Black Forest: Kingdoms Fall (Black Forest Trilogy)

by LaShea, Riley

  Instantly sick at the knowledge of who the woman was, Rapunzel's eyes met Cinderella's, which tried to comfort her, even when Cinderella should have been more concerned with her own safety.

  "Guard!" the prince screamed. "Guard!"

  With a delighted laugh, Snow White's stepmother, the queen, returned the dagger to Cinderella, the smooth edge of its blade sliding against a clenched cheek. "Keep calling for them," she said. "They are not coming."

  Rushing suddenly by Rapunzel, Prince Marvelous drew his sword, and the queen sliced Cinderella's cheek, pulling a small cry of surprise from her, before flicking the blade of the dagger in the prince's direction.

  At the gesture, the prince's sword ripped from his hand and flew across the clearing, narrowly missing a diving Tater as it plunged deep into a tree.

  "Now, move aside," Queen Ino directed. "I have no fight with you. Yet."

  Without weapon or guard at his disposal, Prince Marvelous slunk into the background, and Queen Ino's fingers violently clutched Cinderella's chin, pulling her face around so she could lick the blood from her cheek. "So..." She sounded breathless. "Do you still think I do not want to kill you? I promise you, it is in my nature."

  "Grimm's nature for you," Cinderella uttered, and, over her shoulder, Rapunzel watched the queen's eyes narrow.

  "Oh, Rapunzel," a voice called suddenly, and even the queen looked surprised.

  Eyes swinging to the edge of the clearing, anger set deep in Rapunzel's shoulders as she watched the unwelcome guest appear.

  The sorceress.

  Her false mother.

  "Oh... My Rapunzel." The sorceress gave a broad smile that looked so untrue, Rapunzel despised it on sight.

  "What are you doing here?" Queen Ino snapped.

  "I followed you," the Sorceress tossed to the queen. "I knew you would lead me to my daughter." Striding toward Rapunzel, she opened her arms. "Hello, My Sweet Girl."

  "Your girl? I am not your girl," Rapunzel countered, stepping back, and surprise shown in the sorceress' eyes. "You locked me away from everyone, alone. You said it was to protect me, but it was to keep me from escaping you. You are not even my real mother."

  A growl resounding in her chest, the sorceress cast an irritated glare toward Cinderella and the queen.

  "Did you really think she would not tell me?" Rapunzel questioned.

  "When I told her, I was under the impression she would not be getting out to tell anything," the sorceress responded. "But I guess there is no accounting for another's incompetence. But, Darling, I took care of you. I loved you."

  "You loved me? You loved me?" Rapunzel backed, once again, from the sorceress' attempted embrace. "You did not love me. You, you are an evil witch!"

  "You wicked, ungrateful child!" The sorceress lunged forward to grab Rapunzel's hair, and Rapunzel's head ached with the pull. "Who are you to say such things?"

  "Rapunzel!" Cinderella screamed when the sorceress raised her staff, and Rapunzel wrenched from the sorceress to see Cinderella spinning in the queen's arms, sending the dagger from her hand as they fell to the ground together.

  Strange chants flowing from the sorceress' mouth, Norco and Togo flew straight at her, knocking her staff aside and sending her into a heap of moss as her curse hit a tree that promptly shriveled.

  Rushing to Cinderella's aid, Rapunzel tripped over the feet of Prince Marvelous, who made a dash for Snow White's coffin. Lifting her head from the grass, she watched the prince near it, and Sawyer rush to beat him there, too far to make it in time.

  Taking in the chaotic scene unfolding, Rapunzel realized there was only one soul who could possibly beat the prince to Snow White.

  "Esteban!" she cried out. "Kiss her!"

  All eyes going to the coffin, time ceased in the clearing as Esteban grasped the glass edge, hefted himself up, and, with a satisfied smile, bestowed Snow White with an inspired kiss.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  The Parley

  Nothing happened.

  Pushing back from Snow White, Esteban cocked his head, confusion pulling his face into a pout. "She didn't wake up."

  Before he could state any more of the obvious, Prince Marvelous' sprint toward Snow White's coffin sent him barreling into Esteban, and Esteban called out a series of expletives that, were she awake, Cinderella was certain would have made Snow White blush as he soared from the edge of the coffin and rolled across the grass.

  Leaning over Snow White with a righteous leer, Prince Marvelous made claim to her lips, lifting his head with an irritated frown when Snow White still did not wake, and, an instant later, Sawyer was upon the coffin, giving the prince a firm shove aside.

  Whether or not his kiss could wake Snow White was of diminishing concern to Cinderella, as she watched the sorceress right herself, staff drawn, a great green arc of light flowing from its tip, and Prince Marvelous rush to the tree that held his sword, both hands wrapping around the hilt in an effort to yank it free.

  Then, there was a miracle.

  Suddenly, the ground shook with ferocious abandon, sending the spell of the sorceress awry, so it produced a great crack somewhere off in the trees, and Prince Marvelous fell to his knees in his quest to retrieve his sword.

  Feeling Queen Ino's movement beneath her, Cinderella was reminded of the strength the queen possessed in the Gulf of Broken Dreams, knowing, if she truly wanted to rise, there would be no stopping her.

  "Give me my dagger," Queen Ino drew Cinderella's attention, her fingers stretching for the weapon lying just out of reach.

  "No," Cinderella uttered, dragging the queen's hand away.

  "Then, cut me," Queen Ino said through her teeth.

  "What?" Cinderella questioned distractedly, the chant of the sorceress drawing her eyes back to the clearing behind her, where she watched the gnarled staff take aim at Rapunzel.

  "Cut me!" Queen Ino commanded, holding her palm before her, and, with no time to deliberate on her intentions, Cinderella seized the dagger from the ground and sliced it across the queen's palm.

  Blood rushing rapidly through the gash, Queen Ino fisted her hand, then flung it open toward the clearing, and, at once, the clash of noise and activity went silent. Fearing what she done at the queen's urging, Cinderella looked over her shoulder, finding everyone as they had been.

  Exactly as they had been.

  Over Snow White's coffin, Sawyer leaned in, on the verge of a kiss. At the tree, Prince Marvelous braced one boot against the trunk, his face clenched as he tried to pull his sword free. Above the head of the sorceress, a curving streak of green light hung on the air, a spell on the verge of being cast.

  Aside from Cinderella and the queen, only Rapunzel remained moving, though, in her stunned state, it was only her eyes that shifted about the clearing, before finally alighting on Cinderella's.

  Forgetting Queen Ino, Cinderella rushed back to meet Rapunzel, hands turning her around and finding her unhurt. "Are you all right?" she asked anyway.

  "Yes," Rapunzel sighed in relief, hands clutching at Cinderella. "Are you?"

  Nodding, Cinderella heard Queen Ino getting to her feet, and whirled on her, the dagger held before them in a pathetic attempt at defense.

  Blood covered the queen's palm as she raised her hand, and the dagger flew instantly from Cinderella's grasp and into the queen's. Backing into Rapunzel, Cinderella heard the small gasp in her ear. Dagger in hand, though, Queen Ino only slid the blade back beneath her dress and started across the clearing. Realizing her destination, Cinderella reached for the hilt of the sword.

  "Do not pull that, Cinderella," Queen Ino sighed without looking at them, holding her hand up so the blood ran toward her wrist. "I need only this."

  The declaration settling upon her, Cinderella could only watch the queen step up to Snow White's coffin, watch the dark eyes move over Snow White's face, the hand that went uncut raise to slide over oil-black hair.

  "Your blood is magic?"

  "All blood is magic," Queen In
o returned. "My blood is... something else."

  "What did you do to them?" Cinderella questioned, looking around the clearing at her friends, trapped inside their own bodies.

  "Do not worry," the queen said softly. "They are only frozen."

  "Why?" Cinderella shook her head. "Are they creating too much commotion for you? Would you prefer to kill us in peace?"

  As she turned from the coffin, a small smile played over Queen Ino's lips. Rubbing her hands together, the queen raised them for their inspection, and the wound upon her palm was closed, the blood gone as if it had evaporated into the air.

  "Who is Grimm?" the queen questioned.

  "You do not know?" Cinderella returned.

  Hands spreading before her, Queen Ino invited Cinderella's explanation, and when they returned to clasp at her waist, she looked almost prim. Almost... harmless. Cinderella knew well she was neither, but she knew she was not only what her actions would lead one to believe either.

  "Grimm..." she began with pause, wondering if it was the kind of thing one should be sharing with a mortal enemy, "is the man who created this world. It is he who manipulates our actions. It is he who made us."

  Staring unflinchingly upon her, the queen seemed to be awaiting more. The punch line, perhaps, Cinderella thought. When there was none, she gave a scoffing laugh anyway. "You sound mad."

  "Yes," Cinderella acknowledged. "There have been many truths lately that have sounded like madness."

  Declaration sobering the queen instantly, the illusion of primness fell from her at once. "How do you know this?"

  "We have met him," Cinderella returned, feeling the heaviness of the queen's gaze upon her, as if the woman blamed her personally for Grimm's existence, instead of the other way around.

  "You have met him?" the queen asked with some disbelief, and Cinderella could only nod. Stepping forward, the queen's hands fell to her sides, and Cinderella took a agitated step back, fearing the queen might use them. "And what, pray tell, does this man look like?"

  "Darkest hair about his head and face," Cinderella responded at once. "Skin, pale and thin over his bones. Despite that, there is a darkness that hangs about him. It is difficult to explain."

  "It is as if he fears the light," Rapunzel added, and Cinderella nodded her agreement, for she could think of no better description for the man who stood before her and ripped love from her with a smile.

  Eyes boring into them, the queen was so still, Cinderella thought she might have fallen under her own spell, until a deep breath lifted her shoulders. It was as if she knew something, as if the story made sense to her, but, whatever it was she knew, Cinderella knew she would never share it.

  Still, she felt a change in the way Queen Ino looked upon them, as if she shared the burden and, therefore, it lessened the burden. The sense of calm moving through her, Cinderella was jolted by the realization she had felt a similar sensation before.

  "You alleviated the effects of the Gulf," she whispered, and the queen looked positively shocked at the accusation.

  "I did no such thing."

  "You did," Cinderella argued. "It was only when you looked at me, when you touched me that they lifted."

  The queen's surprise grew only more sincere.

  "You did not know you were doing it," Cinderella realized, mesmerized as she watched the queen fumble with her hands, looking truly anxious for the first time. "Do you even know whose side you are on?"

  "Would it matter?" the queen returned quietly, not quite able to gather her wits about her. "If this Grimm is as powerful as you say, if he forces us to act, I imagine I will be on whatever side he wants me on."

  "Not if we stop him," Cinderella whispered.

  "You think you can stop him?" Queen Ino sounded as if she did not know whether to be humored or impressed.

  "Not alone," Cinderella admitted. "But you, you have magic."

  "That, if what you say is true, he controls," the queen countered.

  "Not if you do not let him," Cinderella replied.

  Hand sliding soothingly against Rapunzel's hip, Cinderella stepped away from her, taking the few steps that carried her to the queen. Remembering the woman's hands upon her both deadly and gentle, she wished she knew which truly lived in the queen's soul.

  "Several moons ago," she whispered, "one girl stood on the steps of a palace with an easy path ahead of her. Grimm's path. But she did want what waited at its end, so she did not take it, and the entire world changed. And that girl does not have your power."

  Lip flickering upward, Queen Ino withheld the smile. "You look to fight the gods."

  "He is no god," Cinderella returned. "He is man. And, if he is gone, what we do becomes our own. Then, you can choose your side."

  Eyes flashing at the statement, Queen Ino did not respond to it, casting her gaze instead to the sorceress, whose face remained frozen with evil purpose.

  "Should you live that long," she uttered. "For she does seem quite intent on killing you."

  Trailing her eyes to the sorceress, to the spell that waited upon the air to do its damage, Cinderella reluctantly realized the queen was right. Once she was reanimated, they would have no chance of surviving the sorceress until they could rid the world of Grimm.

  "Unfreeze her," she said.

  "Cin..." Rapunzel whispered.

  "It will be all right," Cinderella returned, hands upon Rapunzel's waist moving her out of harm's way. "She can control her. And she does not want us dead until she kills us herself."

  The only response to the statement a fleeting smile, Queen Ino waited for Cinderella's nod before waving a hand before the sorceress. Unfrozen, the sorceress's spell flew toward the spot where Rapunzel had been, hitting a tree and turning it the size of a flower.

  "Miniature!" Rapunzel cried. "Really? What were you going to do, carry me about in a pouch?"

  "What happened here?" the sorceress queried, in lieu of response, looking frantically around and setting her sights on the queen. "You did this!" she shouted, raising her staff, and Queen Ino reached for her dagger.

  "Wait!" Cinderella shouted, and the sorceress' eyes returned to her, the anger warped so suddenly upon her ugly countenance that Cinderella put her hand on the hilt of Prince Alluring's sword, despite knowing it would serve no purpose.

  "You do not order me!" The sorceress pointed a knobby finger toward Cinderella.

  "No," Cinderella returned uneasily, feeling with her free hand for Rapunzel behind her. "I do not. We all take our orders from the same man, and he is very proud of making us act."

  "What do you talk about?" The sorceress' face fell to confusion. "What does she talk about?" She looked to the queen, and, a smile again curving against her lips, the queen seemed humored by the debate as she slid the dagger out from beneath her skirts.

  "You knew I would be in the Gulf of Broken Dreams," Cinderella uttered. "As did she. As did my stepmother and stepsisters. You were given... a sign?"

  "I was given a vision," the sorceress returned, as if it had far more value.

  "That you would be the one to kill me?" Cinderella guessed.

  "Oh, and it was beautiful," the sorceress hummed, blackened teeth on glaring display.

  "But it was not true," Cinderella countered, and the sorceress' smile faltered. "You knew that the instant you saw the queen and my family, did you not? Did your vision show them, or were they surprise?"

  Though the sorceress did not reply, Cinderella could see the answer in the sharp shifting of her eyes to the queen.

  "And the prince," Cinderella went on. "Rushing, as he did, to my rescue, he was surprise for all of us."

  "Cin." Rapunzel's voice in her ear was nearly Cinderella's undoing. She had not given her the details of her path to find her for the very reason that they did not have time for the concern she heard in Rapunzel's voice. Reaching for Rapunzel's hand at her hip, Cinderella thread her fingers through it, squeezing gently.

  "Whom do you think Grimm wanted to succeed?" Cinderella asked t
he sorceress. "You? Her? Or the prince? Keep in mind, he has demonstrated a soft spot for happy endings."

  "My visions do not fail," the sorceress stated with venom.

  "No?" Cinderella returned. "Never? You knew then that Rapunzel would escape the prison into which you put her?"

  "It was no prison!" the sorceress cried. "It was a haven! And there is no accounting for unruly children."

  "As there is no accounting for the incompetence of others?" Cinderella countered. "It seems to me your visions do not show you everything."

  "You!" the sorceress snarled, staff lifting off the ground. "You will die at my hand."

  Struggling to keep Rapunzel behind her, Cinderella watched Queen Ino raise her dagger with leisure. "Do not raise that staff," she uttered. "You will get no chance to use it."

  "You threaten me?" The sorceress turned her anger on the queen, and Cinderella felt their chance slipping away in the distrust that abounded between them.

  "I believe she tries only to help us persuade you," Cinderella interrupted, but the gazes of the sorceress and the queen remained locked in silent battle. "She knows it does not matter how much power you have. Or how much you can do with it. Grimm is more powerful than you. He decides what happens to you. Until he is gone, you do not control your own destiny."

  "You think me a puppet?" The sorceress finally flicked her eyes back to Cinderella.

  "I think we are all puppets," Cinderella returned. "What we do, how we choose, our suffering, we do not control any of it. Until Grimm is gone, we can never truly know if we act on our own desires or on his."

  Ground shaking with sudden violence, Cinderella held tightly to Rapunzel as they stumbled over the forest floor. Balanced on one foot in his frozen position, Big Papa fell over, sending up a cloud of dust as he landed in the dirt.

  "What is that disturbance?" Queen Ino queried.

  "Could the giant have woken?" Rapunzel asked, and, with a sigh, Cinderella acknowledged it did make sense.

  "There is a giant down here?" the sorceress asked in a harsh whisper.

  "Do not worry about him," Cinderella returned. "He is leagues away. It should take time for him to..."