“Leave us!” the woman snapped at me.
With a better look than before, I gasped as I recognized the face. It was that lady-in-waiting. The one the Queen had sent to reveal my identity to the Prince and ruin everything. I frowned and looked at the Queen for her orders.
Queen Dalia waved me away. “It’s okay. Just send the seamstress here as soon as you can.”
My heart sank to my stomach with a painful thud. She’d forgotten about the apple. And even if she did eat it, I wouldn’t be there to witness the satisfying scene of her body twisting in pain until her life ended.
With a final attempt before leaving the room, I shouted, “Be sure to eat that apple, Your Majesty! You need it.”
Chapter 25
“Who was that?” Aeryn asked, jumping on the bed next to her Queen.
Dalia shrugged. “An apprentice to the seamstress, maybe? She said she was new.”
Aeryn whistled as she finally moved her gaze to the gown upon Queen Dalia. “Oh, my. It’s beautiful!”
Dalia grimaced. “It’s too big on my chest.”
“It is?” Aeryn cocked her head to the side. “I didn’t even notice.”
Standing proved to take a great effort for the Queen as she pushed the skirts out of her way.
“What’s really bothering you?” Aeryn asked, concern leaking through her voice.
Dalia paced around the room, wringing her hands together. “You’ll just laugh at me.”
Her lady-in-waiting lifted a hand in promise. “I won’t. I swear.”
Dalia sighed. “I keep thinking that The Fairest will somehow ruin everything. That she’ll turn up and steal the Prince away.”
Aeryn snorted but stopped after receiving a disapproving glare from the Queen. She cleared her throat.
“Dalia, that woman hasn’t been seen for a month. And even if she wanted to show up, I’m positive the threat of guards and soldiers who now know of her plight would scare her well enough away.”
“Still,” Dalia said as she determinedly strolled over to her magic mirror.
“Dalia, it’s pointless. You’ll just keep worrying if you continue to spy on her. Ooh,” Aeryn was interrupted by the sight of the apple beside her. “Were you going to eat this?”
“Go ahead,” Dalia said, barely paying attention. “Mirror, mirror on the wall—”
“You’re going to do it anyway?” Aeryn asked as she crunched through the apple. “Wow, this is delicious!” She took another bite.
“Mirror, mirror on the wall,” Dalia started again, “show me the fairest one of all.”
The glass turned to liquid and swirled with its usual flashes of light before fading into an image of a pretty, modest girl with golden hair.
“Wait,” Dalia said. “That’s the servant that was just in here!”
Aeryn didn’t answer, but Dalia continued to squint at the image.
“That’s so weird… Did The Fairest die, or something? Or maybe the mirror decided someone else is the most beautiful in the land?”
Dalia’s eyes scanned over the woman in the glass as she walked down the castle halls with a shorter boy at her side. She was pretty, but hardly the fairest. Dalia thought of her own features, the brilliant red hair and fine figure. Surely she was prettier than this girl. Dalia continued watching, then gasped as Prince Frederik turned the corner and halted in front of the maiden. A look of recognition flashed across his blue eyes but went away just as quickly as it had come. He shook his head as if confused, then bowed and excused himself. The maiden grabbed his arm as he passed and whispered something in his ear. His eyes grew wide, and he kept opening and closing his mouth as if to say something.
Dalia watched, stiff and in horror, as he followed the servant out of sight. And just like that, the image faded away and returned to Dalia’s reflection.
“What—what— I’m so confused!” Dalia stammered, throwing herself onto the chair at the vanity. “What could she say to make the Prince look so intrigued and follow her like that?”
Her thoughts churned violently as she tried to explain what she had just seen to herself, but then realization struck her like a bolt of lightning.
“Aeryn!” she cried. “Don’t eat that apple!”
Dalia leapt from her chair and pushed through her cumbersome gown to make it to her friend, but she was too late. Aeryn’s cold body was sprawled across the Queen’s mattress, nothing but emptiness in her stormy eyes.
“Guards,” Dalia croaked through the hot tears that suddenly sprang from her eyes. “Guards!” she cried, louder this time. “How could she? How could she?”
“Come on, Arnold,” I hissed. “We have to hurry. Before they catch us.”
Arnold flashed me a nervous glance. “What did you do?”
I shook my head. “Nothing yet. It’s what might happen.”
We stepped, nearly sprinted through the hallways towards the staircase. I could be in a lot of trouble if we didn’t get out of there quickly. I grumbled to myself. It could have gone much better, and I felt my head reel at the thought that I might’ve failed. I hoped I didn’t fail… Queen Dalia deserved what I was trying to do. She had stolen Frederik from me.
As if my thoughts of him called him to me, I skidded to a halt as Prince Frederik turned the corner and was heading directly towards us.
Noticing that I had stopped, Arnold retraced his own steps and followed where my eyes were.
“Who’s that?” he whispered.
“It’s him,” I breathed. My heart was skipping beats.
Arnold’s eyes grew wide. “Prince Frederik? Come on!” He tried to pull me away, but I stood firmly in place, mesmerized by the Prince’s presence.
Frederik halted himself and met my eyes. A flash of recognition lit up his face, and it startled him so much that he stumbled two steps backward. Did he know it was me? But he quickly moved his gaze away from me and shook his head, as if convincing himself otherwise. He began to walk past me, but without thinking, I grabbed his arm and squeezed, as if trying to determine if he really was there.
He looked down at me again, brows furrowed in confusion. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
“Frederik,” I whispered. “It’s me.”
This time recognition turned to astonishment as Frederik’s eyes bulged out of his head.
“Why are you here? And why do you look like that?” he said through gritted teeth. But he seemed more nervous than angry with me. That gave me hope.
“Can we talk somewhere?”
His eyes flitted about the area, but he gave me a curt nod. I led him away from the corridor in hopes to find a secluded corner.
“I guess I’ll just stay here.” Arnold shifted from foot to foot nervously.
I ignored him. My thoughts were only on Frederik. A door to the left of us was wide open and rather dark inside. Frederik pulled me inside after looking back and forth for any onlookers for the hundredth time. He shut the door behind us.
“This is my room,” he told me.
I looked around. There was a four-poster bed, not as tall and decorated as the Queen’s, but still luxurious, and a large throw rug of a forest green stretched under our feet. Across from us was a quaint bay window with the curtains drawn. Just a small sliver of sunlight shone into the room. Frederik’s eyes followed where mine rested.
“Ah. Should I open the curtains?”
He moved to do so, but I grabbed his hand to stop him. “No. We don’t want anyone from outside to see, either.”
Frederik once again eyed me incredulously. “How did you get here, Isabella? And how do you look like that?” He looked me up and down once again, the line between his brows growing deeper and deeper. “I will say, though. Your eyes are still the same. That’s how I was able to recognize you.”
“Snow, remember? And about my disguise, it’s a long story. I was hoping to see you.” I thrust my hands into his and squeezed tightly. I could feel him tense, but he didn’t pull away. He didn’t say anything, so I continued:<
br />
“Frederik.” I heard him draw in a sharp breath. “I’m so sorry for lying to you. I was just trying to survive. You have no idea what I’ve been through.”
“Snow…” he whispered. “I can’t.”
A storm of fury began to overwhelm me. “Why not?” I hissed. “Do you love her?”
He winced at the way I referred to the Queen, but then said, “I love you.”
I pulled myself closer to the Prince and craned my neck up to his face. “Then run away with me. Like you said.”
I couldn’t see his eyes very well in the dim lighting, but as he replied, his voice wavered as if he was starting to get emotional.
“I can’t.”
Tears of my own sprung from my eyes, and I pushed myself away. “But you love me.”
His head was lowered to the floor, and his breathing became ragged. “I’m sorry.”
At that very moment, the door burst open, and an entourage of five or six guards dressed in blue and white circled around me, swords pointed threateningly in my direction. Frederik seemed surprised, but he stepped out of their way.
“Frederik,” I cried. “help me!”
He wouldn’t reach my gaze.
“You’re under arrest,” one of the guards barked. He was dressed finer than his companions, perhaps the captain of the guard.
I struggled against one of the men who was tying my arms behind my back. “Frederik!” I shouted again, but it was pointless.
Chapter 26
I rocked back on my knees with my hands clutching the iron bars in front of me. I felt horribly exposed after the guards had searched me and taken away everything in my pockets, including the knife and even the needle and thimble. My hair was already starting to change to its normal black. The disguise had only lasted for a few hours, even though I ate the entire apple. Stupid magician. But that didn’t matter now.
I studied my surroundings and crinkled up my nose in displeasure. There was a certain rank to the dungeons, like rotten eggs and body odor, that made my eyes water. The cells around me seemed to have no end, but most of them were empty. A few cell blocks down from mine was a scrawny old man with rotten teeth and dirt covering every inch of his body. His beady eyes did not leave my figure as he grinned. I almost gagged.
“Hey!” I shouted, shaking the bars. “Is anyone there?”
After having been roughly thrown into the prison, every last guard left me by myself. I was sure they had someone stationed nearby, though. I needed answers, like what they were planning to do with me. And where was Arnold? He must’ve abandoned me when the first sign of trouble appeared. I didn’t blame him. I would’ve done the same.
Footsteps sounded a short distance away from me, and I pressed my face against the cold bars to try and get a better look in the darkness. The man I had assumed to be captain of the guard strolled over to my cell with a blank look on his face. Trailing behind him was the Queen. I cursed under my breath. She was still alive. Prince Frederik was with her and grasping her shoulders in comfort. For a split second, we made eye contact, but he quickly turned his face away.
“The Queen tells me your name is Snow,” the guard said as he dropped to my level, but still a safe distance from my cell. The large muscles in his arms pulsed from the strain. Where there once was a blank look, an eager smile started to grow on his face. “I’m the captain of the guard, Sir Derrik.”
So, I was right about his title. I glared back, refusing to give him the satisfaction of a reply.
Sir Derrik pulled a small knife from his boot and began stroking the blade fondly. “The Queen also tells me you’ve done some pretty despicable things, my dear.”
My knuckles were beginning to turn white as I gripped the bars. Sir Derrik studied the scowl on my face and merely laughed.
“First, you stole things, then you took advantage of Prince Frederik, and now you tried to kill your Queen.”
I looked at Frederik, and all the color drained from his face. It seemed this was the first he heard of my attempting murder on his fiancée, but I remained silent.
The guard ran the tip of his knife along the bars, nearly meeting the blade with my fingers. “Do you deny these claims?”
Why wasn’t the Queen saying anything to me? I studied her huddled figure as she sobbed into Frederik’s chest. His arms were around her. I clenched my teeth.
“Your Majesty?” Sir Derrik turned to Queen Dalia. “Do you have the apple with you?”
The Queen hiccupped and nodded, then pulled out a half-eaten apple hidden in her grip, handed it to the guard, then returned to her pathetic position against Frederik.
I stared, confused, at the apple as the guard rolled it in his hand. There were bites taken out of it. Who had bitten into it? Who had died? Obviously not my intended victim…
“You’re awfully quiet, Snow. You know, I did some digging. A certain Lord White of White Manor had a daughter named Snow, but he died— presumably from poison. And then his daughter disappeared at about the same time.” He eyed me, licking his lips. “Did you have something to do with Lord White’s death, Snow?”
My eyes didn’t waver from his dark brown.
“Eat it,” he said, holding it out to me through the bars.
Out of reflex, I jumped back and paled. He chuckled again.
“Ah, so you do know this apple is deadly.”
“No,” I finally said. “I’ve never seen it before!”
“Snow…” he clicked his tongue. “We have witnesses. And Queen Dalia says a young serving maid with golden hair gave this apple to her.” He licked his lips again. “And I, myself, watched you turn from that woman into what you are now. Quite the trick, might I add, disguising yourself. How did you do it?”
For the first time, I shifted my gaze away from him.
“Eat it,” he said. “I have a feeling that if you truly are innocent of attempted murder, this apple won’t kill you. If you’re not… well, my job of killing you myself will get a lot easier.”
I eyed the fruit in his hand as the juices dripped from the few bites already punctured in its skin. I racked my brain for something, anything I could do to get out of eating the apple. But then my eyes fell to his other hand. The knife in his grip was pointed directly at me, and the blade gleamed as if eager to taste my blood. I gulped. There was no way out of it. But there was one small glimmer of hope…
If I just eat one bite, I thought, I won’t actually die.
“If I eat it, and something happens to me,” I whispered, “will you promise to find a man named Nicholas Smith?”
“If something happens to you?” The guard smirked. “You’re saying you know the apple is poisonous?”
“I’m not saying that!” I spat. “But obviously you are scared of it for some reason, and I want someone I know to have my body if something happens.”
The guard raised an eyebrow. “I’ll make no promises.”
“It’s alright,” Frederik chimed in. “I think everyone deserves a proper burial surrounded by people who care about them.” He directed his gaze to me. “I’ll make sure it happens, Snow. If something happens to you.” He put a lot of strain on the word “if.”
So, the Prince had hope that this apple wouldn’t do anything to me— That everybody was mistaken about my intentions. I found myself smiling. Maybe, if Nick and the boys could figure out that I wasn’t actually dead, they would be able to find a way to revive me. Frederik’s worried look gave me even more hope that maybe there was still a chance for the two of us, as well.
I expected the Queen to be angry at Frederik’s promise to me, but she was still shaking from her sobs.
I snatched the apple from the guard’s hand and without hesitation, took a single bite. It was delicious. I could almost taste the death laced within its juices, and it was an intoxicating, thrilling flavor. I threw the apple away from myself and awaited the indefinite sleep that was to overtake me. The last things I remembered were the sobs of the Queen, the look of horror from Frederik, an
d the gleeful chuckles of the guard.
Chapter 27
Queen Dalia was shaking uncontrollably in the Prince’s arms. He tried to avoid looking at the lifeless body of Isabe—Snow and focused on comforting his betrothed. He rubbed his hands along her arms and whispered comforting words.
“She killed— she killed Aeryn,” she stammered.
The words struck Frederik like a knife to the heart. Snow really had been a killer. He didn’t want to believe it, but it was true.
“Maybe we should postpone the wedding,” Frederik whispered.
Queen Dalia nodded quickly. “I think that’s best,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”
“No,” he reassured her. “Terrible things have happened today.”
Sir Derrik rose from his position in front of Snow’s cell and unlocked her door. He then strode over to the Prince. He bowed, but the look of disapproving in his face was evident to Frederik.
“I would suggest getting rid of the body quickly, Your Highness,” he said coldly. “Or I’ll dispose of it myself. My way.”
Frederik shivered, getting the impression that the captain of the guard was a violent man who enjoyed the suffering of others.
“Don’t worry. I will.”
“Your Majesty,” Derrik directed to Dalia. “May I escort you back to your rooms?”
She nodded, lip trembling. “Is Aeryn… Is she…?”
“She’s been moved.”
Their voices were fading further and further away as they left the dungeons. Frederik stalked over to Snow’s cell and pulled the door open quietly, as if she were merely sleeping and he was afraid to wake her. Frederik looked around the room to see if there were any other prisoners or guards around. There was just one sickly-looking man a few cells down, but he had a crazed look in his eye as he muttered incomprehensible things and whittled away at the floor with a piece of straw.
Apples and Princesses (The Tales and Princesses Series Book 2) Page 14
