“The spindle isn’t here!” Alex said. “I don’t understand. The man who wrote the journal promised Sleeping Beauty he would return it after he used it!”
“Is it not here, or did he just not return it because the spell didn’t work?” Conner asked.
The lock on the black door began to rattle as someone from the other side unlocked it.
“Hide!” Alex whispered. She and her brother dove underneath the bed.
The black door swung open. The twins expected to see the clunky boots of the guards, but instead they saw a pair of pink heels.
“Is that…?” Alex whispered.
“Is that what—ouch!” Conner hit his head hard on the bottom of the bed.
“You can come out from there,” Sleeping Beauty said.
The twins couldn’t tell if it was a trap.
“I’ve called off the guards,” Sleeping Beauty added. “No one is going to hurt you.”
The twins slowly crawled out from under the bed.
“We didn’t steal the slipper,” Alex said. “It’s hard to explain, but I promise we’re not thieves.”
Sleeping Beauty nodded. “I believe you.”
“You do?” Conner asked. He was stunned. “Because if I were you, I’d totally think we were thieves.”
Sleeping Beauty smiled at them and took a seat on the bed. “So, you two are after the Wishing Spell?”
The twins nodded self-consciously.
“It’s a really long story,” Conner said.
“I’m sure,” Sleeping Beauty said. “And you’ve come to ask me permission to borrow the spindle from my spinning wheel, haven’t you?”
The twins guiltily nodded again. Sleeping Beauty laughed to herself.
“You know, not too long ago, a man came to my castle and asked me to borrow it,” she said. “At first I was completely against the idea, but he convinced me.”
“How’d he manage that?” Alex asked.
“He told me all about the Wishing Spell and how he had traveled to another world and fallen in love and was desperate to return. And being somewhat romantic myself, I let him humor me with the story,” she said, and her smile faded back into the contemplative expression they had first seen. “And then he started describing this world to me: a place of machines and technology, a place of enormous structures and lands and people unlike any I had ever seen… and I believed him.”
“Why?” Alex asked.
“Because I had dreamed about this place,” Sleeping Beauty said. “It’s complicated and even I don’t understand it, but while I was under that horrible spell, I dreamed about the place he was describing. I dreamed about so many things, I had just assumed it had come from my imagination. I never mentioned a word of it to anyone, so I knew he had to be telling the truth.”
“Did he ever return it?” Alex asked, desperate to know. “Did the spell work for him?”
Sleeping Beauty studied the twins’ faces.
“You’re from there, aren’t you?” she asked. “And you’re trying to find a way home.”
Alex and Conner didn’t have to respond; she already knew it was true. She reached under one of the pillows on the bed and withdrew a metal spindle.
The twins felt their spirits soar. There it was! The man had returned it—the spell must have worked for him!
“All I’m going to ask in return is that you also return it when you’re done,” Sleeping Beauty said, and handed it to Alex. “As I’m sure you can imagine, it has sentimental value for me.”
The twins were beaming. Now they knew getting home was a possibility, that they weren’t trapped in the Land of Stories forever.
“We’re just a couple of strangers,” Alex said. “Why are you being so kind to us?”
“There are many things that are out of my control,” Sleeping Beauty said, and her smile faded again. “So I like to help as much as I can, when I can.”
She stood and walked outside onto the balcony. The twins followed her.
Although the kingdom wasn’t in the best condition, the view was spectacular; Alex and Conner could see the entire kingdom and parts of others. The ocean sparkled in the distance, and a beautiful waterfall could be seen in the mountains nearby. It was so beautiful, they forgot how high up they were.
“This used to be the most beautiful of all the kingdoms,” Sleeping Beauty said. “The rolling green hills, the wildflowers, the rivers that used to flow… they’re all just memories now. Even the natural beauty of the land was put to rest under that awful curse.”
“Will things ever get better?” Alex asked.
“I certainly hope so,” Sleeping Beauty said. “Can I tell you a secret?” she asked the twins, receiving eager nods. “I haven’t slept since Chase awoke me with the kiss.”
The twins were shocked.
“Yikes!” Conner said. “You must be exhausted.”
“After sleeping for a century, I’ll be quite rested for a while,” Sleeping Beauty said. “I promised myself and I promised this kingdom that I wouldn’t rest until it was restored to its original state. Had my parents just let me die, as the curse originally intended, none of this would have happened. So I’m prepared to spend the rest of my life, the life they ensured, making things right again.”
Alex and Conner felt sorry for the young queen. They’d always been so distracted by the thought of a cursed, sleeping kingdom that they’d never thought about the responsibility a monarch would face putting it back on its feet.
“I suppose that’s why the Wishing Spell has always intrigued me,” Sleeping Beauty said. “It’s proof that if someone wants something enough, and they’re willing to work for it, they can achieve great things. I keep the spindle as a reminder that even the worst curses cast by the most powerful enchantresses can eventually be overcome.”
“The kingdom is very lucky to have a queen like you,” Alex said. “A weaker person would have given up.”
“Try the rubber band trick,” Conner told her. “I promise you won’t regret it.”
“I will.” Sleeping Beauty smiled. “It’s probably time you headed out. I may believe you, but convincing my husband and the royal advisor of your innocence won’t be easy. Follow me; I know a secret way out of the castle.”
The twins left the castle feeling inspired by Sleeping Beauty. The fairy tale had always romanticized the bravery of the young prince and the horror of the curse that had been cast upon the land, but it had failed to mention what a strong and brave woman the sleeping beauty truly was.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE NORTHERN KINGDOM
Alex and Conner traveled into the Northern Kingdom by boat, a first for the twins. They found a fisherman just about to travel up the river into the kingdom and persuaded him to let them come aboard. Alex said they were lost and pretended to cry. She was very convincing, too. Conner, however, was not. He tried to join in on the performance and things just became awkward. Thankfully, the fisherman allowed them to travel with him anyway.
The boat was small and flat and had just enough room for the three of them. It traveled perfectly along with the river’s current, so they didn’t even need to row. The twins were enjoying the ride and were able to appreciate the scenery, pointing out every riverside village they saw. It was nice to travel without fear of a wolf or an ogre running up from behind them.
The Northern Kingdom was very misty and cool; the twins could tell it was the type of place that would become freezing in the winter. The kingdom was covered with grassy fields and several bodies of water. An icy, steep mountain range bordered the north.
The boat traveled along the river and poured into Swan Lake, which was appropriately inhabited by many swans and other birds. Snow White’s palace sat on the edge of Swan Lake. It was short but wide with tan marble walls, dark green domes, and several colorful stained glass windows, including an especially large one shaped as a bright red apple.
“What’s up with all the apple tributes?” Conner asked. “Didn’t the apple almost kill
Snow White? Why does she have it displayed every chance she gets?”
“I suppose it’s symbolic for the kingdom, like a cross in a church,” Alex said, giving her best educated guess.
There were no towns or villages near the palace. It had been built away from everything else and was an isolated world of its own. It seemed like such a lonely place.
Alex had spent some time with her nose in the journal, re-reading everything she could in case she’d missed something. She put it away and began searching the shore until she finally spotted what she was looking for.
“Excuse me, sir,” Alex said to the fisherman. “Can you please drop us off at that riverbank?”
The fisherman steered the boat in that direction, and the twins got off and said good-bye to him.
“Why are we getting off here?” Conner asked. “The palace is that way.”
“Conner, I’m tired of explaining everything to you. Here,” she said, and handed him the journal. He read the pages that she had been looking over during their trip on the boat.
Snow White’s palace overlooks Swan Lake, and part of the lake flows into the moat circling the palace, which works to the advantage of anyone trying to sneak into the palace unnoticed.
There is a hidden gate at the bottom of the palace that the moat runs through. It’s right by the dungeon and is used to transport prisoners into and out of the palace by boat. It’s easy to swim under the gate and then climb up onto the dock inside.
The glass coffin is in a large storage room that used to be the Evil Queen’s private chamber on the third floor. On the second floor you’ll find a large portrait of the Evil Queen herself just past the grand staircase off the main entrance. The portrait is actually a secret door that leads up to the chamber.
Travel at night so it’s difficult for anyone to spot you in the water. But note that the Swan Lake waters are very deep and can be rough after sundown. Use something as a flotation device, like a log or a piece of wood.
Alex was standing next to a log that had washed ashore on the riverbed, and she gestured down to it.
“See?” Alex said.
“Gotcha,” Conner said.
The twins waited for nightfall to travel across the river to the palace. They carefully placed the log into the river and then entered the water themselves. It was unbearably cold. Conner made a high-pitched gasping sound as soon as he was waist deep.
“Wooo! It’s so cold, I think we may be twin sisters now,” he said through rattling teeth. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this cold in my entire life!”
“Just keep thinking that we only have two more items left to collect and then we’ll be home!” Alex said, shivering herself.
“Jewels from Snow White’s coffin and the ‘saber from the deepest sea,’ ” Conner repeated to himself. “Jewels from Snow White’s coffin and the ‘saber from the deepest sea’… Nope, I’m still cold!”
They held on to the log and drifted on the current to the palace. Having the log was a good call, since the water was very choppy, and the twins were getting tired just by holding on to it. They probably would have drowned without it.
The closer they got to the palace the more soldiers they saw marching the grounds.
“There are so many soldiers,” Conner said through shivering teeth.
“It’s because of the Evil Queen,” Alex said. “I doubt there was this much surveillance when the man from the journal came.”
The twins submerged themselves completely whenever they thought a soldier might be able to see them. They steered the log into the palace’s moat, careful not to make a splash or cause too many ripples. They had to circle the palace twice, but eventually they found the secret gate.
They let go of the log and swam under the gate. It was a much deeper dive than they had thought. Conner came to the surface on the other side and was gasping for air. He treaded water for a moment, waiting for his sister to surface, but she didn’t.
“Alex?” Conner asked, looking for her in the water around him. “Alex!”
Conner dove back underwater. He found Alex struggling under the gate; one of the straps on her bag had caught when she’d swum under it. She was stuck, and she desperately needed air. Conner swam down to her and yanked on her bag as hard as he could to set his sister free, but it wouldn’t budge. He tugged harder, and the strap finally ripped off.
He helped Alex get to the surface. She was breathing harder than he had ever heard her breathe before. She had been seconds away from drowning.
Conner helped her over to the dock, and they both climbed on top of it. They were both so alarmed that they had forgotten how cold they were.
“Thank you…” Alex said once she had caught her breath. “That was really brave of you.”
“I didn’t have a choice,” Conner said. “You had all the Wishing Spell items in your bag.”
Alex playfully hit him, and they quietly laughed.
They were drenched, and their jaws were chattering so hard that the sound of it echoed around them.
The only way out was through a stone doorway. The twins peered inside it and saw a long hallway. At one end was a spiral staircase leading down (to the dungeon, they assumed) and at the other was a spiral staircase leading up. They chose the staircase leading up.
It led straight to another hall with a steamy odor in the air. It was very humid inside this part of the palace, and the twins soon walked by an open door and saw why.
“Look, it’s the laundry room!” Alex said.
The room was full of large, steaming tubs of water, and several garments and sheets were hung up to dry around the room. It was past working hours, so the room was empty.
“I have an idea,” Alex said, and darted inside the room.
“What are you doing?” Conner asked her. She started digging through a pile of what Conner hoped were clean clothes and linens.
“If the grounds outside are any indication, I bet the halls of the palace are swarming with soldiers,” she said.
“And?” Conner said.
“We’re going to seem very suspicious walking around soaked to the bone in our T-shirts and jeans,” she explained. She pulled out two dresses and two lacy caps from the basket.
“No way,” Conner said, realizing what she intended to do with them. “Absolutely not.”
“Conner, put your pride aside and get dressed! We’ve come way too far to get caught now!” she said, pulling one of the dresses over her head.
“The guys at school can never know about this,” Conner said with a very serious face.
“If your friends find out you traveled into the fairy-tale world, I doubt this would be what they were most interested in hearing about,” Alex said.
The twins got dressed and looked almost identical in the same outfit. They wrapped their wet clothes and bags in towels and then carried the towels to look busy.
They journeyed higher into the palace, perfectly disguised as two maids working a night shift. The palace had beautiful marble floors and walls on the inside as well. The stained glass windows were even more beautiful with moonlight shining through them.
Alex was right: Every hall and corridor was under constant watch by soldiers. Conner was too embarrassed to look any of them in the eye. He did find a few gold coins in the pocket of his maid’s uniform, however, which made him feel better.
Alex and Conner found the grand staircase in the middle of the palace. They climbed it to the second floor and began scanning the halls for a portrait of the Evil Queen. Like Cinderella’s palace, there were portraits of past rulers framed on the walls and statues of all seven of the dwarfs that had helped Snow White.
“How do we know what the Evil Queen looks like?” Conner asked. “We’ve never seen her before.”
“We’ll just have to guess,” Alex said. They walked past a portrait of a woman sitting in a garden. All the plants and flowers were bright around her, but she wore a long, dark gown. The woman was beautiful, but she had a blank, cold expressi
on on her face.
“That’s her,” Alex said.
There was something about the woman’s eyes in the portrait that made Alex sure of it. They were beautiful, but they seemed so empty, as if all the happiness had been drained out of her soul.
Alex waited for two soldiers to leave the hall and then tried pulling on the portrait. It was stuck. She pulled harder, and still it didn’t budge.
“Are you sure that’s it?” Conner said.
“One hundred percent,” Alex said. She gave it another good tug, and the portrait swung away from the wall like an open door. Behind the portrait was a wooden ladder that went up to the third floor.
“Nice one!” Conner said and gave his sister a high five. The twins climbed up the ladder and found the back of another secret door.
The twins entered the storage chamber from behind an exact replica of the portrait they had just gone through on the second floor. The whole room was filled with old furniture covered in white sheets and old trunks and chests. The portrait the twins had climbed through was the only painting hung on the walls; the rest were stacked in piles against the walls around the room.
The room was long and had a set of heavy double doors at one end and a raised platform with a curtain around it at the other. The twins knew without a doubt that this place was where the Evil Queen had kept her magic mirrors.
There was a large counter with tubes, vials, and glass containers. They had all been emptied out, but the twins knew it must have been where the Evil Queen had kept her poisons.
“This room gives me the creeps,” Conner said. “It looks like no one has been in here for years.”
“I don’t see the glass coffin anywhere,” Alex said. She started uncovering the furniture trying to find it, but it wasn’t in the room.
“The coffin isn’t here,” she said, feeling a rush of panic come over her. “Let’s just look around.”
“Look around for what?” Conner asked.
“For anything!” yelled Alex, frustrated and upset. “Try and find anything that says where the glass coffin may have been taken.”