Twisted Ever After

by Celeste Thrower

  I looked over at my father, whose pale face had returned to his painful slumber. He winced in his sleep, tossing and turning as if lost in a land of nightmares. His face shone with sweat, agony wrapping around him.

  “Kill Snow,” the Queen bargained, her gaze following mine to where my father lay. “If you don’t, I will leave him here in this room to rot in pain and agony until the rest of his days.”

  My fists balled up in a ball, and rage shook me to the core. “Or I could just kill you instead.”

  She gave me a mocking laugh. “Sure, you could try. And even if you did succeed, Navena, the curses I’ve inflicted on your father and this land wouldn’t perish with my death. I have to be the one to reverse them. If I die, you’ll never have a chance to break the curse.”

  She eyed me with malice, knowing she had me right where she wanted me. She began walking toward the door.

  “You have until midnight. I’ve banished Snow into the forest behind the castle. My enchantment keeps her there, away from the palace and the townspeople.” She stopped at the threshold of the door and turned around to look at me again. “I had hoped she couldn’t survive there, but it seems she has found a way to thrive.”

  “We just hiked through the forest to get here and I saw no sign of my sister,” I argued.

  “A glamour, Navena. I was there with you as Kassandros, remember? I staged the entire thing,” she laughed.

  “How do you know Snow isn’t dead in the forest?” I muttered, eyes narrowed.

  “I have eyes everywhere, child. The beasts, the birds, and a mirror that tells me where Snow is. Find her and kill her. Bring me your sister’s heart and I will return your father’s health and the castle’s beauty at once.”

  The Queen slinked out of the room. Angry tears filled my eyes at the predicament I found myself in. I turned and looked at my father. He was so frail and sick. How could I deny him relief?

  With a heavy heart, I left the palace and headed outside. The courtyard and gate house were silent and abandoned, just waiting for me to restore the life and peace they once bustled with. It was up to me to restore serenity and health, even if it meant killing my own sister.

  The Queen’s glamour had lifted now that I knew the truth about her intentions. Her dark power finally revealed itself in the forest behind the castle, my childhood’s favorite playground and now my little sister’s prison. The twisted tree trunks were dark and gnarly, black liquid oozing from them just like the castle walls. Everything was dead, reeking of rot and mold. The ground was a sticky slush that captured my boots with each passing step. A veil of darkness enveloped the woods and beady, yellow eyes peered at me from various hiding corners. I took a breath and encouraged myself. I had the power of connecting with nature. Maybe I could help them release this dark energy and ask them to help me. Then again, magic worked wonders in favor of those who had pure intentions. What I needed the forest’s help for was not exactly pure. I needed to find Snow and kill her. I swallowed bile. I did not want to kill anyone, let alone anyone related to me, but the Queen’s words echoed in my mind.

  Or is a mother who casts her daughter away, never to see her again, the true abomination?

  As much as I knew her words were poison, meant to rile me up, I couldn’t exactly argue with them. My mother had done wrong, and now the little girl she replaced me with had a terrible fate--now sitting in my hands.

  I slushed through the mucky forest, my nose wrinkling at the stench of decay the deeper I wandered into the heart of it, and I yearned to see the seven priests. The mere thought of them brought me so much comfort. Priest Kaan, in all of his infinite wisdom, would know how to advise me. At the very least, I knew what he’d say. Killing another being was wrong, even if it meant saving my own father. I just didn’t have any other options.

  I spilled into a familiar clearing--well, what had once been a clearing. As a child I’d come here and picked the wild apples hanging from the trees growing in thick patches. All that was left of them now were a couple of decayed trees, the few apples dark and wrinkled. I approached one of the trees, saddened at the death overtaking the forest.

  Lost in my thoughts, I startled when a rustling sound echoed behind me. I turned around quickly.

  “Who is there?” I yelled. Movement behind one of the bushes betrayed the assailant’s location.“Show yourself,” I commanded. The rustling ceased and no one emerged.

  “Very well then.” I stretched out a hand in front of me, and willed my magic to cause a strong wind. The trees swayed and the underbrush scattered. That’s when I caught sight of jet black hair, a red bow, and big brown eyes behind a briar.

  “I see you, you know?” I informed her. “Come forward, Snow.”

  I expected the girl to remain back, shaking to the core at the sight of me. Instead, she rose from her hiding spot, royally and tall. She moved into the clearing, her round eyes appraising me with determination.

  I could understand the Queen’s concerns. My little sister was gorgeous. She had porcelain skin and delicate features. Unlike me, with a wide nose and small forehead, her face was the most asymmetrical perfection I’d ever seen. Her lush black hair curled lightly at the bottom, and it shone even in the shadows of the decaying forest. Snow was petite, but everything about her screamed of resilience. The Queen wasn’t lying she had survived what most wouldn’t.

  “I know who you are,” she began. “You are Navena, my sister.” Her amber eyes bore into me.

  I shifted on both feet, suddenly feeling uncomfortable hearing my name on her rosy lips.

  “Father talks about you all the time,” she continued. “It was mother’s wish after all.”

  My eyes narrowed. “Mother’s wish?”

  “She felt guilt over sending you away. She had planned on bringing you back but she died shortly after my birth. Before breathing her last, she made my father promise he’d keep your memory alive.”

  I fought against the tears rushing to my eyes. I couldn’t let emotions deter me from what I needed to do.

  “Still, it doesn’t excuse her for what she did,” I muttered angrily.

  She appraised me carefully. “I know why you’re here. To kill me, right?”

  I hesitated then decided there was no use in denying my intentions. “I don’t want to but our father...our kingdom…”

  “I know,” she replied. Her eyes shone with tears. “I am ready. Kill me.”

  Her willingness to die for our father and kingdom startled me and also made me proud.

  I reached the belt tucked under my coat, and pulled out a dagger. With one trembling hand, I brought the clenched dagger up in the air, all the while looking into Snow’s eyes. Even behind her composed and determined façade, I could see the fear snaking behind her eyes. She was about to give up her life for our father, at the tender age of fourteen years old. In that instant, as I readied my hand to rush down and cause my dagger to plunge into her heart, I wondered what kind of princess she would have grown up to be.

  Would she have remained here in the Kingdom of Sarr and ruled with her future husband? Would she have left this place and become the Queen of a different kingdom? How would she rule? With kindness and warmth? Or with an iron fist and steel determination? Although she appeared as a strong young woman, I could also tell that she was a gentle soul. My training with Priest Shamar had taught me to read people’s auras and to assess their energy. Snow’s was a brilliant white, pure and intense, and she would’ve grown up to be an excellent woman, only if she had the chance.

  My dagger dropped to the ground with a loud thump. Snow’s eyes followed the dagger to the mossy ground, surprised.

  "What are you doing?" she asked.

  "I can’t do it. I can’t kill you.”

  "But our father…"

  "Will be saved," I declared.

  I walked over to one gnarled tree and reached for one of its spoiled apples. I plucked the largest one, a plan quickly forming in my mind.

  “What’s that for?” my si
ster asked . "It’s rotten, you can not eat that. The Queen’s evil enchantment has poisoned everything in this forest."

  "I will not eat this apple," I explained.

  I glanced over my shoulder at the sister I had barely met but who had already invaded my soul with her selflessness and kindness. Yes, I had a plan, and now I had to execute it carefully.

  The Queen’s lips quivered with excitement as I extended a silver box to her. She took it eagerly with both hands, then looked down at it with glossy eyes. She savored each slow moment, as she carefully unlatched the cover and revealed the insides.

  Carefully tucked on blue velvet, waited a red, plump heart.

  Snow’s heart.

  She expelled a delighted sigh, then followed it with a delirious laugh. My stomach grew sick at her delight, disgusted how someone could rejoice over a heart ripped out of another person’s chest--especially if that person was an innocent girl.

  “I’ve fulfilled what you asked of me,” I began. “Now it’s time for you to restore the kingdom and lift my father’s sickness.”

  She inspected the heart a little while longer, pure glee and satisfaction ravaging her angular face. Finally, she tore her gaze away from it and looked at me.

  “It is only fair,” she announced with a smile. “But first tell me. Did she suffer? Did she know who you are? What were her final words?” She settled in a plush, velvet chaise, eager for my response. It only made me feel sicker that this woman yearned to savor my sister’s final moments of terror.

  “She cried,” I said, shifting uncomfortably on my feet. “She was scared.” I needed to leave this place and soon. I still had to fetch my father. Undoubtedly, if he was still the stubborn man I remembered, he wouldn’t abandon his kingdom so easily, but I needed him safe with me. We’d go to the Wildlands, where we could come up with a detailed plan on how to imprison or render the Queen powerless.

  The Queen release another joyful cackle. “Tell me more. What did she say?”

  “I’ve done what you asked, now I will go. I don’t want to recount my sister’s last moments.” I bit down on my tongue, nerves and fear filling my insides.

  She gave me a mocking laugh. “As you wish. Your pain and remorse prove her end was quite...delicious.” She looked down at the silver box resting on her lap, her fingers gently stroking it.

  “And my father?”

  “He’s well again. Take the fool with you. I have no need of him now that I’m already Queen. I just needed Snow out of the way. Now, I’m undeniably the most beautiful woman in the kingdom.”

  I turned and rushed out of her chamber, disgust and hatred for this woman mounting, but I had no time to waste. The enchantment wouldn’t hold long.

  It took a good ten minutes to rouse my father and convince him he was cured. He followed me out his chambers in a daze, unsure of what was happening, I promised I’d fill him in later, but that now we needed to run.

  We met Snow at the outskirts of the forest, on the far side of the kingdom. We were near the marshes, the path we’d take to go back home to the Wildlands. I had started to fill in the King of the Queen’s plan, and how I had deceived her by using my magic. Priest Jappot had taught me the metaphysical art of turning any subject in nature to a desired object. It took the power of Universal Creativity, the skill to morph anything that belonged to nature into something else.

  Like an apple into a heart.

  Brilliant magic, but the downside? The enchantment wouldn’t last long. The more time passed, the quicker the rotten apple would start to reveal itself, disintegrating the illusion of a human heart.

  “I’m sorry,” Father whispered as we reached the threshold of the forest and began heading toward the marshlands. “I should have come to you sooner...brought you back.”

  “It was fate,” I assured him. My father could have easily outranked my mother and refused to let me be raised in the Wildlands, but what would have happened if he did? I would have never learned the arts of magic, and right now, I’d be in bed at the brink of death, just like he and the rest of the kingdom had been. Being cast aside by my parents had been hard--often unbearable to think about. Yet, I accepted the past because it had helped me shape the future. A future where my little sister wouldn’t be sacrificed by a vain, wicked woman.

  I opened my mouth to speak, but a piercing sound infiltrated my head. I brought both hands to the sides of my head, pain and confusion throbbing in my ears.

  She knows. She is coming.

  I looked up, catching my father’s and sister’s worried gazes.

  “She knows about the heart,” I said with a ragged breath.

  “How do you know?” Snow asked.

  I didn’t have time to explain it to her, but I knew how. Priest Ghol had taught me Clairaudience, the power to hear spirits’ voices, and suddenly I understood why the man was always so grumpy. This one voice, echoing in my head over and over, was about to drive me crazy. I couldn’t imagine him hearing dozens of them incessantly. Another thing wasn’t clear: whose voice was it? It belonged to a woman, but who?

  Suddenly, a thunderous flapping sound rumbled behind us. We turned and found the Queen sitting on a black stallion, which defied the laws of nature. Infused with the Queen’s power, the horse hovered in mid air, flying toward us with two massive wings.

  “Watch out!” I shouted and motioned for my father and sister to hide.

  The Queen’s stallion stalled in the air, matching his mistress’s wicked gaze glaring at me. “You wretch! How dare you try and fool me?”

  “I couldn’t do it,” I shouted back. “If I’ve learned one thing it’s that other people’s expectations of beauty cause nothing but isolation, pain, and misery. You value the way you look on the outside so much, that you’ve cared nothing about your decaying, ugly soul. My mother shared a similar notion, and look where it led. No more. No more will vanity and selfishness win over love and integrity.”

  At that, the Queen let out a scream of rage. Her dark horse dashed toward me, descending closer and closer as she outstretched her hand.

  Believe in yourself in the way I couldn’t. Believe.

  The voice returned to my head, echoing and guiding me to act. I had to believe in myself, but how? What could I do when the Queen was more powerful than me? The Queen and her horse dashed at me again. This time I barely got out of the way and I fell to the ground. A piercing pain trickled up my leg, a sprained ankle causing me to wince.

  Injured and unable to get up, I looked up at the stallion hovering over me. His glaring red eyes were only a few feet away from me. The Queen released a screech and the horse plunged down at me, ready to finish me once and for all.

  I shut my eyes, hoping the next moments of agony would pass quickly. Except they never came. All I felt was a cool, swooshing breeze, and all I heard was the woman’s voice again.

  Now! Do it!

  My eyes snapped open and I found myself in flight. I looked down, the forest greeting me from below. I was flying. I WAS FLYING! Dark feathers covered my limber body, and long wedged talons emerged from where my toes should have been.

  I was a raven.

  I had no moment to savor or analyze this mind-blowing event, but as the Queen cast her evil gaze towards Snow, I plunged down toward her. My keen eyes zoomed in on her and as I approached closer, catching her by surprise. I pecked at her head, relentlessly. My talons scratched her face, all the while she scrambled to stay on top of the bucking stallion.

  At last, my efforts won.

  The Queen fell off the horse, which had reached the edge of the cliff. I followed the Queen’s fall, my body flying behind her as she descended into the treacherous Sea of Malag.

  She disappeared into the depths of the waters, never to be seen again. I ascended over the cliff and returned to my father and sister.

  Finally, they were free and safe.

  I returned to the Wildlands shortly after staying with my family and reconciling. I had come to know my little sister and we loved ea
ch other so much, that she had begged Father to let her come with me to the Wildlands. He obliged.

  As we returned to the Priests of Monniken and she began her training alongside me, I knew she had a special place in the world, and that although beautiful indeed, her true worth and beauty came from within. I also came to understand why the Queen’s brutal attempts to kill her had failed. Snow’s inner power showed early in the form of self-healing.

  As for myself, I had learned what my Personal Power truly was: I was a raven shifter. Of course, I had a little help discovering that power. I came to realize that my mother, the dead spirit haunting the forest, had been the voice encouraging me to believe in myself. Since that day, she’d come to speak to me many times. She asked forgiveness, gave me her full acceptance of who I was: a wild, disheveled, and soon to be declared the first Monniken Priestess taking up a new name: Feather.

  And unlike Ghol and his chattering spirits, I never grew tired of hearing her voice.

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