Fairy Tale Reversed Read online

  ‘If you expose her, you will also expose yourself,’ I murmured, looking out of the window at the white forests. ‘If you don’t, you will forever remain her puppet and this country will be doomed under her reign…’

  ‘I don’t care exposing myself, but I—fear for her!’ Lord Turek said painfully, not hiding a tear.

  ‘You love her!’ I realised, pity engulfing me. ‘After everything she’s done to you?’

  ‘Yes!’ he breathed, staring at his boots.

  So the whimsical Queen was indeed capable of eliciting true feelings of love from her subjects. I knew that Jaromir had been infatuated with her in the first years of their marriage, but before long, the kingdom had absorbed all his time and attention. Since Alzbeta was not the woman to endure ignoring, she soon began searching for distraction and satisfaction elsewhere. The poor Lord Turek had fallen willingly into her trap and, now that he had successfully performed the marital duties overlooked by the late King, he was no longer needed. I had never had any real reason to be jealous of my rival. His heart had belonged to another woman all along. The Queen’s firm position and legacy were guaranteed. The Lord Treasurer had been a mere tool in her soft but agile hands.

  ‘I cannot help you for now, friend,’ I spoke quietly, ‘but this I can promise you: the country will soon stop suffering from our Queen’s caprice!’

  ‘What will you do?’ he hissed, grabbing my arm.

  ‘Do not fear, I plan nothing that will put you in danger…I will simply ensure that Bohemia’s crown rests on the head of the rightful heir!’

  ‘Princess Irena?’ he gasped. ‘How do you think to accomplish that without stirring a civil war?’

  ‘That is my own cross to bear, Milord, not yours,’ I smiled, patting him on the shoulder. ‘King Jaromir, God rest his soul, has honoured me with the royal upbringing of his daughter. Allow me to fulfil this noble task to the end!’

  ‘Very well,’ Turek nodded, his eyes mirroring the decision that he was making in that very moment. ‘Even if no one else supports you in this endeavour, I am with you, Lord Holder, come what may!’

  He held out his right hand and I gave him mine, shaking firmly, but did not release him immediately, pulling him closer to me.

  ‘Make sure you think this decision well through, Milord,’ I warned quietly. ‘If you walk down this path with me, there may be no turning back! You need to decide now whom you really serve, the Queen, or the Bohemian people!’

  His eyes staring deeply at me, Lord Turek was struggling helplessly, weighing our feeble chances.

  ‘I told you, Milord, I will follow you no matter what!’ he voiced, obviously shaken. ‘Even if it means we have to die to see our people saved from the Queen’s clutches, I am ready!’

  ‘But you said you loved her,’ I reminded him, still not letting go of his hand.

  Turek’s eyes flashed to the window for an instant, then returned to me, and his hand squeezed mine tightly.

  ‘I do love her, most desperately, but our people come first. I cannot be that selfish!’ he breathed, determinedly.

  ‘I promise your sacrifice won’t be in vain, Milord!’ I nodded and smiled.

  After we agreed to meet later that night and discuss our plans further, Lord Turek and I parted. When I reached the Queen’s quarters, the guards at the doors saluted briskly and allowed me in. Alzbeta was now a woman of thirty whose exceptional beauty was highly praised throughout the country. Her demeanour was always poker straight, elegance and refinement obvious in every gesture and every step. She had the entire court in raptures, even though I knew that her vanity still suffered from my repeated decline. However, now that her husband was dead, she did not need bother pretend. She could finally do as she pleased.

  As I entered the lavish parlour, a blushing maid directed me through another door hidden behind velvet curtains. So the Queen had requested my presence in her private rooms! I wondered idly whether Lord Turek had also benefited from the same gracious demonstration of intimacy. Smiling grimly to myself, I pressed the door handle and entered the sanctuary of my sovereign.

  Alzbeta was seated at a mahogany cabinet facing a large oval mirror and was combing her long red hair with fluid movements. Glinting sapphire-blue eyes sprang up to me in the mirror and an enchanting smile welcomed me.

  ‘Ah, Milord Holder, good of you to come!’ she exclaimed, perhaps too enthusiastically for a woman in mourning who needed to keep up appearances.

  ‘Your Majesty,’ I greeted, bowing.

  ‘It seems you didn’t exactly hurry to visit me, Milord. I thought you forgot me!’ she went on lightly, the same mysterious smile on her carmine lips.

  ‘Not at all, your Majesty. It’s just that I’ve been detained with matters of great importance,’ I replied politely.

  Still facing the mirror, the Queen glanced at me from under long lashes and her smile became ironic.

  ‘Matters more important than your Queen summoning you?’ she scoffed, lifting an arched eyebrow.

  ‘I would say…just as important as my Queen summoning me!’

  I bowed again, hiding a grin.

  Poor Lord Turek! The woman he loved did not really exist but in his imagination. Alzbeta rose from her chair and approached me slowly. I was already familiar with her direct nature, but this time, her daring surprised me unpleasantly: she was standing before me in a long red brocade robe that had negligently-on-purpose slipped over her shoulder. One hand tracing her deep cleavage, the Queen put the other arm around my neck, bringing me closer to her lips.

  ‘You are not allowed to deal with any matters more important than I, Damian,’ she whispered impudently.

  ‘What does your Grace wish from me?’ I spoke clearly, drawing away from her.

  ‘I do believe that you know exactly what I wish, and don’t pretend yourself surprised! One such as you should understand me perfectly!’

  Still eyeing me boldly, the Queen produced a silver letter knife and began pressing its thin edge into the milky flesh above her exposed left breast.

  So she knew.

  My hand flashed swiftly and easily forced the knife out of her fingers. Alzbeta’s beautiful features suddenly darkened, her mouth a hard line of malevolence.

  ‘Your Grace should be more careful with sharp instruments, however harmless,’ I spoke lightly, putting the knife on a nearby table. ‘One never knows what ugly wounds they might inflict.’

  I reprised my indifferent stance, as though nothing had happened, as though I were still waiting to know how best to accomplish the will of my Queen. She stood up to her full height, covering herself and summoning all the authority that the marriage with the late King had given her.

  ‘I intended to be more delicate about it, but it seems you leave me no choice. I know what you are, Milord, and I wish that you endow me with the same gift!’ she declared proudly.

  ‘I do not know what your Highness means,’ I answered calmly. ‘I am but a humble tutor, a servant of this court. If her Majesty wishes that I help improve her Greek and Latin skills, I can then of course be of service.’

  ‘Ah, but I believe both of us know that you are far, far more than just a humble tutor, Damian!’ Alzbeta sniggered, turning on her heels and tossing her flaming hair.

  She stepped slowly towards the oval mirror and gazed at herself, her hands lightly caressing her face and her lips.

  ‘Eternal youth and beauty…two things that women everywhere most long for! Would it be such a terrible sin if I won them from a monster who doesn’t even treasure his own precious gifts?’

  She was speaking to her reflection, but her eyes were set on me. How had she learned what I was? Would Jaromir have told her? He had sworn never to divulge my secret and I had trusted him. But perhaps, with her extraordinary charms, Alzbeta might have easily drawn the truth from him.

  ‘For you are such a monster, aren’t you Milord Holder?’ she went on sourly, staring at me from her mirror.

  ‘I still do not know what your Majesty
means,’ I said calmly, keeping my expression unreadable. ‘As I have already told your Grace, I am Princess Irena’s tutor and guardian. I have never done anything that would qualify me as a—’

  ‘Monster!’ she cried, turning to glare at me. ‘Monster! Monster! Monster!’

  Alzbeta pointed her claw-like finger back to the mirror and my eyes followed instinctively. I saw myself reflected within the intricate oval frame, but suddenly, my eyes became red, my mouth opened, fangs elongated, and a thin trickle of blood ran down my chin. My hand sprang up to wipe it off, but I instantly realized it was just in the mirror’s image.

  ‘And a glorious monster at that!’ the Queen added, as I was seeing myself for what I really was.

  So this was how she had learned: the mirror was bewitched to show her everything! I chuckled darkly, shaking my head resignedly. It seemed that my curse did not allow me to escape it in anyway. No matter how hard I struggled, it always caught up with me, wherever I went.

  ‘The youth and beauty you long for come at too high a price, Alzbeta,’ I spoke gravely, trying to put all the warning of the terrible fate in my words. ‘You will be forever cursed to hunger for blood and you will have no peace! Believe me, you do not wish to become like me!’

  ‘Oh, but I do! It is the ultimate change that will insure my perfection!’

  She rushed back to me, uncovering her lower neck yet again, showing me the pulsating veins beneath the ivory skin. Fury overcame the calm, and my hands grabbed her upper arms, shaking her brutally.

  ‘I said no! I refuse to inflict such profanity upon you, however wicked you are! I’m certain that you can easily ascend to power without my help!’

  Holding back my actual strength, I sent her falling down on the Persian carpet-covered floor, a look of real hatred on her features. I knew that I had wounded her ego beyond any endurable measure and turned around, with every intention of leaving the chamber. Her mad shrill cry stopped me.

  ‘You will make me a vampire or she dies!’

  I wheeled around in panic. The Queen was once more standing beside the mirror, full breasts heaving, long nails drumming against the wooden frame. Her face a mixture of early victory and anxiousness, she was grinning, showing me the only reason that could make my decision waver. The mirror no longer concentrated on me, but on a beautiful young woman with white skin, ruffled ebony-black hair and brown eyes, now wide with fear and horror.

  A cold shiver flashed down my spine. Her mouth covered with a dirty rag, Irena was being held hostage by two strangers with dark skin. With his left eye perfectly white, black teeth set in a cruel snigger, one of them kept a large Arabian knife close to her heart, pressing in its sharp point menacingly. She looked terrified but in control of herself, which meant that they had not attempted anything more dangerous until then. Obviously, they were waiting for the ransom and money I had plenty. I quickly recognised the setting: they were in the pine forest across the hill, not far from the castle, so Irena must have been taken right after we had parted at an hour before. If my heart could still beat, it would have leaped out of my chest with dread. It had all been carefully planned to entrap me.

  ‘What are you doing, Alzbeta?’ I asked slowly, trying to regain my calm. ‘Why are you bringing her into this? She’s your daughter—she’s innocent—it’s me you want! Release her!’

  ‘She’s no daughter of mine!’ the Queen cried maddened. ‘My own child will be the all-powerful heir to Bohemia’s throne!’

  Alzbeta was caressing her softly-round belly with both hands, her eyes glaring at me defiantly. I could hear the faint rapid heartbeat of Jan Turek’s child.

  ‘You and I both know that is a lie,’ I scorned, pointing to her stomach. ‘Irena is the only true heir!’

  ‘No! Not anymore!’ she cried, her face livid. ‘For years, she has been a thorn in my flesh! If you refuse to give me what I want, this thorn will be removed!’

  ‘Where is she?’ I growled under my breath.

  Alzbeta cackled like the witch she was, swinging back the cascade of red curls.

  ‘The King is dead—long live the Queen! We play under my terms now! No details until you turn me!’

  From her pocket, Alzbeta took out a red handkerchief and approached me, the piece of cloth undulating theatrically before my eyes.

  ‘Until sundown, my men know to keep your precious Irena alive. If I don’t flutter this red handkerchief from my window by then, they have orders to kill her and bring me her doe’s heart…I would really suggest that you made up your mind sooner, Damian!’

  She glanced out of the window at the red line of the early winter sunset and grinned.

  ‘She has but mere minutes!’

  ‘So you have constructed your entire devious plan on that handkerchief?’ I snorted. ‘Hasn’t it ever occurred to you that I could just snatch that harmless piece of cloth away?’

  ‘Ah, but you are insulting my intelligence, my darling!’ she tittered, shaking her head mockingly. ‘Only my men and I know the exact signal, and I wouldn’t dream sharing it with you now, would I?’

  ‘A signal…yes, quite intelligent, I must say!’ I hissed, grinding my teeth. ‘Damn you, Alzbeta!’

  The Queen was grinning triumphantly, the hand with the handkerchief caressing my face perversely.

  ‘No, my love, we shall be damned together!’ she chuckled darkly, and pressed her lips on mine.

  The musk and lavender perfume that covered her evaporated and suddenly, all I could sense was the rushing blood beneath her thin skin.

  ‘So be it, then!’ I growled, pulling my lips away from hers.

  Without allowing my conscience to intervene, I tore down Alzbeta’s brocade robe, shook her hair back and brutally sank my teeth into her neck. I began to drink ravenously, furiously, vengefully, as I had not done in a long time. She gave a wild shriek at first, then her body relaxed and grew limp in my grip. Dragging her backwards with me, still drinking, I bolted the door to her boudoir, fearing her cry might have been heard by the maid on the other side.

  When she was drained, I laid her on the floor, my eyes flashing up to the window. The red line was quickly becoming violet in the last light of dusk. I was out of time. I quickly tore open my wrist and pressed it over Alzbeta’s mouth, forcing the vampire blood down her throat.

  ‘Now, drink!’ I growled. ‘Drink, you cursed demon!’

  Alzbeta’s blue eyes flashed open. Instantly, they were flooded with blood, red and thick, and she began to drink avidly, gulping down the new blood, gripping my wrist with both hands. After a minute or so, I myself began to feel weaker and, with a groan, I tore my wrist away from her hungry mouth. As my hard flesh was already healing, I watched in great remorse how the evil Queen was becoming unbreakable. Her body began to writhe on the floor, her white spider-like hand flew to her neck, to her face, her mouth taking in great breaths of the air that could no longer stifle the burning thirst.

  I stooped down and collected the red handkerchief, showing it to her.

  ‘Your transformation will be complete by this time tomorrow,’ I hissed. ‘Now, get up and give the signal!’

  Still clutching her throat, a deadly magnificent Alzbeta rose staggeringly off the floor, red eyes on the red cloth in my hands. Throwing a quick look at the dark violet horizon, her white features unreadable, she snatched the handkerchief from me and tore it to shreds, like so many red bleeding wounds. When she grinned exultantly, I could already see her teeth growing longer. My heart sank. Irena had had a death sentence on her head all along and I had remained here, wasting precious time. I quickly calculated my chances and made up my mind in that instant. As much as I yearned to kill Alzbeta right then and there, Irena came first.

  ‘You have played your cards well, my Queen, but do not rush to trumpet your victory yet!’

  ‘Why shouldn’t I?’ she whispered, her red eyes glinting. ‘I now have everything I’ve ever wanted!’

  ‘Except your all-powerful heir to Bohemia’s throne!’ I scorned
, jumping up on the windowsill.

  ‘What are you saying?’ she frowned, her hands holding her belly tenderly. ‘My child will be perfect and immortal! The absolute creation!’

  Perched like a bird, I broke the arched window, laughing madly in the issuing cacophony of the glass pieces falling.

  ‘Hasn’t your enchanted mirror already told you? Vampires can’t breed children! Your body will not carry it! We create our siblings not procreate them, even if the carnal pleasures are what defines us—among others!’ I sniggered, satisfied at her horror.

  ‘No!’ she gasped, despair on her features. ‘It can’t be!’

  ‘But it will be! As you yourself have dramatically stated, you have but mere minutes to spend with your precious absolute creation!’

  ‘NO!!’ she cried, launching to catch the hem of my coat.

  Roaring with laughter, I jumped out into the last moments of dusk, landing neatly in the middle of the castle gardens. As I began to run faster and faster through the forest, I could still hear Alzbeta shrieking with the horrible pain of the fateful miscarriage.

  Snow-White

  When I was a little girl, I would relentlessly try to climb the chestnut trees in the back garden of our castle, but every time, I would inevitably slip and fall down. The gashing wounds in my palms and on my knees brought bitter tears of defeat and spite against the otherwise innocent trees. Always common-sensible, my nanny would argue that suffering is only meant to remind us of our humanity. If we suffer, it means that we are alive. But after everything that has happened, I am not very certain whether to believe her words of wisdom anymore. The Higher Power has granted that legendary monsters suffer too.

  I was yet a small child when I first saw him return by my father’s side from a victorious battle against the Bavarians. His armour shining, his smile alight, Commander Holder had to be the most glorious hero our nation had ever seen. I was only six years old, but my imagination was already enticed by stories of knights and damsels in ivory-white towers. I asked my father the King if Commander Holder was a brave man, but his answer was too mysterious for my young understanding.