A Grimm Warning

by Chris Colfer

  “Rook!” Alex said. He was peeking out from behind one of Rosette’s magically enlarged roses.

  “Alex, are you coming inside?” Conner asked.

  “Yes, I’ll be there in a minute,” she said, and ran into the gardens to see Rook. She pulled him behind a giant patch of tulips and threw her arms around his neck.

  “Sorry to intrude again, I just haven’t seen you in a while and was worried. What were all those carriages for—” Rook said, but his cheerful expression quickly faded once he saw the seriousness in her eyes. “Alex, what’s wrong?”

  “Everything,” she said, and fought back tears. She had held it together very well today, but Rook was the only person she didn’t feel like she had to be brave in front of. “My grandmother is sick and there’s an army that’s invaded and trying to take over the world!”

  “What?” Rook said. “What do you mean there’s an army—”

  Alex grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to look directly in his eyes. “You and your dad have to get as far away from here as possible,” she said. “You have to leave before you get hurt!”

  “I hope this isn’t your way of letting me down gently,” Rook said, trying to make her laugh.

  “I’m serious, Rook,” Alex said. “Please, you have to go! I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you! Promise me you’ll get out of here!”

  “All right, all right. I promise to get my dad and we’ll leave.”

  Alex sighed and looked to the ground. “Good,” she said. “I have to get back to the palace now; there are so many things we still need to plan.”

  Rook looked at her with the saddest eyes Alex had ever seen. “But when will I see you again?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll find you once all of this is over and done with. Now please go so I don’t worry about you on top of it all.”

  Rook nodded. He kissed her on the cheek and then headed home.

  Sitting behind the tulips, it was the first time Alex had been out of sight all day. She kneeled on the ground, closed her eyes, and just breathed. She had put on a good show for the fairies and the royals and her brother, but after seeing Rook, all the emotion built up inside her young body suddenly surged through her.

  “Just breathe, Alex, just breathe,” she said to herself. “You can handle this, you can handle this.”

  She stayed behind the tulips until she felt the fear fade from her eyes and her brave face returned.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  AN ICY TRADE

  The soldiers shivered in the freezing winds. The elements had grown too harsh for their horses so they were left behind and the soldiers were forced to trek through the thick snow on foot. For hours and hours they climbed higher and higher into the steep mountains of the north without a disclosed destination or an anticipated time of arrival.

  “How much farther?” General Marquis demanded.

  “Once we see the lights, we’ll know we’ve arrived,” the Masked Man called to the men behind him.

  A unit that started out as twenty Grande Armée soldiers had been reduced to less than a dozen. The soldiers were dropping like flies as the Masked Man led them through the cold. Every few hundred yards a soldier would faint from the elements and disappear into the snow. They were ordered to keep moving and the fallen were left behind.

  General Marquis and Colonel Baton wore thick coats over their uniforms as they traveled, and although the withering soldiers behind them were given very little to shield themselves from the cold with, they were scolded for slowing the expedition down. The Masked Man had only been given a raggedy old blanket to stay warm but he still moved more agilely than the rest of them. He had braved these mountains many times before.

  “You lot certainly don’t handle the cold very well.” The Masked Man chuckled.

  “I am starting to lose my patience,” the general threatened.

  “Don’t fret, General, we’re almost there,” the Masked Man assured him.

  Soon the northern lights he had described came into view. They illuminated the dark sky in bright shades of green and circled above the glaciers ahead. By the time they reached the glaciers, the unit had been reduced to six men including the general and Colonel Baton. The Masked Man led the remaining men through an opening between two glaciers and into an enormous icy maze. They zigzagged between the glaciers and eventually stepped into a wide crater.

  “Gentlemen, welcome to the Snow Queen’s lair,” the Masked Man announced.

  The soldiers gazed around at the crater in bewilderment. Several pillars of ice surrounded the crater, a frozen lake acted as its floor, and a frozen waterfall spilled inside from the mountains above and flowed around a giant icy throne. The Snow Queen sat on the throne with her faithful polar bears, one sitting on either side of her. She wore a large white fur coat and a snowflake crown. A cloth was wrapped over her empty eye sockets. The Snow Queen and the polar bears were eerily quiet, as if they had been waiting for the soldiers to arrive.

  “The Masked Man has returned again,” the Snow Queen said in her raspy crackling voice. “We’ve been expecting you.”

  “Hello, Your Majesty,” the Masked Man said, and gave a shallow bow. “It’s been a very long time but you look as frigid as ever.”

  “Compliments will get you nowhere,” the Snow Queen said. “If it’s a trade you’ve come to make, you know what I want in return.”

  “No, I understand,” the Masked Man said. “The last time I was here, you made it perfectly clear what you wanted in exchange for the item of interest, and with great pleasure I have returned with the means of finally making that trade.”

  The general suddenly grew very tense. “You never said anything about a trade,” he sneered.

  The Masked Man gestured for him to remain calm. “Your Majesty, this is General Marquis of the Grande Armée,” he introduced.

  “I know who he is,” the Snow Queen snapped. “I prophesied the general and his Armée entering this world long before you were born.”

  Something about this was very unsettling to the general and he motioned for his soldiers to stand alert, but the Masked Man assured him this was good news. “Splendid,” he said. “Then you know that in exchange for the dragon egg, he can provide you with what you’ve always wanted.”

  “Capable he may be, but faithful to keeping his end of a bargain I’ve yet to see,” the Snow Queen said. “The future is filled with many certainties and many uncertainties for the general. Long ago I foresaw him and his Armée sweeping across the land and conquering everything in their path, but I do not see him rising against the fairies. If he wishes to claim this world, he’ll need my trust in the deal we’re about to make.”

  “And what exactly is the deal?” the general asked, stepping closer to her.

  The Snow Queen smiled and her jagged teeth were exposed. “Many years ago I was the ruler of the Northern Kingdom until my throne was stolen from me. If the general wants my dragon egg so he can conquer this world as intended, he must promise to give me back the Northern Kingdom when he succeeds.”

  This was news to the general and it infuriated him. “Excuse me for a moment, Your Coldness,” he said to the Snow Queen. He grabbed the Masked Man by the lapel and threw him against a pillar to the side of the crater.

  “You never mentioned anything about a trade!” he whispered.

  “General, you have to trust me,” the Masked Man whispered back. “This is the only way you can win this war. Make this trade with the Snow Queen and it won’t matter what she is promised in return—once you have a dragon in your power, you’ll be unstoppable! You can obliterate her and anything in your way.”

  The general thought it over but the anger never left his eyes. “Very well,” he said. He faced the Snow Queen. “If you supply me with a dragon egg now, when we take over you have my word that the north shall be yours again.”

  A deep and raspy celebratory laugh erupted out of the Snow Queen’s mouth. “Music to my ears,” she said. “Your offer is
accepted, but it comes with a warning. I foresee nothing but greatness for you if you keep your end of our bargain, but if you betray me I foresee your quest ending with a scorching demise.”

  The general’s left eye started to twitch. Clearly the Snow Queen was trying to trick him with visions she hadn’t seen. He quickly glanced at the Masked Man, who silently urged him to proceed.

  “Understood,” the general said. “We have a deal.”

  The soldiers felt a rumble beneath them. They looked through the ice under their feet and saw bubbles appear as something large and round slowly floated toward them from the depths of the lake. A dragon egg surfaced and bobbed against the ice below the frozen lake.

  General Marquis turned to his men. “Don’t just stand there! Retrieve it!” he ordered.

  The soldiers went to the dragon egg and beat the ice above it with the backs of their rifles. The ice began to break and General Marquis and Colonel Baton stood away from it. One of the soldiers fell through the cracking ice and into the freezing water underneath. The Snow Queen laughed, wildly amused by their attempts to get the egg. The man’s fall created a huge hole in the ice and the dragon egg soon drifted into it and floated to reaching distance.

  “No one move!” the Masked Man yelled, and the two remaining soldiers stood still. He carefully got to his hands and knees and slid across the icy floor and pulled the dragon egg out of the water. “Cold—cold!” he shrieked. He juggled the egg back and forth between his hands and wrapped it in his raggedy blanket. The egg was so cold his hands burned from its touch.

  The dragon egg was twice the size of the Masked Man’s head. It was the shape of a regular egg but was covered in a black shell with the same rough texture as coal. Cracks the egg had received over the years were covered in gold to preserve it, like a rotting tooth. The Masked Man stared down proudly at the egg as if he were holding his firstborn child—he had dreamed about this moment for a very long time.

  General Marquis promptly approached him and took the egg out of his hands. “Wonderful,” he said, and stared down at the egg with wide inquisitive eyes, as if he were looking into a crystal ball at his future. “Colonel Baton, please shoot the Masked Man; his services are no longer needed.”

  Colonel Baton retrieved a pistol from inside his coat and aimed it at the Masked Man.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” the Masked Man said, and raised his hands. “You can’t kill me! You still need me!”

  “We have acquired the egg and will not waste another moment on your nonsense,” the general said, and nodded for the colonel to fire at will.

  “But someone’s got to take care of the egg—and I doubt you or any of your men know how to properly hatch and raise a dragon,” the Masked Man said.

  “And what makes you an expert?” the general asked spitefully.

  “I’ve spent years trying to get my hands on this egg,” the Masked Man said. “I know everything there is to know about dragons! Now we have to get the egg into something very hot. The hotter the environment, the faster and stronger the dragon will grow—and I have a very hot place in mind if we keep working together.”

  A noise came out of General Marquis that was half a grunt and half a sigh. He had been looking forward to getting rid of the Masked Man since they left the prison, but now he would have to wait a little longer. He shook his head at Baton and the pistol was put away.

  “It seems the Masked Man has proven himself useful again,” the general said. “You may stay alive long enough to properly hatch and raise the dragon for me. Now escort us out of these icy mountains before you cause my irritation to trump my need for efficiency.”

  General Marquis glared at him and then headed toward the opening in the crater they had entered from. Colonel Baton and the remaining two soldiers followed him. The Masked Man rubbed his chest to calm his beating heart—he would have to keep himself as useful as possible in the days ahead if he wanted to keep his life.

  “Thank you, Your Shiveringness,” the Masked Man said to the Snow Queen. He bowed and quickly caught up with the rest of his party. As soon as he and the soldiers were gone, another raspy laugh erupted from the Snow Queen and echoed through the canyon.

  “What do you find so amusing, My Grace?” the polar bear to her left asked.

  A malicious smirk grew on the Snow Queen’s face. “I suddenly foresee something very certain in the forthcoming days for our masked friend,” she said.

  “What does Your Highness see?” the polar bear to her right asked.

  “His mask has successfully concealed who he is for an impressive length of time,” she said. “But by the time the week is up, his worst fear will be realized when his identity is revealed to the person he most wishes to keep it secret from.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  THE GREAT TROBLIN LAKE

  The twins barely slept after sending the royals and their friends on the secret path, and were both up before sunrise. The few hours they’d managed to sleep were from worrying their bodies to the point of exhaustion, and had little to do with rest. They met Mother Goose on the grand balcony of the Fairy Palace just as the sun rose over the Fairy Kingdom. She was prepping Lester to take them on their journey to the Troblin Territory and the Elf Empire.

  “I want you to listen to Conner and Alex and do exactly what they say, fly very carefully, always be aware of the sky around you, and make sure every landing is as safe and secure as possible,” she instructed him. “In other words, do everything you don’t usually do for me.”

  Lester nodded, and ruffled his feathers, making them nice and fluffy for their upcoming flight.

  “Are you sure you’re up for this, Lester?” Conner asked. “We could take one of those enchanted swans if you’re having any hesitations.”

  Lester opened his beak and glared at him—insulted just by the thought of it. He grabbed his own reins with his mouth and shoved them into Conner’s hand. He was definitely ready for this.

  “I’ll take that as a yes,” Conner said with a laugh. He and his sister each swung a leg over the large goose. They sat on his back with Conner in the front.

  “Our first stop is the Troblin Territory, Lester,” Alex said. “And after what I hope will be a successful visit, we’ll be on our way to the Elf Empire.”

  “Who’s in charge of the Elf Empire?” Conner asked.

  Mother Goose huffed uneasily just at the mention of it. “Elvina the Elf Empress,” she said.

  “She’s not a friend of yours, I take it,” Conner said.

  “Just be cautious around her,” she warned them. “Empress Elvina is just as cunning as she is beautiful. She’s like a poisonous flower, pretty and peaceful on the outside but dangerous on the inside. Don’t let her fool you; no matter what she promises, her loyalty will always be to her own people before it is to the greater good.”

  Conner gulped. “Poisonous flower, gotcha,” he said.

  “Elves are very sharp and known for their long memory—and boy, can they hold a grudge,” Mother Goose continued. “They’ll be very hesitant at first to cooperate but don’t let it dishearten you. They’ve never forgiven the Fairy Council for not including them in the Happily Ever After Assembly and have not talked to us since.”

  “If they haven’t talked to you in so long, what makes you think they’ll talk to us?” Alex asked.

  Mother Goose shrugged. “Beats me,” she said. “Good luck, kiddos. I’ll be right here as soon as you get back.”

  Her words of advice did the opposite of comforting them. Lester took a few steps backward and stretched out his wings. He waddled forward and began flapping until he and the twins lifted off the balcony and flew into the sky. Soon Mother Goose and the Fairy Palace were out of sight.

  “Who would have thought you and I would be saving the world again so soon after the last time,” Conner said with a nervous laugh to break the tension.

  “I always hoped the portal between our worlds would re-open somehow, but never at this price,” Alex said. “It’s like
an eye for an arm is our trading standard.”

  “I know what you mean,” Conner said, and thought of something to lighten their spirits. “Do you ever think about what our lives would be like if we had never discovered the Land of Stories? Do you ever wonder what you and I would be doing right now if Grandma and Dad weren’t from the fairy-tale world?”

  Alex smiled at the thought. “I’d probably be thinking about colleges and careers instead of wars and battles.”

  Conner laughed at his own prediction. “And I’d just be trying to survive Algebra, not an army of thousands.”

  His sister laughed along but her smile quickly faded. They had experienced many extraordinary things but had also given up a lot because of who they were.

  “Think of all the normal teenage things we could be experiencing,” she said with a sigh so heavy it was obviously carrying more than one thought. “After this chapter of our lives, I wonder if I’ll ever enjoy anything without the constant fear of losing it.”

  “By the way,” Conner said, reading between the lines of what his sister was saying. “Who was that guy you were talking to last night in the fairy gardens?”

  Conner felt his sister’s body tense up behind him. “What are you talking about?” Alex said, attempting to play dumb. “The boy in the gardens? Oh, you’re talking about Rook Robins—the farmer boy from the Eastern Kingdom. He’s just a friend I made recently.”

  “Rook Robins?” Conner said. “He sounds like a baseball player. Are you sure he’s just a friend?”

  For a reason he couldn’t explain, Conner instantly disliked everything about the guy.

  “Oh please, Conner,” Alex said defensively. “As if I’ve had time for anything like romance while joining the Fairy Council and leading the Happily Ever After Assembly into a war.”

  Alex hated lying to her brother but she would never hear the end of it if he knew the truth, especially if he knew Rook was one of the reasons she had missed his attempts at contacting her while he was in Germany. Conner was glad Alex was sitting behind him so she couldn’t see the look he was giving her. He knew exactly what was going on whether his sister wanted to admit it or not.