Princess and the Pea Chapter 36

I hope you enjoy this flashback chapter:

Chapter 36:
Vincent sat down and patted the ground around him. Everyone scooted in closer, a bit grudgingly. Vincent sighed, clicked his fingers, and began.
“It all started two hundred years ago, when my brother Destin and I were only children.” He looked around and saw his audience’s amazed expressions at his age. “We were a tribe of spirit hunters. My father was the head chief and my mother was a famed archer.
“That day was a cold one indeed. It was winter solstice, and the snow was up to our freezing knees.” Vincent chuckled darkly. “I remember my father’s disbelief when he heard a knock on our door. ‘Who would come here at this hour, in this storm?’ He’d said.
“Father opened the door to a tall, slender woman with blue hair and menacing indigo eyes. She was holding the staff of the Grand Dark Witch, the leader of the witch coven in the Witch Woods. She had smiled and asked to come in. And since my father was a kind man, he let her in. That was the worst decision of his life.
“The tall witch introduced herself as Helen Crosby, and told my parents that she needed their help.
“‘What kind of help?’ My mother had asked. And Helen told them her plan.
“Helen said she wanted to unite the spirit hunters and the witches into one clan and use our respective powers to ultimately take over all the known kingdoms in the world. She spoke of her aspirations to rule and conquer all. She convinced my parents to believe that it was for the good of the nation and that the witches and spirit hunters would help each other and obtain power as partners.
“My father was reluctant. Our clan had few numbers and we were taught not to trust the witches right from the very start. But Helen knew how to fawn and sooner than we could count to three, they were on her sided and trusted her completely.
“Helen would come here everyday to talk to my parents about the alliance and to come talk to me and my brother as well. It was clear that Helen liked my brother more. He admired her very much and believed everything she said. I was smarter. I could never read the look in her eyes, but I knew something bad lurked behind them. I remained my distance, and Helen never cared.
“A month after the alliance contract was signed between us and the witches, something terrible happened. I saw Helen murmuring incantations in her room one evening and summoning all the dark spirits. I heard her call out my brother’s name in the incantation, and I watched her cackle as she poured mixtures together into a murky green potion. She smiled in delight when the dark spirits crawled into the mixture, and I remember her exact words: ‘They’ll never know’.
“And I wasn’t smart enough to tell my parents what had happened. I hated them for letting Helen in, and I truly abhorred their attitude towards me then. So I said nothing, but I’m sure Helen knew I was there then.”
Vincent paused, and buried his face in his hands. He closed his eyes and groaned painfully.
“What happened next?” Marilynn asked.
“I found my parents dead the next morning in their room,” he said. “There was blood everywhere. I couldn’t watch. I ran out as fast as I could, right to my brother’s room. I saw through the hole in the door and I stopped cold.
“Helen was there, her hands covered in my parents’ blood. She was talking to Destin.
“‘Now, now, dear,’ she said. ‘Come here. I have something to show you.’
“My body was screaming out at me to rush in there and save my brother from that evil witch. But I couldn’t, and I watched helplessly as Helen gave my brother the murky green mixture, and I shook tremendously as I watched Destin swallow it.
“He turned out to be what he is now,” Vincent whispered. “He morphed permanently into a black mist, and became Helen’s servant. Helen soon passed him on to the necromancer Corinth, and they used him. And Destin still always trusted them. There must’ve been something else in the potion.”
“What happened to you?” Samson asked.
“I escaped. I ran out as fast as I could and Helen didn’t catch me. I ran for so long, and I found myself alone in the woods. I’ve lived there ever since.”
“That’s an awful story,” Queen Sandra said. “I can’t believe you had to go through all that.”
Vincent stood up. “Well, I did,” he muttered. “And now I’m going to do the same thing to Helen as she did to my parents.”
Fiona stood up too. “You mean we’re going to,” she chirped.
Everyone nodded in agreement.

-Vociferously yours, Vicky.

Princess and the Pea Chapter 35

I can't believe I'm still writing...

Chapter 35:
A silhouette appeared in the darkness, and it slowly advanced towards Fiona. Soon, a dark man with pointy hair and green eyes came into view. He let out a chuckle when he saw Fiona.
“So you finally betrayed your cousin and those rats, eh? How’d you change your mind?”
Fiona laughed, embarrassed. She stepped up on her toes and gave the man a hug. “I don’t know,” she said. “I just did.”
Their audience looked rather confused. “Um, this is…?” Marilynn raised her eyebrows.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” Fiona let go of the man and turned to face Marilynn and the others. “This is my good friend Vincent. He’s a wandering spirit hunter.”
Vincent nodded cautiously. “Hello,” he began, talking to everyone in sight. “We haven’t met before, but I can tell you that I am not your enemy. But I do believe you have met my brother…And I do apologize on his behalf.”
Samson frowned. “Your brother?”
“Yes, the smelly black mist.”
Memories flooded back to Marilynn. She recalled fainting after being enveloped by mist. Dark, black mist. She didn’t remember it smelling bad or anything like that, but she did remember it. She growled with an unfeminine character.
Vincent shook his head. “Ah, my brother Destin. When will he ever learn?” He snorted. “I don’t think he ever will. It’s been centuries.”
Fiona clapped her hands merrily, and the whole group stared at her strangely. “Vincent hates the witches too,” she said, smiling brightly. “We have another ally now.”
“How can we trust this stranger? He may be your friend, but he is nobody to us.” King Henry’s low voice bellowed out accusingly.
Vincent grinned approvingly. “Very smart, my lord. I am nothing but a stranger to you. But let me tell you a bit about me.”
“A bit about you?” Queen Sandra sounded nervous.
“Oh yes, a bit about me. About me and how I came to hate the witches.”

-Vociferously yours, Vicky.

Princess and the Pea Chapter 34

Chapter 34:
“So, what’s next?” Samson demanded, waiting for Fiona’s reaction. Fiona stared at her scroll carefully, pondering and thinking about the next step. She frowned at Samson’s demand.
“You, shush. I need to be able to concentrate.” The little witch probed through her mind, her miniscule figure almost fading into the forest.
“You’ve been standing there for thirty minutes already. You started off all confident and assured, but now you’ve lost your thought process? Aren’t you Linda Crosby’s cousin? You should know quite well how to deal with her and her legion of warlocks.”
Suddenly, Fiona threw her spear at Samson, narrowly missing his head as he quickly ducked down, alarmed and confused. “I told you to shush, boy,” she growled at him. “No wonder my cousin told me you were an incapable dolt.” She closed her eyes and tried to control her temper. “Linda had better judgment than I thought she had,” she added softly, annoyed and infuriated.
Samson nodded slowly, recovering from his shock. He rubbed his head continuously, making sure it was still there. He was dismayed to find that his hand was now covered with mud and dirt. He sighed, prudent enough not to complain.
Marilynn stared at the former prince and felt sympathy for him. She knew how he felt about all this, and she understood. She was once royalty too. They were all once royalty. They all used to wear beautiful robes and glistening jewellery. But now they were reduced to dirty, muddy garments, and their hair was tangled and messed. But what else could they do?
Marilynn’s and Samson’s parents sat quietly in the corner. Lily wiped her eyes. Sandra was taking a nap. Henry was thinking too, copying Fiona’s stature and brainstorming up ideas for their salvation. William was also taking a nap.
“Aha!” Fiona startled everyone with her abruptly loud, powerful voice. Everyone immediately sat up and looked to her, eyes opened wide.
“Welcome,” she said. She wasn’t talking to her audience, but instead her voice seemed far, far away. She peered into the darkness in the northwest direction and smiled gleefully. “Welcome to our hideout, Vincent.”

-Vociferously yours, Vicky.