The 10th Kingdom

by Kathryn Wesley

  “Poison is the way the Queen will strike,” Snow White said. “And the way she must be defeated. You will find your weapon in a grave.”

  Virginia looked down. In her other hand, she held a comb, silver and encrusted with jewels. It had razor-sharp teeth.

  “Do not think. Become,” Snow White said.

  Virginia woke with a start. The horrible music had stopped. She glanced up. The Trolls had passed out, and the Huntsman was asleep. The horse was pulling the wagon without direction.

  Virginia grabbed her father and shook him. “Dad!” she whispered. “Wake up.”

  He shook his head, then opened his eyes, and blinked at her. He seemed to take in their surroundings rather quickly.

  “They’re asleep,” she whispered. “No one’s watching us. We can escape.”

  “How?” Tony asked. “We’re tied up.”

  “Jump off the back,” Virginia said. “They won’t see us.” “Jump,” Tony said. “Our hands and feet are tied together.” He wriggled so that he could look over the edge of the wagon. They were only four feet off the ground, but the wagon was moving at a good clip. The road was made up of stones and hard dirt.

  Virginia could almost read the fear in him.

  “No way,” Tony said. “Anyway, what about Prince?”

  Virginia looked toward Prince. He was chained and tied in the front of the wagon, but he was resting between the Huntsman’s legs. His chain was wrapped around the Huntsman’s boots. There was no way to get him without waking the most dangerous man on the wagon.

  “We can’t get to him,” Virginia whispered. “We have to escape.”

  Prince opened his eyes, and for the first time in a while, they were filled with intelligence.

  “I’m not going without him,” Tony said.

  Prince shook his head.

  “What did he say?” Virginia asked.

  “He told me to go,” Tony whispered. “I can’t, Virginia. I can’t leave him with these monsters.”

  “Don’t think,” Virginia said. “Just do it. One. Two. Three.”

  They rolled together over the back of the wagon and landed on the ground. Virginia winced as the air left her body. The jolt was incredible. Her father cursed softly, and they had to struggle for a moment to get themselves untangled. Then Virginia looked up.

  The wagon had gone on without them.

  It took a while, but Virginia managed to untie the ropes from her feet. She and her father were still bound together by iron manacles, but the chain that held them allowed some distance. They were in the woods, and it was early evening. Virginia even had a sense of where they were.

  Apparently, so did her father.1 ‘What’s the point of escaping if we’re just going to walk straight to the castle?” he asked.

  “We’ll find a weapon,” Virginia said. “I dreamt it.”

  “Oh, good,” he said. “That puts my mind at rest.”

  It was getting dark as they approached a wooden sign with two arrows. The one that indicated the road they were walking on said, Prince Wendell’s Castle —39 Miles. The one that pointed into the woods said, Prince Wendell’s Castle — 13 Miles.

  “Oh, great,” Virginia said. “A shortcut. We can catch up to them.”

  She started walking through the trees, pulling her father by their handcuffs.

  “Woah, Virginia,” Tony said. “Why do you think it’s thirty-nine miles one way and thirteen the other?’ ’

  “Perhaps there’s a scenic route,” Virginia said. “How should I know?”

  The ground was soft underneath.

  “You don’t think the other road might be going around something?” her father asked as his boot sank in the marshy soil, punching a hole through some rotting timber.

  Virginia shrugged. “This route is probably not suitable for carts, that’s all.”

  They walked for a long time. Virginia felt like these thirteen miles might be the longest of all. The marsh made walking difficult, and her father was making snide comments about shortcuts.

  Finally, they reached an area bathed in green light. It was a swamp. The light revealed sunken trees and brackish water. The smell was thick and slightly rancid.

  All around them were strange bird calls and weird cries. A shiver ran through Virginia when she heard some screeching. The marshy land gave way to waist-deep water, and Virginia had to lead them carefully, seeking little islands that rose like ghosts out of the swamp.

  “Is that just me,” her father asked, “or can I hear Pink Floyd?”

  They stopped. Virginia listened. She heard more screeching, but no music.

  “It’s just you,” Virginia said. “I can’t hear anything.”

  She looked back and saw a pair of green eyes flick on and off in the trees. She frowned. Maybe she had imagined that. This certainly was a spooky enough place.

  They kept walking.

  “It’s the Floyd,” her father said. “It’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon.’ ”

  Virginia stopped to listen again, but all she heard was the howl of a wolf. Wolf, she thought longingly. But she said as coolly as she could manage, “It’s an animal howling.”

  “It’s not,” Tony said. “It’s track four, side one. I love this!” He started swinging the chain between them in time with the music that only he was hearing.

  Virginia knew better than to try to make him stop. Instead, she gazed ahead. There were tiny lights flitting about, almost too fast to follow.

  “What are those lights?”

  Her father peered toward them but didn’t say anything.

  Virginia had had enough. She had made a mistake coming this way, and she knew it. “Look, it’s not too late to turn

  back.”

  “Oh, no,” her father said. “I’m not going back until I’ve heard side two.”

  She glanced at him. He was losing it. What was causing that? Then lights appeared all around them, buzzing them and whizzing past in the darkness.

  Suddenly three girls appeared. They were sitting in the trees that grew out of the swamp.

  “Who are you?” Virginia asked.

  “Who are you?” asked one of the girls.

  They weren’t human, but they had a human appearance. They reminded Virginia of adolescent girls, except for the pointy ears and perfect skin. They seemed to glow all over. Virginia had a sense she was looking at Elves.

  “Everyone thinks they can handle the swamp,” the first girl said, tugging on her earring. It was a little light, like the florescent rings Virginia had seen at concerts.

  “But they all end up in the hands of the Swamp Witch,” another said.

  “The Swamp Witch?” her father asked.

  Virginia looked at him. He shook his head slightly. More problems. That was all they needed.

  “There are three things you mustn’t do under any circumstances,” said the first girl. “Don’t drink the water.”

  “Don’t eat the mushrooms,” said the second.

  “And whatever you do,” said the third, “don’t fall asleep.” “All right,” Tony said. “Enough. Show us the way back and we’ll take the long way.”

  “It’s much too late now,” said the second girl. “You’re doomed.”

  “Too late,” said the first. “Doomed. Doomed.”

  Then the girls vanished. The lights whizzed past Virginia, and suddenly she and her father were alone again.

  She took his hand. The swamp seemed even scarier than before.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  He smelled of sulfur and rotten eggs, his feet were wet, and the chain was heavy. Tony was getting really tired, and he had the horrible feeling that they were lost forever. Virginia wasn’t saying anything either, just moving forward with a determination that seemed forced.

  Occasionally, she would slap at a mosquito or some other kind of bug, and that would be the only sound in the darkness.

  Ahead was another little island. They half walked, half swam to it, then pulled themselves onto the mossy surface. Th
ey should have gotten up and walked, but neither of them did.

  “That’s it,” Tony said. “We’ve got to stop, just for five minutes. There’s dry wood. We can make a fire, and we’ve still got a couple of eggs left.”

  “We mustn’t eat anything,” Virginia said.

  “I’m sure that doesn’t include food we’ve brought in.”

  He sat up and took a small frying pan from Virginia’s rucksack. Then he removed three eggs, cracked from the fall off the wagon. Virginia leaned against a tree. She seemed completely wiped out.

  “You won’t fall asleep, will you?” Tony asked.

  “I’m starving,” Virginia said. “I’m not going to fall asleep.”

  She closed her eyes.

  “Don’t eat any of the mushrooms,” she said.

  He looked around. He hadn’t noticed the mushrooms before.

  They were all over the island. He had thought they were moss when he climbed up, but the slimy feeling under his fingers had been actual fungus.

  He shuddered a little, then went about gathering dried wood. It took a while to light a fire, but it felt so good that he warmed himself before starting the eggs. Virginia hadn’t said anything yet, but she’d be all right once he fed her.

  The warmth of the fire lulled him. He stretched out so that his pants could dry, and then he closed his eyes, just for a minute. He knew he shouldn’t fall asleep, and he wouldn’t. Not really. He’d just rest for a few minutes....

  It took him a while to make it through this insane swamp. When would Virginia learn to understand the signs in the Nine Kingdoms? Wolf shook his head fondly and hurried forward, eager to see her again.

  But as he got close to the island, he saw only her feet. The rest of her body was covered in vines.

  “Virginia!” Wolf shouted.

  He climbed up beside her, and found that the vines were around Virginia’s neck, choking the life out of her, and she wasn’t even noticing. He yanked at the vines, pulled her free, and clasped her against him.

  If she was in trouble, so was her father.

  Wolf shook her awake. “Where’s Tony?” he demanded. “Where’s Tony?”

  Virginia gasped for air with a horrible, desperate sound. She couldn’t speak. Then Wolf saw the manacle and chain attached to her wrist. He followed it back to Tony’s arm.

  Tony was underwater. Bubbles were coming out of his mouth. Wolf wrenched Tony out of the swamp and pulled the vines away from his face.

  Tony gagged and spat out a huge mouthful of water. “Lights!” he shouted. “Lights all gone out!”

  Wolf tore the vines away from Tony’s eyes so that he could see again. He dragged Tony closer to Virginia. She was shaking.

  “Oh, my God,” Virginia said. “Hold me, hold me.”

  Wolf held her close. She was shivering so hard that he was quivering too. Tony was looking wild-eyed.

  “I died,” Tony said. “I died back there. They turned out all the lights.”

  Wolf didn’t say anything. He managed to get them calmed, and helped them pull off the remaining vines. The vines had little suckers attached to the ends, which left scratches on Virginia’s beautiful skin.

  As they calmed, they seemed to realize that he was there. Virginia finally looked him in the face.

  “Wolf,” Virginia said, “how did you get here?”

  He smiled at her. “I have been following you for a long time.”

  She smiled back. She had missed him, that much was clear. He was glad he had come.

  He hadn’t been able to stand the time alone.

  Virginia was still a little shaky from her near-death experience. She had had a weird dream through it all, something about being in the palace, married to, of all people, her father.

  It took her a while to shake that off. She certainly didn’t tell her father or Wolf about it.

  Wolf. She was so glad he was back. She had missed him more than she could say. And he had saved her life.

  He stayed at her side now as though he wasn’t going to let her go. She waded through the swamp beside him, just enjoying his company.

  Ahead, she saw what looked like a mirror graveyard. Ancient mirrors and shards of mirrors protruded from the swamp. It was like the Dwarves’ hall of mirrors, only polluted somehow. Polluted and dead and dark.

  Most of the mirrors were black and covered in slime. As the three came up to them, they heard incoherent voices emanating from the mirrors. Some of the voices were harsh and rasping, others were sly and beckoning. Only a few were soft and seductive.

  “Look!” her father said, pointing past the mirrors. “That’s the Swamp Witch’s house.”

  In the middle of the mirror graveyard, on a tiny island, was a wooden shack.

  “She’s in there,” Wolf said.

  Virginia squinted. He was right. There was a single window, and the light inside illuminated a terrifying shadowy figure huddled over what looked like a bubbling cauldron.

  “What do we do now?” Tony whispered.

  “Avoid making any noise,” Wolf said. “We’ll just sneak past her.”

  “Stay where you are, or I’ll shove you in my pot!” a voice announced.

  Suddenly the door flung open, and a hideous giant figure was silhouetted against the light inside.

  “Cripes,” Wolf said.

  Virginia put a hand on his arm. She had even missed that little phrase.

  Her father continued walking forward, and after a moment, dragged her with him.

  “Tony?” the figure said.

  Her father laughed. As Virginia got closer, she realized that they weren’t looking at a woman at all, but at a goblin who was horribly scarred.

  “This is Clay Face the Goblin,” Tony said. “We did some hard time in prison together.”

  “Hard time?” Virginia asked. “You were only in there overnight.”

  Clay Face came forward and stared at them. He took off a bad black wig made of string and rope. He peered at Wolf for a moment, then grinned.

  “Yeah,” Clay Face said. “You were the Wolf in E block who ate all the—”

  “Yes,” Wolf said. “Nice to meet you, but we must be on our way.”

  Clay Face looked at Virginia and then winked at her father. “Nice girlfriend.”

  “She’s not my girlfriend,” her father said, sounding indignant. “She’s my daughter.”

  “Even better,” Clay Face said. Virginia shuddered. Better for whom? But Clay Face was beckoning them. “Come in.”

  They climbed out of the swamp onto the island. Wolf glanced over his shoulder as if he had heard something. Clay Face noted the chains linking Virginia and her father.

  “You weren’t in chains when you escaped from prison, were you?” Clay Face asked.

  “Oh, no,” Tony said. “This is an entirely unrelated incident.”

  They entered the shack and Virginia found herself wondering if that was wise. It was tiny and the wood was rotted, but the place was full of stuff. Bottles and jars of potions. There was a noxious odor that seemed built in to the place. Black candles gave off what passed for light, dripping like huge stalagmites, staining the floor.

  Tony picked up a jar with a bat in it. “We thought you were the Swamp Witch.”

  “She’s been dead for years,” Clay Face said. “This is a great place to hang out when you’re on the run.”

  Virginia didn’t think so. She wasn’t sure how long she could stand to be here. Wolf eased up closely behind her, his body against hers.

  Clay Face sat at the table. Food was scattered on the surface, and there was a huge cleaver off to the side.

  “Put your hands on the table,” he said to Virginia and her father.

  They reluctantly put their manacled hands on the table. Clay Face adjusted the chain, then studied it for a moment. “Troll tatt,” he said.

  Suddenly he grabbed the huge cleaver. Virginia screamed and cringed, and so did her father. Clay Face hit the chains with all his strength, and they split apart.
>
  He grinned at Virginia. Her heart was racing. For the second time that night, she had thought she was going to die.

  “So,” her father said, trying to sound calmer than he was. “Who was this Swamp Witch?”

  “Who was she?” Clay Face asked, clearly surprised at the question. “I thought everyone knew. You know the story of Snow White?”

  Virginia smiled. “From the horse’s mouth, actually.”

  Clay Face stared at her, and Virginia’s smile vanished. “Well,” he said, “the Swamp Witch was the wicked stepmother who tried to kill her. All that ‘mirror, mirror on the wall’ stuff, that was her. This was where she crawled to after they made her dance in the red-hot slippers. She spent the rest of her life plotting revenge, but she was too weak to carry it out. Then she found someone to do it for her.”

  Virginia had a horrible feeling he was talking about her mother.

  “And who was that?” Virginia asked.

  Clay Face grinned and pushed a black candle across the table. “The Swamp Witch is buried in the basement. Why don’t you go in and ask her?”

  He nodded toward a rotting trapdoor. Wolf stood up quickly. “Well, it’s been a fascinating history lesson,” Wolf said. She knew what he was doing, but she also knew that she couldn’t turn back now. She took the candle.

  “Virginia,” Tony said, “what do you want to look at a corpse for? I thought we were in a hurry to get to the castle.” “What I seek is down there,” Virginia said.

  “What I seek?” Tony said. “What are you talking like that for? You’re from New York.”

  Virginia walked to the trapdoor and pulled it back. The odor of still water and mold and rotted flesh rose up out of the depths.

  “My mother came here,” Virginia said. “I know it.”

  No one said anything. Virginia took her candle and walked down the creaky steps into the darkness.

  There were more mirrors down here, stained and rusted and cracked. They were silent, though. On the rotted wooden floorboards was a dark painted circle, and in the middle, half submerged amidst rotting vegetation, was a black coffin.

  As Virginia got closer, she realized the coffin was partially buried in the earth. There were inscriptions around the circle.