Donna was not like Theo or Becky. She was rugged looking, with thick furs decorating her body and a long strawberry-blond braid down her back. She was tall and tending to her horse as she packed some of her broidery work, preparing to leave.

Theo nudged the tall woman with a grin. When Donna turned, Asher found that Donna was rather pretty with high cheekbones and a slender chin. Her eyes were bright green with flecks of gold, and they showed a strength in them.

"Hello Theo." She said with a faint smile, too focused on her work to steer her full attention towards the woman. "What brings you here?"

"Remember that story I told you before? About the monster in the castle that needed to find a wife?"

"Yes." Donna nodded absently as she draped a satchel over the horse's back. "It was an intriguing story."

"And remember you said you wouldn't mind marrying someone if it helped them?"

"Yes."

"Well, I did say it was true didn't I?" Theo stepped closer, invading the taller woman's space. "And I have a friend here who can prove it. He knows the way to the castle."

Asher was baffled by her bold approach, and even more so by the woman's blunt agreement over a marriage. He began to suspect that perhaps she was only being so agreeable because she didn't actually believe Theo after all.

Donna sized Asher up with disinterest. Her skin was tanned from working outdoors, with a small scar on her chin, possibly from a childhood scuffle. From the looks of her, Asher could easily imagine this woman beating up thugs in an alleyway for fun.

Donna held out a hand with a polite node. "Nice to meet you. I'm Donna."

Asher shook her hand, not at all surprised by the strength of it, and smiled back. "I'm Asher."

"Are you really trying to marry off your monster friend?"

Well that's one way to put it.

"Yeah. The thing is, that was supposed to be a secret." He scratched his head. "So um, maybe not say that so loud?"

"Why a secret?" She asked, head cocked in curiosity. "Wouldn't it be better for your friend if more people knew how to help him?"

"It would be, but there's a lot more to it than that. It's really complicated."

"He just needs to find someone to marry." Theo interjected. "I'm sure you can talk him into an agreement of some kind...If you don't get on his bad side."

Donna noticed how the two suddenly got nervous and folded her arms. "Alright, what does that mean exactly?"

Asher and Theo glanced at one another before he spoke up to explain. "When I took Theo to the castle last time, he caught us alone together and he sort of...Kicked her out."

"You two were sleeping together? Even though you were trying to get him to marry her?"

"No!" Asher blurted. "We weren't! It was just a misunderstanding." He shot Theo a look so she wouldn't say anything to counter his explanation. "He took it the wrong way and thought we were doing more behind his back."

"And you weren't?" The servant didn't miss the look she gave Theo and wondered if she had already claimed something else had happened.

"No." He replied plainly. "Look, I understand if you're suspicious and have a lot of questions, but if you don't want to do it then I won't ask you to."

"All he needs is to get married, correct?" Donna asked.

"Er...Yeah? That's what he said."

"And afterwards he won't require anything else for the curse?"

"If you're asking if you'd be free to do as you want afterwards, then I'm sure you will. Like Theo said, you can discuss some sort of agreement with him. Maybe set up a temporary marriage? We don't even know if he has to stay married afterwards." Asher threw that last suggestion out with a shrug.

Donna rubbed her chin in thought. "I could possibly do something like that. Where did you say this friend of yours was located?"

Asher pointed towards the castle. "It's a bit of a trip if you're okay with that?"

The tall woman returned to her packing. "I'm fine with that. It just so happens I have a delivery due for Turksville and your castle seems to be along the same route. I can make a quick stop over."

"When are you leaving?"

"I was planning on heading out in a few hours and staying the night at an inn. I may have to delay till morning though if you want me to stop by the castle. That way if we don't reach an agreement I can continue my journey without traveling through the night."

"You could stay at the castle for the night?"

"I'd rather not." She replied. "It's either I leave today alone, or wait till tomorrow."

Asher really didn't have any wiggle room to negotiate since she was already offering to help him with something. So he sighed and agreed to wait till morning.

"THEO!" A woman's voice shrieked from behind them and up ran Theo's mother. She grabbed her daughter by the shoulders and looked her up and down with concern. "What are you doing out here? You were supposed to stay home!"

"I wanted to visit Donna!" Theo pointed smartly to the taller woman. Had she mentioned Asher, he could only imagine how much more concerned her mother would have become.

Oh gods. She'd probably kill the servant if she knew he was in their house alone with their daughter.

The mother shook her head angrily. "You knew we'd be back by this afternoon. You should have waited."

"I'm sorry. I'll head back now mom." Theo pouted and allowed her mother to drag her away, but not before waving goodbye to the two.

Asher felt sorry for the girl since her mother was being overbearing. That whole situation must have been embarrassing for her, yet Theo was taking it in stride. That or she was too dense to feel embarrassed considering all the other things she'd done with Asher, but he didn't want to make such an assumption.

"I'll meet you at dawn." Donna declared, drawing his attention back to her.

"Oh, er, yeah. Thanks!" Asher smiled politely again. "I'll see you then."

With that he returned to the bakery, glad that it hadn't taken too long to find another woman to offer as the Prince's potential wife. It was always quite a stressful ordeal.

So why didn't he feel relieved?

It was an odd sensation. He wasn't happy about Donna's willingness to marry the guy and was leaning more towards the idea that it wouldn't work out between the two. Honestly, that was just a realistic point of view, wasn't it? This was his third attempt and the other two failed miserably, so why should he think this one will end any different? As long as he tried to find a woman, that's what counts...Right?

Asher stopped in his tracks as he felt a weight on his heart.

Did...Did he want it to fail?

That would be cruel though. Leon needed to have that curse lifted, if not for the sake of the country then for his own sanity. Sure, Asher was enjoying feeling useful for once. He liked that the Prince wanted him around, unlike most people. It made him feel special.

Another thought came up as he remembered their little interaction just before he left for the village. Would Leon do the same thing with Donna if they got married?

Imagining the Prince with someone else just made the weight in his chest feel worse and he clutched at his shirt, trying to understand why that was. Eventually he tried to shake it off as a case of the jitters since he was once again close to breaking the Prince's curse.

Perhaps he was feeling antsy about potentially losing his job? Once all the other servants returned, who's to say they'd want him to stick around anymore? He wasn't specifically skilled like Leon said they were. He wasn't even sure what kind of job he'd have been assigned if the curse never happened. They may have just accepted his application out of pity.

A wave of self doubt began to overcome the servant, and he returned home with a heavy heart and a strong sense of uncertainty.

That night, he was still moping around when he stumbled upon his grandparents preparing dinner. He had promised to eat with them for the night, and he was glad he could keep his promise this time. Then he came up with another idea.

He had never been eager to bake before. His adventurous nature had him seeking jobs anywhere else but here. Yet, after cooking for the Prince and failing miserably to prepare a proper assortment of food, he thought that perhaps it was time to stop seeking so many different job opportunities and settle down with what he was good at.

"Grandpa?" He stepped up behind the old man with an apron and mixing spoon in hand. "Can I help?"

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