by Lucas Flores
“What’s happening outside?” Auntie asked.
“I don’t know, but I brought food,” Red answered as she pulled a couple of wrapped pieces of quail and a raw carrot out of her deep pockets.
“Wait,” Auntie said. Her eyebrows raised and her lips pouted. “Where’s the bread? Is this all? No matter. This is enough for both of us and it’s a lot better than the bowl of mush they always serve. I suppose if I’m still hungry, I’ll eat that.”
While Red ate, Auntie shared stories about her past and about her time as a school teacher before the Inquisition. All she could talk about were her students. Being a single woman without children of her own, they were everything to her. “They weren’t angels,” she joked, “far from it. They were worse, they were kids.”
She and Red both laughed.
“Hey, I brought my brush from my room. Would you let me brush your hair?” Auntie asked. Red nodded and positioned herself closer.
Auntie smiled and continued her story while brushing Red’s hair. She spoke about one particular student in her classroom, but didn’t mention her name. “This child was as beautiful as she was smart. She had long beautiful brown hair and green eyes, and always did her homework and excelled over the other students.” She went on to tell Red that one day the girl’s family disappeared. “No one came to pick her up. I didn’t even know she was waiting outside the school until I finished my work. It was already dark. Yet there she was, alone.”
“What did you do?” Red asked.
“Well, I walked the girl home of course. But no one was there to greet her and the house looked like it had been broken into. I rarely paid attention to politics back then, so I didn’t know that the palace was arresting people. It didn’t make any sense; they were only arresting people who looked different. They called them lepers. Well, anyway, it was obvious what happened to the girl’s family.”
“Did they get arrested?” Red gasped.
“Yes. I assume so. So I did what my heart told me to do; I took the girl home. I didn’t expect anything to happen. But, later that night, palace guards stormed into my house and took her away. They called me a ‘sympathizer’ for hiding her,” she whispered. After a brief pause, she continued, “I will never forget that night. Sometimes I still dream about it.”
Auntie finished brushing Red’s hair and shifted her position on the bed. “We’re all here for similar reasons. Each story is more tragic than the other. However, your story is unique. It is unique because you’re special. Do you understand?”
Red didn’t answer.
“That’s enough for tonight, sweet pea,” Auntie chimed. “Time for bed.” She tucked Red in with her dolls and whispered, “Good night,” before leaving the room.
Red lay in bed for a moment, replaying Auntie’s last words in her mind. Sweet pea. Hearing those words again made her smile, but the warm feeling quickly faded and was replaced by tears.
The next evening, on her way to sneak in some dinner, Red spotted the queen walking into the kitchen.
The chef’s staff exited and waited in the foyer.
Curious, Red hid behind a pillar until the queen walked back out with the chef. The two whispered quietly to one another.
Red tried to focus her hearing and leaned closer and closer into the open. She held onto the pillar to support her balance and leaned on one foot with her head sticking out from one side of the pillar and her leg sticking out from the opposite side. She didn’t see the queen’s cousin coming towards her.
“There you are, you little thief!” Blackheart shouted from behind the girl. Startled, Red lost her balance and fell to the floor. “Get up, you little rat, and look at me when I’m talking to you,” Blackheart said. “I had a word with the foreman. Do you know what she told me? She told me that you have been sneaking into the kitchen, snatching whatever your little dirty hands can grab.”
The shouting blasted across the foyer and interrupted the queen’s conversation with the chef. They walked down the hall to the row of pillars where Blackheart and Red stood.
“What’s going on here?” the queen asked.
Blackheart pointed her ugly skinny fingers at Red. “This little red devil has been feeding off my plate!”
“Your plate?” the queen scoffed. “What plate?”
“She has been sneaking into the kitchen and running out with food,” Blackheart replied. “She’s probably the one responsible for my missing turkey leg.”
“Enough,” the queen said. “I’m sick and tired, Elzana. I no longer have the strength to jump every time you bark.”
Blackheart squinted and fumed in anger. “Are you not listening . . .”
“I said enough. For once in your life, shut your trap. I’ve just instructed the chef to leave a few pieces of food out for the girl. I know what she’s been doing, as if anyone can walk into a crowded kitchen without being seen. But Elzana, dear cousin, if my daughter wants food then let the girl have food.”
Blackheart’s jaw dropped and she leaned back slightly while looking around the room. “Has your brain deteriorated like the rest of your body? What do you mean you’ve instructed the chef to leave food out for your daughter? She’s no better than a leper. I mean, look at her!”
“She is your niece.” The queen stepped away from the chef toward Blackheart, and towered over her. “Now, I suggest you go back to your room before I have you taken there by the guards,” she said in front of the chef and all of his staff.
Blackheart’s cheeks flushed. She pointed her finger at the queen and opened her mouth, but didn’t say anything. Instead, she looked down and dusted off the top part of her dress. She then cleared her throat, stood up straight, and left with her nose in the air.
The queen looked down at Red. “Giving you a meal every day isn’t enough to make up for my mistakes, but it’s something, right? A start?”
Red smiled, but only because she didn’t know what else to do or say.
The queen patted her on the head before walking away.
Red didn’t understand how she fit into the queen’s life and why no one liked the way she looked. It didn’t matter. Since Auntie seemed to be the only person who cared for her, she wanted to make her happy. But now, she was confused about how she was supposed to get food. Could she just walk into the kitchen?
From down the hall, near the kitchen entrance, the chef held up a small bag and called out to Red. When she got closer, he knelt down. “Her Majesty just gave me orders to prepare a meal for you.” His voice was rough, but kind. He handed her the sack. “When you’re done with your shift each day, and you don’t feel like eating mush, come by and I’ll have something ready for you.”
* * *
The next day, when the governors met, Blackheart addressed the group. She was scheduled to speak about issues relating to the security of the city, but instead steered the conversation in a different direction.
“My dear governors, today is a special day. Special because I would like to formally introduce you to someone you all know, but have not been privileged enough to meet.” Blackheart walked toward the door. “Steward, bring her in.”
Red walked into the courtroom wearing her damp, dark cloak. The governors gasped.
The queen stood up. “What is the meaning of this, Elzana?”
Blackheart continued amidst the ruckus. “This girl, as many of you know, is the queen’s bastard child. And, because she’s the firstborn, this child will one day become queen.” She turned to face her cousin and went on. “This child is my niece, after all, and will one day be my queen as well. So let us properly welcome her to our circle.”
Blackheart walked across the courtroom and approached a dessert bar. “Let me serve you some cake, princess,” she said while carefully cutting a piece of cake for the child. She then turned and hurled the piece at Red. “Would you like some more, Your Majesty?” Blackheart grabbed another piece of cake with her bare hand and threw it at the girl.
Red tried moving out of the way, but
both pieces hit her in the face.
The governors stared at Blackheart, wide-eyed with their mouths open.
“Well, you mindless buffoons,” Blackheart told the governors, “pay tribute to your future queen. All hail the queen!”
Some of the governors took a step back and looked away. Others fidgeted.
Blackheart started laughing. Holding onto her stomach with tears running down her face, she pointed at Red. “All hail the queen!”
From across the room, the queen called order. “That’s enough from this school of clowns. The fact that Elzana believes this child will one day become queen is nonsense and makes me question my confidence in her. Now that we all have had a good laugh, can we get back to work?”
* * *
Covered in cake, Red ran out of the courtroom. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran through several foyers and hallways and turned into a dark room.
Alone, Red took in a few deep breaths and wiped the tears and cake from her face.
A mirror in the room caught her attention. She had never seen anything more beautiful. Its golden frame glowed like it had just been polished, and the glass itself was seamless and clean. It looked out of place among the rest of the old and dusty furniture.
Red looked into it. The top of her cloak was covered in cake and her cheeks were more flushed than usual. She wished to anyone who would listen and hoped that maybe someone would answer her prayer and make her like everybody else.
She remembered that her mom used to call her a rose. But at that moment, she would have rather been anything else but the child she was. “A hare, maybe a bird,” she thought. “At least they’re free to do what they want.”
Alone in the dark foyer, Red stared at her reflection for hours. She was drawn into its spell until six circular shapes appeared in the mirror. They were her six doll heads, circling around her reflection. The heads taunted and poked fun at the girl. “No one loves you. No one will ever love you,” they sang.
The princess doll moved to the center of the circle. “You should do it. We will help you. We will help you turn them into your dolls .. . . like us,” it said as the others echoed.
“It will be easy!” another head shouted. “We’ll tell you what to do.”
“We’ll take care of you,” the heads sang. “We will love you. We will love you. We will love you.”
CHAPTER 10
After her encounter with the doll heads in the mirror, Red stayed in the old section of the palace for the rest of the day. She remained tucked away in the same room until the bells rang that evening. No one came looking for her, no one missed her. She was just another name on the foreman’s list—a burden to schedule around and assign work to.
“I better get going,” she said. Though no one had checked in on her, she was required to check herself out and return her supplies at the end of the day.
As she walked down the hall, she was visited by the same cat she had encountered in the queen’s closet when the queen gave birth to her half-sister.
The cat appeared in front of Red and stopped her. “Where are you going?” he asked with a giant grin.
Red jumped back. “I’m going back to the West Wing. What’s it to you anyway?”
“I see you’re the same girl I met last time,” the cat said.
“Well, I’m late. I have to go,” Red said as she walked around the cat.
The cat ran after Red. “Are you sure you’re headed in the right direction?”
“Yes. I came in this way earlier.” As soon as the words flew across her lips, she ran into a wall.
The cat rolled over and laughed its head off, literally. His head rolled away from his body and didn’t stop until it hit the wall and vanished into a cloud of purple smoke.
Red turned and found herself in a room with doors at each side. There were no windows or torches, yet the room glowed. Light illuminated from each corner.
Red cried out, “Hey!” as she quickly looked around the room.
The cat materialized, floating in midair in front of her. “What’s all the fuss, little one?” the cat calmly asked. “Are you a little lost?”
“Yes, I’m lost. How do I get out of here?”
“That depends on where you want to go.”
“I have to check in with the foreman before she sets out to look for me.”
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” the cat said.
“Get me out of here. This is madness.”
The cat replied, “Oh, that won’t work. You see, no matter which door you pass through you’ll still find yourself in the middle of madness.”
“If what you say is true, and every door leads to madness, then why should I bother? I’ll just stay here.”
“Because time is ticking.” The cat disappeared and the room echoed with the sounds of clocks ticking.
Red looked around in apprehension. She had to get back to the West Wing, but didn’t know how. Finally she decided to pick a door, opened it, and walked through it.
Where am I? Toys and dolls lay neatly displayed on shelves all around the room. At the center stood a small crib.
Inside the crib, a baby lay quiet, awake and swinging her arms in the air.
As Red approached the crib, the baby giggled and cooed. “That’s the queen’s daughter. Your half-sister,” the cat purred. She didn’t even know he was in the room. He rubbed up against Red’s leg and startled her. “You looked just like her when you were that age, except for one little thing.”
Red looked at the red birthmarks that ran up and down her arms. “These?” She reached into the crib and touched the baby’s hand. The birthmarks on Red’s hand were a great contrast to her sister’s smooth, porcelain white skin.
“Enough with this. You must move quickly if you want to stop by the kitchen before you check in with the foreman,” the cat said. He pushed Red away from the crib. “There is something special for you under that pile of toys. Go on and look.”
Red walked to a large pile of toys that sat in one corner of the room. She moved random items aside. Each was unique and pretty but none of them stood out. Then, a round shiny object glimmered in the light.
“It’s so pretty. What is it?” Red asked.
“Oh dear, tsk-tsk,” the cat said. “It will never hatch that way.”
“What do you mean hatch?” Red asked. “It’s an egg?” She leaned forward and looked at it more closely. It was too big to be an egg, and wasn’t egg-colored. The surface was shiny and gold, and it had jewels all over it. She had never seen so many jewels before. Each sparkling crystal reflected the girl’s captivated face.
“It’s okay, you can touch it,” the cat said. “It’s yours.”
“Mine?” Red softly caressed the surface of the egg. It seemed to glow with her touch. She lay her ear over the egg. “I hear a heartbeat.”
The cat shushed Red and told her that she had to be the one to look after the egg. He told her to keep visiting every night until the egg hatched. As soon as Red agreed, the cat’s grin grew. It grew so large it surrounded Red. All she could see was a yellow blur as the room began to spin. When it stopped, Red was back in the room with all of the dusty furniture.
Disoriented, Red cried out, “Cat! Are you there?” But no one replied. After talking to her dolls in the mirror, a quick visit by the talking cat and a trip to her baby sister’s nursery wasn’t too farfetched. She could still feel the baby’s soft touch on her hand.
The months that followed proved difficult. Every night, Red would lie on her bed for a couple of hours and wait for everyone to fall asleep before sneaking out of the West Wing. She quietly climbed the stairs and tip-toed through the second floor of the palace. With each step, she crept closer and closer to the queen’s bedroom. Her final challenge every night was getting past the guards who stood outside the room. After that, she was just a few steps away from the baby’s nursery.
Red was a hider. Her tiny body allowed her to hide in places the guards never thought to look. When
they investigated a noise or the sound of an item that she accidentally dropped, no evidence was found that indicated what had happened. After some time, rumors of ghosts and spirits haunted the guards who patrolled the halls of the queen’s quarters. People said the noises and broken objects were manifestations of the queen’s soul trying to return to its body, while others said it was the king’s spirit, angered by the changes that had taken place in his absence.
On her first night caring for the egg, memories of the forest flooded Red’s thoughts. She listened to the egg’s heartbeat thud in the background and tried to imagine what kind of animal would hatch. She remembered seeing birds, lizards, snakes, and even fish hatch from eggs before, but never from an egg like this. “If it were a fish, then wouldn’t it need to be in water? But if it were a bird or anything else, then why is it so big? And why is it made of gold and jewelry?” Red whispered.
Many questions ran through her mind, but she could only come up with one logical explanation. “The egg looks so different because the animal in it is different. Something I’ve never seen hatch from an egg before. Maybe even something no one else has ever seen before.”
For the first few nights that Red slept in the nursery, she ended up being late for her shift the following morning. No clocks were kept in the nursery, so she had no way to track the time. As soon as she heard the morning bells ring, she would dart back to the West Wing, knowing that she was already late.
The foreman’s fat, pudgy face turned crimson every time Red was the last one to report in for her chores. “What the hell is wrong with you? You’re late, you dirty worm! You’re late!”
Red stood half asleep and waited for her chores. As she endured the foreman’s badgering, one of her doll heads called out to her, “Hey. Look over here.”
Red looked up and let out a tiny gasp. All six heads sat on the foreman’s shoulders, three on each side.
“What are you looking at?” the foreman asked.
“It’s easy,” the princess head said. “Watch.” The six heads played executioner and ran blades through the foreman’s neck. The heads rolled around and cried out in pain, and then laughter, as blood poured down the foreman’s body.