[January 26] [The 10th Kingdom] Part of the Story
Title: Part of the Story
Day/Theme: 26. Take Heart, Take Heart
Series: The 10th Kingdom
Character/Pairing: Virginia
Rating: G
Part of the Story
Things stayed a fairy tale until the day Virginia found the box. It froze her blood and kept her so still and stunned that it wasn’t until the baby (her little wolf, her little cub) kicked inside her that she remembered to breathe. Her hand was often on the swell of her belly these days but this time, she clutched it.
There was the box. She didn’t know how she knew it was the box, but it was. It could’ve been a box for anything, a necklace, love letters, matches, anything sweet or ordinary. It was a small box, made of polished wood stained black and cherry. It was a little longer than it was tall, made to hold something no bigger than her fist, something the size of a child’s heart.
It hadn’t been her own mother, she made herself think. It had been the queen before her. The one that had turned her mother to the ways of fairy tale evil. It had been the queen before who had ordered her own stepdaughter’s heart cut out and brought to her in a box. The queen before had done that and eaten the heart that had been brought to her.
This was the box. It had never held anything more sinister than a deer’s heart because the first queen’s huntsman hadn’t been able to murder a child. Hadn’t had the heart to do it, she thought, trying to make herself smile. He had let the girl go. It was Virginia’s mother whose huntsman had been a monster, she remembered and her smile fell away. He had killed his own child for the second queen. What other child would have a prayer?
She tried to kill me too, Virginia thought, flinching from the truth. One day she might be numb to it, but now it still struck pain like a toothache, deep and sharp. But she knew it was wrong! That’s why she ran, so she wouldn’t hurt me. That’s how she came here and met the first queen, that’s how she became so much worse. If she had stayed, maybe- We could’ve- If only-
It had never been Virginia’s fault, and deep down, she knew it. In my heart of hearts, she thought with a grimace this time. She had been only a child herself. It wasn’t the box’s fault either. She was tempted to take it and give it some new, gentle purpose. She could put jewelry in it, or mirror shards, or bobby pins or playing cards.
But this was a fairy tale. Anything kept in the box would become part of the story. If she buried it, a tree would grow from it and something else would happen. It would fall over one day and kill someone or be made into arrows that only struck hearts or something else she couldn’t even think of. If she threw it in the sea, a fish would swallow it and be caught and cut open, and there the box would be.
Fairy tale endings could be horrible too. She had learned that the hard way. A box that held hearts would always hold blood. But. Maybe. She couldn’t give her mother a second chance. It was too late. Maybe the box could have one. She still didn’t want to touch it. For now it would stay right where it was, until she could think of a happier ending for it. She had a happy beginning to protect.