He didn't answer.
Cinderella just shook her head, and then she turned and walked out of the Throne Room.
The King looked up, looking puzzled. "Hm? Where'd Cindy go?"
Mother Miriam lay a hand on Wolfram's arm before he could speak. "I believe she went back to laboratory to perfect her potion, my King."
"Oh. All right then." And he turned back to his first wife.
Wolfram got to his feet, as did his mother. He went out into the hall, saw Cinderella quickly turning a corner off to the left.
"Remember what I told you," Mother Miriam said. "The King may be a fool, but he doesn't share the trait with everyone in this palace. What you are thinking of would mean exile for me and your niece, and almost certainly would mean death for the two of you. Come with me?" He shook his head, and she sighed. "Then be careful."
His mother's warning fading as soon as he turned away, he followed Cinderella.
***
When the knock came at the door, for an instant she fancied it was the King, coming to apologize for his behavior and maybe ask her for a tour of the potions laboratory she'd spent so many hours completing.
Hours that, according to all the stories her acquaintances had told as she grew up, should have been spent with her husband. But at first he had been occupied with thoughts of Gold-Tree, and then after she'd broken the enchantment on the other woman, with Gold-Tree herself.
Then she opened the door, saw Mother Miriam's surviving son there, and wasn't disappointed at it. That, she knew, was a problem.
She just couldn't make herself care.
Though she was still irritated, she almost smiled at him, and then she saw the concern on his face. "I don't need your pity," she snapped, starting to slam the door.
He stopped it easily. "You don't have it. Your husband does."
"What?"
"I pity anyone who's that stupid."
At that, the smile came, and she let him in.
"So what is it you've been playing with in that laboratory?" he asked.
"Well, I naturally haven't been able to test it every single step of the way-- not many people are going to volunteer to have their magic taken, nor should they-- but from the testing I have been able to do, this should be it. And there's a woman in the dungeon right now who'd be the perfect test subject for this final stage. She was killing and eating children in the woods," she whispered. "Finally a poor brother and sister managed to escape from her and led the Knights to her home. She's due to be executed tomorrow morning, but I think I can prove that unnecessary."
"I don't know," he said. "Someone who'd do that to children-- I doubt they'd be cured by a removal of their magic."
"I doubt it as well," she said. "But some people could be cured. And without her magic, the Forest Witch could be imprisoned safely instead of killed. It would revolutionize the way crime is dealt with in Faerietale!"
He just watched her, smiling, and she realized the enthusiasm in her voice and looked away. "My apologies. The King keeps reminding me of the importance of being demure and I--"
He took her hands, and her gaze flew back to his face.
"You don't ever have to apologize to me for that."
He clearly meant his words, his dark eyes perfectly serious and intense and even if she felt the slightest bit of affection for her husband she wasn't sure it would've mattered; she could think of nothing else at the moment but how much she needed to kiss him.
A scream tore into Cybele's consciousness, sending her sitting bolt upright in bed and looking around frantically.
"Hello?" she called, shoving her covers aside and moving to the doorway. "What's wrong?"
In answer, another scream. Close by. Probably only a few doors down.
Nobody else was opening their door, which didn't surprise her. Unfortunately, most everyone here seemed to take a "if I don't see it, it's not my problem" view. She wasn't sure how to change that, but she didn't have time to worry about it now. If no one else was going to investigate, then she needed to. Besides, the Knight would surely be here soon.
She ran towards the sound of the voice, finally tracked it to a room eight doors down from her, on the very end of their row of apartments. Goodness, whoever was shrieking had healthy lungs. She rapped on the door to announce herself, and then slowly opened it. "Hello? What's--"
The word 'wrong' never left her mouth. The sight that greeted her as the door swung fully open was self-explanatory.
A young woman lay in her bed, hands pressed to her bulging stomach, teeth clenched in concentration. Then she jerked, and let out another ear-piercing scream.
"I-- but-- children aren't allowed in this Realm!" Cybele reflexively said, knowing how much of a fool it made her seem even as the words escaped.
Amazingly enough, the woman didn't scream curses at her. She managed a quick smile that looked more like the baring of teeth, and said, "True. Doesn't prevent one of us from getting pregnant."
Cybele hurried over to her, taking one of her hands. "Okay. So. What do I need to do?"
A pained laugh was her only answer for a long moment, as the woman bore through another contraction. "I have no idea," she gasped.
Ohhhh no, Cybele thought. Bad answer.
She remembered how hard her mother had had it with Ravi, even with so many people around to support and help her. Potions. This woman needed potions, and someone who knew exactly how to deliver a baby, and someone who could actually stay calm instead of dearly wanting to run around the room waving her hands and making high-pitched noises. "Fiametta!" she said suddenly. "Fiametta can help you! Granted, I don't think she's ever delivered a baby but she knows so much about medicines and potions and--" The woman gave her a look, and Cybele stopped. "Right. I'll ask the Knight to go get her. Just . . . don't do anything drastic until we get back."
The woman gritted her teeth and scrunched her eyes shut. "I'll take that as a yes," Cybele whispered, and then she ran.
She encountered the Knight when she was almost halfway to the Door. He looked concerned, but his stance was still wary, and she knew he had to be wondering if she'd just tried to befriend him in order to facilitate an escape attempt. She wondered how many times that had happened, and it made her heart hurt.
"There's a woman," she gasped. Goodness. Wasn't used to running. "Needs help. Go get Fiametta? Please? I can tell you exactly how to get to the harem room, we--"
"I can't leave this post."
"It would only be for a few moments!" she protested. "I'll-- I'll keep watch for you! Or here, I've got a loose thread," she said, reaching down to start unraveling the lower half of her nightgown. "You take one end and go--"
"Cybele. . ."
"--and if there's any trouble I'll yank really hard and you come back!"
"Cybele. I can't leave."
"But she needs help!"
"I know. But I--"
"If you can't go, then I will."
"Leaving isn't--"
"Isn't allowed, I know, but I'll only be gone a couple of minutes." He stepped closer to her, and she straightened back up and put her hands on her hips. "If you want me to stay here then you're going to-- going to have to hit me over the head because otherwise I am going to get Fiametta."
***
Estelle wasn't sure she could get used to the fact that the Prince was here-- after the disappearing act he'd pulled with Beckah and Catherine she'd never expected to see him again. And from the way the Queen was stalking around the palace lately, she'd been sure that was for the best.
But he'd been here for the past hour, telling them about a 'secret place' and how they were going to try and cure the ills of this Kingdom and the look in his eyes was so different from anything else she'd seen before. Certainly she'd seen interest, yes; when she was in his arms he'd paid attention. But this wasn't anything like that. He was animated and-- passionate. He actually seemed to give a damn about something.
She couldn't help but respond in kind. She knew that he'd returned t
o ask if any of them wanted to go with him when he left, and she'd already decided what her answer would be.
Besides, if he knew secret ways into the palace now, then perhaps he knew secret ways into the Shadow Realm as well. He'd already stated that he was taking Cybele with him when he went back to the forest, and she'd told him of the potion that would hopefully return her sister to her original state.
The most startling thing was that he wasn't alone. His sister was here as well. Snow had spent much of the meeting so far silent, standing by the door to the gardens and smiling at her brother. And for once the expression wasn't mocking, wasn't sad or exasperated or disappointed. It was . . . fond. Fond and proud.
She almost hadn't recognized the Princess when the two of them had appeared. She was dressed in dark garb, cloaked, her normally-pristine face smudged with dirt. Most unrecognizable of all, she looked happy.
But the sword at her side spoke of a darker element to their mission. Estelle wondered if she was prepared to use the weapon on the Guards who had once worked so hard to protect her, should one of them discover her now.
When the door was flung open, all of them jumped, most looking guilty. The Prince looked panicked for an instant, and started to get up, to move in front of his sister and try to block her from sight, and then he saw who was at the door.
Cybele, in a rapidly-unraveling nightgown, one hand clutching the doorjamb to help support her. "Shadow Realm," she gasped. "Woman, labor. Fiametta, I need your help. Mirror in the White Rabbit's old office, it's the Door. Come on!"
Without waiting for an answer or even waiting until she could fully catch her breath, she was gone again.
For a few seconds, all of them were silent, staring at the now-empty doorway. Then Fiametta broke the silence by getting to her feet and grabbing her potions case.
"What are you doing?" Roxana asked. "You'll get knifed as soon as you go through that Door."
"Cybele said she needs help; I'm going."
"Then I'm going with you," Estelle said.
Fiametta nodded. "You know your way around there better than--" She stopped, looked up, saw the realization on the faces of the women who hadn't known what Estelle had been up to of late.
"Don't," Snow whispered.
"I already told you, I--" Then she paused, seeing how frightened the Princess looked. "What is it?"
"The-- the Knight told me to really research what I was getting into when I visited my subjects in his Realm. And I did. I-- some of the people there, they--" She cleared her throat. "The potion that turns people into Shadows has a side effect. It renders them infertile. There can't be a pregnant woman there."
Estelle crossed her arms. "But what-- why would anyone want Cybele to come back here; she--"
"They wouldn't," Snow White said quickly. "If there's a bad enough emergency, the Knight is supposed to come get the palace Guards. Someone wanted the Realm unprotected."
Maybe the plan that was to be set in motion had stopped when the Knight stayed. But maybe it hadn't. "I have to go find her," Estelle said.
"Coming with you," Fiametta said, hurrying through the door after her as fast as she could while lugging her bag. Estelle almost told her to leave it, that it was dead weight and there was no pregnant woman to help-- but someone might well be wounded before the night was over.
When she glanced back to see if Fiametta was keeping up, she was surprised to see that the two of them weren't the only ones in the hall. Shani followed, her daggers in her hands and a determined look on her face. And beside her were the Prince and Princess.
***
Cybele had leapt through the Door without a second thought, realizing too late that she was going to collide with the Knight and probably injure both of them in the process.
Instead, she hit the dusty ground and nothing else. The Knight was nowhere to be seen.
Probably headed off to keep an eye on the poor pregnant girl while she was gone, Cybele thought.
She was almost halfway back to that particular apartment when her adrenaline-soaked brain remembered his magic, remembered that he could keep an eye on her perfectly well from his position by the Door.
Maybe something else had caught his attention, she thought, though her pace slowed a little. Or maybe he wanted to be next to her in case there was a problem.
But that didn't truly make sense. The Knight looked as though he could cause medical emergencies, not stop them.
She stopped outside the young woman's open door. There was no more screaming coming from inside. Fearing the worst, Cybele peeked in, then froze.
Nothing. It was an empty room. No sign of the pregnant woman, of the clothes that had been peeking out of her closet, of the threadbare bedsheets she'd been lying on.
Swallowing hard, Cybele ran back to her own room.
It was all right. She wasn't sure what was going on here, but it'd be fine. She'd just splash some cold water on her face, calm down, and figure out what might possibly be happening.
She threw open her door and went right to the sink, splashing her face liberally with cold water. Then she stood up, water dripping from the tip of her nose and the ends of her bangs, and took a few deep breaths.
So the woman had either been moved-- unlikely-- or had never existed at all-- impossible, right? Becoming a Shadow meant that all magic was drained. Little bits and pieces could fade back if a Shadow had been here long enough-- like Lamia adjusting that dress, or Kai casting a small protective spell over his crops if the weather dropped into a freeze.
Then she realized something. It didn't matter what exactly was going on; there was time enough to figure that out later. What mattered now was keeping Fiametta and Estelle out of it. Because she was sure that her sister had followed Fiametta; they might already be here.
She turned, intending to go back to the Door. Instead, she felt her limbs lock in place from fear as she saw the deceptively soft red cloak the woman in her doorway was wearing.
Little Red was smiling broadly. "Have to keep interfering in my plans, don't you?"
"I-- I don't know what. . ."
"Of course you don't. You're too stupid to see anything beyond your next dye job." She leaned against the doorway, looking perfectly relaxed, and Cybele wished fervently that there was a back door to this tiny set of rooms. She edged closer to her bedroom, though she knew there would be no salvation there. Little Red clearly knew it too; she just smirked at her.
"What do you want?"
"Everything," Red whispered, moving closer. "But at the moment, I'll settle for your scalp on my belt."
Quickly, before she could focus on what she was about to do or how badly she'd probably mess it up, Cybele snatched up a bottle of perfume and gave Little Red a full blast of it to the eyes.
The other woman yowled and ducked her head down, and Cybele shoved past her, running out of her room and down the exterior hall, clattering down the stairs. If she hurried and got back to the Door, maybe she could intercept Fiametta and Estelle, tell them to go back to the palace and--
And what? Little Red was under employ of the Queen; the Guards would be on her side, she--
Then she saw a familiar face and sighed in relief. Thank Scheherazade. If she didn't have to try and figure all this out herself, maybe something productive could actually get done. "Lamia!"
"What's wrong?" Lamia asked, hurrying up to her. "I heard a dreadful commotion and the Knight's nowhere to be found. . ."
"Someone really dangerous got in here," Cybele said. "We have to get back to the palace and--" As she started to turn, Lamia took her hand, her grip tight enough to hurt.
And Cybele knew.
***
Cybele groaned and slowly opened her eyes, trying to figure out why her head hurt so badly. Then she saw Lamia's smiling face, and remembered.
The woman stood in front of her, flames dancing from her fingertips, and Cybele shook her head in an attempt to clear it. That only made it hurt worse, and she winced. "What are-- why--"
"Which do you think will kill more people?" Lamia asked idly. "The fires, or the dragons as people run from the flames?"
A hand tightly squeezed her own then, and Cybele strained to look over her shoulder. The Knight was tied, too, his face bloody but he was alive. She squeezed his hand in return, turning her attention back to Lamia.
"Just . . . just go," she whispered. That must be why Little Red was here; to help get the Knight out of the way so Lamia could escape. "Don't have to hurt anybody."
She laughed. "Of course I don't have to. But it's been so long. And I miss the smell of cooking flesh." She moved to the next pillar, touching the flame in her hands to the thick wooden support. In the distance, Cybele saw another flame, and knew that Red had to have recovered from the perfume.
"Goodbye," Lamia said, wiggling her fingers cheerfully at them. "And Cybele, I'll be sure to pay your luscious little sister a visit." She licked her lips, grinning, and then turned-- straight into Estelle's fist.
Her sister shook her hand briefly, then delivered another hard punch. Lamia stumbled back, blood pouring from her nose. The bright red stood out against the gray of her skin, and when she grinned again the smile turned crimson. "Well now. That was a mistake, darling."
"Stand aside," Shani said quietly, nudging Estelle away to face the Forest Witch herself. Cybele gasped as Lamia was suddenly seven places at once, surrounding her friend. The multitude of Shadows spoke, laughed, taunted. More glamours. Estelle backed up quickly, fists raised, but Shani stayed perfectly still, her bright blue gaze focused.
"The Knight of Shadows can see in places where he is not," Shani said quietly. "I can only see where I am-- but I see truly." Her eyes were locked on one of the Lamias, and from the disgusted look on her face Cybele wondered exactly what Shani was seeing; if the woman's beautiful appearance was itself a glamour. "Lamia. Devourer of children. You will not leave this Realm."
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