The Wishing Spell

The recent years of Snow White’s life had become the most scandalous of the kingdom’s royal history. Everyone knew the story of the fair princess who’d taken refuge with the Seven Dwarfs while hiding from her jealous stepmother. Everyone knew of the infamous poisoned apple and the dashing prince who saved Snow White from a false death.

The story was simple, but the aftermath was not. Even with a new marriage and a monarchy to occupy her times, Snow White found herself constantly wondering if the theories of her stepmother’s vanity were true. Something inside the new queen refused to believe that someone could be so malicious.

“I’m not leaving here until you tell me!” Snow White yelled, raising her voice for the first time in her life.

“Fine,” the Evil Queen said.

Snow White took a seat on another stool in the cell. The Evil Queen waited a moment before beginning, and Snow White’s anticipation grew.

“Your story will be forever romanticized,” she told Snow White. “No one will ever think twice about mine. I will continue to be degraded into nothing but a grotesque villain until the end of time. But what the world fails to realize is that a villain is just a victim whose story hasn’t been told. Everything I have done, my life’s work and my crimes against you, has all been for him.”

“We’re stuck in another world and you want to go sightseeing?” he said. “Are you hearing yourself right now? Do you know how crazy you sound?”

She stopped walking and turned to face her brother. There was seriousness and desperation in her eyes.

“Connor, the last year of our lives has been horrible. […] Every night, I’ve wished for a fairy godmother to magically appear and make everything better, and now we’re in a place where that is a possibility. I don’t have friends to go home to like you do. The only friends I’ve ever known live here, and I’m not going home until I meet them!”

Alex continued walking down the path. Connor was absolutely dumbstruck.

“Why am I being the logical one?” Connor questioned. “You’re always over-thinking everything! How are you not out of your mind with worry?”

“What’s there to be worried about?” Alex asked with a laugh.

What was she doing? There was no way she could climb back down. Was she really risking her life just to see the inside of a tower? If she ever reached the top, would she be able to get back down? Would she have to wait until her hair grew long enough to climb down before she saw anyone again?

What would Connor do if she got stuck up there? Would he try to find the fairy-tale world equivalent of a fire department with a ladder long enough to get her down? Or would he find the Wishing Spell items on his own and go home without her?

The more Alex worried, the more she climbed. She knew it wouldn’t be productive to worry and stay still, so she just kept going. It felt like hours had gone by.

She looked up. She was only a few feet away from the window!

The doors at the end of the hall opened again. This time, a woman entered dragging a large wagon behind her. She was tall and thin with hair so dark red, it seemed to have a violet tint. Her eyes were bright green and her clothing was made entirely of plants and leaves and other greenery.

[…]

After seeing her, the Evil Queen could recall a time many years ago when she had known the Huntsman’s daughter. She had always been a shy little girl and had lived with her father in the palace when the Evil Queen was on the throne.

“You’ve grown up,” the Evil Queen said.

The Huntsman’s daughter nodded in her direction.

“You will speak when I address you!” the Evil Queen demanded.

“My daughter is mute, Your Majesty,” the Huntsman said.

She was so excited to be so close to people, actual people, who had spent their entire lives in the fairy-tale world. She wished with all her heart she could say she’d grown up in the Charming Kingdom.

“Do you ever find it overwhelming,” Alex asked Smithers. “Does it ever get frightening living here and knowing that at any moment a fairy could fly by and grant you a wish, or an ogre could rush up and eat you?”

Smithers looked at her curiously. “Does such a place exist where people can’t unexpectedly be helped or hurt?”

Alex couldn’t think of any. Maybe this world and the world she was from weren’t so different after all.

“I never thought my life would change so drastically, so I always made the most of what I had,” Cinderella said. “I always laugh at the term Cinderella story, because, if you ask me, it doesn’t matter what life you’re living, life never has a solution. No matter how hard the struggles are that you leave behind, new struggles always take their place.

“People forget that I wasn’t liked very much by the people of the Charming Kingdom when I first came to live at the palace,” Cinderella said. “Not too many people were thrilled with the idea of a servant girl becoming their queen. Many people called me the Pumpkin Princess or the Mouse Monarch when they first discovered the details of how I had come to the ball that night. I had to hear the kingdom’s respect, and it wasn’t easy.”

“I swear, if I ever find the person who wrote you that letter, I’ll kill them,” Jack said. “They’re the reason for this whole mess.”

“What’s done is done and it can never be undone,” Goldilocks said. She and Jack were touching foreheads through the bars.

“One day, I’ll clear your name,” Jack said. “I promise. And then we can be together.”

“Clear my name?” Goldilocks said, and backed away from him. “I’m a fugitive, Jack! I steal! I run! I even kill when I have to! No one can clear me of that; it’s who I am. It’s what I’ve become.”

“It didn’t start off as your fault, and you know it,” Jack said.

Goldilocks grew silent.

[…]

“I’m a criminal, and you’re a hero,” Goldilocks said with teary eyes. “A flame may love a snowflake, but they can never be together without each harming the other.”

“We were raised right,” Alex said. “We had two wonderful parents who taught us how to be good people, and we believe good things happen to those who are good at heart.”

“So, you were environmentally influenced into being good people? That’s precious,” the Evil Queen said. “You said you had two parents? What happened to them?”

[…]

“Our dad died,” Connor said. “Not that it’s any of your business!”

“Was he a good person? Was he good at heart?” the Evil Queen said.

“He was the best,” Connor said.

“I see,” she said. “Then he was wrong, wasn’t he? Surely a good person would never have had such a tragedy happen to him? He must have taught you a lie.”

“What are you getting at, lady?” Connor asked.

“I had parents once, too. They taught me a similar lie,” she said.

“Seeing the man I loved every day through a layer of glass, unable to touch him, or kiss him, or hold him was unbearable. I was more than heartbroken. The pain was so deep I could barely breathe. I was sure my heart would eventually stop beating if I didn’t do something for it.

“I found an old witch named Hagatha deep in the Dwarf Forests and begged her to help me. She, like everyone else before her, could do nothing about the mirror, but she treated my heartbreak. She cut my heart out of my chest and turned it into stone,” the Evil Queen said.

“I’ve done many terrible things in my time, but many terrible things have been done to me over time as well,” the Evil Queen said. “So, as far as I’m concerned, the world and I are even.”

“But it wasn’t you!” Alex said. “You weren’t thinking clearly! If you had your heart, you wouldn’t have done all those horrible things to all those people. You’re still Evly!”

“Think about how differently people would feel about you if they knew all this!” Connor said.

“The world will always choose convenience over reality,” the Evil Queen said. “It’s easier to hate, blame, and fear than it is to understand. No one wants the truth; they want entertainment.”