A/N: Ooh, LOTS OF REVIEWS!!! I LOVE REVIEWS!!! ^_^
Anon: I somehow missed you last chapter. Thank-you! Here's the next part ^_^
Chickyg: The plan is in part 3 and 5 :). Yeah, rat's are disgusting, aren't they?
Stunt Woman: Romance is coming! I think. Soon. Or maybe not. Gah, I have no idea ^_^. Thank-you for reviewing!
ANN: Ooh, good point. ::wanders off to ponder it for a while:: Yeah, I think I'll do something with that soon. Thanks for the idea!
Xavi: Rofl, you are crazy! ^_^ ::hands out the prize for the longest review:: This chapter is a biggy for Quio. I actually no longer have any idea how long this is going to be! Or if it'll have a good ending (I started out with a wonderful ending in mind, but that's changed.) Mwah! I dunno. Believe it or not, your wonderful, wacky, insane review gave me an idea for 'the plan'. So I might actually update quickly! ^_^ Might. Like all other things, I can't promise anything. Romance…read my response to Stunt Woman :). If you love intelligence, wit, and sarcasm in a male, go read Faeriegurl's "Anniya"! West has all of that. And while you're at it, bash her over the head with the rest of us West-lovers, because she had the nerve to put Anniya with the wrong guy! Grr… Thank-you for reviewing!!!
Faeriegurl: ::grin:: Many thanks for the suggestions. Thank-you so much for mentioning my story in one of your author notes for Anniya! I got several reviews from that :). And Thank-you for updating Mermaid!!!
Cartoonangel79: Thank-you! ^_^ I'm glad you like it.
The Queen of Jupiter: It's suspenseful? ::grins and looks relieved:: Good! I was aiming for that… I'm glad you like it! :)
Jenny the Chica: You're back! I've missed your reviews ^_^. I've actually never seen 'Princess Bride' (though I've heard wonderful things about it). I think this chapter answered your question on how Frost 'got out', but if it didn't then let me know! As for the dwarves…I have no idea ^_^.
Mary: Thank-you! The ideas are very appreciated :).
Blazing-moon: Agreed ^_^. The characters were always so blah-except for the dwarves, who were too much of what they were named.
OYC_Bambie: Good! That's what I was aiming for ^_^. Thank-you for your review!
Spirit-Saviour: I'm glad you decided to read it! Thank-you very much for reviewing, and for saying I'm a good writer ^_^. I don't hear that that often.
Everybody: Thank-you so much for all of your reviews!!! And if you could all do me a huge favor: go read and review Blazing-moon's story called "Wings like Burdens, Wounds like Scars". It's really, really good and is seriously under reviewed (because it's in the fantasy section, and nobody reads the stuff in the fantasy section). But of course, before you do that, here's the next part!
____________________________________
Up ahead, through the hole, the queen's screech echoed around the room. Frost froze with a jerk, the dagger poised to plunge through the enormous rat attached to her back. The rat took the opportunity to gnaw on her hand. Sticky blood oozed out and the rat licked it up with its warm tongue. Frost grabbed the rat and threw it down onto the ground, wincing as the sharp claws ripped out of her back. Beady eyes stared up at her for a second before the dagger plunged down and sunk through the rat's warm body. Frost stumbled over the rat toward Quio.
"We have to get out of here!"
"I know!" Quio knocked another rat out of the way. "These things are so disgusting! Why won't they leave me alone?"
"Quio, you eat their babies!"
Just then the two guards crawled through the hole. Frost desperately pushed a rat off her leg. "Run!"
A tall ledge loomed just ahead. Frost grabbed the top and pulled herself up, with Quio right behind her. They ran for a few seconds before the road split abruptly in front of them.
"Which way?" Quio asked, stopping. Frost paused for a second. "I don't know. Just pick one!" She ran onto the left path. Quio followed, limping slightly on his injured right leg. Just behind them the loud thumping of the guards shoes filled the air. Quio glanced behind him. "They're getting closer."
Suddenly Frost jerked to a stop, panting.
"What is it?"
"The road just stops! We can't go any further."
"Well, think of something quick!"
Frost glanced across the wall. A dark spot caught her eye. "There's a hole!" She slipped her legs into it and pushed herself through. Quio began to follow when large hands grabbed him and threw him back
"I've got one of them!" the big guard called to the other. "You go after the girl."
The second guard promptly crawled through the hole, then yelped, his voice echoing through the tunnel. His hands could be seen hanging on desperately to the bottom of the hole. "Help!"
The big guard loosened his grip on Quio and, grabbing a hold of the other guard's hands, pulled him up. The guard stood up shakily.
"No point in going after the girl, Lume." He said. "She's as good as dead. On the other side of the hole there's a huge drop. I couldn't see the bottom. She'll die on impact."
"Alright then," Lume jerked Quio to his feet, "we need to report back to the queen."
They made their way back through the tunnel silently. Quio stared down at the floor as they walked across it, his right leg hanging limply behind him. Frost was dead. He closed his eyes, unwillingly to face his fate. What had Frost said earlier about fate? Her words echoed back to him.
"Are you sure you want to do this? It might change your future for the worse."
Quio shook his head slowly and grimaced. What would the queen do to him? Kill him?
They approached the final hole, the one he had created with the dagger. The first guard slipped through. Lume pushed Quio after him and then followed.
Quio blinked slowly and stared around him at his very familiar surroundings. This dungeon had been his home for the past two years. Suddenly he didn't want to leave it.
A movement to his left caught his attention. Looking over, Quio found himself caught in the queen's gaze.
"Who," she asked icily, "is this?"
"The girl's accomplice, your majesty." Lume answered hastily. "The girl herself has escaped. We believe she's dead. She fell into a deep pit."
The queen's eyes glittered. "And you say this thing," she gestured to Quio, "attempted to help her escape?"
"Yes, your majesty."
She looked over Quio, then smiled. "You will come with me. As for you two," she glanced at the guards, her tone cold, "double up the guards around the castle's gates. If the girl is alive she won't manage to escape."
"Of course, your majesty." Both guards bowed with a click of their heels and took off. Quio watched them go, his stomach sinking. He turned back to the queen.
"Yes. You'll work very nicely." She surveyed him thoughtfully. "Follow me, and don't try anything. I have guards everywhere."
Quio didn't plan on 'trying anything'. Not with his leg in its present state. He hobbled along behind the queen, his stomach filled with dread. What was she planning on doing to him? He shuddered as he remembered the way she'd looked him over. Almost as if she were planning on having him share her bed…But that couldn't be it. He looked down at himself. Not with him in his present state, covered with two years worth of dirt and who knew what else.
"Why are you just standing there?" The queen's voice jolted into his thoughts. "I told you to go in!"
Abruptly Quio realized that they had stopped walking. The queen was standing next to an open door, looking impatient. He shuffled into the room, not stopping until he heard the door click shut behind him. So this was to be his fate? He looked around him. Locked in a room filled with dusty books and half-empty bottles? He was about to start laughing when a voice cut into his glee.
"Stand right here."
Quio nearly jumped out of his skin. He whipped around. The queen had followed him into the room. She turned her back to him and began flipping through one of the books. Rage surged through Quio. He took a stumbling step toward her, his hands reaching out toward her neck. He could just kill her now…
Suddenly she turned around, her eyes shining eerily. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," she whispered, a twisted smile lighting up her face.
"Why not?" He demanded hoarsely.
"You really don't want to." Her voice purred. "Trust me."
"Trust you?" Quio was enraged. "You bitch! You lock me up for no reason and now tell me to trust you when you're about to kill me?" He lunged toward her. The queen watched calmly as he crashed into an invisible barrier and fell to the floor, cradling his head in pain. Smiling down at him sickeningly, she shook her head with a tsking noise. "I warned you." She turned back to her book. "And you're wrong. I'm not going to kill you."
Quio glanced up at her from his place on the floor. "You're not?" he whispered.
"No." She placed the cork back in a bottle of yellow liquid. Picking up a crystal glass, she turned to him. "I'm not. But by the time I'm done with you, you're going to wish I had. Now. Drink this."
Quio stared up at her. "No way."
The queen knelt down and, grabbing his hair, tilted his head back. "Then I'll make you." Pressing the cup bruisingly against his lips, the queen pried open his mouth and tilted the cup back.
Quio spluttered as the liquid poured into his mouth and down his throat. A burning sensation immediately seized his body, scouring through him. Crawling away from the queen, he hiccuped. The potion slowly started taking a hold on his body, paralyzing each limb. Quio hiccuped again. His throat began expanding. He clawed at it frantically, a wild look in his eyes. A cry of raw pain exploded from his throat. His body started shaking uncontrollably and it started to changed, growing wider and flatter.
The queen looked on contentedly, her eyes gleaming. Quio tossed and turned, sweating profusely. A sharp pain shot into his head. His skull shattered into hundreds of pieces as an invisible hand grabbed a hold of it and squeezed. The muscles stretched and snapped, leaving Quio in unbearable agony. His screams pierced the air, rolling through the room one after the other. Then finally, with a sickening crunch, Quio's body went rigid and he clattered onto the floor.
The queen slowly walked over to him. Looking down, she smiled as a reflection of herself met her gaze. The spell had worked. Bending over, she carefully lifted Quio up and propped him against the wall. She stood back regally.
"Mirror, mirror, on the wall, who is the fairest of us all?"
A glimmer passed over the golden head that rested on the top of the mirror. Shuddering, he opened his mouth.
"You are, my queen."
A/N: Many, many HUGE thanks to Kalah for letting me use her idea of the magic mirror being human! Her story is titled 'Mirror, Mirror--A Tale Untold...Until Now' if you want to go read it :).