by M J Marstens
Despite my anxiety, a small giggle bubbles out.
“Tell me, Mr. Mint, where’s my step- I mean, where’s my brother?”
“Your stepbrother is with the general. One of the Nougats, the king’s knights, stopped Caramello and Graham when we entered the castle. A castle maid came crying for a healer, so we left Toffy with the general and your stepbrother and came directly here.”
I realize Plumpy has been slumped over the king this entire time, murmuring as he runs his hands above Kandi’s body. Plumpy’s hands glow purple and I wonder what type of magic he’s using now. I wish he had another sugarplum to feed to Kandi.
It would restore him, right?
I worry my lower lip between my teeth, but Chester rubs a soothing hand down my back. I lean into his side; I missed his quiet strength. We huddle together in silence with Pepper to our left watching Plumpy work. I watch the king closely, but never see him move once. Not even a twitch.
What if Plumpy can’t save him?
I’m distracted from my thoughts when the doors open and in come the general, Toffy, and Graham. For a moment, I forget everything when I see my stepbrother. I forget who he is and who I’m supposed to be. I forget our audience and I forget Graham’s hurtful words.
I forget it all.
Except what’s in my heart.
I don’t know if I walk, run, or crawl, but somehow I make it to his side. Then I’m throwing my arms around his neck and pressing my lips to his. It’s not a chaste peck and there’s nothing sisterly about it at all. I pour my heart and soul into this kiss.
And Graham crumbles like an overbaked cookie.
One arm bands around my lower back, pulling me flush against his body, and the other spears through my unbound hair. He cups the back of my head and kisses me almost savagely. I moan into his mouth when I feel his tongue thrust against mine. . .
And then it’s over.
I’m left reeling, bereft of his touch.
Graham shoves back a space, still breathing heavily, staring at me like I’m a dangerous entity he’s never seen before.
“Sister! What are you doing?” he pants, playacting in front of everyone.
But I’m done.
“I’m not your sister!” I hiss forcefully.
Graham steps back like I’ve slapped him and a myriad of emotions assaults his face.
Hurt, fear, anger, and a glimmer of something softer.
“This isn’t the time,” he finally manages to announce in a strangled voice.
Of course, he’s right. Sugarland’s king is unconscious because of my damn collar and he claims that I’m some kind of princess. But I promised myself if I saw Graham again, I would tell him what’s in my heart. If life has taught me anything in the past two years, it’s to not take it for granted. And I have. Every time I let Graham pretend we’re nothing more than siblings, I’ve let our truth be buried.
No more.
“Graham, I lov-”
But my confession is cut short by a terrible screeching noise. Confused, I turn towards the windows lining the south wall. It’s night, but I can see a shadow growing closer and closer until it slams through the candied glass, sending sharp shards shattering everywhere. I duck, throwing a hand up to protect my face, but I’m numb at the sight before me.
Riding on the back of a brackish is Mari.
Seated behind her is Lord Licorice and in the creature’s right claw, a very pissed off and mangled-looking Jolly.
“How in the fuck-” Graham begins, but the brackish silences him with a giant roar.
The monstrous lizard then breathes a length of fire, melting half the butterscotch throne. Plumpy and Pepper scramble to move the king to safety and Chester bravely stands in front of them. My heart stutters in my chest. Chester is strong, but not stronger than a brackish.
And certainly not stronger than fire.
But Mari reigns the beast in and slides off its back, Lord Licorice following her like a puppy. Jolly, too, is set down, and he limps to be next to the others. He’s missing his right arm and left hand, and one leg is severely mauled. Clearly, the chocodile didn’t get to finish his meal, but it tried.
Mari takes in the scene passively, almost like she’s bored, before she finally decrees, “Kill them all, but leave the girl and the king. I’ll deal with them myself.”
“With pleasure, my queen,” Lord Licorice purrs.
His hands light up with the familiar clove fire and my mind flashes to the beach. I can still smell Lolli and Frostine burning and I try not to retch. I’ve lost those two men, but I refuse to lose anymore. Without thinking, I rush the Sweet Sadist just as he stretches his arms above his head to throw his fireballs. He crashes into Jolly, who is instantly knocked down because he can’t balance himself anymore.
Lord Licorice trips over Jolly, landing on top of the man.
He puts out his hands to brace himself and just like that, Jolly is on fire.
His screams drill into my brain, a terrible staccato of death to come.
Lord Licorice scrambles to get off the burning man, but it’s too late. His arm brushes through the flames and just like that, Licorice is ablaze, also. The sickly smell of charred flesh and cinnamon makes me gag. It also seems to upset the brackish, who rears back, away from the two living candlesticks.
Maybe it can sense the unnatural nature of the fire.
Whatever the cause, the animal is now restless and swings its long tail. It crashes into Pepper, Chester, Plumpy, and Kandi, sending them sprawling. Kandi is still unconscious, but the other three now join him after their heads connect with the wall with a resounding crunch that makes me wince.
General Caramello sprints out of the room; I assume to get the king’s knights, leaving only Graham, Toffy, and me to fight against Mari and her spawn from hell.
GRAHAM
I’m powerless to save Anise.
I want to grab her, yell at her to run, but I’m terrified to call any more attention to her.
Not that it matters.
Mari hasn’t stopped staring at Anise since she smashed her way into the castle.
The heartless bitch doesn’t even blink as her two lovers burn to death.
“I’ve missed you, my sweet pet,” she croons to Anise.
I see my stepsister begin to tremble and an unholy wrath descends over me.
“How did you get in here?” I grit out.
The bitter cunt barely spares me a glance.
“When your sweet sister threw my potions to the brackish, she bound it to me, finally giving me something strong enough to fight the vortex within the Sweet Nothing. See, I created the pit to slowly suck the life out of Sugarland, but it proved to also be my gateway back into the kingdom.”
Mari pauses to assess Anise.
“What are you wearing?” she asks disdainfully and I take a good look at my sister.
Any other time and any other place, I would have lost my senses.
The dress, if you can call it that, matches her eyes perfectly, and showcases all her assets.
I know this type of court wear is common in Sugarland, but The Savory Citadel is a little more uptight. I can’t tell if I love the outfit or hate the thing, but it doesn’t matter right now. I’ve got to find a way to get Anise to safety. I look around frantically, trying to think. We were lucky the one time we overpowered Mari; I doubt we can do it twice.
“Graham!” Mari sings out, startling me from my escape plans.
I glare at the bitch, but she just laughs.
“I was just about to tell Anise a story. I think you might enjoy it, too.”
Doubtful.
Really fucking doubtful.
“Once upon a time, in a kingdom north of here, lived a prince named Basil. He had dark hair, a handsome face, and the most magically purple eyes ever. His father had remarried Queen Clementine from the Orchard Realm. With her, came her only daughter. The prince and princess grew up together the best of friends but as they aged, their friendship blossomed i
nto something more. Love. When the princess turned fifteen, the queen sent her back to the Orchard Realm for five years to learn of her own people and kingdom. The prince, now king, swore his undying love to his stepsister, and she did the same, in return. The five years passed slowly until the day the princess could return to her prince, but when she finally arrived back at his kingdom, the princess found out she had been betrayed. The prince had married and knocked up some common Spyse whore named Nutmeg!”
Mari’s face mottles with rage when she spits out this name and I feel my blood congeal in my veins.
My stepmother’s name had been Meg.
I can see Anise shaking, even from a distance, and I know she’s thinking the same thing, but Mari continues on without a care.
“I’m sure you can understand how hurt and angry the princess was. When she confronted the prince, I mean king, he claimed his love was merely an infatuation. Puppy love. Not real. The princess burned with resentment. Her love had been real. The king pointed out how could two siblings marry, regardless of the step. What would the kingdom think? The princess didn’t care what the kingdom thought! She wanted her prince. And if she couldn’t have him, then nobody would. She killed the king, but the Spyse whore fled before the princess could kill her, too. Now, only those with purple eyes can rule in the Spyse kingdom. Did you know this, Anise?”
Anise doesn’t say anything.
“Graham, you knew, right?” Mari taunts.
Anise finally turns to me.
“You knew this?” she asks in ragged voice.
“Yes, but I only ju-”
“Tsk, tsk. Do you see what I’m trying to tell you, my sweet one? You can’t trust him! He’ll lie to you at every turn; just like your father lied to me!” Mari snarls.
And there it is.
The truth.
Mari is Anise’s stepaunt.
O
ANISE
I’m so numb.
Graham lied to me?
No, I reason, he merely withheld the truth. . .
Except, omission is considered lying in The Savory Citadel.
The pain of his betrayal is just the tip of the iceberg.
Mari is not only my stepaunt, but also my father’s murderer.
The reason my mother and I were ripped from our rightful homes.
And my mother never breathed a word of this.
Never gave me a single clue.
I know it was to protect me, but it seems all for naught now.
“Why are your eyes purple then?” Graham hisses at Mari.
Or should I say Maraschino, the Cherry Princess of the Orchard Realm.
“Oh, these? Pft. Magic, my child. Of course, you couldn’t begin to understand something as powerful as magic. Savories don’t have any. Nor do Spysers. Imagine my surprise when my mother sent me to live in the Orchard Kingdom for five years where they taught me how to use my powers. Basil, the fool, could have had a witch at his dispense. Instead, he chose a Spyse slut that didn’t even have a drop of royal blood in her veins! When I killed him, I knew only purple eyes could rule the Spyse Kingdom, so I drained him of his color and gave it to myself. Of course, the people knew. Some supported me. Others did not. Civil unrest grew, and I knew I needed more influence, more power, to gain a stronghold. So I turned to Sugarland. I knew Basil had promised the old king of Sugarland an alliance between their kingdoms if he had a daughter. Kandi is ten years younger than Basil and no fool, so I waited sixteen long years before I presented myself as his betrothed. Of course, I masked my age, as I’m five years older than Kandine, and married him, tying together Sugar and Spyse and everything nice.”
“You already had a kingdom, hell, you had two! Why did you need another?” Graham demands.
“Stupid boy. I never had anything. As a woman, I’m considered unfit to rule in the Orchard Realm, regardless of my heritage. In the Spyse Kingdom, I’m nothing but a traitor to most people. You cannot rule a kingdom of uncivil ingrates who are constantly rising up against you. It’s tiresome. And draining. Since the Spyse Kingdom has no magic, I have nothing to draw on. I need the magic of another land to syphon into the Spyse territories to call upon. If I could gain access to Sugarland, then I could rule effectively. Everything went well at first, but as I said, Kandi is no fool. He suspected something when he caught me using magic. He found out about my. . . preferences, calling me cruel and evil and banished me.”
She pauses to bark out a laugh.
“Maybe he is a fool because he should have killed me then! Kandi didn’t know it, but right before my exile, I planted a cherry pit near the Dessert Desert. It grew into the Sweet Nothing and has been filling the Spyse Kingdom with magic. The magic I need to finally subdue the Spysers and rule! All I need now is a new face and purpler eyes.”
I feel myself go pale.
So that’s what Mari had been doing for two years.
She wasn’t just a sexual sadist who enjoyed tormenting me.
She had been slowly draining me of my looks, biding her time while the Sweet Nothing infused my father’s land with foreign magic, before she came back with my face to subjugate the Spysers.
And why stop there?
With Sugarland crippled from having its magic taken, she would invade this land, and then probably The Savory Citadel. They have no way of fighting against magical attacks. In truth, Savories are leery of Sugarlanders because of their magic, but they’ve never given us reason to be afraid.
But Mari will.
She’ll instill a fear of magic until all bow down to her.
GRAHAM
It all makes sense now.
Mostly.
“How did you manage to lure Anise and I to your hellhole?” I demand, but Mari only chuckles.
“I didn’t. That’s the irony. I chose to hide in the Embittered Woods because only the most unsavory of characters reside there. Perfect for building up new friendships, wouldn’t you agree? I knew the cherry pit would take time to blossom into the Sweet Nothing and effectively suck the magic out of Sugarland. So, imagine my surprise when two young Savories knocked on my door, lost, and one with purple eyes. It was too good to be true. I’ll never forget meeting Anise for the first time. Or should I say Gretel? She’s the spitting image of her father. Fucking her was almost as good as I imagine fucking her dad would have been.”
Anise snaps and sprints forward, slapping Mari across the face.
Mari’s head snaps to the side and I dash over to my stepsister, pulling her back.
She struggles furiously in my arms, but stills when Mari lets out a dark chuckle.
“You’ll pay for that, little Gretel.”
“I already have. That was my change, you bitch!” Anise snarls.
Mari contemplates my stepsister like she’s a new and interesting insect.
Suddenly, Anise cries out and tugs at her collar.
Mari hasn’t moved, but I can see from the concentration in her gaze that she’s hurting Anise. With a roar, I charge the monstrous woman, only to have her turn her focus on me.
And her magic.
I slam back as pain reverberates from my throat down to my toes.
“Interesting,” Mari remarks. “It seems my magic is not as potent on Gretel as it is on you, Hansel. Though, I suppose Kandi diffused some of it when he tried to remove my choker, and we can all see how well that worked for him.”
Mari snorts in amusement.
“Kandi might be more powerful magically, but he can’t undo this magic, because it’s not just mine.”
“Wha-what do you mean?” Anise asks.
Mari looks at her pityingly.
“Oh, my dear, hasn’t anyone ever told you that words have power?”
Indeed, we’ve learned that lesson.
“But you know what speaks louder than words?” Mari continues. “Actions. When I slapped that choker around your throat, you didn’t even protest. In fact, dare I say, you even embraced it a little? Your submission, whether intended or not, infused my c
hoker with your own promise, binding you to me until one of us dies.”
She cackles mirthlessly.
“I take that back. Gretel, your first love takes dominion over my hold, and we both know that’ll never happen.”
I suck in a breath.
Mari mocking me, goading me into doing something she knows I’ll never do because to free Anise of Mari’s hold, means to bind her forever in mine.
Is that such a bad thing, my heart asks.
I can’t magically bind her to me, though.
For fuck’s sake, she’s betrothed to Sugarland’s king!
But you’re the heir of The Savory Citadel, my heart reminds.
But in that kingdom, she’s my stepsister and our relationship is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Wrong for whom, my heart questions, and then I know.
I’ll probably spend a lifetime fighting to prove my relationship with Anise, but she’ll be worth it every step of the way, because I love her.
Not puppy love.
Not infatuation.
The aching kind of love that only grows stronger and brighter with each passing day; the kind of love where half my soul is missing because she has it and I’m only complete if she’s by my side.
I turn to my stepsister, pulling her into my arms.
“Anise, I fucking love you. I always have, and I always will.”
I don’t give her time to respond, but lean down and claim her mouth with mine.
The world drops off around us as I tug her to the ground.
It’s only her and me right now.
“Anise. . .” I start, then trail off hesitantly.
“Please, Graham, make me yours,” she pleads, snapping me out of my indecision.
“Fuck. With pleasure,” I growl, spreading her legs.
I’m actually thankful for her barely-there dress; it parts smoothly, exposing the pink petals of her pussy.
Shit, I’ve missed seeing this.
I pull my throbbing cock from my breeches, not even bothering to pull them down all the way, and slide into Anise’s wet warmth.
Both of us groan in ecstasy.
Home.
