David is half asleep when the nightingale flies into his cell. He sits up reaching for the bird that flies straight into his hand.

"Do you have a message for me?" he asks. He unties the small piece of parchment from the bird's claw. It's too dark to read. He walks to the cell door and lifts up the note to read in the dim light pouring through the bars.

"Stay safe," the note reads. "Don't lose hope. I love you."

She doesn't have any good news and she doesn't know how to say it, he thinks walking back to his corner, and sitting down.

"Snow," he whispers to the bird. "I'm alright. You can tell me what's going on. I can take it. If it's bad I want to know..."

He closes his eyes leaning back wondering how many sentences are too many for a bird to remember. Then he picture's Snow's face when they used Tink's bubbles to talk earlier, how she barely participated in the conversation. The dark circles around her eyes. Her mouth, a thin drawn line. Snow is hanging by a thread. He shouldn't be pushing her for information.

"Wait!" he says standing up in a hurry, rushing towards the door. "Wait, don't go!" But the bird is already gone.

"I love you," he thinks. "It's going to be okay. We can do this. We'll get through this. I believe in us..." Now that wasn't hard, was it? That's all he needed to say. But instead he had to push. "I'm sorry," he whispers into the void. "Sorry Snow..."

He tosses and turns in his sleep to be woken up by a bluebird really early.

"The witnesses from the gift shop are uncooperative, they have gone out of realm, can't depose them. Cameras malfunctioning..."

David closes his eyes. He suspected as much. But knowing for sure is much harder. He almost wishes he hadn't asked.

"It's alright," he whispers. "We'll figure this out. Please get some rest. I love you..." and his words are not enough to express how much he needs her to take care of herself. The bluebird has already flied away. He doesn't bother to run after it this time. He is already second guessing his message. Was it encouraging enough? Did it convey more love than disappointment?

Snow has been making lists and passing them onto Throx the centaur, David's attorney. Official information she needs, so she can investigate Edward's murder. It seems that everyone in the Southern Kingdom has been warned by the White Knights not to cooperate with "the runaway princess who fancies herself an investigator and is determined to let the man who killed our Edward go unpunished..."

Never mind that Edward wasn't particularly popular even though King George kept repeating that he had the utmost confidence in him. Never mind that he was in prison for torturing Snow White. Why, the last royal the people of the Southern Kingdom truly liked was prince James. Well, sort of prince James. Prince James once he stopped sleeping with every pretty maiden that caught his eye and he started taking care of the people. The prince James that slaughtered the dragon. Which, if newspapers were to be believed wasn't the real James but his brother David. The very man the runaway princess married. The one they are trying to pin Edward's murder on. The people of the Southern Kingdom are understandably confused.

Snow is on her desk reviewing the existing camera footage at the hotel the night of Edward's murder, while Grumpy is sitting on David's desk going over Edward's financials.

"Anything?" Snow asks.

Grumpy shakes his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary, so far," he replies. "All his assets were frozen once he got arrested. Nothing suspicious before that..."

"Keep looking," Snow mumbles absentmindedly. She keeps rewinding the footage, watching the same scene over and over. David stepping out of the hotel room, walking towards the gift shop, then the cameras go dark. Snow rewinds again. There he is. David carefully shutting the door. She is misses him so much. It's been four days since Tink used bubbles to let them talk face to face.

And then the camera conveniently goes dark. If it had stayed on long enough to show David returning with the bag from the gift shop... it wouldn't be conclusive evidence but it would be a lot better. Snow sighs.

"Alright," she says pausing the video again. "Now, Edward did not have any long term relationships. He was no longer in line for the Southern kingdom throne, no need to kill him for political reasons. No financial issues. Murdered on his cell after hours..."

Snow spreads the pictures and the autopsy report on her desk. Edward's body laying on the autopsy table, a stab wound on his abdomen.

"They twisted the knife," Snow mumbles comparing the picture with the coroner's report. "This is incredibly personal... We need to interview people at the dungeon where they were keeping him..."

"Can't," Grumpy replies without raising his eyes. "They've been notified not to cooperate with you..."

"Well, we have to," Snow replies. "Follow the guards home and talk to them there if we have to."

"They are not going to talk, Snow!" Grumpy protests. "Pretty sure they've been told they will be terminated if they talk to you..."

Snow drops the pictures she is holding on her desk.

"Fine," she mumbles. She needs to think outside the box, she needs to find a way to make the guards talk to her.

"Alright. Okay. Let's start over. Who would want Edward dead?"

"You would," Grumpy shrugs. "David would. For obvious reasons. What if you are not the only woman he tortured? What if there were others?"

Were there others? Snow sits back at her magic mirror. Edward, Baron of the Southern Peninsula, first in line for the royal throne. Both his parents are deceased. Snow looks at their picture, his mother is smiling, light blue eyes, hair so light it looks almost white. His father also blond and blue eyed. His beard reddish.

"His parents did not look anything like him," Snow observes. As far as she can tell he only had one serious publicized relationship. Her name is Cecilia Brown. She is a school teacher that lives next to the Dark Lake. Snow stands up from her desk.

"Alright," she says. "Let's pay Cecilia Brown a visit.

"The ex girlfriend?" Grumpy is looking doubtful. "Snow, you can't go, you have to let me..."

"I'm going," Snow interrupts. Grumpy is right of course. Cecilia isn't likely to talk to Snow White, not if she believes that David is the one who murdered Edward. But Snow is getting desperate for any shred of evidence, any kind of hope. She is mentally exhausted, yet she cannot stop working. "Are you with me?"

Grumpy looks at Snow. "Always!"

She offers a sad smile. "Come on then!"

One magic bean later and they are standing outside the elementary school where Cecilia Brown teaches. It's almost two'o clock. She should be getting off work soon.

Grumpy is leaning heavily against a pine tree, closing his eyes. He thinks he may never get used to magic bean travel.

The moment the school bell rings the gate opens and out come pouring human children and fairy children, half running, half flying. A few young centaurs are laughing loudly.

"Last one is a rotten dragon egg!" One of the centaurs cries out and they all break into a gallop. Children rush to get out of their way.

Snow and Grumpy walk into the main office.

"We need to talk to Cecilia Brown," Grumpy explains.

"She is probably still in her class," the woman points the classroom across the hallway. If she recognizes Snow she certainly doesn't show it.

Snow takes a deep breath and crosses the hallway, Grumpy in tow.

Cecilia Brown may be a few years younger than Snow. She is wiping the blackboard clean.

"You forgot your backpack again, Tommy, didn't you?" she asks without turning to look at them.

And when Snow and Grumpy don't respond she turns around to face them.

"You are not Tommy," she says quietly.

Snow hesitates. "I'm not..."

Cecilia takes a step towards Snow White. "I don't know what you want with me," she says. "Edward and I are ancient history. I hadn't talked to him in years..."

"Anything you can tell me..."

But Cecilia seems to be sizing up Snow carefully. "You must be desperate to even come to me..." she replies. "I don't know anything!"

And when Snow remains silent Cecilia shakes her head.

"I didn't really know him," she shrugs. "I thought I did... But I didn't think him capable of torturing someone... then again I bet you don't think your guy capable of murder either..."

Snow weighs her options and decides it's time to take a chance. "I think the King is behind this," she offers.

Cecilia laughs. "Really?"

"You don't?" Snow doesn't let Cecilia's reaction discourage her.

Cecilia shrugs. "It doesn't matter now does it? The moment James decided to die," she says raising her hands to offer exaggerated quotations marks when uttering the name James, " Edward became the heir apparent and we were done. You see, he was of the same mindset as you. Being royal was an incredible burden he didn't want to thrust on me. So we broke up. That's the kind of guy that he was. So it's very hard for me to believe that ten years later that same guy would be willing to painspell a woman or kidnap her or whatever it was he did..."

Snow nods. "Except that he did..."

"So you say," Cecilia frowns looking down. "Who am I to argue? I am just a teacher in Dark Lake..." and after a brief hesitation Cecilia looks at Snow her eyes almost pleading. "Do you really think that becoming the royal heir could corrupt someone so badly that they could be capable of...-" Cecilia drops her voice shaking her head. ""Perhaps cruelty is part of the curse..."

"The curse?" Snow's eyes open wide. "What curse?"

"You don't know?" Cecilia is gaping at Snow, surprised. "How do you not know that?"

"Know what?" Snow is desperately trying to stay calm.

"Maybe nobody bothered to tell him!" Cecilia is shaking her head. "Maybe nobody bothered to tell 'James'"

"Tell James what?"

"The royals on the throne of the South are unable to have children," Cecilia replies. "That's why James was adopted... That's why Edward was adopted. If you are in the royal line you become part of the curse. The curse is only lifted when one walks away from the throne..." she continues.

"Do you know who Edward's birth parents were?" Grumpy asks.

"He wouldn't talk about them," Cecilia replies. Then she wipes the chalk off her hands and reaches for her purse. "Are we done here?"

Snow and Grumpy leave Cecilia with more questions than ever.

"Have you heard of the curse before?" Snow turns to Grumpy.

"No, never. It must be a very well kept secret..."

"Well then, we better go talk to the one who knows all the secrets of the royal family!"

"Who?"

"The Teal Fairy!" Snow replies reaching for another magic bean.

"Hold on, give me a minute..." Grumpy feels his lungs with air.

"What are you doing?" Snow smiles. "You don't need to hold your breath, we are not jumping in the water..."

"Do not question my process!" Grumpy frowns.

"I would never," Snow smirks and then she tosses the bean on the ground.

Snow and Grumpy do not even get to step one foot on the medical center where Teal works. She must have seen them from the window, because she rushes out the front door to meet them.

"Snow!' she exclaims, and Snow realizes she's never seen Teal this upset. "What's going on? Have you seen him? Is he alright?" Teal hasn't bothered to grab her jacket so now she is rubbing her arms, trying to stay warm.

Snow hesitates.

"Well?" Teal asks.

I should be the one asking the questions, Snow wants to snap at her but she doesn't. Teal's concern is genuine. And she looks ready to burst into tears.

"He is alright," Snow replies. She is not going to give Teal any actual information.

Teal nods a couple of times. "Right. He is strong, he will manage," she says and Snow thinks that Teal may be holding back tears.

"You know what the dungeons under that castle are like, don't you?" Snow asks. She watches as Teal's face crumbles.

"I do!" she whispers.

"And? You were working for George! Did you ever tell him what you thought about the way the guards treat the men in the dungeon? Did you tell him how awful it all was?"

Teal shakes her head. "You don't understand I never directly worked for King George, and I couldn't...- it wasn't my place...- I got out of working at the castle as soon as I could..."

"You got out. And didn't speak up. And nothing changed. And here we are," Snow replies.

Teal is shaking her head. "I never thought... I didn't think... I didn't..."

"You never thought that someone you cared about would get locked up in that dungeon?"

And Teal looks down on the ground, wringing her hands.

"Tell me everything you know about Edward!" Snow changes the subject.

Teal shrugs. "What is there to know? He was adopted when he was three. Never allowed to go back home. The only rebellious act he ever did was date the school teacher. Once David was no longer an option for the throne he promptly broke up with her so he could marry someone the palace would approve. And if recent news stories are to be believed... when he got tired of waiting for the throne he tried to expose king George for past crimes and make him look guilty by capturing and hurting you... that's all I know...I don't know anything else."

"Is it true that the royal line is cursed? They cannot bear children?"

Teal nods. "It's true."

"Who cursed them?"

Teal shakes her head. "That curse is as old as time. Legend says that back when unions of men and fairies were frowned upon, a royal heir of the South abandoned his fairy wife and her son to marry a woman without magic. The fairy cursed him and his line...She wasn't a famous or powerful fairy. No one remembers her name. And it was hundreds of years ago. The curse afflicts anyone close enough to the royal line to be considered for the throne..."

Snow stays silent for a minute absorbing the information. It is interesting but it doesn't shed any light on who would want to murder Edward and why. Perhaps Teal can't help her after all. Or maybe she can.

"Take me to the king!" Snow says abruptly and Teal freezes.

"What?" she breathes.

Grumpy's face drops. He is watching the exchange, holding his breath.

"The king!" Snow snaps back. "I'm tired of trying to connect the dots that will leading to him anyway. I know he is the one behind it all. Take me to the king! I want to question him!"

"The king is hiding somewhere..." Teal tries. "The whole White knight force is after him!"

"Sure they are." Snow remains unconvinced. She thinks the King is still in control of the white knightforce somehow. "I bet you know exactly where he is!"

Teal takes a step back. "I can't do that!"

"Can't or won't?" Snow replies. "Because from where I'm standing you could have told David ten years ago that he was memory spelled. But you didn't. You could have told him he had a wife and a baby daughter. But you didn't. You could have told him who he was. But you didn't. Not because you couldn't do it. And not because he didn't matter to you. Clearly you care. You didn't tell him because you were afraid. And look where we are now. David is in the dungeon. Edward is dead. Nobody is cooperating with me. The kingdom is in shambles, the southern royals are fighting to get their own man on the throne... Look at where we are!"

"You are blaming me for the state of the kingdom?" Teal asks incredulously.

"No, not really," Snow sighs. "It's just that a small acts that people claim they can't do, snowball into huge unintended consequences. If you had told David who he was ten years ago he would have gotten to watch his daughter grow up. Don't you think you owe it to him now... don't you think you ought to help me make sure he doesn't spend the next twenty years away from Emma?"

And before Teal gets a chance to respond Snow takes a step forward and offers her hand.

"Take me to the king!"

"Snow wait! We have to think about this!" Grumpy exclaims. "We have to ask for help! We can't just show up there! You don't know how many people are guarding him! We can't face him alone!"

"You are right. You should go home, Grumpy. Keep an eye on Emma for me!" Snow replies and then looking straight at Teal. "Now!"

Teal nods, clasps Snow's hand in hers and snaps her fingers.

"No!" Grumpy yells.

And then the are in the darkest most remote corner of the forest inside a small cave. Teal points to a pile of leaves covering a trapdoor in the ground.

Snow's eyes open wide. "Down there?" she asks.

Teal nods.

"Is he guarded?"

Teal shrugs. "I have no idea," she says then she waves the leaves out of the way with her hands and snaps her fingers.

"The door is sealed with our special brand of magic," she explains. "He can still get in and out but no one else can enter unless we unseal it."

"Thank you!" Snow replies opening the trap door. Teal moves to follow her. Snow shakes her head.

"I got it from here. Thank you!"

"Are you sure?" Teal asks, but Snow has already stepped into the dark hole, descending the metal steps attached on the wall.

Teal takes a few steps backwards and hesitates. She looks around and then snaps her fingers and she is gone.

Snow's eyes acclimate to the darkness as she climbs down, one step at a time. If Teal wanted to trap her in a place where she could never come out and nobody would ever find her this would be it, she thinks and she shakes her head. Teal was quite sincere. And she has magic beans in her pocket. She can get out whenever she likes. She is not in danger.

Three more steps and she is in a dark cold space. Nothing much to see except for the light shining through the crack at a single door in front of her. Snow pulls out her dagger, places her hand on the vial with dark fairy dust around her neck and kicks the door open.

She is in a small dark room, dimly lit by three candles on a desk facing the wall. The king is sitting at the desk writing something. There are no other furniture except a small cot against the wall. The king doesn't seem worried that someone's entered his room.

"I'll be with you in a moment," he says and he continues his writing. And Snow is struck by the image of David looking back at her.

Not David. James, Snow realizes looking at the portrait hanging above the King's desk. He looks identical to his brother.

"This is where you are hiding?" Snow asks. "Because I've seen dungeon cells better than this!"

The king's shoulders tense up. He raises slowly from his chair turning to face her. "Are you here to end me?" he asks. Snow follows his eyes as he quickly calculates that his weapons are hanging across the room. No way to get to them in time. Her dagger is already in her hand. The former King looks so much older. He let his beard grow into an unkempt mess. His clothes seem dirty.

"I'm here to find out why!" Snow blurts out. This isn't how she meant to start of course. She meant to ask clever question, she meant to stay calm. Instead she feels blinded by rage, her hands are shaking and angry tears are pooling in her eyes. "Why, after everything you put him through... how could you do this..." she is choking on her words.

"What are we talking about princess?" the King frowns. "What crime am I supposed to have committed now?"

"You framed David for Edward's murder!"

"The boy," is all the king says. "You think I framed my boy..."

"Not your boy! He is my husband!" Snow's voice cracks. "And you've already hurt him so much... Why couldn't you just let him be..."

"This is were you are wrong Snow White. I never made that distinction," the king shrugs. "Which boy was mine, which boy wasn't... he did. If I knew there were two of them I would have adopted them both. He is the one who made it clear he wasn't my son!"

"You offered him a life sentence! An existence in a gilded cage! And when he escaped you erased his memories!" Snow's voice is rising, her hand gripping tightly at her dagger. "You certainly made distinctions!"

"I expected him to act like a man who had honor. Who understood what kind of privilege I was bestowing on him! He faked his own death instead! Sure, I shouldn't have memory spelled him. It was a moment of weakness, of pettiness," the king shrugs. "I shouldn't have done that... but I did. I'm not denying that. But, princess, right now you are looking at the wrong man. I didn't frame him!"

"Why should I believe you?"

The king points at his surroundings. "Look around you princess. I am holed up in a cave. The White Knights have been hunting me relentlessly. They think I betrayed them when I replaced my son with the other one. When I lied about who he was to the kingdom. And one thing the White Knights never forgive is betrayal..."

"Well if you didn't frame him then who did?" Snow asks.

The king shrugs. "I am not the brilliant investigator...'

"Who would want Edward dead?"

"I don't know that either. Nothing to be gained from his death. I certainly got nothing from it. Are you sure your husband didn't do it? If someone had hurt my wife I'd make him pay!"

Snow takes a step forward.

"I don't know what you want from me. I don't have any answers for you!" the king continues. And when Snow takes another step his eyes focus on her dagger. "Make it fast!" he adds.

Snow grabs his hand instead and tosses a magic bean on the ground, right at the king's feet.

"Take me to the White knight Headquarters!" she says.

The king blinks fast, hardly believing his ears. "You are not going to kill me?" he asks incredulously. Snow doesn't even reply. And then they are both falling into the strange darkness of the magic bean portal.

Snow pulls the king out of the smoking circle of the portal. They are in a meeting room, rows of white knights listening to their chief who is standing on the podium.

"Our top priorities for the coming week...-" he says and then he stops mid sentence.

Thirty white knights jump up, gaping at her, drawing their swords.

"Heard you were looking for him. I found him for you!" Snow says calmly.

"What are you waiting for? Arrest him!" the chief cries out.

Three knights rush, to restrain the king.

"You are under arrest..." the chief's voice booms.

"How did you... where did you even find him?" the knight closest to her asks Snow.

"Does it matter?" Snow asks. She is feeling exhausted.

"Yes! Of course it matters! We've been tracking him for months..."

Snow shrugs and looks ready to walk away. "Maybe you weren't looking hard enough..."

"Hey! Where do you think you are going? You need to stay here, you need to tell us how it happened, there are reports that need to be filled, questions we want answered... you can't just leave..."

"Oh really?" Snow asks. "You are worried about due process now?"

The knights just glare at her.

"Investigator White!" the chief cries out but Snow has already turned her back on them and is walking away.

It's really late when Snow arrives at her house. She sneaks in quietly. Ruby and Emma are probably already asleep.

"You are here!" Grumpy's voice startles her.

"Grumpy!" she exclaims. "I didn't see you there! What are you doing sitting here in the dark?"

"What were you thinking? I am here and we are doing this together! What are you doing trusting that fairy, letting her take you who knows where... Has that woman not lied to you before? Snow, you could have walked straight into a trap! You are never doing this to me again, do you hear me?" Grumpy has a lot more to say but the exhausted look in her eyes stops him. "Nothing? We got nothing?" he asks instead.

"The king is at the White Knight force Headquarters," Snow shrugs. "He claims he had nothing to do with Edward's murder..."

"You!" Grumpy is looking at Snow stunned. "You took him there?"

"It wasn't too difficult," Snow replies. "He thought I was going to kill him... I'm tired. Can we talk about this tomorrow?"

Grumpy nods, getting up slowly, his hand reaching for Snow. Snow offers a quick hug.

"Tomorrow," she promises.

She so appreciates Grumpy being there to yell at her, an keep her safe, but she has nothing left. She should be sending a bird to David to update him with the news, but she doesn't do that either. She walks in her room, climbs on her bed still with her cape and boots on, reaches to touch David's now empty pillow and drifts to a dreamless sleep.


Hello! Thank you for reviewing. Thank you for reading. Stay safe!

Jennifer Baratta chapter 37 Awesome chapter

Thanks Jennifer

Bwayrox chapter 37 Things didn't really get much better for Snow and David, but I expected that. It's good to see Snow and Grumpy working together. I loved the paragraph about home. It can indeed be a complicated word for those where life has not been so kind.

Thank you!

Alexa chapter 37 Oh no! That's a pretty elaborate/expensive coverup! The only good thing is that with so many details to erase and people to payoff there HAS to be a clue for Snow to find!

Yes!

Bella1296 chapter 37 Great chapter!

Thank you!

Guest chapter 37 I think I used up all the synonyms for how I'm feeling during my last review haha. But just know it feels the same and my heart is breaking for the white/nolan clan. I have no idea how they are gonna work this out. It's a lot and nothing seems to be going right. Hopefully they'll have a breakthrough soon, ish. I hope you are safe and well during these times.

Thank you! I'm staying safe at home- (which I kind of enjoy doing anyway)