Forever Never After

c h a p t e r t w e n t y f o u r

"Opal, just breathe-" he began, running his hands through his hair like he always did when he was nervous.

"I am breathing!" I snapped. He raised both hands up in surrender, and turned back to my parents. 

"Is this some kind of joke? You don't need to conjure up stories as a 'coping mechanism', you know." I said, tapping my foot.

"We have a lot of things to explain, just listen, Gem." My dad sighed, and clasped his hands in his lap.

"Your mother and I went through a lot before you were born. We had a few..conflicts with Snow. Your mother used to be Snow's guardian after her father died due to illness. Your mother's family took her in because Snow's father was close with your mother's parents, you see. She was Snow's step-sister, and she often took care of her herself, unfortunately. Soon, a rivalling kingdom invaded Northern Estervalea, which was the kingdom that we were from-" 

I stared blankly at them, unable to realize that this wasn't a joke. I nearly tuned him out, my heartbeat thumping. This wasn't happening. This kind of thing just doesn't happen in real life, it really doesn't. My eyes snapped back to my father, who was rambling.

"-and the other kingdom's knights were destroying and killing anything in their way. They were after the royal family, which included Snow and your mother. One day, they stormed the castle and killed your mother's parents, the King and Queen. Knowing that they would invade the castle soon to come back for them, she told Snow to flee the castle. She sent her to the forest, where she stayed in a house with 7 of the palace guards. Snow was angry with her because she thought that your mother was just getting rid of her so she could rule Northern Estervalea without her. That's when the conflict began between them. 

My kingdom, which was stationed in Southern Estervalea, formed allies with your mother's kingdom. I met your mother when we arranged to meet to discuss how to stop the invasion, since it was getting out of control-" My father rambled, forgetting that this was an all new world to me.

"Wait a second, stop. I have so many questions about this messed up situation. Kingdom? Estervalea? Even if this was real, which it's not--how come Mum is not Snow's step-mother? None of this makes sense." I asked, exasperated. My mom sighed, and looked at my dad.

"Well, your dad sort of dumped this all at once to you, so I'll answer that. I know that in the "original" story, I am Snow's evil step-mom who puts her into sleep, and all those horrible things. It's all mixed up, the squires never get anything right. They listen to half of the story and fill in the blanks themselves. Sometimes they love to write whatever sounds more interesting." She rolled her eyes, and faintly smiled.

 I slumped in my chair, trying to push away the feeling that someone was going to jump out of the closet and yell, "Gotcha! None of this is real and this was just a unreasonably thorough and dangerous life-threatening prank!"

"Opal, to sum it up, Snow White accused me of deliberately trying to murder her so I could have the kingdom all to myself, which wasn't true at all. I was just trying to protect her. She was also cross because I ended up marrying your dad, who had an arranged marriage to Snow. I was supposed to marry his other brother, but he was sadly killed in battle. I don't know why she was so angry, she had never even met him! She even said to me that she didn't want to get married to a stranger." My dad frowned slightly and put his arm around Mum. 

"She probably was bitter over everything." he muttered. I exhaled sharply, shaking my head.

"O-okay, so let me get this straight. Snow White: evil maniac, and after me, my mother is the supposed 'evil queen', and my father is Prince Charming? What is this? This can't be reality. Nothing like this actually happens in real life-" 

"It's our family history, Opal. We can't change what happened, and what is happening, no matter how...impossible it is," my father whispered.

 I stared at Graham and Willow, who hadn't made a peep since my parents decided to give me a rather confusing and unbelievable family history lesson. Graham looked uncomfortable, looking around the room as if someone were about to drop a bomb on the house. Willow, on the other hand, was making notes, just as she would in one of her math classes.

"Guys, am I the only one who thinks this is insane?!"  Willow placed her notebook on the table with a loud smack, causing all of our gazes to snap to her. She folded her hands in her lap, her eyes fixated on Opal's parents with strong determination. Her eyes were dark and brooding.

"Mr and Mrs. Wakefield, I have a lot of questions that you need to answer."