Forest of Fireflies

Chapter 17

(Daniella's POV)

I looked out of the small window as the carriage rattled along the road. Today, I was to help my mother retrieve a poison apple that would put Snow into her slumber. Unfortunately, the apple is currently in the possession of the Blind Witch. I had asked my mother how she knew about the apple and it turns out that my mother was the one who accidentally lost the apple to the witch when she was a teenager. 

"Daniella, are you alright?"

I turned my head and nodded. "Yeah. I am."

"You remember what to do once inside the witch's house right? Don't touch anything except for the velvet bag that contains the apple. And under no circumstances are you to try any of her sugary treats. If you see something that you so desire, a cake or a pastry, I'll get the chefs to make it for you once we're back in the palace alright?"

"I know. You've told me this already."

"Sorry little firefly. I'm just worried about you...but although I couldn't enter the house, I'll always be watching you from my mirror."

I glanced once again out of the window and since the scenery barely changed, I groaned inwardly and asked, "How much longer until we arrive?"

My mother shrugged and answered, "Not too long."

A few minutes of silence ticked by but just as I was about to start another conversation, the carriage came to a sudden halt. I wasn't prepared for this disruption and I was jolted forward into my mother's lap. 

"Wha.."

Mother scowled and said in between her teeth, "I'm going to find out right now." Then, I sat back onto my seat to allow her to shuffle over and open the door of the carriage. 

I couldn't see what was going on outside of the carriage since Mother blocked my view but as soon as she opened the door, she asked harshly, "What are you two doing in my forest?"

When my mother got out, I could finally see that she was talking to two children; a girl around the same age as me and a boy who was slightly younger. They both looked lost and my thoughts were soon confirmed as the girl spoke. "Please forgive us. We didn't mean to bother you. We're just, we just lost our father."

My mother replied in a voice that told me that she was not in the mood for dealing with this situation. "Two helpless children, lost and alone, a family torn apart. Such as sad and moving story..."

She walked slowly towards the guards and then turned around quickly saying, "Guards, seize them."

The girl reacted quicker than I thought as she slung something with her slingshot towards the pursuing guard. To my surprise, it hit him hard and the two children started running into the forest. As they did so, I clambered out of the carriage and watched my mother stop the guard from chasing the children. "Mama, just let them go. I'm sure they didn't mean to come into our way."

There was a moment of silence which was broken when my mother said slowly, "No...they're far too useful for us to let them go."

"Useful? How?"

Mother looked at me and replied, "they can go with you into the blind witch's house, it'll be safer for you. If anything unfortunate happens, the witch will have to deal with three children instead of one. It'll make it easier for you to handle the situation as well...just make sure that they are the ones to retrieve the apple since that's the most dangerous task. After that, you can teleport or bring the group out of the house in whatever method you wish."

I nodded as my mother surrounded use both in purple smoke. As it cleared I saw that we were standing amongst trees, right in front of the two children.