A Grimm Warning (The Land of Stories, #3)(87)

The general thought it over but the anger never left his eyes. “Very well,” he said. He faced the Snow Queen. “If you supply me with a dragon egg now, when we take over you have my word that the north shall be yours again.”

A deep and raspy celebratory laugh erupted out of the Snow Queen’s mouth. “Music to my ears,” she said. “Your offer is accepted, but it comes with a warning. I foresee nothing but greatness for you if you keep your end of our bargain, but if you betray me I foresee your quest ending with a scorching demise.”

The general’s left eye started to twitch. Clearly the Snow Queen was trying to trick him with visions she hadn’t seen. He quickly glanced at the Masked Man, who silently urged him to proceed.

“Understood,” the general said. “We have a deal.”

The soldiers felt a rumble beneath them. They looked through the ice under their feet and saw bubbles appear as something large and round slowly floated toward them from the depths of the lake. A dragon egg surfaced and bobbed against the ice below the frozen lake.

General Marquis turned to his men. “Don’t just stand there! Retrieve it!” he ordered.

The soldiers went to the dragon egg and beat the ice above it with the backs of their rifles. The ice began to break and General Marquis and Colonel Baton stood away from it. One of the soldiers fell through the cracking ice and into the freezing water underneath. The Snow Queen laughed, wildly amused by their attempts to get the egg. The man’s fall created a huge hole in the ice and the dragon egg soon drifted into it and floated to reaching distance.

“No one move!” the Masked Man yelled, and the two remaining soldiers stood still. He carefully got to his hands and knees and slid across the icy floor and pulled the dragon egg out of the water. “Cold—cold!” he shrieked. He juggled the egg back and forth between his hands and wrapped it in his raggedy blanket. The egg was so cold his hands burned from its touch.

The dragon egg was twice the size of the Masked Man’s head. It was the shape of a regular egg but was covered in a black shell with the same rough texture as coal. Cracks the egg had received over the years were covered in gold to preserve it, like a rotting tooth. The Masked Man stared down proudly at the egg as if he were holding his firstborn child—he had dreamed about this moment for a very long time.

General Marquis promptly approached him and took the egg out of his hands. “Wonderful,” he said, and stared down at the egg with wide inquisitive eyes, as if he were looking into a crystal ball at his future. “Colonel Baton, please shoot the Masked Man; his services are no longer needed.”

Colonel Baton retrieved a pistol from inside his coat and aimed it at the Masked Man.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” the Masked Man said, and raised his hands. “You can’t kill me! You still need me!”

“We have acquired the egg and will not waste another moment on your nonsense,” the general said, and nodded for the colonel to fire at will.

“But someone’s got to take care of the egg—and I doubt you or any of your men know how to properly hatch and raise a dragon,” the Masked Man said.

“And what makes you an expert?” the general asked spitefully.

“I’ve spent years trying to get my hands on this egg,” the Masked Man said. “I know everything there is to know about dragons! Now we have to get the egg into something very hot. The hotter the environment, the faster and stronger the dragon will grow—and I have a very hot place in mind if we keep working together.”

A noise came out of General Marquis that was half a grunt and half a sigh. He had been looking forward to getting rid of the Masked Man since they left the prison, but now he would have to wait a little longer. He shook his head at Baton and the pistol was put away.

“It seems the Masked Man has proven himself useful again,” the general said. “You may stay alive long enough to properly hatch and raise the dragon for me. Now escort us out of these icy mountains before you cause my irritation to trump my need for efficiency.”

General Marquis glared at him and then headed toward the opening in the crater they had entered from. Colonel Baton and the remaining two soldiers followed him. The Masked Man rubbed his chest to calm his beating heart—he would have to keep himself as useful as possible in the days ahead if he wanted to keep his life.

“Thank you, Your Shiveringness,” the Masked Man said to the Snow Queen. He bowed and quickly caught up with the rest of his party. As soon as he and the soldiers were gone, another raspy laugh erupted from the Snow Queen and echoed through the canyon.

“What do you find so amusing, My Grace?” the polar bear to her left asked.

A malicious smirk grew on the Snow Queen’s face. “I suddenly foresee something very certain in the forthcoming days for our masked friend,” she said.

“What does Your Highness see?” the polar bear to her right asked.

“His mask has successfully concealed who he is for an impressive length of time,” she said. “But by the time the week is up, his worst fear will be realized when his identity is revealed to the person he most wishes to keep it secret from.”





CHAPTER TWENTY





THE GREAT TROBLIN LAKE


The twins barely slept after sending the royals and their friends on the secret path, and were both up before sunrise. The few hours they’d managed to sleep were from worrying their bodies to the point of exhaustion, and had little to do with rest. They met Mother Goose on the grand balcony of the Fairy Palace just as the sun rose over the Fairy Kingdom. She was prepping Lester to take them on their journey to the Troblin Territory and the Elf Empire.