Of Snow and Blood

by Kris Black

  “What can I help with? I’m ready to get my hands dirty.”

  Brigit and Sarah gave Alina a list of tasks that she happily set out to do. It warmed Alina knowing that she and her mother tended to the same plants in the same garden. The kinship that Alina felt with the plants and with the greenhouse was immeasurable, and the strongest link to Breena she could have imagined.

  Alina heard a scoff and a few hushed giggles. Looking up, she spotted a couple of the court ladies whispering and glancing her way. Her hands were brown with caked dirt and her hair no doubt frizzy with the humidity. When they caught her eye, the group curtseyed and hurried away. Alina’s face flushed, not with shame, but with anger.

  Those girls had probably never done any hard work in their entire lives, who were they to judge her?

  Determined to put them from her mind, Alina resumed her task, only to be interrupted by a footman.

  “Excuse me, You Highness.” He said as she looked up. “A letter has just arrived for you.”

  A letter sat on a platter that the man held out for her. It seemed a little silly, but when Alina recognized the handwriting she immediately wiped her hands on her apron and reached for the letter.

  George had replied.

  Alina quickly took off her apron and stashed it back in the gardener’s shed before returning to her room.

  Alina hadn’t seen the king since the family dinner. She wasn’t sure whether she should be hurt that he didn’t make more time to spend with her, or proud that he seemed to take his duties seriously. It was more than she could say about her adoptive father, who failed to do anything when their family fell on misfortune.

  However, after the letter from George, she had a reason to visit with the King she couldn’t put off. She requested to see him, which was immediately granted.

  “I hoped you would want to see me,” he said in a way of greeting as she entered his study. He motioned to a chair for her to sit in. “I didn’t want to push you.”

  “Thank you,” Alina said and folded her hands in her lap. “I have something I would like to discuss with you.”

  “Ask and it’s yours.”

  “I wrote to my family,” Alina started. “One of my elder brothers was ill when I left, and I wanted to make sure he was all right.”

  “I hope that he’s okay?”

  “Ah, yes,” Alina stumbled. “They… they sent him away for hospice but said he should make a full recovery.”

  In truth, George wrote to her and said Charles left with little notice. George worried about what happened to him, but Alina knew then that Charles kept his word and tried to make his way to Christian. She only hoped that he succeeded.

  “And what is it you need from me?” King Belmont asked tenderly.

  “Well, I would like to have my father and brothers come and visit,” Alina asked. “The truth of my birth isn’t something that I’d like to reveal in a letter.”

  “Of course,” the king acquiesced. “How foolish of me not to think of them and how this will affect Edward and your brothers and sisters. When I heard you returned, I thought only of securing your safety as soon as possible. If you compose the letter, I shall send an envoy for them immediately to have them join us.”

  “I’ll do it first thing tomorrow,” Alina said hurriedly.

  A pause followed by an uncomfortable silence.

  “It’s still odd, isn’t it?” King Belmont asked. “That we’re a father and daughter and yet, in these times of silence, it reminds me we know little about each other.”

  “It is strange,” she agreed.

  “You need not worry around me,” he offered. “No matter what, I only want what’s best for you. I know that presenting you that way to my court was jarring, but I needed to do it immediately to declare your legitimacy. If not, the court would have torn you into pieces in the meantime.”

  Alina nodded and looked down at her hands. Her ring glistened in the light.

  “Is there something else, daughter?”

  Alina bit her lip, looking up. “You said that you sent me away to protect me from a curse.”

  “Yes,” he answered tersely.

  “And the curse ended up being cast, anyway?”

  Her father’s mute silence was a ringing answer. Was her father also bound by the same rules as Christian, not to speak of the curse?

  “It’s how she died,” the king whispered. “Breena. She died saving you from the curse, altering it enough to save your life.”

  Alina’s heart dropped. Her mother had died saving her?

  “She did?” Alina’s voice was a hushed whisper.

  “She would have done anything for you. After she sent you away, she used all her magic reweaving the curse. It ultimately took her life.”

  Reweaving spells. Her mother was a faerie. It was still hard to digest. What would Christian think of her now, with his hatred of faeries?

  It didn’t matter. Even if he didn’t want to be with her any longer, she promised to break the curse and she would. She owed it, at the very least, to her mother to ensure they destroyed the damnable thing.

  “Do we have copies of the curse? Did anyone transpose it?” Alina asked quietly, her heart beating fast. Christian didn’t have his own, perhaps she had hers.

  “We do. I locked it away in the private library. I can retrieve it for you if you would like to read it. It may take a while; I haven’t looked for it in years. It’s disheartening, and I wish you would ignore it. It won’t do to dwell on it.”

  Alina thought back to Christian. If there was a way to break either of their curses, she wanted to find out.

  “I would like to look at it. If only to see what my mother died for.”

  Belmont smiled sadly and nodded his head in affirmation. Alina started to rise but paused. She’d been here for over a week already and they had overloaded her with enough information to last her entire lifetime. However, there was one thing she still needed to find out.

  “Not to sound ungrateful, but how long am I intended to remain here?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I-It’s just that I was wondering if it were possible for me to go home after this,” Alina asked. “Home to my brothers and sisters.”

  And Christian. She still couldn’t work up the courage to mention him. She wasn’t even sure if he would still want to marry her after all of this.

  Belmont frowned. “Alina, you are the heir apparent to the kingdom. It is imperative that you remain in the castle where we can guard you and keep you safe, especially now that everyone knows who you are. Word in the kingdom spreads faster than you probably realize.”

  Alina closed her eyes gently and squeezed, trying to keep calm. How was she going to get back to Christian and explain all of this?

  “But,” the king continued, hating the sight of his beloved child upset. “If you would like to visit for a while and we can arrange your goodbyes after your official coronation ceremony,”

  “Coronation ceremony?”

  “I would like to have you officially crowned as the princess, that way no one can attest your right to the throne. I have people planning it as we speak. It will be in three weeks’ time. I’ll invite your family, of course, and they may remain here when they arrive. They have my complete gratitude for raising you all these years.”

  Three weeks. She could go home in three weeks. She could sneak off to Christian quickly and he would help her come up with a plan to fix this mess.

  Three weeks. She would miss the full moon. She wouldn’t be there for Charles or Christian.

  But she had to take what she could. More than just one kingdom was on the line here, more than just one curse. Everything was a tangled web getting steadily harder to navigate and unweave.

  “That sounds lovely,” she smiled falsely. “I’ll attend the coronation in three weeks’ time, then get to spend time at my family’s home before returning?”

  “If you so choose.”

  “I’d love that. Thank you… Belmon
t.”

  The smell of old books was a soothing balm to Alina’s soul. The moment she entered the vast castle library, the scent wafted around her like bread fresh from the oven. She closed her eyes and breathed deep, the tension leaving her body with each exhale.

  Alina had two sanctuaries in this castle, places where she felt the most comfortable. The garden, where she was able to be attuned with nature and feel close to whatever energy and magic she had. Then, here in the library with books full of adventures and facts where she could escape to many different worlds without the use of a plethora of guards as her entourage.

  Henry took his place near the door as Alina walked around the room, perusing the titles on the bookshelves.

  It was such a shame that the library was empty each time she came. She took it to mean that the courtiers didn’t place much stock in books and reading. The thought that a good deal of courtiers didn’t read for enjoyment or for knowledge was something, perhaps, she could work on within the court eventually.

  For now, she would enjoy the quiet and solitude. Alina pulled a particularly interesting fiction novel title from the shelf and opened to the first page, perusing the first chapter before settling down in a comfy chair near the window with a spectacular view of the harbor.

  The sun was setting, the light making it nearly impossible to read, when Alina finally closed the novel and looked up at the sunset over the water. Standing to stretch, she noted that Thomas was now at the door, standing guard. The novel had been so encompassing, she hadn’t even noticed the change.

  “Your Highness, the kitchen sent up some supper for you to your bedroom. Would you like me to have it moved here, so you can continue your reading?” Thomas asked when he noticed she had caught sight of him. “I didn’t want to interrupt you.”

  “No, that’s fine, thank you.” Alina replied as she sauntered towards him. “The light is too dim to read by now. I’ll return to my room.”

  Thomas nodded and followed Alina back to her room before bidding her goodnight. Alina made quick work of the food the kitchen had sent for her, not realizing how hungry she had been while she was invested in the story she was reading. The book was sitting beside her bed, a small paper marker to keep her place. She had been determined to get back to her room, eat and then go straight to sleep.

  But her eyes wandered back to the book as she took another bite of bread. Then to the lantern by her writing desk.

  A few more hours of reading couldn’t hurt.

  Alina found it hard to focus when her thoughts continually strayed to Christian, Charles, the pack, the mirror. Her priority needed to be getting the mirror. The rest of the problems she’d solve if she could just check Queen Calista’s mirror to see if it were really the magical twin to Christian’s. Only then could she really stop worrying about what was going on at home.

  She wouldn’t risk Ella’s position with her to ask her to help her with the endeavor. No, if caught Ella would be severely punished, even if Alina intended to return the mirror. There was no one else in the castle she could turn to for help with this.

  Alina needed to speak with Felix. She had to get that mirror and the closer it came to the full moon the more urgently she needed. No matter which way she went through the scenario of attaining the mirror, the only person she could rely on to help her was Felix. Ella was in a vulnerable position. But, as a Ward of the King, Felix had almost as much immunity in the castle as she did.

  Plus, he was a favorite of the queen.

  She couldn’t summon Felix. The servants and footmen spoke, and word would eventually make its way back to her step-mother. Instead, Alina resolved to find Felix on her own. Half the day spent searching through the castle and its grounds and she found him in the stables, brushing down his horse.

  “Princess,” he greeted. “What brings you to my humble horse stall?”

  “I need to know if you can help me with something. Something that might be very dangerous for you and me.” Alina had checked the stalls herself before she had found Felix to be sure no one was listening. Still, she couldn’t help checking behind her.

  “I’m intrigued. Do tell.” He set the brush down and patted his horse’s neck gently, intent on giving Alina his full attention.

  Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Are you aware of the mirror that the queen has?”

  “The gilded hand-mirror? Yes, I know of it.”

  “I need you to get it for me.”

  Felix froze, his face snapping to Alina’s. “You want me to steal from the queen? And her wedding present at that?”

  “I know it’s a lot to ask.” Alina stood firm. “And I won’t steal it, just borrow it.”

  Felix raised his hands in surrender. “I didn’t say no, Princess. Count me in.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. What do you need me to do?”

  Alina sat with her ankle neatly tucked behind the other, hands folded in her lap. Well, at least that’s what she was trying to do. Instead, she was sitting half-on-half-off of the chair, her body twisted oddly as she tried to make her legs obey.

  Beside her, Ella was a picture of grace and elegance. The queen sat similarly, a teacup in hand and an unimpressed look on her face. Queen Calista seemed to have the ability to sit like that all day, prim and posture-perfect.

  The hand-mirror on the table next to the queen glistened like liquid mercury. Alina tried to ignore it, but her eyes kept making their way back to the mirror, like a moth driven to the flame.

  “Honestly,” the queen sighed, breaking Alina out of her reverie. “This is the most basic lesson and you can’t grasp it. You must learn to sit properly.”

  “I wasn’t aware that I sat improperly.” Alina recounted her initial reaction to this absurd lesson. She had never had how she sat so criticized.

  “Perhaps in the country sitting with your limbs strewn wherever they fell was acceptable.” The queen paused. Possibly for emphasis, possibly because the idea of the countryside disturbed her so much she shivered. “But I assure you that here at court you must sit like a noblewoman. A princess.”

  Alina gritted her teeth and sat up straight. If she was a princess, wasn’t she already sitting like one? Gritted her teeth, she smiled blandly and used her hands to tuck one leg behind the other, securing a foot behind the ankle. It wasn’t the easily practiced way that Ella or Calista used, but it got the job done.

  “There.” Alina sat up straight and folded her hands in her lap like Ella.

  “Congratulations on accomplishing what most toddlers can achieve.” Calista stood, graceful as a gazelle. “With a few more years of practice, perhaps you’ll be able to manage it without looking like a marionette.”

  Alina’s jaw clenched, her teeth grinding. It would not help her to make an enemy of her step-mother, the queen. But it appeared the queen was hellbent on making one of her.

  “I suppose you can’t help it, with two dead mothers,” Calista sighed. “But I shall endeavor to help you as much as I can.”

  Alina doubted that very much. She even shot a look at Ella telling her so. However, Ella sat poised with her head looking down at the folded hands in her lap. A picture of serenity, a noblewoman in front of her queen. Alina wondered what Elizabeth, with her fiery scarlet hair, would do in this same situation. She doubted that she would be demure and calm.

  No, Elizabeth had a wolf inside her. With that, she had carried an air of almost willful fierceness - a woman who refused to bow down and stay quiet.

  Alina wished for a moment that she, too, had the ability to turn into a wolf. She wasn’t sure of the nature of faeries, even having read the history of them. All she really understood of them was that her mother was one and that one had cursed both she and Christian.

  “I suppose that, barring sitting, we must at least teach you how to walk,” Calista offered, sarcastically gracious. Alina was beginning to despise her.

  “I know how to walk.”

  “Like you knew how to sit,” the queen nearly snicker
ed and Alina was running out of patience.

  She was able to deal with the fury that came from Christian - she understood it and where it came from. This outright disdain though, from someone whom she had spent very little time with, it was puzzling and disconcerting. Alina wasn’t sure how she should react to it.

  “Ella, be a dear and show the princess how it’s done.”

  Ella stood silent and poised. Her back straightened, and she began walking, her dress covering her feet to give her appear as though she floated across the floor. It was nothing that Alina had not seen before - from the ladies in the castle to her own sisters, having had time to have training from their mother… by Danielle Townsend, rather. Her sisters’ mother.

  No, what struck Alina as entirely jarring was that Ella appeared to be nothing more than a puppet on strings when the queen was around, silently following orders and moving wherever the queen’s hand jerked. Was this what court life was like? Submitting yourself to the vile whims of whatever monarch was in the room?

  “See? Not so hard, is it?” The queen’s voice sickly sweet like poison candy. Tart on the outside, vile and corrupted within.

  Alina stood awkwardly from the unfamiliar sitting position, certain that she would be able to accomplish this much - and make the queen eat her words. Alina straightened her dress and stood straight, shoulders back and head high. It was an effort to maintain the posture, but she was determined.

  Alina’s first steps caused the queen to make a sneer crossed between disappointment and approval; like she had wanted Alina to fail. Alina tried to ignore her and focus on perfecting her walk, and she was doing it too. She never imagined she would be proud of herself for accomplishing something as simple as walking. She kept her head high, and when no more comments were released from her step-mother’s mouth, Alina chanced a glance in her direction.

  Seated again, Calista, like a queen on her throne, watched Alina intently for any mistake. Of course, she was. It wasn’t the queen, however, that caught her attention. No, it was the supposed enchanted hand-mirror that sat beside her, face up.