A Happily Ever After of Her Own Read Online Free PDF

married to a king is an odd reason to be unhappy."
    "Even if they thought they could lose their heads at any time?"
    "Why would they think that?"
    "Well… For example, look at Anne Boleyn." Melinda gestured at the second portrait, one featuring a dark-haired woman holding a rose. "Her husband the king officially accused her of high treason and witchcraft."
    Edward looked impressed. "An expedient way to deal with a witch. Would that we did the same in our world."
    "Yes, but she wasn't a witch."
    "Ah, I understand. Did the king not have a competent judge and prosecutor?"
    "The real reason Henry -- that was the king's name -- executed her was for not having a baby boy." Melinda made a face. "He was obsessed about having a son, and went through six wives trying."
    Now he was less impressed. "Bluebeard, but worse."
    That surprised her. She'd never likened Henry to the fairy tale serial wife killer, but the comparison seemed apt now that Edward mentioned it. "Something like that, yes."
    "What an unpleasant monarch. Why would anyone marry him?"
    "Henry had affairs with many of them before marriage. I think they all believed he was in love with them."
    He stared at her incredulously. "And this belief was supposed to keep them safe?"
    "I don't know." Melinda pursed her lips. "It just seems unfair to die for something they couldn't control. None of them had a real chance for a happily ever after. He wasn't going to make it easy for them."
    "You people." Edward snorted. "Happily ever after isn't supposed to be easy."
    Melinda frowned. "What do you mean?"
    "I read your fairy tale collection. What a bunch of rubbish."
    "Hey! You're a fairy tale character yourself. Don't tell me they're rubbish."
    "My dear Miss Unenlightenedfoot," he said. "The falling in love part is easy. The other person is new to you, some dastardly curse has usually just been broken, and obviously you consider each other wonderful. So it is simplicity itself to develop feelings for each other and get together. Do you not agree with that?"
    She nodded.
    "But the real stories do not end there, only the stories in your fairy tale books.
And they lived happily ever after.
What do you suppose that means?"
    "That they lived happily ever after, of course," she said. "What more can there be?"
    "And what is this happily ever after? What is a happily ever after truly like?"
    Melinda frowned, feeling confused. She'd never really thought about what happened to her favorite fairy tale characters after their stories ended. "Maybe...they're always happy no matter what? They stay upbeat? They lead charmed lives?"
    "You mean they never have to worry or be sad."
    "I guess." She shrugged. "I don't know. Why don't you ask them yourself? Aren't they your friends?"
    "They are my friends and thus I know. Happily ever after does not mean they don't experience exasperation with each other, or are somehow exempt from life's hardships and misery. Living happily ever after is hard work, but you do it because you want to stay in love with the other person. Because your life without this one other, very special person would be something not full, but only half-alive."
    Melinda felt like she'd been hypnotized as she gazed into Edward's eyes. What he'd just said was the most romantic thing she'd ever heard. To work to stay in love forever... She sighed. Edward was right. She'd always wanted a happy ending, but she had never really sat down and figured out what it meant to her. She didn't even know what kind of man her Prince Charming was. It was as if she'd lived her life in some vague expectation, waiting for something good -- never mind what that
something good
was -- to happen to her. Why was it that Edward was fated to be with Beauty and not her? And his twin was already with Cinderella. There had to be some gross cosmic conspiracy against her or something.
    Something moved in her peripheral vision, and her heart skipped a beat.
A security guard?
She turned her head, then jumped, shrieking.
    The