Chapter 8

‘It's a trap!’

-v-

“I can’t believe you lost them!” Lukas growled, pacing around in a circle. He rubbed his nose and growled again, receiving frightened glances from some of the locals. His pacing stopped briefly, as he stared back at the gawkers. “What are you looking at?”

The gawkers turned away immediately, walking away. Ramón crossed his arms and groaned, his red hoodie now tied around his waist. “I lost them? I was busy trying to keep up with you! If you hadn’t been in such a damn rush, we could’ve kept in a group!” He said, frustrated.

Lukas continued his pacing; he had agreed with Edwin’s sentiments about the Fifth Kingdom, and really had no desire to stay there for any longer. However, the two had been fortunate enough to find someone to take them out of the country that wasn’t completely intoxicated- albeit, his wife- and would be leaving by dawn. Unfortunately, it took nearly two hours to find them, and now that the matter was taken care of, Lukas realized only then that most of the group was missing.

He ran his hands through his black hair. “I found someone to get us out of here, didn’t I? All you had to do was keep an eye on Princey and the girls.”

Ramón rolled his eyes, trying his best to keep his temper under control; he couldn’t go and get physical with their guide to the Nine ‘Wherever-the-hell-they-are.’ He glanced back at the festival. “You found Edwin in Manhattan and it’s twice the size of this place, but you can’t find them now?”

“It’s different here,” Lukas began, “Manhattan just has superficial smells: smoke, the rivers, the irresistible smell of dirty water dogs. But the Nine Kingdoms are different; magic pollutes the air, and it’s so much thicker than anything Manhattan has. I’m pretty all right tracker, but I don’t have the nose my father has, or any of my other relatives, for that matter.”

Great, so our guide is a fucking weirdo. “All right, can we at least try to find them?” Ramón suggested, finally losing his patience.

Lukas closed his eyes as he smelled the air, clearly distracted by the sweet smell of the sizzling meats. The smell teased his nostrils, enticing him to breath in the air once more. The pit of his stomach ached, craving the cooked sausage doused in garlic and relish, or perhaps the barbecued ribs laced with spices. Oh, but the grill lamb sautéed in pepper-

Edwin, and the girl, Veronica. It was faint, under the strong cooking and the natural magic that loomed over the town, but it was there. In fact, it was all across the large village, and he knew that he’d have to trace it as far as possible. Fortunately, the crowd was beginning to disperse, tired from the festival’s weary activities that day.

Lukas began walking into the crowd again, sliding past the villagers as easily as before. “I picked something up; follow me!” He threw over his shoulder.

Ramón jogged behind Lukas, grunting as he bumped past people. Veronica, you’re lucky as hell we’re best friends, with the shit I’m putting up with now.

-v-

Veronica placed the small tray of fried pork on the cobblestone street, where Edwin sat patiently. He nearly lunged for the steaming meat, almost inhaling his food. “Mm, thank you, Veronica,” Edwin said between bites, “Are you sure you don’t want anything else to eat?”

The dark haired girl smiled weakly and shook her head. “No thanks, I’m fine. I just can’t believe you have kogel mogel here; I haven’t had it in years,” she stated, clearly amazed; the last time Veronica had the desert, she was seven years old and had a nasty sore throat. Her grandmother, who often played the role of the babysitter, concocted it that night and served it to her; sure enough, it eased her aching throat. In fact, Veronica decided then that once she found Tegan, she would make the dessert for her.

Frowning, Veronica thought about Bebe, or her lack of presence; she and Edwin had looked for her for nearly two hours and there was no sign of her. She didn’t think it would be that hard to find her, until she realized how big the ‘village’ was. From everything that the prince had told her about nixes, she was especially in a rush to find Bebe. “Edwin, do you think he’s…”

“No,” he said immediately, looking up at her. “Not yet, at least. There are too many people around to attempt something like that. However, I don’t think we have much more time.”

With his nose, Edwin pushed the plate away, finished with his small meal. Veronica sighed and scooped the fluffy prince in her arms and walked down the open streets. Both men and women were wearing their best purple clothing, if they chose to wear any at all. She was still having her own troubles with the rampant nudity that plagued the country, blushing at some but mostly cringing and turning her head away.

Stopping short, Veronica stared at a large stone statue in the village center; it was of a bird- not a swan, for it was too ugly. “What is that?” she finally asked, still staring at the statue.

Edwin looked up at the statue, than at Veronica before stating, “Have you heard of the ‘Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs?’”

Blinking, she glanced down at Edwin, then back at the large goose. “Get out of town,” she said quietly, “I thought that was an Aesop’s fable.”

“Well, it’s very much history here,” Edwin explained, “Gansburg was where the goose had laid its eggs, attracting attention from the Naked Emperor; he was so impressed, he made it one of the most important towns in the Fifth Kingdom.”

Veronica twisted her mouth at the mention of the word ‘naked;’ she had certainly seen enough of that today. “Oh God, the royalty’s in on it, too?” She asked, almost disgusted.

Edwin laughed heartily, almost warmly. “In on it? The Emperor inspired it! So you see, not only are the countrymen filthy barbarians, albeit they make excellent food, but even the royalty and noblemen are on the same level. The House of White tries to avoid them at all costs, although they are an important ally.”

There was a small silence between them, as the drunks shouted bar songs in the fields and mothers shooed their children inside for the night. Finally, Veronica found the nerve to ask, “You’re really related to Snow White, aren’t you?”

Edwin straightened himself out proudly. “And Cinderella; I would never make up claims that I can’t verify. Snow White was my great-grandmother and the greatest monarch the Fourth Kingdom ever had, my father a close second,” he told her, mystified by the tale himself.

Veronica nodded when something caught her eye. Through the thin crowd, the vividness of blond curls stuck out, belonging to the petite body of a young woman. What struck her the most was the woman was wearing pants, the only other female other than Veronica to do so.

Her eyes widened. “Bebe!” she called out, running immediately toward the girl.

Bebe turned around and smiled widely; in her arms was a finely crafted doll, with a rich purple dress made of velvet and matching curls to the girl’s own. As Veronica and Edwin approached her, Klaas made himself more prominent, still as handsome as ever. “Hey V,” Bebe stated happily, her smile never fading, “Look what Klaas bought for me!”

Veronica smiled the fake smile she usually saved for Ted; she just needed to make everything seem all right. “That’s nice, B,” she began and turned to Klaas. “Could you excuse us for just a minute? I’ll give her right back, promise!” Grabbing onto Bebe’s arm, Veronica pulled her off to the side of the cobblestone road, away from Klaas’ earshot.

Bebe’s smile was a bright as ever as she placed a curl behind her ear. “What’s up, V?”

Sighing, Veronica thought of the proper way to say her thoughts to her best friend. Finally, she just gave up. “Bebe, we need to ditch Klaas.”

The bright smile slowly faded, Bebe’s eyebrows pushed together in concern. “I don’t understand; he’s been so nice to me,” she reasoned, “Why would need to get away from him?”

No matter how she worded it, Veronica knew that her explanation would not sound right. Still, she tried, “Because… well, we think he’s a, um… a nixie.”

“Nix,” Edwin corrected her, glaring viciously at Klaas. “And we know he’s one; all signs point to it.”

Bebe blinked, her hands still holding tightly to the gorgeous doll, stroking the dress with the tips of her fingers. “A what?” She asked, her mouth hung open.

Veronica stepped closer, glancing at Klaas; the man, or rather, the nix stood there, still smiling and waving hello to people passing by. “A water spirit that enslaves children and drowns others; he’s using that human form to trick you, Bebe, and we gotta get out of here before we get near a body of water,” she said in a low voice.

Sighing, Bebe turned away from her friend and stood in silence. “Veronica, guys always treat me like shit, you know that. I haven’t had a real boyfriend in over a year,” she finally said, turning back to her with a pensive gaze. “We’re finally in a fairytale where chivalry isn’t dead, and a guy treated me great for just a couple of hours. Why are you trying to ruin that?”

“Because the knights in shining armor never come until something bad happens to the helpless heroine!” Veronica said through her teeth. “Do you remember what happens in fairytales, Bebe? Women try to kill their stepchildren, witches eat kids, crazy gnome people steal babies! B, let’s just try to find the guys and get out of this place.”

Bebe stepped backwards, shaking her head slowly. “I’ll find you guys later, after I say goodbye to Klaas,” she announced, her voice shaky and turned away, walking back to Klaas. Her smile returned again as Klaas led her away from the village and toward the thick, green forest, her arm in his.

The shrill cat calls and laughter of young boys caught Veronica’s attention, and she turned to two adolescent boys, no older than twelve. “What the hell are you laughing at?” She inquired sternly, startling the boys. Their smiles faded and they looked away, pretending not to notice her.

Placing Edwin down, Veronica grabbed the boys’ arms harshly, enticing surprise and anger from them. “Hey, let me go!” the first boy with a freckled face and messy red hair shouted, attempting to pull away. The other boy with olive skin and dark brown hair tried running away, calling out, “I’m getting my dad; he’ll be so mad at you!”

Veronica pulled them toward her, knocking them off their feet. She glared at each boy, each getting their share of her steely look. “I don’t care you get the Naked Emperor here himself; I’m not letting go until you tell me what you thought was so damn funny!”

The freckled boy relented, looking down at the ground. “The woman you were just talking to and the man- where they’re going, you know something’s gonna happen,” he explained, grinning wickedly and began laughing again.

His olive skinned friend laughed as well, adding, “That guy has to be a nix; my grandmother warned me about them. It makes sense that that would be his ‘spot.’ Woo!”

Veronica shook the boys violently, turning their laughter back to aggravation; she had no time for games. “What is this ‘spot,’ and why does that make sense?” she asked again.

The olive skinned boy frowned, still trying to pull away. “Just the spring,” he explained, “But my older brother says that’s the main place to do some ‘k-i-s-s-i-n-g,’ if you know what I mean.”

Getting her answer, Veronica threw them back toward the ground, having no other use for them. She turned to Edwin. “Ed, go and find Ramón and Lukas and get them to that spring ASAP. I’m gonna find Bebe and make sure she doesn’t end up dead!”

Grabbing onto her ponytail, she pulled out her black hair band and continued, “Take this and give it to Lukas; he’ll be able to track me down faster.” Taking her hair band into his mouth, Edwin dashed off into the crowd, leaping through people’s legs.

Veronica stood up and then followed the pair’s trail into the woods, hoping desperately that she would catch them in time.

-v-

“His majesty and the queen are getting quite worried,” Lord Duckworth announced to House of White’s most trusted advisors. It was commonplace to meet every week and discuss the issues and current events of the Fourth Kingdom. However, this week, there had been a sudden change of topic when Lord Duckworth had interrupted Lord Nimble’s concerns about the new black magic market that was being fueled by several evil witches with the worries of Prince Edwin and his ‘disappearance.’

Of course, he had told his father’s advisors that he was improving his tracking skills and was not to be bothered, but the men had figured he would at least send word back to them. “We haven’t from him in a week’s time, and the queen has become unsettled about this,” Duckworth continued, his wrinkled jaw tightened.

One of the other advisors, the Duke of Hubbard stood up from his seat, stating, “First and foremost, the prince’s absence must be kept silent; after all, there is a reason our great king is out of the country.” The advisors agreed grimly; the threat of the Ice Queen was becoming unbearable, and to secure allies, King Wendell had been visiting the royals of all the friendly Nine Kingdoms, his current visit in the First Kingdom with his cousin Queen Rosabella, who had succeeded the throne after Cinderella had passed away ten years before.

“Surely we can send somebody to find him,” Count Horner suggested, attempting to calm down his fellow advisors. The count was one of the younger members of King Wendell’s advisors, receiving his position with his positive attitude and passion for his country.

Another younger advisor, the Earl of MacDonald, shook his head. “We’ve already sent out our best horsemen,” he explained, clasping his hands. “They can’t find him.”

Lord Grundy cleared his throat. “What do you propose we say to the queen then, in light of this?” He asked, his withered voice matching his elder appearance.

“I’ll tell you what we shall tell her,” a feminine voice chimed, and all twelve advisors turned to the threshold of the door where a small young lady stood, her auburn hair pulled elegantly into a bun. She walked into the room, her light blue dress trailing behind her. Her eyes glanced at each advisor before turning to Lord Duckworth and the Duke of Hubbard.

Lord Duckworth bowed graciously. “You have a suggestion, your majesty?” He asked with great respect.

Standing at the front of the room, the girl held her head high, her hazel eyes gleaming. “You will tell King Wendell and Queen Irene that Prince Edwin, is simply working on his tracking skills has he informed us a week previously, and that you’re sure it’s because of the poor communication system in the countryside. You will dually note in the letter that this event has convinced the advisors more than ever those issues with the outer provinces must be addressed in order to prevent such problems from occurring again. Will that do?”

The older men grumbled their responses, rising from their chairs and making their way out of the room. Lord Duckworth and the Duke of Hubbard were the last two to leave, all but one; the man was older, his hair silver and slicked back. As he stood up, he found difficulty with his growing stomach. The wide cheeked man smiled at the young princess. “You know how to drive people out of a room, Ophelia.”

Princess Ophelia smiled weakly, her hands on her waist. “They’re fools at heart, panicking easily. Someone had to do something.”

The older man laughed, his large hand grasping his cane. “No kidding,” he agreed when his expression turned grim. “Do you really believe that story, that he’s working on his ‘tracking skills’ out in the middle of nowhere?”

Ophelia sighed, and sat on one of the abandoned seats, her hands resting in the blue fabric. “I have to, Lord Antony; it’s all I have. So, until he has told me otherwise, I must convince the advisors of that.” Although he was eight years older than her, Edwin and Ophelia had always been close; it was he who urged her not to be like any of the royal women and be obedient. ‘Never change, Lia,’ he had said, ‘If you do, then you really aren’t the girl I thought you were.’

Lord Anthony Lewis patted Ophelia’s shoulder, still leaning against his cane; arthritis was beginning to pain him, and the Nine Kingdoms offered no other means of dealing with it other than with some magic as an opiate and a cane. “I hope you’re right, dear, for your family’s sake.”

The princess smiled gently. “Me, too.”

-v-

Bebe pushed the stray tree branch from her path, still clutching the beautiful doll in her arms. She didn’t like being at odds with Veronica; the two had known each other their entire lives and they rarely fought. In fact, Bebe was like the sister Veronica never had for most of her life, until her mother became pregnant with Tegan.

Still, she didn’t see why Veronica had to make such wild accusations about Klaas. He had done nothing to indicate ill intentions; yes, she was sure Veronica was just being paranoid like she always was around her. True, Bebe had made some bad judgments that Veronica had warned her about, but she wasn’t right all the time.

“Oh!” Bebe said involuntarily, pausing. In front of her was a small waterfall, the water flowing over the rocks and into the spring. Its quiet flow surprised Bebe; her family was working class at best, and the closest thing she had been to nature was New Jersey.

Klaas looked at the spring, then back at her. “You like it?” He asked, his hand placed on her shoulder.

Bebe’s brown eyes glistened. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” she whispered, stepping closer to it, “It’s beautiful. Thank you, Klaas.”

Suddenly becoming serious, Bebe turned to him. “No, really, thank you, Klaas. No one has ever done so much for me my entire life let alone a couple of hours, excluding my parents. I’m glad I was able to meet you,” she affirmed, smiling gently.

Klaas’ fingers gently played with a loose strand of Bebe’s hair. He looked back at the spring. “Want to swim in it? Everyone does it; it’s great.”

She laughed. “Thanks but no thanks,” Bebe answered, “If I just jump in, it’ll fuck up my hair extensions.”

He pulled her arm with him, causing her to step closer to the spring. “Come on, one little dip; I won’t ever see you again, the least we can do it go for a swim,” Klaas urged, holding his red cap to his head as he pulled Bebe.

Bebe thought over his offer for a moment before placing down the doll he had bought for her. “You live only once,” she said to herself, taking off her denim jacket and slipping off her white sneakers. She pulled off her white socks, stuffing them into her shoes.

As she began unbuckling her white belt around her waist, Bebe heard the approaching footsteps from the path in the forest. She paused, her heart jumping into her throat. To her surprise, Veronica appeared in the clearing, her green messenger bag decorated in black strips banging at her side and her dark gray baja in her arms.

Veronica stopped, catching her breath. Her gray blue eyes widened, causing her to stand up straight. “Bebe,” she shouted, suddenly sprinting again, “Watch out, it’s a trap!”

Bebe’s head turned immediately to Klaas, and shrieked in horror; no longer the handsome man at the festival, his skin was now a deathly pale color, almost a light green. His skin was rough, almost as if was covered in scales. The girl stepped away, her hand over her mouth.

Grabbing her arm, Klaas dragged her toward the spring, no longer gently or playfully; Bebe slid across the grassy bank, screaming helplessly as she attempted to hold place by digging her heels into the ground.

Dropping her bag and baja, Veronica ran towards Bebe as Klaas entered the water, brining Bebe with him. Veronica dived onto the ground, grabbing Bebe’s free hand before she was completely underwater. She tightened her grip. “Bebe, keep holding onto me,” she pleaded, doing her best to keep Bebe above water.

Bebe nodded her head, attempting to shake Klaas’ grip from her. Hit was tight around her arm, hurting her. She kicked his body repeatedly, placing her foot on his shoulder and kicking off it. She felt Veronica pulling her from the water, keeping her head from sinking under. Bebe could hear Klaas’ growls emitted from under the water. She cursed herself for being so stupid as to believe some stranger in a world she had only been in for fifteen minutes, that she was that gullible.

Veronica pulled Bebe onto the bank, allowing her to realize that Klaas’ grip on her was gone. Hoisting her legs upwards, she managed to pull her entire body out of the spring. Veronica helped her out, rubbing her back as Bebe coughed up the water that had infiltrated her lungs. Bebe wiped the water from her brow, although it did little to help, as her entire body was wet.

Still coughing, Bebe looked to Veronica. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you V,” she apologized between coughs, “I really just wanted to be treated nice, special…”

Her friend rubbed her back, smiling weakly. “Let’s talk about this later, B,” she replied, standing up. Veronica held out her hands to Bebe, who graciously took them and was pulled up, standing on her feet. Bebe walked past her friend; she had enough of the spring for one day.

Veronica began walking behind when she felt a tight grip around her own ankle. Her body was pulled from her balance, causing her to fall flat onto the bank. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Klaas from the spring, his hand grabbing her ankle and pulling her into the water. Veronica clawed at the bank, her fingers running through the wet mud.

Bebe’s screamed as she saw Veronica slide into the water, and ran back to the edge. She barely touched Veronica’s hand when she disappeared under the clear water, several air bubbles bobbing at the surface.

The blond girl stared at the water for a long time, blinking only once. “Veronica?” she asked weakly, her hand reaching into the water for something, anything, but came up with nothing. The hot tears began rolling down Bebe’s cold face.

“VERONICA!”

-v-

All right, all right, I said I wouldn't do one of these again, but it'll be quick. I'm just surprised that I pumped this out right before my break was over. It's probably because I did that instead of my homework XD

I was at work yesterday and was cleaning the diningroom when "A Whiter Shade of Pale" by Procol Harum played. I immediately thought of the '10th Kingdom' and was happy .

Until next time.

Yours truly,
Meghan aka Hola-Meg-a-Cola