Letters to Zell (8 page)

F
rom the Desk of Cecilia Cinder Charming

Crystal Palace

North Road, Grimmland

Dear Zell,

I don’t know why we even went back to Figgy. We should have known that she was going to tell us no. Figgy’s the kind of Fairy Godmother who swoops in and claims to save the day, not the kind who grants requests. We’d barely made it past the door when she announced, “I’m dreadfully sorry, girls. But after much consideration I must tell you that I cannot help you.”

“That’s not true,” I said, annoyed I’d gotten my hopes up. “You just won’t.”

“I’ve given it a great deal of thought, Cecilia. It’s just that there could be too much collateral damage if I interfere. The areas in which I work are grey indeed, but I simply cannot. The possible outcomes are too complex. Lives could be altered in unforeseen ways. Things could go terribly wrong.”

“You’re completely arbitrary, you know that?” Bianca said. “You were fine with interfering when you repaired her Pages. The least you could do is help her start a family.”

“There were greater forces at stake than you could hope to understand, Snow White.”

Bianca rolled her eyes. “Oh, quit it, Figgy.”

“If I hadn’t ended Rory’s tale with her rescue by a prince, Malice might have made good on the threat she made at Briar Rose’s christening. I saved your friend’s life, and this is the thanks I get?”

I could feel the rage creeping hot through my chest. “So giving her a life of miserable futility was better than trying to reason with your sister? If Malice is so big and bad, what’s stopping her from setting up another spindle and finishing Rory off? You’re covering nonsense with more nonsense.”

“You may still be angry with me about your own Pages, Cecilia, but the birds helped you become who you are.”

“They also destroyed Darling and Sweetie’s lives. There was no justification for you to set loose your winged weapons after my wedding. They didn’t deserve to be punished.”

“Sometimes my emissaries are a bit overexuberant. If the girls hadn’t swatted at them so much—well, what’s done is done.”

“Why couldn’t you have punished Lucinda, instead? Why do you insist on destroying the innocent? The girls. Rory. When does it stop?”

“My actions
were
a punishment for your stepmother, and if you can’t see that, then the birds blinded you, too.”

“Come on, Bianca. Let’s go home.”

Figgy’s head spun around, as it does when she’s spooling herself up. “Not so fast, Cecilia. I’m not even close to finished with you two. As long as we’re airing grievances, I’d like to point out that neither of you had been born yet, let alone witnessed the aftermath of the nightmare Rory’s paramour, Fred, created. This arrogance and ignorance of yours will bring us all to ruin. What could you possibly hope to accomplish by doing something as dangerous as taking Snow White Outside before she’s finished her Pages?”

“Hey, I’m right fucking here,” Bianca said. “It was my choice.”

“You think I don’t know things,” the owl continued. “The birds were chattering, of course. It isn’t every day three of Grimmland’s princesses visit Solace. Where were you off to, I wondered. Neverland? Wonderland? I hear Toyland is quite nice this time of year. But no. You should be ashamed, roping Briar Rose into your nonsense. Think of the memories this must dredge up for her.”

“We were perfectly responsible,” Bianca said. “And Rory had fun for once. She needs a distraction even more than we do. Which is why we came to you in the first place.”

Figgy swept her wings to her side in a flap of annoyance. “The very idea! If you were trapped Outside
 . . .
”

Bianca smiled her not-very-nice smile. “I decide where I go and when. If I go Outside and never come back, it won’t make a bit of difference.”

A big gust of wind shook the tree house, and Figgy threw her wings wide. “See what you’re doing, you—you reckless girl!”

“Oh, come on,” Bianca said, unfolding her arms wide. “I’m not a child anymore. You can’t expect me to believe that I control the fucking wind. Come on, blow, wind, blow!” Nothing happened. Bianca leaned out the window. “Hey, you blustery bastard, get back here!”

“You girls won’t be satisfied until you’ve completely destroyed our lives.” Figgy turned toward the windows, shuddering. “Do you know why there are rules about traveling?”

“Because you are the enemy of fun?” Bianca said, pinching a canary feather from her gown.

“If you became trapped with unfinished Pages the repercussions would be unimaginable. Hasn’t Briar Rose served as warning enough?”

“The Fred and Rory story is getting tiresome,” I said, “Besides, Fred didn’t get trapped Outside; he interfered with her Pages and was banished. It’s completely different.”

“It is exactly the same outcome, no matter how the Pages are disturbed.” Figgy clicked her beak at Bianca. “A great storm, your timeline ripped from the world, every interaction spinning backward, your friends, your family. If your father were here, he would say—”

Bianca was spitting mad. “But my father isn’t here, Figgy. I don’t need his permission or yours to do anything or to go anywhere. Regardless of your opinion, I
am
an adult.” Another big gust rocked the treetop.

“The clock portals regulate the magic of time, time that is
easy to lose track of Outside
. Solace and I agreed her portals would open into a safe place, a place where Humans won’t suspect us when we appear, where we can observe them and quickly return. It’s just as dangerous for you, Cecilia, as it is for Snow White. If an accident or a disaster or some obstacle shouldn’t allow you to return, the magic of the Realm would eventually wear off, and you would never be able to come back.”

“You and Solace are pretty cagey about how long
eventually
is,” I said.

“Outside,” Figgy said stiffly, “is a very complex place.”

“Translation: You have no idea,” Bianca said. “Typical.”

It was Figgy’s turn to be ruffled. “Solace ascribes to the dangerous belief that we need to understand how the Humans are evolving. How they think of us. I suppose knowing more about the future of Humans helps us to know how long their imaginations will last, how long we have left—if our Realm will continue to grow or shrink to nothing. But in my opinion, the portals should be shut down entirely. What are we to do with this information once we have it? Needless danger.”

Bianca snorted.

“Why can’t you girls simply be happy with what
is
?”

“You trap us here and expect us to like it? When there’s a gigantic Outside full of shit we don’t know anything about—constantly evolving and being created—and we should just sit here and be happy? How does that work?”

“How can we not want more?” I added, more softly.

“Our Realm,” said Figgy, “is even bigger than Outside. Explore what’s here. Let the birds bring the rest.”

“How convenient for you,” Bianca said. “Rory remains childless and CeCi is bored silly and I get to marry someone I don’t love. Good times.”

“We should have known you wouldn’t help,” I said, for what felt like the nineteenth time.

Figgy froze. “Promise you’ll never go Outside again, and I’ll help you.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Bianca spat. Figgy blinked at her sentinels. We needed to get out of there before she sedated us or threw us into the forest like she did the time I threatened to barbecue her guards. I turned for the door.

“Hold it,” Bianca snapped. “She owes us a refund.”

“How about a nice flying spell?” asked Figgy, slipping a bottle from her apron.

“What the hell are we supposed to do with a flying spell?” Bianca waved the bottle away.

We had somehow lost the upper hand. Figgy gave a slight shake of her head. “A summoning spell, instead? Those are always nice when you need something off a tall shelf—”

I reached out and took the summoning spell with one hand, Bianca’s sash with the other, and marched us out the door.

“Way to lose your composure in there,” I said. “You were very helpful.”

“Like you did any better. Honestly, a summoning spell? You couldn’t have held out for something more useful?”

I let go of her once we reached the landing. “You were about two insults away from having us becalmed. You remember how fun that was, right?”

“You can’t put that one on me,” she said. “That was all you and your little blond temper.”

“You know, you aren’t a very nice person sometimes.”

“Yeah, being called on your shit sucks, doesn’t it, Cinderella?”

“Go choke on an apple.”

“I would but your fucking worms ate them all.”

I fought a panicked giggle. How had we messed things up so badly? “What are we going to do about Rory?”

“Guess she’ll have to get knocked up without us.”

“You’re impossible,” I said. We walked the rest of the way, lobbing insults back and forth until we couldn’t stop laugh-crying. Bianca asked me in for squab skewers, but as tempting as it was, I suddenly wanted to be home to unravel all of Figgy’s threats and insinuations. Why did she offer to help Rory if we agreed to stay? Why is keeping Bianca in line so important? Is my dream really worth all this, if I’m the one responsible?

What do you see in all of this, Zell? What are we missing?

Love,

CeCi

I
mportant Fucking Correspondence from Snow B. White

Onyx Manor

West Road, Grimmland

Z,

Our second trip to Figgy’s was such a complete disaster it’s barely worth retelling. To sum up, we’re all being spied on by birds and CeCi thinks having our principles questioned is permissible because we made it out the door with a summoning potion.

Regardless, we forge ahead with the day of bacheloretting. I discover, upon rescuing CeCi from an intense Q&A with Lucinda, that she’s come up with an elaborate story for Solace. She explains it with great big swooping gestures while she, Rory, and I lug our overnight bags to the clock shop, Rory’s new dog panting behind us.

“I still don’t see why we couldn’t use porters,” Rory whines.

“Who’s going to carry your crap once we’re Outside?” I ask. “Making you haul a bag limited the number of slippers you deemed necessary, didn’t it?”

CeCi is still going on and on with her confabulated tale. “.
 . . 
Then we’ll tell her that we left something there. At the Magic Castle. Like my shoe or something, because, you know, that’s happened before. Leaving my shoe. Not losing things Outside. If we don’t retrieve it, a Human will get suspicious. A Human child, that’s better. Because they’re curious. And grubby. Remember the one with the popsicle? That will work. And then
 . . .
”

I try to listen as politely as can be expected. But then I can’t anymore. “CeCi?”

“And then—”

“CeCi, stop.”

“Why?” Her hands are paused in midair so I gently push them to her sides.

“Why don’t we try telling Solace the truth?”

“What?”

“Truth. As in facts, events that are actually occurring.”

“Thanks, smartass.”

“Well?”

She shakes me off. “That’s a terrible idea. She’ll never let us go.”

“How do you know?”

“Fine. I don’t know. But I’m not the one who’s not allowed to travel.”

“She said it was our right, didn’t she?” I try to start us walking again by giving CeCi a slight shove.

She refuses to move. “I don’t think she said anything about it being
your
right.”

“Stop it, you two.” Rory drops her bag, takes a seat, and starts patting the dog’s head. “We all need each other. CeCi, we’ll have to take turns escorting you. Snoozer has obedience classes now and Bianca still has a lot of wedding planning to do.”

“This was a dumb idea anyway.” CeCi turns and starts walking toward home. “Who knows if I’d even pass the test?”

I call after her. “You’ll eat that fucking test for breakfast.”

She turns, again, and frowns at me. “You have strange motivational techniques.”

“I know.” I lead the way to the Clock Shop, feeling somewhat victorious. We’ve successfully navigated the day’s first fight.

Solace is waiting for us at the door. It isn’t like she can’t tell what we want by looking at us. I see one of Figgy’s birds on the windowsill and I give it the middle finger.

Rory says she’s going to wait on the lawn until Snoozer relieves himself. Solace shows CeCi and me to a room behind the counter where the rules plaque sits. Inside the room, it’s completely silent.

“Wow,” I say, my ears suddenly aching from the quiet.

Solace’s face breaks into an ever-so-bucktoothed grin. “You don’t think I could stand that noise all of the time, do you?”

“Um,” says CeCi, moving a pile of cogs from a dusty chair. “You never know.”

“So,” says Solace, as we settle into our seats. “Go ahead and ask.”

“Ask?” asks CeCi.

“Oh, quit it,” I say. “Solace, we need to go Outside again.”

“Snow White, what is it that you need from the Humans that is not available to you here?”

I throw CeCi under the proverbial carriage. “It’s not for me. It’s for her.”

“Thanks a lot,” CeCi mutters.

Solace folds her paws in her lap. “Well, Cecilia has completed her Pages. She’s allowed to travel as long as she has a companion.”

“Well, that’s just it,” I say. “It can’t always be Rory—there will be times when she just can’t get away. She gets so tired. And she has a new dog. Sometimes I’ll have to go.”

“I don’t understand,” says Solace. “
Anyone
else could go.”

“No,” CeCi says. “It can’t be anyone. It’s, well, for now, it’s a secret.”

Solace twitches her nose, perplexed or maybe just vexed. So I jump in. “CeCi thinks if she tells the court, it will go over like a lead balloon. You know, because she used to be a kitchen wench. And now she’s supposed to become a queen.”

“I wasn’t a wench.” CeCi shoots me a dirty look. “Solace, I’m in love.” This time Solace actually grimaces, and CeCi holds up a hand. “No. Not that way. Not with a person. Of course with Ed. But, I mean, with a vocation. I want to learn to cook—not like Gretel, not with ketchup—well, sometimes with ketchup, but like a real chef at a restaurant Outside.”

“Try full sentences,” I whisper.

Solace stares at CeCi. “You cannot seek this knowledge anywhere in the Realm of Imagination?”

“No.”

“What about Gretel?”

“I was cooking the things she makes when I was ten. No offense or anything. But I want to learn molecular gastronomy. I want to learn the art of French cuisine. I want to make Thai food!”

“How about in Toad Hollow? Or The Land of Sweets? I heard the Muffin Man has pastry classes on Saturdays.”

I decide CeCi needs help. “She’s talented, Solace. You don’t understand. She’s a natural. She deserves the chance to grow, to see what she can do.”

CeCi takes it from there. “The world of food is expanding as rapidly as the Realm of Imagination. I want to learn from the creators themselves. I want to share it with everyone here. Cooking centers me. It lets me express myself and create something tangible. Solid.”

“Sounds very appetizing.” I barely stifle a giggle.

“Hm. I see.” Solace doesn’t sound like she understands, but to her credit, she sounds as if she’s trying.

“This trip, I need to take a test and purchase supplies. But that isn’t all. See, there’s Rory. She’s miserable, and Figgy won’t help us, and we just thought if we could distract her—” CeCi pauses to take a breath, but her leg has started jimmying despite my periodic attempts to press her knee still.

Solace’s eyes narrow at the mention of Figgy. “What do you mean, she won’t help?”

CeCi continues like she hasn’t heard the question. “Bianca heard about this place where there’s a replica of Rory’s castle and all kinds of monuments to the Realm, and we thought if we could just spend some time celebrating and exploring, we might all come out better on the other side. We’ll look out for one another. I promise.”

Solace sighs. “And what happens after?”

“After the test?” CeCi’s leg finally quits bouncing.

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll need to go Outside twice a week for classes. Sometimes Rory will come. Sometimes Bianca. But Edmund can’t know for a while. I have to find the right way to tell him.”

“I see.” Solace looks at her paws, up at us, and down again. “The separation of our worlds is meant to protect people on both sides. Some decisions have lasting consequences.”

She doesn’t seem to be saying no. I look at CeCi. She’s holding her breath.

“If I agree to this, to letting you go Outside on a regular basis, I have additional criteria.”

CeCi finally exhales. “Anything.”

“Careful with those sorts of promises, Cecilia,” says Solace. “They can get you into trouble.”

“Yes, of course,” CeCi says.

“If I agree to this, you alone would be responsible for Snow White’s safety, and you alone would have to unravel your personal timeline to put things right should things go awry. I can’t ask any more of Briar Rose. She’s been through enough.”

“Thank you,” CeCi manages, finally taking a deep breath.

“You’re asking a great deal of each other,” Solace adds.

“I understand,” says CeCi. I could hug her, but instead I wink. She has my back, and I have hers. That’s how things are supposed to be with best friends. (At least with best friends who stick around.)

“It is easy to lose track of time Outside. Your clock bracelet binds the magic of the portal to you, so guard it well and mind it often.”

We nod. I look toward the window, where two of Figgy’s sentinels peer inside.

Solace follows my glance, then continues. “In order to conduct your travels in a more private manner, I’d like to place the departure portal somewhere only the three of you know about. It would still route you to the Magic Castle, but you wouldn’t start here at the Clock Shop. Think of it as an extension of the portal here.”

“Easy,” I say. I know just the place for it.

Solace gives me a long look. “Perhaps I should try and stop you, but I think the repercussions of keeping you here would be greater than letting you go. No matter what your business is or becomes on the other side, do not let traveling interfere with completing your Pages. Figueroa may be wrong about some things, but she’s not understating—”

“I understand,” I interrupt. “I’ll be an expert traveler. Just like my father. He’ll tell you himself, as soon as he returns.”

Solace stares at me in a strange way and says, “You might do well to study your father’s things a bit more carefully.”

“Thank you, Solace,” CeCi says, before I can ask what Solace means. “I’m sure we’ve already taken enough of your time.”

We get to the door of the office when CeCi turns again. “Solace, why are you letting us go? Won’t Figgy be angry?”

Solace twitches her nose. “Let me worry about that.”

“Haven’t you ever heard about looking into the gaping maws of gift horses?” I mutter. Then CeCi and I collect Rory and tell her about the new piece of furniture that will inhabit her long-unused tower starting that evening. Rory, of course, only hears that we’ve walked the whole way with bags and now have to walk all the way back. At some point, I find myself carrying both my bag and her bag while she carries the dog.

In a few hours we’ll leave from Rory’s tower. Seems it’s a whole new era for the three of us. I do wish you were here.

B