The Land of Stories: Gleeful Days Are Here Again

Jar of Hearts

19. Jar of Hearts

In which we finally meet the Enchantress herself...

When Chris and Darren returned to the campfire hand-in-hand, they were greeted by a loud wolf-whistle from Zach.

"Soooo... What have you two been up to?" he teased.

"Not what you're thinking," Darren said ruefully.

"But we did find out what the Enchantress's most prized possession is — the pants of her tracksuit."

"That's great!" said Froggy. "Now we know how to complete the Wand of Wonderment!"

"But we also found out something else, and this one's not so great," Darren told them. "The Enchantress is trying to take over both of our worlds, by putting all of the rulers of this world, plus Chris, here, to sleep forever. Then she'll be able to travel into our world and take over there, too."

"That's terrible!"

"I know. So until we can end this curse, we all have to be super careful to avoid kissing at all costs," Chris said.

There was a collective sigh from the group.

"I think we should all turn in now," suggested Rachel. "After we've had a good night's sleep, maybe we'll be able to figure out how to get the pants from the Enchantress's tracksuit."

There were murmurs of agreement all around, and soon everyone was hunkered down under the makeshift tent that Kurt and Blaine had fashioned from the remains of the hot air balloon.

"This is like a slumber party," Darren whispered to Chris, as they snuggled together between Zach on one side and Kurt and Blaine on the other.

"Too bad we don't have any of Red's feather pillows," Chris whispered back, "or we could have a classic slumber party pillow fight."

Darren giggled. Then he rolled onto his back and patted his chest. "Here. You can't use me to hit anyone, but I'll be your pillow."

Chris cuddled closer, laying his head over Darren's heart. The last thing he thought, before drifting off to sleep, was how desperately he longed to be able to kiss his boyfriend.

...

The sound of hoofbeats and a ringing neigh woke them the following morning.

"Rum Chocolate Soufflé!" Kurt cried. "And Adrenaline. What are you two doing here?"

The two horses were soon followed by a third — this one with a rider on his back.

"It's Sir Cooper!" Darren exclaimed, grinning.

The commander of Queen Snow White's Royal Guard reined his horse to a sliding stop inches away from the tent. The groggy occupants stumbled out to greet him.

As soon as she recognized their visitor, Rachel went into full monarch mode. "Sir Cooper, have you come with an official missive for me from my fellow rulers?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," Sir Cooper answered self-importantly. "I've ridden like the wind, all through the day, following this mare, as golden as the sun" (here he pointed dramatically toward Rum Chocolate Soufflé) "and all through the night, following this stallion" (with an equally dramatic sweep of his arm toward Adrenaline) "as black as the — well, as black as the night itself, bearing news for the Queen of the Red Riding Hood Kingdom."

Sir Cooper paused for breath, and the others looked at him expectantly.

"Well?" Rachel demanded. "What is this news?"