Chapter 22

"I've got to stop her," Attila said, halfway in and out of the inn's door, but Roland stopped him. "You'll do no such thing. I'll stop her myself," he said, staring into his daughter's eyes.

"I need someone to get Rapunzel out to save Eugene," Roland continued, still looking at his daughter. "I need you guys to keep her hidden from the Queen while I keep her occupied."

"You might not have to," Attila said, watching Greta gobble up the apple. "She's almost done. The poison should take hold in less than 10 minutes."

Roland smiled up at Attila. "If we're lucky," he said.

Attila smiled back and nodded, and then went to do the King's bidding. Within minutes, he was back with Shorty, the Pirate Thug and Vlad.

"Be careful," Roland said, giving his daughter a peck on the cheek as he walked through the door, alone as planned.

All five watched him walk toward the Queen, until Attila frowned at them.

"We all made a vow to take part in this thing," Attila said, "We have a King and Princess to protect and the King's trusted bodyguard to save and we have to do it quickly. So let's get a move on, guys. Time is growing short with each minute that our Gene isn't here with us. There's work to be done here and it won't get done with us looking at the window like this. I'll take care at this end. Get going, all of you."

"I think you managed to forget about the two of us," a voice piped up from behind causing everyone to turn around. The Stabbington brothers were standing there grinning, Sideburns holding out a large kitchen knife.

"We want the magic elixir if you don't mind and if this is the way to get it, why, we'll be glad to tag along to get it.

"Or else we'll warn the Queen what's really going on back here," Eye Patch said, smiling.

"Let's go," Rapunzel said, eyeing the twins. "We have to hurry."

XXXXXX

Hello, Greta," Roland called out as he walked toward the Queen. "We meet again after all these years."

Greta recognized the voice. She dropped the core of the apple and looked up in shock and surprise. The Queen smiled sweetly and stood, or at least tried to. Her legs were unsteady and her head was swimming. She brushed it off.

"Roland, I thought you were dead. How nice it is to see you again."

She smiled and crept closer drawing her dagger from inside her boot. "I tried once, but I see it didn't work. Well, I guess I'm just going to have to finish it now." She held it up, ready to strike, but Roland grabbed her arm to prevent her from slashing through his clothes. He squeezed it so tightly that the knife clattered to the ground. Greta didn't have enough strength to reach for it.

"I don't think you can finish it, Greta. I don't think you could kill me if you tried. And yes, I would have been dead if I hadn't figured out what you were up to. Thank the Lord I found out at the last second."

Greta frowned. Her head was swimming, but she managed to shake herself awake. "Where is it, Roland? I know you have it."

Roland smiled. "What are you talking about, Greta?"

"You know darn well what I'm talking about, the elixir and the flower. Where are they?" She tried again to stand, but she couldn't. Right now, all she wanted to do was to lie down and sleep.

"Oh, you mean this?" the King said, producing the oblong black box from his coat. "Or maybe you want this?" He held out an apple in his left hand, dropping both the box and apple to the ground.

The Queen's eye's opened wide or as wide as she could get them to open. She reached out for the box, but it wasn't within her reach. With a last ditch effort, she forced herself to stand. She managed to walk toward the box, but collapsed to the ground. Her hand found the apple though, but as much as she tried, Greta couldn't grasp it.

"Help me," she squeaked out. "At least, let me have the apple. You see how hungry I am."

"I wouldn't eat those if I were you," Roland said, as he bent down to retrieve both the box and the apple.

She picked her head up and stared into his eyes. "What are you saying?"

"They're poisoned, Your Majesty," Attila said, grabbing it out of Roland's hands, "including the one you've eaten."

Greta could do nothing more than let out a groan. Her head sank to the ground. "I don't believe you. The only poisoned apples that I know of are in fairy tales." she breathed struggling on the ground, still reaching out for the box. She inched closer and closer until she stopped completely, arm still outstretched reaching for something that she'd never need again.

Roland held a hand to Greta's mouth to check her breathing. He looked up at Attila who shook his head. "There wasn't enough poison in there to kill the Queen, unless…"

"The apple was meant for Rapunzel," the Queen whispered, faintly. "This was a special apple designed just for her." She coughed. "Bastian brought them here and deposited some of them on the ground. You see, I only wanted to…" she stopped mid sentence as the poison took hold. Greta Gothel's hair began to turn white, her smooth skin turned rough and wrinkled as she began to wither away. Gathering the last of her strength, she started moving toward the box, but Greta didn't have any more to spare. With one last push, she reached out her left hand and managed to touch the box she'd wanted for so long.

But it wasn't to be. The hand disappeared first, then her arm, her body and legs until her head was left. She screamed as the rest of her disappeared and all that was left was a pile of dust amid the clothes. Roland and Attila stared at what as left of the Queen.

"What do we do now?" Attila said staring at the dust and turned to the King. "I've never seen anything like this before."

"Nor will you see it again, my good friend," Roland said, shaking his head. "She hadn't the slightest idea how old she was and to tell you the truth, neither did I. By the time I realized it, it was too late." He stood up and turned to Attila. "She tried to poison me, you know. Little bits in my drink every day until Rider noticed I was getting sick. When she sent him away, I went with him. I always knew about her and Bas, but I never knew how much she wanted me out of the way."

Roland faltered. Now it was his turn to feel dizzy. He looked down at where Greta tried to slash him and realized that she had stuck him with the knife. The bloom on his shirt was getting bigger.

"Help me inside, Attila. Don't ask questions, just listen to me and I'll tell you what to do."