by Eustacia Tan
Blood gushed out, but she could talk.
“You traitor,” she screamed at the retreating figure of Laura. “We swore to be sisters! You can’t do this to me!” She would have continued, but Marah hit her on the head again, causing her to pass out.
“What an annoying girl,” she said. “Now, Princess Elizabeth, will you do as I say or will I have to hit you as well?”
“I’ll do as you say,” Lizzie managed to say.
Marah nodded in satisfaction. “Good, I don’t want to hurt you either. Can you imagine how annoying your friend would be if I did?”
“She’s not my friend.” Friends didn’t betray each other. And they didn’t join forces with people like Marcelle, even if it was only temporary.
“She seemed like it. She refused to accept the deal unless I promised to keep you alive and unharmed, even though this was the backup plan to the backup plan. Said something about how you two were like sisters. Follow me and will someone drag the other girl? Make sure she doesn’t die.”
Two goblins ran forward and picked Marcelle up. Marah grabbed the collar of a goblin who had been standing nearby and pushed him forward.
“Don’t stand there like an idiot. Did you think that I forgot about your punishment?”
The goblin shook his head and took a shaky step forward.
“Good. Come along, Princess Elizabeth.”
Lizzie did as she was told, walking alongside the goblin. Behind, she could hear the huffing of the two goblins who were carrying Marcelle. The three of them walked into the woods, following some kind of invisible path.
With Marah ignoring her, Lizzie sneaked a look at the goblin walking next to her. Was he her future captor?
He didn’t look like it. There were bruises all over his body and he walked with a slight limp, wincing with every step that he took. Actually, he didn’t look like a goblin. He looked a lot like a human, actually. He was taller than her and he wasn’t misshapen like the others. The only thing that looked weird was his black hair, which seemed false. So why did she assume that he was a goblin too?
Lizzie was working up the courage to whisper a question when the woods thinned out and a cottage appeared. It was a small, run-down cottage, the door no longer attached to its frame.
“Come out, you useless things!” Marah screamed. There was some movement and a group of small dwarfs ran out. They lined up, their heads bowed. There were nine of them.
“Look who’s back?” Marah asked, but none of them lifted their heads. “I said, look who’s back?”
As one, the goblins looked up, but only at Marah. They refused to look at Lizzie or the not-goblin next to her.
“This is your new guest,” Marah said, gesturing towards Lizzie. “I will bring food for her and you are not to kill her or hurt her in any permanent form. The same goes for the girl behind her. And as for this useless fellow.” She paused to kick the not-goblin and he fell to his knees. “I want to see him in worse shape than the one behind him the next time I’m back. If he’s not begging for mercy, I will make bamboo shoots grow through your bodies. But make sure you don’t kill him because I haven’t punished him yet.”
The dwarfs stayed silent, but this must have been the response that Marah wanted because she smiled.
“Put the girl in the cottage and then go get food for the two of them.”
The goblins carrying Marcelle nodded and carried her into the house. Lizzie turned to Marah, who motioned for her to follow. She hurried after the dwarfs and entered the cottage. To her surprise, it was bright and cheerful inside, and what little furniture there was, was spotless. There were a few shards of porcelain in the corner but that was the only rubbish she could see.
“Disgusting,” one of the goblins muttered. The other glared at him and let go of Marcelle’s legs. He walked over and punched the other goblin, who let go of Marcelle’s head. She fell to the floor with a thud as the two goblins inexplicably began fighting.
“I’ll talk if I want to,” the first goblin muttered, which only seemed to enrage the other.
“What are you doing?” Marah’s voice could be heard through the windows. “Stop your fights and go get their food.”
At her words, the two goblins reluctantly stopped their fight and walked out of the door, glaring at the other all the while. Once they were gone, she rushed over to Marcelle and bent down. She hated the girl, but no one should be treated like that.
Then again, she didn’t know what to do. She had heard something about not moving her, but she couldn’t leave her lying on the ground. Lizzie was considering her options when she heard another voice.
“What are we going to do with you?”
Chapter 9
Fin saw Lizzie spin around. She must have assumed that they were talking to her.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t expect things to turn out that way.”
Doc shook his head and sighed. “I thought giving you a name would be enough.” A few of the other goblins looked at him in shock, but he didn’t acknowledge any of it. “I’m afraid that there’s no getting around Marah’s orders this time. And you, what is your story?”
“I’m Lizzie,” the girl said. “What kind of goblins are you?”
“We’re not goblins,” Doc explained. “We’re dwarfs.” Doc continued, explaining everything to the girl. About their nature and their history. He wondered if he would tell her that the bloodlust that his punishment would spark meant that one or two of them might turn back into a goblin — and then she would be at risk. It was obvious that Marah didn’t care enough.
“Oh,” she said when he was done. She sat quietly for a few moments. “Will you be able to help him?” she asked, pointing at Fin. “I mean, if you’re good.”
Doc looked away. “We have no choice.”
“Can’t you hide from her?”
One of his fellow dwarfs managed to speak. “She’ll find us. She always does.”
“Oh.” She chewed on her lower lip for a moment. Fin could tell that all the dwarfs were fascinated by this new visitor. Perhaps he should tell them about her and her friends. But she might not like that.
“Do you think,” she said suddenly, “I’m sorry, it’s unrelated to him.” Again, she gestured towards Fin, “But can you help me move Marcelle?”
“Of course,” Doc said, leaping to his feet. “We’ll be honoured to help your friend.”
“She isn’t really my friend. I think she hates me.”
One of the other dwarfs gave her a brief smile. “Well, that’s how I became a dwarf,” he said. “Helping someone I hated.”
Fin turned to look at him. Really look at him. Why hadn’t he known that? He wanted to ask more questions but the dwarfs had surrounded Marcelle and were gently lifting her up.
“There’s some straw in the other room,” Doc said. “Put her there.”
Carefully, the dwarfs moved, Lizzie hovering nervously nearby.
“You don’t have to sit with her,” Fin managed to say. “You can wait outside. As long as you don’t wander too far away, I doubt anyone will mind. And you won’t want to hear my screams up close.”
Lizzie shook her head. “No, it’s ok. I just feel really bad for some reason.”
The dwarfs had finished putting her down and were walking out of the room. The only one to remain was Doc, who was gently holding her wrist.
“Is he a doctor?”
Fin shrugged.
Lizzie walked closer and Fin followed. Marcelle seemed to be awake, her eyes fluttering open and closed. They landed on Lizzie and she began to thrash around.
“You! You sold me and now I won’t even get to become her.” For an injured person, she had a lot of energy. “How dare you do something like that. You have no right!” Her voice grew weaker and she stopped trying to lift her head. “You have no right. You’re taking away my destiny. How dare you. I’m the Red-Caped Princess. No, I’m better than her. I deserve to rule with her.”
“Marcelle, I’m not La
ura,” Lizzie said, kneeling down. She reached for Marcelle’s hand but the girl jerked it away.
“I can’t believe you did this. After all we’ve been through. After all we’ve sworn.”
“Marcelle, what are you talking about? You hate Laure and me.”
The girl continued rambling on. “I gave you an invitation to my party and I didn’t even need to do that. All we needed was for Lizzie to come so that everyone could see she wasn’t fit to rule. She couldn’t even figure out that half the court was part of the sisterhood.”
“That’s enough,” Doc said firmly. “Miss Lizzie, perhaps you should go. You will not be able to help this girl by staying here.”
Lizzie nodded and took a deep breath. She opened her mouth to speak but closed it. Quickly, she wiped her face.
“Let’s go,” Fin said quietly. “I will try to introduce you to the rest.”
“Try?”
“We don’t really have names.”
Lizzie laughed and quickly covered her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice choking up again. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me. That’s not funny, that’s sad.”
“It’s what it is,” Fin said. “Let’s go.”
Behind him, Marcelle started screaming again.
“Help! You,” she screamed at Fin. Or Doc, he couldn’t tell. “Why aren’t you helping your Princess? No, your Queen? Aren’t you the thorned horseman? I command you to help me! I command it!”
“His hair is black, Marcelle.”
Marcelle didn’t even look at Lizzie. “Look at his roots,” she insisted, “they’re blond. And he looks exactly like the legend says.”
Doc pushed the two out of the room. “I thought I told you two to leave. Miss Lizzie, there’s a small shed at the back of the house. No one will disturb you there.” Lizzie nodded and quickly fled. “Fin, why don’t you go and wash up? You look filthy. And bring back a bucket of water when you’re done. I’ll need it to clean her wounds.”
Fin got to the door before he turned back. “Doc, what was she talking about?”
“Marah will probably spare you if you beg.”
“I mean about the horseman.”
Doc refused to meet his eyes. “Why don’t you wash your hair as well? You haven’t washed it since you came to the cottage. Anyway, why are you asking an old dwarf like me? I don’t know anything.” He quickly turned to the other dwarfs. “Off to the mines. Give the boy some peace before you start breaking his bones.”
The others did as they were told, leaving the house with Fin. They parted ways and Fin headed to the well. He shivered as the cold water hit his skin. Gingerly, he dabbed at the wounds, trying to clean himself. They would forget about Marcelle, he decided, and continue hiding from Marah. That was the only thing that they could do now. Fin finished and was about to go back into the cottage when he remembered what Doc said. He touched his hair, feeling strangely hesitant to wash it. Still, Doc was right and he could not remember the last time he washed his hair. So he did as he was asked.
For some reason, the water was black by the time he was done. It had to be a bad omen, he decided as he emptied the water and threw the bucket back into the well. As he pulled it up, he looked down and caught a glimpse of his reflection.
He had blond hair.
*******
Thorns were digging into him. It felt as though he was being eaten by a monster. Even when they stayed their distance, when they formed the helmet, he could feel them threatening to scratch out his eyes or cut out his tongue.
He was already regretting the deal.
*******
“Sleep, until I call you,” she had said.
When he tried to protest, because he had to go... somewhere...to rescue...someone, he had the impression she had waved her hand. The next thing he knew, the thorns had let go of him. He had breathed in the cool air, but before he could fully appreciate the stinging sensation of the night air on his wounds, she had summoned vines to wrap him up again.
And these vines had more thorns.
*******
He had lived for the moments between his release and his rebirth that occurred every night. One breath, maybe two, of the fresh cool forest air, and then the thorns would cover him again, opening old wounds and making new ones. It was almost as though they fed off his blood.
*******
He hated having to hurt others, especially children. But orders were orders.
*******
When he had seen Charming’s sword coming at him, Heinrich, yes, that was his name, Heinrich had assumed that he had failed. But the king had merely cut off the thorn above his heart, and somehow, she had let him go.
They had set out for the castle at once, and Heinrich was too glad to be riding on a horse made of flesh and blood, and to breathe in the cool night air that he didn’t notice that his wounds were healing by themselves.
King Charming had been too distracted to notice.
*******
Heinrich saw himself standing in a royal study. King Charming, tall and bold, was hunched over in grief, and the lovely Queen Beauty had red eyes from all her crying. They were talking, and they were bidding him goodbye, giving him advice kindly meant.
His mouth was moving, and he realised he was watching himself apologise. “...and you wouldn’t need to worry about Marie...” his voice sounded as though he was underwater.
*******
Marie!
The bucket fell back into the well, splashing as it hit water. Fin — no, Heinrich —blinked. He wasn’t a dwarf. And worse, Marcelle had spoken true. He was the thorned horseman. Heinrich straightened himself and stared at the well.
Yes, he had to get water. For Marcelle and Doc.
Mechanically, Heinrich drew the water again, and carried the now-full bucket into the cottage. Water sloshed over the rim as he walked, but Heinrich didn’t feel their cool touch.
“Took you long enough,” Doc said as Fin walked in. “We’re out of berries and roots, so it’s just water for now. I’ll go with you today, we should be able to find more plants together.” He paused and looked at Heinrich. His face paled. “Are you alright, Fin?”
“I’m not Fin,” Heinrich had to force his tongue to move. “My name is Heinrich. I’m a human.”
To his surprise, Doc just sighed. “So you recovered your memories,” he said, “Was it because of your hair?”
“It brought back memories.”
Doc sighed again. “So I guess you remember who you were.”
Heinrich nodded. “Yes, but why do you know? What happened? I came here to look for Marie, but why am I a dwarf now?”
Doc went over to the bucket and drew a cup of water. He took a long drink.
“Doc, please. What happened?”
Looking to one side, Doc mumbled, “I don’t recall either. I just remember you coming, and then, I woke up a dwarf.”
Part 3: And the Goblin Apple
Hey Laura, you know, you are the smart one. After all, you are holding me in your hand. Do you know what would make you even smarter?
You eating me.
I know everything. I came from the earth, and the earth knows all. The wind tell the trees, and the rain tell the soil what they see and hear, and everything the trees know, I know. You want to know how to call the red-caped princess successfully? Eat me.
After all, I want that darling girl back too. She deserves to be the queen, much more than that ugly fool of a mother she has, and you are the perfect vessel for her. Smart, determined, although not as pretty. But magic will fix that.
Just take a bite, what’s the worst that can happen?
I can’t.
Chapter 10
She had to get back. No matter what, she had to get back. The thought had wormed its way into her head and wouldn’t leave. Lizzie stood up and the world went black for a moment. She fumbled her way into the sun and found... nobody.
Weren’t there a group of dwarves? Surely they wouldn’t still be in that cottage.
Lizzie walked over to the cottage, but there were only two people there. Doc and the not-goblin.
“This makes no sense at all,” the not-goblin said said as he paced back and forth. “Why was I the thorned horseman? Why am I here? Doc, please," he turned to the older dwarf, “tell me something. Give me a hint.”
The thorned horseman? Wasn’t that a boogeyman? Behave or the thorned horseman will come after you and things like that.
Doc shook his head sadly. “I can’t tell you anything, Fin. I mean Heinrich. I took an oath.”
So his name was Heinrich. It was odd but it wasn’t that weird. Her mom was called Snow White after all.
“Forget Marah and her oaths!” Heinrich stopped and scowled at Doc.
“The oath wasn’t to Marah. It was made to someone else, and I can’t break it.”
Heinrich’s clenched his fists.
“Don’t hit him,” Lizzie whispered. As though he heard her, he exhaled deeply and and his shoulders slumped.
“Let me try to think about this calmly,” he said, turning to a corner. “My name is Heinrich Schmidt. I am not from this world. Not from this kingdom, nor from Beauty’s, not from anywhere. I came here because Tsura led me to the Evil Queen.”
“You told me she did not intend to do so,” Doc said quietly.
“Shut up,” Heinrich ordered. “If you have nothing helpful to say, don’t say anything. I was transformed into the thorned horseman, and I hurt many people. King Charming broke my curse, and I came here. And somehow, I became a dwarf, though I’m not a goblin. The question is, why am I here? Where is Marie?”
Heinrich turned to Doc, who simply shrugged. “I would be more concerned about saving myself first,” he said softly.
“I don’t care! I need to know where Marie is.”
“I know where she is.”
Both heads turned towards her. “I’m sorry,” Lizzie said, blushing. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. But I know where Marie is. She’s my grandmother.”