by Holly Hook
My skin crawled and I struggled not to wipe my skin off where he touched me. This tingle wasn't like Stilt's. It was more like tiny snakes trying to crawl under my skin. I forced myself to keep my expression neutral. King Henrik could kill me at any second. That knight standing there told me that. What kind of temper did he have? This being the dark region, it was probably a pretty quick one.
"My elf?" I asked. Play stupid, Brie.
"Your elf," he repeated, smiling again. "He thought he could change the story. But I outsmarted the story by extending my life. Do you think that I liked the way my story went before?"
I stood there, not knowing what to say.
"Well, do you think I liked being lied to over and over, and not getting the real prize I was after?"
I shook my head. My heart hammered and I took a step back. That only made Henrik grin wider.
"No one does," he said. "So I decided to capture the elf who could spin gold. He's always reborn right after you guess his true name and make him tear himself in half."
"I what?" I managed. I thought of Stilt's horror when I guessed his real name back in the inn.
"I don't blame you for ordering him to do that in all your past lives," Henrik told me. "He wanted our firstborn. I would have done the same thing. It was quite fun to watch. Oh, you didn't know about that part of the tale?"
I shook my head.
Did I really order Stilt to tear himself in half?
My stomach turned at the thought. I suppose a mother would do anything to protect her kids...but yikes. No wonder he was so nervous around me.
This time, I only told him to go away.
"I couldn't have punished him better myself," Henrik said. "Only I did punish him. I captured him when he was reborn and made him spin gold for me. When he found out my grand ambitions, he escaped. My knights searched the land for him, but when they brought him back, he wouldn't do the feat anymore. Either he had lost the ability or his will to live. Sneaky little elf, always trying to pull us mortals over the coals."
I thought of the scars again. Henrik had inflicted them. Stilt must have taken me to the other world right after his first escape but before his second capture.
"And then what did you do to him?" I asked. Anger rose in me.
Henrik smiled. His face was too sharp. Too smooth. His teeth, too perfect. What kind of magic had he used for this? "I had him whipped daily, but he wouldn't comply. And then my blind kitchen girl took pity on him and helped him escape. They have evaded me ever since."
Hope rises inside of me. Evaded Henrik. Did Stilt and Sylvia somehow escape?
"But not anymore," he said. "I have them both locked away, and unless you want something terrible to befall the two of them, you'll spin gold for me, won't you?"
I was speechless.
He had Stilt. And Sylvia.
This was how I was going to spin the last of his gold for him.
"Now that Semsi Mountain has been located, I only need a few more rooms of gold to gain the power I need to extend my reign over all of Fable," Henrik said. His power radiated off him and I could feel it from here. It was cold and sharp and dark. "You can do that for me. Your friends will live, too, and we'll enjoy a long, eternal life together. I'm almost immortal, Brie, and soon I will share this with you, too. We will live together for the rest of time, ruling over this world. I have set the wedding for three days from now."
Revulsion rose up inside me and my skin tightened at the thought of Henrik touching me, kissing me. This man didn't love me. He only loved what I could do. I was another piece of treasure to him and nothing more.
Henrik backed towards the door. "We will move you to the spinning room shortly," he told me. "This is not a proper place for my past and future Queen."
And then he closed the door, leaving me alone.
* * * * *
Thirty minutes later, the dungeon door came open again and instead of Henrik, a young girl stood there, clothed in a blue dress and an apron. She managed a smile at me, but underneath it was sadness, a deep sadness that matched the color of her dress.
“I’m Lavine,” she told me. “I’m a serving girl for Henrik." She nodded to me. “Come with me. I’m supposed to take you to the spinning room.”
I searched behind her. No guards. No anything. This girl had been sent alone, and I knew why. Henrik didn’t need guards to keep me here. He had Stilt and Sylvia somewhere and that was enough.
“Hurry,” she said. “The knights are waiting at the end of the hall.”
Scratch that. They were here after all. I could tell from the way Lavine was glancing out of the corner of her eye. Maybe she’d been sent to fetch me on penalty of death, the same way I was supposed to open my front door on penalty of death.
She motioned me out of the dungeon and I followed. The air got better as soon as I stepped out. Fresher. Less musty. I could still feel the dread pulsing through my gut from the dark region, but I was getting used to it now and it was turning into background noise. I scanned the hallway as soon as I was out, standing next to Lavine. She was right. A knight stood at each end, sword in hand. One of them still had muddy claw marks on the front of his armor. It was the one who had been attacked by my neighbor’s dog.
His grip tightened on the jeweled hilt of his sword. “Do not try anything, young maiden.”
I gulped. This wasn’t my chance to make a break for it after all. There were three other dungeon doors here, but no hands poked out of them. There was also an alcove that led to what might be a wine cellar. I caught a glimpse of several ancient bottles on shelves amidst cobwebs, but nothing else. If Stilt and Sylvia were here, they weren't saying anything.
“This way,” Lavine said, her voice soft.
She walked to one end of the hall and to a set of stone steps. I followed her, keeping as far from the knight as I could. Thankfully, this wasn’t the one with the claw marks. Lavine kept her gaze on the floor as she walked. She feared these men. She feared Henrik. I had better go along with her, for her sake.
We ascended the steps and my heart hammered. “Is there a way out of here?” I whispered as soon as we'd left the knights behind.
“Don’t ask me about that,” she said. Lavine faced me, her eyes big with terror. “If I discuss it with you, Henrik will have us both beheaded. Well, me. I don’t think he wants to do away with you. I’m just the serving girl. He can get another one.”
Guilt bubbled up inside me. Lavine seemed only a couple of years older than me, too. Too young to die. Too young to have her life taken from her, even if it was a miserable one working for Henrik. The steps spiraled upward and opened up into a landing. A third knight stood there, and I made sure not to make any eye contact. I kept my gaze on Lavine’s twin braids.
We came onto the next level of the castle, to a much wider hall, and dull light streamed in through stained glass windows. I managed to catch the images in the stained glass. Wolves, with glowing red eyes. Ravens or crows, flying through red skies and over a dark landscape. This was the dark region, all right. The light coming in turned the floor red in places. I felt as if we were walking through pools of glowing blood. I stepped around the red light and followed Lavine through. A glance out the window revealed that we were level with the courtyard. The apple tree looked like a huge monster with round red sores hanging from it. Did trees come to life in any fairytales? There were many that I had never heard of. I watched the cobblestone on the floor instead.
"This way," Lavine said. She opened another door, one on the same side of the hallway as the courtyard. The smell of straw wafted out and my stomach tied in knots.
I stood in the doorway of the room.
It was huge. There were stacks of yellow straw heaped high wall to wall. The smell got overwhelming and I coughed. There was nothing but a small barred window on the far side of the room, overlooking the tree, and once I got shut in here, there was no way out.
I didn't dare face Lavine, in case someone was watching.
"How do I
get out of this castle?" I hissed.
She paused and for a second I thought she was going to shove me in and lock the door. But then she whispered, "You don't. There are too many knights guarding this place. And ravens. And wolves. You'd never make it outside the gates and if you did, you wouldn't get very far."
My hope shriveled like a week old balloon. I'd seen the knights. I didn't want to meet the ravens or wolves. If I didn't know that Sylvia had gotten her eyes pecked out by cute songbirds, I'd guess it was them who did the deed.
"Get in," Lavine said. "I'm sorry. I can't help you."
She sounded sorry, too. "Are you trapped here too?"
"Get in," she repeated. She was pleading more than anything. Could I get an ally here?
"Maybe I can help you," I said, checking up and down the hall to make sure it was empty. I knew the knights were standing just out of sight. There was no way they'd let someone as valuable as me go. "You can walk around the castle, at least."
Lavine paused for a second, then repeated, "Get in. You have to spin this gold by tomorrow morning, or Henrik's going to kill the girl that you came in with."
Terror rose up in my stomach and my legs carried me into the room.
He was going to kill Sylvia, right after she'd gotten her vision back.
He couldn't. I wouldn't let him.
Lavine closed the door behind me. It squeaked shut and remained shut. A lock clicked. She must have a key that I didn't see.
"Lavine!" I managed. But I knew she wouldn't open the door again, not if she valued her life. She was right. Henrik could kidnap another girl and make her do the dirty work around here. There were plenty in Fable. Lots of single peasant girls and guys, even. Anyone could do the serving around here. But me? I had a special job.
I stood there for a second, looking out the bars at the sky outside. It was gray, but not due to any clouds floating through the sky. The sky was just...gray and dark like a thunderstorm was approaching, but I smelled no rain in the air. Maybe the sun never shined here. Not now and not ever. This was the place Henrik wanted me to spend eternity. The place where he wanted me to remain with him forever. Could be really make me immortal, like him?
Could Henrik even be killed?
Then I faced the giant piles of straw in here.
They were stacked to the ceiling in some places. I could flop down on some of these piles and go to sleep. But if I did, Sylvia went to the chopping block. I wondered if Henrik did his executions out there under that scary apple tree.
I peeked out of the bars. A few ravens settled on top of it, but none of them dared pick at the fruit. Two knights with crossbows stood above the courtyard on a walkway. That wasn't something I wanted to mess with. I took my iPod out of my pocket and set it down on the windowsill, then stuffed it back in my pocket again. I was putting this off. I needed to get to work if Sylvia was going to survive tomorrow morning. And what about Stilt? How easy were elves to kill?
Stilt was so nice when I met him. At least, he was in the light region.
I had to get this straw spun. If my story was right, I had three nights. Three nights to think of something and get out of this bind. After this, Henrik would have me moved to another room, and another after that. It should play out that way, at least.
But after the third night, he'd marry me.
And permanently, this time.
For the first time, I noticed the spinning wheel sitting in the middle of the room, in a spot that was clear of straw. A stool sat next to it. As I stared, the needle glowed with a faint gold light, as if it were begging me to use it.
I backed away. I knew I had seen this thing before, in all my past lives. My chest hurt and I stared at the spinning wheel for a long time.
It used to be the impossible key to my escape. Now it was my prison cell.
I had to do it.
I approached the wheel. My hands tingled the closer I got, ready to work. I hated this. Hated this with every fiber of my being.
But I had no choice.
I would think, then. Think of a way out while I did this. I had never used a spinning wheel before, but I knew that once I touched it, I would know how. I always did. Stilt must have had the same ability at one point, before all this got messed up somehow. How many times in the past did he come in here and save me from death?
Now I had to save him.
I grabbed a handful of the straw and the burning in my hands got stronger. I approached the wheel. Slammed the stool down on the floor next to it and checked the door. Maybe Stilt would come in here. It was in the story, after all—couldn’t he do it? But I knew what else was in the story, too. King Henrik walking in at dawn and demanding to see all the gold. He’d stick with that part. Even with my ability, I had to get a move on. He would freak if he saw one piece of straw lying here on the floor, and there was a lot of it here.
I stuffed as much of the straw in the wheel as I could and began to work.
I had no idea how I was operating the thing, but the wheel spun, the needle flashed with the familiar light, and a golden thread came out on the other end.
I worked. And worked. My hands became numb to the heat and the tingling after a while. The golden thread piled up on the floor on the other side of the wheel and the pile grew higher and higher. There were no coins. No bracelets and no medallions. Just thread. Fable probably wouldn’t allow anything else, or the wheel wouldn’t.
All I could think about as I spun was Sylvia’s new eyes and most of all, Stilt’s scars. The ones he tried to hide.
The ones that Henrik gave him.
* * * * *
The light vanished outside as I continued to work. Night was falling and through the little barred window, I could hear wolves howling. Their howls were close, too, a lot closer than I liked. I felt trapped in some horror movie.
My hands ached. I had to stand up.
I’d gotten halfway through the straw around me. If I kept going at the same speed, I would finish by time the King came to check on this. Golden thread lay in piles all over the place, sparkling in the dim light overhead. I looked up. Nothing had come to me during my hours of work. All I had managed to do was push away the thoughts of Henrik for a while. Him trying to kiss me. Having his kid. Whatever happened to his—or our—child, anyway? Shouldn’t they still be alive? I only died seventeen years ago. My offspring should still be around.
Or had Henrik killed them, thinking they’d take the throne?
I walked up to the barred window and peeked out. The ravens were mere shadows perched on top of the tree now, keeping guard. None of them touched the apples. The branches stayed as heavy as ever. Not one apple had fallen onto the ground and the poor tree sagged with the weight.
Something was up with that tree.
Just then, the door swung open.
I whirled around, relived to see Lavine standing there, still in her blue and white dress. What kind of hours did she work here, anyway? She held a silver tray with a lid on top. Food. My stomach roared. I hadn’t eaten since that bread yesterday. Or was it the day before? I couldn’t tell anymore. I’d been knocked out for quite a while.
“Here’s your dinner,” she told me. Then she stopped and eyed the golden thread on the floor. “So…it’s true.”
“Yes,” I said. “Aren’t I lucky?”
Lavine stepped around the thread. “King Henrik said it was time for you to eat. He doesn’t want your magic drying up before you’re done in here.”
I mulled over the words. My magic. That was my value.
“I’m glad he was nice enough to think of my welfare,” I said. I had to get out of here. Find a way to get Stilt and Sylvia and even Lavine and get us out of dodge. “Lavine. Where did you come from?”
She took a long time to set the tray down.
“Huh?”
“Where did you come from? I have the feeling it’s not here.”
Lavine frowned. “A village not too far from here,” she said. “It was on the border of the lighter regi
on. I was the King’s daughter there.”
“How many Kings are here?” I asked.
“Many,” she told me. “Each town has a King. Where have you been all your life?”
“It’s a long story,” I said. I had to catch Lavine while she was here. It wasn’t like I could ask for her number.
Lavine sighed. “I had to escape from my father. After my mother died, he…took a liking to me because I look just like her. I ran away.”
My stomach turned. I couldn't think of anything to say to her.
“I wound up here,” she said. “Henrik has no idea where I’m really from and I thought for a while that he might take a fancy to me as I’ve cooked him the best food he’s ever had, but he seemed too preoccupied with something else.” I couldn't tell if she was disappointed about that or not. For her sake, I hoped not. “Now I know what he really wanted. I was afraid I would have to run away again.” Lavine takes a step back. “I need to get back to the kitchen. The knights want their meals.”
“Wait,” I said. “What if I don’t want to marry Henrik?”
“You must,” she said. “He has decreed it. I’m sorry.”
“What happened to his child? Our kid?” I had to know.
“I’m not allowed to talk about it.” She went for the door. “Eat. You’ll need it. And by the way, you ordered Stilt not to speak to you. You might want to reverse that.”
And then she was gone, closing the door behind her.
I should have run for it. Should have overpowered her and bolted out that door. At least then, I might have had a tiny chance at getting away. It would be miniscule, but a chance. It was better than standing in here, waiting for fate to determine the rest of my life.
I kicked at the golden thread. It slid across the stone floor in a big, heavy pile and bumped into the platter of food. Maybe it was poison.
“Umph!"
I jumped. The voice was muffled, like someone trapped under the floor. And it sounded like Stilt. Inside the platter.
“Hello?” I asked.
No response. Then I remembered how Stilt wouldn't talk to me when I saw him last. I'd told him not to talk to me back at the inn. The order was still standing.