The Dark Queen (The Dark Queens Book 5)
Page 22
“That’s what Baba Yaga does, isn’t it? It’s why she didn’t lose herself as I have?” She’d noticed that the day of the battle with the witch.
Baba walked in neither light nor darkness, but in shades of gray. Neither wholly good or bad. It had come as something of an epiphany to Fable, that so long as she kept just enough of the darkness out and let just enough of the light in, she too could walk the gray path unhindered.
He nodded. “It appears so.”
Wetting her lips, Fable closed her eyes and slipped deep inside of herself, into that endless well of yawning power.
But this time, when she looked there wasn’t merely a void of black, but also a pool of lambent white. She took not just from one, but from both, drawing on the ancient powers of both darkness and light and wove a spell of breaking.
When she opened her eyes, she held not a sphere of black magick, but a ball of radiant gray. She grinned at Owiot, who grinned right back at her.
“What that witch has done, let now it be undone. So say I, so mote it be.”
Then she held the sphere of power over the girl’s head. Instantly the ball sailed out of her grip, and toward Snow’s face. Going down, down, down, until it touched her flesh, and then sank right in.
The transformation was immediate. A bright wash of golden light poured through Snow’s pores, making her glow from the inside out, at first bright and intense, but slowly fading with intensity, until finally, she was simply flesh and blood again.
Fable frowned.
“Did it work?” Owiot asked.
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I hope so. I’m not familiar with gray magick.”
He grabbed her hand and squeezed. “Then I guess the only way to find out in truth, is to wake her up. Wake them all up.”
Stomach a twisting nest of nerves again; she prayed to the gods for courage, and without giving her much time to think it through, snapped her fingers and called a cease to the spell.
Sleeping curses took differently for everyone. Some woke up immediately, and others took far longer.
The peoples in the halls were the first to rise. Men, women, children, animals, they all woke, some more lethargic than others. But all of them looking around in a confused stupor.
She stood where she was, not daring to speak a word as they turned to her, all of them looking upon her with recrimination burning brightly in their eyes. They knew what she’d done, but she was the Evil Queen, and none would dare say a word to her face about it.
Owiot stood by her side as promised, clinging tight to her hand, and she was glad he had because otherwise she might have scampered away like a bunny being chased by a wolf.
The only thought hammering through her skull was that her sins were far too deep and ugly to ever be forgiven by anyone.
One by one the people’s left, murmuring in their wake, casting curses at her and glancing worriedly at Snow White still lying still at their queen’s feet.
An hour had finally passed, and the only ones that remained were Fable, Owiot, and a still sleeping Snow White.
“What’s happened,” she finally whispered, “why hasn’t she stirred, Owiot?”
He shook his head, no doubt as confused as she was.
“Did I do wrong when I lifted the curse from her? Did I—”
He shook his head. “Don’t, Fable. Don’t do this to yourself. We will figure this out. But in the meantime, she cannot remain this way.”
“No,” she looked down at the beautiful girl she’d once loved so well, and realized now that she wouldn’t stir, she still very much did, “No, we can’t.”
Waving her hand, she created a box for her. A beautiful glass box with etchings of briar roses along the sides and bottom, and changed Snow out of the ugly clothing into that of a beautiful snow-white gown with designs of blood red flowers along the hem, it was a gown fit for a princess.
Building a pedestal made of gold for that box, she sat the sleeping princess upon it, and each day and each night she returned to that box, peering into it as she pressed her fingers upon it and whispered the same thing over and over, “Please forgive me, little princess. Please forgive me.”
From that day forward things changed in the Enchanted Forest. Fable and Owiot themselves went to every hut, every home in the village and she apologized for what she’d done. Making restitution whenever possible and promising to be a good Queen now, an infinitely better one.
And though none believed at first, as the years slipped by, the people began to see the change in their Queen—many, if not most, attributed this change to their new King Owiot. That his love for their Evil Queen had changed her heart.
But Owiot knew the truth. He’d never been needed to fix the hurt and pain in Fable’s heart, she’d simply chosen to finally be brave enough to right the wrongs herself.
And as the years rolled by, very few remembered Fable the Evil Queen. Instead, she’d become Fable the Kind-Hearted, and he’d become Owiot the Benevolent. The kingdom thrived and the peoples rejoiced, but always there was one point of sadness amongst the realm.
That of the sleeping princess who’d never awoken in the twenty years since their Queen’s return.
Until one day, a fairy who’d once been Blue but now was Pink returned to make things right...
Writing this tale was a difficult one for me. Even now that it is done, I did not want to do it. The truth is, I can remain anonymous no more. You see, though this was a happily ever after, I very nearly destroyed Fable and Owiot’s chance at love. Who am I? I am The Blue, or rather I was...and now I suppose I need to tell you what happened to me and why I’ve been sentenced to right the wrongs. I guess it all started...
Once...
Upon...
A...
Time...
~*~
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Author’s Notes
The next queen is coming soon, though it’s a mystery who she’ll be. If you want to know, stay tuned to either Jovee Winters’s FB page or sign up for her newsletter, which is probably the best way to keep up to date.
The next queens, in no particular order, are as follows:
The Centaur Queen
The Fire Queen (Fiera’s Story)
The Fairy Queen (Galeta The Blue’s story)
The Mesmerizing Queen (The Pied Piper’s Story)
And if you want to start at the beginning, make sure to pick up your copy of The Sea Queen!
About Jovee Winters
Jovee Winters is the pen name of a NY Times and USA Today bestselling author who loves books that make you think or feel something, preferably both. She’s also passionate about fairy tales, particularly twisting them up into a story you’ve never thought could be possible.
She's married to the love of her life, a sexy beast of a caveman who likes to refer to himself as Big Hunk. She has two awesome kids she likes to call Thing 1 and Thing 2, loves cooking, and occasionally has been known to crochet. She also really loves talking about herself in the third person.
Want more Kingdom?
Did you know I also wrote a slew of Kingdom tales featuring many popular characters such as The Mad Hatter, Robin Hood, and Captain Hook—to name a few. I wrote them as Marie Hall. Below you’ll find the complete listing for those stories.
Marie Hall Books
Kingdom Series (Fairy Tale Romance)
Her Mad Hatter (Free everywhere! Book 1, based on Alice and the Mad Hatter)
Gerard’s Beauty (Book 2, based on Beauty and the Beast)
Red and Her Wolf (Book 3, based on Little Red Riding Hood)
The Kingdom Collection (Books 1–3, with bonus deleted scenes)
Jinni’s Wish (Book 4, based on Arabian Nights)
Hook’s Pan (Book 5, Based on Peter Pan)
Danika’s Surprise (
Book 5.5, novelette and first introduction to the upcoming Dark Princess Series)
Kingdom Chronicles (Books 4 & 5, and includes Danika’s Surprise)
Moon’s Flower (Book 6, based on the legend of the Man in the Moon)
Huntsman’s Prey (Book 7, spinoff Dark Princess Series)
Rumpel’s Prize (Book 8, loosely based on the legend of Rumpelstiltskin and Beauty and the Beast)
Hood’s Obsession (Book 9)
Her One Wish (Book 10)