Chapter Eighteen

Into the Queen's Revenge

Jakob rolled onto his back, feeling warm and content. Sure, the floor was uncomfortable, but he had slept deep and dreamlessly for the first time in ages. Now he wanted nothing more than to drift back into that utter peacefulness, despite already feeling well-rested.

Still, there was something tugging at the back of his mind and stopping him from escaping into his undisturbed rest again. What was that thought that was being so annoying? He couldn't be sure, but he could tell that it was something urgent he was supposed to remember. Oh well, perhaps he would think of it later...

Ready to go back to sleep, Jakob stretched his muscles one last time to loosen them and felt his hand brush something warm and smooth. Acutely curious, he glanced to see what it was and his gaze landed on the still face of a woman.

"Angelika!" he exclaimed. All remaining thoughts of sleep left him and he scrambled to her side. "Briar Rose, wake up, please," he begged but she didn't move. Jakob suddenly remembered his déjà vu and the way he had awoken her that time. Lifting her face gently, he pressed his lips to hers. Then he opened his eyes hopefully. There was no change.

"Angelika, please." Jakob cradled her body, frantic half-formed thoughts racing through his head. What had happened to her? Why wouldn't she wake up? She wasn't dead, so what was going on? Was it the same thing that had happened to him? If so, why was he awake but she was not? But that must be it, it couldn't be anything else. It had to be the piper.

"Aurora," Jakob gasped, now recalling the image of her slumbering face with the blade at her throat. He needed to save her. Maybe killing the piper would free Angelika and the piper was most certainly with the queen. This was it. It was time to end this for good.

He carefully scooped Angelika up and laid her on the bed, giving her a final kiss. Then he ran to the closet and lifted his old sword down from the top shelf. Next to it he found a pair of daggers, which he sheathed at his waist and calf. As he turned to leave his house he skirted the sleeping figure of a sable fox curled in the middle of the main room floor.

Nerves stretched to the breaking point, the younger Grimm headed out into the street. The fact that everything was so silent struck him quite suddenly and he looked around apprehensively. He could see a few people out of their houses, but all of them had lain down outside shops and against walls, their faces still. The entire village was fast asleep.

Feeling as though this was a foreboding omen, Jakob took a steadying breath and made his way to the woods on foot. His pace was fast because his mind constantly reminded him that every second that passed was another second where his daughter was in the clutches of the queen and her minion. He had no idea how long he had been asleep and his heart was already hammering with the possibility of what could have happened during that time.

As he stepped into the foliage the leaves seemed to rustle more than usual. The queen's activities had made the trees agitated and they were shifting and creeping across the paths. Finding his way through the forest was more difficult than last time because of it and it felt as though he had been walking forever before he passed the familiar pond. There was an unnatural tension in the air that made Jakob's nerves tingle, the sort of current that seemed to fill the air during a strong lightning storm but magnified tenfold.

It was as he rounded a corner that Jakob caught the first glimpse of the queen's new fortress through a gap in the trees. The lights glowed from the tower window but if there were any voices they could not be heard over the noises outside. Nearly a hundred crows had alighted in the trees around the clearing and the shuffling of their bodies and chatter of their voices would have easily drowned out any conversation.

The sight of the carrion birds made Jakob falter for a second. Horrifying thoughts pervaded his mind and his skin grew cold as he fought to chase them away. He desperately reminded himself that the crows had always nested around this foul place and that their presence did not mean there had been bloodshed here. They were merely anticipating what would come of the dark magic that hung in the area.

Steadying himself, Jakob pushed forward through the brush. In a great rush, every bird screamed into the night and leapt from the branches. Their wings made a clamour as they swirled into the sky and vanished. Jakob, who had jumped back with fright and drawn his sword, stared up at the heavens as the giant streak of black flew away toward the moon in the east.

"Bloody birds," he hissed, straightening up and stepping back into the clearing. His nerves had been pulled taut enough already. He kept his sword raised as he began walking through the clearing, headed for the dark and silent cottage that rested at the base of the tower. If there was to be an entrance to the tower, it would certainly be in there.

A shadow made him look up and he saw a figure peering at him through the tower window. Only a fraction of a second later the face had disappeared but Jakob had seen enough to guess that it was Herr Prinz. Feeling his anxiety rise further, the younger Grimm almost jogged into the cottage. If he was to face dangers he wanted to have them done with already. The growing anticipation of the wait was maddening.

The cottage was as dark and silent as it appeared from the outside. The small windows admitted only a bit of the faint moonlight that managed to pierce the clouds. Nothing stirred within the residence and there were only the most minuscule signs that someone dwelt here. Jakob walked to the stone wall that touched the tower and pressed his hands hopefully to it. It was solid stone, without any indication of a door of any kind. Frantically, he ran his fingers over every inch of the wall but there was nothing.

An unearthly strain of music reached his ears from above and instinctively he flattened his hands against his ears. He was not about to be ensorcelled by that musician again when he was so near to trouble. To fall asleep now would be a death sentence for sure. He crept back to press his back to a wall, watching for any attacker that he could not hear coming. Nothing moved. Then he saw a flicker of movement against the tower wall. Suspicious, he kept his eyes fixed on the area and within seconds the movement occurred again. However to his surprise it was not a moving figure but the wall itself wavering as though it were water blown upon. Before a minute had passed the wall had almost entirely disappeared, leaving a wide archway in its place.

Tentatively, Jakob lifted one hand from his ear. The night was silent once more. Picking up his sword from where he had dropped it, he proceeded cautiously through the arch. Beyond it was a spiral staircase, winding upward and lined with candles that had burnt low in their stands. Suspecting a trap at every step, he walked at a painstakingly slow pace up the ever-winding stair.

Finally, after many long minutes - made longer by his slow speed and growing anticipation - the candles ended. Only a turn further brought him to a heavily shadowed landing that bore a standard wooden door. The door was cracked so that a narrow finger of light extended into the stairs and was the only place where darkness did not reign. The noises from the tower room were muted; faint shuffling of feet and low murmurs of voice. It did not surprise him that this scene looked as though it had been planned out for the most dramatic effect; that seemed like the sort of thing the queen would do. Jakob's body tensed and the intensity in the air was practically pulsing this near to the heart of it all.

Still expecting a trap, he moved slowly toward the door. He reached forward and pulled the door open, instantly retreating several steps with his sword raised in defence. Nothing came running at him, and in fact, besides the creaking door it looked as though nothing had moved in the slightest. His eyes quickly and cautiously took in the sight before him, evaluating the situation.

Most arresting was the queen, in all of her youth and beauty, sitting in her throne and regarding him with a subtle smile. There was a crouched heap just visible at the back of the tower, which then moved and he realized with surprise that it was Lorita, bound and gagged like an animal. Fear was prominent in her eyes and she began shouting inaudible words in his direction around the cloth in her mouth. Against the left wall was the familiar mirror, restored to its former glory, and Wilhelm stood in front of it with an empty gaze. Then laying on a table midway between the door and throne was a sleeping form, a beautiful young face that was serene in its ignorance of danger. His heart leapt.

Jakob made to step forward, compelled by the need to be sure of his daughter's safety, but a second later his head was being jerked back and he felt the cold pressure of a blade on his throat. It was only now that he registered the character that was missing from the scene. He groaned and closed his eyes at the embarrassment of his naivety.

"I am so glad you could join us, Jakob." The queen's purr made him open his eyes again and he stared at her in hatred. He could feel the piper shifting behind him and a second later his sword was being knocked from his hand. With the knife still at his throat, the piper pulled Jakob's hands behind his back and slipped a loop of rope around his wrists, pulling it to a painful tightness. Next a loop of rope was lowered over his head and drawn snugly against his neck. The knife moved from his throat to point threateningly into his back. "Now we are all here."

"What do you want with my daughter?" Jakob growled, trying to jerk out of the piper's grip but the rope tightened and he choked. Once he stopped moving the cord loosened and he sucked in a sharp breath.

"She is a most beautiful child," the queen said. She stood and walked to the table, brushing her fingertips along Aurora's rosy cheeks. Jakob bared his teeth and fought against Prinz again but when he could no longer breathe he had to suffice himself with only glaring angrily. "Her youth and beauty could be an asset to anyone. You see, the faerie has already deemed that she will give me her immortality." At this Jakob's eyes turned to Lorita but there were tears in her eyes as she shook her head frantically. "But before I achieve this immortality, there is something further I want. These years since my precious Friedrich freed me from the mirror, my age has begun to show. If I am to live forever I must do it with my beauty and youth intact. Your dear child will provide that for me."

"No! You can't – " Jakob tried to charge at her but the rope pulled so tightly it tore at his skin and he gagged. Unable to breath, his knees sagged beneath him and he fell. Prinz knelt behind him and straightened him till he was kneeling as well before loosening the noose just slightly. There were tears in Jakob's eyes as he fought to breath and looked up at the queen. "Please, not my daughter," he gasped out. "Anything but this."

"No, Jakob, more than this," she said menacingly. "You will watch as her heart is cut from her chest and I eat it. Then I will kill the faerie and take her immortality. Then once my power is completely restored you will live and watch as my reign spreads with the memories of your helplessness forever." The queen smiled and gestured to Wilhelm. The elder Grimm moved silently to the table and lifted a sharp knife over the sleeping child. Jakob felt certain his heart had frozen in his chest.

"No!" he screamed but his brother seemed not to hear him. "No, Will, please! You can't! Not Aurora!" Wilhelm's eyes flickered but then he raised the knife over his head and began speaking in a rough voice, saying words from a dark and archaic language that made the air vibrate. Jakob was fighting so strongly now that the rope had almost completely constricted his airways and there were several puncture marks in his back from the piper's dagger. His face was brilliantly red as he struggled for breath and the edges of his vision were turning black. Slowly his eyelids became too heavy to hold up and he felt too tired to fight anymore.

"Jakob!"

The scream was so startling that Jakob forced his eyes open out of mere curiosity. He spotted a pair of young eyes staring at him and it took him a few moments to gather enough of his wits to recognize Lorita's face. The rope that bound her to the wall had frayed and broken and she had pulled the cloth from her mouth. Her eyes were wide with horror as she stared at him.

"Jakob!" Lorita screamed again. "The heart is her heart! You have to save Aurora. You have to save Wilhelm!"

Jakob's eyes turned to the table in the centre of the room and once again the severity of what he was seeing managed to penetrate the fog in his mind. That was his brother, about to plunge a knife into the heart of his daughter. Jakob was the only one who could save them now.

Twisting his arms uncomfortably against the bonds, Jakob grabbed a hold of the dagger sheathed at his waist and, before the piper had noticed the movement, Jakob shoved it back into the younger man's abdomen. The piper gasped and released the ropes, and a great rush of breath filled Jakob's lungs and relieved his suffocated brain. Spinning on his knees he tore at the piper's shirt and then ripped the golden stake from his heart and the man collapsed onto his back, his fingers clawing weakly at the hole in his chest.

"No!" shrieked the queen but before she could move she had been knocked to the ground. Lorita, still tied at hand and foot, had managed to crawl toward her and drag her to the ground. She now struggled with the queen, trying determinedly to keep the queen's mouth from emitting any words that could further transfix Wilhelm. The elder Grimm's arms were trembling as he continued chanting, seemingly oblivious to the chaos around him.

Pulling the ropes off himself as he ran, Jakob tore to the mirror and the golden plinth where he could see the heart, beating erratically on its stand. Looking around for a weapon, Jakob caught a sight in the mirror that momentarily distracted him. In its reflection he could see himself and the piper's prone figure and Wilhelm standing over the white figure on the table and Lorita as she fought on the floor, but what he couldn't see was who she was fighting. The queen bore no reflection in the mirror.

"She came from the mirror," he breathed, his mind heavy with the understanding. She had no reflection in this mirror because it was where she had come from. Jakob now recalled that when the mirror had shattered each piece still showed a fragment of her. Although her true body had gone she still existed inside her mirror. That was how she'd been revived. She had come out of the mirror.

Seized by inspiration, Jakob threw himself against the glass. The queen let out a scream as it shuddered and under a second attack it cracked and rained glass onto Jakob. Stooping down, Jakob grabbed a long and thin piece of the mirror and turned to face the heart. This was it, this was her heart, this was how he would kill her and they would be rid of her forever. Wilhelm would be free and they would finally live happily ever after.

With a roar, Jakob sank the glass shard into the pulsing organ. As blood began to leak from it, the heart disappeared and left him with just a piece of stained glass. He quickly turned to watch as the queen let out an ear-splitting scream that shook dust from the ceiling. Wilhelm's arms relaxed and he staggered away from the table. The queen's shrieks grew in pitch and the knife fell from Wilhelm's grip. Quite suddenly the front of his tunic was dyed scarlet as the queen's scream reached its climax. And, with a faint smile on his face, Wilhelm Grimm collapsed to the floor.