“I was a dullard too once,” Reginald reminded the Queen of Hearts. “It matters not. I see a lot of myself in her. She has the same cold, desolate, untrusting eyes that I have. We’re kindred spirits. Perhaps, if she succeeds I may even make her my new Queen.”

“Her? Your Queen? Surely, you jest,” Cordelia scoffed. “Did you see her ugly face beneath that hood? Those scars…” She shuddered.

“I caught a glimpse. Yes. But I happen to like her scars,” Reginald said, licking his bottom lip slowly. “She’d be beautiful, almost perfect without them. This way she is flawed. Like a cracked ruby or a cracked porcelain vase. Damaged perfection. That’s my kink.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. “I’d forgotten about that odd kink of yours. Don’t forget what happened with the cyborg assassin Tina Woodcutter. She rejected you. Her love could not be bought. Tina ended up trying to kill you and almost succeeded.”

A dark shadow fell over Reginald’s face as he remembered having briefly fallen for the cyborg. “Tina Woodcutter was in love with the Wicked Warlock of the West, Jadyn…” Reginald mused aloud. “The Huntress isn’t in love with anyone. And I can tell she’s locked her heart away. She doesn’t trust easily. A woman like that can’t fall in love.”

“Perhaps not, but what if she succumbs to Snow’s charm ability?” Cordelia warned.

Reginald hadn’t thought of that. A deep scowl formed on his handsome face. “If The Huntress falls in love with Prince Snow and betrays me then…I’ll kill her myself. All people in this world are expendable and are easily replaced. They’re all just game pieces on a chessboard, in my eyes. They’re all just my pawns, and I am their god. The Chess Master.”

“You better not be lying,” Cordelia said in a stern tone. “Women have always been a weakness of yours. It was because of a woman that you turned evil after all. How is she? The Lady-?”

“Silence,” Reginald snapped, cutting Cordelia off before she could speak the woman’s name. “I do not wish to speak of her at this time. I was finally able to forget about her for a moment, and you ruined it.”

“As you wish, Your Majesty,” Cordelia agreed in a simpering tone. But, Reginald’s reaction was telling. His first love still had a hold over him, and Cordelia wondered if she could use this to her advantage somehow.

 ***

In order to pursue Prince Snow Flurris into the Enchanted Forest, Fern needed to be able to find the forest first. This was difficult because protection and concealment spells had been put up around the forest ever since Reginald had started to enslave the fae folk.

In order to enter the Enchanted Forest one needed one of the fae folk to guide one inside past the barrier. Fern had an ace up her sleeve, however. The Huntress had heard of another way to enter the Enchanted Forest. Apparently, ‘magical creatures’ like unicorns, minotaurs, centaurs, satyrs, and gnomes would appear in front of innocent, virgin maidens that were lost in the woods and lead them to the Enchanted Forest. Probably to eat them or something. Fern wasn’t sure.

But if a ‘fae creature’ thought Fern was a lost, innocent, virgin maiden - it may appear and lead her into the forest. This method of entry into the forest was her only hope. Fern was a virgin, but the idea of considering herself to be ‘innocent’ filled her with cynical amusement.

Since her longbow and quiver of arrows would have been difficult to conceal, Fern decided to leave them behind, and stuffed them into her saddlebag. Fern tethered her horse to a tree and on an afterthought decided to leave her crossbow behind as well. She wanted to appear as harmless as possible to any of the magical creatures that may have been watching her. Fern did tuck her hatchet into the back of her pants at the small of her back though. The hatchet was nicely concealed by her waist-length, hooded cape.

Fern patted the side of her horse’s neck. “I’ll be right back, girl. You stay here.” Fern’s horse whinnied in response. The Huntress had chosen the plain, brown female horse because it reminded her of herself. It was just an ordinary, homely creature.

Fern reluctantly lowered her hood and used her hands to brush her short, brown hair over half of her face so that it concealed the three scars that ran over her left eye. She started to walk along what she knew was the edge of the Enchanted Forest in what she hoped was an unsuspicious manner. “I’m just a normal, innocent, virgin maiden who has gotten lost in the woods. Oh, woe is me. I’m so helpless. I wish a big, strong, brave fae creature would come and save me.”

A strange cooing sound reached Fern’s sharp ears and her fingers twitched. She instinctively wanted to grab a weapon in order to defend herself, and had to resist the temptation to wrap her hand around the handle of the hatchet concealed behind her back. The sound of a branch breaking had Fern spinning to face a tree.

A few seconds later, a magical creature was poking its head out from behind the tree curiously. At first, Fern thought she was looking at a fawn, but then realized the creature was standing on its hind legs, which meant it must be a type of satyr. The satyr’s face was deer-like, but obvious intelligence swam in its large, luminous dark eyes. Its body was covered with brown fur, and it had humanoid hands, but its feet were hooves. The creature had an adorable, small, deer-like tail that was twitching behind him. The satyr was wearing a dark green vest and brown shorts. It met Fern’s inquisitive stare, lifted a flute to its lips, and started to play a tune in a tentative manner.

Fern forced herself to smile. She supposed this was the moment where the innocent, virgin maiden would be captivated and delighted by the music the satyr was playing and she’d…clap her hands or something equally embarrassing. “Oh, how pretty! Yay!” Fern clapped her hands, feeling like a vapid, spoiled princess.

The satyr grinned, spun in a circle, and started to play with greater enthusiasm than before. After a few minutes, he took off into the forest and Fern quickly followed after him. A heavy mist drifted over the ground and began to obscure her vision. At one point Fern was unable to see anything in front of her, but she continued walking forward by following the sound of the flute playing.

Half an hour later, Fern’s skin tingled as she passed through some kind of magical barrier. I must have entered the Enchanted Forest. Fern thought, and the mist began to clear in front of her. Fern’s eyes widened as she took in the sight of the Enchanted Forest. Even Fern’s cynical heart was moved by the beauty and peacefulness of the forest. It was very different from the forests Fern normally traveled through, and she had to admit there was something magical about this place.

One of the first things she noticed was that all of the forest creatures were walking around out in the open without fear of predators. Fern saw deer, rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, and turtles moseying around the surrounding area without a care in the world. Fern’s attention was drawn to the dragonflies that were flitting amongst colorful, gargantuan flowers. When Fern narrowed her eyes at the dragonflies, however, she realized that they were in fact tiny, winged people.

“Fairies…” Fern murmured. She’d seen fairies before, of course. But to see them free in their natural habitat was very different from seeing them trapped in a glass globe and used for their magical inner light. They seemed more powerful here in their element. More movement out of the corner of Fern’s eyes had her attention turning towards the nearby trees where she could see tiny people without wings climbing up the trunks and branches. They must have been gnomes, brownies or imps.

With slow steps, Fern walked through the otherworldly forest in a daze. The satyr skipped along down a dirt path in front of her while it continued to play its flute. It was leading her somewhere. Possibly to my doom. Fern thought dryly.

As they neared a placid lake the sound of a man singing accompanied by a lute playing reached her ears. The man’s voice was a deep baritone, and Fern hated to admit it, but it was pleasant to listen to. Fern quirked her head when she noticed that although the man had a lovely singing voice it sounded sad.

Fern shook her head and tried to concentrate. She’d gotten distracted by the man’s singing. She looked around and realized she’d lost track of her satyr guide. Oh, well. Fern shrugged. She supposed she no longer needed the satyr anyways since she’d accomplished her mission and made it safely inside of the Enchanted Forest. Now all she had to do was find the murderer Prince Snow Flurris. She’d kill him, and take his heart back to King Reginald. Easy peasy.

Fern decided that the minstrel would be a good candidate to ask if he’d seen Prince Snow since he was capable of human speech. The Huntress followed the sound of the man’s singing onto a nearby lake bank. She looked around and finally caught sight of a handsome young man surrounded by seven beautiful female fairies that were fawning over him. The fairies had shifted into their ‘larger forms’ and were currently five-feet-tall. Fern rolled her eyes. She thought she had a pretty good idea of why the fairies wanted to be in their larger forms as opposed to being only five-inches-tall. Bunch of hussies! The young man was playing a lute, strumming the strings of the instrument and singing passionately.

Although, Fern could hardly blame the fairies for their silly behavior. The man was amazingly handsome even if he wasn’t her ‘type’. He had short, wavy, black hair that had a lustrous gleam to it. His eyes were the color of sapphires and his lashes were long. The young man’s lips were luscious and kissable. His Roman nose made him look more ‘manly’ than he would have looked otherwise. The only thing he was wearing was a ridiculous pair of skin-tight, yellow, leather pants that somehow managed to look erotic with they way they were clinging to his firm ass. Fern wondered where his shirt, and shoes had gone off to.

A total ‘pretty boy’ has appeared. Fern thought with disdain. I hope he’s not entirely useless. Unbidden, Fern’s gaze dropped to his pale, muscular chest and she quickly turned her gaze away once she realized she was staring at his six-pack abs. Fern scowled and folded her arms over her chest. He’s too lean for my taste. I prefer bulging muscles, thank you very much.

Fern’s attention returned to the fae and her eye twitched when she saw how they were all pampering him in various ways. Well, well, well, look who has a harem of fairies. This man’s a womanizer. I hate vain, flashy playboys. They remind me of…my father. Okay. Take a deep breath, Fern. It’s not like you’re going to have to marry this jackass or anything. You just need to ask him a few questions.

Fern forced herself to smile and waved stiffly at the group. “Er, good day. Fine weather we’re having, huh?”

Snow turned his head to regard her and his gaze raked over Fern’s body intently. The way his gaze lingered on her chest area made Fern feel incredibly self-conscious and she folded her arms in front of her chest, and tried not to fidget. Snow’s carefree expression soured. “You’re human. How did you get here? Are you lost, Milady? If so…I would be happy to escort you out of the Enchanted Forest so that you can find your way home safely.”

One of the fairies, who had long green hair and was wearing a matching dress, was giving the minstrel a foot massage, but seemed to be falling asleep every few seconds and almost ended up hitting herself in the head with the man’s foot in the process. This was making it very hard for Fern to keep a straight face. “Oh, no. I’m not lost,” Fern denied, waving her hands in front of her. “I’m looking for someone. Perhaps, you’ve seen him - Prince Snow Flurris.”

One of the fairies had been feeding the minstrel grapes one at a time, and she suddenly paused in her actions with a grape held aloft in her hand and halfway to Snow’s mouth. She had short blue hair, and was wearing glasses, which gave her an intellectual look. “Don’t answer her,” the fairy said narrowing her eyes at Fern and giving her a suspicious look.

Snow raised an eyebrow at the blue-haired fairy and quirked his head. “Why not, Doctorine? It would be incredibly rude of me just to ignore her.” Snow turned his attention back to Fern and offered her a lopsided smile. “Today is your lucky day, Milady. I’m Prince Snow Flurris.”

“Ugh,” Doctorine let out an exasperated sigh and scrubbed a hand down her face. “That idiot.”

Fern blinked at Snow for a few seconds in shock and confusion. “You? You’re Prince Snow Flurris?” she asked, her voice dripping with skepticism. “But how can this be? You’re supposed to be an evil fiend. A murderer! A wanted criminal!”

“Murderer?” Snow echoed, shook his head, and gave Fern a perplexed look. “I’ve never killed anyone. Who is it that you think I’ve killed?”

Suddenly, Fern felt angry. How could Prince Snow be acting this calmly after what he’d done? He must be a real monster. “You killed your mother Queen Isidora!”

Snow’s sapphire eyes widened in alarm. “My mother? I would never harm her. And she’s still-” The prince abruptly stopped speaking when his head started to throb in pain. He gripped his head with his hands. “She’s still…”

“He doesn’t remember the Queen, you nosey girl,” a purple-haired fairy said in a scathing tone. “How did you even get inside the Enchanted Forest? You certainly don’t look like a princess to me? Hmph!” The fairy crossed her arms over her chest and gave Fern a rather condescending look.

“Catty!” Doctorine admonished and offered Fern an apologetic look. “Sorry about her. She can be so grumpy. Snow has been drinking the water from the lake here. It has the magical ability to make one forget their greatest sorrow, you see.”

“Greatest sorrow?” Fern echoed, and then glared at the fairy. “Well, that’s awfully convenient. But just because someone can’t remember the atrocity they’ve committed doesn’t mean they didn’t do it. It doesn’t free them of their guilt. A murderer is still a murderer even if they don’t remember having committed the crime. Their hands are still stained with blood in my opinion!”

“Oh, dear!” a fairy that had curly yellow hair exclaimed with a shocked expression on her heart-shaped face. “You’re such a negative person. I can see this dark aura around you. You should really cleanse your aura with incense and scented candles. I think you need a little more happiness in your life. The fairy put her flute to her lips and started to accompany the minstrel’s playing. She started to dance in circles around the group in a carefree manner.