar as he nodded his head. "...But, I have heard tales of you as well."

He startled, lifting his head.

"In a village, not too far, there lives a man who never speaks," the woman began. "He always is to be seen with a snake around his neck. He seems to be a snake charmer yet a beggar, and he must come from some kingdom far away, for surely no-one else of his like exists. He works very hard and he cares for the village children without letting them come to harm by his serpent. He speaks little, but he is a man you can count on. You oughtn't be afraid if you see him, for he is as mild as they come."

Rolf flushed hard and ducked his head down lower.

"...Yet, he is always alone. Why does the snake charmer not have any friends? Though he does not speak, he is a handsome man and is sure to win someone's hand if he wished." The fairy gave him a significant look and Rolf just shook his head. "He must have some secret. Surely he wishes for no harm to come to those close to him—that's why he holds all of us at arm's length.

"That is the story I have heard of you, young one."

Rolf nodded, unable to look up.

"You have changed very much," the fairy said thoughtfully. "Do you wish a boon from me? I will reward you, if you desire."

Rolf's gut clenched and he looked up at the fairy. This—this was what he had always thought of. She wasn't so frightening when she was a simple woman, and he compared her to the ladies of his village. He had never asked anything of them, had accepted anything they gave him out of their generosity and did his best to return it. He had gotten past the selfishness of his past and, as such...

Magnus rubbed against his cheek and he turned to look at the snake's eyes. Magnus stared at him, focused, as his tongue flitted in and out.

"A boon, for my friend?" Rolf's voice left him so abruptly he was startled by it. "For Magnus. He's always stayed with me, even though I don't understand why." He smiled when the snake rubbed under his nose, and gently lifted him from his shoulders to hold him in his arms. Turning back to the fairy, he held out the huge black serpent, which looked not at the fairy but at Rolf.

He could swear there was uncertainty in Magnus's eyes.

"Indeed," the fairy muttered, staring at Magnus in contemplation. "You have a unique creature. He was born from your curse, but he is more than it." She approached and the snake shied back from her in a gesture Rolf had never seen. He even allowed the village children to manhandle him as much as they wanted without a single sign of discomfort. "Very well. I will grant this snake's wish."

"His wish?"

Rolf's echo fell on unhearing ears, for the fairy took Magnus up in her hands. The snake writhed in protest, trying to escape, and Rolf wondered if he had made a terrible mistake. He lurched forward, to snatch Magnus back before he could come to harm—but light blinded him and he yelped, reeling away.

"Rolf!" Verde shouted, hastening to his side and gripping his arm when Rolf went to lunge again. "Wait!"

"But Magnus—"

As quickly as it appeared, the light disappeared. And, Magnus was nowhere to be seen.

Standing there instead was a man, a man dressed in simplistic village clothes, but with hair that was long and dark, stretching in a straight sheet down his back. Except for the strands on the underside, which shone bright red. The man looked around frantically as the fairy observed him, saw Rolf and lurched toward him, stretching out his hand as though desperate for his help. "Rolf!"

Rolf could only stare as the man fell against him, cursing at his legs. "Uh."

"A boon for me, are you serious, you are a right fool and always have been, you should have asked for your curse to— wait a moment. I'm saying all this aloud." The man frowned as he looked at Rolf's face. He opened and closed his lips several times. "I'm saying this aloud."

"...Magnus?" Rolf asked tentatively.

"Yes," Magnus replied. His eyes were the same as they had been when they were a snake—dark, dark, but so intelligent and aware. "—my gods, I am speaking with you. Oh dear. Oh my." He leaned back but lost his balance, wobbling on his legs like a newborn fawn until Rolf helped him by holding him by the arm. "Th—thank you, Rolf... but I am not thanking you for this. How dare you."

"Right," Rolf muttered, willing to agree with anything given his mind couldn't catch up with the situation.

"A boon has been given to your friend," the fairy said with amusement. "And now, I should like to take my curse back from you, as well."

"Huh?"

But before he could react, the fairy was before him and touching his throat with a gentle tap. It wasn't anything significant, nothing more than a touch, but something felt as though it untied and slid away. He swallowed once, hard, and tightened his grip on Magnus, who had opened his mouth much like he was trying to hiss at the fairy.

"You're sure?" Rolf asked quietly. "I didn't come here expecting anything."

"I know," she replied. "And that's why I'm certain. I bid you farewell, Rolf and Verde. May we not meet again in this life." Then, with a smile, she turned and disappeared back into the trees and brush that she had emerged from.

"Well, a right mess she's left us in," Magnus piped up crossly. "She could have at least bestowed upon me the knowledge on how to walk properly."

Rolf looked down at his companion-turned-human, taking in his face and his features. Verde looked just as baffled, unsure how to approach it, but... If it was Magnus, he already knew each and every thing about Rolf. And if it was Magnus, Rolf had the confidence to know how to respond. "Don't worry, Magnus. I'll just sling you 'bout my neck again," he told him. No snakes or toads or reptiles spilled past his lips as he spoke and he found he could smile at Magnus, wide and bright.

"Bah," Magnus scoffed but smiled at the same time. His tongue peeked out a corner of his mouth before he remembered himself and sucked it back in. "Musclehead you may be, but you'd find me too heavy for you now."

"You look light as a feather," Rolf replied. "Besides, I doubt you're heavier than four vegetable crates stacked."

"Musclehead," Magnus repeated. "I've always wanted to tell you that's not something you should carry in one go. But no, Rolf wants to do it the efficient way—"

Verde cleared his throat quietly and both turned to him. He smiled brightly, though with polite confusion, and spread his hands. "Should we continue this back in the carriage?" he asked and, after a moment, both of the other men acquiesced.

"So, your wish was to be a human?"

Rolf asked the question later, much later, when night had fallen and he and Magnus took to their usual spot outside of the village. It wasn't the same as usual—they had to set up two places to sleep as opposed to one—and Magnus could no longer drape his whole body about Rolf's shoulders in the same way, but he did settle close to soak in Rolf's warmth. Just like a snake, not able to abide the cool air.

"Not—quite," Magnus replied with a frown. "I had a wish something like that, but as a snake my thoughts weren't nearly as composed. It was more a desire to be... with Rolf?"

Rolf blushed, gazing at the night sky. "You were already with me," he mumbled.

"More with you," Magnus said, huffing impatiently. "I could hardly speak with you. That was what I wanted... I think. To be able to be a true companion to you."

He didn't say friend, Rolf noticed but didn't comment on.

"What of you? Were you fine letting your brother leave like that?" Magnus rolled on his side, the better to look up at Rolf's face. "I'm sure that if you asked him to give you a home in the capital, he would have."

Rolf grimaced and shrugged his shoulders. "Didn't want it," he replied. He was still not used to talking without snakes or toads spilling from his mouth, so had yet to curb the habit he'd developed of speaking in short sentences. "I like this village." He paused. "I can talk to everyone now."

"You already made some people almost faint, talking to them," Magnus murmured with an amused, snaky smile. Rolf rolled his eyes.

"They'll get used to it. They'll have a harder time getting used to you, though. You made more people faint telling them you were the snake than me," Rolf said. "'I was once a simple man cursed into the form of a snake and I was saved by Rolf', my ass. More like 'Rolf threw me up once and I liked him so I stuck around and now I'm a man'."

"Gross," Magnus groaned. "You don't need to phrase it like that." He shoved at Rolf's shoulder but, just as soon afterward, he nuzzled up close, leaning to rub his nose right into Rolf's cheek. Rolf wondered if it was on purpose or habit, so too with the peck of a kiss.

"Well, it's true," Rolf said. But he looked down at him, biting his lip. "Why did you stay with me?"

Magnus blinked and put his cheek on Rolf's shoulder. "That's a question, isn't it," he murmured. "I suppose I found you pitiable."

"Thanks," Rolf said dryly.

"You were all beaten up," Magnus continued, "and looked close to death, but you still acted high-and-mighty at a bunch of robbers." He chuckled quietly. "And you used what you had to keep them from killing you. I think I liked that. You were disgusted by me at first, too, but you still touched me and didn't run away from me."

Rolf was quiet, listening to him speak as he gazed up at the sky.

"I think it was as much you wanting me to stay and me wanting to stay," Magnus finished.

"You should've said that to begin with, Magnus."

"But then I wouldn't get to see you disappointed." Magnus grinned devilishly and craned up again, pushing himself upright until he loomed over Rolf.

He planted his hand to one side of Rolf's body, effectively trapping him. Magnus was a small, slight thing so Rolf imagined he could just blow on him and he'd fall over, but he didn't want to. Magnus's long hair spilled over his shoulders to tickle Rolf's face, and everything was so familiar that it was funny, as though they had been exchanging conversation long before now.

"Are you planning on disappointing me now?" Rolf asked tentatively, shifting under Magnus.

Magnus's eyes widened as if he had been expecting something else entirely. He smiled thoughtfully and leaned down, resting his weight on Rolf. "No. I'd like to see you happy now." He feathered a kiss over Rolf's brow. "And maybe embarrassed, too." His lips slid down the bridge of Rolf's nose, until he found his mouth.

They looked at each other a long moment, a moment where Rolf mentally came to terms that he was about to kiss his snake-turned-man and Magnus came to terms with the fact that he had no idea what he was doing but this sure felt right.

Then they kissed, as their fire dimmed down to crackling embers.

THE END