Chapter Eight

She's Alive

The trio raced recklessly from the forest and didn't pause in the slightest until they had covered half the distance between the forest and the village. They stopped near one of the straw huts and all three of them collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. Wilhelm crushed the heels of his hands against his forehead forcefully, Lorita placed a hand over her hammering heart as she desperately gasped for breath, and Jakob leaned back against the hut and stared up into the sky, his head shaking like a pendulum.

"This can't be! How can this be?" the youngest Grimm asked wildly, slipping his hands beneath his glasses to press his fingertips into his eyes. "She's dead. She was dead. I saw her die."

"That's the problem though, isn't it?" Wilhelm shot back, a look of terror on his flushed face. "She's not dead."

Tears of panic pricked at the corner's of Jakob's eyes as he looked at his older brother. "Will, what are we going to do?"

Wilhelm rubbed methodical circles into his forehead and a growl of desperation left him. When he finally looked up at Jakob, the younger Grimm was startled to see nothing but fear in Wilhelm's eyes. "I don't know, Jake. I don't know what to do anymore."

"We should alert the townspeople," Lorita said decisively. The brothers turned to her in bewilderment.

"Tell the townspeople," Wilhelm echoed. "How do you propose we do that? 'Excuse me everyone, sorry to bother you but you remember that witch we killed for you a few years ago? Well apparently it didn't work, just to warn you.' Oh yes, that will go over splendidly."

"Mein Gott, Wilhelm, this isn't about your image," Lorita snapped. "This is about the safety of those people. Those people look up to you. How do you think they would take it if they found out you didn't tell them about someone who may kill them because you were being a selfish Arschloch? She's already attacked this town once, she stole several of these people's children, and they deserve to know that she is back. So if you will not tell them, I will."

Wilhelm glared at the little woman, stunned and offended by her words. "I never said this had anything to do with my image, Saumensch," he spit back angrily, throwing in the title out of spite as he stalled for the time to come up with a suitable retort.

"Lorita's right, we have to tell them," Jakob cut in when he saw her prepare to fight back. "We will be to blame if a village child goes missing because the townspeople are left in ignorance."

Wilhelm bit back the stubborn argument resting on his tongue and nodded. "What are we going to do about her though?" he asked, gesturing vaguely towards the forest. "You are the one who understands this supernatural nonsense, Jake, what do you think we should do?"

"I haven't the slightest idea," Jakob answered, somewhat hysterical. "Why does everyone think I have some control over all of this magical chaos? That's how you almost died, damn it!" Jakob froze at the last statement and the other two gazed at him in shock.

Wilhelm opened and closed his mouth several times in an attempt to speak, but it took a long minute before he was capable of producing sound. "Are you still blaming yourself for that?"

Jakob pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "You trusted me to fight the magic and I failed. I failed you just like I failed Lotte." Jakob looked up and his eyes were ringed with unshed tears. "I killed Lotte and I almost killed you as well."

"Jakob..." Wilhelm faltered, unsure of what to say. All those years he had blamed Lotte's death on Jakob simply to escape his own guilt. It had never occurred to him how much his actions had damaged his brother. "Jake..."

"No, forget it," Jakob interrupted, wiping at his eyes once again. "We have more important things to deal with right now. We have to go warn the villagers." Jakob rose quickly, replacing his glasses. Lorita hurried to follow, slightly terrified by the conflict she had unknowingly started between the brothers. Wilhelm met his brother's gaze but Jakob turned away, guilt rising at the hurt in Wilhelm's eyes. With a sigh, Wilhelm stood and nodded to Jakob.

Jakob climbed up to stand on the edge of the well, glancing around at the crowd of villagers. He cleared his throat and silence fell as everyone gazed up at him with curious expectancy.

"Good people of Marbaden," Jakob called out and heard his own voice reverberate back at him off of the building walls. "My brother and I have just returned from a journey into the forest." Many of the people gasped and muttering broke out. "We had good reason to do so, because we received several reports of strange dreams involving the forest that have plagued people's sleep. A few people were under the impression that the Mirror Queen had returned from the grave and so we ventured into the forest to quell their fears."

Jakob paused, taking a deep breath. "Unfortunately our task was not achieved. When we reached the place we discovered that the Queen has rebuilt a residence in the forest and she is indeed alive."

Shocked yells and talk flew between the townsfolk and a few of the women screamed in horror. "You are certain it was her?" Sasha's father called, pulling his daughter close to him.

"We're positive," Jakob answered heavily.

"What should we do?" Elsie's mother asked, clutching Elsie's shoulder protectively.

Jakob removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose tightly, a characteristic trait of stress, before replying. "We don't know. We aren't yet sure what her plans could possibly be, or even if she has devised any. We simply wanted to warn you about the potential danger. What you do is your own choice."

Instantly the crowd rose into action, families pushing their way through others as they rushed to and fro. Several people stopped to gossip with others in frantic tones. Jakob jumped down off the well's wall and walked over to where Wilhelm and Lorita stood.

"I'm impressed, Jake," Wilhelm said in a quiet voice. "You've become much more talented at being able to lie."

"I didn't lie," Jakob said with a shrug. "I simply rearranged a few details and didn't share names. Now come on, we should be getting back before Angelika gets too worried, if she isn't already." Without another word, Jakob turned and began pushing his way down the road towards his cottage. When he entered the house Angelika rushed towards him from across the room and wrapped him in a tight embrace.

"Jakob, you were gone so long I was starting to fear the worst," she whispered as they broke apart. "I was afraid -" She stopped in mid-sentence when she saw the grim expression on her husband's face. "Jakob, what has happened?"

"Will was right," Jakob said in a hollow voice, gripping her upper arms as much to steady himself as to comfort her. "She's alive."

The Mirror Queen was sitting in her tower, brushing her hair lovingly as she gazed into a mirror that stood over her vanity. Friedrich hovered in the background, watching her with quite as much adoration as she felt when she looked upon herself. Content with her chore for the moment, she turned to look at her follower and graced him with a smile.

"Oh my young prince," she said silkily. Friedrich smiled and approached her, taking her hand and placing his lips against it. "I have a task I wish for you to do."

"Anything for you, my queen," Friedrich said, dropping to a knee in front of her, his head inclined.

The Mirror Queen smiled down at her puppet. "I am afraid I must ask you to leave my side for a short while," she said, putting on a sad expression. Friedrich looked up, horrified. "I need you to travel into the town of Marbaden and keep a close eye on those Brothers Grimm. You must observe all you can about their lives and then return to me and report all you have learned. I must know as much about them as possible if they are to be defeated."

The piper bowed his head, his eagerness to please his queen overpowering his longing to be beside her."I will do as you ask of me, my lady," he said, rising to his feet once more. "I will learn all I can of these brothers. I will discover their weakness so that you may be free of their shadow once and for all."

"Oh my wonderful prince," the queen cooed. "Learn what you can quickly so that you may return to me soon, but be certain not to forget a single detail. Even the smallest things may open up a possibility of defeating them." Friedrich nodded and kissed her hand one last time before he turned on his heel and marched out of the tower. He gathered a small pack and then set off through the woods to Marbaden.