Hansel & Gretel [NaNoWriMo 2016]

CHAPTER EIGHT: Gretel

Hansel was so lost in the soft voice of his mother that he didn't realize that while Gretel followed, her eyes did not shine and instead were steel. Unlike her brother, Gretel was not sucked in by their supposed birth mother and her tears of apparent joy. No, she was quite the opposite. She remembered what Pela had said and she did not think that Pela had been lying. Pela had seemed too scared and nervous to have been spinning a tale of lies. Pela's warning had been too real, too truthful to have been a lie.

"You will die if you stay. Do you understand me? You will die."

Her words had been aligned with Gretel's gut feeling outside of the pub and this made Gretel feel that she had been right. They shouldn't have gone in, shouldn't have opened that door, and most definitely should not have stepped a single footstep in Sors or this country. What they should have done is run in the opposite direction, but she knew deep down in her bones that it was too late. Even if they escaped now, people would follow and take them back.

Besides, it seemed that if she tried to run, Gretel would be on the run on her own.

Gretel glanced at her twin as they followed the queen down a hallway in which there were supposedly rooms for Hansel and Gretel to call their own. He was so happy that it made her feel guilty for even contemplating running away, but it was that smile that made her nerves like steel. She couldn't let this happen. She couldn't let him get attached and used to a life that might end with their deaths. She couldn't let that smile die.

Gretel had to be careful, though. It wasn't as simple as telling her brother that they had to leave. He wouldn't want to leave now that they've supposedly found their parents. In his eyes, they were once again a part of a family and were no longer orphans. They no longer had to drift from place to place in an endless search for they were and their parents. He didn't realize that it was a lie, but she would provide proof. She just had to find some. Pela would be a good start.

But first Gretel needed to find a way to get out of here tonight if she wanted to talk to Pela.

And deal with her supposed mother.

"Your rooms are side-by-side," the queen said as she stopped in front of two doors separated by perhaps a foot of empty wall. "The one to the left was . . . is Tholan's and the one to the right is Arryn's. You two shared a nursery when you were babes, but we intended to separate you into different rooms when you were old enough to handle it."

Hansel tilted his head, frowning at the unfamiliar names. "Tholan? Arryn?"

The queen smiled for a brief moment. "Those are your given names, though I suppose that you go by different names."

"Gretel," Gretel grunted, leaning more towards her staff.

Though she didn't trust this woman or the story she was cramming down their throats, Gretel was in dire need of a seat. Her leg had become more irritated with the stacked-on walking and it pained her to move now. Hopefully, the queen would get on with this charade and open one of the doors, giving Gretel somewhere to collapse.

"I'm Hansel," her brother replied, the entirety of his attention resting only the queen.

"Hansel and Gretel," the queen said, trying her tongue at the names. "I suppose that I can learn to call you by these names if it will make you more comfortable."

She better, Gretel thought to herself. Gretel was uncertain as to the validity of the queen being their mother and therefore did not want to shed the only name she's ever known to take on one that may not belong to her in the first place. Though Gretel supposed that if she didn't want the queen to suspect that she wasn't buying this story, she might find herself having to let herself be called Arryn for the time being. It would be much easier to go digging around if everyone thought she was happy to be here. That way when she found the truth and convinced Hansel of it, they would be able to escape into the night with a head start.