by R. L. Weeks
Snow lifted any eyebrow, eyeing the small mahogany box which was covered in silver glitter. ‘Then what?’
‘It’s like a prison, they stay in there for eternity,’ Gallisa informed her. ‘However,’ she warned, ‘if you free one soul, you free all of the souls in the box. I’m giving it to you as a gift. That box will be your own. The sword will answer to you unless someone wins it from you.’ Galissa stopped Snow from opening it. ‘It needs to stay closed. Also, when you die, it will pass to your children, then their children. If you don’t have a child, it will pass to your closest living relative.'
‘This is amazing! Thank you!’ Snow said delighted with her gift.
‘Not many others know about this sword. Can you imagine how many people would try and get a sword like that?’
Snow nodded, thinking of a few people who would kill all of the fairies to get their hands on one of these swords.
‘Soul swords are rare. Because I am Queen, I have a few spare. I think you can do some good in this world. I can take you to the bottom of the mountain. You’ll just need to find Lori and take her soul. From what you’ve said, she’s stolen far too many people’s happily ever after’s.’
Snow put on a scabbard and placed the sword in it. ‘You have been so kind. Fairies, protectors of the innocent and good. You live up to your reputation. I will forever be in your debt.’
Galissa held her hand. ‘Come visit sometime. It’s been nice to have some company.’ ‘I will,’ Snow promised.
THROWN TO THE WOLVES
Lori watched as anger, fear, and then finally acceptance washed over Snow’s expression. The wolves waited patiently under Lori’s command.
Snow gripped onto the tree as Lori used her magic to push her back into the woods. Snow was losing her grip, one by one her fingers slipped from the tree trunk. Her nails scraped into the bark until they bled.
Lori showed no compassion as she pushed Snow to her death.
They were hungry, saliva dripped from their canines. Red was one of them, but she no longer knew who she was. She had been a wolf for so long that she had nothing but second-dimensional consciousness. No self-awareness, just instinct. To eat, survive, and follow the Alpha of the pack, and thanks to a spell, Lori was now their alpha.
The winter strangled woods were to be Snow’s graveyard. Grasping at the sword, she tried to swing it to cut the magic, but Lori’s wind spell had grown stronger.
Snow gasped as she finally succumbed to the mighty wind.
The cold pierced through Snow’s ripped tights as she was pushed across the ground, creating a trail in the frost.
‘Kill her.’ Lori gave the wolves their final command, then turned away. She vanished with a click of her fingers and reappeared back at her palace.
She was lucky to turn up at the mountain when she did, ready to have to fight the Snow Queen, when she saw Snow walking alone into the woods by the mountains base.
She looked out of the window at her beautiful kingdom. Today was a good day.
Since killing the king, Snow’s grandfather, Lori had full control of the kingdom. Snow, being the only heir, was Lori’s only threat
Not anymore.
She called a guard to fetch Stilt from the dungeon. She hadn’t killed him. She needed him, she was desperate, but she couldn’t show him that.
‘Stilt,’ she addressed him as he was dragged in by a guard. He walked over to her, his chains dragging on the floor.
‘What now?’ he spat. He made sure to rub as much dirt into her carpet with his feet as he could. Anything he could do to annoy her was a small victory.
‘I need you to do something for me.’
He laughed. ‘I don’t think so! I’m not doing anything for you. Please, have me executed. My wife and child are dead, as is my friend. I have nothing to live for, and you are out of your mind if you think I’d spend the rest of my miserable existence cozied up and serving an old hag!’
She gritted her teeth and raised her hand. A goblet appeared filled with clear water.
Stilt laughed again, peering into the goblet. ‘You think a drink will get me to use my powers to help you? You are out of your mind!’
‘That,’ she said, drinking the contents. ‘Is all that was left from the water that was fetched from the fountain of youth many, many years ago. Of course, no-one knows the whereabouts of it anymore. It was moved.’
‘Shame, back to apples then?’ he asked.
‘No,’ she said, smirking. ‘I am taking a little trip to the fountain to take all of its gloriousness, all of its powers.’
Stilt‘s eyebrows shot up his forehead. ‘It’s impossible. Many have tried, you cannot take its powers. Also, like you said, you don’t know where it is.’
Lori smiled sardonically. ‘Nothing is impossible. I am the most cunning in all the lands. I can take its powers, and, with you. I can also bring people back from the dead with its powers. You know the powers of the fountain better than anyone.’
Stilt looked at Lori gravely. ‘Yes, after my daughter was, well, you know what I did.’
Lori nodded sympathetically. ‘You tried to bring her back, as any father would. But, like many others, you failed to find it. With my help, we can get everything we want.’
Stilt looked quizzical as he started laughing mirthlessly. Lori waited patiently for him to stop.
‘Done?’ she asked, raising her eyebrows, seeming bored.
He coughed then got his breath back. ‘It’s just the funniest thing I have heard, well, ever. You really think Merlin will help you? You need all the living sorcerers to help you. James hates you. The rest hate you, and there is no way in hell I am helping you.’
She sat across from him and ran her hand across the bone arm of the chair, looking down at the once powerful sorcerer. ‘What if I could promise you, guarantee even, that I can make it happen? What if I could guarantee that in exchange for your help, I will bring your wife and daughter back from the dead? I refuse to bring Edward back, but I promise you your family and revenge.’
‘I only seek revenge on you,’ he pointed out.
She shook her head. ‘I don’t believe that. You hate Merlin too. I want to kill him! That’s how he will help me, by dying. I have managed to find a way to end his pitiful existence.’
He looked up, wide-eyed. ‘How?’
‘Mermaids.’
He nodded approvingly. ‘Powers, unlike sorcerers,’ Stilt said.
Lori smiled slyly. ‘Yes. They don’t have to use a moral compass. Their powers are controlled without one. They don’t need to spend years learning unlike us.’
Stilt managed to stand. ‘We won’t be able to get one to come with us. They need to stay in their own lakes,’ he pointed out.
Lori wagged her finger and looked mischievously at Stilt as she removed his chains with magic. ‘All but one. A feisty redhead. She was only given legs; she is still a mermaid.’
‘Ariel,’ Stilt whispered.
Lori nodded and turned to the mirror. ‘The only one left once Merlin is dead is James. We can persuade him.’ She watched James in the magic mirror as he sat down to dinner with his mother. ‘We need one other person too. Someone magical, someone outside of our realm who doesn’t use the compass. Someone powerful.’
Stilt tilted his head, trying to work out Lori’s deadpan expression. He racked his brains until the answer hit him with a worrying realisation ‘Wait, you don’t mean-.'
‘Yes, Peter.’
Stilt weighed up the pros and cons. Peter was powerful, but Neverland had a terrible reputation. However, what did he have to lose? ‘Fine. I guess we are off to Neverland then.’
MAKE A WISH
Ariel and Eric sat down to breakfast.
The King, Eric’s father, had died due to old age, and unfortunately, Eric’s mother had followed shortly after. Ariel was amazed that one could die from heartbreak.
‘Are you okay?’ she asked for the fiftieth time that day. She stroked his beautiful brown hair away from his
eyes.
Eric held her hand and squeezed tight. ‘I have you. I will be fine.’ He shot her a small smile.
‘The whole kingdom is here for your coronation. You will make a wonderful king,’ she said excitedly. ‘You’re a good man. The kingdom is lucky to have such a kind, compassionate… and handsome king.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Flattery won’t work, you know. She will die.’
Ariel stood up and placed her hands on her hips. ‘I don’t like what she did any more than you do, but to deserve death?’
Eric slammed his fist down on the table, making a nearby guard jump. ‘She would have had you die. You would have turned to sea foam if we hadn’t had figured out what was going on. You’re lucky we had magical help. She dies tomorrow.’
Ariel held back tears. She hated seeing him angry but understood that his anger was not with her. It was toward Ursula.
She sighed. ‘I’m going to dress for the coronation. If you need me, you know where I am.’ She squeezed his hand and walked up to her chambers.
Her ladies in waiting appeared excitedly by the door. She was shocked when she found out they had separate chambers, considering they shared a bed. Yet, she quickly realised that one room could not fit all of their belongings, and it was great for when she had to dress for her wedding. After all, he couldn’t see his wife in a wedding dress. That’s bad luck. At least that’s what she was told.
She had also learned that shoes were not called crockhoppers and forks were definitely not for brushing your hair. Something cropped up each day that surprised her. Apparently wearing a curtain as a cloak would earn one odd glances, as she had found out. Also, everyone says one in the palace, and her biggest mistake was mistaking what the Royal ‘we’ meant. The human world was alien to Ariel, but the one main lesson that she had taken from her experience was to watch where one walks; stubbing your toe was the most painful thing she had experienced.
‘You look beautiful,’ one of the ladies exclaimed. She had an almost skeletal appearance. Apparently, it was fashionable to be as skinny as possible. She could not understand that.
‘Thank you,’ Ariel replied and looked down at her golden ball gown. It was heavy, due to the many layers on the skirt, and heavy diamonds. She put on her silver shoes that sparkled like fairy dust, and her laced golden gloves that reached up to her elbows.
One of her ladies tied Ariel’s long, red hair into an elegant bun and placed a tiara on top of her head. It was dainty, like her, and covered with precious jewels. One bit of hair kept escaping and dangled down the side of her head. She just laughed and tucked it behind her ear. ‘Time to go,’ she exclaimed on seeing the last of the few people walk into the palace through the window.
The bell sounded several times as Ariel hurried down the spiralling staircase with her ladies holding up the bottom of her dress. She walked up the aisle of the ballroom, the largest room in the palace. Eric had wanted to marry in there, but Ariel had insisted on a beach wedding, so her family could look on from the rocks. It had been a beautiful ceremony under the glistening sun. Everyone in the kingdom was moved by Eric and Ariel’s words of love as they said their vowels. Not once did Ariel regret her decision to live as a human and have legs. It had been the best decision she had made, ever. Nothing would take her happily ever after from her, nothing!
Ariel heard the gasps from her subjects as they watched their beautiful future queen take her place, glistening in gold, with her vibrant red hair tied up in an elegant bun. Her hair paired with her sea blue eyes were so different to how anyone else looked in the kingdom. She was beloved, even for her quirky ways. Or as Eric said, especially for her quirky ways.
Eric walked down and kneeled onto a red velvet cushion. Ariel smiled as she watched him take his oath, then finally the thick gold crown was placed on his head. Everyone applauded and proceeded to the gardens for the party. The party that Ariel had planned.
She ran over, hugged Eric, kissed him, and then said she’d meet him at the party. She told him that she wanted to change into something more comfortable first, but that was a lie.
Sneakily, she avoided being seen as she took the side entrance out of the room and to the side of the palace.
She ran over to the dungeons. A guard bowed his head as she walked in. She smiled kindly. ‘Just making sure that all the arrangements are ready for tomorrow,’ she said to the guard in her poshest voice. He nodded, and she walked over to Ursula’s cell.
Ursula, still in her human form, was sat on the dusty floor, with chains around her wrists and ankles. ‘Here to gloat?’ Ursula asked slimily. ‘Because I’m not interested.’
Ariel shook her head. ‘Are you up for making one final deal?’
Ursula arched an eyebrow. ‘I’m listening.’
‘One that would mean your freedom,’ Ariel admitted.
Ursula smiled evilly. ‘I’m definitely listening. What do you want?’
‘You can only obey others wishes permanently. Not your own, right?’ Ariel asked.
Ursula rolled her eyes. ‘As it is for all mermaids, yes!’
‘Then I wish for you to be beautiful, to be accepted. I wish for you to be free, and in exchange, you must not hurt me or my family, or anyone in this kingdom again.’
‘You’d do that for me?’ Ursula asked. Ariel nodded and Ursula smiled her first genuine smile.
‘Go, be free,’ Ariel said and turned away.
Ursula broke free from her restraints. ‘I always did like you the best out of the whole lake.’
Ariel grinned slightly then walked away. At the end of the dungeons, Ariel noticed a familiar face.
‘Stilt?’ she asked, hurrying over to him.
‘I am so sorry, Ariel,’ he said, and then everything went black.
LET DOWN YOUR HAIR
Rapunzel sat with her back against the brick wall, frustrated at her mother. All she wanted was to go outside, see the world; but she was forbidden.
She walked over to her bed, almost tripping over her hair. It was a pain, her hair. When not in a braid, it was three times the length of her body. As a braid, it reached down to her feet, which meant she could at least walk freely, only tripping over it now and then. Washing it, however, was. a. nightmare!
‘Rapunzelll, let down your haiirrr,’ her mother sang from the bottom of the tower. She huffed and walked over to the arched window. She undid her braid and pulled her hair down. After fifteen minutes of undoing it, she finally let her hair fall down the small tower. It almost reached to the bottom, and her mother grabbed it.
Rapunzel wrapped the top of hair around the hook on the wall and pushed her feet against the bricks, taking her mother’s weight. As soon as she reached the top and climbed onto the window ledge, Rapunzel let go and sighed. ‘Can’t we have a door?’
Her mother, Jackie, was in fact a witch that had sort of adopted Rapunzel after her episode.
Jackie looked at the annoyingly beautiful woman in front of her. Rapunzel, now twenty-six, was thrown into the tower ten years ago. A man had tricked her, and she had turned into a frog after a kiss. Fortunately, she had turned back into a human after three days. At first, they believed Rapunzel. The problems arose when her father, the King, returned from his trip and declared her as insane. He didn’t believe a word of the nonsense. He threw her into a tower and paid off a witch, Jackie, to take care of her.
‘How was your visit, Mother?’ asked Rapunzel.
Jackie insisted that Rapunzel call her Mother. She had longed for a child for many years and had landed with, surprisingly, a princess. A disobedient princess. At least she didn’t have to put up with bum changes, tantrums, and feeding. That’s all that mattered to her, getting what she wants with very little work.
Jackie growled, throwing down her basket. ‘Tiresome. I travelled for three days. Three. And she wasn’t even there. Lori had made it out to be an urgent matter and didn’t even bother turning up!’
‘I thought you said all of the witches would be there?’ asked Rapun
zel.
Jackie sat on a lone ivory-coloured chair and undid a parcel on her lap, which was full, to Rapunzel’s delight, with delicious fruits. Jackie passed Rapunzel a handful of strawberries. With no ladylike manners at all, Rapunzel shoved three into her mouth and resembled a hamster as she chewed. Jackie frowned and wrapped the rest of the fruit back up.
‘Sorcerers. Not witches. There are only two witches, me and Gertrude.’ Jackie pulled a face and took a bite of a green apple.
‘What’s the difference?’ Rapunzel asked who was now sat across from her mother. She swung her legs back and forth. Jackie noticed that Rapunzel was not wearing any shoes, again.
‘Won’t you put some shoes on! You’ll get corns.’
Rapunzel laughed. ‘In this tower? No-one ever comes in here. I’m safe,’ Rapunzel said, putting emphasis on ‘ever.' Jackie noticed it and changed the subject. She didn’t want to jump into another ‘I can’t go outside,’ argument.
‘Witches use the pentagram, symbols, and signs to draw their magic from. We are not born with magic. It comes after many, many years of practice. And sacrifices,’ Jackie added on seeing Rapunzel’s interest peak. ‘Sorcerer’s are born with it. They are more powerful, but us witches get to use magic in any way we wish with no consequence. There are always consequences for sorcerer’s who abuse magic, in one way or another.’
Rapunzel nodded, got up, and started prodding the fire. Winter was coming and the evening chill entered through the only window in the tower. Jackie closed the shutters. Light from the fire flickered off of every surface. The oak coffee table, the white fur rug in the centre of the room, and a bookcase that covered the whole length of one wall. It was filled with books. Downstairs in the tower, through the trap door, were more books. Jackie had to keep buying more and more as Rapunzel got through them so fast.
‘Can you go to get me some more books please, Mother,’ Rapunzel asked sweetly. Jackie rolled her eyes and tied up her shoulder-length matted black hair.
