Black Forest: Kingdoms Fall (37 page)

"When one does as you did, taking a well-designed existence and escaping from it, your motivation, it appears to be freedom. When one leaves her tower,
runs off, goes to another kingdom, it seems her motivation too is freedom. But, that is just it. That is why I could not write your story. I did not
understand your true motivations."

Grimm leaned down as if to appeal to Cinderella's interest, and, could she have lifted her foot, Cinderella would have interested him in pain.

"You see, Rapunzel," he went on. "Her motivation was never freedom. She could have been happy in that tower forever once you were there."

Cinderella would have given anything to stop the whimper that escaped her lips, but in her fragile condition, apparently too weak to act at her will, it
was hopeless bargaining.

"You, Cinderella, you were her motivation. As scared as she was, she had all the courage she needed to do what she had to do to be with you. And you..."
Grimm crouched before her, eyes seeing more deeply than invited. "You did seek freedom, but that was only part of what you sought, wasn't it?" Though
Cinderella gave no answer, Grimm nodded, a proud smile curving his mouth. "Along with that, above that, what you sought was someone who looked at you and
saw beyond the gown and the facade, someone who saw the real inside the illusion, as you had at the palace. The way Rapunzel saw you."

Sob sneaking past her lips, Cinderella felt the tears falling unchecked down her face, breaths broken as she struggled to sit up on her own without
success.

"Ah." Grimm spoke in soft melody. "You have given me a power I never dreamed of possessing, so raw, it nearly bleeds. And you, you do bleed, don't you? On
the outside and on the inside." He watched the teardrops searing imprints down Cinderella's face with ardent fascination. "The one thing I was missing, the
one thing I could not create, you gave me by accident. I can cause suffering. A small child losing her mother. A father who cares more about his new wife
than his own daughter. Physical pain, right Christophe? A trunk lid to the neck cannot feel good, I imagine. But, as you felt, it was all contrived. All..."
Grimm stood, arm sweeping the vastness of the forest. "Artificial. This, though..." His gaze sharpened on Cinderella. "This torment... this deep agony...
it is so real, Cinderella. Is that not what you wanted? Real? And, for her part, Rapunzel is faring no better than you."

"Where is she?"

"I knew you would ask." Grimm smiled. "Until Rapunzel fulfills her destiny, she cannot be..." Grimm snapped and Cinderella flinched, expecting the world to
disappear around her. "No more. But now that I understand your motivations, you are back under my control."

"You do not control us," Cinderella said, though she knew it untrue, for Rapunzel was gone and she was dying, and neither of those things was within her
control.

"You think not?" Grimm uttered. "Now that I know Rapunzel is motivated by her desire to stay with you, I could throw an obstacle into that path. It builds
suspense, you see. How will she overcome that obstacle? How will you?"

"Where... is... she?"

"She is in Naxos." Grimm shrugged as if it was obvious. "Back on the course of her destiny where she belongs. About now, she is wandering around a desert
that she will surely try to escape, but that is the beauty, you see. There is no escape. The desert is of the sorceress' creation and it is boundless. If
you can get in, you cannot get out. An alluring prince, whom you had the pleasure of meeting, is already in that arid landscape. He will stumble upon her
and, though their beautiful, heart-wrenching love story has been turned into something undeniably unseemly thanks to your interference, they will still be
forever united."

"She will never love him," Cinderella whispered.

"Perhaps not," Grimm admitted, though it seemed to matter little to him. "But I can make her think she does. Unless, of course, you get there first."

Looking sharply up at him, Cinderella felt the motion throughout her head, and let it fall back to a firm shoulder behind her, breaths coming in weak
bursts that felt like her last.

"Of course..." Grimm pulled his quill from his pocket, and flicked it toward her. "You will not be able to go like that."

For the first time since she tumbled from the giant's tabletop, Cinderella's vision cleared, but as Grimm's sick smile came into glaring focus, she almost
wished it hadn't. Sitting up with little struggle, she reached to the wound, the blood that matted her hair the only thing that remained of her most recent
brush with death.

"You want me gone," Cinderella stated. "I lay here dying. Why do this?"

"Because, Cinderella," he returned. "If you do not have a chance, it does not make a good story. When you go after the thing you want most, and you fall to
your enemies, when you fail, Cinderella, that will be a poetic tragedy."

"I will not fail," Cinderella declared, but felt it little.

With a laugh, Grimm produced a parchment out of thin air. Tossed on the ground before her, the writing on Caratasa's map glowed.

She had studied it so often, Cinderella knew the map almost by heart. Well enough to know where she was upon it. Well enough to know where Naxos was upon
it. Though she did not need to look to know why Grimm was so satisfied with himself, she still followed the path between the two - directly through the
Gulf of Broken Dreams.

"You have been most brave," Grimm admitted. "But I assure you, your natural bravado will not serve you well in this endeavor. Of course, you can always
choose another route, return to Aulis, perhaps, with your new friends and move on with your life, but I do not expect that of you. So, tell me, Cinderella,
how am I doing controlling you now?"

"You are the devil," she uttered, and Grimm gave a hearty laugh, the sound of his mirth filling the clearing where Jack's cottage once sat in peace and
where so much death still hung in the air.

"Earlier tonight, you thought me a god," Grimm countered passively. "Do make haste. I assure you, the prince, he too is motivated."

Then, with the point of his quill, Grimm was gone once more.

Rolling the map up at once, Cinderella bounded to her feet. "I do not need it," she said, thrusting the parchment toward Christophe.

"What are you going to do?" he asked without taking it, and Cinderella offered the map to Sawyer.

When Sawyer also refused it, Cinderella grabbed his hand and shoved the map roughly into it.

"We are coming with you," Sawyer declared.

"No, you are not," Cinderella returned.

"You cannot go alone," Jack argued.

"If you are not with me, he will let you live," Cinderella said. "And I need you to wake Snow White. That prince, he may be her destiny. If he wakes her,
Grimm may make Snow White disappear. Only you can stop that."

"Christophe and Jack can take care of that," Sawyer reasoned. "That is one more than enough. I shall come with you."

"I do not want you to come with me," Cinderella whispered, putting her hand on Sawyer's arm when he took the declaration as an insult. "I will live or die
on my own. For what I want. You must decide what you want for yourself. And," Cinderella blinked back tears, "you need to tell others what is going on.
Those who are left. Please, I beg you, wait for daybreak. Go to Aulis. Free Snow White, or at least protect her from the prince. Please. You will like Snow
White and the dwarves. Perhaps, you will all make a life together."

"Why do you speak as if you will not return?" Christophe asked.

"Did it sound to you as if I will?" Cinderella returned gently.

"Then why go at all?" Jack queried.

"I have to," Cinderella whispered, squeezing Jack's arm. "I am sorry for your mother, Jack."

When Jack nodded, a fresh tear running down his cheek, Cinderella pulled him down to kiss his stubbled cheek, moving onto Christophe and Sawyer, before
turning away with haste before she could cry in full.

"Make sure they get there safely." She touched the furry heads of Norco and Togo as she passed.

"You never did tell us who you would choose for Snow White," Sawyer called, and Cinderella glanced back.

Standing side by side, they looked a sturdy troop, three good men, the type Snow White deserved over a prince who would simply declare his intentions to
have her and think gold a fair trade for a person.

"That is not a choice for me to make," Cinderella said. "Besides, I could not choose. With the three of you, however it comes out, she could not be more
lucky."

Producing as much of a smile as she could manage, Cinderella turned from them, clearing the giant's head and turning down the cart path toward fate.

P
erhaps Grimm was right. He knew her motivation, so perhaps he could control her, move her at his will.

When Caratasa first showed them the map, when she explained what lay within the Gulf of Broken Dreams, according to legend, Cinderella determined the place
uncrossable. Even with what little information Caratasa could provide, she looked upon the black void at the middle of the map as a raging river. It would
be better to walk a hundred leagues out of the way looking for a bridge, she thought, than attempt to cross it.

Deciding the Gulf an impenetrable boundary was easy when she and Rapunzel stood on the same side of it. As with any raging river, when the thing she wanted
most stood in danger on the opposite shore, not crossing felt a greater risk than being swept downstream. If she did drown in the Gulf, if she was pulled
under by whatever flood Grimm had in store for her, even if she died on his terms, she would at least die by her own desire.

Back within the forest, the darkness was deep, but not as deep as the darkness within Cinderella. Swinging between despair one moment, barely-contained
rage the next, even the ghouls knew better than to come near her as she made her way through their domain on instinct.

Feet feeling over the path, each step was cautious but resolute. For she had much to accomplish. First, she had to find Rapunzel, ensure she was safe and
knew she was not forgotten. Second, she had to deal with Prince Salimen, who would understand by the time she was done with him that he had made his last
ever claim to Rapunzel. Third, she had to get to Grimm in such a way they could meet by touch, for her life up until she left Troyale had earned Grimm
her extreme dislike. Taking Rapunzel, that had earned him a sentence of death.

Hairs on the back of her neck on end and Grimm on her mind, when Cinderella stepped into a ray of moonlight and heard the sudden racket behind her, she
swiveled at once, sponging her tears with the back of her hand, uncertain if they fell in sadness or fury.

"Who is there?" she called out.

Whispers sounded amongst the trees at the question, but not a single specter showed itself.

"Do not make me come in after you," she warned, scooping a large rock from the forest floor and brandishing it next to her shoulder.

"Do not throw that!" a familiar voice cried. "You have such a good throw, you will knock us back to the next kingdom."

"Norco?" Cinderella muttered in disbelief, watching his ears appear long before the rest of him as he rose from the brush.

"Hello."

"Togo," Cinderella breathed as he flew up next to his twin, the rock in her hand falling to the ground with a dull thud. "What are you doing here?"

"We took a vote," Norco explained. "It was agreed Norco and Togo would be better put to use helping you."

"You agreed to help Christophe, Sawyer and Jack find Snow White and tell others about Grimm," Cinderella responded, turning to walk again, having no time
to waste.

"To be precise," Norco added, easily catching up with her. "You did not tell us specifically to do those things."

"He is quite right," Togo agreed at Cinderella's opposite side. "You asked Christophe and Sawyer and Jack to help Snow White and tell the others of Grimm."

"But I do recall asking you to make sure they made it there safely," Cinderella reminded them. "And you did not refuse. That is a gentlemen's agreement."

"We are not gentlemen." Norco shook his head, pointing to himself. "Nor-co," he said. "To-go." He pointed to his twin.

Letting out a breath she did not realize had been trapped in her chest since she left Jack's clearing, Cinderella nearly smiled. "Oh, why do you two make
me feel better even in the worst of moments?"

"We are very helpful," Togo said, and Norco nodded.

"The other humans assured us they would be fine," Norco went on. "And they carry many pointy sticks amongst them."

"So, the five of you made your own accord that they would go on to Aulis and the two of you would come back here to journey with me?"

When they gave uneasy nods in response, Cinderella came to a sudden stop, and they looked upon her with some distress, as if they expected the
rock-wielding ruffian to reappear at any moment.

"Thank you," she uttered softly.

"Is that what you meant to say?" Togo asked, and a laugh escaped Cinderella's lips, but fell horribly flat and trailed mercifully away as she started
walking again.

After a time, the whooshes and cackles of spirits ceased around them, and the heavy silence of the forest was disrupted only by the steps and flutters that
carried Cinderella, Norco, and Togo toward the center of the world. At least as the map showed it.

"Goodness," Norco muttered, as at last they pushed through dense undergrowth and came out onto a ring of land that separated the edge of the trees from a
black wall that stretched from ground to sky before them.

At first, the wall appeared an immovable barrier, but staring at it with fright, Cinderella saw its movement. Small waves rippled against its surface, a
waterfall of a black syrupy substance, like the oil used for fueling lamps, though Cinderella could not tell if the substance moved from top to bottom or
bottom to top or perhaps both at the same time. Arching away from them on either side, the wall looked to curve and bend as needed, and Cinderella knew it
stretched leagues in either direction, too far to go around, a raging river with no bridge in sight.