Unlocking the Spell (25 page)

Snow White stepped to the front of the line. “I wasn't sure anyone would recognize me. It's been so long.”

“I wasn't likely to forget our little princess!” said the guard. “Don't mind these fools, they've been here only a few years, but I remember the old days when you were always underfoot and folks in the castle were
lighthearted. Those were dark days indeed when we thought you had wandered off in the woods and a wild animal had… Well, that's neither here nor there, now that you're back! Your father will be overjoyed to see you. I'd be honored to take you to him myself.”

“I'd like that,” Snow White said. “My friends will be coming with me.” She looked pleased when Maitland took her arm, then glanced back as the rest of her companions hurried to enter the castle behind them.

It was a large castle, although not as impressive as some. The corridors were not as clean as the castle in Treecrest, nor as lavishly furnished as the castle in Floradale. When they entered the great hall, the rushes on the floor were in need of changing, and the wall-hangings were dingy with accumulated grime.

Annie wasn't surprised that Dog had blended in so well with the other dogs of the castle. She counted fourteen, and saw more snuffling through the rushes under the tables and asleep in inconvenient places where people had to step over them. Annie looked for the king in the great hall, but the guard led them through one door and out the other side, then down a broad corridor to a more private chamber. Even before the guard opened the door, Annie knew that there were dogs there as well from the racket they were making inside the room.

The guard frowned as he flung the door open and rushed inside as if he expected trouble. At first
there was so much confusion that Annie couldn't tell what was going on. Snow White shouted, “Father!” and ran toward the man trying to chase Rooster away from the tall, dark-haired woman near the table at the far end. Dog was one of five hounds barking at the woman, although they could just as well have been barking at the bird that was flying at her face and trying to peck her hands.

“Dog, Rooster, that's enough!” Annie called as she hurried toward them.

Rooster flew to a rafter, out of reach of the humans below. After a few less-frenzied barks, the dogs quieted down as well.

The king had turned at the sound of Snow White's voice. Seeing her running toward him, his haggard eyes lit up and he sent a bench crashing to the floor in his rush to meet her. “My little girl,” he murmured as he enfolded her in his arms.

“Distract the queen while Snow White and I talk to her father,” Annie whispered to Liam, who had followed her across the room.

Snow White and the king were still talking in quiet voices when Annie herded them to the far corner, away from where the queen was already talking to Liam. “I have so much to tell you, Father,” Snow White told him. “And none of it is good. It's about Marissa, your queen.”

At the mention of the queen's name, Snow White's
father frowned. “What about her? I know you never got along with her.”

Snow White sighed. “It's much more than just not getting along. She's a witch, Father. I tried to tell you years ago, but you wouldn't listen. She was probably drugging you even then.”

“Drugging me? What are you talking about?” said the king.

“The queen has been slipping something into your drink every morning,” said Annie. “We have witnesses who can tell you what they saw.”

“I didn't get lost in the woods, Father, or at least not intentionally,” Snow White said. “The queen had the huntsman take me there to kill me, but he let me go and I ran off. Some good people took me in, but the queen found me and tried to kill me again.”

Annie nodded. “She brought Snow White a necklace to choke the life out of her.”

“Who are you?” asked the king. “How do you know all this?”

“I'm Princess Annabelle of Treecrest. I was on a quest with my sister and our friends when I met Snow White. I was able to take the necklace from around her throat.”

“If she hadn't, I would have died!” cried Snow White.

The king frowned and glanced at his wife, then back to the two girls. “I need proof if I'm to act on this.”

“I have proof,” said Annie as she reached into her pocket.

“Be careful, Father,” Snow White said when he took the necklace from Annie.

The king turned the necklace over to examine it. “I gave her this the day we were wed!”

“She must have used her magic on it,” Annie told him. “Now it will choke whoever wears it. If the queen is innocent, she won't mind putting on the necklace.”

“But if she did what we say she did, she won't want to put it on, knowing what it will do,” said Snow White.

“That should be proof enough,” her father said, sounding grim. “Leave this up to me.”

Annie turned around and saw that Liam, Gwendolyn, Beldegard, and Maitland had surrounded the queen and were talking to her in loud voices. Whenever the queen tried to peer around any of them to see the king, they stepped in front of her again, blocking her view and preventing her from going to him.

The king strode toward the front of the room, calling, “Guard!”

The man who had escorted Snow White and her friends had been waiting by the door as if he wasn't sure what to do. When the king called out, the guard ran to his side. Annie couldn't hear what the king told him, but a moment later the guard hurried out of the room and down the corridor.

“What are you doing, Archibald?” the queen demanded in a querulous voice.

“Dealing with something I should have taken care of a long time ago,” said the king.

Half a dozen guards came running into the room and lined up against the wall to await further orders.

Liam and the others stepped away from the queen as the king approached her. The queen shot Annie a look of hatred before turning back to the king. “Do you remember this necklace?” he asked her, holding it up so all could see. “I gave it to you on the day we were wed and you said you'd cherish it forever.”

“My necklace!” said the queen. “It was stolen, my lord. I didn't know how to tell you, but I'm so glad you got it back.”

“Here, my dear,” he said, holding it out to her. “Take off the one you're wearing now and wear this one instead.”

The queen's voice was shaky when she laughed. Annie noticed that her face had gone pale and she kept wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue. “There's no need,” said the queen. “I'll wear it tomorrow.”

“I want to see it on you today,” said the king.

The queen shook her head. “I can't. Don't you see, it wouldn't go with my gown.”

“Guards,” said the king, gesturing to the men by the wall. “The queen is not to leave this room until she has put on this necklace.”

“No!” cried the queen. “I don't know what that horrid girl told you, but she's lying! This is some kind of trick. She's done something to the necklace. Perhaps she's poisoned it. Yes, that has to be it. I won't put that necklace on unless she does first!”

“Are you accusing my daughter of something so loathsome as attempting to poison you?” the king roared.

“No, of course not,” the queen said, taking a step back. “I meant the other girl. The plain one there beside Snow White. She's a witch, I'm sure of it! Look. She doesn't want to wear it.”

The king was about to reply when Annie spoke up. “I'll try it on. The necklace isn't poisoned.”

“That won't be necessary,” the king began, but the queen snatched the necklace from his grasp and slipped it around Annie's neck before anyone moved to stop her.

“Now if I die, you'll die first, little interfering witch,” she whispered in Annie's ear so no one else could hear her.

“Take it off!” said the king.

Annie shook her head and laid her hand across the necklace, holding it in place. “It isn't hurting me,” she said, then moved her hand so he could see. After a minute had passed and nothing had happened, Annie took off the necklace and handed it back to the king. “Now
let her try it,” she said, glancing from the king to the queen.

Queen Marissa stared at her, openmouthed. When the king handed the necklace to her, she smiled a secret kind of smile, and slipped the necklace around her own neck. “There,” she said. “I'm wearing it. I don't know what all the fuss was about. I'm going to my chamber now and if…” The queen got a strange look in her eyes and put her hand to her throat. “No!” she gasped, clutching at the necklace, which was growing tighter with each passing second. “But it didn't do this to you!”

“It couldn't,” said Annie. “Magic doesn't work on me.”

“I'm torn,” said the king. “I could just let the necklace do what her magic intended it to do, or I could take it off and lock her in the dungeon. Drugging a king and trying to kill a princess are certainly enough cause to convict her of treason.”

“Take the necklace off her, Father!” cried Snow White. “I can't bear to see anyone suffer like that!”

“I'll do it,” offered Annie, and once again the necklace relaxed at her touch. “Whatever you do, don't let her go back to her chamber. She has a secret room where she does her magic. Look in the tower for a locked door. My source tells me that she has all sorts of magic paraphernalia there.”

“You see, she is a witch! She does have magic!” the queen called as the guards led her away.

Annie shook her head. “I don't have any magic, but I do have lots of friends.”

Everyone was delighted to have Snow White back and the wicked queen locked away. The king was so happy that he declared the day a holiday and ordered the preparation of the biggest feast they had ever held. He invited Annie and her friends to stay as long as they wanted, but they were eager to get on the road as soon as possible. Although he tried insisting that they stay, he gave in when Annie promised that she and Liam would come back for a visit as soon as they could.

It was Snow White who kept delaying their departure. First she insisted that they eat an enormous breakfast, then she wanted to thank them for all they had done to help her. Annie and her friends were still eating when Snow White left to look for presents to give them. A few minutes later, Dog and Rooster came to say good-bye to Annie.

“I'm going to stay with Snow White,” said Dog, careful to keep her distance. “She's asked me to stay, and I've made a lot of friends already. They tell me that no one cares about a dog's age here and it seems like a good place to live out my years.”

“If that's what you want,” said Annie. “I'm so glad I got to know you! Thank you for all your help.”

“No, thank you!” said Dog. “I don't know where I
would have ended up if it hadn't been for you and your friends.”

Annie sighed and crouched down. “Come here, Dog. I'm going to miss you!” When the dog bounded toward her and licked her face, Annie nearly fell over. Dog was still licking her when she wrapped her arms around the animal and whispered into her fur, “I never had a dog of my own. If I ever do, I want her to be just like you!”

“It's my turn now,” Rooster squawked. “No hugs. No kisses. The pigs offered us a home. I'm going there to live. Quentin's going too.”

“That sounds like a good plan,” said Annie.

“Cat already told me that he wants to stay with the dwarves,” Gwendolyn told her as Annie got to her feet. “They're spoiling him and he said that they have enough mice to keep him busy for years. The animals aren't staying together, so he said that they don't need the tablecloth. They gave it to Beldegard and me as a wedding present.”

“That's a very nice present!” said Annie. “But I thought Cat would go home with you. The two of you really seemed to hit it off.”

Gwendolyn shrugged. “I thought so, too, but he said he doesn't like to travel. It's all right. I'm going to be busy with the wedding and won't have much time for anything else.”

“There you are!” Snow White said, although they
were still sitting where she had left them. “I have your presents ready for you. They're waiting in the courtyard. Come on, I want to show them to you.”

“I hope it's nothing bulky,” Liam told Annie as they followed Snow White out the door. “Whatever it is, we'll have to lug it all the way home.”

“I don't think that will be a problem,” Annie told him as they stepped into the courtyard.

Four horses stood waiting for them, saddled and ready to go. Annie glanced at her companions and saw that both Liam and Beldegard were smiling. “Maybe the trip back won't take too long after all,” said Beldegard. “Let's check them out,” he told Liam.

“Father is sending twenty knights with you also,” Snow White told her as the two princes strode toward the horses. “He's truly grateful for all your help in bringing me home. He wanted to send you in our gilded carriage, but I told him that would take too long and you wanted to get home as soon as possible.”