“What can I say; you’re kind of a remarkable girl. You happened to catch the Story’s attention a little early.” He shrugged his shoulders and stuffed his hands into his jeans.
Heat rushed to her cheeks at the compliment. Mina stopped to rest by crawling on top of a large river boulder. Slowly, she removed her shoes and shook them upside down, dislodging a rock that had maneuvered its way in and was stabbing her foot. It hadn’t gotten any warmer, but Mina was tired and needed to rest.
Jared was leaning against a nearby tree with his eyes closed, waiting patiently for her. The sound of the river was soothing and if Mina wasn’t here under these conditions and with her present company, she probably would’ve enjoyed the trip a whole lot more. But as it was right now, this was agony.
With his eyes still closed, Jared spoke up. “Did you know that the first Hansel and Gretel were actually Fae, and it was the old woman who was a Grimm?”
“What are you talking about? That doesn’t sound right.”
“This is where it can get a little confusing and quite funny. In the very first quest, Hansel and Gretel were thieves and murders, like um, Bonnie and Clyde. But because Hansel and Gretel were Kitskin, child-like Fae that never grow old in appearance, no one ever suspected them. Your namesakes figured it out.”
“The Kitskin never robbed the same house twice, and it was usually only the elderly they robbed. It was Wilhelm who thought of a plan to catch them. He had Jacob dress like an old woman, and lure the Fae to his front door with the offer of sweets.”
Mina started to laugh as she pictured her family member trying to cross-dress.
Jared opened one eye, and his dark eyebrow arched high in indignation. He refused to continue until she had decided to stop interrupting him.
“Sorry,” Mina mumbled and folded her elbows over her knees and leaned her chin on her forearms. It was as good as a position as any to hear the whole story.
“Hansel and Gretel looked inside and were tempted by all of the jewelry and money, the Grimms happened to have laid out on the table. Later that night, Hansel and Gretel snuck back into the house to kill them and make off with the loot, but instead they were trapped by the Brothers in a magical cage and oven, thanks to the Grimoire.” He sounded smug.
“It sounds so easy, when you tell it that way? Way easier than my own Hansel and Gretel encounter.” Mina lifted her head, and when she saw Jared’s perturbed look, she covered her mouth with her hand and shrugged her shoulders.
“Yes, they do sound pretty easy, but remember, not every quest can be completed and they aren’t all deadly quests and you do get a chance to retry them.”
Her hand shot straight up into the air like an eager student in class. Jared waited a full three seconds before calling on her.
“Okay, now you can ask a question.” He pointed at her with a stray branch he had picked up from the ground.
“So what about Claire?”
“Claire was becoming a loose end and dangerous. Unfortunately, because this is the human world, the Fae don’t have to answer to anyone. So the Story will try and push these particular Fae into your path, hoping you will eliminate them for the Fates.”
“So I’m like the Ghostbuster for the bad Fae that your King and Queen can’t control anymore. They purposely send them my way and hope that I will trap them in the Grimoire.”
Jared glared at her for not raising her hand. Mina smiled apologetically.
“Yeah, it’s kind of a win-win. The Grimms need adversaries, and the Fae need a few less…um, bad guys. There has to be an equal balance. That’s why so many of them want the Grimoire, because with it they too can trap their enemies within its pages. There are also a few other perks or rumors about the Grimoire that make them want it….but none of them are true,” he finished quickly, a little too quickly.
Her hand shot into the air again. Jared nodded again impatiently at her.
“So what’s to keep me from ignoring the quests and running away and living to a ripe old age? I mean, if I don’t complete them, then the gate will never be shut and the Fae will be free to roam both worlds. It’s a win-win for me, right? Life and Life.”
Jared stared at the stick in his hands before snapping the thin wood into pieces. He broke them again and again before turning and chucking them angrily into the bushes. Startled birds took off into the sky. Turning, breathing hard, he looked at her, his eyes sad.