“Indeed,” the Enchantress said with a boastful shrug. “Believe me, I wanted to take the credit for it, but I still had work to do before I went public again. I returned to the castle and collected all my belongings, ready to complete what I had started so long ago.
“But I knew that I would have to continue being patient. The kingdoms were experiencing a golden age: Cinderella and Prince Charming were married; Sleeping Beauty had just awoken; Snow White was crowned Queen.… I knew if I waited until the right moment, my return would have a much bigger impact, and now it has.”
Rumpelstiltskin feared what her newfound strength would mean for the future of the kingdoms. “I’ve never understood you,” he said. “You used to be so admired and loved by the whole world—why wasn’t that enough? When did it all go wrong?”
The Enchantress looked to the floor with a snide expression. “People only love you as long as they’re getting something out of you, but the minute you say something they don’t want to hear or do something they don’t want to see, all the admiration drains from their hearts.”
“But why this obsession with power?” Rumpelstiltskin asked as cautiously as possible. “Why do you need the world, Ezmia?”
Ezmia let out a long sigh. “I have my reasons,” she said sharply. “And quite frankly, I don’t give a damn if you or anyone else understands.”
A tension grew in the room, but it wasn’t between Ezmia and Rumpelstiltskin; it was between Ezmia and the world.
“But where do I fit in?” Rumpelstiltskin asked. “If you’re so powerful now, why do you need me?”
“Well, that’s simple,” Ezmia said. “Out of all my apprentices over the years, you have been the most loyal to me, Rumpy. You actually started what I asked of you, and now I’m going to let you finish it. Besides, it’ll be nice to have a friend around once I take over.”
They exchanged a weighty glance, both aware that this was nothing close to a friendship.
“There is another child, isn’t there?” Rumpelstiltskin asked with a heavy heart, already knowing the answer. “You want me to kidnap another child.”
“Precisely,” the Enchantress said.
Rumpelstiltskin lowered his head and closed his eyes. He knew he wouldn’t have a choice this time; refusal would mean death.
“Well, that’s enough catching up for one day,” Ezmia said and glided toward the door with a newfound spring in her step. “Come along, Rumpy. There is much work to be done. I’ve waited almost two centuries for this, so as you can imagine, I’ve grown very impatient.”
The stones sank back into the ground and Rumpelstiltskin fell on his behind.
“Where are we going?” he asked.
“Hagatha’s old hut,” the Enchantress said. “It’s where I’ve been spending most of my time since my castle was destroyed a year ago. You should see what I’ve done with the place! A little magic goes a long way in the Dwarf Forests.”
Rumpelstiltskin nostalgically looked around at his tiny cell; it had never seemed so much like home until he was being forced to leave it.
“I just have to say good-bye,” Rumpelstiltskin said sadly.
Ezmia raised an eyebrow, not knowing who on earth he was talking about. Perhaps prison had been harder on her small friend than she’d imagined?
Rumpelstiltskin got on the floor and took the bowl off of the daisy. “I have to go now,” he said, fighting back tears. “Please don’t look at me like that. You’ll be all right.” He lightly stroked one of its white petals. “Good-bye, little flower. Please take care of yourself.”
Rumpelstiltskin stood and walked through the doorway, leaving his cell for the first time in one hundred and twenty-seven years, but stepping into a world of even harsher imprisonment.
Ezmia lingered in the doorway, glaring down at the flower. She couldn’t believe something so small and inferior could be so important… so protected… or so loved. It ignited a fire inside of her.
The Enchantress waved a hand in its direction and the daisy withered away, crumbling into bits of nothing. A smile appeared on her face—so satisfied to destroy something even so small.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
THE QUEEN AND THE FROG
It was the final moments before dawn, and the stars were slowly fading away as the sky began to brighten. Froggy and the twins had been traveling through the Dwarf Forests for the majority of the night, covering ground as quickly and quietly as possible.
Even after all they had been through together, the twins had never seen Froggy so tense. He constantly watched the path ahead and glanced behind them every few steps to make sure they weren’t being followed.
“You seem stressed, dude,” Conner said, looking up at his green friend.
“These times are definitely worthy of concern,” Froggy said. “By the way, what’s a ‘dude’?”
Conner shrugged. “It’s lingo from our world, nothing important,” he said. “Sorry, I forgot where I was for a second.”
Alex moved closer to Froggy as they walked, keen to have a more serious conversation. “How bad is it really?” she asked. “We’ve only heard from those animals in the forest and Mother Goose. What’s your take on it?”
Froggy sighed. “I can’t recall a time that’s been so troubling,” he said. “Even when the Evil Queen was at large, people went on with their lives. Now that the Enchantress is back, it’s as if the world has stopped. Everyone stays indoors, too afraid to come outside until the Happily Ever After Assembly can do something.”
“And have they done anything?” Conner asked. “Have they figured out any way to stop her?”
“I’m afraid not,” Froggy said. “They tried unenchanting the plants covering the Eastern Kingdom, but it was no use—the magic is too strong. Ezmia has grown more powerful than anyone ever thought possible.”
“Besides covering the Eastern Kingdom in plants, has the Enchantress attacked anything else?” Alex asked.
“That’s all for now,” Froggy said. “Which means she’s likely to strike again at any moment.”
“Why is everyone calling it the Eastern Kingdom now?” Conner asked. “Did I miss something? What happened to the Sleeping Kingdom?”
“Because the kingdom had finally been restored to its former glory before the sleeping curse,” Froggy explained. “Queen Sleeping Beauty wanted to celebrate the kingdom’s restoration by reclaiming its former title. They were having a huge celebration on the night the Enchantress attacked. Those poor people, they weren’t even expecting it.”
“I wonder if my rubber-band trick helped,” Conner said to himself.
“Why has Ezmia covered the kingdom in plants of all things?” Alex asked. “If the Happily Ever After Assembly can’t stop her magic anymore, why not curse Sleeping Beauty to die again?”
Like everyone else in the fairy-tale world, Froggy could only guess. “The symbolism, I’m assuming,” Froggy said and rubbed his tired eyes. “During the sleeping curse, the entire kingdom was covered in thornbushes and vines because no one was taking care of the grounds. I’m sure Ezmia is taking pleasure in seeing all their hard work go to waste by covering it again. She’s getting more use out of hostages than casualties—making people suffer is crueler than killing them, if you ask me.”
Alex and Conner were a tiny bit relieved to hear this. If hostages were what the Enchantress was collecting, then maybe their mom’s life wasn’t in jeopardy. They just hoped she wasn’t suffering.
“And now the plants are keeping people prisoner there, just like in the Thornbush Pit,” Alex said to herself, trying to make sense of it all.
“Exactly,” Froggy said. “Although no one has been able to make a connection between the two.”
“What about Queen Sleeping Beauty and King Chase? Are they all right?” Alex asked.
“King Chase is still stuck in the Eastern Kingdom as far as anyone knows,” Froggy said. “Queen Sleeping Beauty barely made it out. She was attacked while making a run for the border. All of her soldiers were
killed, but she survived, thankfully. Soldiers from the Charming Kingdom found her in the forest and brought her back to the Charming Palace.”
“That’s horrible,” Alex said with a sigh. “Even though she took our mom, after what we learned about the Evil Queen I’m trying to come up with a reason the Enchantress may just be misunderstood, too. But it’s difficult.”
Conner grunted. “Not for me,” he said. “I don’t care what her excuse is—if she hurts Mom in any way, I’ll make sure it’s the last thing she does.”
The sun started to rise and the land around them became more visible. In the distance the twins were taken back to see a familiar wall made of gray brick that stretched across the entire horizon.
“Isn’t that the wall surrounding the Red Riding Hood Kingdom?” Alex asked.
“Oh yeah,” Conner said, recognizing it, too. “Wait—why are we headed there? I thought you were taking us back to your place, Froggy?”
“I am,” Froggy reassured.
“What happened to your hole in the ground?” Conner asked.
“I moved,” Froggy said. “I live in the castle now… with Queen Red.”
Froggy blushed a shade of dark green and went silent. Alex and Conner looked at each other with did you just hear that? written on their faces. Froggy walked ahead of them, crossing through the western gate of the Red Riding Hood Kingdom’s famous wall.
“Good morning, fellas!” Froggy said with a nod to the guards monitoring the gate.
“Morning, sir,” they said back, bowing slightly as he walked past them.
The twins ran through the gate and caught up with Froggy on the other side.
“Wait a minute,” Conner said with a laugh. “You’re living with Red? Are you guys like a couple or something?”
Froggy turned even darker green. “Well, I suppose so,” he said, too bashful to look them in the eye.
“I wasn’t expecting that,” Alex said with raised eyebrows.
“How the heck did that happen?” Conner asked, with a confused grin on his face. “I mean, you’re so worldly and she’s so… not.”
“Conner, don’t be rude!” Alex said and nudged him.
“No, it’s quite all right,” Froggy said. “It’s very simple how it all happened. Shortly after I was transformed back into a human by your grandmother, and her castle was rebuilt from the fire, Queen Red invited me over for some tea one afternoon. She wanted to thank me again for saving her life during the battle against the Evil Queen and the Big Bad Wolf Pack. It was only supposed to last an hour or so, but we ended up talking all day—well, she talked and I listened—but we really connected. And since then our friendship has taken a more romantic turn.”
Their mouths hung wide open, not helping Froggy in the slightest.
“And how does she feel about you being in your frog form again?” Alex asked.
“It was challenging at first—she was afraid to touch me and wouldn’t let me sit on the furniture—but she’s come a long way and knows it’s for the greater good, even if it does put a pause in our relationship for now,” Froggy said. “Red’s really an exceptional woman; you just have to get to know her.”
“Is she still hung up on Jack?” Conner asked. Alex gave him a dirty look.
The dark green coloring faded from Froggy’s face. “We’re working on that,” he said. “I don’t think anyone can ever stop loving someone entirely. Sometimes love turns to hate, but I’m not sure it’s possible to ever stop feeling for them. Despite whatever feelings she has left over for Jack, I have no doubts about her affection toward me.”
Froggy smiled and nodded to himself. Alex and Conner shrugged to each other. Relationships always seemed complicated to them, but they seemed almost impossible to understand under these circumstances.
“Does it bother you, though?” Alex asked. “Knowing how much she cared about someone else in the past?”
Froggy shook his head confidently. “I figure if Red is willing to accept me, flawed and frogged, then I can do the same for her regardless of what baggage she brings,” he said. “And in time, the longer Jack and Goldilocks are out of the picture, the better it will be for her. Out of sight, out of mind.”
“Uh-huh,” Conner said with a snort, looking at him through the corner of his eye. “Whatever happened to Jack and Goldilocks? Has anyone heard from them?”
“Very little, actually,” Froggy said. “Occasionally they’ll be spotted on the outskirts of the kingdom and a villager will alert the castle guards, but they’ve kept pretty quiet, and for my and Red’s sake, I’m not complaining.”
The twins were happy to hear Jack and Goldilocks were still together and on the run, relieved that at least something had stayed constant while the rest of the world was in chaos.
They walked through the rolling hills of Bo Peep Family Farms and soon reached the picturesque town in the center of the kingdom. The twins were delighted to see all the dainty cottage homes and brick buildings with pointed hay roofs again. They smiled at seeing Henny Penny Bank, the Shoe Inn, and shops like Pat-a-Cake Bakery and Jack Horner’s Pie Shop all exactly the same as their last visit.
One thing was visibly different. The town that had once been full of farmers and shepherds hauling their livestock around was deserted.
“It’s so empty,” Alex said.
“Remember how crowded the town was last time?” Conner said. “It was like Take Your Goat to Work Day or something if I remember correctly.”
Froggy let out a sad sigh. “It’s a sign of the times, I’m afraid,” he said. “It’s like this in all the villages in all the kingdoms. No one leaves their home unless it’s absolutely necessary.”
They walked through the park in the center of the town and were pleased to see the Humpty Dumpty and the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf memorials and Jack and Jill Hill. The twins couldn’t help but look at them a little differently, though, considering the information they had learned from Mother Goose.
“Whoa,” Conner said, looking across the park. “Check out the renovation.”
At the edge of the park, facing the twins, was Red Riding Hood’s castle—her new castle. It stood twice as tall and sat twice as wide as the previous one. It had several towers, each higher than the next, a large dome in the center, and a gigantic clock just above the newly built front steps.
Alex and Conner both tilted their heads and squinted at the new castle; there was something rather peculiar about it.
“Looks familiar,” Alex said.
“Sure does,” Conner said. “It almost looks like all the other castles and palaces mixed together, doesn’t it?”
“Just wait until you see the inside,” Froggy said. “Red built me my very own library! It’s just splendid! Hundreds and hundreds of books and they’re all mine.”
“That’s wonderful!” Alex said, sharing his enthusiastic smile.
“Don’t worry,” Froggy said. “I kept all the books you gave me. They have their own special section.”
He winked at her and Alex grinned. She remembered the books they had bonded over the first time they met.
The trio made their way up the castle’s front steps and two guards opened the impressively large red doors for them to enter.
“Good morning, sir,” the guards said to Froggy and bowed like the previous set of guards had.
“Morning, gentlemen,” Froggy said.
“Does every guard know you or something?” Conner asked him.
“Well, I’m not exactly easy to forget,” Froggy said. “I don’t fit in around here, looking like this. I’m just glad the villagers stopped fainting when they see me… most of them, at least.”
They took their first steps into the castle and the twins gasped. There was a marble floor under their feet, golden pillars to their sides, and an enormous grand staircase in front of them. And to no one’s surprise, every wall was covered in a portrait of Queen Red in different glamorized positions.
“She certainly spared no expense,” Conner said,
eyeing everything around him. He looked down at the floor and noticed tiny basket-shaped tiles connecting the corners of the marble tiles.
“It sort of reminds me of Cinderella’s ballroom,” Alex said. “Except Red-ified.”
A short and plump handmaiden was descending the stairs with an empty tea tray. Her cheeks were pink and she was wheezing from the effort. Alex and Conner hid behind Froggy, remembering that their last encounter with her hadn’t been a pleasant one.
“Welcome back, Prince Charlie,” the handmaiden called out to Froggy. It was strange for the twins to hear him addressed by his real name. “The queen is in the library; I just served her some breakfast.”
“Thank you, I’m headed there now,” he called back to her.
“Would you like me to bring you up some lily-pad tea?”
“That would be wonderful, thank you. Three flies in mine, please. Would you like any tea, Alex? Conner?”
“Sure, what the heck?” Conner said. “It wouldn’t be a visit without some lily-pad tea.”
The twins followed Froggy up the stairs, passing the handmaiden, who stopped in her tracks and stared at them peculiarly, not being able to recall exactly where she knew them from, but clearly remembering that it hadn’t been a good experience.
They reached the top of the stairs, made a right, and traveled down another impeccably decorated hallway also lined with portraits of Queen Red. They found a pair of golden doors with Library, Place of Books carved into the wall above it.
Conner pointed out the carving to his sister. “I bet you anything it’s so she doesn’t forget what’s inside!” he quietly snickered into her ear.
“Here we are!” Froggy said and pushed open the doors.
The twins stepped inside and were awestruck once again. It was the most elegant library they had ever seen, beating even the one in Snow White’s palace. Alex almost teared up; Conner nodded with raised eyebrows.
“It’s beautiful!” Alex said and placed a hand over her heart.