CH. 30: SNOW WHITE VI

"I don't think---"

"That would be very kind of your Queen to offer. Thank you very much." Mad loud cuts in. The knight pauses for a second.

"I will let the Queen know that you have accepted her offer." He heads back to the front. I waited for a few minutes, making sure no one was around to easedrop. I elbowed, Mad.

"What are you doing?!" I whisper yell at him, "You can't just bother people to help us. We are totally strangers!"

Mad huffs at me and doesn't answer. I elbowed him again.

"Would you please stop that? And the reason why I did it is because they might actually have the man power to help you search this boy. I have other things to do besides babysitting you. Plus--" He stops talking before continuing, "All you ask of me was to guide you to the nearest place."

I slightly stiffened. He was right. How could I have forgotten? I did tell him that all he needed to do was to help me go to the nearest town. I slouch in my seat.

"You're right. I'm sorry. A deals a deal. We can say our goodbyes once we arrive." I look over my shoulder to look at his expression, but as usual, he always has a frown.

The hour passed by quickly. We can see tall concrete walls surrounding the castle. Outside the walls were nice-lookingg houses better than Mad's little cottage. The sudden appearance of the carriage has attracted a large crowd in the street.

"It's the Queen!"

"Wave at the carriage! The Queen is in there."

"Our Queen is the fairest of them all!"

I cringed at the last one. We all pass through the crowd and enter the castle gates. The carriage pulls up by the front doors. Sir Kalheim pulls his horse next to us.

"If you two will follow me. We'll have you bring your horse to the stables and get you two clean up to meet the Queen."

Mad doesn't comment and follows the knight towards the back. I, however, felt slightly offended that he nicely called us dirty and unsophisticated humans that needed grooming before meeting in the. Presense of a Queen. Before turning the corner and completely disappearing from the front. I witnessed the carriage doors opening.

First, it was the Queen. He black hair was not in a Bob that I thought she would have. Nor the red ribbon on her head. Her dress was not of blue, and yellow and her so-called fairest face were not so fairest. There stood in a black and out dress with a white ribbon, pepper-n-salt hair with wrinkles is the Queen.

She must be in her 60s or more. I rub my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing things. But lo and behold. The fair maiden Snow White has grown old with age. She turns and sees me staring at her. With her red lips, she gives me a kind smile. Even her light brown eyes were so kind.

I felt super complicated about how I see her. She looks like she is smiling at the world with a poison apple behind her back. Snow White talks to a graying old man with glasses in a suit. Before they finish their conversation, the carriage rocks again.

Snow White waves her hands and all the guards that were standing in ceremony are running towards the carriage doors with spears and swords point at it.

Before the corner blocked my view, someone is thrown out of the carriage to the dirt floor. My eyes follow down and see a petite body with their head covered in a sack and hands tied behind their back. A second body comes out, followed by a third. Both tied up and heads covered.

I was about to say something when Mad made us disappear from sight.

"Mad! There's something weird going on with the Queen!?" I whisper to him.

"Think about that later. There's nothing wrong with the Queen. Now stay quiet before the knight hears you. You're gonna get us killed." He grabs my cloth and tightens it around my head.

"Ugh! You're suffocating me!" I swat his hands away. I wanted to run back and take a look at what was happening by the carriage.

However, Sir Kalheim had stopped in front of the stables.

"Go ahead and get off your horse. There's should be a stall available inside." He instructs, "I'll be right back."

Mad and I stepped down and led the horse into one of the empty stalls. While Mad was unloading our stuff, I was too busying thinking about the Queen.

Is the Queen, Snow White, kidnapping and trafficking humans?! My mind was racing to a million ideas and scenarios that could happen. But two things stood out to me the most: One, I hope Jung-woo isn't one of them.

Mad hands me a bag to carry, and we head back out the stalls. It wasn't until heavy footsteps and metal clanking outside did my second thought I had,

"Is she gonna traffick us too!?"

As soon as I said it out loud, Sir Kalheim and the army of guards point their weapons at us.

"What is this." Mad shouts, pulling me behind him.

"Well, the Queen is quite curious with the lady." He laughs, "Now behave and do what we tell you to do. Or else we'll have to be rough."