Disclaimer: I do not own The 10th Kingdom. This is merely a fanfiction.
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"The other nations are implementing the terms of the new treaty. Conscription levels are at an all-time high – and once all the nations join forces, we'll have an army unlike any in our history. We will drive back the Snow Queen." Old Retainer was reading off a piece of parchment as he walked with Lord DeConte through the corridors of the Fourth Kingdom castle.
"Very good. What of reports of resistance in the localized towns?" DeConte's expression as he spoke was stone-faced.
"There is some pushback, but it is minimal. Your decree of martial law and the presence of the garrisons in the outlying towns seems to be stifling dissent." Old Retainer sighed.
"You seem downcast," DeConte observed. "Perhaps you feel that my hand is too heavy?"
"It's just – King Wendell would have -."
"King Wendell is trapped in a mirror," DeConte replied coldly. "What he would or would not do is now irrelevant."
"But … sir … children?"
"Perhaps you would like me to revoke your diplomatic immunity and conscript your grandchildren?"
Old Retainer's paled. "I …" His face fell. "No. Of course not."
"Then I will hear no more murmurings of discontent about my rule."
"No sir."
"Good. I will be in my chambers. I do not wish to be disturbed." DeConte reached the large oak door of his chamber and pressed it open. Old Retainer bowed, half disgusted with DeConte, the other half disgusted with himself, before turning and walking away. He was halfway down the hall when his eyes fell back down on the parchment in his hand. Oh, he had forgotten to tell DeConte about the surplus of elf warriors that would be marching to join their forces from the north. That was news DeConte needed to hear. But DeConte told him explicitly he was not to be disturbed.
Pausing for a moment and considering his options, Old Retainer decided that the report couldn't wait. More elf envoys would be arriving within the day. He turned on his heel and marched back towards the oak doors.
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DeConte stood in a circular room within his chambers, surrounded by large round figures covered in black sheets. He stroked his beard for a moment, then ripped one of the sheets off – it was one of the Evil Queen's communication mirrors. DeConte grasped a round handle and turned it. The mirror flashed on.
The Snow Queen appeared in the mirror.
DeConte bowed low. "A status report, Your Highness."
"All is well, I take it?"
"All other Kingdoms except the Eighth and the Third have signed the treaty. They are forming one large army to oppose you."
The Snow Queen's smile was like a dagger. "Excellent. We can draw all of their forces out and crush them all together in one swift stroke. And what of Virginia Lewis and her friends? Any word on how they escaped the castle?"
"They must have had inside help," DeConte admitted. "Perhaps someone on the Royal Council?"
"Or perhaps someone in your own inner circle? Lord Wallace perhaps?"
"I admit – he has been growing ever suspicious of me."
"Let his suspicions grow," the Snow Queen said. "Nurture them if possible. Suspicion engenders discontent – and will cause our enemies to overplay their hand."
"Yes, M'Lady."
"As for Miss Lewis – the proper time will reveal itself. It is still functional?"
DeConte turned and ripped a sheet off another mirror. The Traveling Mirror. He turned a round device on its frame and the mirror came to life.
The Snow Queen smiled. "Very good. I will link it to the Devil's Mirror, giving me full control of it – allowing me to travel through any old mirror, magic or ordinary."
"How will I know when -."
"You will know the correct time," she cut him off. "And you will know what must be done."
DeConte's hand went to his sheath, grasping the hilt of his sword.
The Snow Queen's icy smile was unmistakable. "Good. I demand a regular update. No one leaves or enters the Royal Palace without my knowledge, are we clear?"
"Yes, M'Lady."
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"Lord DeConte – forgive my intrusion -." Old Retainer appeared in the circular room behind DeConte. He stopped as he saw the reflection of the Snow Queen in the mirror. DeConte hissed, switching the mirror off, the Snow Queen's image reflecting.
"I TOLD YOU I WAS NOT TO BE DISTURBED!"
Old Retainer's face was now the same color as the Snow Queen's. "You … I should have realized … you're working with her!" Old Retainer's face began to turn red in indignation. "You traitor! When the others hear about this -."
"The others will hear nothing," DeConte replied calmly.
"You don't expect me to remain silent -."
"I don't expect you to remain free." Behind DeConte, several soldiers appeared.
"You're going to kill me?"
"Of course not – your sudden, tragic death would be hard to explain despite your age. You are the picture of health, so a sudden death would not be plausible."
The soldiers approached Old Retainer who backed away.
DeConte was walking towards him grinning. "But – a nervous breakdown – your mental faculties weakening due to the strain of the war – far more believable." DeConte snapped his fingers and the soldiers grabbed the old man.
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Lord Wallace was roaming the hallways, deep in thought, when a ruckus drew his attention. "What's going on here?" he demanded. He stopped when he saw two soldiers dragging Old Retainer away. "Release him at once!" he demanded.
The guards shook their head. "He is unwell. He needs rest -."
"You must listen!" Old Retainer shouted at Wallace. "DeConte is a traitor! He's working with the Snow Queen! He's ."
The two guards shoved Old Retainer face-first into the stone wall. "That's enough! You're unwell."
Wallace's hand went to his sword. "That's no way to treat an old man!"
DeConte's hand appeared on the back of Wallace's shoulder. "He will be well taken care of," he whispered. "His mind is conjuring hallucinations and he tried to attack me in my chambers."
"What?" Wallace was incredulous.
DeConte walked past him, motioning the guards to lead Old Retainer on. A gag was slipped onto his mouth. The old man shot Wallace a pleading look before he he was led away.
Wallace stood there forlornly. He remembered his promise to Cinderella, to keep DeConte in check. And now Old Retainer – could DeConte be telling the truth after all? Could Old Retainer have lost his mind?
Or was there something to the old man's warning?
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"Finally! The Sixth Kingdom!"
Wolf stood on a hill at the edge of a forest. Before them was a beautiful river and beyond that – a wall. A massive wall reaching nearly a hundred feet and which was covered in old vines. "Overgrown vines and weeds," Wolf explained. "After Sleeping Beauty was rescued, they were left on the walls surrounding the kingdom in remembrance of the fact that the entire nation was put under a sleeping spell for a hundred years."
Wolf led the group down a hill. Tony dragged Fiona along. The she-wolf had a manic look in her eye and every few seconds licked her lips hungrily. The full moon was approaching tonight.
They reached a drawbridge leading across a river. As they crossed, a trumpet was blown. Then there was the sound of boots. Hundreds of them. Virginia watched as lines of soldiers marched past her.
"An army," she observed as the soldiers passed her without a second look.
"They're heading to the Fourth Kingdom," Wolf observed.
"Of course," came Fiona's voice from behind them. "They're answering DeConte's call to war. They think they're marching to glory – they're only marching to their own doom."
Virginia spun around. "What do you know?"
Fiona merely smiled but said nothing.
Wolf approached her, his jaw firm. "You were deep in the Snow Queen's counsel. What is she planning?"
"It won't matter. It's too late to stop it. Tonight – you will all be dead and she will have won!"
Tony shook his head. "I say she's full of it. She's trying to psyche us out."
Wolf squinted his eyes, observing the female wolf. Finally, he relented. "Yeah, for once you're probably right Pops."
The group walked past the line of soldiers through the gates of the wall into the Sixth Kingdom.
But Virginia couldn't shake the feeling that Fiona was somehow telling the truth …
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In the distance, Virginia could see a beautiful castle with towering spires. "Sleeping Beauty's castle," Wolf explained. "She's long gone like Snow White – but her granddaughter Briar Rose III rules as coregent with Rapunzel IV – she lives in the western side of the kingdom."
Virginia nodded, taking in the Sixth Kingdom's townspeople. She saw them hustling and bustling, their eyes wide and their mouths moving quickly in conversation. In and out of stores, pushing carts, going about their day – and appearing to do it at twice the speed of a normal person. They spoke a mile a minute as though energized by magic.
"Wolf – what's with these Sixth Kingdomers?" she asked as a salesman practically ran her over with his cart.
"I dunno," Wolf replied. "They do seem to be highly … hyper …"
Tony cleared his throat. "I may have an explanation for that …" He seemed sheepish. "I … er … well, when I was the Royal Architect for King Wendell, we visited here a few months ago for some trade negotiations. I thought it might break the ice to let Queen Briar Rose and her Royal Delegates try some food and drinks from New York and I uh … may have … introduced the Sixth Kingdom to coffee."
The familiar smell of ground beans suddenly hit Virginia's nostrils. She looked around and in every storefront were pots and pots of coffee. All of the Sixth Kingdomers were racing around her with hot mugs and thermoses in their hands. She turned to her father with an incredulous look on her face. "Dad! You got Sleeping Beauty's Kingdom hooked on coffee?!"
"I … er … I wouldn't exactly say … um … yes. Yes I did."
She shook her head. "You're unbelievable." She waved her arm. "Okay Mr. Royal Architect – you have some rapport with Sixth Kingdom Royals. Can you get us a meeting so we can get a clue as to where the Devil's Thorn might be?"
Tony puffed out his chest. "Of course I can!"
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"You must really forgive Her Royal Highness for not being here," an old man named Duke Rickard said as he poured them mugs of coffee in a Royal meeting room. "But she and Queen Rapunzel are on their way back from the Fourth Kingdom. There's a War Summit with Lord DeConte you know." He raised a kettle and waved it in Tony's face. "Coffee?" he beamed. "I really must thank you for introducing us to this amazing beverage. Granted, I haven't slept in three months but I have never felt more energetic in my life! Besides, after our kingdom was cursed to sleep for a hundred years, no harm in being a night owl, am I right?!" He said all of this very fast and his eyes were wide with dilated pupils. He poured himself three cups of coffee in a row and downed it all very fast.
Virginia sat across from him at table, Prince at her feet. Tony stood on the other end of the room, holding onto Fiona's rope. Wolf was pacing back and forth, sweating. "Look," Virginia leaned forward. "We need to find the Devil's Thorn. It may be the only hope of stopping the Snow Queen and we need your help."
"The Devil's Thorn? Oh you mean the thorn that tipped the spindle that put the Princess – and our entire kingdom – into a century of deep sleep all those years ago! Yes, we keep the spinning wheel here, in the original room it happened in. The room is a shrine – not to be disturbed."
"Can we go see it?" Viriginia asked.
"Goodness no!" Duke Rickard was horrified. "That place cannot be defiled by outsiders. That was where our dear Sleeping Beauty -."
Wolf lost it. "Listen – I'm half-wolf, we've trounced across three kingdoms, I have a pregnant, cranky wife, a crazed female wolf in love with me, the fat guy spewing toads everywhere and top it all off, I am on my cycle! So you are gonna let us in there right now!" Wolf panted, breathing. "Sorry, sorry – full moon tonight, I'm getting a little hot under the collar."
"Dear me," Rickard breathed.
"Is there a way you can make an exception?" Virginia asked Rickard pleadingly. "This really may be the only way to destroy the Snow Queen!"
"I -."
Tony jumped up, a finger raised. "If you do this for us, I'll teach you how to brew espresso!"
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"Here it is – the sewing machine that Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on." Rickard beamed. They were in a circular room at the tallest tower of the castle. The room was lined with glass mirrors, thatched floors – and an old spinning wheel stood in the center. Two holy men with spears stood at guard.
Virginia approached it. There – at the end of the spindle – a black thorn! The Devil's Thorn, from the Snow Queen's mirror! She reached for it – the two guards blocked her with their spears.
"No touching," Rickard replied. "The spindle is sacred to our kingdom."
"You don't understand," Virginia protested. "We need that spindle! The Devil's Thorn – if I can stab it into the Snow Queen's Mirror, it can stop her! It can stop it all!"
"What nonsense is this?" Rickard asked. "Our soldiers are on their way to the Fourth Kingdom. DeConte –"
"- is a madman!" Virginia interrupted. "Or do you really think he'll give up the power you all willingly gave him when this over?"
Rickard's brow furrowed. "I think that is enough today. Guards – show our guests to their quarters. I trust they will leave by sunrise?" Rickard turned to walk out of the chambers. He stopped as he observed Wolf and Fiona – both sweating and panting. "I almost forgot – full moon tonight. Put the two wolves in the dungeons. We don't need the two of them wolfing out tonight with our armies emptied."
The guards grabbed Fiona and Wolf, who whined like a pup. "Tell me I'm not going into a prison cell again …"
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Old Retainer languished in his prison cell in the Fourth Kingdom. He sat on a stool, his fingers steepled, and sighed. The kingdom – no, the world – was doomed. DeConte had betrayed them. How long had he been in the Snow Queen's counsel? This whole time? And now he oversaw the resistance against the Snow Queen!
The best way to destroy an enemy force is to lead it yourself.
Now Old Retainer could see the Snow Queen's whole wicked design. DeConte was false opposition. He would lead the armies of all the kingdoms against her alright – to their doom! And no one would believe a silly old man like him!
There was the sound of a key turning, followed by footsteps. Old Retainer stood up and pressed his face against the bars as a figure in a cape and hood approached. "Who's there?" Old Retainer demanded. "DeConte? Have you come to silence me after all?"
The figure threw back his hood and stepped into the dim candlelight.
Old Retainer's eyes adjusted. "L-Lord Wallace?"
Wallace's face was solemn. "I must be quick – if DeConte finds me here, it'll be all over and there will truly be no hope left."
"Then – you believe me?"
Wallace was pacing. "I'm not saying I do and I'm not saying I don't."
"I know what I saw. I may be old, but I'm not senile! You must believe me! It was the Snow Queen in that mirror. DeConte had all of them – all of the Evil Queen's old mirrors. There's a reason he wanted them moved to his chambers. He's been in communication with her this whole time!"
Wallace sighed. "You must realize the position I'm in -."
"Think about it! Why would he threaten the other nations? Why would he terrorize them and conscript their children? And violently putting down protestors? King Wendell would never have done any of this and you know it!"
"And if you're wrong about him and the Snow Queen?"
"If I'm wrong, then at least DeConte's power-grab will still be halted."
"It's not that simple," Wallace replied. "We need a firm hand, a firm leader to rally the kingdoms against the Snow Queen. If not DeConte, then we have to find someone else."
"We already have someone else."
Wallace chuckled. "With all due respect, King Wendell is a block of ice and Miss Lewis is busy -."
Old Retainer's eyes sparkled. "I was talking about you."
Wallace nearly fell over in shock. "Me? I – how can I lead these people -?"
"You led your regiments to victory after victory against the Southern Renegades."
"But I was under DeConte's command – without him, I -."
Old Retainer chuckled. "You sell yourself short, Lord Wallace. You've been the voice of reason throughout this whole ordeal. You command the respect of not just the Royal Council, but all the dignitaries of the other Kingdoms. You earned Cinderella's trust – no easy feat, I might remind you."
"How did you know -."
"That she asked you to keep DeConte in check and protect the children?" Old Retainer's droopy eyes twinkled. "DeConte's spy network isn't as comprehensive as my own, I'm afraid. Especially after the Evil Queen took over with her puppet prince right under our noses a few months ago."
"Even so – I can't lead the New Treaty. I wouldn't want to! I'm just a soldier, I -."
"That's exactly why you should lead. Tell me – why did you join the army?"
"I wanted to protect people, to serve my Kingdom."
Old Retainer nodded. "And that is why you must lead now. We can stop DeConte – and then you can be the hero he should have been. You can be the one to lead us to victory against the Snow Queen. Now that we know that DeConte has been compromised, what other choice do you have?"
"But what if I can't do it?"
"Will you stop attacking yourself?! You never in your entire career sought power – you were content to always remain the second-in-command! That is why you are the right man for the job! It's not those who seek power that make good leaders – but those that never wanted it for themselves. You will surprise yourself, Wallace, mark my words on that. And – remember your promise to Cinderella. Don't let her or the other Kingdoms down now."
Wallace stared at the ground, taking it all in. He finally looked up, tears in his eyes. "You – you really believe in me, don't you?"
Old Retainer nodded silently.
"I never turned away from the call of duty, and I'm not about to now. Will you help me? Will you be my advisor?"
"Yes. Anything you need."
"Okay, first thing – let's hurry up and get you out of there. Lucky for me DeConte trusted me enough with the dungeon keys." Wallace produced a ring of keys from within his cape and unlatched Old Retainer's cell door. The old man hobbled out. "Next thing," Wallace continued. "Is there anyone we can trust? Right now it's you and me and if I'm going to detain DeConte, I'd rather have some backup."
"Lansky. He'll help us! He stood against DeConte from the beginning!"
"Where is he?"
"In the high tower having some after dinner cocoa. I'll lead the way!" Wallace spared a furtive glance behind his shoulder to make sure they weren't being followed, then ran to keep up with the surprisingly agile old man.
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DeConte marched down the corridors of the dungeon, flanked by two soldiers. He stopped – and his fists clenched when he found Old Retainer's cell empty, the door wide open. "What?! How?!" He stormed into the cell, tearing it apart as though the old man were simply hiding beneath a cot. DeConte's fury grew. He grabbed a dagger, slashing through the cot, stabbing it over and over in a frenzy, feathers flying in all directions. He turned, stumbling madly, smashing a wooden stool to pieces against the wall.
The two guards stood there, sweat trickling down their faces. DeConte stormed up to them. "Lockdown the castle! He can't have gone far!"
"He must've had help, sir!"
"I am aware! But who?!" He stopped, his fingers balling into fists. "Wallace!"
"Should we put out an arrest order, sir?"
DeConte drew his sword and marched in the opposite direction. "No. I will deal with him myself."
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Virginia and Tony sat in their designated bedroom in Sleeping Beauty's castle. Virginia was stroking Prince's head. "I thought you had good rapport with these people?!"
"I do!" Tony protested. "It's just – they're very sensitive about their spindle!"
"We've got to get that thorn!"
"I've got it! A distraction!" Tony snapped his fingers. "A diversion!"
"What, are you gonna throw on a dress and do the hula like Timon and Pumba?"
Tony rubbed his chin. "The coffee! I got the whole kingdom hooked! I promised Rickard I would show him how to brew some espresso! We give him and those guards some coffee – with just a pinch of troll dust brewed in – and poof! The thorn is ours!"
Virginia sighed. "Welp, whoever said coffee would one day save the world sure wasn't kidding."
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Wolf rolled around on the ground of his cell, his neck straining, his eyes bulging. Sweat beaded on his head and stained his shirt. "Just need something soft to pet, like a little rabbit, little fluffy bunny-foo-foo. AND THEN EAT IT!"
Fiona pressed her own sweating face into her cell bars across from Wolf's. The two guards watching them stood silently. Fiona licked her teeth, staring up at a small window. The full moon's rays were shining through. She turned to look back at Wolf rolling around on the floor.
"You feel it, don't you? The light of the moon, its luminous rays. Your blood is boiling just like it did at the Little Lamb Village."
"Stop it!" Wolf roared at her.
"Beautiful little lambs with fluffy wooly coats. And beautiful young lasses corralling them into easily breakable little wooden pens."
"Stop talking!"
"What was that nursery rhyme we heard growing up, Wolf?"
"I SAID STOP TALKING!" Wolf was on his feet, grabbing the bars, his teeth bared. His canines were elongated, jutting out from his upper lip. Canines ready to tear the throat of a young woman, thirsting to feel her warm blood draining into his parched and hot throat.
"Shepherdess makes quite a mess," Fiona said as she paced along the bars. Her eyes were beginning to change color.
"I won't do it!"
"It's in our nature to kill. One way or another, your little fiancé will die at your hand. Finish the rhyme."
"No!"
Fiona stopped and casually stared at her elongating nails. "You remember the Little Lamb Village. Your little fiancé in her tiny little shepherdess outfit with her fluffy teenie-weenie pink lamby-poo?!"
"STOP TALKING, PLEASE!" Tears were forming in the corners of Wolf's eyes as he gripped his bars, his muscles bulging. The bars were beginning to bend.
"She must've made such a beautiful shepherdess. How would you have described her, Wolf?"
"Delicious!" He growled. He stopped. "No, no, I love her -."
"And you'd love to taste her, wouldn't you!"
"YES! No, no, I don't, I don't, I won't hurt her, I won't -.''
''You must crave her creamy white flesh between your teeth. Her warm, hot blood spraying the back of your throat!"
Wolf was half-crying, half snarling. He threw his head back and roared. He turned, staring at the moon through his cell. "No, please -." He slumped to the ground his back against his bars. "Please, don't make me –"
"Finish the rhyme!"
Wolf's voice was a mixture of hunger and defeat. "… but little lambs are lovely …" His head slumped forward onto his chest.
Fiona stepped closer to her bars, staring at the back of his head. "Wolf?" No response. He wasn't even moving. "Wolf?"
The two guards approached, holding out their spears. "What's with this racket?" They turned, staring at the two captive half-wolves.
SLAM! CRUNCH!
A hairy, bulging arm with claws lashed out from Wolf's cell, grabbing the first guard, smashing him headfirst into the cell bars. Fiona grinned from her cell as she watched Wolf transform and bend his bars, stepping out from between them.
The second guard raised his weapon – Fiona reached out from her own cell and twisted his neck, sinking her now elongated fangs into his throat. Wolf, fully transformed into a ravenous beast, grabbed her bars, bending them wide open.
Fiona stepped out of her cell, transforming into a hairy beast as she did so. The two giant wolves stared at each other, nuzzling each other in the neck. They turned, looking at the full moon – and together they howled long and loud.
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Tony was wheeling a cart with pots and mugs along a hallway in Sleeping Beauty's castle, Virginia and Prince following in his wake.
They stopped short as they heard two loud wolf-like howls. It made their blood run cold.
"Full moon tonight," Virginia realized, looking at her father in concern. "But Wolf and Fiona are safe, right? Rickard said he would put them in cells to make sure of it."
Several guards were yelling and ran past them, arming themselves. Two of them were the guards that had been guarding the Devil's Thorn.
"That answer your question?" Tony asked.
Virginia observed their weapons. "They'll kill him! We have to go back! We have to save Wolf!"
"No!" Tony argued. "Those guards left the Devil's Thorn alone! This is our chance to get it – maybe our only one!"
Virginia was on the verge of tears. "I won't leave him!"
"You won't have to!" Tony shoved the cart aside, turned, and grabbed Virginia by the shoulders. "I'll get Wolf. I'll make sure he's okay!"
"You'll be torn to pieces!"
"And so will you!"
"Wolf wouldn't -."
"Virginia, I know you believe in him and I know he would never consciously in a million years harm you! But he's not himself right now! He's lost his mind, he's irrational! Right now, he's only thinking like an animal and you would be his number one target and you know I'm right!"
Virginia fought to hold back her tears as her hand went to her belly, feeling the baby cub within. "I love him."
"I know. I'm quite fond of him too. But you have a duty – get that thorn or we're all doomed anyway!" Tony hugged his daughter and kissed her on the forehead. "I'll get him back, I promise. You will see us both again." And before she could even protest, Tony was taking off after the guards.
Wiping her eyes, Virginia stared ahead at the chamber door leading to the spindle room. "C'mon Prince – we've got a mission!"
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BANG!
Two of DeConte's guards' heads were knocked together. Lansky stood over their now unconscious forms in triumph. "I've been wanting to do that!" He turned to face Old Retainer and Wallace. "So … we're taking down DeConte?! About damn time!"
They heard shouts – more soldiers were coming. DeConte was shouting orders. Wallace peered around the corner to see DeConte sheathe his sword and enter his chambers. Lansky cracked his knuckles. "Let's get him!"
Wallace held him back. "No. I need you two to spread the word to the rest of the palace – DeConte is a traitor. Then send out messenger birds to the rulers of the other kingdoms – let them know the situation. I'll have to iron out a new treaty with them later."
"No conscription of children this time?" Lansky asked.
"No," Wallace replied. "Never again! Now go you two – I'll deal with DeConte!"
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DeConte stormed into his chambers. He entered the circular room in the back surrounded by the mirrors. He remembered the Snow Queen's words: "You will know the correct time. And you will know what must be done."
DeConte stood before the traveling mirror. He turned the switch. The mirror came to life. On the other side, he could see several mirrors in a tall tower with a spindle in the center. At the tip of the spindle was the Devil's Thorn.
And Virginia Lewis and her dog had just entered that chamber.
This was it. He would prove himself to the Snow Queen once and for all by ending Virginia Lewis' miserable existence.
He stepped through the traveling mirror.
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Virginia stood before the ancient spindle that had once put Sleeping Beauty to sleep. She stared at the long, thin and black thorn that tipped the spindle. She reached out for it – she stopped. She remembered that Sleeping Beauty had pricked her finger on it and it had cursed her to a century of sleep. Virginia was in no mood to share the same fate. Her mind wandered back to Wolf and she prayed he and her Dad would be okay.
Prince barked, encouraging her. Nodding, Virginia ripped off a piece of her overcoat and wrapped it around her hand like a bandage. She gingerly reached forward, her thumb and index finger grasping the thorn. She winced and with a snap, the thorn detached from the spindle. She laughed, holding up the thorn in the fabric in her hand.
A voice rang through the dim chamber.
"Very well done, Miss Lewis. Now – give me the Devil's Thorn and I may yet be merciful."
Virginia spun around to see DeConte stepping into the room from one of the mirrors, his sword drawn. She backed away, trapped.
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Wallace stormed into DeConte's chambers in the Fourth Kingdom castle, his own sword drawn. "DeConte! Show yourself!"
No response.
He could hear muffled voices from a back room. He slowly parted a curtain and found himself encircled by mirrors. And one was activated. He could see the center of the tallest tower in Sleeping Beauty's castle. DeConte was confronting Virginia. He was too late!
Or was he?
Summoning his courage, Wallace closed his eyes, and stepped through the traveling mirror.
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"I will not repeat myself. The thorn – hand it over!"
Virginia stepped back. Prince snarled at the warlord.
DeConte was unfazed. "If you think I have qualms about leaving behind the corpse of a girl and a mutt, you would be sadly mistaken. Come – give it to me and perhaps you will get out of this alive after all."
"Why do you want it?" Virginia asked. She stopped, realizing. "How did you get here through that mirror? You have my mother's traveling mirror!"
"And her other mirrors."
"But how do you know how to – the Snow Queen! You're in cahoots with her!"
DeConte was not amused. "Well, that little secret dies here with you. I have no more patience left in me. Goodbye Miss Lewis." He raised his sword. Virginia closed her eyes as the edge of the blade descended for her head.
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CLANG!
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Virginia opened her eyes to see Wallace on his knees, his sword blocking DeConte's. "Miss Lewis," Wallace grimaced as DeConte forced him back.
"Wallace?" Virginia was perplexed to see yet another Fourth Kingdomer – much less Wallace - defending her from DeConte.
"Lord Wallace," DeConte sneered. "Why am I not surprised to see you turn traitor?"
"I'm not the traitor – you've stabbed us all in the back for the Snow Queen!" He pressed DeConte back.
The mad general spun his sword. "You should've stayed loyal to me, Wallace. At least then you would have LIVED!"
DeConte charged. Wallace was on his feet. The two circled, their swords spinning and clashing. DeConte kneed Wallace in the stomach. Wallace doubled over. He swung his sword, parrying, barely missing getting decapitated.
Deconte circled him. He hammered into Wallace's defenses. Wallace was forced back – DeConte headbutted him before right-hooking him in the face. Wallace collapsed to the ground, his sword clattering out of his hand.
Spinning his blade, DeConte circled his former lieutenant, mocking him. "And how did you think this was going to go, Wallace?" His boot connected with his pupil's skull. Wallace spun back on his knees, his head cracking on the stone floor. "What? You'd rescue the girl, be the hero, stop the long freeze that is to come? Nothing can be done to stop this. You – and everyone you love – will slowly freeze to death as ice covers the entire realm."
"Not if I have anything to say about it!"
DeConte spun around to see Virginia behind the spinning wheel. She shoved it forward with all her might, ramming DeConte hard with it.
"You miserable wretch!" the general screamed as he rose up, blade clenched furiously in his fist. "When I'm done with you -."
The tip of a blade appeared through DeConte's shoulder. He stopped, blood starting to run from his mouth.
"Not if I get done with you first," Wallace breathed into his ear, pushing his sword further into DeConte's back.
DeConte remained arrogant as ever. "This … changes nothing … what she has set in motion … cannot be undone … you're all going to die …"
Wallace pulled his blade out of the general's back. DeConte dropped to his knees, cackling madly, before he fell face first onto the stone ground. He moved no more.
Wallace limped over to Virginia. "Miss Lewis – are you okay?"
"You – you saved me – how did you know?"
"Long story – the Devil's Thorn? Do you have it? Is it safe?"
Virginia nodded, raising it up between her fingers. Wallace gently took it in his own gauntleted hand. He held it up to the candlelight. "The Devil's Thorn – made from the very wood of the Snow Queen's mirror." He was almost mesmerized.
"Wallace …" Virginia's voice was insistent. "We have to go!"
"Forgive me. I was distracted for a moment. Of course – your friends need you. I have the thorn – I'm right behind you!"
Virginia turned to run out the door.
Wallace's voice echoed behind her before she reached it. "Oh, one more thing though -."
Virginia spun around – THUNK! She gasped in pain as a dagger was forced between her ribcage. She stared up in confusion as Wallace twisted the dagger deeper into her side. She cried out in agony.
"I can't allow you to leave. I'm very sorry it has to end this way for you. Your story about how you stopped your mother and saved the Nine Kingdoms was inspirational, but I can't let you ruin the Snow Queen's plans as you did the Evil Queen's."
Wallace's face was no longer kindly. It was harsh. Twisted.
Evil.
"W-Wallace … ?" Virginia gasped.
"Kay," Wallace replied. "Gerda knew me as Kay – before the Snow Queen took me as a little boy all those years ago. And now that I've returned to my rightful place at her side …"
And Wallace – Kay – raised the Devil's Thorn up between his fingers. And in a moment, the thorn burst into flame, its ashes scattered in the wind …
