The Nutcracker King (Coming From Darkness #1)

Chapter 5 Part 1: Drosselmeier

Drosselmeier sat in the spare room, a dollhouse standing in front of him. Poor Pirlipat's house, empty now of her life and spirit. He couldn't look at it. Behind him, he could hear the tick-tock of a familiar friend. The dear clocks had always been with him, both in the kingdom of the dolls and in this human world. Apart from that, the room was empty.

Everything was his fault. Pirlipat's death. His nephew's curse. Everything. If only he didn't invent the mousetrap. If only he didn't enlist the help of his nephew. If only he had spoken sense to the King instead of following orders. If only he had encouraged his goddaughter to confess to his accursed nephew.

So many possibilities left untouched. So many bright futures he would never see. Now, he was just a lonely old man sitting in an empty room waiting for his death.

A slight shimmer passed through the room, and Drosselmeier heard small footsteps. He looked down, and through red-rimmed eyes, saw the Nutcracker.

His nephew.

"Uncle."

The Nutcracker's voice bristled with rage underneath. Drosselmeier didn't blame him.

"Nephew," Drosselmeier acknowledged. "Stand still." Walking over to the dollhouse, he opened it, and from a tiny cupboard, took out a sachet of gold dust. He sprinkled it over the Nutcracker, and in an instant, his nephew stood there as tall as Drosselmeier himself. But still a cursed wooden Nutcracker.

The Nutcracker looked at his hands in wonderment. "Can you relieve the curse, uncle? If only for a day."

Drosselmeier shook his head, his shoulders drooping down. "No," he said. "Even as Master of Arcana, this powder is the best I can do. I can make you tall, but I cannot make you human. And now, it's too late."

"Too late?" The Nutcracker said, taking a step forward. "What do you mean by that, what do you mean I'm too late?"

"Too late! You're too late. You'll never be human, you hear me you stupid doll of a nephew? Never." Drosselmeier shouted before turning his back on his nephew. "Kill me now if you want, I don't care any longer."

Instead of a knife to his back, Drosselmeier felt himself grabbed by the shoulders and turned around. Staring into his eyes, the Nutcracker moved his hands towards Droselmeier's neck.

"What do you mean?" the Nutcracker hissed at him as he began to squeeze.

"Don't give my blood to the kingdom, it will ruin it."

*******

Everything faded to black, and when his sight returned, Drosselmeier was sitting in the easy chair of his cousin Christoph's house. He was back home, in the Kingdom of Dolls. A path lay before him that he had not taken. One that he should have taken.

"Thank you for the Krakatuk nut," Drosselmeier said. "The curse by the Mouse Queen can finally be reversed."

"Don't thank me," Christoph said, "Thank this old lady, for she brought it with her from the East."

He pointed to a wizened, old Chinese woman that stood in the corner of the room. It was the fairy grandmother. He had loved her once, before he entered the royal court. Drosselmeier dipped his head in thanks, and she bowed in reply.

The two old folk looked at each other in a moment of mutual understanding. They held each other's gaze until the old lady broke it with a bow and shuffled out the door.

"I must go now," she said, "my daughters are calling for me."

Once the old woman walked out of the room, the cousins forgot about her, and it was as though she was never there. Drosselmeier and Christoph sat a little longer in the stillness.

"So, cousin, what do the stars tell the Astronomer?" Christoph said at last, "is my son going to be the one to reverse Pirlipat's curse and become a prince?"

Drosselmeier paused for a while, considering his words very carefully. "No," he finally said, "he is still young, and it would be a terrible thing to tie him to the main branch of the royal family."

In another world, he had said 'yes'. What a terrible future that world held.

Christoph sighed. "I suppose that is for the best," he said. "After all, his sisters are there, and they will make good matches. What is one free child? Will you be staying long, my cousin? Or will you return to the castle?"

"There is no way I can return to court, cousin. I will have to send the Krakatuk nut back, and hope the King finds someone to break the curse. But it will be good to settle down somewhere quiet."

Drosselmeier stood up and walked out of the room. His cousin accompanied him to the door.

"Why, would you look at that, cousin," Christoph said. "The lemon drops and gum drops are red today. What does it mean, oh Master of Arcana?"

Drosselmeier took a step out into the rain. The candy rain burst into red tears as they hit him. "It means that this is finally over."

Drosselmeier said as he waved goodbye to his cousin. Behind Christoph was the grinning face of his nephew, his hands and teeth mysteriously stained red. 

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it and I will be posting the second part of this chapter on Friday! I've been really swamped/drained by work but I will reply to comments as soon as I can!