“Please don’t tell me the Baby Tears didn’t work.” he said, gripping his Alicorn harder.
“Don’t bother using your Alicorn,” she said. “It’s useless as long as you can’t see, Loki.”
“See what?”
“Believe and then you will see,” she said.
“I’m pretty dumb with riddles,” Loki said. “Can you clarify? You aren’t still controlled by the Schloss, or?”
There was a sudden rumbling outside the bathhouse, sounds of women’s laughter and approaching footsteps. Snow White looked worriedly at the bathhouse’s closed door.
“Come with me,” she urged him, stretching out her small arm, and pulling his hand. “I can’t risk her seeing you although it’s unlikely.”
“Who’s she?” Loki said as Snow White dragged him, her bare feet smacking against the marble floor. She ushered him through a small-sized trap door then let go of his hand. Whoever was coming to the bathhouse scared the heck out of her. Loki crouched and followed her through the door.
He recognized the castle once more. It was no surprise they were in the Schloss again, now thronging with servants and residents. It looked like a gloriously different castle with no hints of being haunted or evil. The sunlight burst through every pearly window and lit the majestic entity.
Snow White pulled Loki’s hand again. “Come on,” she whispered. “I can’t keep saving your life, even in my dreams.”
Loki gave in and followed her as if he was a seven year old being escorted by his mother.
“Why are there so many people in the castle?” he asked, glimpsing part of the landscape outside. It was unbelievably enchanting, still covered in snow with the exception of the sun living side by side with the snowflakes falling down from the clear blue sky. The castle was on top of a hill, overlooking a vast garden, protected by swan-shaped gates preceded by calashes and carriages.
“It’s the King of Sorrow’s castle,” Snow White said. “It’s usually crowded with visitors in the day. Just wait until nighttime, and you’ll see the other side of it.”
“I don’t have time for nighttime,” Loki said, following her into a dark room.
“I know,” she lit a gas lamp, and closed a door behind her. They were in a built-in closet. “That’s why you have to get used to the time shifting. It will happen fast and frequently.”
“What time shifting?”
“You’ll see,” she was about to walk out when she turned back and pulled him down to her by his shirt. Loki bent over and she stamped a kiss on his cheek. “Open your heart, Loki, and cross the oceans in your mind,” she whispered, turned off the lamp, and strode out the door, repeating the words again. “Only when you open your heart, will you understand everything.”
Loki was stranded in the dark of the closet, feeling like a fool. A little later, he opened the door again to call for her, but suddenly it was dark and silent in the hallways. It was evening.
“So that’s what she meant by time shifting,” he told himself. He thought the time shifting closet was cool, and he wished the bathroom’s door in his school would’ve served the same purpose. He’d go in, close it, open it, and school was over. Or better, the school would be gone. “That would’ve been the coolest built-in time machine ever. Someone should invent such a door,” Loki whispered to emptiness.
This time he wasn’t worried about talking to himself. Listening to his voice in a dream felt like good company, and helped him ease his fears.
After he’d stepped out of the closet, he thought that maybe he should have picked up some clothes from the closet. It wouldn’t be classy to meet the King and Queen of Sorrow in jeans and a tee shirt. Babushka wouldn’t have approved of it.
‘No manners whatsoever. Didn’t you learn any etiquette, Loki?’ he imagined her saying.
Loki hid behind a suit of armor then knocked on its head to make sure it wasn’t occupied by an ancient huntsman. He peeked into a majestic dining room from under its metal arms, and saw Snow White having dinner alone on a ridiculously long liver-shaped table.
There were two servants standing respectfully near the window, waiting for the princess to snap her finger so they could bestow her with whatever she wished. One of them was Tabula, the giant woman from the first dream. She was a tanned woman in a black and white dress with notable white-silver hair. The other servant was a gray-haired old butler. Loki had never seen the man before.
The dining table was filled with food that Axel could’ve stuffed himself with for life. An enormous roasted turkey, so many colorful and different kinds of rice, salad, soup, and all kinds of meat shimmered on the candle lit table. Loki felt hungry—hunger in a dream was a bit nightmarish.
In the candle light, Snow White looked sad; eating alone felt lonelier than being hungry alone.