Misfit Trials

Chapter 36

Rose Red came back to the cottage at midday. She was prepared for lunch and along talk with Snow White. They needed to get the next dwarf under their control.

But that wasn't what she walked into.

When she arrived at the clearing around the cottage, she already knew that something was wrong. There were no cooking fires. The smell of food didn't permeate the air.

The silence inside the cottage is her next clue. As much as Snow White hated the work that she was forced to do for the dwarves, she very rarely did it without singing. It was part of her charm.

But there was no song in the air.

When she turned into the large kitchen, she saw Blick, Snick, Whick, and Quee all sitting at the table.

"Where is my sister?" Rose Red asked, trying to keep the anger and suspicion out of her voice. It was never her strong suit, being able to hide what she was feeling. Especially not irritation, like she felt from being around these little men all the time. Soon enough, they wouldn't need to worry about them.

But first, she had to find Snow White.

"Safe," Blick responded.

Rose Red's face flushes with anger, nearly as red as the color her vision turns on seeing them. "That isn't what I asked you," she grunts out. "Where is my sister?"

"Brothers. What do?" Snick demands.

Rose Red looks between the four dwarves, studying their faces. Then she cackles. "Is that what this is about? Your brothers are perfectly fine," she says. "Safe," she mocks.

"Not same. You change," Snick pushes.

"Change them?" Rose Red smirks. "Now why would I do something like that? They have just seen what was important. They are helping us."

"NO!" Whick screams, his anger getting the better of him. "You change!" he insists.

Rose Red just smiles at them. "Maybe just a little."

But her smile quickly fades, her expression turning cold. "This is the last time I ask you. Where is my sister?"

"Fix brothers. Get sister." Snick states.

Just then, the door opens and Flick, Glick, and Pick walks in the door.

"Aaah. Just who we were looking for," Rose Red coos. She flings her hands out to the three brothers and they immediately come to her.

"Stop, brothers. Don't go to her. She has done something to your brain. Please!" Blick says in their native tongue.

"But Blick," Pick responds, "she will give us everything we need. We only need to obey."

"Fix brothers!" Snick insists. "Give back Snow White!"

"Oh, I'll be sure to fix your brothers alright," Rose Red says. She turns to Pick, the brother closest to her and whispers something to him. Her voice is so low that the four brothers sitting at the end of the table can't hear them.

"Yes, Rose Red." Pick says.

He walks to the counter in the kitchen and pulls a large, sharp knife from the butcher's block on the counter. With his odd gait, he brings it back to Rose Red, offering it to her as if it is the biggest, most expensive present that he can give her.

"Good. Now, use it," Rose Red says.

Then, quicker than any of the brothers can react, Pick takes the knife and slits his own throat.

"PICK!" Whick, Snick, and Blick scream while Quee makes a high keening sound, his grief suffusing every surface in the cottage.

Pick falls to the ground, blood pouring from his neck, a smile still on his lips as he continues to stare at Rose Red until his last breath shudders out from his body.

For her part, Rose Red just looks incredibly bored.

The two brothers still under her thrall just stand there placidly looking at the scene.

Whick, Snick, and Blick are unable to move, looking at their brother, dead on the floor. It's like their world just stood still.

"Now, unless you want a repeat of what just happened with one of your remaining brothers, you will take me to my sister," Rose Red says, spitting venom across the table.

Snick and Whick look to Blick. The oldest brother. The one they trust to make the call.

Looking at his brothers, Blick nods. "In mine. Not far."

Rose Red claps her hands. "Oh, good. We'll all go." Pointing to Glick, she says, "Take the knife. Bring it with us."

—

Snow White is glowering at the dwarves when they walk into the mine entrance. Though a mischievous glint shines in her eye when she sees Rose Red.

"Get her loose!" Rose Red orders and Whick and Snick hurry to do as she says.

The second that Snow White is set free, she stands, fuming. Pointing to Glick, she demands, "Bring me the knife."

"Yes, lady," Glick says, immediately walking to her side.

Snow White grabs the knife from Glick's hands and looks directly at Blick, Snick, Whick, and Quee as she stabs their brother in the heart. All four scream in their grief as their brother falls to the ground, dead.

"This is what happens when you mess with us, you oversized mongrels," Snow White says lowly before she, Rose Red, and Pick leave the other four brothers in the mine.