by Anita Valle
“Why is it lunacy?”
“Because I’m not!” Beauty cries. “My mother died when I was a baby, I live with my fairy godmother. I’m not the daughter of the friggin’ Cursed Queen!”
I frown, confused. Then I realize something. Beauty doesn’t know the truth. And I do. I know something she doesn’t. It feels so good, for once, to not be the ignorant one.
“You are Cinderella’s daughter,” I say.
“I’m not!”
“Yes, you are. That’s why you’re here. That’s why I’m here, too. Both of us are Cinderella’s daughters.” I don’t make a big thing of it. She probably won’t like it that we’re sisters – I don’t. But she should know.
Beauty goes very quiet. So I tell her about Snowy and Cinderella and the twins. About the one who was stolen by a wicked fairy and never found. Beauty doesn’t move as she listens to my story. She barely blinks.
“Godnutter was… always vague about my mother,” Beauty says softly. “When I was younger, I once asked her what my mother’s name was. She said Agatha. The next day, I wanted to write it down and asked her how to spell it – and she spelled it as Agnes. When I asked, she laughed at me and said I made a mistake. But I knew I hadn’t. She was making it all up.”
Beauty looks at me, really looks this time. “You look nothing like me.”
I shrug. “So what?”
Beauty taps her lip with her finger. “So Lunilla isn’t the true queen.” Her eyes widen. “It should be me!”
“No, it should be me,” I say.
Beauty narrows her eyes. She strokes back her hair, sliding her fingers around her face. “If you’ve spent your whole life inside a tower, you wouldn’t know the first thing about ruling a kingdom. Besides, I was born first.”
“We were born at the same time.”
Beauty laughs. “There, you see? You know nothing! Even if we’re twins, one of us was born first. And I’m clearly more mature than you.” Her long lashes flick over me. “Your body isn’t even womanly yet.”
I flinch and cover my chest with my hand. I’m a little womanly, just not as much as her. Her body is all wavy and mine is straight. Still… my hair is a lot longer.
Beauty shakes her head. “And to think, I’ve been to see the Cursed Queen three times.”
“The Cursed Queen?”
“Yeah, have you seen her?”
“I did today. Who is she?”
“You don’t know?” Beauty puts her face to bars, eyes alive with excitement. “That’s her! That’s Cinderella!”
I step back from the door. “What?”
Beauty nods emphatically.
“But… Snowy said she was dead,” I whisper.
“Snowy lied,” Beauty says.
I hold my elbows and turn aside. The lady in the box – the Cursed Queen – Cinderella - my mother. That was her, with the golden hair and little heart-shaped mouth. Asleep in a box – but not dead.
“Can we wake her up?” I ask.
“No,” Beauty says. “Godnutter told me about it. She needs to be kissed and it has to be true love.” Beauty rolls her eyes. “Not likely to happen at this point.”
“No. No one ever loved her,” I mumble.
“Except Hunter,” Beauty says.
I look up slowly. “Uh, what?”
“Hunter. The fairy who tried to lessen my curse? He was in love with Snow White but then he fell for Cinderella. He was going to kiss her and wake her up. But Snow White was so jealous, she killed him so that Cinderella couldn’t have him.”
Is… that… so! This is one story Snowy didn’t tell me! She always said his death was an accident and she never said he left her for Cinderella! No wonder she tried so hard to convince me that no one loved my mother. And why she got so angry about it.
But I feel strange, now. Like I thought I was walking on solid earth and now it cracks and slides. Snowy has been lying to me. Lying for years. She told me my mother was dead, said it over and over without blinking. But all this time, my mother was asleep in a box. Snowy must have known, yet she never took me to see her.
She just locked me away and didn’t care.
~*~ 25 ~*~
That evening – at least, I think it’s evening – Melodie comes back. She brings us mats of thick wool, rolled up and tied. “You shouldn’t have to sleep on the floor,” she says.
“When do we get food?” I ask. I’ve been hungry for hours and my lips are sticking together. There’s nothing in here, not even a pail of water to sip from.
“Soon.” Melodie squeezes the rolled mat between the bars of my door. It smells dusty. She steps across the hall and gives the other one to Beauty.
“Oh sure, like I’d really sleep on that.” Beauty grabs the mat and throws it into a corner of her cell. “Could you please explain why you’re treating us like criminals just because we’re the daughters of Cinderella?”
“Oh, now you believe it?” Melodie says.
Beauty points at me with her chin. “That one explained it to me.”
“She has a name,” Melodie says.
“I forgot it. So, how long are we here for?”
“I don’t know,” Melodie says. “Until Lunilla lets you out, I guess.”
Beauty holds up one of her pale, pointy fingers. “I am not staying here in this rat hole. If you don’t release me, Godnutter will. And she won’t be too happy with you.”
Melodie smirks. “I’m afraid ‘that one’ tried a similar threat. But so far, neither the Ice Witch nor the Wicked Fairy has arrived to save you. So, you might need the mat.” She heads up the hall, silent except for the soft echo of her coughs.
Beauty stands at the door, arms folded, foot tapping. “Godnutter better get here soon. If this is some ‘lesson’ she’s trying to teach me….”
“I know. I hope Snow will come too,” I say.
“She always yelled at me for not listening. This is probably her way of punishing me for going to the party.” She rolls her eyes and blinks twice, like Kay said she did. “She makes too many rules.”
“So, you live with her?” I ask.
Beauty nods. “Not as much as I used to. I often skip out and stay with my friends. Our home is a four-day journey from here – a little village by the sea. Honestly, it’s so dead. We have some sheep and she taught me to spin wool. Wanted me to grow into ‘a good, wholesome girl.’ ”
I get the feeling that didn’t work.
“She was nuts,” Beauty says. “Always told me I was pretty but got mad if someone else did. Didn’t allow me to learn dancing because it might attract the boys. I couldn’t have a red dress because she thinks that color is naughty. And using magic was completely forbidden.”
I find all of this strangely comforting. Beauty has problems. Her life isn’t perfect. Like me, she lives with someone who makes her feel trapped. I feel so much better now.
“Snowy makes a lot of rules too,” I say.
“I have my own life! I don’t have to listen to her, she’s not my mother. Nobody likes her, anyway. I mean, she dresses like a beggar, she smokes like a furnace, it was embarrassing just to be seen with her.”
I frown. So far, Beauty has barely acknowledged a single thing I said. She doesn’t care about my problems but expects me to listen to hers. It seems very rude.
I raise my voice. “Aren’t you worried about the curse?” I say, cutting off whatever rubbish she’s going on about now. She blinks at me, disoriented.
“Nope!” Beauty smiles and strokes her hair again. “Godnutter will figure it out. She’s one of the most powerful fairies in the land.”
“Did she tell you that herself?”
“And there’s plenty of time. I won’t be sixteen until the end of next month.”
I stare at her. “When?”
“The last day of October. Don’t you even know the day we were born?”
Yes, I do. And it’s not the end of October. That’s very weird. If we’re twins, we were born on the same day… right? But her day is
way off. There has to be a mistake but I can’t figure it out. Maybe I should mention this to her.
Or… maybe not.
I mean, it’s not like she would listen to me.
~*~ 26 ~*~
A servant brings us each a bowl of stew. I’m so hungry, it tastes like the best stuff on earth. It’s got beef in it, which I rarely get at home. But Beauty complains. It’s not warm enough, the beef is old, the carrots are mushy. We deserve so much better, blah, blah, blah.
Over the next two hours, she goes completely nuts! Starts pacing around her cell, making angry little squeaks. Mutters things like “ridiculous” and “unbelievable” and makes random threats to break out on her own. I guess I’m more used to small spaces than she is.
“I’m so BORED!” she screams at the ceiling.
“Will you SHUT UP!” I say. “You’re making it worse!”
“This is your fault!” Beauty says. “You had to come blazing into the palace, announcing to the whole world that you were Cinderella’s daughter. I heard you! And now we’re stuck here because you made the queen feel threatened.”
We hear a nasal laugh in the corridor and the swish of a heavy skirt. Beauty rolls her eyes. “Oh, here we go.”
“So, that’s what you think? That I’m scared of you?” Lunilla saunters into view between our two cells. She’s stuffed inside a bulbous, bright-orange dress, bursting with pink lace trimmings, and just looks like a giant mistake. “I have you both right where I want you. So, what’s to feel threatened about?”
“Where’s Godnutter?” Beauty asks. “Why hasn’t she come for me?”
“Haven’t seen her since the party,” Lunilla says. “But if you think about it, there’s really no point in her saving you. You’re going to drop dead, anyway. So, why should she waste her time?”
“I am not dropping dead!” Beauty says.
“What about Snowy?” I ask.
Lunilla turns her curly head to look at me. She smells like the rose garden but also like some kind of sour, fruity drink. “Not yet. I had a message sent to your little tower home. If she’s smart, she’ll come here soon.”
“Why do you want her?”
Lunilla smirks and doesn’t answer. With great ease, she strolls between our cells, emphasizing each shift from heel to toe. “Can’t believe you girls are finally here. I’ve been looking for you for years and years, ever since the day I became queen.”
“Really?” Beauty says.
“Cooper told me all about it. Cinderella had two little girlies, of course she would. And then got herself poisoned! Best news I ever had in my life. Snow White ran away with the babies and that’s all anyone knew. Cooper thought they probably died without their mother but I didn’t. And I couldn’t risk them growing up and coming back to steal my throne.” She pauses. “Which one of you is older?”
“I am,” Beauty and I say together.
Lunilla laughs. “It really doesn’t matter now. So - I had my spies search for Snow White. But they couldn’t find her. And a few of them never came back – I think she found them first.” Lunilla glowers. “So then I had to employ… harsher methods.”
“What does that mean?” Beauty asks.
I clench my fists. “It means the Beast.”
“Ooh! You’re a smartie,” Lunilla says.
Beauty, who had been clasping the bars of her door, drops her hands and steps back. “You have the Beast?”
Lunilla smiles.
“Kay told me you didn’t!” I shout. “He said you had nothing to do with it!”
“Kay’s such a sweet boy,” Lunilla says. “I didn’t want to upset him. He doesn’t know what it takes to rule a kingdom, sometimes.”
“Where is it?” Beauty asks in a breathless voice. “Where do you keep it?”
“Oh, like I would tell you that!” Lunilla says. “Believe me, if you find out, it won’t be a very good day. Anyway, I was getting so frustrated. And then Cooper said to me, ‘How do we know Snow White is still raising those girls? She could have dumped them in an orphanage or given them to a new family.’ Snow White – so I’ve heard – was a selfish little brat and we didn’t think motherhood would suit her for long.”
I sigh. I wish it hadn’t.
“So, it could be any girl, I thought. Any girl in the kingdom. All I knew for certain was the age. But I was smart about it. It would be wasteful to kill off every fifteen-year-old girl indiscriminately. I’m not like that, I’m not a bad person.”
Oh my blood and bones.
“So, I gathered my spies again and I said, ‘Find me orphans. Any girl of about fifteen who does not seem to be living with her parents.” She smiles at Beauty. “You were on the list, my dear.”
Beauty gasps.
Lunilla gives her honking laugh. “I didn’t think it was you! I thought Cindy’s daughters would be blonde, like her. Cooper couldn’t remember, you know how men are. So I started with blondes. I asked my spies to bring me a handkerchief, a stocking, anything with the girl’s scent on it. And then I gave it to the Beast before I let him out at night. It’s been very effective!”
Beauty staggers away from her door. I clench the bars and bare my teeth. “You’re a horrible person. When Snowy comes, I’ll tell her to freeze your eyeballs first!”
“Snow White won’t be able to touch me so long as I have you,” Lunilla says. “You were so adorable! Walking right up to me at the party and telling me who you were. Like a birthday gift! The only problem was you didn’t know your twin. All you said was, ‘she was stolen.’ And then I remembered: the fairies told me that Cinderella’s godmother was in disgrace because she had stolen a baby. I called for Beauty and asked her what she knew about her mother. She didn’t know much but had been told that her mother had freakishly small feet.” Lunilla smiles. “That did it for me.”
“All right, we’re here! Now what?” Beauty asks.
Lunilla folds her arms. “I’m waiting for Snow White. She needs to get rid of this wretched eternal winter. It’s no fun ruling a kingdom that’s always cold and miserable. Enough is enough! I won’t let her see Runzel until she does it.”
I snort. Good luck with that.
Lunilla’s face hardens. “But once she does, I won’t need her anymore. Or the two of you, either. All that’s left of Cinderella’s filth must be purged. So, enjoy your short time together as sisters. Because once this is over, I’m feeding you to the Beast.”
~*~ 27 ~*~
It’s a hard night. I resist as long as I can and then collapse on the mat from pure exhaustion. It’s actually a blessing - Beauty’s crying was driving me nuts! And I don’t think she was faking this time. I understand – I’m pretty scared too – but I still have faith in Snowy. She will come and crush them all.
I dream about it. Snowy comes to the palace. She stands before it in her white fur coat and lifts her arms to the sky. Ice begins to grow over the castle, pale blue and sparkling. It covers everything - the walls, the gardens, the people. Servants turn to ice statues in the middle of their tasks. I have a distinct image of Lunilla in her throne, frozen with her mouth wide open. Then Snowy and I hook elbows and leave the palace, laughing.
But I wake up and Snowy hasn’t come. I wait for her through a long and dreary day. Beauty and I don’t speak. I sit on the mat, unbraid my hair, comb it with my fingers, and braid it up again. Takes me three hours. It’s gotten very dirty from the floor and I pick out bits of leaves and even a few bugs. I really need Snowy to come and wash it.
I don’t like it here. I want to go back to my tower, at least there I had a window. My eyes are tired of this feeble torch light and my stomach grumbles for food. Nobody comes to see us until evening, when Melodie brings us bowls of broth and dry bread. I sit cross-legged on the mat, dunking each chunk of bread into the broth. It’s not enough. I curl myself up on the mat and hug my braid with my knees. I fall asleep thinking about Kay.
I don’t know if it’s morning when I wake up. But it feels like I’ve slept all night. I rub
my face, get up and hobble to the door, kicking my braid out of the way. Beauty is standing at her own door. She puts a finger to her lips and widens her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I say.
“Shh!” Beauty says. “I heard something!”
I listen but don’t hear a thing. I press my face to the bars and try to peer down the corridor. She’s focused on the opposite direction from which our visitors normally come.
“What did it sound like?” I ask.
“Like stones scraping… and something moving. It sounded big.”
My scalp crinkles. She can’t be serious. “Maybe it’s just a rat. They get into my tower, sometimes. They can sound really big when they move around.”
“Shut UP!” Beauty snaps. “I’m trying to listen!” Her piercing blue eyes are on me at the moment. But when she turns them back to the corridor, she shrieks.
I jerk back. A short figure has appeared between our two cells, covered in a black cloak and hood. Two pasty-white hands emerge from the cloak. The figure reaches up and pushes back the hood. I gasp.
“Snowy!” I rush to the door. I was never so glad to see her cold, white face. With that black cloak on, she looks paler than usual, almost ghostly. She fires a look at me and presses a finger to her lips.
I drop my voice to a whisper. “Snowy, where did you come from?”
Snowy points to the corridor behind her. “I know a secret way in. There’s an old well out in The Wood that has a tunnel into the castle. I don’t think anyone knows about it but me. It leads into this dungeon.” She gives Beauty a curious glance.
“Why’d you sneak in?” I ask. “I thought you’d come blasting in here!”
Snowy shakes her head. “Too much trouble. We can sneak out and just disappear. I guess we’ll have to find a new place to live, the queen knows about our tower.” She gives me a withering look. “You’ve been lying to me, Rapunzel.”
“Well, you lied to me! I’ve learned a lot since I left, you’ve been lying to me for years. Oh, and guess who that is.” I point across the hall at Beauty, who has been quietly staring at Snowy.
