It swung in slowly, creaking slightly. The creaking sent shivers down her spine. She berated herself for her inaction. Only action would chase her fear. She kicked open the other door and rushed into the room, sword up and ready.
The room was empty.
Red swung around and surveyed behind her. She was alone. The vast room was devoid of others. She moved to the desk and touched the chair. She felt something there. A residue of some power. She glanced at the chair her Granny had sat in. She looked around the room and remembered it all clearly.
Sniffing the air, she could almost smell the sweet essence of jasmine. A scent her Granny had always had.
Tears welled in her eyes. She squeezed them shut, refusing to let them fall. Red fell to her knees and lifted her head to the sky.
“Why! Why did you do this to me! You have forsaken my future and damned me forever!”
“You are not forsaken, my child. You are blessed.”
Red turned toward the cracked voice. She stared hard through the veil of tears.
Two tall spindly men stood in the open doorway.
They both smiled, their mouths barely twitching. The smile never reached their cold gray eyes. Their faces were wrinkled and their skin gray. They both looked to be over a hundred years old.
Red stood erect, her sword and dagger displayed at her sides.
“My, you have grown into quite a formidable woman. Stronger than we ever expected you to be,”
one Brother spoke.
Red stared at them both, unmoving.
The other brother nodded. “Strong breeding, that.”
Red flinched. “Do not delude yourselves into thinking that my strength has anything to do with you.” Her voice was hard and cold.
One Brother smiled. “But it has, my dear, it has everything to do with us, and you know it.” He moved into the room, bridging the gap between them.
Red tensed. She raised her sword an inch, preparing.
Both Brothers moved boldly into the room, flanking her on each side.
“Do you not see? You are everything we hoped you’d be.” He stepped closer to her. “Ruthless, manipulative, selfish, cold, and cruel. Everything a father could ever hope for in a daughter.”
Red cringed at the words. She was nobody’s daughter. In her mind, she was an orphan. Her parents dead and forgotten.
“I am not your daughter.”
“Oh, but you are our daughter. We both lay with your mother twenty years ago. A wild and conniving woman, was your mother. She had ambitions, drive, and just enough ruthlessness to succeed. Sold you, she did, for her ambitions. Sold you to us for the price of ruling this kingdom, but she was not fit to rule.”
Red took in deep breaths. She tried to stop the words from entering her ears. But they seeped through and into her mind. She swallowed down the bile that rose in her throat at the thought of her Granny, her mother, with these two men.
“Now you, my child, are very fit to rule.”
Red shook her head. “What?”
“Rule with us. You would make a mighty queen.
We are getting old. The world we created is too chaotic for us to control. But you. Who would know better than a woman who already controls it?” He stepped closer to her.
“Wait. Stop.” She put up her hand with the dagger.
“You are asking me to rule?”
“Yes, of course. We had it planned all along.”
The room was starting to spin. Red had to shake her head again to right herself. “But you wanted me dead. You hired Wolf to kill me.”
“Nonsense. Why would we do that? You are our daughter. Our flesh and blood. Wolf was hired to kill your ambitious mother and see to it that you made your way.”
“Made my way?”
“Yes, to make sure you grew up safely. That you grew into a strong vibrant woman. And you did. He was somewhat obsessive I think, though. Following you around. Sending people to kill you, to test your abilities.”
The room began to fade. Red’s head became heavy.
She shook it again. She could not hear these words.
They were lying. Wolf would never do that to her.
“I suppose he had to make sure. Make sure that you had the strength to come here and face us. And he was right. You do have the strength. You are ready to fulfill your destiny.”
Red stumbled. She dropped her sword and fell toward the desk. She gripped the wood and steadied herself. He was wrong.
Fulfill your destiny, Red.
Wolf’s words echoed in her ears. She shook her head. No she would not believe it. It was all lies.
Spiteful lies.
I’ve been watching you. I’ve seen your abilities.
It could not be. She would not believe it. Wolf loved her. She knew it. She could feel it when they touched, when he looked at her. She could see it in his eyes. That did not lie. Did it?
“I see our Wolf has manipulated you well. Do not fret, my dear. He could have a place here at the castle.
He could still be welcome in your bedchamber.”
“Do not listen to them. They are full of lies and deceit.”
Red looked up. Wolf loomed in the doorway. His clothes were splattered red. She looked away and down at the floor.
“Red, I love you. You know I speak the truth.”
A brother snorted. “Love? Love does not always speak the truth.”
“True love, fated love does. Red, look at me.”
Red looked up. Her head still spinning.
“We are fated. You know this. You feel it. Nothing can break our binds.”
Red stared at Wolf. His eyes flashed and she saw the man she truly loved. She stood up and cleared her mind. The room stopped spinning and she breathed in a cleansing breath. She knew what she had to do. It was all very clear. She walked toward Wolf. She bent down and picked up her sword.
“You are right, fathers. I will rule.”
The brothers smiled, triumph flashing in their stormy eyes.
“But I will rule alone.” Red raised her sword and sliced through one of the brothers. He fell to the ground, a mortal wound across his chest.
She turned toward the other brother. He had a dagger in his hand. He raised it. “The bonds may not break, but they can be cut.” He released the knife.
It flew through the air toward Wolf. Red ran to him. She saw the blade fly through the air like it was moving slowly through water. She jumped up in front of Wolf.
“No! ” Wolf cried out.
Red landed on the floor. A deep sharp pain sang through her chest. She could hardly take in a breath.
Wolf loomed over her. His face twisted in pain. She reached up and touched his skin. She cradled his cheek with her palm.
“Are you hurt?” she asked.
Tears ran down his cheeks. “No. I am not hurt.”
Red smiled. She was glad. She did not want him to hurt again. She turned her head to look at the brother Grimm. He stood still on the other side of the room.
He looked at them, with almost compassion on his twisted face.
“How unfortunate. Not the outcome I was hoping for.”
Red coughed. She brought a shaky hand to her mouth. She gazed down at the crimson on her fingers.
She looked down past her hand. Blood blossomed across her shirt. The knife still stuck out of her chest.
She moved her hand down to the hilt. She touched it reverently.
* * *
Wolf touched her hand as she gripped the knife.
Emotion poured over him like a cascading waterfall.
He could hardly breathe from the power of it. He had come too far to lose her. She had jumped in front of the knife meant for him. If she had not, the knife would have imbedded into his throat, that he was sure. She had saved his life, by sacrificing her own.
“Wolf?”
He gazed down into her pale face. She was looking up at him, a small smile on her bloodied lips. Her eyes shone like wet gems.
“I’m here.”
“I know. I can feel you. I can always feel you. Even when my hate for you blinded me to all reason, I could still feel you deep down in the lightest part of my soul. I will always love you, for helping me to see.
To finally see.”
“What do you see?”
“You.”
Wolf sighed deeply. Tears fell freely from his dark eyes. He wanted to hug her to him. To press his life into hers. To give her some substance to feed her. To feed her chance of life. He howled. He howled like a wolf. A wolf that lost his life-long mate.
* * *
Red could feel her life slipping. Her body began to chill. She would soon feel icy and stiff, unable to move ever again. She gazed into Wolf’s darkening eyes and wished they had more time. She wanted to tell him so much. To show him how much she loved him. How much his very existence made her feel whole. Maybe they would meet again in the next life.
And this time she would let nothing stand in their way.
She grabbed his hand on the knife. “Guide my hand strong and true. Know that my love will help you find its mark.”
Through the sheen of tears, Wolf saw her nod. He looked down at their hands joined together on the knife.
“Touching, but I really must go. I have a kingdom to destroy.” The Brother stepped toward them, intending to go around and out through the door.
He stopped in midstride. He rolled his eyes up and tried to see the unseen. His hand came up to his forehead. His fingers came away bloody. He fell back onto the floor, the knife sticking out of his head.
“Nice shot.” Rapunzel knelt down on the other side of Red.
Red chuckled and grabbed her hand. “Did not think you’d make it.”
“I also, but I found my power deep inside.
Morgana was not expecting it.” She smiled down at Red.
Footsteps fell down the hall. Junior, Papa, Hans and Goldilocks filled the doorway. They all looked down quietly at Red. Hans was limping, and Goldilocks favored her arm. It hung at her side, bloody and torn.
“Looks like we got here too late. You’ve killed all the bad guys.” Goldilocks smiled down at Red.
Red coughed and looked around at the group. “So this is the mighty seven.”
“And you, the mighty one,” Rapunzel added.
“Not much of a prophecy if you ask me,” Red chuckled. She cringed as the pain shot through her.