Chapter Forty-Four
ADAM
Since Adam gave the necklace to Snow White, she has worn it everyday without fail. All of the Dwarves noted it, Grumpy looking rather smug as they all discussed how pretty it looked, and even Frederick, who has made more and more trips up the mountain, has noted how pretty it was. Between the end of the harvest coming, autumn getting ready to bow to the winter's cold, and strange events happening in Apfel, Frederick has made a trip up the mountain nearly every other day. He's visited so much that there has even been a time or two that he's stayed the night on the couch downstairs.
Snow White enjoys his company and is provided with hostess duties to do while Adam stays informed of the happenings going on in the town. Where Snow White gets more and more excited that things are looking better, Adam cannot help but fear for the absolute worst. Securing the perimeter on his usual patrol, Adam could not help but think of what Frederick had told him the other day.
Things had grown strangely quiet in the castle, Grünes is a myth in no longer being existent, and many of the servants of the castle have been let go; not killed. Each day more and more have been let go, even the knights have been let go. The town is fuller than it ever has been before and everyone is looking for work. The Smithy has gained a few more apprentices and has even had to set up a second shop, technically the third in the village now since Frederick had his own smithy on the outskirts of town for the farmers. He allows them to pay in through produce and has an overabundance of food and keeps bringing it up the mountain.
Still the silence within the castle walls is unnerving for Adam and he has found himself far too ready to draw his sword while on the patrols. Twice he's nearly slashed at Frederick and thrice he's nearly gotten Dopey; the poor Dwarf had been the one they sent to retrieve him for dinner. Now he throws a stone or a stick before approaching. Snow White has been kind in her care, but even she has noticed the growing anxiety within Adam, and though she does her best to provide him comfort with her words, they do not reach them as much as he wished they would.
Standing at the knife's edges of the perimeter, Adam listened and waited for Frederick's arrival. If he planned to stay consistent with his visits, he would be here today. Adam strained his ears for any snapping of twigs, crunching of leaves, or even catching his recent smoky scent; it was faint on the wind which meant he was still on the ascent, but he wasn't terribly close.
"Standing in the Dark Forest the Dark Prince will cut down all who should oppose him to harm his beautiful Princess of Light." Frederick heaved a heavy sigh as he stood at the bottom of a steep hill.
"Still calling me a dark prince?" Adam glared down at Frederick; he was much closer than Adam had realized.
"You are the Dark Prince." Frederick snorted as he looked up. He had another heavy backpack full of food today.
"You really must stop calling me that." Adam grimaced.
"It's fitting." Frederick disregarded the comment as he climbed the steep hill. "The two of you are polar opposites, you the darkness, she the light, and yet you two look so good together. I've rooted for you two for far too long now to give up on you."
"I have no idea how to feel about that. . ." Adam raised his eyebrow at him. "It's a little odd coming from you."
"It's fine if you're embarrassed." Frederick teased as he finally reached equal footing with Adam. "Though it is nothing to be embarrassed about."
"It is when you can't physically be together." Adam sighed. "Any news?"
"Nothing I haven't already told you." Frederick wiped his brow. "More servants losing their jobs, there's an influx of people in the village, Grünes is nowhere to be seen or heard, and the entire presence of the Queen has evaporated."
"Her presence?" Adam blinked in surprise.
"It's as though she's vanished into thin air." Frederick glared at the ground. "I even dared to take a look into the castle; it's the darkest it's ever been. Windows have been boarded shut and hidden behind curtains, and every door is locked."
Adam snorted darkly, "Of that I can assure you it hasn't."
"I'm serious, Adam." Frederick snapped. "That entire building is a ghost town! Even the mirrors have been broken!"
"The mirrors are broken?" Adam gaped. This was only getting more and more severe.
"Shattered, glass everywhere." Frederick tossed his arm out. "You would have thought the place would have been pillaged by thieves, or that a battle happened!"
"Perhaps one did. . ." Adam murmured.
"Don't you get it?" Frederick's hands balled into fists. "The Queen is missing! Grünes is missing! That means one of two things, Adam!"
"Well we both know she didn't drop dead." He crossed his arms with a sigh. "That means the worst outcome, they're trying to find Snow White."
"Or they already know where she is and they're making their way here." Frederick crossed his arms in mimicking Adam's stance. "You're lucky enough that this forest is thick and tangled enough that unless you know the paths well it's difficult to get to the Dwarves' cottages."
"That'll mean nothing if the Evil Queen is actively seeking this place out," Adam shook his head. "It means that she can just track this place through magic; if she has enough of it. . ."
"What do you mean if she has enough of it?" Frederick's voice was cold.
"Frederick. . ." Adam pursed his lips in thought. "There's a few things that I know that I haven't been allowed to tell you. . . Even now I hesitate to tell you –"
"Adam, now is not the time to be withholding secrets." Frederick grabbed him by the front of his coat and glared at him. His fist shook as it held the folds of the coat.
"I'm literally under a binding magical contract that keeps me from being able to speak about it." At least that was how Mr. V made it seem. "What I can tell you is, if the mirrors are broken, she's out of magic. Keeping Grünes alive sapped more of her powers than she was expecting. She no longer can rely on the Magic Mirror nor any magic at all, save Grünes, for any of her bidding to be done."
"Does that mean, she's gone back to normal?" Frederick looked far too desperate for an answer Adam could not give him; at least not a good one.
"Normal how?" Adam asked.
"She can't use magic anymore?" Frederick asked quickly. "Has the evil that has possessed her left her?"
"She can't use magic anymore, yes." Adam answered and crossed his arms. "But she probably looks like an old hag."
"What?"
"Her creating Grünes probably sapped her youth along with her magic." Adam tried to explain carefully since he was speaking from his own experience. "If she still has the Grimoire, she can still create spells once Grünes has passed, so the evil that you speak of is still with her."
"How will I know what she looks like?" Frederick asked, that desperate look still in his eyes. Even after she banished him, he still only had a heart of gold for her. Adam had no idea how to fathom this.
"She'll be the ugliest thing imaginable." Adam spoke bluntly. "And she'll be hunched over, probably using a walking stick."
"That's oddly specific." Frederick commented with a raised eyebrow.
"That's all I can tell you, Frederick." Adam said in finality. "Anymore and I will be extracted from this Realm. . ."
"Is there a way to reverse its effects?" Frederick asked, putting his hand to his chin.
"Reverse what?"
"The ugliness."
"That's a matter of the heart." Adam rubbed the back of his neck. "Or at least that is what I've been told."
Frederick placed his hand over his heart. "A matter of the heart?"
"Her heart, specifically." Adam noted. "The heart has this way of exposing the truth out of lies, whether it be inner beauty, inner ugly, or even personality. If she truly regrets what she has done and has even an ounce of good left in her, there's a chance she'll be beautiful again."
"She has more than an ounce of good in her!" Frederick snapped. "She has more good in her than she has ever allowed herself to believe!"
"You say that." Adam couldn't help his nose from wrinkling. "I know that you truly believe that, Frederick. But in all the years that I ever knew her, she never had any good within her."
"Because you only ever knew her as the Evil Queen." Frederick spouted fast. "You never knew her as Grimhilde! My Hilde!"
"If your love is as strong as your hope that there is still good in her." Adam gave him a sad smile. "I actually hope it will be enough to remind her of the small good within her. . ."
Despite his own grudge and eternal hate for the Evil Queen, Adam did sincerely hope that Frederick would be enough to remind her of what goodness was. He was far too loyal, far too patient, and perhaps almost as kind as Snow White, for he was the only foolish man Adam to ever know of to be so devoted in his attention, love, and care to the Evil Queen. Then again love is blind and deaf at the worst of times.
"It will be." Frederick said, his hands clenching in determination. "It will be because it must be."
"Sometimes I admire you for your loyalty." Adam commented with a soft shake of his head. "Other times, I think you're mad."
"You say that." Frederick pointed at him. "But tell me, Adam, if Snow White suddenly turned into the Evil Queen, or just became evil entirely, would you still follow her to the ends of the earth?"
"She would never!" Adam raised his voice as he locked eyes with Frederick.
"But if she did?" Frederick challenged in volume; those bottle green eyes daring to be defied. "If she did, would you still follow her?"
"I would." Adam admitted not breaking eye contact with Frederick. "If she herself wanted to be rid of me, the only way she would be able to would be if she struck me down with her own hand. If she were to be evil, for whatever reason I can't say I could turn against her."
"Why?" Frederick asked and crossed his arms.
"No matter how evil she may try to be, I will always be much much worse." Adam admitted ashamedly. He had to gulp for air. "In truth, my hands are as blood stained as the Queen's, and despite what you think, or even what you know, my hands are even darker than yours, Frederick. We the swords to the women we allow to wield, will do our best to keep them from dirtying their pretty little hands."
"Why?" Frederick asked again.
"Because the most fickle emotion that is love has the strongest hold on the heart. It can even overpower the mind if you let it. . ." Adam acknowledged. "It makes the wisest of men into fools, the foolish into wisemen; it shows the two sides of beauty of surface and undersurface; it makes the strongest weak, and the weakest strong. Love is powerful and dangerous."
"Yet the most wonderful feeling a person could ever know." Frederick chuckled, almost just as ashamedly as Adam spoke. "My love for the Queen is deeper than any sea and longer than any river, but it flows just as fast and strong as both."
"I do not think there is any shame in love." Adam admitted.
"But you do it in devotion?" Frederick raised his eyebrow.
"When too far an extreme, yes." Adam nodded his head. "For your case, I don't see the same devotion she has for you that you show."
"Perhaps you never will." Frederick chuckled. "I doubt even if I explained it to you, you still wouldn't believe me."
Adam shook his head. "You'd be right."
Frederick smiled in confidence. "Which is why I'm still on duty."
"I'll never understand it." Adam admitted, though somewhere deep within him he could. "Come, it's getting dark." Adam turned on his heel. "Let's go see Snow White. She'll be delighted to see you again."
"You say that every time." Frederick commented.
"Because it is the truth." Adam spoke as they walked in step together. "She get's more excited with each visit."
"Where you seem to grow more grim." Frederick playfully pushed on Adam's arm. "You almost make me feel as though I'm not wanted."
"Never!" Adam shoved back. "You're the only man I can claim is a friend. Unless you came with the Queen in tow, you're always welcome to our cottage."
"If I ever found her." Frederick huffed. "I would take her so far away from this land and to a place where neither of us are known and just start again."
Adam snorted, "She would allow that?"
"I won't allow her to have her way on that." Frederick responded. "If she has to recover from looking like an old woman that I hope to grow old with, then she should have no complaints about moving somewhere else."
GRÜNES
Ever since Grünes returned to the castle and told Mistress about what he found in the dark dark forest, the castle has gotten more and more empty each day. The strange people that used to cook and clean have all left and the Mistress has hidden herself away in the dark stinky dungeons. She even told Grünes to go around breaking all the pretty magic glass.
Grünes had to go to every single room, pull back curtains that hide things, dig through pockets of clothes and go through every dresser drawer to find mirrors large and small and break them all. There's so much sharp pointy glass everywhere. The only mirrors that Mistress forbade Grünes from breaking was the large one in the dungeon that she talks to, and the small compact she always carries with her.
Each day her face has changed from something pretty to something ugly, her dark hair has turned white, and she can no longer stand on her own two feet, she needs a stick and Grünes to rely upon to walk. Mistress says mean nasty things to Grünes that this is all his fault she looks like that, and that he has to be the one to fix everything.
Grünes doesn't know why it is his fault since she was the one that created him and has commanded him to do everything, but even if he wanted to Grünes cannot argue back nor can he disobey her. He's tried to by running away, but he gets stuck at the end of the rope and has to come back. It's really annoying since Grünes just wants to go back to the mountains, but Grünes will do as the Mistress commands.
The commands have only gotten stranger though.
After breaking all of the mirrors of magic glass, she ordered Grünes to board up all the windows, lock every door, hide every key to every door in an urn beside the door it belonged to, roll up the carpets and rugs, put the chairs upside down on the tables, draw the curtains over the boarded windows.
There is no light save the small torches she uses down in the dungeons in the castle anymore and the small courtyard and apple tree.
Yesterday she had Grünes pick all of the apples off the tree until there were no more. She's been dipping them each into that big black scary pot, each time they just dissolve or disappear, or even worse shrivel up and shrink. She only had two left by the middle of the day.
Something strange happened, though. Last night a scary lightning storm caused a lot of static in the air. It caused all of the hair on the back of Grünes neck to stand on end, and they wouldn't go down. The Mistress's laugh has gotten rather scary each time she dips an apple into the pot. The first one dissolved into mushy nothingness, but the last one changed color several times. Grünes knew that he picked red apples. The red apple she dipped into the pot changed color from red to yellow, to green to black before green ooze bubbled over the top and left a scary mark that reminded Grünes of skull before the apple turned red again. Grünes prayed that she wouldn't ask him to try it and was very thankful that she didn't.
Today she made Grünes go into the village to buy more apples, for this place to be called Apfel and there be so little apples he was very disappointed. He did enjoy spending some time out in the sunshine and with the people today, but that rope that seemed to be tied to his ankle kept tugging at him to return to the castle. Still, some farmer had apples that he wanted so he bought them and returned to the castle with them. He had to take the long way around the castle and get to the side doors that went to the dungeons. It was very cold and dark and it had a very very bad smell to it that made Grünes want to run away. He couldn't, no matter how much he wanted to. He was very very very surprised to see the Mistress using her stick to break the large mirror in the dungeon. It was as if something of terrible magic and power were somehow released into the air, it made Grünes a lot stronger, but he could see that Mistress was growing weaker.
"There." She huffed then cackled. "That's the last big one. . . That should buy us enough time to get to the mountain. . ." She suddenly looked at him and he could see she was almost skeletal as she hobbled over with her walking stick.
"Grünes?" She squinted and blinked. "You returned faster than I thought you would. . . No matter. I'm ready to go. Do you have the apples?"
He held out the basket to her and she gleefully took it from him and slipped it over her skeleton wrist and slid her dangerous apple over the top of it.
"Good pet." She patted his shoulder. "Come, come. We must be going."
He followed her over to a long skinny boat that shook and wobbled beneath her as she stepped down. As soon as she made it, she sat down and looked expectantly at him.
"Get on." She commanded and Grünes did so. He held the pole that was beside the skinny boat and began to row. There was something foreboding as he rowed because it felt as though the darkness tried to swallow him.
GRIMHILDE
She had wasted far too much precious time to do this spell, but she had to save up her magic to do so. She used every last ounce of it to create this stupid apple, but if it killed Snow White and helped her regain her magical ability, then it would all be worth it. She kept that poisoned apple in her hand at all cost, it was her new life that she was weighing in on.
She had Grünes destroy every mirror within the castle, made him dig through every nook and cranny to do so to find all of the ones she had hidden throughout the castle, made him lock the windows, close them with the curtains, lock every door all these ridiculous things to make the place as dark as possible so she could allow her magic to build up. She even forced Grünes to stay within the castle so all of her magical energy could build up, as slow as it was, she needed all that she could muster to create this poisoned apple.
"Magic Mirror." Her voice cracked and scratched her throat as she spoke. "Is there anything else I need to do?"
"The spell is complete, My Queen." The Mirror looked as though he were trying not to grimace at her as she spoke. "You've done everything you are told to do. All that is left to be done is to burn the Grimoire."
"What?" She dug her finger into her ear and made sure that she heard him correctly. Ever since she started the fast aging process so many things weren't working correctly anymore.
"You have to burn the Grimoire." The Mirror repeated.
"But why?" She hissed. It had been the source of her power, why would she need to rid herself of it?
"You need to preserve as much magical energy as possible." The Mirror explained. "You will need to burn the Grimoire if you want the spell to work."
"And what about you?" She croaked.
"You still have the compact?"
"Of course." She dug around in her ridiculously long sleeves and pulled it out to show him. "I never leave it."
"Good." He nodded his head. "With whatever amount of magic you still possess, you will be able to conjure me only one more time once you've destroyed this mirror."
"You want me to destroy this mirror?" The one she had worked so hard to create, the one that was the biggest mirror being an entire floor to ceiling height, the one that would be the most difficult to destroy!
"You must." He nodded again. "Once Snow White has taken a bite of the apple and your powers have been returned, you can recreate everything all over again."
"Even the Grimoire?" She glanced back at the book of dark magic on its podium.
"Even the Grimoire." He confirmed. "You must start with that."
A green fire erupted in the pit of the black cauldron. She would have jumped back in surprise, however, her joints did not allow her to move so much as an inch and she had no choice but to tighten her hold on her walking stick. She hobbled over to the heatless fire and looked from the cauldron to the Grimoire.
The Grimoire almost seemed to beg, to plead for its life as if it knew what awaited it. The book of dark magic that showed her a world of secrets in the dark arts suddenly looked very heavy, and something pulled on her heart. It was as if the Grimoire were actually calling out to her to rethink her decision. If she was not so confident in the Mirror's words as well as in her own abilities to recreate it, she probably would have; she probably should. However, her time was growing more and more precious by the second and there was not a second to waste.
With shaky and mole ridden hands, she picked up the heavy book and with a shaky resolve dropped it into the cauldron. The earth quaked beneath her, the heat returned to the flames and were scorching the floors, a terrifying shriek went up in the air and a stabbing pain bit at her heart. She stumbled backwards and hit the ground, harder than it ever has before, as if gravity increased itself somehow. The world seemed to shake all around her before it suddenly came to a stop and she could push herself up from the ground.
When she looked up there were scorch marks on the floor where the cauldron had once been, but the cauldron and the Grimoire were both gone, as if they never existed in the first place. Almost instantly some of her strength had been returned to her and she felt lighter, much, much lighter.
"Well done, My Queen." The Mirror said proudly.
"I thought I was going to die." She admitted as she found her walking stick and kept placing her hand over her heart to make sure it was still pumping.
"If you would not have burned the Grimoire then you surely would have." The Mirror confirmed. "Are you prepared for the final task?"
"I need . . . a moment." She gasped for air as she pulled herself up off the floor. "Just to. . . Just to catch my breath. . ."
"Take your time, My Queen." He nodded in an odd salute.
"Don't treat me like an elder." She scolded. "Just because I look this way does not mean I'm not still young!"
"Of course, My Queen." The Mirror smirked but made no further comment.
Slowly regaining her strength, she used the stick to stand on her own two feet and hobbled over to the Mirror. She hated how slow she was moving and how she ached with each step she took. Once she regained her youth, she would make sure to stay much more active so this problem did not plague her again. She stood in front of the large Mirror and felt the task before her to be very daunting.
"Now, how do I break the glass?" She asked as she looked up at the face of the Mirror. He suddenly seemed to be a lot higher than he ever was before.
He snorted at her. "You have a stick, don't you?"
"That's a little too simple, isn't it?" Her brow furrowed as she looked down at her walking stick.
"Now as simple as it looks." He shook his large head. "You see, since this is a mirror of your own making, it is something that only you can destroy. And it will be difficult since you put so much of your magic in this mirror."
"You won't get anything this grand again." She reassured him as she picked up her stick.
"Oh, I don't believe I will." He chuckled again. "This was perhaps my favorite mirror to ever be on."
"You make it sound as if it will be your last." Her fingers curled around the wood and kept looking for a good spot to hold onto.
"Oh, I know it won't be." He smiled a rather genuine smile at her. "Are you ready, My Queen?"
"As I'll ever be. . ." She had more hesitation within her in breaking the Mirror than she had in throwing the Grimoire into the fire. It was odd the attachment she felt for the Magic Mirror, then again it was the first thing she had ever conjured up and it has been with her ever since.
He smiled even deeper and closed his eyes, as if he awaited his fate. "It has been an honor to serve you, My Queen."
She wanted to ask why he was so ready for this, but she knew that if she did, she would lose the resolve to break the glass, not to mention the energy. She lifted her walking stick over her head, it suddenly felt very heavy in her hands and had a weird gravity to it as she brought her stick down on the glass. The smallest of scratches appeared on the surface. She used all of her might, and all it could cause was a single scratch?
She was borderline between anger and disappointment, but much like all of her tantrums she allowed the anger to fuel her actions. With the stick in her hand she used more force behind her swing and brought it down on the glass again, and again, and again, and again until she could finally hear the cracking and the snapping of the glass.
Perhaps it was the back and forth motion of her moving, or perhaps it was the quick flow of her blood, or perhaps it was the thrill of destroying the glass, for whatever reason she wanted to laugh. That laughter escaped her and sounded more like a horrendous cackle, she did not entirely mind since she felt so thrilled to be doing something within her own power. With each strike against the glass she almost seemed to gain more and more strength from it; she loved the way that felt.
Despite the strength she hardly gained, her exhaustion slowed her down much faster. With one final strike which she threw her back into, the entire frame of the mirror shattered to tiny pieces of glass before it sprinkled into diamond dust and evaporated into thin air. All the strength she just had left her just as quick as it came. Her lungs screamed for air, her body ached all over, her head felt light, but she felt oddly free.
"There." She huffed then cracked a cackle. "That's the last big one. . . That should buy us enough time to get to the mountain."
She suddenly felt as though she were not alone in the room anymore and looked to the only available entrance anymore. She had to squint to see him, but she knew that Grünes was there. She hobbled over with her walking stick and grew more and more tired with each step.
"Grünes?" She squinted and blinked. "You returned faster than I thought you would. . . No matter. I'm ready to go. Do you have the apples?"
He held out the basket to her and she gleefully took it from him and slipped it over her wrist and slid her dangerous apple over the top of it.
"Good pet." She patted his shoulder. "Come, come. We must be going."
He followed her over to the gondola that shook and wobbled beneath her as she stepped down. She hated how unsure her footing was and could not wait to regain her youth and have some stability in her life. As soon as she made it, she sat down and looked expectantly at him.
"Get on." She commanded and Grünes did so. He did so and she was jealous that it did not rock under his feet as he stepped onto the gondola. He gripped the pole and started to row them down the river. If she remembered correctly this river had a few different paths that would take them into the Dark Forest where the Mirror explained that Grünes found them in hiding.
After finding out that they were hiding with the Dwarves it was no wonder that they were able to hide so long without finding them. Where she had dwelled into the Dark Arts, the Dwarves were very knowledgeable of other forms of Magic Arts, but they focused primarily on the Light Arts. The Light Arts provided them with the magic they needed to hunt and mine their gems and craft such elaborate pieces of jewelry, goblets, and even crowns. Ever since she had been the Queen, though, they refused to make hardly anything for her because she would taint the things they created with her touch because of her Dark Arts. She allowed them to go to the festivals and fairs because they brought in unexpected revenue and brought in outside countries to do business with.
As the Queen sat in the gondola and just listened to the gentle swishing of the water as Grünes rowed, she could not help but think about her life as Queen. She was not the worst of rulers, but she was also far from the best. She had killed hundreds of individuals for exchange for youth and power. As she looked down at her weathered, wrinkled and mole ridden hands she wondered how much of this life she wasted was truly worth? The best thing she ever did for the country of Apfel was to allow the Dwarves to bring in their wares and to allow the taxes to be low so the people could live in harmony with little to no crime. She almost wondered if there was crime, what she would have done to it, or even with it. The only criminals she allowed into the city fulfilled their task and were later killed by Adam. Having an endless supply of tools would have been useless. What could she have done to have made this life more fulfilling? Perhaps nothing with the choices she made down the dark and tangled road.
As they came closer to the mouth of the tunnel her eyes already began to wince at the upcoming light. It was not terribly bright since they were leaving under the cover of the night, but still, the little remains of the light of day were still passing behind the mountain and were much brighter than she anticipated. The moment they passed the mouth of the tunnel, an odd warmth returned to her bones; a feeling she had long since forgotten after being in darkness for so long. She turned her head to the setting sun, at the last glimpse of the day before dusk would set it. It almost seemed to wave goodbye to her as it went away for dusk and evening to set in. The warmth she once felt left just as quickly as she came and once again she was stuck in the darkness of night.
She glanced over her shoulder and took a good look at Grünes. He was the spitting image of Adam, which irritated her greatly, but those green eyes, those were Frederick's eyes. She thought she had forgone those feelings of longing long ago, but as she studied Grünes's stalwart face, she wanted to see Frederick. She knew she could never see him again, especially in this terrible condition, she did not deserve to see him again. She did not regret banishing him from Apfel, it was the only way she could save him. She only hoped he would find happiness in a world without her. Grünes's eyes suddenly locked with hers, almost expectantly in waiting for an order. With a sad look she turned forward again. She would take the path she had chosen head on.
"Keep rowing, Grünes." She commanded and settled in her seat. "Keep going until the ground is shallow enough that we will have no choice but to get out and set foot. From there we shall climb the mountain where we shall finally end things. . ."
Author's note:
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you're enjoying the story!
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Thanks so much for coming along the journey with me, and stay tuned for more!
Ko-fi/SarahtheWriter.
