Seren settled on the couch, a little notebook in their arms. It started with writing a simple little story. But they were falling into it and adding more detail as they went. Up on a pillow mountain their ankle was resting. Pandora opened the front door and Seren rested their notebook in their lap.

“Hey, anything I can help with?” Seren asked. A pit of guilt in their stomach from the house going about the work around them.

“Nope, you rest up.” Pandora snapped her fingers and pointed with a forced smile.

“Are you mad at me?” Seren winced.

“Not you,” Pandora reassured them. “But I will be if you don’t take it easy and focus on healing.” Seren nodded, not entirely convinced as Pandora took the stairs up. Seren went back to the notebook, rereading their budding narrative. Slipping back into it. Even sketching up some illustrations to go along with the story. Aurora skipped down the steps with her new skirt. She danced and twirled her flowing garment, stopping before Seren with a broad smile.

“Whaddya think?” Aurora held out the fabric to show off the skirt in its entirety.

“I thought it was going to be a dress,” Seren asked as they put down their notebook.

“It was, then I decided it wasn’t going to be.” Aurora shrugged.

“Fair enough,” Seren sat up on the couch. “I like it, it’s beautiful.” Aurora flipped her skirt a few times excitedly and spun around again. Her eyes landed on the notebook. Smile reaching up her cheeks with a mischievous sparkle in her eyes.

“Who are you writing to?” She asked.

“Oh, no one.” Seren closed the notebook embarrassed. “Just some nonsense I was writing.” Aurora flounced over and sat on the couch beside Seren. Nearly throwing them off.

“Let me see! Is it to that boy? The one you like?” Aurora reached for the notebook but Seren held it out of their reach.

“No! I’m not going to write to him! What would I even say?” Seren tucked the notebook behind their back and crossed their arms smugly at Aurora.

“Tell him you’d like to see him again, duh!” Aurora scoffed. Kyi walked past the opening to the kitchen and Aurora called her into the living room making Seren’s cheeks go red. “Kyi! Seren’s got a crush! Come help me convince them to write to him!” Kyi ducked back through the kitchen door and ran to the couch. Sliding along the hardwood floors on their knees to sit beside them.

“Who is he?” Kyi propped their elbows onto the couch and rested their head on their fists.

“There is no he!” Seren insisted.

“He’s a prince,” Aurora gossiped right over Seren’s head.

“Ooh..” Kyi gasped. “Now that’s some prime real estate right there.” Seren started to protest but snorted at the ridiculous statement.

“I know! Wish I could bag me a prince,” Aurora sighed. “Or like. A decent human being, y’know?”

“Not at all,” Kyi shook their head. “People are gross and weird.”

“I mean like yeah, absolutely.” Aurora’s nose wrinkled up. “Single life forever, right?”

“Forever alone and loving it!” Kyi and Aurora clapped their hands together in a high five. Seren looked between the two completely lost.

“Okay, wait.” Seren shook their head. “Aurora, are you forever single or are you looking for love?”

“Both,” Aurora shrugged. “I’m not looking for love because I’m happy to be on my own but I also won’t turn up my nose at a perfect man strolling into my life.”

“I will.” Kyi said without hesitation. Seren snickered and rolled their eyes.

“So!” Aurora snapped, turning their attention back to Seren. “Are you going to write to him or not?”

“You know I’m not,” Seren snickered and shifted upward again. Moving their pencil onto the side table behind them.

“You should, if you like him.” Kyi said. “What if someone else writes to him and he goes with that person instead of you cause he didn’t know you were available?” Seren paused to think it over. A full white wedding came to mind, in which James was marrying a faceless woman with blonde curls. It made Seren a little nauseous.

“If that’s what he wants, good for him.” Seren crossed their arms.

“He doesn’t know what he wants and neither do you, unless he has all the information and knows all his options.” Kyi pressed. “You can’t withhold information and blame someone for not knowing it.”

“Just write something. Anything!” Aurora insisted. “We’ll help!” Seren sighed and pulled the notebook out again.

“Not on that, let’s get some real paper.” Kyi jumped to their feet and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Returning with a small stack of paper. Sliding back into place and thrusting the paper in Seren’s hands.

“Okay, address the letter.” Kyi hit the couch cushion with their full weight making the cushion gasp.

“To who?” Eoin asked as he came inside. Seren went red and hid their face on the paper.

“You have to address it right. You can’t say ‘dear prince whateverhisnameis’ “ Aurora said. “It’s gotta be snappy. Gotta really catch his attention.”

“Prince who?” Eoin came and sat on the table in front of the couch.

“You guys are killing me,” Seren muttered to the paper.

“Sjodyr’s,” Aurora mentioned. Kyi and Eoin both ooh’d in harmony. Seren sat back and looked at the blank paper.

“How do you know him?” Eoin asked.

“Know who?” Pandora asked, coming down the stairs.

“Prince of Sjodyr.” Eoin said.

“Ooh,” Pandora slid alongside Eoin on the table.

“When I was little his family came over during one of my m- the Queen’s parties.” Seren said in defeat. “I hung out with him and showed him the labyrinth the Queen had made in the gardens. In the center there’s this weird ass tree and…”

“AND?” The four listeners leaned closer.

“And I gave him one of the apples from the tree and he showed up at the castle a week or so ago. And he still had it…” Seren shifted, a small smile on their face. “He presented it to me and asked to court me.”

“Aww!” Aurora clasped her hands together and leaned on her knees. Eoin snapped his fingers.

“Yeah and I was there when he asked the queen the same thing,” He said. “She had him banished from the kingdom entirely.”

“What?” Seren looked up.

“Yeah, penalty of death and all.” Eoin nodded.

“What a bitch!” Kyi scoffed.

“Why?” Pandora asked.

“I dunno, he was adamant that he was going to court Seren whether the queen liked it or not. Then she threw his ass out.” Eoin leaned back and wrapped one of his arms around Pandora’s waist and pulled her close.

“This all reinforces my point,” Aurora nodded. “You should write him a letter.”

“Yeah, write him. He clearly has a thing for you.” Eoin held Pandora into his shoulder; she closed her eyes and smiled contently. Seren sighed and looked at the blank paper again. They started writing, trying to write clear and legible. As well as giving them enough time to think through what words they were going to choose. Pandora turned and whispered something in Eoin’s ear, he leaned over to hear better. Nodding occasionally. Then he turned to whisper back. Seren didn’t mind. Their cheeks were still tinged pink from the thought of someone standing up to their mother. For them.

-----

The Queen turned abruptly. Hitting Sawyer with her train hard enough to knock the young girl into the bookshelf.

“Careful!” The Queen barked. Sawyer stood again with a muttered apology but the Queen didn’t seem to hear it at all. She paced around the small cavernous room. Her gown swept along the room, extinguishing some of the candles along the way. Sawyer stood in place next to the bookshelf. Waiting for direction. She took the time to look at the shelves. Most of the old books had no titles on their spines and the leather binding was wearing away in places. Sawyer didn’t dare reach out to see what any of them had inside.

“Hand me that book!” The Queen barked. Sawyer jumped around and pulled the black bound book from the bookcase. The Queen snatched it from her hands and slammed it down onto the counter with a thud. Dust flying off the countertop. The Queen cracked open the book and flipped the straight thick pages. Back and forth through the pages until she found what she was looking for. The Queen slid her painted nails down the page. Stopping halfway down and tapping the page a few times.

“Take that knife and fetch me bark from the side of the tree that is in shadow.” The Queen pointed to another countertop with a neat box. Filled with strange onyx looking tools. Sawyer got into the box and pulled the first knife she saw and ran out of the tunnel. Emerging out of the darkness and running around the tree to find a hint of a shadow on the tree. The night was starting to fall and long shadows drew long over the labyrinth walls. Sawyer picked a shadowed spot and struck the tree with the knife. Carving out a hole in the tree and running back down to the witch lab. The Queen had gathered a few other bottles and was hovering above a little black cauldron.

“I’ve brought you the bark,” Sawyer offered the bark to the Queen. She took it and inspected it.

“From the shadowed side?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good girl,” The Queen picked up another of the black bladed knives. She cut the bark into smaller pieces and dropped them into the cauldron. “Go over to the shelves and retrieve the fabric bag and be careful with it!” Sawyer ran to the shelves and picked up a bag. As she picked it up a golden apple fell out. Hitting the ground and rotting away to nothing before it finished bouncing.

“Be Careful!” The Queen barked. Sawyer couldn’t bring herself to meet the Queen’s angry glare. Instead focusing on bringing the bag over without dropping anything else from it. The Queen snatched it out of Sawyer’s hands, scratching the girl’s arms in the process. Sawyer recoiled, the Queen pulled one of the apples out from inside the bag and held it up to the light. Scrutinizing it with a keen eye. She took up the knife again and peeled it. The golden scraps falling into the cauldron.

“The Golden apples are magic, girl.” The Queen said. Sawyer crept around to the Queen’s side. “Their flesh is a potent cure to every ailment. Seed for seed, a child of the dirt for a child of the wild.”

“Are you…” Sawyer tried to gather what exactly the analogy meant. “Referring to how we kill Seren?” The Queen sliced the peeled apple open and cored it. Dropping the core into the cauldron. She turned to the book and started tracing her finger along it. Sawyer leaned forward and peeked into the cauldron.

“Poison?” She asked.

“Obviously,” The Queen scoffed. “Fetch water from the kitchen.” Sawyer turned and ran to fetch the water. The Queen traced the instructions for the deadly recipe. It didn’t need any of the apple flesh itself. Which did make sense as the flesh held the most healing potential. The Queen bit into what was left of the apple. Feeling her skin raise into goosebumps and tighten from the first bite. She lit the fireplace and pulled the hook out from inside it. Thinking about the tediousness of the whole situation.

“Damn that child,” The Queen muttered as she placed the cauldron onto the hook. Every year as soon as the apples would grow Seren would find their way to the tree as if drawn by a magnet. The Queen pushed the cauldron into the fire. Contemplating if they were missing something important. Without them around, the apple blossoms were much fewer than average. The Queen shook her head.

“Seed for a seed. A bargain struck once can be struck again,” She said to herself confidently. She looked at the opening in the room. “Where on earth did that girl get to?” She tapped her heel, impatient. The Queen huffed and rolled her eyes.

“Miserable whelp,” She sneered. “Can't find decent or even adequate help anywhere.” The Queen stormed out and into the labyrinth. Keenly aware of the intruder stumbling about it’s confusing walls. With a sharp turn of the corner the Queen faced Sawyer, her arms filled with a bucket of water from the well.

“This way,” The Queen commanded. Sawyer nodded and ran after as the Queen led them back to the center of the labyrinth. Ducking into the alcove under the tree. Smoke from the fire was billowing up from a hole in the roots over the fire. Sawyer’s face went pale as she saw the smoke.

“The tree’s on fire!” Sawyer yelled as she ran up behind the Queen but not daring to follow into the dark.

“Don’t be stupid,” The Queen barked. “I’ve lit the fire for the reduction. Now be quick!” Sawyer ran after the Queen and to the fireplace. The cauldron was snapping from its contents. The Queen took the water bucket and poured it into the cauldron with a hiss. White smoke overflowed the cauldron and then pulled up into the chimney. The small cavern filled with a sweet smell.

“Take the mortar and crush the jar of wasps on the second shelf.” The queen waved her hand over her shoulder. She stirred the concoction. The water had gone dark and cloudy, the ingredients swirled in the cauldron. Sawyer felt her skin get clammy as she looked at the shelves. The chill vanished when she found the jar of insect corpses. Sawyer snatched the jar off the shelf and ran to the stone mortar and pestle.

“The whole jar?” Sawyer asked.

“Yes,” The Queen stared at the bubbling cauldron contemplatively. “And the belladonna berries, the tread-softly, the- oh never mind. Come stir the pot.” Sawyer sighed relieved and rushed to take the stick from the Queen. The Queen shut the book and looked over the shelf.

“Do you know this recipe by heart?” Sawyer asked.

“We’ve finished with it,” The Queen grabbed a jar with the corpses of giant hairy spiders and inspected it. “In a case such as this, there is no such thing as over-kill.”

“Really?” Sawyer asked.

“Yes. The Queen grabbed more jars and a few bags of dried plants. Taking them to the mortar and pouring the jars in. “There’s no way of knowing how many apples that damned pest consumed.”

“And this stuff isn’t strong enough to combat a few years with the apples?” Sawyer asked. "Especially after years without?"

“Who knows,” The Queen rolled her eyes. Grabbing a few more jars. “These poisons weren’t enough. I trust no one poison to make a dent.”

“Then, why are we making a poison?” Sawyer paused in the stirring of the pot to look at the Queen.

“To stun them and inhibit them from recovering.” The Queen crushed the contents of every jar in the mortar. Sawyer went back to stirring the bubbling cauldron. The Queen moved back and forth between the mortar, the shelf, and the cauldron. Crushing together every poison and toxic ingredient. Adding it to the bubbling pot until every known toxin was in the cauldron. The Queen shooed Sawyer aside and took the stick and stirred the cauldron herself.

“Is there an incantation we have to say?” Sawyer asked.

“No, spells and potions are very different things.” The Queen rolled her eyes. “And spells and potions are completely different from basic alchemy.”

“Oh,” Sawyer mumbled. The Queen let the concoction bubble, stirring until it reduced to a thick syrup.

“Fetch a vial,” The Queen said. Sawyer ran and grabbed the first container she could find. One of the jars. The Queen picked up a ladle and grabbed the jar. Holding it in her hand.

“It’s thick… like jelly. We could give it to them as a gift or something.” Sawyer said nervously. The Queen thought this over.

“Take out the whole house…” She said, “Wonderful thinking, Sawyer.” The girl beamed as the Queen used her name. The Queen filed the jar and corked it. She let it travel around the jar. The thick ooze resembled honey. A smile touched her face. In her reflection she could see Seren’s final moments. Finally in her reach.