Thanks to everyone who has been keeping up with Wolf's side of the story. I hope you like this chapter.

The whistles and booms of fireworks were going off overhead as a signal to start the coronation ceremonies. If they weren't about to sneak into a heavily-guarded castle it might have been romantic. Wolf couldn't think about that now, though. His stomach was twisted in knots with worry. The only thing he knew for certain is that the Queen wanted the Prince alive to witness her victory, and that she seemed threatened by Virginia. He had to keep Virginia safe at all costs.

"How are we going to get in," whispered Tony.

"Well. . . I have an idea," replied Wolf, "but you're not going to like it."

Virginia frowned a little at that but followed him anyway. He led them to the bank of the moat surrounding the castle. Wolf heard a groan from Tony, but he surprisingly had no protestations. One by one, each of them slid into the water as silently as possible. Wolf felt his nose wrinkle at the smell. It was horrible. Virginia didn't complain at all. Wolf once again admired her newfound strength. He pointed toward a wooden bridge nearby, where two guards were pacing back and forth. Virginia set her jaw and nodded, following behind Wolf. Tony made more noise than Wolf would have liked, but the guards weren't taking notice so he didn't bother to quiet him. He felt his heart hammering in his chest as they passed directly under the guards, their boots stomping noisily on the wooden planks above their heads. Then Wolf spotted the thing he had been hoping to see: a grate leading under the castle.

"Look," he whispered to the others, "that looks promising."

"Promising? What are you talking about," whispered Tony in a panicked voice.

"If we swim under the grill, we're bound to surface somewhere in the castle," he replied.

"Somewhere," hissed Virginia.

"Oh good. For a second there I didn't think you had a plan." Wolf rolled his eyes at Tony's sarcasm.

"Follow me," he said, sucking in a great breath.

He dove for a few feet before he felt the stone edge of he castle under the grill then pushed himself under it. His lungs were beginning to burn so he let out a small bit of air. That made it a little better, but he knew he had to find the end of the tunnel fast. It was longer than he thought it would be. Maybe it didn't come up anywhere. He pushed forward as fast as he could, hoping he wouldn't die by drowning in castle sewage. What a way to go. More than once he bumped his head against the ceiling. The weight from his clothes was slowing him down too much. He had almost decided to discard his shirt when he felt the walls of the tunnel open up into a large pool. He went up and broke the surface with a gasp. Air! Water and probably some other stuff was spilling from the ceiling at random intervals. Wolf was able to avoid it and swim toward the edge, pulling himself up out of the water. It seemed to be some kind of storage cellar. He shook himself off as best as he could and looked toward the tunnel anxiously.

"Come on, Virginia," he coaxed. A moment later, Virginia broke the surface, gasping just as he did. He held out his hand to her and she took it.

"Oh, I thought I was going to drown," she told him. He helped her up and patted her back a little as she coughed.

"Are you alright," he asked.

"Where's Dad?" Wolf frowned.

"I don't know."

"Come on, Dad!" Virginia was beginning to sound anxious.

"That passage was very thin at the top," Wolf admitted. There were bubbles coming up, but no Tony.

"Just come on through," Virginia coaxed.

"Come on, Tony."

"I'm going to have to go after him." Virginia had almost dove back into the water when Tony finally surfaced, arms flailing. He sputtered and coughed, blinking the water out of his eyes. He also had the bad luck of getting caught under the water from the ceiling and he let out a great yelp, swimming toward their voices.

"Are you okay," Virginia asked as they pulled him up.

"Yeah. I almost drowned in there!" It took everything Wolf had not to roll his eyes, but he did growl at him.

"Oh, don't exaggerate," he said. "It's this way."

"Okay, I need a towel," whispered Tony.

"Towels? We need weapons," replied Virginia. Their chatter was distracting Wolf so he shushed them.

"Doors! Come on!"

Two doors, very large and made of sturdy materials, were blocking their way. They jiggled the iron rings that functioned as handles, but they didn't budge. A great croak sounded from behind them, which gave Wolf a niggling sensation in the back of his mind. Wolf let out a small gasp when he saw the toad nestled comfortably on a pile of burlap.

"One door leads to safety," croaked the toad. "One door leads to a horrible death."

Wolf ran up to the toad, a little panicked. Virginia was beside him, staring at the toad in wonder.

"Oh, I learned this in school and I can never remember it," he told her.

"You may ask one question," said the toad, "but I will always lie."

"Okay, if we ask him which door is the safe door–

"–then he'll lie and say it's the other one," Wolf finished.

"Is that it," asked Virginia nervously.

"Or is it the other way around?"

"I don't know!"

"Time's up," stated the toad.

"Alright! Wait," shouted Tony. "I have a question." Wolf looked back at him. Tony had a madness in his eyes that made Wolf back away.

"What is the point of having a door that has a horrible death behind it? Huh?" Tony picked up the toad. "What does that achieve?!"

"Get your hands off me," exclaimed the toad. "What are you doing?"

"What is the purpose of your life," asked Tony as he carried the toad toward the doors, "just to be a pain?"

"Don't touch me there! Only my girlfriend touches me there!"

Tony opened one of the doors and threw the toad into it. A moment later there was a loud boom. Fire and dust came through the door. Tony's eyes grew wide but he remained unamused. Virginia's mouth was pursed into a round O, her body instinctively leaning toward Wolf.

"I guess it's the other one," said Wolf to break the tension.

The other door led to a clean hall. He suddenly felt very dirty and smelly. They would stand out horribly if anyone were to see them now. Luckily no one was down here. Wolf expected that was on the Queen's orders. She knew how Wolf liked to work.

"These are the Royal Chambers," he whispered to the others. "The Queen will sleep as near her dog imposter as possible. Now, my deduction is that she will have the Prince in the very next room. There." He pointed toward one of the doors and opened it, only to be overrun with brooms and mops and other custodial equipment. It made quite a loud ruckus.

"Maybe I'm wrong. Close the door." They stuffed the brooms back in the closet and moved on to the next room.

Wolf pushed the door open. It squeaked a little on its hinges. It was dark in this room and appeared unused. The crimson sheets were perfectly laid out on the bed, and there was an arrangement of lilies on a table right in the middle of the floor.

"This must be a guest room," he said.

"No," said Virginia, "this is her room." She looked around as if in a daze. Wolf wondered what it was she could be feeling. Tony shut the door as Virginia moved further into the room. Wolf searched a few things before he realized the she was standing in front of a grand set of curtains. She pulled them aside, revealing a much larger room. The room that held the bed must have served as the antechamber before the Queen had ordered the furniture to be rearranged.

The other room was dank and dark. Five tall objects had been shrouded in black material and set strategically in a circle around the room.

"What are those," asked Tony.

"Yeah, what are those," repeated Wolf. Virginia moved as if in a trance. Tony walked over to one of the objects and pulled the material off it, gasping when he saw what it was.

"Mirrors," he exclaimed. Virginia snapped out of her daze when she realized that Wolf and Tony were revealing the other mirrors.

"Oh, I've got it," shouted Tony. Wolf examined it. "This is it. The other traveling mirror!"

Virginia came over to look at it. She didn't seem like herself. Wolf didn't want her to go, but he knew it was the only way to keep her safe from the Queen. Wolf couldn't go with her, though. He had to stop the Queen from putting her dog imposter on the throne. Tony pulled the latch on the frame and a picture of the other world came into view.

"Manhattan," Tony gasped. "We found it! We can go home!" Wolf frowned. A lump was beginning to form in his throat. He had caught a very familiar scent. Virginia wasn't looking at the mirror.

"Virginia, what," asked Tony. "No, let's just go home. Come on."

"I can't go yet," she said. Wolf looked at her with surprise.

"What? Yes, you can. Would you please? Wolf, tell her. Let's go. Let's just go."

Wolf was caught in the middle again, but he didn't get a chance to say anything.

"No! I have to see her first," said Virginia. Something moved in the shadows. Oh, no. Wolf inched away from Virginia slowly. She didn't even notice.

"No, you don't," said her father. "Look, she is not your mother. Whoever this person is, she is not Christine. She's not the woman that we knew!"

"We have been led here all along! Don't you see? It was never the mirror! It was just a way to bring us here to meet her."

"Virginia, let's go home while we can still go home."

"No, I have to see her."

Wolf admired Virginia's determination usually, but this was not one of those times. The Queen had come in silently, hiding in the shadows.

"Your last request is granted," she announced. The Huntsman was standing behind her protectively. Wolf felt his gut wrench as he understood that now was the time to play the part. He approached the Queen with confidence and gave a bow before anyone else had a chance to speak. Protect Virginia.

"Did I do well, Your Majesty," he asked in a grandiose voice.

"Excellent well," she replied. Wolf let out a pleased growl. Virginia looked from the Queen to him.

"What," she asked in a small voice, frowning. Keep talking. Don't let it become an issue.

"I thought it safest to stick with them, make sure they don't spoil your plans," he told the Queen.

Wolf knew that Tony was staring at his wife and that Virginia was moving toward him, but he kept his eyes on the Queen. If he showed her any disrespect she would kill them all then and there.

"What have you done," asked Virginia.

"It's very simple, Virginia." He took a grape out of a nearby fruit bowl, threw it up in the air, and caught it in his mouth. "I obey the Queen." He gave Virginia a cunning smile and took his place beside the Huntsman.

"Christine, what are you doing here? Don't you recognize us?"

The Queen gave Tony a warning look and the Huntsman stepped forward to protect her.

"I've never seen either of you before."

"Of course you have. I'm your daughter, Virginia."

The Queen's expression didn't change.

"Christine," said Tony, moving toward her. "Don't look through me." The Huntsman put a knife to his throat and he stopped in his tracks. "Don't look through me, alright? It's me. It's Tony!"

A look of surprise crossed the Queen's face for a moment. Wolf sensed that her anger was growing and he backed away.

"I said I don't know who you are!"

Tony's face went slack with hurt. Wolf had never seen Tony like that in all their travels. It hurt just to watch. He couldn't keep his eyes from Virginia. He had to stay composed. He was alone now.

"Mom, we came from New York, where you used to live!"

Wolf felt the Queen's anger dissipate for a moment as her eyes glossed over in response to some faraway memory. Virginia's eyes were filled with hope as she saw her mother breaking through her Royal shell. For a moment Wolf thought it would work, but the Queen quickly regained her composure.

"This is just magic to distract me," she said, setting her jaw the same way Virginia did. Wolf growled a little at Virginia. He felt despicable. Virginia pointedly avoided looking at him. He supposed he deserved it.

"My Lady," chimed in the Huntsman. The coronation would begin any moment now.

"Um . . . leave me alone with this girl and take him to the dungeon. Bring Wendell to me."

The Huntsman pressed the knife further into Tony's neck to get him to move.

"Wolf." He loud out an obedient whine. The Queen brought her hand up to stroke his face. "You can go to the kitchen now."

And so he left Virginia alone with her mother. He felt torn, but the Queen was too powerful. There was no way he could be victorious in a fight against her. For now he would have to obey her.

The first thing he did was get a bath. One must be clean when handling food or it tastes awful. He donned a loose white shirt, a red vest, and red trousers, as was the uniform of the kitchen servers. Wolf couldn't get Virginia out of his head. He kept wondering if the Queen had spared her life or locked her in the dungeon or let her go home. The only thing he could do was cook in the kitchen, which as it turned out, was right where he needed to be.

The Queen had ordered the most powerful poison to be put in all the toasting glasses by the end of the evening. It would take a great deal of cunning to trick her. Wolf had to be at his very best. The Giant Slug he was supposed to be cutting kept trying to slither off the cutting board. He pinned it down with a fork and cut off a large slice, depositing it into a large bubbling vat of the red poison. It began to froth and boil. Wolf chortled.

"Oh-ho-ho. That's good." He noticed the Queen's entrance and moved to her side.

"All present and correct," he told her.

"As you commanded, Majesty," announced the Head Chef, "the most powerful poison ever created." The chef stuck a ladle of the poison under the Queen's nose and she recoiled slightly.

"Smells divine," she said politely. She seemed to have come out of her meeting with Virginia unfazed. Wolf didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. "Have you tasted it yet?"

The chef frowned.

"'Course not, Majesty."

"Well then, how do you know it's the most powerful poison ever made."

"Yeah, how do you know," repeated Wolf. The chef was beginning to sweat.

"Well?" Try it." The chef didn't wish to invoke the Queen's wrath. He bent over his ladle. His tongue barely touched the poison and then his entire body went rigid. He gasped, his tongue curling inward and slumped to the floor, dead as a doormouse. Wolf almost slipped up and whined, but he knew the Queen was watching. It was a pity that he had to prove it was poison before he could switch it out for something harmless.

"My crafty little Wolf," said the Queen, stroking his cheek. He wanted nothing more than to slap her hand away, but instead he leaned into it. "You had me worried for a while."

"Oh, when you freed me from prison, I agreed to serve you. A wolf always keeps his bargain." He kissed the back of her hand to show her his loyalty. She smiled at him.

"After tonight, when I rule the Nine Kingdoms, wolves will be very important. I will make them my secret police. You will be the Chief." She pointed at him as she left and he gave her a small bow, trying to act excited.

"Huff-puff! Chief Wolf!"

He went back to the poison. Now that the Head Chef was dead, he was the only one in the kitchen, aside from the occasional waiter that came to get a tray of h'orderves. Wolf searched through the cabinets until he found the vial of pink dust he was looking for and smiled. Yes, Troll dust would do nicely.