Hansel & Gretel [NaNoWriMo 2016]

CHAPTER SEVEN: Hansel

Hansel could feel the strange look that the Knights were giving him as they escorted the twins to the throne room. While he was used to the way they looked, Hansel knew that he and his sister appeared to be an odd sort of people. With the number of jade and wooden beads woven into their hair, their constant pale complexion, and the fact that Gretel wore trousers instead of a dress, the twins were very odd indeed. Add in Gretel's obvious limp and staff despite her youth and it was no wonder that the Knights spared more than a casual glance their way.

"We're going to be walking out of here in the rain if your limp is anything to go by," Hansel murmured, talking to his twin as if the Knights were hyper-aware of anything said between them. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Gretel's hand tightened around her staff, a sign to Hansel that the pain was more than usual. "Yes."

Hansel knew what one-worded answers meant: too much pain. It was not that much of a surprise to him since they had walked for quite a while before entering the pub and then five minutes to the palace. Once they had gotten there, Hansel had assumed that they wouldn't walk for much longer, but it turned out that the throne room was in the innermost room of the palace. Ergo, more walking for Gretel.

In any other place and with any other people, Hansel would have knelt down and given her a piggy back ride to give her leg a break. However, since he and Gretel were unaware if they were among enemies or a neutral party, he knew that she would not welcome it. Not only did they need to appear to be strong, they also needed to be ready to fight should their situation come to that and that wouldn't be possible with Gretel on his back.

Though he knew that, it didn't mean that he didn't feel awful.

"Maybe we'll get to sit."

"In the presence of their country's leaders? I doubt it," Gretel whispered back.

Hansel was going to reply, but then the leader of the Knights spoke.

"We're here."

The two large, wooden doors were pushed to reveal the elegant and extravagant throne room of Loress' rulers. A deep emerald green rug started at their feet and led the way straight to two metal thrones sitting side by side with a smaller version of a throne on each side. Large, narrow windows were on both sides of the room, letting the moon's light in and showing the cluster of storm clouds steadily honing in on Sors. There were fainting couches with what Hansel thought to be soft, green cushions and they could be seen sitting under each window. In between each couch was a small table with candles ready to be lit.

Hansel took his eyes off his surroundings when the Knights, Gretel, and he stopped first front of the thrones. It was then he realized that they were facing who he assumed to be the queen. The Knights bowed to her and straightened up, waiting for their orders. He and Gretel quickly mimicked them and also waited.

The queen didn't sit down as Hansel had thought she might, but instead remained standing, her eyes unmoving as she stared at the twins. She gestured to the Knights and they stepped away from Hansel and Gretel, turning around and going to the doors. With another flick of the hand, the Knights shut the doors and the twins found themselves alone with the queen. It made Hansel nervous, but also made him feel better. He and Gretel would have an easier time escaping out a window if it was only the queen in here.

"Show me," the queen demanded.

"Pardon me?" Gretel said.

The queen gestured to their bodies. "The back of your necks. Show me."

In the spark of a second, Hansel realized what she was referring to and had the urge to cover his neck. He and Gretel had tattoos etched with deep emerald ink. The tattoos were not detailed or elaborate. They were small, spidery traces of two letters on the backs of their necks. Gretel's was in the form of a beautiful letter A and Hansel had an equally pretty letter T. Their adoptive mother, Frida, had always excused the tattoos away, but had been consistent with one thing: don't show them to anyone. They had had slipups and near sightings, but had always covered them. Gretel had her long brown hair to cover hers and Hansel had used a scarf until he decided to keep his hair shoulder length to do away with them. It had always worked.

Until now apparently.

The queen grew impatient with their silence and lack of cooperation. "Show me or I'll have you thrown in the dungeons.

With little to no choice, Hansel and Gretel moved their hair and turned around with their necks bared. This made Hansel feel exposed almost like she could see their souls like this. With so much effort put into hiding their tattoos, it felt strangely vulnerable with nothing to shield and hide away his neck.

A few minutes passed with nothing said until the queen spoke.

"It is you," she said with a voice that broke at the end. "My twins."

They turned around to find themselves under an arm of the queen and her face in between theirs. Hansel could feel her wet tears on his cheek and the warmth from her arm. A sob echoed in his ear as her grip tightened. He barely had a moment to process what she had uttered before she let the twins go, but didn't back out their space.

Her eyes brightened with something unidentifiable. "What are you doing here?"

The doors to the throne room opened at that moment and another person came rushing in, stopping at Hansel's side.

"Is it true?" the man asked, his green eyes resting solely on the queen's.

She nodded and the man's face transformed, a big smile beaming as he turned hugged the twins awkwardly. Unlike the queen, the man didn't say anything, but did have a few tears.

"It's been so long," the man murmured. "We never thought . . ."

And just like the queen, he quickly let go and didn't back away. "We must prepare a feast! We must celebrate this joyous reunion!"

He didn't wait for anyone to reply and exited the throne room beaming the entire way. Hansel and Gretel blinked the bizarre moment that had just transpired before looking at the queen. She was still there, standing before them with tears in her eyes.

"Come," she said with a small smile as maids entered the throne room. "Let's get you settled in."

"Wait," Hansel said. "What is going on?"

The queen's smile didn't die. "Come and I will explain as best I can once we get you settled in."

Hansel felt that dots had connected in his mind, but he just couldn't comprehend them. It couldn't be possible, could it? If it was true, it would change their lives and the way that they saw their childhood. It just couldn't be.

"Why are we settling in?" Gretel questioned, seeing as she was the only one who could still think.

"Because you're my children."

Hansel's world tilted figuratively as the words rolled around in his ears. Suddenly, his life was a series of dots that he was able to connect and realize what they truly meant. This was why he and Gretel couldn't show their tattoos. This was why they weren't supposed to come back to Loress and its capital Sors. This was why Pela was so paranoid about telling them anything.

Because they were royalty.

Pela had kidnapped royalty, Hansel realized. There was no other explanation for it. The queen, their mother, was too happy to see the twins to have told anyone to hide her children away from her. Pela must have taken them from their parents and given them to Frida for a price. She must have told them that they would die so she wouldn't get caught.

There was no other explanation.

The queen gathered a hand from each of them and tugged them towards the doors. "Come. I'll show you your rooms and we'll talk more."

Hansel's eyes shined. "Okay."