15 Years Later

New York City, The 10th Kingdom

"Jason! Hurry up! You're going to be late for school and you're making me late for work!" Virginia yelled up at her son. She hadn't changed much in fifteen years other than getting older. Her hair had grown out since the incident with the gypsies and the magic axe and she had an aged look to her, brought about both by motherhood and the stress of running a restaurant.

"Coming, coming," muttered Jason. He looked very much like Wolf, his father, with his dark hair and sometimes yellowish eyes. He grabbed his backpack as Virginia ushered him out of the apartment, which was far better than the one she had lived in prior to saving to the 10 kingdoms. Jason, of course, knew nothing of the different kingdoms, the mirror, of the adventure his parents and grandfather had taken fifteen years ago.

"Alright. Now, I won't be home when you get home," Virginia told him as Jason rolled his eyes. He got this speech every day. You'd think that by fifteen he'd know how his life went and that he could survive by himself at home! "There are leftovers in the 'fridge if you're hungry when you get home. Just don't eat too much. I love you."

"Bye, Mom," he said grudgingly as he got onto the bus. Honestly! He was fifteen and the only kid at his highschool whose mother still walked him to the bus! Ok, maybe not the only kid, but the other kid was handicapped and it was understandable. Jason was not handicapped and it was not understandable!

He got on the bus to the normal jeering and rude comments of his fellows, but he ignored them. His mother would have been proud, but Wolf probably would have told him to fight them. As much as Jason loved his father, he had to admit that Wolf could be strange. Especially during the full moon...And then there were times when Wolf would start to tell him a grand tale of a time when Wolf, Virginia, and his grandfather, went adventuring, but his mother would always cut him off. The most he ever heard was that it was a great mirror and a wicked sorceress. It used to be his favorite tale as a child, whenever he and Wolf could get a few seconds alone to listen to it, but somehow Virginia always knew they talking about it.

Jason's thoughts carried him over to his best friend, Tiffany. Tiffany was a sweet, pretty girl with dirty blonde hair and big blue eyes. She liked Jason, he knew, but they were best friends and he had told her that he wasn't going to jeopardize that. Of course, that was just code for saying that he really didn't have any romantic feelings for her. Still, Tiffany was and always would be, Jason's best friend, not matter what happens...

"Of course, Wendall," said a very sweet, charming voice.

King Wendall emerged from a side room into his bedroom to his wife, Queen Emma, waiting happily for him. They had loved one another since the moment they met, nearly fifteen years ago, and were still madly in love today.

"One moment, Emma. I've still got one more thing to deal with before I am finished for the night," he said to his wife.

Her smile wavered slightly in disappointment, but she covered it well. She didn't want her husband to see. "Of course," she said lightly and he kissed her before disappearing into another room to deal with the business of being king.

Queen Emma shuddered slightly at being alone. She hadn't wanted to concern her husband, but her nightmares were getting worse. Every night she dreamt of her own murder, in various forms, and every night she woke up sweating in terror. In every dream she saw the face of a woman with a calm, casual smile, though it was this woman who was killing her. Emma had become increasingly afraid of being alone.

And then there was the problem of an heir. She had not been able to give Wendall and heir to the throne. At least, not after her first child, a healthy boy, had been brutally murdered during the night. It had torn her apart to see her child like that and she hadn't conceived since. Although Wendall hadn't said anything about it, Emma was getting on in age and not having a child was a problem now.

"Do not fear, dear Queen," a mysterious voice said from the shadows.

Emma jumped at the sound of the cool, calm voice. It was the same voice from all of her dreams. Were her dreams going to come true?

"You are alone, are you not?" asked the mysterious voice.

Emma felt drawn in by the strange voice, a woman's voice. It was melodic and beautiful. It pulled her in and she had to answer. "Yes," she whispered.

"Very good. We will be alone for a long time. King Wendall is busy with official business and has no time to spare on his sterile wife." This time the mysterious voice sounded bitter and spiteful. It scared Emma how this intruder knew so much about Emma. How could they know that she was sterile?

There was the soft sound of footsteps and the intruder stepped out of the shadows and into the glowing candlelight. They had a black cloak pulled around them, but their face was clear to Emma. It was the face of a young woman with dark hair and shimmering eyes. But her eyes seemed older than her face and strange as though they knew something more than the rest of the world.

Suddenly the magical hold on Emma broke and the young woman's eyes stopped shimmering quite so much. Reality broke over Emma like violent waves crashing over her. It was the woman from her dreams. "How did you get in here!" she demanded. "I could have you arrested for this!"

"But you won't," the woman said lazily. She released her hold on her cloak and one of her hands disappeared inside of her cloak.

The breath caught in Emma's throat and she tried to remain calm. It's just another dream, she told herself. You will wake up and find that it is a dream, a horrible nightmare. She closed her eyes and took a steady calming breath, but when she opened them, the woman was still standing there in her black cloak. Only now she had a very lethal looking dagger.

"But it isn't a dream," the intruder whispered as she took a step forward. Emma felt herself being pulled under by a strange spell. This woman's voice was hypnotic, Emma had to listen. "This is reality, and now I will kill you as I killed your son."

Emma did not have a chance to process the words the woman spoke before Emma asked the only question that she could think of. "Who are you?"

The woman paused briefly, the hand with the dagger poised above Emma's heart. "I am Ariadne, the woman who will take your kingdom and your life." Then she resumed with her work and plunged the dagger into Queen Emma's heart.