The Enchanted Kingdoms (Haunting Fairytales Book 1)

by R. L. Weeks

  ‘I can take care of myself, thanks,’ James said and looked up at his mother. ‘Stay safe, okay.’

  ‘I will,’ she promised. ‘Love you,’ she said and rode off, leaving Lori and James alone.

  ‘How are your powers coming along?’ she asked.

  ‘Fine,’ he grumbled and walked away.

  ‘Wait,’ she called after him. ‘How is Snow? You said she’s awake now. Is she feeling okay?’

  ‘Don’t pretend like you care.’

  ‘I do,’ she replied.

  He bit his tongue and shrugged. ‘Yeah, she’s fine. I need to go. Be back this evening.’

  James jumped on his horse. A beautiful stallion gifted to him by Snow and rode to the gates. Snow was in the garden, as per usual, picking apples off a tree. She was wearing a white cloak, embroidered with black patterns down the side. And, as always, she wore a corset-style top with a skirt, black tights, and boots.

  ‘Hey there,’ James called out. A stable boy took the horse to the stables.

  ‘James,’ she said, smiling. She ran over to him, basket swinging from her arm, and hugged him. He hugged her back. She rested her head on his chest for a little longer than she should.

  ‘I missed you,’ he admitted.

  ‘It’s been twenty-four hours,’ she laughed but couldn’t help but smile.

  ‘Still…’ He started.

  ‘I missed you too,’ she admitted. He stood back and grinned. That was one of the few times when she showed him any affection at all.

  ‘Good,’ he said and grinned. He reached out and brushed off the snow that had landed on her jet-black hair. She looked longingly into his eyes; those honey-brown eyes melted her. She breathed in his scent and felt a little light-headed.

  ‘So, my mother has left to meet Merlin,’ he said. Which means that we have Lori alone. I’m worried she may try to hurt your grandfather.’

  ‘She wouldn’t dare,’ Snow said, pulling out her dagger.

  James groaned. ‘Calm down! Stop grabbing your dagger every time her bloody name is mentioned. We are meant to be lying low. Where are the dwarves?’

  ‘They left,’ Snow said angrily.

  ‘What?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ’They just disappeared. I have sent out people to find them,’ she admitted and sat on a bench. They looked out at the winter wonderland in front of them.

  ‘Looks like it’s just us then,’ James said.

  ‘And Merlin,’ Snow pointed out. ‘Your mother has gone to meet him. Why didn’t you just tell her…’

  ‘She’s too close to Lori!’ He ground his front teeth. ‘She would tell her; she trusts her. Then Lori would know that Merlin wants my help.’

  ‘Good point,’ Snow said and brushed her hair out of her face. The wind had crept over Northmanni and snow fell lightly. Soon enough, a blizzard started, forcing Snow and James inside the castle. They ran up to her chambers, and James sat in front of the fire.

  ‘Lovely room,’ he lied. Snow was just as bad as Lori with the gothic interior.

  ‘I know it’s a bit dark, but I like it that way,’ Snow said. She took her cloak off and threw it onto her four-post bed.

  ‘A bit?’ He looked around. ‘Everything is either black or red.’

  She laughed. ‘They’re the colours of my soul,’ she joked. He rolled his eyes, and she joined him on the sofa, in front of the crackling fire.

  ***

  ‘Majesty,’ Lori said as she approached her husband. His grey hair was slicked back, and his red cloak covered his protruding belly.

  ‘My love,’ he replied and put his arms around her.

  She forced a smile and escaped his grip. ‘Why won’t you let me use the army? Am I not Queen?’

  ‘You are,’ he said and sat on his throne. ‘But Dolorom is the biggest land. We would not win, and the attack is unprovoked.’

  ‘But please,’ she said and fluttered her lashes at him. Since taking more people’s beauty, she was looking better by the week. Her hair was shiny, softer, and darker than it had looked in years. Her green eyes shone like emeralds, her petite frame paired with her soft features made her look so innocent.

  ‘No,’ he said. ‘Sorry my love. Anything else I would do, but I cannot send my troops out to be slaughtered.’

  ‘Of course, I obey my King’s orders,’ she said and went over to the little globe. She opened it and pulled out a bottle of mead. When he wasn’t looking when she activated the death curse, one which drained her, then and there, of all her beauty. She quickly left the room. Making sure to not show her face to him. Her footsteps clicked down the stone steps. She stopped by the kitchen. She snuck an apple into the kitchen’s supply and waited for someone to eat it.

  A little less than an hour later everyone in the castle was running around frantically. A guard burst into Snow’s room where she was resting her head on James’s shoulder.

  ‘Princess,’ the guard said.

  ‘What is it?’ she asked, standing up.

  ‘I’m terribly sorry to be the one to tell you, but the King is dead.’

  CHANGES

  ‘Ariel…’ Coral started. She swam gracefully over to where her sister was sulking. ‘Father shouted at you again, huh?’ Ariel turned and wrapped her arms around her sister. Unlike the rest of her sisters, Coral cared about her. The rest were only interested in powers, killing, and eating. Coral did those things too, of course, but she understood why Ariel wouldn’t partake in those activities.

  ‘I was out exploring,’ Ariel cried.

  Coral put her sister at arm’s length, keeping her hands on her shoulder, and looked into her eyes. ‘You were looking at the humans again, weren’t you?’

  Ariel saw that Coral wasn’t mad, but worried. Coral looked nothing but sympathetic. She was just a year older than Ariel, who was the youngest. Ariel nodded, her bottom lip trembling. ‘I want to be like them. They are not cruel, like us! They do not kill…’

  Coral groaned. ‘They kill Ariel. They kill fish, they kill our friends. They’ve killed mermaids, and they kill each other. They are worse than us. We would never kill our own unless necessary.’

  ‘No,’ Ariel shouted, pushing Coral away. ‘Father tells these stories to scare us. I watch them; they don’t do those things. They love, they laugh, they have fun.

  Coral was almost a mirror image of Ariel, except for the eyes. Coral’s were darker than Ariel’s bright blue ones. ‘Ariel, please, try and join in with us,’ she begged. ‘It has been so boring without you. You keep disappearing. Remember when we had fun? You and I, causing mischief. You used to want to be like me when we were younger. What happened?’ asked a tearful Coral.

  Ariel straightened up. ‘I grew up and realised that I have my own destiny to fulfil. I love you Coral. You’re different from the rest of them. But, you belong here, and I do not. I thought about trying to be the princess you all want. I tried, but it is not who I am. I must try to become human, if only for a day. I want to just see what it is like.’

  Coral’s expression darkened. ‘Cullum admitted that you met a man who almost drowned. Cullum is worried about you, Ariel. He wouldn’t go to anyone else, only me. He knew I was the only one who wouldn’t punish you. I want to help you, to talk some sense into you before you make the biggest mistake of your li-.'

  Ariel twirled upwards until she was above Coral. ‘No! Just because your life is boring. Just because you must marry someone you don’t love, doesn’t mean I have too.’

  ‘That’s not fair,’ Coral replied, shocked.

  ‘How isn’t it?’ Ariel asked. ‘You’re trying to stop me from being who I am! Don’t you understand, I hate being a mermaid. I always have. And you, you don’t even have the guts to tell Father you don’t want to marry Shell. He is a horrible merman and you don’t love him. He doesn’t treat you right!’

  Coral pressed her lips together, holding back tears. ‘Please don’t…’

  ‘No,’ Ariel replied. ‘I’m leaving, please, feel free to go
and tell Father and everyone else that I am going to become human. They will lock me away forever in the underwater dungeons.’ Ariel swam off toward the Sea Witches Cave.

  Coral just bobbed in the same spot for a while, staring at the rocky wall covered in shells and little sea creatures. She looked back up to the shipwreck which was around fifteen metres from the dip she was in. Hardly anyone knew about this place, that’s why she knew she’d find Ariel there. Their old hiding spot from when they were children.

  ***

  Ariel peeked around the entrance to the cave. Darkness coated the cave, which just made the hissing that echoed throughout the cave even creepier. Ariel's heart pounded so fast she wondered if she was going to have a heart attack. She pushed forward and swam through the cave until she reached the back. It was bigger than she had imagined it would be. There were two tunnels going off in opposite directions. She could hear cackling coming from the right one. ‘There you are,’ she said aloud and swam through the grotty tunnel. She popped out the other side into a ginormous stone room with no windows. Ursula was staring into a mirror. ‘I was wondering when you would pop by. How are you, my love?’ She asked, turning and spinning into the centre of the room. A cauldron appeared, and so did her eel.

  Green liquid oozed and bubbled in the cauldron. Ursula used magic to keep it in there. Ursula danced and twirled as she added ingredients to the cauldron.

  ‘So, I guess you are here because you want legs?’

  ‘Yes,’ Ariel admitted. ‘Will you help me?’

  ‘Of course,’ Ursula said sweetly. ‘You seem to think I am some evil witch, but I am not. I am an outsider, like you. I want to help you.’

  ‘I don’t know if I can believe that,’ Ariel said, crossing her arms. ‘How do I know that this won’t kill me?’

  ‘Simple. If I kill you, I will be killed by your father and everyone in the lake will come for me. I am not an idiot. If you’re done insulting my intelligence, then please, take this. You’ll just have to trust me.’

  ‘What do you want in return?’ Ariel asked, taking the potion.

  ‘Simple. For you to stay away from the lake, no matter what. For you to go and see your Prince and get your happily ever after.’

  ‘What about my family, I won’t see them again?’ she said, tearfully.

  Ursula shrugged. ‘Small price to pay. They will be fine. Probably glad to be rid of you,’ Ursula said. ‘I mean that in a compassionate way. Also, you have three days on land. If you wish to stay human, you must kiss your Prince or return to being a mermaid.’

  Ariel nodded, eyeing Ursula suspiciously, but took the potion anyway.

  ‘Ariel,’ Coral said who swam into the cave, but she was too late. ‘What have you done?’ She shouted to Ursula, who shrugged and smiled. Ariel's beautiful tail separated and turned into legs. Ariel gasped for air. Coral grabbed her sister and swam her to the surface. She took her to the bay and dropped her there. ‘What have you done?!’

  Ariel coughed until she got her breath back. ‘I have legs!’ she gasped and started wriggling her toes. ‘I have legs!’

  ‘Ariel,’ Coral warned. ‘Mother and Father will be furious. I may be able to strike a deal with Ursula to reverse the potion.’

  ‘No,’ Ariel shouted. ‘Please, Coral,’ she took her sister’s hands. ‘You’re the only one I trust. Please, take care of Cullum and don’t tell Father or Mother until I decide what to do. I have three days, apparently. If I kiss him, I stay human, if not, then I return to being a mermaid.’

  ‘Please make the right choice,’ Coral begged. ‘But, if you decide to stay human, Ariel, I love you regardless and just want you to be happy,’ Coral said and swam backward. ‘If you need me, come to the water’s edge and say my name. I will come for you.’

  Ariel stood up, fell over, then stood up again. Once she got her balance, she danced around ecstatically. Jack, the seagull, flew down and landed on a nearby rock.

  ‘You have legs,’ he said excitedly.

  ‘Yes, aren’t they wonderful?’ she asked. She couldn’t stop looking at them.

  ‘We must get you some coverers,’ he said, meaning clothes.

  ‘Oh yes,’ she said and covered herself up with a rag that had been left on one of the canoes. She tied it at the back. ‘How do I look?’

  He looked her up and down and nodded approvingly. ‘Beautiful. So, where is the Prince?’

  ‘The palace,’ she said excitedly.

  LOVE SHATTERED

  Snow stomped around the room. her breath rattling as she puffed on a pipe. ‘What the hell are you doing?’ Asked James as he snatched the pipe from her mouth.

  ‘It relaxes me!’ she shouted.

  ‘It’s unhealthy,’ he replied and walked over to her bed. ‘She killed him, James. She killed him! I know it. I’m going to kill her.’

  ‘No,’ he walked over and placed his arms on her shoulders. ‘We will get revenge, but if you go up there now and attempt to kill her, you will be charged with treason. Princess or not. Lori is in charge now. We must play it safe.’

  Snow knew what he was saying made sense, but she was livid. She couldn’t see anything but the image of Lori being stabbed to death. Snow screamed and threw her dagger at the wall, which stabbed into a painting. ‘I will prove she killed him then.’

  James bit down on his bottom lip. ‘If she did it with magic, which I imagine she did, then you couldn’t prove it. Lori mentioned killing him, but my mother and I said no, and she said she was joking.’

  ‘And you kept that to yourself?’ Snow screamed. ‘Whose side are you on?’

  He pulled her into a hug and stroked her hair. ‘Yours, Snow. Always yours.’

  He pulled her down onto the sofa. She nuzzled into his chest. He hugged her in front of the fire while she wept into his jacket. Hours passed like minutes. The crackling of the fire and howling from the wind outside the window was all that could be heard above Snow’s sobs. She eventually cried herself to sleep. James didn’t want to move, in case he woke her, so just laid there. Her smiled as he looked down at her tear stained face. She was pouting slightly as she slept and the crease on her forehead from anger disappeared. Her fingers linked with his and a realisation swept over him; this was all he would ever need.

  ***

  Stilt and Edward walked down the winding road. ‘Fresh air,’ Stilt said, breathing in. ‘The air is so clean out here!’

  ‘It is,’ Edward agreed. Any comment on Dolorom was a comment to him, in his eyes. ‘We need to leave tonight really,’ Edward said, itching to go to Northmanni. Seeing Belle again, holding her, telling her how she changed his views on everything was the most important thing.

  Stilt nodded. ‘Yes.’ They both heard it, a carriage coming up the winding road. On both sides of the road were woods that went on for miles. They were in the middle of nowhere.

  ‘We will magic ourselves to Northmanni,’ Edward stated. ‘It has been nice to just walked and relax, though.’ Stilt had suggested the walk, suggesting that it would clear their heads for the inevitable battle and he was right. Edward felt better already. They both moved to the side of the road to let the carriage go past. ‘Then,’ Edward continued. ‘Belle.’

  ‘Yes, we get Belle…– oh,’ Stilt said on seeing an angry Belle jump out of the carriage. Edward looked her up and down. She was wearing trousers, a fitted top, a dagger was in a scabbard strapped to her leg, and a bow and a quiver of arrows were on her back.

  ‘You!’ Belle said, pointing at Edward. ‘I was hoping more than anything that I’d bump into you!’

  ‘Me too, look, I need to explain things to you properly.’

  ‘Save it,’ she shouted. ‘The both of you singlehandedly destroyed mine and by the sounds of it, many others people’s too.’

  ‘We never intentionally meant to hurt either of you,’ Stilt said. ‘Hear Edward out,’ he insisted.

  Edward sighed. ‘Lori is using you. I told you about her before!’

  Belle pulled her dagger out of
the holder and pointed it at Edward’s neck. ‘You have ten seconds to tell me something substantial or I will remove your head from your shoulders.’

  ‘Okay, everyone needs to calm down,’ Stilt said. Belle pushed the dagger forward more until it pressing into Edward’s windpipe. He pushed Belle’s hand back a little.

  ‘I love you,’ he started. ‘I do. Even if you kill me now, I love you. I was spelled to forget you,’ he said, and looked at Stilt angrily, then looked back at Belle. ‘For the curse to break, I must have loved you. If I didn’t, the kiss wouldn’t have done anything.’

  On that, she lowered her dagger and stepped back. ‘Of course, but…’ she hesitated. Why wouldn’t the hate disappear? ’But I really hate you. Like, I really do.’

  Edward furrowed his brows. ‘Over that? I didn’t peg you as they type who could hate so much!’

  ‘I’m not!’ She snapped. ‘What’s wrong with me?’ She tried to force herself from stabbing the dagger into him, but the urge was too strong. She pushed it toward him.

  Stilt watched as a seemingly conflicted Belle pushed the dagger towards a hurt Edward’s stomach and flicked his hand. Belle lost consciousness and Edward caught her.

  ‘What happened?’ Edward asked, astonished. ‘Surely she can’t hate me that much over something that didn’t even happen?’

  Stilt shook his head. ‘I think she’s cursed.’

  Edward’s mouth tightened. ‘Lori,’ he growled.

  Edward and Stilt magicked themselves and Belle back to Dolorom castle and laid her down on Edward’s bed. Edward ran his finger down her cheek and kissed her lips.

  Seconds felt like hours until she woke. Belle looked at Edward hazily. He half leaned in, waiting for her to come around and kiss him. The other part of him hesitated, ready to jump back in case she attacked him.

  Neither happened.

  Belle sat up and looked around with wide eyes. Several realisations fell into her head. It felt as if the past month had been one long daydream. Her hand shot to her mouth as she gasped. Stilt and Edward looked at each other then back to Belle. She looked up at them with tears in her glassy brown eyes. ‘Lori… she’s going to kill you. She’s using my son. I think she even sent my father and Caleb away. She’s hurting people and stealing people’s beauty. She’s Queen of Northmanni and…’