"Rose!" Her desperate voice reverberated around the forest like an echo. "Rose! Can you hear me? Rose! Please, honey, please, say that you can hear me. Rose!"
But the answer never came and sadly would never come.
Ruby ran away twelve, or even more - she was not sure, because she lost track of time - hours ago, and no one had seen her since then. And she was worried and frightened that she would never see her niece again.
She went after her almost immediately, but she could not catch her. All because Ruby, thanks to the power of wolf, was really fast, even when she was in her un-cursed form. She was searching for her almost half an hour, before she returned and ordered Johanna to take Snow back to the castle and call the guards and the servants, who were not busy. She knew that the need to find their little runaway before the nightfall.
Because the forest was not a safe place for a young girl. Especially if said girl is the wolf and it was the period of the full moon.
But they failed.
Because Ruby was nowhere to be found, as if she had fallen into the ground.
They failed, because the moon was already visible.
"Rose!" The Queen cried one more time.
She knew that her knights and her servants were here, too, but she did not care about it now. She did not care that she cried and they could see it. She did not care about these unimportant things, because now she cared only about her niece. She had to find her little puppy, before it will be too late.
Or maybe it's already too late?
No!
She shook her head, rejecting the unwanted thoughts. They will find Ruby, and they will bring her back to the castle, and everything will be as it should be. After all, a lot of people were looking for her, so it was impossible, that they would fail.
Unless they could.
Because they live in the Enchanted Forest. The whole kingdom is surrounded by one big forest. By a forest in which many dangerous creatures live. And her niece was there alone. Her little puppy, who must be scared and hungry, and who was protected against the power of the wolf only by her red cape. Oh, heavens. She would do anything for having her niece safe in her arms.
"Your Majesty!" She heard the voice of one of her knights, so slowly turned her head. In front of her stood the man dressed in the black armor. He bowed as soon as she looked at him.
"I am not sure if I want to hear what you have to say, Barkley," she said quietly, seeing his facial expression. She knew that whatever he wanted to tell her would not improve her mood.
"I'm afraid you're right, Your Majesty," The man started and cleared his throat. "I was informed that group of ten men went to forest for hunting."
She paled almost immediately, realizing what that meant.
"Why they would do that?" She asked, although it was more a whisper. "Hunting during the wolf's time is illegal."
"They heard that the Queen and her knights are in the forest," He said and tried to find the right words, to say the rest. "I think they want to check if they can break the rules, when you're in the same place, Your Majesty."
"We need to find Ruby as soon as possible." It was all what she said. She was unable to say anything else, because it was too much.
Barkley nodded and went to join his comrades. They knew very well that the forest was not safe now.
"Where did you go, honey..." She muttered and resumed the search. She would find her niece if it is the last thing she'd do.
But would she have time?
She had no idea what was going on.
Firstly, the castle was almost empty, which was unusual, because there were always many people around. Secondly everyone was very quiet and sad. She could not understand why. Did something happen when she was busy playing with her toys?
"Go to your room, princess." She heard and opened her mouth to protest, because after supper she still had a time to play before the bath, but someone was faster than her.
"Yes, Johanna."
She frowned when she heard her sister's voice, and looked at her.
Snow got up from the table and slid the chair behind her. Then she turned on her heel and slowly walked toward the door. She frowned once again. Why Snow was sent to her room? Was she naughty and this was her punishment? Because mommy put her in the corner when she is naughty. So maybe Snow also did something bad? And where was mommy? And where was Ruby? Maybe it is why everyone was sad?
She looked at her nanny, who just shook her head and helped her to get out of a chair. When she was on the floor, she began to run after her sister.
Some time later she stopped in front of the door to her sister's bedroom and gently knocked. She waited patiently and a few moments later the door opened slowly.
"Hermione..." Snow said quietly, when she saw her baby sister and let her in. As soon as she entered the room, the door closed one more time. "What are you doing here?"
"You sad!" Said the child and hugged her legs. "Mione no wants you sad!"
The older princess picked her up and then sat down on her bed.
"I did something really bad, Hermione." The girl looked at her sister and smiled sadly. Tears were running down her cheeks. "And I don't know if I will be able to fix it."
Hermione said nothing, just wiped her tears and kissed her softly, right before she hugged her even more.
"Mione loves you!"
"I love you, too, Hermione, but it's not easy." She muttered as fresh tears appeared in her eyes. "I offended Johanna, I was disrespectful toward mom and..." She began to cry once more. "I... I hurt R-Ruby so badly."
She curled up on the bed and buried her head in the pillows. She could not believe that she really said such a hurtful words toward her best friend. She was just so mad that her mother ordered them to work in this place, that she had to take her anger out on somebody. And Ruby was an easy target, because this whole situation was her idea. But heavens, she regretted her words and hoped that nothing bad would happen to the younger girl.
Hermione tilted her head and looked at her sister, not sure what she should do. She did not like when Snow was sad.
"Mione hewe." She said and laid down next to her sister, putting her head on her arm. "And loves you."
As the answer she heard only a muffled cry, but she did not mind. Because her sister needed some comfort right now and she would give it to her.
Nothing.
They were looking for so long time and nothing. Ruby was nowhere to be found. But that was impossible, because she had to be somewhere. It was impossible that she ran away to another kingdom, because borders are well guarded because of the war. She knew about that, but she still could not stop thinking that something bad had happened to her niece. And if her little puppy was hurt...
No!
Ruby will be all right. They will find her. They will. They must.
But will they?
She looked at the sky and closed her eyes. She just wanted to have a sign that everything would be okay - that her niece is fine and they would come back to the castle soon. Was she wishing for too much? Then again, fairies never listened to her wishes so she should not be surprised that no one answered her now.
But why could not they realize that it is not about her, but about innocent child? A child who needed to return home.
"Your Majesty!" She heard Barkley's voice. The man was running toward her and she could see that he was holding something in his right hand. "We found it near a cliff on the river." He said and gave the thing to her.
She swayed on her feet when she saw what it was.
It was Ruby's red cape.
Or at least something what once was her niece's cape, because now the fabric was torn and covered with blood and mud.
"No..." She whispered and did not fall only because the knight caught her in the last moment. "No!"
She clung the cape to herself and began to cry again. But she did not care, because she felt as if her heart was broken.
Ruby... her dear Ruby was in even more danger than she thought. Without the cape she was forced to turn into the wolf (she refused to believe that her little girl could fall into water and die). And because the hunters were in the forest right now... She just hoped that she will find her first, before it is too late.
"Check the river," She said as she looked at Barkley. "We must find her no matter what."
"We already tried, Your Majesty," The man started quietly. "But unfortunately it is too dark. We can't do anything right now."
"My niece could be there!" She protested. Besides she was the Queen and her word is saint. "I won't stop looking until I find her!"
"You're tired, Your Majesty, and without the sun we can't do anything. The torches are good for nothing," He said, unable to look at her. Before the war started, he was good friend with Alexander, who was Ruby's uncle. To be fair he had no idea why his Queen called the girl her niece, but he suspected, like the others in the kingdom, that she called her that because Ruby and the princess were best friends.
"I'm not tired!"
"You are, child," Said a familiar voice.
She slowly turned her head and closed her eyes. Cecilia Lucas was standing in front of her. She could not look at her right now.
"Can you leave us, Barkley?" The woman asked and the knight nodded and a few moments later they were alone. "Come here, child."
She could not help that she opened her eyes and before she realized, she was hugging her mother in law, crying into her chest. She had no idea how it was possible that the woman was here, but she was grateful for her presence.
"I'm sorry," She muttered and Cecilia had a hard time understanding her. "I'm so sorry!"
"Why are you sorry, dear?" She asked, clearly confused. "You did nothing wrong."
"It's all my fault." She said and clenched her fist on the cape. "I should take better care of her."
"Stop it. It's no one's fault!" Said the older woman, who had tears in her eyes, too. She was afraid that her granddaughter could be hurt, but she believed that they would find her. "Your people will find her, but now you need rest."
"But Ruby..."
"No buts, Regina," The woman interrupted her, looking at her sternly. "You can barely stand on your feet."
"I'm fine, thank you very much," She muttered and looked at her as if she was the traitor. "Besides I'm the Queen. I don't need to listen to you!"
"I don't care who you are as long as I'm alive." Cecilia took her head in her hands. "And you may be the Queen, but I'm your mother in law and I know what's better for you. You need rest."
"I don't have any chance of winning this battle, do I?" She asked quietly. The older woman just shook her head and smiled slightly.
"And how do you think?"
"That I hate when you're right," She sighed heavily and wiped her tears. "I just want have her back. I want Ruby to be safe!"
"Me too," The woman nodded. "But right now all we can do is to pray that your knights will find her."
The Queen nodded and clung the cape to herself. If something bad happened to her niece, she would never forgive herself.
Her mother in law forced her to eat dinner, because besides the light breakfast she had not eaten anything else today, and then sent her to bed. Just as if she was a little child or something and not the Queen. But the truth was, she had no energy to argue, so she did as she was told.
She closed the door behind her and started to cry again. It was all her fault. It was always her fault. Her mother was right. She was pathetic and not good for anything. She did not deserve to be the Queen. She was not able to take care of one teenager, so how she could be responsible for the kingdom? Especially that the whole Enchanted Forest in lost in a brutal war.
Johanna said that Hermione was with Snow, so she walked toward the desk and began to throw things. She was disgusting, stupid girl. She should not to be the Queen.
She yelled and fell on the floor, because she lost the balance. She was so tired, since she had sleepless night and busy day. But she did not plan to get up. In fact she put her head on the floor and let her tears be.
If Ruby did not survive...
She would never forgive herself for killing her own niece.
TBC
Any idea what happened to Ruby? And how Regina will deal with Snow?
The new character should debut in the next chapter. And one may (or may not) be gone forever.
And also a big thank for to RowArk for checking it.
Until next time,
White Little Devil.