Black Forest: Kingdoms Fall (44 page)

Esteban's sour face perking up a little as he reached for the gift, the tiniest of grins broke through as he took in the stuffed lady gnome. "She's kinda
pretty," he grunted and stuffed the doll into the pocket of his shirt.

All humor fading as she glanced across the cart to where Gurr leaned upon its side, his daughter perched on the box seat next to him, Cinderella wanted to
order him away from Snow White. She could tell as she glanced to Rapunzel the feeling was even stronger in her.

"I only want to help," Gurr uttered, repentance heavy in the fall of his gaze.

"Well, I trust we will need all the help we can get," Cinderella returned. "You know the queen shall be there?"

"I do," Gurr responded. "You trust her?"

"As much as we trust you," Cinderella replied, moving past the cart to meet the others. Walking by the three pigs, who were in the midst of a card game she
did not recognize with Mo and Chauncy, she stepped before the final newcomer, realizing they had reluctant allies at best.

"Hey, Red," she greeted the girl.

"My parents have gone," Stace stated quietly. "So has Gran."

"Sorry, Kid," Cinderella replied, feeling Rapunzel slide away from her.

Walking up to Christophe, Rapunzel placed a hand on his shoulder to interrupt his vigil.

"What use is a tree?" He glanced up at her to ask.

"No use," Rapunzel replied. "Grimm took it because he knew it would hurt you, as he took all those he knew would help us, while leaving plenty of enemies."

The rapid approach of horse beats punctuated the thought, and Cinderella turned her attention to the path, where it sounded like an army bore down upon
them. What better way, she thought, to rid the world of them than to gather them in one place and send an army to the slaughter. Hand going to the sword at
her hip as the first horses came into view, she let out an anxious breath when she recognized King Balten's interrogator amongst the soldiers who rode atop
them.

"It is them, My King," the interrogator announced, and the guards split before King Balten, allowing him to come forward.

All relief Cinderella felt at recognizing the troop dissipated as King Balten yanked his steed to a stop before her and slid from its saddle, his eyes
incensed as they searched her face.

"The guard I left in wait saw you leave the place where you told me my wife and son would be," he stated. "You have seen that she is not there, and there
is not even a place for her to have been. Did you lie to me?"

"No, I did not lie to you," Cinderella replied. "The house was there when we left it, as was Ruth and your boy."

"Do you know what has become of them?" King Balten asked, and Cinderella wished she did not, wished her desire for more than Prince Charming had not cost
so many others so much. It was not fair for Grimm to take from others what was not hers to lose.

"I do," Cinderella calmly uttered.

"Cin," Rapunzel whispered, hand brushing Cinderella's hip as she stepped up behind her.

"As I mentioned to you on the road yester-eve," Cinderella said, "a man named Grimm controls this land. He determines where we go, what we do, the choices
we make."

"It is he who took my family?"

"Yes."

"Why?" King Balten asked the unanswerable question. For, as far as Cinderella could tell, Grimm did as he wanted for no other reason than because he had
the power.

"Because he is angry at me." She gave King Balten the only answer she could. "I angered our creator, and he took your wife and son in revenge."

Rage flaring in King Balten's gaze, he seized the back of Cinderella's neck, handling her with a brutality unbefitting a king.

"Stop!" Rapunzel screamed, but Cinderella heard the pull of a half-dozen trained swords.

"What did you do?" King Balten questioned, the tears in his eyes mismatched to his merciless grip.

"I failed to obey," Cinderella confessed in a rush, breaking under the king's pain, one more person who suffered the consequence of her decision. "I was a
slave in my life, and when Grimm's rescue came, I did not want his rescue. I wanted to feel and to believe and to know that something was real. So I fled,
and I entered Rapunzel's story and ripped her from it, and then Snow White's and the dwarves', and Ruth's and George's and Caratasa's. Red. Christophe.
Sawyer. Jack. I did this. I am why you suffer now, why he has taken your family, why he has taken everyone from these people. I have caused the stories to
bleed, the kingdoms to fall. I am why Grimm comes for us."

Staring upon her with eyes she could not read, King Balten tried to find comprehension in her sudden outburst. "This man, he is a king?"

"No." Cinderella shook her head, tears flinging against her cheeks. "He is more of a... a creator."

"He did all of this?" the king questioned.

"He has done what he has done for the sake of his stories," Cinderella tried to explain. "I am sure you would have reunited with your family if it were not
for me."

"After his deceit. After I was made, for seven years, to search for her." King Balten's anger grew, but hold weakening on Cinderella's neck, it did not
feel as directed toward her. "This opening of the kingdoms, you caused this?"

As King Balten finally released her, Rapunzel rushed to Cinderella, arms wrapping around her waist to provide support Cinderella did not realize she so
badly needed.

"I was trying only to elude a prince," she replied.

"And liberated an entire land," King Balten breathed.

Growing weaker in Rapunzel's arms, Cinderella did not know how to respond to the absurd declaration.

"And now..." King Balten stepped forward, coming to an abrupt stop as Rapunzel pulled Cinderella away from him. "You run from this creator?"

"Now, we fight him," Cinderella returned weakly. "For he will never let us live free as long as he remains."

"And this..." King Balten looked around the clearing. "This is your army?"

"Yes," Cinderella replied. "We are all that remain."

"Wenn." King Balten motioned the interrogator forward, and Cinderella expected another arrest, to feel chains around her wrists and ankles for upsetting
the master's plan. "Send my men in all directions," King Balten ordered. "Find those you can, and tell those who are able they are called to battle at the
order of the King of Bellerop."

"Done, Your Majesty," the interrogator replied at once, and King Balten's troop scattered at an astonishing pace, disappearing back into the trees before
Cinderella could even think.

"You are helping us?" Rapunzel questioned.

"I am a king," King Balten declared. "As a rule, we do not like to learn we are under the control of another." Eyes moving back to Cinderella, his
authority faltered. "I am sorry for your treatment."

"I am sorry for your wife and son," Cinderella returned, and, with a nod, King Balten accepted the accord.

"Ah, if men did but know what we know." The voice carried into the clearing, and Cinderella went still in Rapunzel's arms.

"If men did know, if men did know," a second voice called to her, and, freeing herself from Rapunzel's embrace, Cinderella followed the voices to the
cliff's edge, body breaking out in chills as she neared the drop into the canyon below.

"Grimm awaits the challenge," the voice went on, and Cinderella peered over the edge to see the feathers of two crows black against the protruding roots on
which they sat. "Awaits it in the place that turns you contrary and fills you with fear. You know the one."

"If men did but know what we know," the bird cawed again.

"If men did but know what we know," the second echoed.

"The queen has a plan, a most malicious plan. In the end, she will have what she wants."

"...will have what she wants."

"And the giant will take care of Grimm in the end."

"...take care of Grimm, he will."

"If men did know..."

"If men did know what we know."

In a whisk of dark wings, the crows lifted off the roots and flew across the canyon, and Cinderella tipped dizzily forward, until sturdy arms pulled her
back from the ledge.

"He is here," she whispered.

"Already?" Christophe rose from the ghost of the Juniper tree.

"Can we not wait for my men?" King Balten queried.

"He can do much damage to us from afar," Cinderella replied, patting Jack on the chest in thanks as he ensured she could stand on her own. "We should not
wait."

"They will not know where to march," King Balten stated.

"We can send word to them," Cinderella said. "As it was sent to us."

Wanting to leave Grimm no time for his trickery, she went to the cart in which Snow White remained unconscious of all the changes in their world, unable to
determine if her condition was curse or blessing.

"Someone must stay with her." Rapunzel came up beside her.

"Norco and Togo?" Cinderella requested.

"Yes, of course." Norco solemnly nodded. "We shall protect her with our lives."

"I do not doubt that." Cinderella managed a small smile.

"And Angelina, will she be safe here?" Gurr asked.

"Yes," Cinderella returned, making the uneasy bargain with Gurr. "Norco and Togo are very helpful. Would you like to stay here, Red?"

"No, I would not like to stay here!" Stace jumped to her feet. "I would like to find my mum and gram."

Tone less than civil, Cinderella forgave it in light of the circumstances.

"Here," Rapunzel said, indicating a patch of weeds, tall enough to hide Snow White and Angelina from view should anyone stumble into the clearing.

Coming at once to the task, Jack slipped his arms beneath Snow White, lifting her over the cart's edge, as, too interested in the goings on, Chauncy rushed
up to watch. Tripping over the unexpected obstacle, Jack lost his balance, hefting Snow White onto his shoulder as he struggled to right himself.

"Whoa, all right there?" Sawyer reached out to keep them from falling, but it was not Jack who responded.

It was a cough, so small and delicate, it might well have been a trick of the wind, if not for the bit of apple that suddenly propelled past Snow White's
lips to land without sound in the grass below.

Coming to realize the girl in his arms was not as half-dead as she had been, Jack knelt upon the grass, laying Snow White at his knees, and Cinderella and
Rapunzel pushed through those gathered, dropping down next to Snow White as the dwarves pushed in at their backs.

"Snow White?" Rapunzel timidly called, and Snow White gave a most relaxed sigh as her eyes fluttered open.

"Hello," she said softly, stretching as if she had woken from the best slumber of her life.

"Hi," Cinderella returned in amazement.

Scanning her surroundings, Snow White seemed rather alarmed by the number of people standing over her, clutching at her chest as if worried she was
exposed. "What is going on?"

"Well," Cinderella uttered, glancing up to ensure Gurr was nowhere in sight. "A very long story, very short. You were under a sleeping spell of your
stepmother, who is now on our side. We think. We are all under the control of a man named Grimm, who wants to return us to our own lives and stories,
whatever he determines those shall be, and, due to that, we are sort of... at war."

"War?" Snow White sat up so quickly, Cinderella had to rear back to prevent collision. "How long have I been asleep?

"Five days," Cinderella returned.

"Five days!" Snow White cried. "And war broke out?"

"As I said, it is a very long story," Cinderella replied. "But you need not worry about that now. You should rest. Norco and Togo, they will stay with you.
They will keep you safe, I assure you."

"Rest?" Snow White laughed, her hand on Cinderella's arm pulling her to a stop as she attempted to rise. "I have been asleep for five days. I should say I
have rested enough. If you are all going to war, I am going to war."

Surprise fading quickly to a smile, Cinderella clasped Snow White's arm, and, with Jack at the other arm, they pulled Snow White to her feet.

"Someone give the lady a weapon," Cinderella uttered, and the dwarves rushed forward to supply her with her choice of wares. Smiling, Snow White accepted
their hugs at her legs, smacking Esteban's hand when it wandered into private territory, and glanced up as Christophe, Sawyer and Jack offered her more
suitable weaponry.

Though she smiled broadly at each, clearly delighted with more than just the selection of weapons they supplied, her eyes held especially long upon Sawyer
as he bowed respectfully before her.

"My Lady," he greeted.

"Hello," Snow White returned.

It was as Rapunzel glanced toward her with a satisfied smirk that Cinderella remembered good surprises were not the only ones waiting for Snow White.

"Oh, Snow White..." she started.

"Snow White," Gurr's voice interrupted, and accepting the long knife from Christophe's hand, Snow White spun at once to meet him, her blade catching Gurr's
hand as she met his gaze.

Stepping back, Gurr looked anxiously upon her, and Snow White stared back at him with a distrust Cinderella had never seen on her.

"That is what I wanted to tell you," Cinderella rushed to say. "He too is on our side, for there is more to the story than we knew."

"So..." Snow White's hand looked surprisingly comfortable on the knife. "I am on the side of both people who tried to kill me? This must be some enemy."

"He is," Cinderella declared.

"Snow White," Gurr tried again. "I am so glad you are all right. I expect no forgiveness from you, for what I did is unforgivable. But I am sorry. I am so
sorry."

Taking a step forward, Gurr accepted the knife point against his stomach as he reached out a cautious hand, smiling as it stroked down Snow White's hair.
When Snow White allowed the touch, as if she had known such affection from Gurr in the past, Cinderella realized how painful must have been his betrayal.

Tossing the knife to the ground, Snow White rushed forward into him, and Gurr's arms closed around her. "I am so sorry, Snow White," he whispered. "I am
so, so sorry."