‘Your death will be swift,’ the prince says, raising his sword.
Blood splatters as Bianca brings the sharpest edge of her blade down on his tail, severing it from his body. He hisses and spins on her, hilt of his sword smacking into Scotty’s head and knocking him to the ground. She briefly sees blood splatter across Scotty’s face and then her eyes are ripped away as the prince reaches out with his hands and grasps her face with his sharp talons. They cut into her skin, leaving welts in her cheeks as he slides his hand – more of a claw, now, really – down to her neck and squeezes. Her vision blurs. She hurts all over and now she can’t breathe to top it off. Her hands shake as they grasp the hilt of her sword like a lifeline. ‘I’m done playing,’ he snarls.
‘So am I,’ she whispers. She lifts her sword and slides it straight into his gut, right before she blacks out.
Twenty-Two
‘Bianca! Bianca, it’s over. Bianca. Bianca!’ Soft hands are poking and slapping at her face. ‘Wake up, for crying out loud! Now is not the time to take a nap!’ The hands get more persistent and Bianca becomes aware of the fact she’s in pain all over her body. Her back burns, her shoulder throbs and the rest of her... god, the rest of her just makes her want to curl up in a ball and die.
‘Sit up. Sit up,’ Daisy hisses. Hands push at her shoulder, painfully, as they manhandle her into a sitting position. Her eyes are still closed and her neck is killing her. Her eyelids refuse to budge. They just stay closed no matter how much she wills them to open.
‘Bianca, open your eyes.’ Still nothing. ‘Fine, don’t then. Just sit there and be still.’ There’s something behind her, pushed against her back; big, heavy and sturdy, taking all her weight and keeping her upright. She wonders if it’s Scotty.
Scotty. Blood. Prince. He fell down. Her eyes open a little. ‘Scotty,’ she mumbles.
‘Don’t worry about him, we need to get you patched up.’ Something’s pushed against Bianca’s shoulder. Her bra strap hangs down by her elbow and she can feel the strap of her tank top resting against her upper arm. Something soft and oh so very painful pushes against the wound again.
‘No, no, bu’ Scotty...’ Her eyes still won’t open and she can barely move. She wants to find him, but she can’t even see yet.
‘Just sit back and let me look after you,’ Daisy snaps.
Bianca drops back against the sturdy weight and inhales. Her throat burns. ‘Where’s Alexandra?’ Even speech hurts. Why didn’t she notice that sooner?
‘Just stop talking. I know it goes against your nature but shut up,’ Daisy warns.
‘Why?’ Bianca says, woozily. ‘Wha’s goin’ on?’
‘Promise not to freak out,’ Daisy says, carefully.
‘Why’d I freak out?’ Her eyes open a little. They’re not outside anymore; they’re in a stone room, she thinks. She blinks, blearily, but she can’t see properly yet.
‘We’re in jail.’
Her eyes focus, finally, and she recognises the distinct shape of bars up ahead. ‘What?’ she murmurs. She sits up a bit. ‘How?’
‘Well, we did kill Alexandra’s so-called fiancé... and we killed a lot of guards. And Cory kidnapped Alexandra.’
‘Cory’s here?’
‘No.’ Daisy shakes her head and finishes tying the bandage to Bianca’s shoulder. She realises there’s already one on her back, absorbing the blood from her wound. Finally, the world is coming back to her and with it, even more pain.
‘Ow,’ she complains. ‘Swords hurt.’
‘Do me a favour?’ Daisy says, after a moment, washing the bandages out in a bowl nearby. ‘Next time you fall in love with a princess; kiss her while you have the chance and save us all a lot of pain and trouble.’
For the first time, Bianca notices Daisy has a bruise around her eye and another couple on her arms, not to mention a cut on her hand and what look like rope burns around her wrists. ‘Sorry,’ she mumbles.
‘It’s fine.’ She squeezes the water out of the bandages.
‘They’re right this way, Princess.’
Bianca scrambles instantly to her feet at the sound of the guard’s voice, ignoring the pain shooting through her back. The guard comes to the bars, followed by Alexandra and Cory. Alexandra is dressed in a lemon gown in several layers, obviously having changed since Cory kidnapped her. She walks straight across to the bars and grasps them. ‘You killed the prince,’ she says. ‘But you protected me. Why?’
Bianca walks across and meets her at the bars. She puts her hands around the cold pieces of iron, an inch above Alexandra’s. ‘You don’t remember?’ she says. ‘Us?’
‘What is there to remember?’ Alexandra enquires. ‘You had your friend kidnap me so you could slaughter my husband-to-be in cold blood!’
‘You don’t love him,’ Bianca whispers through the bars. ‘You never loved him. You love me.’
Alexandra tilts her head. ‘I believe you are mistaken,’ she says, simply. ‘My destiny is to meet and marry my Prince Charming. It was prophesised and written long before I was even born. We have known of this for centuries.’
‘Then, if it’s destiny,’ Bianca says, ‘why is he dead?’
‘Because you altered the course of events.’ Alexandra shakes her head. ‘You changed everything for me. You ruined my life.’
Bianca slides her hands upwards and moves them over Alexandra’s. The blonde gives her a shocked, wide-eyed look, but doesn’t move. ‘We are meant to be together,’ Bianca says, quietly. She keeps her eyes on Alexandra’s. ‘I am your Prince Charming. I killed Prince Michael because of his plans for you: to marry you, to impregnate you and then to end your life once your child was born.’ She pauses, realising she’s almost talking like Alexandra now.
‘Don’t you remember? You came through the hole in the wall with me. I rescued you. We went to school together; you lived in my room. You slept in my bed. I snuck food parcels upstairs and we danced to music when I should have been doing homework. I got you drunk at Cory’s party.’ She gestures at Cory. ‘And we argued. You asked why if I wasn’t your Prince Charming Cory couldn’t be instead and I couldn’t answer. But I know why now.’
‘Why?’ Alexandra whispers.
‘Because I am your Prince Charming. And he’s hers.’ She points at Cory and Daisy, kissing through the bars. ‘I love you. I. Love. You. Could Prince Charming say that? Did he say that to you even once? Did you say it to him?’
‘No,’ she whispers.
‘No,’ Bianca agrees. ‘And maybe I’m not a Prince or a Princess. Maybe I’m just a girl from the other world who’s in love with a princess but... but I do love you. What you felt for the prince... it was a spell, Alexandra. He altered your memories and screwed us both over but he’s gone now. Now there’s just you and me.’
‘I don’t remember,’ Alexandra whispers.
For a moment, silence descends. Bianca stands there, leaning against the bars with her hands over Alexandra’s, fingertips resting against the cool metal. And then she hears it; a steady beat coming from the pocket of Alexandra’s dress. ‘What’s that?’
‘Your... music device.’ She pulls her hands away from the bars and Bianca mourns the loss as she reaches down and retrieves it from the pocket, holding it up by the earphones. ‘I didn’t know how to turn it off.’
‘I taught you, remember?’ Bianca says. ‘But don’t turn it off yet.’ She reaches through the bars for the earphones and pops the left one into place. She breaks out in a grin when the familiar song reaches her ears. ‘Listen!’
Alexandra follows suit with the right earphone. ‘Uptown Girl!’ she exclaims. Her eyes widen. ‘Uptown Girl... Isn’t this our song?’
‘Yeah!’ Bianca says, with a grin. ‘It’s quite appropriate, I always thought. You’re the Uptown Girl.’ She smiles. ‘Do you remember now?’
‘Vaguely.’ Alexandra looks at Bianca, blue-green eyes focussing on blue ones. ‘We danced in your bedroom and I wanted to kiss you so badly...’
Bian
ca smiles. ‘Yeah,’ she says. John Barrowman’s voice and his accompanying chorus sing in her ear as she reaches out for Alexandra’s hand. Their fingers link through the bars and she smiles. ‘You remember?’
‘You let me leave but then... then you chased after me... You said... you said there’s a hole in the world without me in it?’ Bianca nods, slowly. ‘But that’s wrong,’ Alexandra says, shaking her head. ‘The hole isn’t filled by me; it’s filled by you. And you... when you’re not here... you leave it empty...’
‘Yeah.’ Bianca reaches out with her other hand and strokes the side of Alexandra’s face, pushing her blonde hair behind her ear. ‘That’s how I feel too. About you.’
Alexandra steps back, suddenly, leaving Bianca’s hands cold and lonely without somewhere to touch or stroke. She backs more towards the wall then looks to her left. ‘Guard!’ she shouts. ‘Release these prisoners immediately. They did nothing wrong by me.’
The guard comes over to the cell, keys rattling, muttering something about releasing dangerous criminals not being a good idea. He pushes the key into the lock and twists. The door swings open and instantly Cory is inside, arms around Daisy, lips attached to hers as they stumble backwards into the corner of the room.
‘My friend...’ Bianca says to the guard. ‘Scotty: blonde, green eyes... Where is he?’
‘Hospital,’ the guard grunts. ‘Being treated. You can see him now, if you like.’
‘Come with me,’ Alexandra says, taking Bianca’s hand. ‘I’ll take you to him.’
*
‘Hey! You’re not in jail anymore!’ Scotty exclaims when Bianca walks into the room and runs across to hug him. ‘And you brought Princess Change-a-Lot with you!’ He moves his head to one side, looking around Bianca’s head at the blonde. ‘Do you remember who you actually love now?’
‘I believe so, yes,’ Alexandra says, softly.
Bianca moves back from Scotty and drops down to a crouch beside his bed. ‘You okay?’ she asks. ‘You’re being treated well, right? They’re not going to drill a hole in your skull and empty out the gooey stuff to heal you, are they?’
‘I’m fine,’ Scotty tells her, with a smile. ‘Where are Cory and Daisy?’
‘Defiling a jail cell, I think,’ Bianca says.
‘Fair enough. They deserve it.’ He sighs. ‘Daisy saved my life. I was lying there, watching the prince strangling you, unable to help, and Daisy came out of nowhere and kept me awake until the nurses could get to me. They work wonders in this place. The NHS could learn a lot.’
Bianca chuckles. ‘I’ll come back and check on you later, okay?’
Scotty smiles and nods. ‘Yeah.’
*
‘I have to admit,’ Bianca says, ‘when I’m not killing stuff that wants to kill me, your kingdom is honestly very pretty.’ She looks out of the window she’s leaning on the sill of and smiles. The sun is setting over the horizon, casting shadows and orange light all across the kingdom. She can see the tower in the distance, and the gorge in which there’s a multiple-tentacled monster waving at her. She thinks it probably misses Cory and can’t help but giggle.
‘Do you think...’ Alexandra sounds nervous as she approaches the window and rests her hand over Bianca’s on the sill. ‘Do you think it’s pretty enough for you to... make a home here?’
‘Depends.’ Bianca turns around and lifts her hand slightly, slipping her fingers in between Alexandra’s and bringing them up between their bodies. She watches them for a moment before continuing with, ‘Do I have something to stay for?’
‘Yes,’ Alexandra whispers. ‘Me.’
She reaches out with her other hand and slides it around Alexandra’s waist, resting her slender fingers on her hips and drawing her in closer, hands still linked. Alexandra’s hand comes to rest on her upper arm, gentle so as not to hurt her injured shoulder.
‘Then I think it may be pretty enough.’ She’s not looking out of the window anymore. ‘In fact, I think I’d call it beautiful.’
‘Am I really the love of your life?’ Alexandra whispers.
‘You heard that?’ Bianca enquires.
‘It’s quite astonishing the things you can hear whilst being forcibly removed from a scene,’ Alexandra explains.
‘Fair enough.’
‘So, am I?’
Bianca smiles. ‘Yes,’ she says. ‘You are.’
She lets go of Alexandra’s hand and her fingers find their way to the side of the other girl’s head, tips sliding along the edge of her jaw, tilting it up until, finally, after so long, she can lean down and brush her lips over Alexandra’s. She shivers, presses down a little harder until it’s actually a kiss; a proper kiss. The proper kiss she’s been craving since forever. The kiss she’s needed for as long as she can remember and longer.
‘Do you feel any different?’ she asks, nervously. She’s not sure why she’s nervous; does she want Alexandra to love her, suddenly, affected by the spell? Or does she want her to continue her confusion?
‘I remember... properly now,’ Alexandra says, with a smile. ‘It’s not hazy anymore.’
‘So...’ Bianca bites her lip. ‘Does that mean you love me, or you don’t?’
Her fingers dance up Bianca’s arm and across her shoulder to brush against her neck. Her fingertips play against the smooth skin she finds there, slightly marked by finger-shaped bruises, then they move higher, play around her ear and through her hair. ‘Yes,’ she breathes. ‘Yes, I love you too.’
‘This is you talking, right?’ Bianca says, quietly. ‘Not a spell?’
‘I think... I think if his kiss cast a spell,’ Alexandra says, ‘yours broke it.’ She lets her fingers delve deeper into Bianca’s hair, moving her fringe from where it’s hanging halfway down her nose and cups her hand around her head, pulling her down towards her. ‘Kiss me again.’
Bianca moves down, kisses her like before but doesn’t stop this time. Instead, she slides her hand into Alexandra’s long hair, too, and uses the hand on her waist to pull her closer until their bodies are flush together, the kiss deepening more by the moment until Alexandra is breathless.
‘I love you,’ she says, looking up into Bianca’s eyes when they pull apart again, ‘my Prince Charming.’
Bianca just smiles and kisses her again.
Epilogue
The sun is shining through the window and illuminating the body spread out across the bed, face down on the mattress. The sheets are slung lazily over her bottom half and her face is half-buried in the pillow, guarding her eyes from the light of the sun. The duvet slips down a little, resting just in the right place to not be indecent, but reveal to the sun and the morning a mark spread across her lower back. At first glance, one could think it was a tattoo, but once closer to it it’s very obvious that it’s actually a scar; thick and deep, a mark left from a battle.
To most, it would be disgusting and disfiguring, but to Alexandra, Bianca has never looked more beautiful.
She knows that long ago, when she slept beside Bianca in a bed not unlike this one, in a small bedroom with a conical hat in the corner, hidden from a mother’s sight, the darker haired girl would watch her sleep; attempting to figure out where she came from and where she was going; whether she was sane or not; whether she was a danger to herself or others.
Bianca doesn’t watch her anymore; she knows where she came from and that she’s never going anywhere ever again.
It’s okay for her, she thinks. She’s sure; she knows Alexandra won’t leave, but the princess isn’t so certain. One day, Bianca could miss her world. She could miss her parents and brother and want to return home to them.
There are two rooms in the castle that keep her feeling safe; the one Daisy and Cory sleep in and the one Scotty sleeps in; the two rooms containing the second most important things in Bianca’s life.
Alexandra hopes she’s the first.
She reaches out and brushes her pale fingertips over the scar. Bianca complains about it sometimes, much like the
ovular ones on either side of her shoulder. She says it’s an eyesore and wishes she could get rid of it somehow. But to Alexandra it’s the most beautiful part of her lady love.
It’s the proof that, for Alexandra, Bianca would risk life and limb.
‘Go back to sleep,’ the girl in question mutters, from where her face is pressed into the pillow. ‘You’re over-thinking again.’
‘I’m watching you sleep,’ Alexandra replies. ‘Am I not allowed to do so?’
Bianca looks up at her. ‘I’d prefer you wake me up and we can tire each other out and go back to sleep together, but whatever rocks your cradle.’ She turns onto her back and stretches out an arm. Alexandra settles into her embrace, head resting on the scar on Bianca’s shoulder.
‘I love you,’ she whispers.
‘I love you too,’ Bianca replies, kissing her hair.
‘Do you ever miss your family?’ Alexandra asks, quietly.
Bianca pauses. ‘Yes,’ she responds, after a moment. ‘But, if given the choice; I’d choose you over them. They packed me off to boarding school, they never even noticed I was harbouring a fairytale princess in my bedroom. I don’t need them if they don’t need me.’
‘If Scotty, Cory or Daisy were to return home, would you go too?’
‘Never.’ She kisses Alexandra’s hair again. ‘You’re my home and that’s never going to change.’
Alexandra settles down into Bianca’s arms. ‘I love you,’ she says again.
‘And I love you,’ Bianca replies.
And in that moment, Alexandra realises that’s what matters. For even if Bianca were to return to her world; Alexandra would go too. And they’ll never be separated again.
Fin
A Hole in the World Page 16