Disclaimer: I do not own The 10th Kingdom. This is merely a fanfiction.
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A long trail of blood was what led Virginia, Tony and Prince away from their camp in the woods to a small clearing. Virginia faltered at the sight – Leone lay on his back, his hand to his chest, stab wounds littering his body. He gasped for air as more blood continued to pool around him.
"No …" Virginia couldn't take another loss, not after the massacre of the trolls in the keep, not after seeing what the Snow Queen had turned Wolf into. She knelt down at Leone's side and ripped off a strip of her overcoat to try to stem the bleeding. Leone stopped her with a shaking hand.
"Don't …"
Virginia stared down at him. "Why aren't your wounds healing ? … you're an Immortal …"
"Immortality … given … can be … taken … the Snow Queen … she gave them magic blades …"
Virginia sniffed back her tears. "There must be some way -."
"Listen to me … Fiona … she took … Fen …"
At these words, Virginia felt as though she had been stabbed with a knife – right in the chest. She masked her pain – she wanted to ease Leone's final moments, not add to his own grief.
"You fought bravely …"
"It wasn't enough …" he acknowledged.
Virginia clasped his hand in her own. "No. You vowed you would protect him with your life – and you did."
"I'm … sorry …"
"You did everything you could -."
Leone shook his head. Tears ran down his cheeks and pooled around his head. "No … I'm sorry … I tried to kill you … and your family … please -."
"You don't have to say anymore. Please – save your strength. You're wasting your energy by talking." Her own tears were flowing now. "Someone will come along any minute now and we'll get you a medic -."
"There is no medic in the Nine Kingdoms … that can help me now …"
"Don't say that! Just hold on!"
Leone tightened his grip around her fingers. "Please. Get him back."
Virginia's face was filled with determination. "I will."
"I … failed them all … my family … and then Fen …"
"No. You've honored them all today. What you've done – you've redeemed yourself a hundred times over! You've regained your honor! They're waiting for you now – on the other side. Waiting with forgiveness!"
A small smile creased the corners of Leone's eyes. "Forgiveness … please … for my sake … my family's … save Fen … save him …"
And Leone's head turned to the right and his eyes went out of focus. A droplet of blood pooled at the corner of his mouth. Tony pressed his hand to a tree as he watched, trying to keep himself strong. Prince lay down and whined sadly.
Virginia knelt there, holding Leone's now limp hand. She looked away as she reached out with her free hand and closed his eyes.
"Goodbye Leone Hightail … Friend … and thank you …"
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~0~
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The first thing Blabberwort did when Virginia returned to the troll's camp was punch her clean across the jaw. Virginia simply stood there and took it. Tony immediately got in between them. "Hey – now that was uncalled for!"
Blabberwort wasn't even listening to him. She looked past him and jammed her finger into Virginia's chest. "This is all your fault!" She reared her first back – Tony grabbed her arm and the two struggled. He gripped the troll in a bear hug as she screamed and fought.
"Dad," Virginia warned. "Let her vent."
Spittle flew from the female troll's mouth. "This whole thing was your idea! He was waiting for us! And now – because of you – all those trolls are gone! Burly is … Burly is …" She let out a screeching wail. Tony let go of her, pressing his hands to his ears. The troll locked eyes with Virginia.
Virginia lowered her gaze. "I'm … I'm sorry …"
"Sorry? You're sorry?! My best, most loyal trolls – dead! My brother is dead! And the best you can come up with is sorry?!" Next to her, Bluebell muttered in agreement. He spit at Virginia's feet.
"I take full blame," Virginia admitted.
"Too right you do!" Blabberwort pointed fiercely at Virginia's chest. "We never should've trusted you! I'm calling off troll support for your little crusade! Let Wallace and the Snow Queen wipe everyone out! If my people die off – then so do yours!" Bluebell grunted in agreement as he and his sister turned and began walking away.
Tony tried to make peace. "Wait! You can't go – what about our alliance?"
"It died with Burly," Bluebell spat over his shoulder.
"Listen – we have to stand together now! More than ever!"
Blabberwort spun around. "Easy for you to say! You're not the one who lost a family member!"
"You're wrong." Virginia looked up from the ground for the first time. "I lost my son. Fiona took him – to the Snow Queen."
There was a moment's pause. Then –
"Then you know something of the pain we feel," Blabberwort sneered. "Come on, Burly. Gather the survivors. We're going home -."
"What of kind trolls turn tail and run instead of seeking vengeance?" came a female voice from among the trees. Blabberwort drew her daggers and held out her arms for Bluebell to stop. They and the other trolls looked around grunting.
"Who uttered that?" Blabberwort demanded.
A figure appeared between the trees. A hobbling figure that limped towards them. She stepped into the light, the morning sun casting its glare on her face as she threw back a hood.
"Cinderella?" Virginia breathed.
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Two footmen twisted a makeshift throne out of logs. Cinderella's two wicked stepsisters stood behind the throne, both wearing expressions of annoyance, cruel sneers under their heavy, caked-on makeup.
Virginia, Tony and Prince knelt before the throne. Bluebell was sitting on a log picking lice out of his hair and stuffing them into his mouth. Blabberwort was pacing furiously, muttering to herself and loudly cursing to no one in particular. The surviving troll soldiers gnawed on bones of rotten meat and moldy bread.
"I don't understand," Virginia was saying. "How did you know we were here?"
An eyebrow raised on Cinderella's face – with difficulty of course due to her years of magical facelifts. "You're not the only one with friends in far places." She waved a ring-studded hand. Virginia looked towards the edge of the woods' clearing and saw two figures emerge – Mother Holle and Acorn the Dwarf.
Prince was on his feet and bounding for Mother Holle. "Aye, 'ello there doggie! Want a biscuit?"
Tony held his stomach. "Please - no more toads."
Mother Holle and Acorn joined the group. The royal footmen twisted together another wood-studded chair and Mother Holle was given a place of honor at Cinderella's right hand. Prince sat at the old woman's feet, tongue lolling out and tail wagging as she delightedly scratched his ears.
"Mother Holle has been a friend of mine for years," Cinderella went on. "Friends with all of the royal lines. Sleeping Beauty, Red Riding Hood I, Snow White …"
"Aye, I remember deliverin' that boy Wendell I do," Mother Holle chuckled. "I remember helpin' birth all the royal children at that!"
Virginia looked at the elderly princess. "So then – you're aware of Wallace and his –"
"And his alliance with the Snow Queen?" Cinderella finished. "I wasn't at first. I'm ashamed to admit I was hoodwinked by him at too. I signed my entire kingdom over to him. 'Lord Protector' – ha! And here I thought he was going to be a better leader than DeConte."
"DeConte was just his puppet," Virginia said. "And he is the Snow Queen's." She scratched her head. "Though I dunno anymore … I might've admitted to him that I am the Snow Queen. Well, the me from the future. I think it might have shaken him up."
"Trouble in paradise?" Mother Holle cackled. "Aye, I love it I do!"
"Mother Holle came to me," Cinderella replied. "Shortly after you left to go find the Swamp Witch. She told me everything – she confirmed my suspicions. And so – I've spent the time – and money – gathering support, allies and weapons. We're forming a Resistance to the Nine Kingdoms Treaty."
"A Resistance?" Virginia asked.
"Not ten miles from here," Cinderella admitted. "Many of them are people you know, friends – and even some enemies – you met in your journeys. There are many new faces as well. Everyone I could gather who wasn't deceived by Wallace, who I could manage to convince he was working with the Snow Queen. All united in their desire to restore true freedom back to the Nine Kingdoms and end the threat of the Snow Queen once and for all."
"An army?" Tony asked. "Perfect! Exactly what the doctor ordered!"
Acorn raised a finger. "We're outnumbered though. By a factor o' ten to one, I reckon."
"Yes," Cinderella admitted. "We are still hopelessly outnumbered."
"Then what hope is there?" Virginia asked.
Cinderella leaned forward. "Because we have a secret weapon."
"Such as?"
"You."
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Preparations were underway immediately to return to the Resistance camp. Blabberwort was busy sheathing several blades when she saw Virginia staring off into the distance, worrying about Fen. The troll grunted as she slammed a final sword into its hilt and approached the girl.
"Let's get one thing straight," Blabberwort sneered behind her. Virginia turned around, giving the female troll her undivided attention. Blabberwort jammed a finger into Virginia's chest. "Cinderelly's presence here changes nothingbetween us! I hold you personally responsible for what happened! I'll go along with her plan and join with her Resistance because she was right – a troll seeks vengeance and I will have Wallace's head for this! But as for you – I could care less what comes for you -."
"Then care for Fen," Virginia interrupted.
Blabberwort stopped talking immediately.
"Care for the innocent baby that never asked for this, that doesn't know what's happening around him, that's alone, frightened and screaming for his mother as he's the prisoner of the Snow Queen."
Blabberwort looked away.
"I'm sorry about Burly. And the other trolls," Virginia said after a minute.
The troll princess looked up and locked eyes with her. Her shoulders collapsed. "I – thank you. For what it's worth … I'm sorry about your Son."
"Then help us. Help me … and we'll avenge Burly and get him back." Virginia pressed her way past the troll and headed back for the center of camp.
"You were right, you know," Blabberwort called to her from behind.
Virginia whirled around. "About what?"
"That day – when we first met. You are a powerful sorceress."
"I'm a nobody." She turned and disappeared into the thick bustling crowd of trolls packing up camp.
Blabbewort sighed. "Not to everybody."
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Mother Holle sat on a log at the outskirts of camp taking in the evening sky and an after-dinner pipe. Prince lay curled at her feet, his tail gently wagging.
"Mind if I join you?"
Mother Holle added some more powder to her pipe and nodded. Virginia climbed over the log and sat next to the old woman. She played nervously with her fingers and for a moment said nothing. The two stared at the sunset together in silence.
"You were right," Virginia admitted finally, unable to stand the awkward silence any longer.
"Eh? Wha's that?" Frau Holle asked.
"When you tried to warn me that I was following in my future self's path." She hung her head. "I almost didbecome her. I went to the Swamp Witch in the hopes that I could use her powers. That she would give me her magic as she did my Mother."
Mother Holle didn't respond. Instead, she relit her pipe and took a few puffs. Virginia looked up at her with tear-stained eyes. "Aren't you going to say anything?"
"Nope." She continued puffing.
"But I almost gave away my soul!"
"Aye. But you didn't in the end, did ya?"
"No. But then – the massacre last night. All those trolls … Burly … it was all my fault! I thought I could go after Wallace and take him down singlehandedly. But he was ten steps ahead of me – like usual."
Mother Holle sighed as she put her pipe out. "And did you learn anything?"
"Huh?"
"What did you learn, dearie?"
"That I'm a failure …"
Mother Holle stared up at the sunset, a small smile on her face. "Aye. Even the wisest among us cannot tell the difference between failing and being a failure …"
"Did you listen to anything I just said -."
Mother Holle waved her off. "Look at the sunset."
"It's pretty, but I don't see -."
"You're right, lass. You don't see. Always missin' the forest for the trees as they say." Mother Holle pointed at the red sky. "The sun goes down. Things go dark. But has the sun failed?"
"No – we're supposed to have nighttime," Virginia said slowly.
"Jus' because there's darkness at night doesn't mean the sun is a failure. It means that we're supposed to have times of darkness. Even in the darkness, the sun is still shining – just in a different place. Just because there's darkness, don't mean the sun isn't still shinin' bright!"
"I … I think I get what you're trying to say … but this is different –"
"You failed at somethin'. No, you didn't listen to Ol' Mother Holle's warnings. You went off hackneyed and angry and all – but Mother Holle let you go. I let you go because I also knew you have to experience failure before ultimate triumph. Failure is the greatest teacher there is. Yes, blood is on your hands – bah, don't look at me like that, it's true! So live with the consequences and guilt – take them and learn from them. Use that experience and be prepared to do betternext time!"
"Will there be a next time?"
"As long as breath is in your body – there is always a next time, there is."
Virginia's fingers clenched on her knees. "But Fen -."
"Bah, she won't harm him."
"How can you be so sure?"
"'Cause she needs you to come to her. To see it happen firsthand. To torture you in order to break your mind and heart and remake you in her image … Fen is the bait."
"So what do I do?"
Mother Holle shrugged. "That's for you to decide. But sooner or later – you will have to take the bait."
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~0~
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Wallace stood in a small ante-room off the castle's keep that evening. Night was setting. A torch held aloft in a single bracket flamed on as he thumbed through his worn-out Edgar Allen Poe book. He frowned as he read a portion of one of the poems aloud to himself:
"Take this kiss upon thy brow!
And in parting from you now,
Thus much let me avow –
You are not wrong, who deem
That my days have been a dream;
Yet if Hope has flown away
In a night, or in a day,
In a vision, or in none,
Is it therefore the less gone?
All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream.
I stand amid the roar
Of a surf-tormented shore,
And I hold within my hand
Grains of the golden sand –
How few! Yet how they creep
Through my fingers to the deep,
While I weep – while I weep!
O, God! can I not grasp
Them with a tighter clasp?
O, God! can I not save
One from the pitiless wave?
Is all that we see or seem
But a dream within a dream?"
Wallace slammed the book shut and pressed it to his forehead, his face wrinkled, his eyes squeezed tight. Images flashed, memories of childhood – playing in the woods with a fair-haired girl. A girl with bright, beaming eyes full of joy and brimming with life. A smile that could melt the hardest stone.
And that girl grew up. Time was kind – she became a vision as an adult. The beauty that was inside was expressed on the outside. A vision that even the great Princesses of old would envy. He remembered being outside with her on a cliff-face, staring at the vast sea, a full moon overhead. Yet her face caused even the moon to pale. And her cerulean eyes staring into his made his knees quake like pudding.
More vivid images ran through his mind's eye. A poor, but excited young man entering a jewelry shop, trembling with anticipation. The most beautiful ring was produced by the jeweler – but then the price tag was noticed. The young man lifted a sack of coins and frowned. It wasn't enough. But then a look of determination filled his face. He reached a hand into his vest and pulled out an old pocket watch. It barely worked – but it was given to him, so long ago, by his father. The last and only memento he had. He barely remembered his father's face … he held it aloft, frowning. His eyes fell on the ring again and the girl's beautiful face filled his mind. Turning away, closing his eyes, he stretched the pocket watch out to the jeweler. He felt the gold chain trailing along his fingers as the jeweler accepted it as payment.
And the ring was his! And she would be too, at long last!
He was again standing on that same cliff face, the girl smiling at him as they reminisced. The young man worked up his courage; his heart was pounding. His palms were saturated. He closed his eyes, and knelt down, producing the beautiful ring that he had given the last memory of his father up for.
The girl stared down at him for a moment. Her lip trembled. He returned her gaze hopefully.
She reached out with her hand … her fingers were on his … and she closed his fingers around the ring. Weeping, she apologized profusely until she could no longer take it and fled.
And the boy was there – alone on the cliff face – the ring in his hand.
It had all gone wrong.
The boy drank. And drank.
But that was not enough to ease the pain; not enough to satiate the torture in his soul. And that torment – turned to rage.
And when he saw her again – on the arm of a pig keeper from the Fourth Kingdom – a piece of trash from the Fourth Kingdom – a bronze engagement ring on her finger – he could feel himself tear in two. The rage boiled over.
And then the wedding. He had slipped in by wearing a waiter's uniform. He hovered over the drinks for the toast, before dropping the contents of a vial hidden in his belt into each goblet – save one. The one designated for the bride.
He stood among the wedding guests as they toasted – he smiled as they began choking and sputtering, wine pouring from the tables like blood as they collapsed. Satisfaction filled him as he watched the groom – that Fourth Kingdom trash – falling to his knees choking, blood running from his mouth. He smiled as the groom fell to his side, twitched, and moved no more – his bride at his side screaming his name.
And then the bride began choking.
What was this?
No!
NO!
This wasn't supposed to happen! She wasn't supposed to drink from a poisoned goblet! How?
In his arrogance, he hadn't seen it moments before – the bride accidentally spill her goblet. A member of the bridal party had replaced it with her own.
And now Gerda collapsed to the ground, choking, a trail of blood running down from the corner of her mouth. She collapsed.
"No!"
He ran to her side, throwing himself onto the floor. He held her head in his lap. His tears stained her forehead as he rocked her and cried out to the heavens for aide. She looked up at him in confusion … and then her eyes turned next to her - to the body of her groom.
No! Even in death … her eyes would be locked not on his own, but on her groom's. She reached a hand out and took her husband's, intertwining their fingers as her death convulsions grew worse. Wallace didn't know how much longer she would continue in pain … he had to make it quick. And so he pressed the palm of his hand to her mouth and nose, pressing tightly, crying hysterically to himself, screaming to the heavens … until she moved no more.
And Wallace held her, rocking her body, wishing to die right there with her …
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"Sir?"
Wallace's eyes slowly opened. He was back in the alcove just outside of the keep. He gently placed the book back into his breastplate. His face quickly moved from sorrow and regret to one of regal dignity. "Yes? What is it?"
Old Retainer stood there, fumbling with his fingers. "Sir – we have identified the captains who allowed Miss Lewis to escape the castle last night."
"Lead me."
Old Retainer led Wallace back out to the keep. The troll bodies had been burned and his elite guards stood there with torches. Before him were three captains in uniform, their wrists chained to each other with long chains that dragged onto the ground.
"So – you let the terrorist escape your hands?" Wallace stared coldly at the three captains.
"Sir – it wasn't our fault! Please – don't take our positions away!"
Wallace's fingers flexed. "I will not tolerate failure. I will not tolerate weakness. And I will not tolerate disloyalty!"
Old Retainer blinked. "Disloyalty? It was a simple matter of failure, not one of treason -."
"There are only two kinds of people left in this world," Wallace replied icily, his eyes never leaving the three captains. "Those who are loyal to the Nine Kingdoms Treaty – and those who are disloyal. An example must be made to all the other Kingdoms – they either stand with me or against me!"
Old Retainer and several other guards shifted. "My liege – those are strong words. I thought this was to be a democracy -."
"It is a democracy. The people are free to choose. They can choose either to support me or to oppose me. There will no longer be any in-between!"
"I thought you were different from DeConte!" Old Retainer cried.
"I am! But after last night's attack by the terrorist Virginia Lewis – it has been made clear to me that a heavier hand is needed! An example!"
Wallace gripped the long chain attached to the three guards and dragged it to the pulley that opened the keep to the outside. He wound it around several gears and then jerked the gate's lever. The three guards screamed as the chain pulled them upwards, dangling them twenty feet in the air like a human chandelier.
Wallace grabbed a torch and held it aloft. He stared at the three captains with revulsion, before flinging it towards the three unfortunate officers. The torch caught on their clothing, and in a moment they had been turned into one giant, screaming, swaying fireball.
Old Retainer stared at Wallace's face which was cast aglow in the night by the orange flames. "You … you've become a monster …" Horror filled his soul as he realized Miss Lewis had been right. He had been deceived.
Wallace turned to him and they locked eyes. The flames were reflected in Wallace's pupils. "Oh … you have noidea!" The Lord Protector turned to his other officers who saluted him in sheer terror. "Any other reports?" he demanded.
"We have stationed a garrison up north," one soldier admitted, struggling to drown out the screams of the three burning captains out of his mind.
"Good," Wallace replied. "If the Snow Queen so much as sneezes the wrong way – I want to know about it immediately."
"And …" the soldier continued. "A Resistance is forming."
"It was bound to happen sooner or later."
"Our spies say Cinderella and Miss Lewis are heading to the Resistance rallying point. Sir – they've built an army."
"An army?"
"Quite smaller than anything we have in the Fourth Kingdom -."
"Never underestimate your enemies, no matter how small. That is my first lesson to you all." A smile flitted across Wallace's face. "Very well. If Cinderella and Virginia Lewis want a war – they've got one! And all Nine Kingdoms will watch as I crush them under foot! No one will dare oppose me ever again!" With a sweep of his red cape, he turned and walked past the glowing fireball.
Old Retainer watched as the three captains were no longer screaming and struggling – they swayed on their chains, nothing more than a formless, charred mass now.
"Are you coming?!" Wallace's voice commanded.
Old Retainer flinched. He knew now what Wallace was capable of – what he truly was.
And now, he dared not disobey any further.
Whether out of blind obedience or outright terror – Old Retainer was still in the employ of Wallace. Whether he liked it or not.
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Wallace stormed back into his residence, Old Retainer behind him, fumbling with his fingers nervously.
"Sir … please tell me you knew something about those three captains – please tell me something that would prove that they deserved to die like that … please – tell me something to restore my faith in you!"
Wallace was not listening. He took out a key and slipped into the hole leading to his private room. "Do you know the history of the Fourth Kingdom?" he asked.
"Sir?"
"It wasn't always ruled by the Whites. Or by the Evil Stepmother. Long ago, millennia ago – this kingdom was ruled by warlords and small fiefdoms. And one warlord rose above all – unchallenged. The greatest warrior that had ever lived. They say his strength was in his armor."
"I have never heard of such a warrior, sir, but I don't understand -."
"No one knew his true name," Wallace continued as he pressed the door open. They were in the circular room with the mirrors. Wallace, however, ignored them and walked towards a tall armoire stored away at the far end of the room. "He was known simply as 'The Horned King.'"
"Please sir … I'm not comfortable … I … I really think I need to lie down … to rest my head … to clear my mind …"
Wallace grasped the handles of the armoire. "Long ago, when I re-entered the Snow Queen's employ, I hunted down weapons and armor from ages past. But this one – ah, this one I have been saving."
The Lord Protector flung open the armoire. Inside was a suit of armor with a tattered red cape … and a mask. A mask in the shape of a human skull – a mask that was a human skull. And jutting out from the sides – were twisted horns like the antlers of a buck. "Beautiful, isn't it? The original Horned King was destroyed centuries ago – his one weakness – they knew his true name. He and I share that … few know my true name …"
"Lord Wallace?"
Ignoring him, Wallace reached up and grasped the horned skull mask. He held it up. "I think it time for a second incarnation of The Horned King to arise. To lead our armies to final victory against all our enemies." He slid the mask down over his own head, the skull covering his face, the twisted horns giving Wallace a diabolical look. Old Retainer trembled as the newly masked and horned Wallace turned to face him. "Yes … it is time for The Horned King to ride again!"
