"You messed up the spell. It's one of the hardest to remember and tell. It's written in an ancient Anguish Language, so nothing of what you said was exactly what you think it was. Words will sound like other words, and you wouldn't know, you filthy witch."
"But I can feel the weight of her heart in my chest." Fable touched her own chest. It was true. She'd almost had no power over the spell in the cave, but she really did feel that her heart was heavier. She didn't know how to explain it, but it was true. It reminded her of Shew insisting that she felt Loki's love in her heart when they were in the Waking World. It seemed laughable, and didn't make sense, but now Fable understood.
"That may be true, although I'm not sure," the woman said. She pulled out a huge, glinting knife, and pointed it at Fable. "But you never asked yourself how Princess Snow White would live after the transformation? If she gave each of you part of her heart, what heart would she live with until she gets her parts back?"
Fable's jaw dropped at her own naivety. It made sense from a logical point of view. But what was supposed to be logical about a dream?
"Are you saying she has no heart inside her now?" Fable almost slapped herself for asking. Of course she didn't. "But—" She was speechless, her eyes watery. Did I kill the Princess of Sorrow? Instead of saving her and Loki, I killed her?
"You shouldn't have learned this spell, ever!"
"I don't remember how I know it." Fable's tears forced her to hiccup continuously. She was a failure. There was no doubt about it. She didn't deserve to be a Lost Seven.
"Don't lie to me," the woman shouted. She was slow-moving, but theatrical and overly dramatic. Her shouting scared the birds in the forest away. "You know me. I don't like it when you lie to me!"
"What?" Fable snapped, unable to take it anymore. "I don't know you. Who are you?"
"We don't have time to play games, Fable." She began pulling Shew to a certain spot in the forest. "We need to find the Princess of Sorrow a heart right now, or she will die."
We do? Fable thought. So there was still a chance she could fix this? But wait… "Who are you?" She stamped her feet and growled at the ugly woman.
"Are you saying you don't remember me?" The woman looked like she grimaced, but her features made it hard to tell. "What happened to you? I'm Baba Yaga."
49
The Queen's Diary
I made it to the seventh day.
Angel was sitting by the edge, staring at me with reddened eyes. He wasn't himself anymore. The little good person in him was what had kept him from leaping over like a leopard onto his prey. I didn't have the strength to stare at him long enough. By the end of the day, the flood inside the whale was going to kill us. That, or I'd let him bite me and end the good that I was supposed to gift this world with—if the prophecy was really true.
Or I could just surrender to the sirens and let them take me to the nameless witch, not knowing what she had in store for me, parting me from Angel.
I had decided that the right thing to do was to fulfill the prophecy. I could feel it to be true in my heart. And I hadn't trusted anything but my heart on this journey. Sometimes it failed me, but mostly it was right.
One day, I would have Angel's child—or children?—and it would rid the world of all evil. Until then, I needed to stay strong.
"Majesty. Majesty. Majesty," Sirenia called. "Don't you think it's time to come with me? You don't want to die in the whale's flood, do you?"
"I will come with you," I said. Angel's red eyes were still fixed on me. He was actually grinning, as if he was about to attack me before I could go with the mermaids.
"Wise decision, My Queen," Sirenia said, and stretched out her hand. "Shall we?"
"But first I need you to help me with something," I said.
"In your service, My Queen." She bowed her head. The sirens behind her looked excited.
"Fate."
"What about him?" Sirenia's face knotted.
"He is your lord or something, right?"
"Well…" The sirens looked disgusted. "He forces us to. You see, he has power over so many things in the sea. Thank God he doesn't control Moby Dick. We don't like Fate, but pretend we do in his presence. We like her, the nameless witch." Her face glowed. "She doesn't live in the sea, so you will be safe, away from Captain Hook."
"I can't," I said. "I sold him my soul."
"What?" the sirens shrieked. They backed away from me and wailed in high-pitched noises. "Why did you that? When did you do that?"
"In the Pequod," I lied. "Right after the flood. You were all scared and swam away. I had no choice."
"Well, you can always get your soul back within seven days," Sirenia said, as if I knew it already.
I swallowed a smile. I didn't know what I was doing. I just thought I could escape them to the arms of Fate. "Exactly," I said. "You need to get me to him. I sold him my soul on the morning of the day after the Pequod sank. Today is my last chance. Can you help me?"