A Court of Queens

Foreign Aid

Snow and her brothers surrounded a round table with a map of the capital laid out in front of them. "How are we supposed to stop him, we can't hurt him. We can't even touch him." Heath pointed out.

"I'm gonna ask Bella to send a few red knights," Snow said.

"Do you think she will? I mean this is kind of our mess, our problem." Theodore said.

Snow cleared her throat. "I'm positive." Snow gulped, and a silence hung in the air for a moment. Snow walked over to the bird cage and freed the hawk to stand on her forearm. She slid a rolled parchment into the canister strapped to the bird's back and then handed it off to Julian.

"Jump Dopey to the surface, and then you come straight back! Straight back!" Snow ordered jabbing her finger into Julian's chest.

"Alright, alright I got it," he said. Julian disappeared in a flash along with the bird on his arm.

-

Days passed as Snow waited on a response from Bella, boredom and restlessness turned to agitation and fatigue. As the days approached a week, Snow hoped no one in Batavic had fallen ill or passed away during the lockdown. She feared that perhaps Bella had disregarded her requests as too cost-worthy. After all the Red Knights are invaluable assets and maybe Bella's generosity doesn't stretch that far, not in Snow's direction at least.

A loud clattering thud rattled through the ventilation duct, Dopey the hawk came crashing through the vent and landed on the marble floor. The hawk had a letter in its talons with Bella's wax seal. Snow grabbed the letter and read it.

Sorry to hear about what happened, I hope you're holding up okay. I'm sending three Red Knights to Batavic tomorrow morning. They should reach you about two days after you receive this letter. I think Emilio will be especially useful. He's a quite petite gentleman, so he should be adept for combat in claustrophobic corridors. Best of luck.

Love Bella.

Snow exhaled dramatically and hugged the letter to her chest. "You're the best."