The Locket (10 page)

The queen stood up. “William, Jacob …” Two of the men who stood against the wall immediately came over to her side, as though they were expecting to. “Go and warn the others that there will be a search tonight. The last time we found him three kingdoms away, and I do not intend for him to get that far again!” The heaviness of guilt and sorrow that once lingered in the air now dropped, and the weight of anger and stress overtook it. Everybody in the room was fully aware that the queen’s mood was all of a sudden anything but patient.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” they said in unison. Quickly bowing, they ran through the kitchen doors and left. It must be maternal instinct, or the mark of a great queen, to have such intense fear for a loved one and yet to still be able to compose yourself long enough to do what needs to be done.

The queen sighed as she finally sat down. She slowly lowered her head into her cupped hand. “I am sorry that you had to witness that my dear,” she began, pulling her head away from her hand. The king moved cautiously to her side and gently began massaging her neck.

“Yes, we have all been put under an enormous amount of stress lately, what with our son running away and the kingdom being in danger and all.”

“Danger? How so?”

The king removed his hands from his wife’s shoulders and sauntered across to the fireplace. Obviously troubled, he began rubbing his temples, while keeping his eyes closed as he explained. “Well, my dear, it is all a matter of geography really. You see, our kingdom sits upon a land with an abundance of rich farming soil. We’ve taken great care of it for years and will continue to do so in the future. However, the kingdoms on either side of us do not have as profitable soil as we do.”

“Now, we happen to have enough land to share with one of the other kingdoms and one alone. The problem is, we cannot decide which one. What’s more is that before we could even choose such a grave decision, the two kingdoms have started arguing over which should receive the land. Before we knew it, the kingdoms declared war, and we are stuck in the middle of it.”

Savannah shook her head in understanding. As King Fredrick moved back over to his wife, she could see the worry growing in both of their eyes. Even more so, she could see the fatigue put upon them by how it had drawn circles under their eyes and lines on their faces.

“Normally we would try to find the best and quickest way out of this situation; however, both kingdoms have now declared war on us, stating that we must surrender our lands or else fight in this bloody crusade as well. And now in only six short days we will be well into battle.”

“Oh, wow.” Savannah wished that there was something that she could do to help, but what could she do about a war?

“And on top of that, our general is off on his vacation, so—”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Savannah interrupted, holding up her hands. “Your general is on vacation? Why on earth would he be on vacation during this mess? And why don’t you have someone else who could take his place?”

“I—”

“I told you this would happen, Freddie.” The queen objected. “If you had not allowed Nathan and his family to spend some time away from here, then maybe we would not even be in this situation. Especially since you have denied his suggestion for a second in command.”  Trying to gain her composure, she motioned for Lance, asked for a glass of wine, and continued on as he hurriedly left the room. “I know tradition is important to you, Fredrick, but you must be wise enough to know when it is time for a change.” The king was about to respond when a sudden thought overtook Queen Sophia, and she cut him off in a newfound irritation.

“Oh, I see. The only reason why you do not trust me on this decision is because I am a woman. Is that not true?”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, Sophie!”

“No, Freddie. I know you are used to making the decisions, but please listen to me this time. You have been pondering over the choice of letting your general go on a vacation during this time because you thought that nothing would happen. But guess what? Something happened! Something big happened!”

The king shook his head as he lowered it so that he did not have to look directly into her eyes. He took a deep breath and then raised his head back up, as if he regained his courage. “I am sorry, but—”

“No buts, Freddie. I know that the men in this town are way too cocky for their own good but you know what?” Just then, Lance came back from the kitchen, handed the queen her glass, and then backed away to the wall slowly. This was not a conversation he planned on becoming a part of. “You do not have to follow them. That is, after all, why you are the king and they are not. You are smarter than they, you are tougher than they are, and you know the real difference between men and women … there is no difference. And if you do something completely diverse from them, they will follow you, trust me.”

He sighed. When it came to his wife, he knew he wasn’t going to win an argument, especially when she was upset. She was usually right anyway. Not to say he was wrong all the time, mind you, but when it came to personal matters, she generally knew best.

“I suppose you are right. But the only question remaining is, what are we going to do about the Mysterious Forest? You know that no one will cross it.”

Savannah meekly raised her hand up, hoping to get their attention without saying too much. “Excuse me, Your Highnesses,” the two of them turned their heads in her direction. “What is so terrifying about the Mysterious Forest?”

The king gave her a piteous look. “Hasn’t your mother told you anything about Revalia or the Kingdom of Reverice?”

“No,” she shook her head, the hurt and disappointment evident.

The king sighed. “As I have already said, the kingdom is in grave danger, and we need our general back from his vacation. Unfortunately, the cottage that he and his family are staying at just so happens to be across the forest, which is a good three or four days walk from here. Now, do not get me wrong, my general and I planned ahead for this occasion and had a way to communicate from across the kingdom. And as soon as this controversy took place, I ran down to the secret room in our basement, pulled out the magic mirror, and called for the general. But try and try again, I could not get a hold of him, meaning that either his mirror broke or has a flaw, or something has happened to the general and his family. And that is what we needed our soldiers to find out.

“The moment I could not contact him, I sent for as many brave men as would take the job. Many went, and many never came back. Of course, I would rather have men come back alive, even if it means that they have failed. But the truth is … I do not even know how many men I have sent out there, let alone how many men are still alive.” The king looked out the window in longing. There must have been an immense sense of pride lost once he knew that there was nothing more that he could do to save his kingdom.

“I just don’t understand it.” He shook his head. “The general and I tested the mirror a great deal of times before he left, and each and every time it worked. It is, for some incomprehensible reason, just not working now, and I wish I knew why.”

Savannah joined the king in gazing out the window at the forest beyond the meadows. The forest seemed harmless from up here, she thought to herself. There were no black crows or murky thunderstorms like in the movies. There were barely any shadows to taunt passersby with the suspense of evil. She doubted that so many of the monarchy’s finest men could’ve possibly died on their way across that forest.

“Your Highness,” the king glanced at her with a jaded expression. “What kind of forest are we dealing with here? Better yet, what kinds of creatures are there in the forest? Is it just lions and tigers, or—?”

“Oh, heaven’s no!” he laughed. “If it were merely lions and tigers in that forest, our general would have been back days ago!” He continued to give out bits of hysteric laughter for a minute, while Rupert snickered and the queen glared at her son. “Dear child, think of where you are! Has anything that you have seen so far been exactly as you had at first expected? Has anything surprised you in any way? Have you found yourself wondering if you were really here at all?” She nodded her head in stupidity. “Then think twice about that forest, because I warn you, there are no ordinary creatures in there. Absolutely nothing is as it first appears.”

Savannah was left wondering what was there that so many feared and could only nod her head again as the king drew his attention back out the window. He had gone from humorous to serious so quickly, and his tone was so much more than serious. It was threatening.

Finally, when she got her voice back, she asked, “So if not lions and tigers, what is in there?”

“Ogres,” he answered flatly, “and the worst sort, too. They do more than what you would expect in stories, my dear. At the sheer sight of you, they would chase you down, tear you limb from limb, eat your flesh piece by tiny piece as bread, and drink your blood as perfectly-aged wine.” She shuddered at the thought.

“Then there are the fairies,” he went on thoughtfully. “Some are good, some are bad, and I warn you, it is usually the goods ones that you may need to watch out for. You never know what trick they might really have up their sleeves. But the majority of them will just make you walk in circles all over the forest, the cruel little buggers. Water sprites, on the other hand, will do anything to slowly make you forget everything. It will start with why you are traveling through the forest, and then it will lead to where you are, who the people you know are, and eventually, who you are. But you will only find the water sprites humming about in the vicinity of the Enchanted Pond. Fairies, however, can and will be found anywhere. Other than that, there are vampires, unicorns, trolls, dwarfs, witches, wizards, and about almost any other mythical creature that you can think of.” Pausing for effect, as most storytellers do, he brought his hands together and brought his eyes to hers. “Anything else that you would care to know?”

“No, not at the moment.” The king and queen again glanced at each other with uneasy faces. To them, all hope was lost. “And the bravest soldiers in your kingdom are afraid of these things?”

“Why … yes. Who wouldn’t be?”

Sheepishly, Savannah raised her hand for the second time. On her lead, Rupert did the same. “Rupert, don’t bother. Your father and I had asked you to go and you refused … repeatedly.” The prince then put his hand down, a bit embarrassed. Quickly, the queen turned her attention back over to her guest. “You are truly not afraid?”

Savannah bit her bottom lip, wondering if what she thought was not that big a deal really was something much worse. No matter, she shook it off and decided that no fairytale creature could actually be so gruesome. “No, I’m not.”

The royals glanced up at one another, first with worry, and then in wonder. Turning to her, the king gave Savannah a thorough search as he contemplated his thoughts. She wasn’t much in size, but what she lacked in both build and knowledge of the land, she compensated for in bravery … or possibly stupidity. Still, hope glistened in their eyes, and, not long after, the king spoke. “Miss Morgan, would you do us the great honor of crossing through the Mysterious Forest, bringing back our general, and saving our kingdom from total annihilation?”

She knew the words would come. She had to after just confessing that everything that was scaring the town did not frighten her. But how could she think to do such a task? This place wasn’t even real! She couldn’t possibly save a kingdom that didn’t exist. Even if it were real, she thought, why would I want to risk my life to save a place I’ve never been to and people I’ve never seen?

Because her mother had been raised here, that was why.

If her mother was supposedly born and raised here, if this was her hometown, then she should protect it. Assuming for a moment that this world was actually real. Obviously this was a place her mother loved, which anyone could see by the way she decorated her house to resemble the same tone and atmosphere that this world held. Savannah wanted, no, she needed to protect all that her mother had loved. It would feel almost disloyal to simply let it be destroyed. That, and you couldn’t get the answers to your questions if you didn’t have people to ask. Since she still didn’t know much about her mother or the life she had lived here, Savannah wanted to learn as much as she could from as many people as she could talk to.

In resignation, she nodded her head, hoping she hadn’t just signed her death contract.

“Oh, thank you, Savannah!” King Fredrick shouted as he ran over and embraced her. “You have no idea how much this means to us!”

“I can guess,” she was barely able to reply, nearly strangling for air. When he eventually let go, she asked, “So, when do I start?”

“Tonight.” The king and queen said simultaneously.

“Tonight? Are you serious?” Savannah took a deep breath, looking for a little sympathy from any of their faces. “Now?”

“Oh, no,” the king replied. Savannah exhaled a sigh of relief. “In a few minutes, when Lance comes back with your things.” He motioned for a servant.

As the king was making the arrangements with his servants, the queen came to Savannah’s side, precociously aware of the extremely tense rush running through her. “Do not worry, my dear, you have ten times the courage than any soldier who’s entered the forest. Believe me, I have seen some of the men before they embarked on their journeys, and they were nervous wrecks! And even though none of them came back alive, and I did not get a chance to see them suffer through their undoubtedly painful tortures, I have a feeling that you will not surrender as easily. You look like the kind of girl who holds her head up high and does not go down without a fight … even against man-eating ogres.”