The Locket (11 page)

Savannah flashed her an even more uncomfortable look. “Why is that not making me feel any better?” she said to herself as the queen walked away. Then, out loud she said, “Forgive me Your Highnesses, but why must I leave so late at night? Why not in the morning when there is sunlight and I can see where I am going in unfamiliar woods?”

“Because,” Rupert cut-in before either of his parents got a word out, “at night, every creature in the woods will be asleep and will not hear you entering what is in fact their territory. Truth be told, Savannah,”

“That’s Miss Morgan to you,” Savannah replied with a disgusted snarl.

“Miss Morgan,” he corrected. “The truth is that the creatures in the forest know when someone new is coming in and they tend to be very territorial. However, if you come in at night when they are all asleep, then you have a lot better a chance of not being skinned alive, scalped, or taken apart, piece by—“

“Rupert!”

“What? I was just giving her some useful advice,” he said simply. With a shrug, he went on. “If she plans on coming out of that forest alive, she could use all the help she could get.”

The queen shot her son a warning stare. “Do not listen to Rupert, my dear. He tends to get a big head about things.” Then, to Savannah, “You will be fine in there, that I can promise you. I have never met a young woman quit like you: tough, vigorous, and determined. You will come out of that forest alive, I just know it.”

Strangely, Queen Sophia’s comment didn’t help. It was odd for her to admit that she was a bit nervous. Savannah had neither believed in ghost stories nor fantasy creatures of any kind, so why she was shaking on the inside she didn’t know.

Less than a minute later, the king had arrived with a single-strap, tan knapsack that looked as though it would only fit on either one of her shoulders or around her neck. “Ah, I see my husband has gotten you all the necessary provisions for your travel.”

“Yes,” he agreed. “Everything in here was well picked for this occasion. I hope it is all to your liking.”

Retrieving the sack, Savannah unbuckled the top and peered inside. Distinguishing a candle, a water canteen, a few green apples, an enormous sausage link, and a couple other random foods, she smiled. “Thank you. I’m sure that this will be enough for passing through a bunch of trees.” The king nodded politely as he pulled out an inkbottle and a feathered pen, as well as a piece of blank paper from his desk transversely from the table. When he didn’t say anything, she cleared her throat. “Excuse me, Your Highness, but how will I know where to go in the woods? I’ve obviously never been in there before and—what are you doing?” she gazed at the paper as the king accidentally made a sizable ink plot over his work.

“I am drawing you a map, or at least trying,” he told her, his voice still calm but his eyes impatient.

Rupert leaned his head over toward the paper and burst out into laughter. “Yes, trying is the key word!”

Without so much as a cautionary skim, the king explained as he grabbed a new sheet of paper, “You know, Rupert, sarcasm will not get you very far in life. In fact, it may even hold you back until you can learn how to communicate well with others more serious than you.” His son held his tongue after that, knowing full well that even if his father was not yelling or raising his voice, that didn’t mean he wasn’t perturbed.

King Fredrick, at last ready to explain the ways of the forest to his guest, motioned for her to come to his side. “It will do you no good to hear my words but not listen to them, so I advise you to pay attention to me as I speak. For your life.” She nodded. “Good. Now—”

“Your Majesty!” A servant waltzed into the dining room from the hallway doors, an open letter in hand. Once reaching them at the table, he knelt down (as no one should stand higher than any of the royals), and bowed his head to the king sitting at his desk chair. “Pardon me, Your Majesty, I do not mean to interrupt, but a letter just came for you inquiring as to when the wedding is and where it is to be held.”

Furrowing his eyebrows, King Fredrick took the envelope. “But, I thought that Anita had already taken care of all the invitations. Who is it from? Do you know?”

“The Duke and Duchess of Deltphine, Arthur and Sylvia.”

“Ah, that is what I suspected.” Sophia sighed. “Although very kind, the Duke and Duchess of Deltphine are exceedingly, well … ungainly.” While the servant disappeared into the kitchen, as did the queen to reply to the letter.

The king cleared his throat, catching everyone else’s attention that was still left in the room. “As I was saying, over here is the entrance to the forest, and, as you can see, it is not all that far from the kingdom. As you penetrate into the woods, you will see that it is extremely dark, even in the day, and seemingly empty. Do not be fooled, because once you carry on far enough into it, it will clear up, and I assure you, your fears will lessen. Now pay close attention to the land around you, because once you get to a certain point in the forest, chances are you will begin to feel like you are traveling in circles. Do not fret though, for this is just the bad fairies playing tricks on you. My advice is to keep going. Anyway, you will then reach a fork in the trail. Are you with me so far?”

Savannah nodded her head, about to fall asleep like she often did in algebra. “Excellent. Now if you take this path, it will lead to you to Ogre Mountain, which of course you are going to want to stay as far away from as possible. For if you don’t, you will most definitely never see the light of day again.” She gulped heavily at that last remark, suddenly awake. “On a lighter note, if you take this side of the path, you will end up at the Enchanted Pond. But be particularly watchful of the water sprites. As I had previously explained to you, these creatures will take away your memory, though this is not necessarily permanent. To revive what you have lost, you must drink a cup of water from the pond and, as I suspect the majority of my soldiers did not do, you must eat the red berries.”

Savannah thought back to when she was in Girl Scouts and tried to recall what it was that her leaders told her about berries in the woods. “But, Your Highness, aren’t the red berries the poisonous ones? You know, the kind not to eat?”

“Good heavens, no! Where ever did you hear that from?”

“Girl Scouts.”

“Girl Scouts? What on earth are those?”

“It’s a group of girls who come together to help their community and learn about survival and life. The point is, that they tell me that the red berries are the wrong ones to eat.”

King Fredrick gave her a stern look. “In your world, maybe, Miss Morgan. But remember, where you stand now is a completely different place from where you were not long ago.” She nodded, and before the king could go on, Queen Sophia entered into the dining hall. Her face was content enough, at least to Savannah, but King Fredrick was not misled.

He knew his wife well enough to know that something was off from the moment she walked in the room. “Whatever is the matter, my darling?” Ever since she strode into the hall, he examined her hurried stride, her nearly fierce eyes, and her flushed cheeks. There was nothing content about her.

The queen gave her husband an innocent smile. “I do not know what you are talking about, my sweet. There is nothing the matter.”

“Then why do you stoop in your chair? Your face tells me that something is not as it should be.”

Sophia sighed, figuring that it was no use trying to fight against her wise husband. “I am not exceptionally pleased with the Duke of Deltphine. He said that he did not receive an invitation to the wedding, and that he may draw back his soldiers from our side of the battle because of this.”

“But I do not understand,” he said. “How did they find out about the wedding at all?”

“By King Stephan and Queen Serenity, that is how,” she replied evenly. “I suppose that I should be saying, ‘thankfully by King Stephan and Queen Serenity,’ but I just do not know if the duke and duchess are a good idea to have as company anymore. Especially during a wedding.”

While the king and prince nodded their heads in agreement, Savannah stared at the queen in uncertainty. “Why wouldn’t it be such a good idea?” she found herself asking. After she saw the horrified expressions on all of their faces, she began to wonder if asking about the duke and duchess was something she should have done.

To mortify her even more, Rupert began laughing. “You do not know? Everybody knows what happened when—”

“Rupert, she is not from this world. Remember?”

“Oh, right. My apologies, Miss Morgan, I forgot.”

Not even acknowledging the prince’s words, Savannah turned back to the king and queen. “Your Majesties, what happened?”

The two of them turned to a large glass frame just outside the open dining room doors. In it Savannah could only a guess, from what it looked like, that a tremendous burnt marshmallow was hanging from the top. Changing her mind, she decided that it must have been some sort of article of clothing by the dangling laces that came off of every side. “What is it?”

Heaving a sigh, Sophia responded, “My wedding dress.”

“Your wedding dress?”

She nodded. “Well, it was, until the Duchess of Deltphine accidentally set it on fire.” Satisfied enough by the shock in her guest’s eyes, she continued. “It was our wedding day, and every king, queen, prince, princess, duke, duchess, and high-class citizen for miles was there … including the Duke and Duchess of Deltphine.”

“Before we knew it,” the king chimed in, “the table full of all the food that our cooks prepared was accidentally knocked over, the gardens that our gardeners had been preparing for weeks were trampled, and the gazebo was completely burnt down, as well as some of the guest’s attire, not to mention our own.”

At the thought of having her wedding day ruined, Savannah shuddered. A girl’s wedding day should be special, since it does not come every day and, when it does, everything should be as perfect as possible.

“It was not entirely their fault, you know,” Queen Sophia announced over the table, feeling a bit guilty for speaking poorly of anyone.

“I know, I know,” the king mumbled. “But bad luck seems to follow them everywhere! And everything just so happened to occur at the same time, in the same place, on the same day.” He cringed, remembering all the events of that day. He remembered that absolutely nothing went right, no matter how hard they tried to fix things. It just goes to show that even royalty don’t always have it perfect. “The truth is, I feel sorry for them, despite what happened that day.” They all agreed and continued preparing Savannah for the trip.

“Was there more to the journey, King Fredrick? You were telling me about the trip across the forest when—”

“Oh yes, that’s right. I never did get you all the way across, did I?” She shook her head. “All right then, where were we?”

Savannah put a finger to her mouth. “Umm, just up to the Enchanted Pond and how to return your memory.”

“Ah, yes,” his eyes lit up with remembrance. “Well, on the occasion that you revive your memory and head on forward, there is not much more but a bunch of trees and some animals. By the time you at last reach the edge of the woods, you will come to a small village full of cafés and boutiques. It really is a beautiful city.” She grinned at the thought of coming to a kind of paradise after the isolation of the forest. A second later, King Fredrick’s face turned solemn and his eyes went dark. “But I warn you, Miss Morgan,” he continued with a hint of bitterness to his voice, “that the forest is not a joke, it is not a game, and it is not a sanctuary. It is a demon.” He crooked himself to face the window, watching the world outside. “It is amazing what that forest can do to people.” Then, slowly twisting back to his guest, “The things that it can make you feel and do. It can make you feel frightened, it can make you feel love, it can even make you completely and utterly insane. The point is that whatever happens, take heed for yourself, because if you don’t, you and that locket will only be a memory, both to this world and your own.”

After everything was finished, the king, queen, prince, and Lance-a-Lot all stepped outside to bid their last farewells. Quickly double-checking that she had all the necessary equipment, Lance gave her an uncertain glance as if to say, “You may not be your mother, but maybe you will pull through on this journey.”

She next turned to King Fredrick, who presented her with a wry smile. “Goodbye and good luck, my dear. You are going to need it.”

“Thank you. And if I don’t come out of this trip alive, good luck with the whole war thing.” Switching her attention to the queen, she said, “Goodbye, Your Majesty.”

“Farewell, Savannah,” Queen Sophie said with Savannah’s hands in hers. “Remember everything that we told you.”

“I will.”

The queen leaned in to kiss her cheek, then paused and whispered, “And one last piece of advice. The king does not agree with what I am about to tell you, but I would just keep it in mind. Do not trust anyone that you meet, only your own instinct. Eventually you may meet a creature or person that you will believe you can call a friend, but be aware of what they do and how they do it, for not all creatures are as they appear.”

“I will remember that.”

“You’d best be on your way before it gets too much darker,” Lance suggested, handing her the pack. “By this rate, you will reach the edge of the forest just after the sun makes its way under the hills.”

She nodded, “Good idea. Thanks again, Your Highnesses, I will do my best to help save your kingdom.”

“We should really be the ones thanking you, Miss Morgan. If you’re anything like your mother, our kingdom will be safe from danger for a very long time.” Savannah smiled in response, flinging the sac over her shoulder and heading for the gate. No sooner had she gotten six feet away from her starting point than she tripped over her own feet on the granite path. “I meant to do that,” she mumbled as she raised her body up off of the ground.

Waiting until she was out of earshot, Lance whispered to the prince from the corner of his mouth, “She’s as good as dead,” and Prince Rupert nodded.

***

For people who are afraid of the Mysterious Forest they sure do live awfully close to it, she thought to herself while stumbling over a large hill. Crossing through the same ditches and over the same hills and fields as she did on the way to the kingdom, Savannah made her way toward the borderline of the woods.

So this was the Mysterious Forest, the place that so many townspeople feared, the place that haunted so many dreams and cost so many lives.

Before, Savannah could not understand why, though now that she was taking a closer look at the dark mass of trees in front of her, her mind had changed.

The stars were barely out, yet making the sky almost as sinister as the trees, which, by the way, stood what must have been over sixteen feet tall. Her whole body began to quiver, and her heart pounded so loud and so fast that she wouldn’t have been surprised if Marie heard it in New York. The air on all sides of her dropped in temperature, making her wish that she had brought a sweat jacket. Now, almost coming off as near suicide, she entered into the shadows of the forest’s secrets.