A Court of Queens

Snow White and her Seven Brothers.

The guards escorted them to the level beneath and detained them for a few hours. Curious guards visited Jazlyn and offered gifts or entertainment. Finally, a highly ranked commanding officer escorted Jazlyn to the throne room. Sitting in the center of the room on the largest throne was a woman with ghostly white hair and blood-red eyes with dark circles around them. She wore a night black gown, her nails were painted red and blue, and she wore a modest silver crown. Beside her were seven seats, five occupied by men wearing finely woven and colorful robes. Directly to the Queen's left was a bald man with a long beard wearing a green robe. Next to him was a wiry man wearing a purple robe. To the right of the Queen was a heavy-set muscular man with a round chubby face wearing a yellow tunic. To the right of him was a short man with long hair wearing a black jacket with gold pins and buttons. The brown tattered hood and robe sitting on the end juxtaposed all the other men's flare, the man's face was mostly hidden by his hood but a crooked nose and scarred lip peaked out.

"When I heard the rumors about a young pair from Agrabah traveling in Batavick, I just knew I had to see you with my own eyes," Snow said eagerly, her voice was quite deep and resonant.

"Well, the rumors are true," Jazlyn said plainly.

"So what brings you over to my side of the world? Snow asked.

"It's funny you should say that because I actually came here looking for you," Jazlyn said.

"Really? And why is that?" Snow said intrigued.

"Because I'm the Queen of Agrabah," Jazlyn said.

"Ah, welcome," Snow said.

"Welcome." the men echoed.

"So this is a diplomatic excursion?" Snow asked.

"I'm not exactly here to negotiate with you, I need your help," Jazlyn said.

"With what?"

"I-i made a mistake with my blessing, and now I need to fix it." Jazlyn stammered apprehensively.

"Who hasn't?" Snow chuckled, her brothers did as well. "What did you do sweetheart?" she asked.

"You know my family's blessing, right?" Jazlyn asked.

"Yeah the Djinn, the three wishes. I've heard the stories. Go on." Snow said

"Well I accidentally cursed my parents, they're stuck," Jazlyn said.

"Stuck?"

"As paintings," she clarified

Snow rubbed her eyes. She half smiled half grimaced, feeling a painful sense of secondhand embarrassment. A few of the brothers chuckled, and some of them hid their faces in their palms. "So why'd you come here?" Snow asked.

"I was hoping you could help me fix it somehow."

Snow shook her head quickly, her brothers did the same or made a chopping motion across their necks.

"Are you sure?" Jazlyn said.

"To my knowledge, neither I nor my brothers have ever turned an object into a person or vice versa, I don't think we'd be much use to you in that regard." Snow said.

"That's what I feared." Jazlyn sighed. "What about the Queen of Gallia? Maybe she could help."

"Help lift the curse? I severely doubt it. Her fleet could sail you back to Agrabah quickly and safely if that's any consolation." Snow said.

"I would greatly appreciate that," Jazlyn said.

"For now you can stay here in the castle and join us for dinner if you'd like. We'll ride for Gallia tomorrow." Snow said.

"Thank you," she said. The two vacant seats in the throne room piqued Jazlyn's curiosity and she couldn't ignore it any longer. "I've heard the stories too, aren't there supposed to be seven brothers?" she asked.

"Hey! You watch your mouth!" The chubby brother in yellow snapped. He slammed his fist against his chair, trembling the entire room.

The lanky sick-looking brother quietly stood up from his seat and exited the room.

"It's alright Cesar, she's a foreigner. She didn't know any better." The bald bearded one said."Yes you're right, it should be seven but two of our brothers didn't survive their awakening, unfortunately." he said softly.

"Awakening?" Jazlyn said

"Me and my brothers weren't born with our blessing, not born able to use them anyway. We had to patiently wait for our sister to show up for her touch to awaken our abilities," he said

"I got here as fast as I could." Snow joked dryly.

"Oh that's interesting, I had to touch my lamp before the Djinn became mine," Jazlyn said

"See we're not so different, different sides of the same coin, or dice rather." He joked awkwardly trying to ease the tension in the room.

"Well, I'm sorry for your loss," Jazlyn said.

"Thank you." the bald bearded one said.

"I'll find somewhere else to stay then," Jazlyn said.

"Oh nonsense, don't mind Cesar he just has a short fuse," Snow said. Cesar folded his arms and stared at the wall. " Please rest up before the journey, Luther here will show you two to your quarters."