“What are you talking about?” the prince said.
The queen sighed and leaned over Mr. Seven. “You have done your job well. You were the right choice,” the queen said.
“I appreciate your saying so, Bunny,” Seven said, then looked at his wife. “You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, Morgan. And I have been alive a long, long time. I’ll be waiting for you.”
And for the last time in his life a grin spread across his face. And then he was gone.
Those gathered wept for their friend. Morgan shrieked and Mordred did his best to comfort her. Charming took his friend’s hand and quietly prayed. And Sabrina and Daphne cried until there were no more tears to spare.
When Snow could finally speak, she stepped over to her mother and seized her hand. “You are going to tell me the truth.”
The queen nodded. “Yes, I am.”
ctober 18 (part 2)
We buried Mr. Seven by candlelight next to Briar Rose’s grave. Morgan sobbed and her son struggled to keep her on her feet. Their love was short but intense and I feel very bad for her. It doesn’t help that the decorations from the wedding are still hanging on everything. No one has the heart to take them down.
Everyone said a few words about Mr. Seven, even Daphne, who cried and cried. Everyone, that is, except Uncle Jake. The little man’s death seemed to open a fresh wound inside him. He stood in the back of the crowd, more upset than ever.
Charming spoke of his old friend. I wish I had a digital recorder so I could play it back and listen again, but I’ll write down what I remember. He said, “Seven was a giant of patience and consideration. He was as quick with a smile as he was with a caring ear. He took care of me for many years and I am admittedly a difficult man to handle. He was my friend, my counsel, and at times my brother. I hardly imagine I could have become a man without him. Good-bye, old friend.”
When it was all over, the Wicked Queen took one of the white roses from Briar’s plot and planted it on Seven’s grave. As happened when they buried Briar, it sprouted hundreds of flowers, which bloomed in the moonlight.
Everyone is miserable, but more than that they are afraid. No one ever thinks that a friend will die, especially at the hands of someone like Atticus. Bunny has promised her daughter and the prince answers about Atticus, and she’s asked Daphne, Puck, and me to help since we had a run-in with him in the Book of Everafter. I wonder how they will take it.
“He’s your brother,” Bunny said to the prince.
“That’s impossible!” Charming said. “I’m an only child.”
“Because that’s how I wanted you to be,” she replied.
Sabrina watched the confusion on Charming’s face. He stood up and paced around the log cabin. Snow stood back in confused paralysis.
Bunny continued. “Just listen, please. What I’m going to tell you is complicated and you need to pay attention. This is the story of your life, William—the story of your real life. A long time ago, your parents, King Thorne and Queen Catherine, had two children—”
Charming jumped forward. “Wait—”
“Shut up!” Bunny snapped. “The youngest was you, and the firstborn was a boy named Atticus, and he was the heir to your father’s throne. Your father arranged a marriage between his kingdom and my own. It was a very common practice at the time and helped grow wealth and power. Snow was our princess.”
“But I grew up in a village,” Snow argued.
Bunny sighed impatiently. “What I didn’t know when I consented to this marriage was that Atticus was cruel and vicious. Royalty must often find themselves in loveless marriages, but Atticus was different. I soon learned he was known for killing stable hands and torturing kitchen maids, but when he turned his rage on my daughter, I got involved. William, I went to your father and begged him to stop your brother, but he refused to see the wickedness in his child. While he dithered like a fool, Atticus abused Snow in unspeakable ways. So I took matters into my own hands. I went to the Book of Everafter.”
“The book of what?” Charming said. Both he and Snow looked at the witch like she had lost her mind. “What is this bedtime story you are spinning, Bunny?”
Sabrina could tell the witch was losing patience with their interruptions. “The Book of Everafter is a magical collection of stories that was stored in the Hall of Wonders,” Sabrina explained. “Every fairy tale from Little Red Riding Hood to, well, the two of you is written in its pages.”
“We were inside it,” Daphne said, hefting the big book into Charming’s lap. “It was kooky.”
“Inside it?” Charming said. He cracked it open and flipped through the pages.
“She said it was magic,” Puck said.