Chapter 28

The Joys of Trouble

*Present day*

(Daniella's POV)

Eliza was the first to speak when Snow left us. "You can just call me Eliza, I find my full name a little too fancy for my liking."

I smiled. Oh, believe me, I know...

"Maria's fine for me. How 'bout you? Got any nicknames you prefer us to call you by?"

I shook my head as I replied, "To be honest, I only get called 'Dani' by my brother. Everyone else just calls me Daniella and I'm fine with that."

Eliza said quickly, "Alright. I was just curious. Anyway, we've started on the project over the weekend. I'm sorry but we've already chosen a topic."

I shrugged. "It's ok, I'm sure your idea is great. What topic is it?"

Maria chuckled and answered, "It's not really original but we've decided to do volcanoes. We're gonna make an exploding volcano for the fair."

"Exploding?!" What does that mean?

In a natural tone, Eliza replied, "Oh, you know...the experiment with baking soda and a soda bottle. Ms Blanchard said that we'll have to make the volcano ourselves though. We can't buy a volcano kit from the store."

I faked a knowing look and said, "Alright, that's sounds good...so um, what would you like me to do?"

"Well, we've started on the poster over the weekend but you could help us find some more info."

I stood up and collected my textbook but when I made my way back to the group, both Eliza and Maria were looking at me with a strange expression on their faces. I frowned. "What?"

"Oh, nothing...it's just...wouldn't you prefer to use the internet?"

My heart fell. Right. Maria noticed the awkward silence and broke it by saying, "How about let's all move closer to the computers? Daniella can find some info while we write what we've already got onto the poster."

After I nodded in agreement, we walked over to the computers at the back of the classroom. As I passed Henry, I whispered quietly into his ear, "Thanks for teaching me to use the internet, if you hadn't I'd be dead right now."

*Flashback*

I bit my lip as Maria dragged me onto the lake.

"Wait, I haven't even asked for your name!"

Quietly, I replied, "Daniella."

Maria's eyes widened so I hastily asked, "What is it?"

Her reply came as fast as her reaction. "Nothing."

"Maria...please tell me!"

Maria sighed and took a deep breath. Then, she gave me a gaze before saying, "An orphan is missing from this village and her name was Daniella. No one knows where she went but before her disappearance, odd things have happened."

"What things?"

"Well, Snow White was in our village and the Queen came. Snow hid with the orphans but to all of our surprise, the Queen wasn't looking for Snow. She was looking for the girl named Daniella. Now, people are saying that the poor girl was kidnapped by the Queen...but there's one thing that confuses us. Why? Why was the Queen interested in Daniella?"

I looked down as Maria continued, "There have been whispers that Daniella is a witch, but we can't be sure."

I frowned. "How do you know though? Who came up with this idea?"

"The boys of the orphanage. They say that Daniella was taken away to be used by the Queen to capture Snow White. To be honest, I don't really believe in that. The boys always spread rumours to make themselves seem smart."

Slowly, I let go of the breath that I had been holding and asked, "Do you know what Daniella looked like?"

"Teagan, the orphanage caretaker described the girl to be the same age as us, possessing dark brown hair and brown eyes, like yours I guess. That's all...I mean, no one really knows her. Only people from the orphanage."

Quietly, I muttered, "I hope they find her."

"Me too. I just want to know what happened." Maria paused to glance around. Then, she smiled and said, "Anyway, let's not talk about this."

I nodded and let go of Maria, who was dragging me along the surface of the lake. It took me several falls before I was skating on the ice without any help. Turns out, Maria and her friend Veronica, have only started skating last winter so I guess I'm not that much of a beginner after all.

When I accidentally collided into Maria however, Veronica giggled at us. I scowled playfully and scooted over to the edge of the lake. Then, I gathered a snowball in my hand and threw it towards her. That started the fight.

The afternoon sun and the snowball fight soon warmed us up so we got out of the lake and sat on a log nearby.

Veronica took off her skates and declared, "I'm hungry, do you want to go into the village to get something to eat?"

I was the only one who didn't nod at the idea of going into the village. What if Teagan or any of the orphans are around?

"Daniella, are you alright?"

I whipped my head towards Veronica who must have caught my worried gaze. "Yeah, I'm fine. Come on, let's go."

We decided to get some cinnamon bread rolls from the bakery. Since I visited the bakery almost daily with Teagan to collect our bread, I opted to stay at a table outside the shop whilst I waited for Maria and Veronica to buy the food. Even despite the cold, there were people crowded around the bakery since there was a bonfire right next to it. I approached the fire and immediately wanted to produce a fireball of my own but I resisted, for it would give away my identity...or worse, they'll start calling me a witch.

"Daniella!"

I turned around to see Maria holding out a brown paper bag towards me. I smiled and took out a cinnamon roll. It was still warm, and it smelt delicious. We all bit into it at the same time. Wow, this is so good! I wish I had saved up and bought this with my pocket money when I was at the orphanage.

Maria turned to her friend and asked, "When is your father coming to pick you up?"

Veronica widened her eyes. "Oh, wait. I was supposed to meet him at the entrance to the village after two hours of playing."

Maria frowned and said hastily, "We'll walk you there then, I'm so sorry. I completely lost track of the time."

Veronica answered, "Nah, it's alright. But I can go there myself. See you both later! It was nice to meet you, Daniella."

I smiled, "You too."

Then, Veronica flounced away, leaving Maria and I standing next to the bonfire. After we both finished our rolls, Maria asked, "Do you have to be home by a certain time?"

I paused and carefully said, "Well, I um...I guess..."

Maria put her arm through mine as we began to walk back to the lakeside. She grinned and prompted, "Does your parents not know that you're here?"

I opened my mouth but closed it again to smirk. "Yeah. Well, I got bored."

"Daniella! They must be worried."

"No it's fine. My mother's probably too preoccupied to notice that I've snuck out of home."

"Fine. Do you want to come home with me then? I'll show you around. To be honest, I'm often bored too. Father only wants me to play with girls of my class, of my status, he doesn't really like it when I associate myself with um," Maria paused before she quietly whispered, "peasants."

I laughed.

"What? Are you laughing at me? You should understand what it's like. Which region are you from anyway?"

"Region?" My heart started thumping.

"Yeah. Or surname, I don't mind. My father made me memorise all the family names of nobility in this kingdom. If you tell me your surname, I should be able to guess which region you live in."

Quietly, I answered, "I'll keep you guessing for now."

"Seriously?" Maria whined playfully.

I smirked and gave no answer. After taking a stroll through the woods on a path that wound away from the village, we soon arrived at Maria's home. The manor looming closer to us looked quite nice. The gardens are well kept too. However, there was something off about the atmosphere. My magic sensed something that made me uncomfortable.

"Daniella? What's wrong?"

I looked at Maria and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong."

"No, it's just, you look shocked all of a sudden."

I shrugged, both to ignore Maria's comment and the unnerving feeling I had. Maria knocked on the door of the manor and it was opened almost immediately by the butler. We were both ushered into the reception hall and it only took me one moment to realise why I felt so uncomfortable. There were noises coming from inside the manor. The butler spoke to both of us but Maria in particular, "Mi'lady, perhaps you should go to your room with your friend. The Queen is here, and she is speaking with your father right now."

Maria glanced at me before asking the butler, "Sir, do you know why the Queen is here?"

The butler shook his head. "I'm afraid not, but I wouldn't disturb her right now. You'll be able to speak with your father soon."

Maria nodded but she caught my guilty expression. "What's wrong?" she mouthed. I answered quietly, "Let's go to your father."

She opened her mouth in shock and stammered, "Now? Why?"

I turned to the butler, ignoring my new friend. "Please sir, take us to Her Majesty."

The butler also looked surprised but he hesitated, "I really don't think that would be wise."

I threw Maria a glance asking her to help me. Despite her confusion, she took my hand and stepped past the butler. We quietly walked down the hallway and as soon as the butler was out of sight, Maria turned to me and whispered, "What are you doing?"

I didn't know how to answer. Would Maria get angry with me if she knew who I was?

"Daniella?" Maria's voice wavered a little as she said my name.

I turned away from her glance and replied simply, "Please. Just take me to her."

Maria looked at me with a strange expression. When my eyes swept over hers, I thought I saw a glimmer in them. She clammed her mouth shut and decided not to question further. Then, she led me through the manor and towards a set of closed doors. Maria and I listened behind the doors and the first sound I heard was my mother's voice. "Tell your men to alert my guards if they find her."

I closed my eyes. I'm in for it. I gave Maria a look before tapping my knuckles on the door. Then, I slowly pushed it open and gestured for Maria to enter the room first. After she stepped inside, I shuffled through the doorway with my head down. At the top of my eyes, I saw my mother stand up from an armchair. Then...

"Daniella!"

I heard Maria gasp beside me as my mother approached and wrapped me into her embrace. Then, she stepped away and stooped down, asking sternly, "Where were you? I had every guard look for you!"

Maria was rooted to her spot as I mumbled without looking up, "I'm sorry Mother."

Mother huffed and said softly, "Daniella, you can't run into the village just like that. I couldn't lose you again. You're the only daughter I'll ever have."

I felt tears well up at the side of my eyes. Maybe I shouldn't have gone out.

"Whilst I'm glad that you were with the Mayor's daughter and not kidnapped by bandits, you still mustn't leave the palace without me, let alone without any guards."

Quietly, I asked, "How did you find me?"

Mother straightened her back and gestured towards the Huntsman who was sitting near the fireplace. "Well, perhaps you should have used magic to cover up your footprints. The Huntsman noticed horse hooves in the snow. We followed them and it lead us here to the village. Luckily you've turned up, as I was about to get the Mayor to release his own search party to look for you."

Right, because having a group of black knights look for me will just give away who I am.

The silence allowed my mother to speak again, "Why did you leave?"

I bit my lip and paused before I answered under my breath, "I was bored."

"What was that?"

I took a breath and repeated what I said a little louder. Mother sighed and replied, "I'll talk to you about that later." Then, she turned towards the Mayor who took his cue and cautiously strode towards us. His deep voice beckoned for Maria to come forth. "Maria?"

Maria came out from behind me and faced her father. "Did you know that you were with Queen Regina's daughter?"

Quietly, Maria replied, "I didn't know, father. She never told me who she was."

Then, the Mayor turned towards my mother who spoke in a silky tone, "Well then, I shall see you again at the next council meeting."

The Mayor bowed as mother gestured towards the Huntsman and guards in the room to file out. Then, she put her hand onto my back, prompting me to leave. Before I walked out of the room, I threw a glance at Maria who had followed her father's lead and was curtsying.

*Present Day*

"Class, I would like you to start packing up your materials and posters now. The bell for break time will ring in five minutes!" Snow declared. I glanced at the poster in front of me and smirked. Not bad...for someone who's never studied science before.

After the bell rung, everyone immediately rushed out of the classroom...Henry included. I was the last to leave but when I did, I saw Maria waiting patiently outside. She threw me a glance and smiled.

After school, Henry and I walked to the shops as mother had not finished work yet. When we entered Dark Star Pharmacy, I noticed that there were two kids inside the store as well. Whilst Henry was looking at his superhero magazines, I tried to catch a glimpse of the siblings. When I saw their faces, I grinned. They were Hansel and Gretel! However I quickly wiped the smile off my face since they started making their way towards us. Henry looked up from his comic as Hansel asked, "Whatcha reading?"

"The Hulk vs Wolverine. Are you into Marvel too?"

"Afraid not. I'm Ava. I think I've seen you around. You're in Miss Blanchard's class right?"

Henry nodded so Gretel, no wait, Ava, continued, "This is my brother Nicholas."

Hansel gave us a nod and muttered a greeting. Then, he turned to his sister and whispered, "Come on, let's go."

To my surprise, Ava turned to us and asked, "You wanna come hang out?"

Henry answered before I could even say anything about how we were supposed to meet mother in fifteen minutes. "Yeah sure."

Then, the group started to walk out. Just as we got up to the exit, the man behind the counter shouted out loud, "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

I must have jumped after he said those words. I turned around to see him pointing towards Henry and say, "Open up your bag."

I gave Henry a weird look but he shrugged and breathed, "What?"

The man continued, "Don't think I didn't see you rob me. Open your bag."

Henry grew desperate and bargained, "But I didn't take anything!"

The man walked out from behind the counter and roughly took my brother's backpack. "Hey!" I shouted. The pharmacist took no notice of me and unzipped the bag. To my horror, he pulled out four chocolate bars. I glanced at Henry with a frown until I realised what had happened. I turned to Hansel and Gretel and stated plainly, "That's why you were talking to us...so that one of you could be the distraction whilst the other put that stuff in my brother's bag." Then, I faced the shopkeeper and explained, "Please, it wasn't us. My brother and I had nothing to do with it."

The man gave me a wary look before walking back around the counter. My heart fell as he picked up the phone and dialed a number. Seconds later, he was speaking with someone. It didn't seem to be the police...

We stood still until the shopkeeper ended the call. Then, he looked as us in the eye; Henry and I in particular and said, "The Mayor is coming to pick you; Henry and Daniella up. Meanwhile, the sheriff's going to deal with you two."

I glared at the man as my cheeks flushed hot. Oh, how I wish I had magic. If Hansel and Gretel knew who I was, they wouldn't mess with me.

After a minute of silent staring, Gretel whispered to Henry and I, "I'm sorry..."

Her brother nudged her but I pretended to take no notice of it. I continued to glare at them as I replied, "And your brother?"

Hansel looked up and quickly muttered, "Sorry..."

I smirked. I still needed to repay him for making the trip into the blind witch's house so much more difficult than it already was. The image of him losing control and biting into the piece of cake in the house played repeatedly in my mind. I raised an eyebrow and played him, "Excuse me? What was that?"

I watched Hansel's eyes look down as he muttered another apology. I huffed and replied, "That doesn't sound genuine to me-"

"What do you want?!" Gretel snipped.

I turned to her and narrowed my eyes. "Just want to make sure that this never happens again to my brother or me. I don't particularly find it fun to be humiliated."

"Humiliated?! You're the one humiliating us at the moment!"

My cheeks reddened as I thought about how the Blind Witch had called me pathetic since I wasn't able to steal the apple from beneath her nose. It wasn't my fault! It was Hansel's fault that the witch woke up...and nearly killed me!

In a low voice, I replied, "Well some people never learn; I was just teaching your brother a lesson."

Gretel stepped up to me and said, "And who do you think you are? Lecturing us? Just because your mom is the mayor of this town doesn't make you the boss of us too."

Why do I always get compared to my mother?! It felt strange, not having the familiar feeling of magic surge through my body when I'm angry. Instead, I clenched my fists and seethed, "I'm not the one who's done something wrong here!"

Under her breath, Hansel muttered something inaudible. I crossed my arms and glared at him as I asked, "What was that?"

Hansel simply looked at me without answering so I shouted, "What was that?!"

Immediately, the shopkeeper's voice resonated through us. "Stop arguing! You kids have caused me enough trouble already."

The man's response just made me angrier. It wasn't my fault that we're stuck in this situation! To my annoyance, Henry also commented softly, "Dani-"

I took no notice of him as I turned to Gretel and asked, "What did your brother say about me?"

Eventually, Hansel looked up into my eyes and stated shakily, "You're both psycho. No wonder why Henry doesn't have any friends at school."

My eyes blazed fire. "How dare you talk about my brother like that?!" Instinctively, my hand went up to choke Hansel. However, I realised midair that I would look like a clown. Awkwardly, I pretended to swipe at a bug before lowering it down whilst giving Henry a quick subtle glance. Before I pulled Henry away from Hansel and Gretel, I seethed, "Don't think that you two can just play me without facing consequences." Then, I stalked off, leaving a cool silence in the air.

Once Hansel dived into conversation with his sister, Henry looked at me with wide eyes and whispered, "What the hell were you doing back there?"

I shrugged, "I'm not going to stand by whilst being wrongly accused of doing something. It's not right."

"It doesn't mean that you had to argue with them! You just made the whole situation worse! When mom comes, everything will be fine. You didn't have to argue."

I looked down. "I wasn't intending to argue. I wanted to teach Hansel a lesson!"

There was a moment of silence before Henry whispered almost inaudibly, "A lesson on what?"

I frowned and lied, "I don't know...just to not be so stupid!"

"Daniella!"

"What?!"

"Dani- this isn't you..."

I huffed before crossing my arms and cradling myself as Henry continued with a wavering voice, "Were you trying to get revenge for something?!"

"What?"

"You're literally using the same tone that mom uses when she talks about Ms Blanchard."

I sighed. "What are you suggesting?!"

Henry's answer came quickly, "Nothing." Although he spoke no more, and neither did I, Henry seemed to be looking at me every now and then with a strange expression. It was the same expression that Teagan used when I rode into the village as the Princess for the first time. What was it? No...fear? Why would Henry be afraid of me? I was just defending himself and I!

When mother finally arrived, she looked annoyed at the situation. Her heels clicked with anger as she strode into the shop. The shopkeeper spoke when mother gave him a glare. "I'm sorry Madam Mayor but your son and daughter were shoplifting."

Mother turned to both of us and raised an eyebrow. "Were you?"

Henry and I shook our heads vigorously. Then, I added, "No, of course not. It was those two. They tried to frame us."

Mother bent over the counter and picked up one of the chocolate bars. Scoffing, she spoke, "Henry doesn't eat candy and Daniella knows better than to steal. So I agree with my daughter; it's obviously those two."

As she gathered Henry's backpack, she continued, "Come, we're going. I'm not wasting my time here."

Just as we were about to leave, the bell on the door jingled and Emma walked into the scene. Mother huffed with irritation, "Miss Swan, must I remind you that genetics mean nothing? You are not his mother and it's all taken care of."

I watched Emma sigh before she answered, "I'm here cos I'm the sheriff."

"Fine. Go on, do your job. Take care of those miscreants." After that, she pushed past everyone, beckoning for Henry and I to follow her. When we got into the car, Henry and I continued glaring at each other until mother asked me how my first day of school went.

*Later

After dinner, Henry had raced up to his bedroom without giving me a second glance. Now, it seems as if he was avoiding me too. Even though I knew that I shouldn't care, my heart fell as he rushed past me. Full of thoughts, I was stuffing the last bite of apple turnover in my mouth when mother spoke up, "Daniella? You alright? You and Henry..."

"Yeah, whatever..."

"Daniella!"

I looked up to see my mother frown and add, "Don't 'whatever' me. Tell me what's going on between you two."

I sighed. "I may have snapped at Hansel and Gretel...and because of that, Henry got upset with me."

Mother smirked, "Still my little hot-headed princess I see..."

"Mama!" At her grinning face, I muttered, "Well, I did try to choke her with magic, until I realised that it wasn't possible in this realm."

Mother chuckled and whispered, "What a shame."

"What?"

"You know, I still have to thank them for putting you in danger when you were inside the Blind Witch's cottage."

"But you already did! You banished them to the infinite forest-"

"And they still managed to cause you trouble. Even here..."

I sighed. "Mama, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

"Actually, I am worrying. Emma was supposed to take them to Boston tonight. However, I don't think she did as I have asked. She's arguing that they will be separated from each other when put into foster care. She claims that she could reunite the kids with their father instead."

I deep down, I knew that uniting them was the right thing to do, having been an orphan myself. However, I couldn't help but feel relieved as I thought about what my mother was doing. I mean, Hansel nearly got me killed by the Blind Witch; he deserves punishment! My face fell as I tried to shake these thoughts out of my head. Daniella! Stop! Don't turn...evil.

Deciding to change the topic, I whispered to Mother, "So, how has your day been? What are you going to do about, well, Emma and Snow?"

"Funny you should ask, because I think I've just got something up my sleeve to deal with Snowflake."

I widened my eyes, "What? What is it?"

Mother glanced in the direction of the staircase briefly before whispering, "Come with me to the kitchen, I'll tell you how we can frame Snow White."