CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

FROM THE ASHES

The secret path weaved through the countryside, crossed rivers without bridges, and climbed over mountains that roads had never been built on as the carriages traveled through the kingdoms. Jack and Goldilocks were very attentive to the land surrounding them and so far they hadn’t encountered any problems during their covert tour. However peaceful the land outside the carriages was, though, the inside of the third carriage was another story.

Red had managed to bite her tongue since they left the Fairy Kingdom. She and Little Bo hadn’t said a word the entire trip and the others stayed just as silent, afraid any conversation might send the two into a vicious argument. Instead, as if they were watching a tennis match, Froggy, Bree, and Emmerich watched Red and Little Bo exchange spiteful looks back and forth.

The silence finally became too much for Red and she tried speaking to Little Bo as diplomatically as she could.

“So, Little Bo,” Red said. “Have you enjoyed being queen of my kingdom—excuse me—your kingdom?”

“Yes” was all Little Bo replied. She stared at Red stoically and didn’t look away, as if Red was playing a childish game she didn’t want to participate in.

The others in the carriage traded uncomfortable looks. It was inevitable that this conversation would end in disaster.

“Good to hear,” Red lied through a clenched jaw. “Have you fulfilled all the promises you made to the people during the election?”

“Almost,” Little Bo said, and still her stoic expression didn’t fade.

“Wonderful,” Red peeped. “And how are the House of Progress representatives?”

“They were all replaced with actual representatives from the village,” Little Bo informed her.

Red couldn’t help but let a high-pitched snicker escape her mouth. The others relaxed a bit seeing her so amused—perhaps there was a chance they could be civil to each other.

“Well, they had it coming,” she said. “And what about the castle? Have you grown accustomed to it yet? I’m sure it took some time getting used to it compared to that farmhouse you lived in before.”

“I still live at my farm, actually,” Little Bo said.

Red suddenly gagged as if she had swallowed a bug. “Do you?” she asked, trying her best to remain calm. “Then why did you ask me to move out of it?”

“Because I turned it into an orphanage,” Little Bo said with a snide smile.

Red sat incredibly still while her brain processed this. Then, as if her animalistic instincts had taken over her body, she lunged toward Little Bo with her fists raised in the air.

“I’m gonna kill her!” Red yelled.

Froggy had been preparing for this moment and immediately grabbed ahold of her before any damage was done. It took Bree and Emmerich’s help to keep her in her seat.

“You lousy piece of sheepherding trash! You did that on purpose! You knew giving my castle over to a bunch of brats would hurt me the most!”

“Red, how can you say that about orphans?” Bree scolded.

“Oh, don’t let the word fool you! I’ve met all of those delinquents myself and each one is more awful than the last! Most of their parents are alive and well—those kids were just too horrible for them to raise on their own,” Red said.

Little Bo didn’t deny the reasoning behind her actions. She just sat across from Red and smiled mischievously. Red eventually cooled off enough for the others to let her go. Emmerich decided to change the subject before anyone got hurt.

“What is your necklace?” Emmerich asked Little Bo.

No one had ever pointed it out before and Little Bo was surprised he’d noticed it. A chain so thin it was almost invisible rested around her neck and was tucked neatly away into the top of her dress. She pulled the necklace out and showed him the small heart-shaped rock hanging from it.

“It’s a stone heart,” she said.

“Why do you wear it?” Emmerich asked.

Little Bo didn’t know what to tell him since no one had ever asked before. “I lost someone I loved very much once,” she said. “I wear this necklace to remember them. In a strange way, it helps me from missing them too much.”

“Did they die or just run away from you?” Red remarked with a snort.

Little Bo didn’t respond. She played with the necklace in her hand and just smiled at the former queen. Her presence alone aggravated Red much more than anything she could say.

Things weren’t quite as lively in the first carriage but the passengers were starting to grow restless. Princess Hope was very agitated from being cooped up for so long and began to cry. Cinderella held her daughter tenderly in her arms and rocked her until she fell asleep. Sleeping Beauty admired her mothering skills as she sat across from her.

“You’re so good with her,” Sleeping Beauty said. “It makes me miss my own mother so much.”

“Me too,” Cinderella said. “There are so many times I wish my mother was still alive so I could ask her if I’m doing the right thing.”

“If a better mother existed in the world I certainly haven’t seen her,” King Chance told his wife. “And that includes our own mother.”

King Chase laughed at his brother. “Yes, our mother was a good person at heart but she was rather cold at times,” he said.

Sleeping Beauty smiled and then gazed out the window sadly. The subject of mothers had recently become a very sore one for her.

“Do you think if all the chaos ends—” Cinderella said but quickly corrected her choice of words. “When all this chaos ends, will the two of you want to start a family?”

Chase placed a comforting hand over Sleeping Beauty’s and she fought against the tears forming in her eyes. There was something they hadn’t shared with them yet.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—” Cinderella said, but she didn’t know what she was apologizing for.

“No, it’s quite all right,” Sleeping Beauty said. “Unfortunately, due to the effects of the sleeping curse, I and many women in our kingdom have been left unable to bear children.”

Cinderella and Chance were devastated to hear this. “Oh, my dear friend, I am so sorry,” Cinderella said, but there was nothing she could say to comfort her.

Sleeping Beauty looked back out her window before their sympathetic faces awoke any more of her pain and frustration. “Some things are just not meant to be, I suppose,” she said.

The carriage became very quiet. The secret path curved across the border between the Northern and the Eastern Kingdoms and Sleeping Beauty recognized the landscape around them.

“We’re home,” she announced to her husband. “I would recognize these hills from miles away—”

Her voice faded and her mouth fell open. Something suddenly came into view in the distance that sent shivers down her spine. Before she could tell the others what she was seeing, she opened the window and stuck her head through it.

“Stop the carriages!” Sleeping Beauty yelled up at Jack and Goldilocks.

Jack and Goldilocks pulled on the reins and the carriages started to slow down but Sleeping Beauty had jumped out before they came to a complete stop. She ran straight toward what she had seen as fast as she could.

“Wait! Where’s the fire?” Jack called after.

“Where are you going?” Goldilocks asked. But the queen didn’t respond to either of them.

The others in the traveling party stepped out of their carriages to see what all the fuss was about. Once the royals saw Sleeping Beauty running in the distance, they sprinted after her but didn’t go very far. Sleeping Beauty stopped at the edge of a village no one else had seen and stared at it in horror.

The village had been viciously attacked. Most of it had been burned down but smoke still filled the air from parts of the village still ablaze. Not a living soul could be seen or heard. The damage was so severe all the kings and queens knew it must have been caused by the Grande Armée. Only their weapons could have left such an ugly mark on an innocent town.

“I don’t understand,” Sleeping Beauty said. “Why does my kingdom seem to suffer the most during times of crisis?”

Snow White stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. “The Eastern Kingdom may be the first to see the sun set, but it’s also the first to see the dawn,” she said.

Her comforting words were unheard as Sleeping Beauty was distracted by a noise among the flames. It was a sound so faint she couldn’t tell if she was actually hearing it or if her mind was playing a trick on her.

“Did you hear that?” Sleeping Beauty asked.

“Hear what?” Snow White asked.

“It sounded like crying,” she said.

The others didn’t hear anything. The sound came again and this time Sleeping Beauty bolted toward the village.

“Beauty, come back!” Chase called after his wife.

“It’s too dangerous!” Cinderella said.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get her,” Goldilocks said, and she and Jack ran after the queen.

Sleeping Beauty let the sound guide her; the closer she got, the louder it became. She pushed through the door of a crumbling and burned-out home and stepped inside. She had to cover her mouth from all the smoke in the air. The crying was so loud she knew it must be real.

Jack and Goldilocks found the queen and heard the noise themselves, as clear as day.

“What is that?” Goldilocks asked.

“It sounds like a baby,” Jack said.

“Over here!” Sleeping Beauty called out.

A small chest was buried under a pile of debris that had fallen from the ceiling. Jack and Goldilocks helped Sleeping Beauty lift the rubble off the chest and open the lid. An infant girl had been hidden inside the chest and was surely the sole survivor of the Grande Armée’s raid.

“I don’t believe it,” Goldilocks said in amazement.

“How did you hear her crying?” Jack asked.

Sleeping Beauty couldn’t explain it, either. “I suppose I was meant to hear her,” she said. She scooped her up into her arms and the crying infant went silent.

Goldilocks was eyeing the roof above them. “We need to get out of here fast.”

The three of them ran out of the home with their new discovery just as the roof collapsed. Sleeping Beauty had saved the baby’s life seconds before it would have been lost. They returned to their traveling party, which was still waiting at the edge of the village. They were all just as astonished to see the surviving infant.

“Whose baby is that?” Bree asked.

“As far as we know, she’s an orphan,” Sleeping Beauty said.

“Well, I know of a great castle you can send her to if you need an orphanage,” Red said, and gave Little Bo a dirty look.

Sleeping Beauty was smiling down at the baby she cradled with a warmth in her eyes the others had never seen. “I do, too,” she said. “She’s coming to live with us.”

Chase stepped toward his wife to talk sense into her, but once he saw the infant’s face he felt what his wife was feeling. The child had been waiting for them to save her.

“What about the royal bloodline?” Chandler asked what the rest of the group was thinking.

“If any of you are concerned with blood, I invite you to take a look around the village and see all the blood of my people that has been spilt,” Sleeping Beauty said. “This child is a survivor and a child of this kingdom and therefore a worthy heir to our throne.”

Although Cinderella and Chance were the only royals who knew Sleeping Beauty couldn’t have a child of her own, none of them objected. The child was a beacon of light in a very dark time—if she could survive the wrath of the Grande Armée, they could, too.

“What will you name her?” Cinderella asked.

Sleeping Beauty exchanged a smile with all the kings and queens around her and tears of joy came to her eyes. They all accepted the child of this spontaneous adoption as one of their own.

“Since she was found in the ashes of her village, I think I’ll name her Ash,” she said.

“Princess Ash of the Eastern Kingdom; it has a nice ring to it,” Froggy said.

“She’s beautiful,” Rapunzel said.

Red stared at the ransacked village and a heavy pile of guilt filled the pit of her stomach. All her anger and woes about losing her throne seemed so small in comparison to what the world was facing. This attack could have happened in her kingdom, and that thought angered her more than anything ever had.

Red marched up to Goldilocks. Everyone expected her to start an argument but she surprised all of them with a request.

“Teach us to fight,” Red said.

“Excuse me?” Goldilocks asked.

“I want to learn how to fight this army myself,” Red explained to the others. “This could have happened to any village in any of our kingdoms—this wasn’t an attack on the Eastern Kingdom, it was an attack on us all. I refuse to sit back and watch this Grande Armée destroy everything we love so much. If I die, I don’t want to die in a cozy carriage or throne room, I want to die fighting alongside our people.”

The royals all looked to one another as her words touched each of them. They were surprised, impressed, and, most important, inspired by what Red said. They all took a step toward Goldilocks, united in the request.

“I do have pretty decent upper-body strength from cleaning my stepmother’s house every day,” Cinderella bragged.

“And we could use a break from being cooped up inside those carriages.” Snow White shrugged.

Goldilocks was impressed by their interest and withdrew her sword from its scabbard. “All right, then,” she said. “Your Majesties, each of you please find a large stick. The first thing I’m going to teach you is how to use a sword.”

Mother Goose stood on the grand balcony of the Fairy Palace and gazed at the stars in the night sky. She quietly prayed that wherever the twins and Lester were, they were succeeding in their efforts to recruit the armies. But most of all, she prayed that they were safe.

Emerelda rushed onto the balcony. “Mother Goose,” she said breathlessly. “It’s the Fairy Godmother, she’s awake.”

Mother Goose’s spirits soared so high she almost floated into the air. “For good?” she asked.

“From the looks of it, I would say only momentarily,” Emerelda said. “She seems extremely tired and she’s asking for you.”

Without wasting a second, Emerelda and Mother Goose ran to the Fairy Godmother’s chambers. Mother Goose kneeled by her bedside and took her hand into her own. Her eyes were open but very heavy, as if she had just awoken from a deep sleep and was about to fall into another.

“Hello there, my dear friend,” Mother Goose said softly to her.

“Emerelda, would you please give Mother Goose and me a moment alone?” the Fairy Godmother asked weakly.

Emerelda nodded and left the chambers.

“Mother Goose, I have something I need to ask of you before I go,” the Fairy Godmother said.

“Go? But where are you going?” Mother Goose laughed. “The Poconos? Martha’s Vineyard? Palm Springs?”

“You know where I’m going,” she said.

“I do,” Mother Goose said sadly. “But I was hoping there was still a chance you’d be sticking around. What is it that you need to ask me?”

The Fairy Godmother’s eyes grew heavier the more she tried to speak. “Over the years I have kept many secrets for you,” she said. “I’ve only asked you to keep one of mine, and I’m asking you to keep it even after I’m gone.”

Mother Goose knew what her friend was referring to without having to ask. “I assume you’re talking about the other heir,” she said.

“Yes,” the Fairy Godmother said with a deep breath. “If Alex hadn’t proven herself to be the true heir of magic, I wouldn’t be lying in this bed. Her compassion is both her greatest strength and her greatest weakness. If she ever knew there was another—if she ever found out who they are—she would be fooled the same way I was and it would destroy her.”

“I understand,” Mother Goose said. “You have my word: I will keep your secret and Alex will never know.”

The Fairy Godmother smiled at her oldest friend. “Thank you,” she said with relief. Her eyelids became too heavy to hold open and she drifted back into a very deep sleep. She slept even more peacefully than before, now that this had been addressed.

Mother Goose sighed and squeezed the Fairy Godmother’s hand. Keeping the Fairy Godmother’s secret would be the hardest challenge she would ever face.