A Grimm Warning (The Land of Stories, #3)(114)

“Come back! It’s not safe!” Froggy yelled at her.

“We should have kept her tied up,” Red said.

“I think she may be in shock,” Froggy said. “Come on, dear—we have to catch her before she gets herself killed!”

“Do we have to—or is it just the right thing to do?” Red asked with a snide look. Before she could argue anymore, Froggy pulled Red into the gardens with him, determined to save the queen.

Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty ran to the carriage their daughters had been placed in and were alarmed to see they weren’t there anymore.

“Where are the girls?” Cinderella asked desperately, looking at the trees around them.

“Don’t worry, I sent them with my friends, back to the palace,” Conner said. “They’re safe.”

“Oh, thank the stars,” Sleeping Beauty said, and placed a hand on Cinderella’s shoulder. Their postures sank almost a foot knowing their daughters were safe.

“We should escort the kings and queens to the palace, too,” Goldilocks suggested.

“No! We said we wanted to help our armies fight and we meant it!” Snow White insisted.

All the kings and queens nodded eagerly along with her.

“Your Majesties, with all due respect, this is an actual war and a few roadside lessons with large sticks is no match for what we’re fighting tonight,” Jack said.

Rapunzel quickly turned to Conner. “Was it true about our people fighting off the Grande Armée at home?” she asked him, and the question gained all the royals’ attention. “We heard soldiers talking about it when we were taken prisoner, but is it true?”

“Yes,” Conner told them. “You should be very proud of your citizens—they kind of rock.”

The kings and queens looked at one another and the same confident smirks appeared on their faces. “Then I have no plans of seeking refuge,” Chance told the group. “If our people could be so brave, then we can as well!”

The general and the soldiers lying on the ground started breaking through the vines holding them. Alex waved her wand and more vines grew, but there wasn’t time for Jack and Goldilocks or the twins to argue with the eager royals.

“All right, we’ll lead our own little fleet into battle,” Goldilocks said. “But everyone follow closely behind us and watch each other’s backs!”

“Don’t go unprotected!” Alex pointed her wand at each of them and swords and shields appeared in their hands.

“I never thought I would ever say this, but let’s fight!” Cinderella raised her sword in the air. The other kings and queens did the same and Jack and Goldilocks led them into the gardens to fight alongside their armies.

Conner looked around the gardens. The Happily Ever After Assembly armies were now fighting the Grande Armée soldiers all over the gardens. It was hard to tell which soldier belonged to which kingdom. They were doing well holding the enemy back, but the troblins at the front steps of the palace looked very worried as the battle crept toward them.

“We should get to the palace and help the troblins,” Conner said.

“I agree—” Alex nodded, but something suddenly distracted her. A persistent beating noise was coming from somewhere close behind her.

“Alex! Help me!” said a familiar voice.

Alex followed the sound and found Rook. He had been locked in one of the carriages. Her heart dropped and she immediately went to free him.

“Rook? What are you doing here?” Alex asked. “How did you get inside the… carriage?”

Before she could finish asking the question it suddenly dawned on her. Other than the fairies and her brother, Rook was the only person who had witnessed the kings and queens being sent down the secret path.

“Alex! Please let me out!” Rook pleaded.

All the color drained from her face and she didn’t move. Her hand had been a second away from unlocking the latch. “It was you,” she gasped. “You told the general about the secret path.”

Although she knew there was no other possible explanation, Alex prayed she was wrong. She wished for the first time in history there could be an alternative version to the truth.

Rook didn’t even try to deny it. “Yes, it was me, but I didn’t have a choice!”

She burst into tears as her heart burst into pieces. He was the person she had thought she could depend on for anything. She had never allowed someone so deep inside her heart before. The joy she had thought was evolving into love was just the foreshadowing of a stab in the back.

“I can’t believe this,” she sobbed. “I trusted you, Rook! I trusted you!”

Tears formed in Rook’s eyes seeing her so hurt. “Alex, I never meant to betray you! You have to listen to me—my father was hurt so I told the general where the secret path was so he could get help! Now please, you have to let me out—there’s something the general is planning that I have to tell you about—”

“How am I supposed to trust you now?” she asked.

“Alex! Behind you!” Conner shouted.

Alex turned around and saw a dozen Grande Armée soldiers sneaking up behind her. Half of them cut the general and his men free from the vines and the other half came at the twins with their weapons raised. Without thinking, Alex took her heartbreak out on the soldiers charging at her. She cracked her wand like a whip and a burst of white light sent the soldiers flying into the air.