Between Lost and Found (a dark fairy tale)

Chapter 9

The girl simply stared, mouth agape ready, to catch flies.

The queen held that air of authority about her that one would expect from a queen. A constantly expectant look on her face, a wanting that was already shadowed by disappointment. 'Well, girl, are you not going to bow?'

The girl had no idea how to bow to a queen. Should she just nod her head or bow at the waist or on one knee like Lady Kavain had done? If Kavain had gone to one knee for her, just a simple girl, then what would she have done for the queen.

Nervous and becoming fidgety in her indecision, the girl looked at the queen and bit her lip. The queen raised one fine eyebrow in response. The girl threw herself down prostrate on the white cobble floor, arms out in front, head to the floor, flat like a cat stretching. 'Sorry, your majesty,' said the girl loud so that she might be heard with her face pressed against the floor. The white cobblestones were warm and smelled coppery, like blood.

The queen let out a trickle of a laugh, like water splashing out of an overfull cup. 'It's Your Grace,' said the queen. 'Please, sit.'

The girl slowly stood and took the only other seat at the table, at the opposite end to the queen. The servant that stood behind the chair, pushed it in under her as she sat.

Then, the queen clapped her hands twice and the room came alive. Doors were swung open and servants poured in. And the food they brought in with them! There were fat golden turkeys with potatoes and pumpkin, an entire roasted pig with apples in their skins, huge sides of meat covered in gravies and dishes of creamy bakes, plates of sausages and pies, puddings and sweets. Pitchers of wine and juices and frothy ales. She had never seen such food. It was more than she thought she had consumed in her lifetime. It was all laid out before them.

Everything had that similar glowing quality to it. Like the woods had, as if it were all freshly polished. It all steamed hot, but the girl failed to notice that the food had no aroma. But the look of it all was enough to make the girl hungry.

'Eat,' said the queen, waving a hand at the feast. Her voice was silky smooth and her eyes were hungry, but she did not eat. She only watched as the girl ate. The girl didn't need to be told twice.

The queen relaxed back in her throne a little and laced her fingers together. 'Do you like it here? In my castle?'

Servants doted over the girl. Putting more food on her plate and filling up cups with wine. The girl smiled at all of them. 'Yes, very much, Your ...' The girl had gone to say 'Your Majesty,' again, she preferred the ring of Your Majesty. '... Your Grace,' said the girl.

The queen waved a hand in the air and smiled that smile again that only touched her lips. 'Please, call me Mother.' When she smiled this time though, she allowed her mouth to open, exposing her teeth just a little, but it seemed to spread too far across her face.

The girl stopped eating and swallowed hard. 'Okay ... Mother.' She felt the warmth of the word spread over her. Mother. Has there ever been a word to bring more comfort? She had never felt so happy. She continued eating. Picking up a turkey leg with her hands and biting into it, the juice spilling down her chin.

The queen played with the food on her plate and picked up her goblet, but did not drink from it. 'I need an heir to my throne,' she said, swirling the liquid in her goblet. She laughed in a way that was not at all a laugh. But the girl still thought nothing of it.

'As much as I try, I will not live forever,' said the queen.

The girl looked up at the queen. She watched her for a moment, her pale skin and high cheekbones. The light in the large throne room wavered for a moment in a passing draught that disturbed the flames and the girl thought she saw the queen's skin flush into a pasty gray, her eyes flicker from blue to black and then to blue again

'I can make you my heir,' said the queen.

The girl looked into the queen's eyes and the queen stared straight back, very serious. 'I can dub you my daughter, but I just need one thing from you,' said the queen.

The girl was shocked. She stopped chewing the turkey meat that was in her mouth.

If she was the queen's daughter that would make her a princess. An actual princess. To live in the grand white castle and have a crown upon her head. Although, the queen did not wear a crown, but if the girl became queen, she could wear what she wanted. What wouldn't she do for all that?

'Anything, Mother,' said the girl.

The queen's smile stretched across her face again as if the corners of her mouth were on invisible strings that were being pulled tightly behind her head. 'I want your voice,' she said, her eyes glowing brightly with the flickering candlelight.

'My voice?' said the girl, but her words came out slow and stretched out like the queen's smile. Her voice didn't sound like it came from her own mouth and she suddenly felt woozy and tired. The colors in the room swam and, just like that, as if she had been looking at a reflection in a pond and now could see the mud and stones at the bottom, the room changed.

The queen, perched on her throne, was a hideous thing, her skin that of a corpse, dappled gray. Her eyes dark with no white at all. Her bones under her skin as if they were trying to break out. Stains spider webbed up her white dress. Her hair, a second ago neat, now dirty and patched, brittle-looking like soiled straw.

The food that was laid out on the table had turned bad. Flies and maggots writhed about on the girl's plate, she felt them in her mouth. She wretched at the stench that had suddenly filled her up. She could smell the decay, taste it on her tongue, at the back of her throat. She could feel the weight of the rotten food in her belly.

The room pitched and swayed. Her limbs felt heavy and she felt like she couldn't move.

The servants that had been doting on her were no longer human. They were sad looking little creatures with hunched backs and brown skin too tight for their bones. They all cowered at the edges of the room.

The queen stood upon her throne, her limbs unraveling from themselves like those of a spider. Her horrible face cracked in half by her grin with far too many sharp teeth in her mouth. 'Get her!' she screeched.