by Holly Hook
The yarn continued to snake forward and the tunnel curved a few times, but we stayed in the same tunnel and the draft got even stronger.
"This whole place is brick," I said, holding the wand up to study the walls.
"It's like it's new," Candice said.
"I think we're headed into an inhabited area," Henry said, staring at the ceiling. "Someone built this not too long ago. There's someone living down here."
"Maybe someone who knows the word you need," Candice told me. She poked me in the ribs and I recoiled, but I didn't care. Dragons didn't typically hang out in places people lined with bricks. They usually hung out in dark caverns. I dimly remembered a story with three princesses who fell into the underworld after eating some cursed apples--the same apples that Henrik liked to grow when he was still at the castle. Some huntsman had to save them from some dragons or something.
"Light up ahead," Stilt said.
I squinted. The purple line ended and all the yarn rolled up into a floating ball. That must mean we were at our destination.
I blinked and it came into focus.
The tunnel ended and light reflected off water. I had to make sure I was seeing it right. Ahead was a huge chamber, bigger than the Star Kingdom city, and an underground lake spread out in front of us. My feet sank into sand as we reached what must be the shore.
"Wow," Candice said.
That was it, too. Like the light coming from the spell, a glow filled the chamber just enough to let us see. Huge stalactites hung overhead like giant upside-down towers and on the other side of the lake stood a castle.
The castle was huge, with golden shingles that reflected the pale glow and brick of an unknown color. A pale reflection of the castle wavered in the water. It was almost the size of the Star Kingdom's castle and a lot richer.
I wondered how the heck a castle had gotten down here in the first place and what they called this kingdom.
"Boats," Candice said, tugging on my sleeve. "There's a bunch of rowboats here."
I looked and there were several small rowboats on the shore, complete with oars. I guessed that made sense. How else was anyone supposed to get to the castle unless they were nixes?
"This doesn't look safe," Brie said. "I don't like castles."
"That's because you were imprisoned in one," Stilt said. "I'm not a fan of them, either."
I wondered if Brie had ever spent time in the same castle I had. Henrik had said something once about finding a girl who was supposed to spin gold, but Brie looked so ordinary that I couldn't imagine it.
I kept my mouth shut. My secret was dangerously close to being exposed already. I didn't need these people to turn on me. It would be all over if that happened.
"I suppose we row over," I said. "The answer we need is going to be over there." I nodded at one of the boats and me and Candice hopped on.
It was slow, rowing across the lake, and the boat kept rocking with our crappy efforts. The only person good at it was Ignacia who said she was from the Swan Kingdom, where rowing boats was a common thing. She and Mica got ahead of us and landed on the rocky shore of the castle first.
I didn't speak a word as we finally reached shore and dismounted the boat. The castle was even taller now and the gates were open as if expecting someone. It looked really fishy to me.
But inside the castle, between the towers, was a courtyard and my jaw about dropped.
The courtyard was full of green grass and trees with silver leaves.
"Are you seeing that?" Stilt asked.
I blinked again. The leaves were silver, all right.
“So is that the answer?” Brie asked. "Silver trees?"
“I doubt it,” I said. “Someone who knows the word we need must be in this castle. I can’t think of what story this is from.” I turned around and faced everyone. “Does anyone have the book?”
Henry clutched it now. The pictures of trees and flowers covered the jacket. It was nothing like the old leather one Alric had. This was a newer copy.
“I haven’t read all the stories yet,” Henry said, shaking his head.
I faced Brie. “Have you?”
“Some of them,” she said. “This makes me think of something about shoes, but I really just skimmed the stories to find Ignacia’s when she couldn’t talk.”
We didn't have time to sit here and read. There wasn't enough light to read by, anyway. The courtyard was lit with a faint glow that seemed to come from the trees themselves, but there was no other light. We had entered another world.
"Nothing about stags?" I asked.
She shook her head. "The story we need is the only one with a stag in it that I found."
"Well, we can't just stand here," I said, eyeing the boats on the lake. They stayed in place like faithful dogs. "Come on. The only way to know is to go in."
I linked hands with Candice again, glad she was with me. Everyone seemed to be looking to me so far. Why weren't they looking to Mica? He was a King, not me. I was just the grandson of Queen Nori that she didn't want.
We passed under the silver trees. The twigs were normal, but the leaves themselves were the same shade as the silver coins I had seen at markets. My other grandmother had stolen plenty of them while she made me act as her lookout. I reached up and snapped a twig off the tree, turning it over. I ran my hands over the leaves' teeth, which were sharp and metallic.
"Is that really metal?" Candice asked.
"Yes. Real metal," I said, handing her the twig. There as a gate ahead and it, too, was open to a second courtyard. "I don't like this."
"Neither do I," she said, staring at another tree.
We passed through the gate and I held the wand up for more light. I hoped it wouldn't intimidate the inhabitants here, but I hadn't spotted them yet. I searched my memories for any spells I could use that weren't dark, that wouldn't give me away. Light was fine. If someone attacked us, I couldn't risk anything besides the throwback spell.
"Are those trees gold?" Candice asked. "They're gold, Shorty."
I checked. This second courtyard was full of them and the leaves were yellowish and shiny.
"Who's there?"
A young man's voice rang out and I turned, wand raised.
"There's no need for that. We don't mean you any harm."
There was a young guy standing there and he was all decked out in a princely fashion, complete with a sash over his buttoned-up golden shirt. He might be eighteen or nineteen or so and he leaned against another tree, one that was heavy with solid golden leaves.
"Who are you?" I asked, trying not to sound like too much of a jerk.
"Prince Wesley of the Dark Lake Kingdom," he said. "Welcome." He was speaking more to Candice than to me. The air around him felt energetic, not electric but not cold either. There might be some unknown magic at work down here. "What brings such a beautiful young lady down here to the underworld?"
Candice was staring at the guy, who had a clean-shaven beard. He winked at her. I stood in front of her and the spell seemed to break a little. This guy was trying to hit on my girlfriend and he was using some strange magic to do it. The energy got stronger around him. It felt more biological than anything, like how your palms tingled with you got nervous.
"We're looking for something," Mica said. "A word. The Old Language word for 'stag,' if you want to be exact. Would anyone here know that? It's all we need."
Prince Wesley stepped away from the tree and the feeling got worse. Candice backed away and I stayed a shield between her and the prince as much as I could. He was eyeing her and circling around me like a predator ready to pounce. I might really have to use a spell soon if he got any more invasive.
"The Old Language?" he asked. "Do you mean the original copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales? We have one."
I about choked. "Excuse me?"
Prince Wesley grinned. I didn't like it. I backed into Candice and she didn't resist. He was giving her the creeps, too.
"The original copy is written in the Old Language
," Wesley said. "What were you expecting?"
"How did you get a copy?" I asked. I had heard that the original book was well over a hundred years old but no one knew much about it, only that it came from the other world and was hard to find even there. Alric didn't even have a copy, though he always wished he could find one.
Prince Wesley was happy to talk. He took a step closer to us but put his hands behind his back. The gold of his shirt matched that of the trees around us. It was no wonder he had blended in. "Our mother, the old Queen, was able to go to the other world a long time ago and grab a copy for herself. It's been a very, very long time since she's been here. My eleven brothers and I have remained here for many decades."
"Decades?" Rae asked. "Don't you ever want to get out of here and see the rest of the world?"
Prince Wesley turned to her. He approached and Rae backed up, but then a glazed look came over her eyes and he reached out, took her hand, and kissed it.
I wanted to gag. This guy thought he was Fable's gift to women.
"So you're like, seventy or eighty years old?" I asked. "Or older?"
Rae broke the trance and backed away. Henry shoved Wesley out of the way. Wesley backed away as if hurt.
"Time has no meaning down here," Wesley said. "We do not age in the underworld. Few pay attention to the underworld of Fable." He got his composure and stood against another golden tree. "Our stories are mostly forgotten. We are not famous. No one tells our tales. We can feel it. We used to be visited by twelve princesses every night, princesses that came from the surface, but ever since their father found out what they were doing, they never come down here anymore. We are left down here to languish for the rest of time."
I had to feel a bit sorry for the guy--but not much. There was something about him I didn't like. Twelve guys down here would get lonely and in need of female attention. I knew what that was like, having spent all my life in Alric's castle.
"Candice," I said. "I'll look at their book by myself. Can you and everyone else row back across the lake and wait for me?"
"What?" she asked, lowering her voice to a whisper.
"I know what these guys are going to be thinking," I said. "I am a guy. I think I should do this by myself."
"Shorty, you shouldn't have to." There was a big part of Candice that didn't want to leave and another part that did. I didn't know which one was stronger.
"You really should," I said. "I don't want to have to use violence. We all need to stay together and my secret coming out isn't he way to do it. Because if they try anything, I might end up using dark magic."
"They might not care at this point," she whispered, leaning close to me.
"So, who's here to visit us?"
Another guy had arrived. I looked up and another prince stood there, this one in a silver jacket with gold buttons. It was ridiculous and I had to hold back a laugh.
Until I saw the five other guys behind him, all standing in front of the gate we had come through. All of them wore the horrible silver and gold jackets and had the same shade of sandy blond hair. I was liking this less and less every second.
Wesley was right that he had a lot of brothers. I wondered how one woman had managed to give birth to all of them. They looked so close in age, ranging from their mid teens to their mid twenties. The underworld must do crazy things with time, too.
"Guests!" Wesley said. "Percival, can you get the wine?"
"No wine," I said. "Can I see the book? I only need to see one thing in it. After that, we'll leave." I was plotting my way out, but castle walls towered above and the cave closed us in. The only way back out was the way we had come.
"Really," Stilt said. "The book is all we want. We appreciate your hospitality, but we really need to get going. We are on a time limit." He and Brie were drawing closer together.
"Are you sure?" Mica asked. "We're on no strict time limit and Ignacia and I might want to see the library." He kept his hand close to the handle of his sword just as I kept the wand close. I couldn't imagine guys in gold jackets with great fighting abilities.
But Percival had already vanished.
"So, where are you headed? Do you know a way to the surface?" Wesley asked. He looked like he was the middle brother in age. "Our tunnel to our princesses collapsed a long time ago and we have been unable to find a way out since.”
“We might be able to help,” Ignacia said.
We had a bargaining chip. I could see where she was going.
“Help?” Prince Wesley raised his eyebrows. “How? The tunnel is beyond blocked. The father of our princesses made sure of that, that his daughters would never see us again.”
I wondered what these guys had done that made their father like that. Either that, or the father was a jerk. I knew how that went.
“I can find a way out for you,” Ignacia said. She tossed her yarn hand to hand as if it wasn’t that important. It was what I would do. “If you show us this book and let us just read it, we’ll show you a way to your princesses. When did you see them last?”
Prince Wesley thought. “I don’t know. Perhaps two or three decades. Not that long.”
I coughed. These guys had no idea how things worked on the surface, that their princesses were probably married off to other princes by now—and a lot older.
No one said anything. Nobody wanted to break these prince's dreams if it meant finding out the Old Language word we needed. “Let’s make a deal,” I said.
Wesley reached out to shake my hand. “We show you the book, and we get some princesses. Deal."
"Deal," I said.
I hesitated, then shook. He didn’t pull out a knife and stab me, so that was a start.
“This way,” Wesley said, waving us further into the golden trees.
Maybe this would be okay after all. I wouldn’t have to fight and expose what I really was. Relief coursed through me as I took a step, and then another. Candice hung close and I stayed between her and Prince Wesley, just in case. The promise of their princesses would keep her safe for the time being.
Until they found out that their princesses were middle aged.
Wesley’s brothers followed behind us as we kept in a small group and followed. We walked under the golden leaves. I could almost see our reflections as we passed under them. There was a third gate right ahead and more light in another courtyard. The castle still surrounded us. It was bigger than I thought it had been, almost enough to fit two of Nori’s castles. I wondered if this was here to protect the strange trees.
Alric would love all this gold. Henrik had hoarded most of it in Fable and become almost powerful enough to rule all of it. This might be some of the last gold left outside of the castle’s basement. Even Nori had mostly jewels in her safe room, not gold.
The next courtyard was full of diamond trees, which glittered in the faint light. The leaves looked like giant teardrops that threatened to rain down on us. The branches hung low with them. I wanted to pick one, but we were pushing our luck enough. I didn't know what these guys were capable of.
We crossed over a huge, round empty space with bluish bricks that matched the trees. Our footsteps echoed off the towering castle wall around us. I didn't get where the light was coming from. There must be some alien form of magic at work, one that was neither light nor dark.
Wesley held open one wooden door in a set of double doors and waved us inside the castle. It was bright inside, with torches lit. I was glad for the normality.
Candice and I stepped in first. The inside of the castle looked normal, with brick walls and a stone floor. It was warm in here. Inviting. I started letting my guard down and loosened my grip on the wand. My hand had gone numb.
Everyone piled into the welcome hall, which had chandeliers and a sloping ceiling. There were no stained glass windows or portraits here like in a normal castle. I didn't see any servants walking around, either.
"Who works here?" I asked Wesley once he had come in and closed the door behind him.
"It is only t
he twelve of us," he said.
"Then how do you run the place? It takes servants and servants to keep a castle going, especially one this size."
"We have our ways," Wesley said. "You must know that."
He was eyeing the wand I held. He knew I was a magic user. Great. I had wished to keep that a secret.
"This way," Wesley said, cutting in front of all of us and walking backwards down the hall. He looked ridiculous and Candice rolled her eyes. I had to snort and next to me, Henry was doing the same. His gold shirt reflected the light from the chandeliers. "Come and check out our grand castle. We haven't had people in forever!"
"He'd make a good game show host," Candice said.
I'd never seen a game show. I hadn't been in the other world long enough for that, but I nodded. "We don't have any other choices," I said. "We need that word."
We followed Wesley as he turned and opened another set of double doors. The brothers came up from behind us and Percival still hadn't returned. Everyone managed to squeeze up a flight of spiral stairs, down another hall, and finally to a smaller door that Wesley hesitated at.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Yes," Mica said.
Then Wesley had to count down. He opened the door and the most amazing library I had ever seen spread out in front of us.
I wondered if it took up half the castle. That's how big it was. Shelves and shelves of old books spread out and I couldn't see the other side of the room. Bookshelves towered towards the ceiling, which was far overhead and rolling ladders waited at the end of every shelf. Next to me, Candice's mouth fell open and she let go of my hand.
It was amazing. I wondered how a library of this size fit into this castle.
"Your yarn," Henry whispered to Ignacia. "It's amazing. The answer has to be in here."
I thought of my mother lying there under glass, somewhere under the sands of Alric was right. The yarn was key to getting there--maybe the only key.
"So," Wesley said, holding his arms out wide and turning in a circle. "You are looking for the original copy of Grimm's Fairy Tales."
"Yes," I told him. "No one has ever found one as far as I know. No one I know has found one, either."
