Snow nodded her response, but I don’t think the prince saw it. “Rhoslyn, I must insist that you wait for me in your room. I will leave for the castle as soon as I have my clothing on.”
Snow looked like she wanted to argue, but she did as she was told with an expression that said she’d be making every effort to talk her prince out of this just as soon as he finished dressing. I hoped for Snow’s sake that the prince didn’t get himself killed—what he was going to do was extremely dangerous, but I wasn’t certain I could stop him. I was filled with a cold rage on Snow’s behalf that made me feel chilled down to my bones, and I would have very much liked to be the one to defeat our sister’s antagonist, but I still held the position that leaving now would be an incredibly foolish thing to do.
I gave what I hoped was a silent sigh, then moved between the prince and the brothers, who were trying to hand him his clothing. “I can’t, in good conscience, let you leave tonight. The woods are dangerous enough after dark, to say nothing of the storm. Your clothing is still wet, you have no provisions, and you would be making the trip on foot. If I let you leave now, I’m sure you’ll die.”
The prince gave me a glare that nearly made me shrink back in spite of myself. In a tone that was almost a growl, he said, “I am not about to die, and I will find my men with their mounts and provisions before I leave for the castle. Move aside.” He stood up to glower down at me, hitting his head on the rafters and then trying to pretend as if his movement had been as graceful as he intended.
I admit that I found him much more intimidating at his full height, and his expression was terrible. “Wait until daylight,” I replied, finding myself faltering slightly, and wishing I had my staff in hand—I wouldn’t actually use it on the prince, but holding it would make me feel better. “You have to think about Snow,” I added quickly when he took a step forward as if to push me to one side if I still resisted. “Even if nothing happens to you, she’ll be worried sick to know you’re out in that rain.” His expression softened some, so I went on. “Knowing her, she might even try to follow you in that mess, and we can’t have that.”
The prince stared at me for a long moment, then he slumped back into the chair with a weary sigh. “All right, small man. I’ll wait until daylight, but then I’m leaving, rain or not, and you had better not try to stop me or I swear I’ll pound every last one of you, if that’s what it takes to get out.”
Feeling more relaxed now that I knew the man wasn’t going to get himself killed that night, I said, “I won’t do anything of the kind. I want the witch punished at least as badly as you do, and I’ll be joining you with several of my brothers. We’ll be ready by dawn.” Or, at least, I certainly hoped so—if the prince happened to wake up before us, I was positive he’d leave by himself, and I was worried that he’d try to slay the queen in her own castle without any plan whatsoever.
The prince gave me an incredulous look. “You will be staying behind with Snow. As well-intended as you small men may be, you’d become a liability in battle.” That was a grievous insult, to say the least. The prince seemed to assume that our size left us no more capable than children.
My brothers started to express their anger all at once. While I didn’t say anything, I felt frustration building in my stomach, and I found it very hard to keep my temper contained. Without bothering to whistle to quiet my family, I pushed my way over to the fireplace, grabbed the poker, then circled around to stand next to Jeffrey. He wasn’t shouting, but his face was red, and when I handed him the poker, he seemed to understand at once. He easily pushed himself into position in front of the prince, took the poker in both hands, then bent it until it was in half, with only a few moments of exertion.
Everyone, realizing that Jeffrey had made all the argument that was needed, fell silent, and the prince stood there with his mouth hanging open. I couldn’t help but smirk at the man’s shocked expression. I thought it served him right for the way he had dismissed us.
After a long moment, the prince’s face slowly split into a wide grin as he looked around the room. “Are all of you that strong?”
“No,” Cedric replied, looking smug, “but Keaton and I come close, and most of us are capable fighters. Had to learn to use the staff really well to avoid getting ourselves robbed on our way back from town.”
The prince grinned. “Goodness, I already have a small army. Between you and my men, we might even be able to fight our way into the castle, if it comes down to that.” He sounded giddy. “Of course, I’ll have to leave a few men behind with Rhoslyn—it wouldn’t be safe to leave her by herself.”
I expected my brothers to start arguing about who would stay and who would go, but they didn’t. I suppose that they realized the decision was self-evident—neither Darren nor Landon had the staff skills to defend themselves, let alone contribute to a battle. “Two of us will stay with her,” I told him.
The prince nodded. “Excellent. That leaves Snow with enough protection, without badly hurting our numbers.” He blinked a couple of times. “We’re about to ride off into battle, and we haven’t even had proper introductions. My name is Audric, and I am the third son of King Channing of the country of Birkitt.”
We each made a brief introduction, during which the prince looked at us with an expression of deep focus. “Who were your parents?” he asked. “The way you talk makes you sound as if you’ve had some education, but I don’t see how that is possible, removed from any town as you are.”
“Both our father and our mother came from wealthy families, but chose to move out here,” I explained, choosing not to go into the finer details of our history. I didn’t particularly want to discuss the way our mother had been treated before Father married her.
Audric looked confused. “Why would they do that? All the wealthy I know of prefer to live in the heart of the larger cities, where they have access to the best shops and services.”
I was saved from having to answer by Snow, who had come out of her room when I wasn’t paying attention. She interrupted the conversion by shoving her slate into Audric’s hands. On it was a detailed picture of a castle I didn’t recognize.
The man’s face went soft, almost tearful. He reached up to take Snow’s hand. “My princess, I can understand why you would want to come home with me to my father’s castle rather than allowing me to take on this dangerous battle, but I must go. I won’t have you mute and unable to love for one day longer than it takes me to ride to Vulpine’s castle, and I’m certain that killing her is the only way to break this curse. Besides that, what kind of prince would I be if I knowingly allowed an evil sorceress to stay on the throne?”
Snow grimaced, then stared down at the floor, as if reluctantly admitting that Audric was right. When she looked up again, her eyes were swimming, and with that she rushed back into her room, probably to cry. I wanted to comfort her, but what could I do? Anything I could say or do might seem like an intrusion rather than a help.
Audric stared after her, his expression worried. “I hope she’ll be all right until I return. I don’t want her to be miserable for the full two days this will take us.”
“We’ll take care of her,” Darren said brightly, as if not realizing the extent of what was going on. “If we’re both really nice to her, maybe she won’t fret as much.”
Audric gave a long, quiet sigh. “I hope you’re right, young one.”
No one said anything for a few moments. “It’s late. We should all be asleep if we want to be prepared by dawn,” I stated, hoping that the shift in focus would be enough to lift some of the gloom that had settled over us. This inactivity was difficult, to say the least. I found that I wanted to march right out into the storm the same way the prince nearly had to find and defeat the witch.
My brothers agreed that going to bed was the best plan, even though none of them seemed drowsy, and I was sure that they’d rather stay up and ask the prince more questions. We made Audric as comfortable as we could in his armchair, then we each dragged our
hay bags and blankets into whichever space they would fit. The man stared at us as if he couldn’t believe we would actually go to sleep on such things, but he didn’t comment.
I didn’t fall asleep right away, what with my uncertainties, and as I tossed and turned a while, glancing around the room occasionally, I could see that Audric’s eyes never closed. He sat there, staring into the fireplace with a troubled expression, until sometime after I feel asleep.
Chapter Six
I woke up early, spurred awake by thoughts of my imminent journey and battle. Before my eyes were even open, I wondered just how we were going to take the queen down, and if we’d somehow manage to come up with a firm plan before we arrived at the castle. How to defeat a cruel enchantress seemed like an impossible problem to solve, and my stomach sank when I realized that it was plausible that not all of us would be coming home from this struggle.
I sat up with a jerk, then stumbled to my feet as quickly as I could force myself, vision still blurry from sleep. I had to do something to prepare immediately or I just might drive myself insane with all the doubts.
I looked over at the armchair, and I was glad to see that Audric was still asleep and hadn’t already left.
I walked over to a set of shutters and opened them, and for a moment I thought that I had made a mistake and it was still night, but I could see just a little light on the horizon. I noted that there weren’t many clouds, and I was very glad the weather had turned, even if it was still wet and muddy.
I went about gathering things we would need to take with us, which didn’t take me long at all, then I started to wake my brothers, starting with Godwin, because I was hoping his chatter would keep me better distracted than my brief chore had.
Before long, every brother was awake and getting dressed, although most looked bleary. The prince was awakened by accident when Jeffrey lost his balance while pulling his boot on and landed in Audric’s lap, which, of course, gave the prince a start.
Minutes later, everyone was fully dressed and ready to leave, most of us carrying bags, and everyone standing in solemn silence. Audric looked around with grim satisfaction. “I suppose I should wake Rhoslyn and say my goodbyes.” He walked up to her bedroom door and gave it a firm knocking, which for some reason caused it to swing wide open. The prince, looking confused, walked in, and a moment later we heard him exclaim, “Rhoslyn!”
We all rushed to see what was going on as he ran out of the room, causing him to bump into me and a couple of my brothers. Without waiting until he had caught his balance, Audric shouted, “She’s not here!”
Without one more word, we all hastened to search in her favorite places around and near the cottage, and when we didn’t immediately find her, we all become more frantic, searching and re-searching everywhere we could think of, sometimes accidentally pushing each other over in our blind panic. I felt as if I was experiencing a nightmare. Snow was missing. Anything could have happened to her.
After a time, I gathered with my brothers near our front steps, all of them talking at once, and I found myself whistling to quiet them, even though I had no idea what to say. It was clear that something must be done, and quickly, but what was it?
The prince came rushing to join our group from behind the house and said so breathlessly that I almost couldn’t understand him, “Is she lost in the woods?”
I shook my head. “No. She knows this area.” There was no way Snow had gotten lost—she knew the mile directly around our house extremely well.
Audric’s face turned red and his expression became livid. “The queen must have somehow stolen her away. There is no other explanation.”
Several of my brothers gave outraged sounds, but I wasn’t convinced. This was strange and frightening, but that wasn’t enough of a reason to believe that magic had done it. “Couldn’t she have left on her own? Or maybe she’s hiding because she’s upset?” Of course, I wasn’t thinking anywhere near that reasonably while I was actually searching for her—I was so afraid for her that anything seemed possible.
Audric frowned. “No. Why would Rhoslyn run away again when I now know about her curse? As for hiding, she would have heard one or more of us calling, and she would not be so inconsiderate as to leave us worried.”
I thought about that, which was difficult because my brothers were all giving their opinions at once. It did seem unlike Snow to do something like this, and I knew she wouldn’t leave unless there was a very good reason. But what would that reason be? None of this made sense.
“I haven’t seen any footprints.” Keaton asserted anxiously, talking loudly to be heard. “In mud like this, we should easily be able to tell where she has gone.”
Feeling struck, I blinked rapidly a few times. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen any Snow-shaped footprints in all the places I had looked. Did that mean Snow never walked out of the house? My brothers quieted as if they were also considering this.
Audric’s eyes flashed. “There’s not a moment to lose! We shall break into groups of two and start combing the forest to find my men. We meet back here in two hours, and if no one has found them by then, we leave for the castle of Queen Vulpine on foot!”
No one had any particular objection to that plan, and after only a few moments to discuss which group should take which part of the forest, and where we would be most likely to find Audric’s entourage, we all went hiking. I was with Godwin, and we searched very efficiently, but much to my disappointment, Audric’s men were nowhere to be found. I was more than a little concerned when we came back to the house and saw that everyone was looking either somber or frustrated.
“We found the campsite they must have used last night,” Keaton reported, “But they aren’t there now. I know which way they’re going, but it’s doubtful we can catch them. They are all on horses.”
I groaned and rubbed a hand over my face. We needed those mounts if we hoped to get to Snow quickly, and I feared what could have happened to her already. I didn’t know why the queen would have stolen Snow back now after leaving her alone for so long, but I was positive that Vulpine had some sinister, vengeful motive.
“Grab your bags! We leave at once!” Audric ordered, rushing back inside, tracking mud into the house as he did so. My brothers moved to follow him, but I stopped Landon and Darren as they passed me. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Darren glared at me defiantly. “We’re going to save Snow.”
“You can’t expect us to sit at home now,” Landon added. “The wait would kill us.”
I gave a sigh. As much as I wanted to keep those two out of the way, they were right – it would be unkind of me to insist they stay behind this time. “Darren, get your slingshot, and Landon, if you’re able to use any kind of weapon, bring it.”
They looked a little surprised, as if they were expecting more of an argument, but they rushed off without another word, Darren for the “secret” place where he kept his slingshot and other things that were important to him, and Landon for the wood-chopping log.
Less than two minutes later, we had left the house, striding at a frantic pace, and throughout the entire journey, we barely slowed down. I suspect we passed out more than fell asleep, we ate provisions as we walked, and none of us would complain of being tired unless our aching feet became unbearable.
We reached the capital in far less time than it would have normally taken us—we made the three-day journey in one and a half—but it wasn’t anywhere near fast enough for us. We were all very anxious for Snow, and I knew we could not be at peace until we found her.
Chapter Seven
By the time we reached the capital city, we were hungry from barely eating, exhausted from our very long walk, and sleep-deprived from our worries about Snow, but we didn’t stop to rest. Audric left our provisions at the base of a tree near the castle, none of us caring if our things got stolen during our struggle, and then we went marching up to the castle as the guards, who were each holding a javelin, eyed us suspiciously. Audric b
oldly placed himself in front of one of the two men at the door. “I demand an immediate audience with Queen Vulpine.”
The guards scowled in return. “Her Majesty has commanded that no one sees her,” the one on the left replied stiffly. “You may leave.”
Audric’s hand went to the hilt of his sword, but he didn’t draw it. “Surely you misunderstand. I am Prince Audric, third son of King Channing of Birkitt, and I have requested an audience.”
I adjusted my grip on my staff, sure a battle was about to begin.
The guards started to look nervous, but they didn’t move. “No one is to see Her Majesty,” the left guard repeated.
Audric drew his sword and easily disarmed both guards, taking controlled swipes that only inflicted as much injury as he needed to get the men out of his way. I could hear someone unseen blow a whistle, and moments later, a large group of guards came rushing out to meet us. Audric took out no fewer than about six of them before one managed to get past him and take a jab at me. I deflected it, spun my staff, and knocked the javelin out of his hands, then hit the back of his knees to topple him. I was immediately met with another man, but he wasn’t defeated as easily. I was just beginning to struggle when Landon rushed forward with his axe, and with surprising skill, helped me take the man down.
More guards came streaming out of the castle, and from what I could see, every last one of my brothers were engaged in the battle now. Everything around us erupted in chaos. Javelins from the guards and stones from Darren flew in every which direction. Guards kept falling, and after a time, I heard Audric order, “Into the castle!”
We pressed forward, sometimes defeating guards easily and sometimes struggling. Audric, at the front of our group, took down more enemies than I would have thought possible for one man. His sword never stopped moving, attacking and defending in fluid motions, and for a long time, he didn’t seem to tire. When he did finally slow down, he was still so skilled that no adversary stood a chance.
A Poisoned Apple Page 6