Stepmothers

What happens if two evil stepmothers work together?

Once upon a time, the king of Way Castle, King Dewey, died of unknown circumstances. Lionel, the young and loyal herald, found him lying unconscious, dead, on the floor of the throne room. The Queen wanted to cry but she couldn’t. She tried and forced her self so hard so many times. She screamed whenever she failed. The royal children tried to comfort her, but there was this emotion she didn’t feel before that’s trying to overcome her whole self. It terrified her so that she became aggressive for weeks. The royal children were even forced to leave their father’s castle, and stay in the Sun Palace, their grandparents’.

 

Then, one night, Queen Susannah disappeared. It was only Lionel who knew of her plan to wander away from melancholy. Way Castle had been empty for years. Only the servants lived there, still doing their duties though their masters weren’t there anymore. The royal children hadn’t come back yet for they were busy with romance. Lionel was faking letters to them because Queen Susannah strictly told him to never bear sad news for she feared they might be haunted, too, by the emotion that drove her away. But one day, Lionel was outside the castle gates, and felt the presence of visitors. One was a girl with uneven steps, and the other was a brawny fellow carrying a coffin.

 

Lionel led them inside the castle. The man, whose name was Jack, put down the black coffin on the floor. Lionel felt his heart beating fast as if he knew who was inside it. The servants came into the room for they felt a very familiar aura. Jack was about to open the coffin, but Lionel stopped him, “We know, dear Sir.” And so, upon that night when the stars cried, they buried Queen Susannah beside King Dewey’s grave.  Lionel was again troubled to whether tell the royal children of their mother’s death or not. That morning, he accompanied the royal waiter to serve breakfast to the guests who brought home the queen’s corpse. When they opened the door, Lionel was surprised to see the royal heirlooms, the crown, orb and scepter, sitting on the bed.

 

Jack’s daughter, Timber Lea, was polishing them. Lionel stared at her aura, and knew she was a child of the queen. Jack explained, except for the wish part, about his marriage to Susannah who left those royal heirlooms to him before she died. “Oh, dear Sir, do you know what this means?” Lionel said, “The Queen had chosen you to be next to the throne!” Lionel’s news flapped their wings to the ears of Way Castle. Everyone, from servants to nobilities, gathered in the throne room, not that they wanted or cared; they were obliged. The trumpets sounded and they all hailed King Jack and Princess Timber Lea.

 

It was indeed like a happy ending, but it didn’t end there yet. Three years later, Way Castle was celebrating Jack’s anniversary as king. Suddenly, the loud clanging of armors was heard outside the grand room. Then, a huge gush of wind threw open the doors. A woman with golden hair came in, and followed by a tall one who put her rapier back into its sheath, as the guards behind them lay on the floor. They both addressed Jack, “Oh, honey!” Jack stood proud from his throne to confront these women whom he didn’t fear anymore because he was now king. Then, the crowd started to murmur. “Your, majesty,” Lionel asked, “Who are these women?”

 

“My ex-wives. . . “

 

“Actually, Jack,” Isinglass said, “You are still technically married to us.”

 

“And as it is vowed,” Amaryllis added, “We must still have our marital shares.”

 

The crowd murmured louder. Jack was deciding to whether accept his wives though he no longer loved them. They might just waste away his riches. On the other hand, if he kicked them out now, it might worsen his image in the eyes of the elite society, but why must he worry if they themselves had none? His two wives approached him, and he sat on his throne still with dignity. Jack then had an idea to eliminate his wives, “Give me a reason why I mustn’t reject each of you, m’ladies. I mean, all women are only good at bearing children. Why must I accept you if the children you bear me before are disappointing?”

 

Amaryllis smirked and called her son. A young lad came in wearing a full armor and holding a huge double-edged battle axe. His strong and manly aura filled the whole room and made the crowd sink on their knees in fear and awe. Jack moved deeper in his seat as the lad came closer. Jack laughed for he couldn’t believe the weak and helpless baby had grown into a strapping young warrior. Amaryllis explained that when Hatchet’s eyes were gouged on his baptism, his feeble aura was also gouged from his body. It went with his teary eyes. Jack embraced his son, and kissed Amaryllis’s hand.

 

But Isinglass didn’t stand long to watch the spectacle. She summoned a fireball in her wand and hit Jack’s chest. The force was so strong that it threw him back to his throne. Jack pulled his self together, but in a cocky way. He said to her, “Don’t need to catch my attention, my dear Isinglass. I still love you as much as I love her, IF our child also changed for the better.” Isinglass’s furrowed eyebrows sank into doubt and worry. She then called her daughter. Footsteps were heard, but the people in the room were puzzled for they could not sense anyone walking in front of them. But Jack was in total horror at the presence of Magenta.

 

For you see, Isinglass put a spell on her forever-hideous daughter – No one would ever feel or sense her repulsive aura. Unfortunately, it didn’t affect anyone of close blood relatives, especially her father. As for Hatchet, he was strong enough to resist it, and Timber Lea wasn’t taught yet to sense somebody’s aura. In a passion, Jack shouted at Isinglass to go away. But this time, Isinglass got mad at his insolence. She waved her black wand, and at that moment, the doors and windows shut by themselves and the whole room was in flames. The crowd panicked in the inferno, and Jack received the threat and surrendered to Isinglass.

 

Five years had passed. Amaryllis and Isinglass sat on the balcony overlooking the castle garden. They tossed their wine glasses for their anniversary as queens. Lionel was also there as cupbearer. Actually, he was always there taking all their orders and abuses. That time, he found it quite amusing and touching that two cold-hearted women became close friends because they both hated their husband, and teamed up together to return to him as his legal wives just to get his money. Another herald came in and announced that Amaryllis’s warlords wanted to speak with her. Isinglass continued eating biscuit and honey.

 

Magenta was being pampered at the garden. Timber Lea was also there learning how to sense auras. But her tutor found it hopeless to teach the naïve and illiterate girl. He declared a break to get rid of his frustration. Timber Lea, accompanied by two dogs named Roy and John, approached Magenta who was seated on a high throne. She invited her to play Frog Prince with her. Magenta happily accepted, and her servants made a human stair for her. The two princesses then started chasing frogs out of the pond and into the field of flowers. Whoever had the most frogs sitting on a flower wins.

 

They were enjoying their selves, and Isinglass smiled that someone actually accepted her ugly daughter. If only Jack would do the same. Isinglass remembered the times she tried to ask Jack to love Magenta, but not to force him to love her. Yet, he just couldn’t face their daughter. This was why he favored Amaryllis more when it came to marriage. Then, Isinglass perceived Jack in the garden. He interrupted the girls’ game and carried Timber Lea. He advised her, “Don’t ever come near this abomination, my girl! You might catch her ugly.” And he left the garden with Magenta sobbing. Isinglass was outraged, and went into her room alone. A phantasmagoria of colors appeared beneath the door, and she didn’t come out at all for months.

 

When she did, she asked Lionel of the whereabouts of Timber Lea. She was holding an apple as red as blood. But Lionel replied that Amaryllis took the princess into war as part of her education, since her tutor quitted and Amaryllis volunteered instead. That afternoon, the trumpets declared the victorious return of the warrior queen Amaryllis, Sir Hatchet and his brother, Tom, and Princess Timber Lea. Jack only welcomed his daughter and celebrated in honor of her return only. He was keen to ask her of her adventures, but Timber Lea just sat there and didn’t move at all. She never replied to anything or even reacted. The royal physician discovered she was deaf, maybe because of all the turmoil of warfare. Jack then scolded Amaryllis who returned to her chamber.

 

“Oh, you poor dear,” Isinglass politely gave her the apple, but it always fell off the girl’s hands due to clumsiness. Isinglass tried to offer it many times, until she rudely tried to force it into Timber Lea’s mouth, “Eat the apple, you idiot girl!”Jack threw the apple out the window, and dismissed Isinglass to her chamber, too.

 

 Along the way, Isinglass heard Amaryllis’s angry expletives revealing that she intended to take Timber Lea to the battlefield to have her killed. But none of the knights, enemy or not, could kill such delicate creature for they could feel her innocence in her aura. Amaryllis hated her stepdaughter because she reminded Jack of Susannah, whose name he mumbled while sleeping or making love. Isinglass entered the room and said, “I hate that girl, too.” Then, they planned to spend more time with their stepdaughter. The next day, Jack went hunting as usual. His two wives marched into Timber Lea’s play room.

 

Amaryllis dismissed Timber Lea’s many friends and servants, and Isinglass locked all the doors and windows. Timber Lea was hugging a teddy bear, but Amaryllis grabbed it and began to tantalize her, “You wanna play with your teddy, huh?” Then, she ripped its head and with Isinglass, started to destroy all the toys. But Timber Lea was just there sitting and not caring. “John, Roy,” she said out of the blue, “I’m hungry.” Isinglass then made the chair and table move to her by their selves. She and Amaryllis started to forcefully feed the princess, hit her teeth with the spoons, choke her and rub the food on her face.

 

“Oh, my princess, you’re filthy. Come take a bath.” Amaryllis tossed Timber Lea in the bathtub with boiling water heated by Isinglass’s witchcraft. Then, they stripped off Timber Lea’s wet clothes and dressed her in rags. They pushed her on the floor and commanded her to clean the mess they made. “Clean up your mess, you filthy urchin, or else we’ll hit you!” But Timber Lea couldn’t hear them, and just kneeled there. Then, her stepmothers kicked and punched her, and repeated, “Clean up this mess!” They kept doing this until Jack returned, and they would change everything back to order.

 

Every day, Timber Lea’s stepmothers did these things to her. And yet, she was just there like a lifeless doll. Her empty eye sockets just glared at nothing, never knowing the grimaces of her stepmothers. Her pink lips didn’t open to shout for help or to complain. Her ears heard none of her stepmother’s horrible tortures. And her skin didn’t show bruises to be evidence of maltreatment. This turned Amaryllis and Isinglass’s anger into desperation. They wanted her to cry, to plead, to scream, to bleed. These would only satisfy their sadistic hunger. Then, they gave up, and just threw Timber Lea deep in the woods.

 

Unfortunately, the next day, the princess miraculously came back on her own carrying a diamond so brilliant that any Necropolitan could “see” it twinkle. Then, she became more of her father’s world, outshining her stepmothers and half-siblings as if they never existed. “That’s it! We’re going to kill her,” Amaryllis and Isinglass finally declared. Jack went hunting in the morning, and his two wives led Timber Lea deep into the woods again. Using witchcraft, Isinglass summoned a gale to throw Timber Lea high up in the air. Amaryllis readied thirteen arrows in one bow to hit the girl, and Isinglass summoned flames on their tips. They both laughed evilly.

 

Suddenly, a fox and a wolf attacked Amaryllis. The arrows were released, but they were now of inaccuracy. Isinglass summoned a strong wind to throw the wolf away to a tree. Amaryllis caught the fox by the tail, and swung it to the ground. The two creatures became unconscious. Then, the flaming arrows came falling down and pinned Isinglass to the ground. None of her skin was hit, but her gown was burning. Worse, she couldn’t reach her wand. Amaryllis tried to help her, but the arrows were stuck to the soil. As for Timber Lea, she fell on a huge stem, and it snapped and crushed onto Amaryllis. She was also stuck for the stem was heavy. Then, the two stepmothers cried for help to Timber Lea who was atop the huge stem.

 

But she’s blind, she’s deaf, and she’s unforgiving. Thus, she walked away and never came back.

 

Author's Note

As you can see, I made a lot of references from classic fairy tales, from Snow White to Cinderella.