My Brother's Keeper

“Where were you?” Pax asks from the corner of my room.

My eyes shoot open, and I find my brother sitting on the floor by the closet, wrapped in his comforter. I had been hoping nobody would hear me come in, let alone know I was gone.

“I had to do something,” I reply with a squeak.

He hadn’t taken the news of his royal blood well. I felt I needed to tread lightly with him.

“Oh, was it important?” he looks up at me with sad eyes and takes a heavy breath.

“How long have you been waiting?” I sit down next to him and place my head on his shoulder. I can feel him shaking, and I admit it frightens me.

“I heard you leave,” he replied as he placed his head on top of mine. For a moment, he seemed to relax.

“Sorry, I was hoping I wouldn’t wake anyone,” I apologized.

“It’s ok, I get it.” Pax lets out a laugh and then goes silent.

“A lot is going on right now. Tomorrow is kind of important, you know.” I am enjoying his warmth. Even if he was shaken by what was happening, I got to spend my last night of normalcy with the one person I loved.

“Am I going to die?” he asks.

I turn my face toward him and shake my head vigorously. “Not on my watch.”

“How do you know?” he turns his face, and we lock eyes. There is so much fear in them my heart melts.

“I just do,” I reply softly.

He smiles at me and then opens his blanket and pulls me in. I wrapped my arms around my brother’s waist and squeezed him.

“What if I die? What happens? What changes?” he asks.

I didn’t like the questions. They were uncomfortable. I did not want to think about the other heirs running after my brother with cleavers or axes. I tried to envision him happy with a golden crown on his head. Fairy tales were supposed to have happy endings. The hero saves the damsel, and they all live happily ever after. So, what if I was supposed to be the hero and Pax, the damsel? He was going to get his happy ending.

“I don’t know,” I reply with a slight shrug. “I will tell you this, if you die, we die together.”

He kisses my head, and I hear his heartbeat slow. Maybe I was putting him at ease. He had appeared so frightened when I came through the door.

“I knew something was off. All the stories Mom told me when I was a kid. The things she would say about you.”

I was confused by his statement, but these stories had been rolling around for years, and I still did not know what one I was supposed to be part of.

“What do you mean, stories?”

“About the prince and the Swan Queen. How they sacrificed themselves. Then how the kingdom turned dark.” As Pax explains, I can see things in my head.

I had yet to hear his version of the story. I close my eyes and try to see what he is talking about. Green grass, flowing trees, flowers aplenty; all very much wrapped in beauty. Four souls departed the kingdom the day Siegfried and his love ascended into heaven. Two swept upward to the sky and swirled like the stars. The other sank into the ground, poisoning it. The putrid smell of their bodies rolls along my senses, and I nearly vomit.

I open my eyes and find I’m standing at the mouth of the lake. The green grass is now brown and sparse, and the trees are barren and burned. The land looks nothing like it had when I first closed my eyes. The smell still lingers. The two souls who sank into the earth ruined the kingdom, causing my mother to change and twist. It was their doing.

“Now you see it.” I hear Odile coming toward me from the center of my vision. Her pale skin and bare feet are almost one with the iridescent glow of the water she walks upon.

“What do I see?” I breathe.

The scenery in front of me is frightening. The land of the lake is all tainted by rotten souls.

“All you had to do was remember.” Odile comes to a stop in front of me and smiles. “I knew it was in you. You may be weak, but you’re not stupid.”

She angers me with her comments. I glare at her. “Why do you keep telling me I’m weak?”

Odile rolls her eyes. “They thought they weakened me with their treatments, but my magic transferred while yours was still dormant.”

“What are you talking about, Odile?” I demanded.

“The doctor and the nurse taking the light from you.” Odile rolls her shoulders back and takes a deep breath. It’s like the smell of our location doesn’t assault her sense as it does mine.

“I already know they took it,” I grumble.

“Then what is it you want to know so bad? There is a reason you are remembering.” She was sulking. I had taken away her chance to make me feel like a smaller version of her.

I wasn’t sitting on my bedroom floor with my brother, wondering where my magic had gone. I was wondering how I was supposed to keep him alive. When I go after the heirs, will they go after him?

“Tell me about that night.”

I want to know about the night she killed our mother. I had my suspicions and was doing my best to keep them hidden. She had already said I was weak but not stupid.

“What do you want to know?” Odile walks away from me toward a small shack of a house. It feels familiar, almost homey. It’s also in the middle of the rotten forest, with weeds and thistles around its outer walls. I knew at one point it was a beautiful cottage, but the faces associated with it were no longer living.

“Everything you do,” I replied as I stepped behind her.

She leads me inside, and we sit at the small table in the corner with two inches of dust and plates of what was once food. Whoever had been here when the kingdom vacated had left in a hurry. The years of wear and tear took over, and everything was covered in grime.

“As you can see, this place has fallen into disrepair. When Siegfried and our great-aunt died, things here changed. Famen hit our farmlands, livestock died, and the lake became poisoned. Citizens were traveling to nearby towns to find even they had been hit by the lovers’ curse. There was no escape, but our mother opened the portal in the lake. The citizens left the kingdom and took refuge in the world above, a parallel universe with no magic.” Odile waved her arms as if she were lost in the dance. She stood up and spun around the room, pointing to the bare cabinets and open washbasins.

“Then what happened?” I ask. I’m on the edge of my seat. I can see all of this happening. The soil and lake tainted the livestock, causing death and the people screaming for answers and getting none.

“Our mother worked diligently to reverse the curse. Yet, her vision fogged and flipped somewhere in the mess of frogs’ toes and broken hearts. She had opened the portal to find sanctuary for the people, something the sullen king had refused to do himself. In doing so, she found our father.” Odile pops her knuckles and retakes a seat, her grand performance coming to a dramatic conclusion.

“What does this have to do with royal blood?” I had expected so much more from the song and dance.

“They abandoned their people, Odette. Siegfried’s brother ran to another kingdom and married a princess to get away. The king locked himself inside the castle and ignored what was happening outside. Every royal family turned their backs, and when the portal opened, who do you think was the first to leave the kingdom? There is a rumor they wanted our mother to lock the citizens inside and only allow royal blood into the new realm.” Odile leans close and nods her head. “They locked her up in Eider after she refused.”

“When did she shift permanently from the light to the dark.?” I wanted to know about our mother; whether she was good or evil didn’t matter.

“She says it happened while locked away. She shared little about her time in the asylum other than how cruel the doctor and nurses were. Shortly after she had us, she was released, and we moved to the island.” Odile puts up her finger, and I know she’s about to correct her story. “I should say, Mother and I moved to the island. She left you behind at the asylum, locked inside a mirror. She named you after our great-aunt because you were perfect. I was named after the young woman who died the same day our aunt did.”

“The black swan,” I muttered.

Odile had mentioned the color of our swans. She didn’t understand why mine was black. The magic had to be locked to our spirits while the transmutations were locked to the body.

“You’ve been doing your research,” Odile replied with a twisted smile.

“Why did she leave me in the mirror?” I asked.

“She never said.” Odile shrugs and continues her story. “When I was young, there was this boy at school. He wasn’t very nice, and he made me cry. She refused to take matters into her own hands, so I made him disappear with mine.”

“That has to do with the mirror. How?” I question her. She was talking in circles now, and part of me wished we could return to the kingdom’s history and how the people escaped.

“You witnessed the whole thing and then told Mom.” Odile sneered at me.

I did not know what she was talking about or remember witnessing anything. I also had no memory of speaking with our mother. How could I have talked with her if I was inside a mirror?

“How is that possible?” I asked.

“She’s a witch, Odette. She can walk through a brick wall if it leads to another dimension. Speaking to you is something she did in her spare time. You were the only one with no boundaries. You could travel between reflective surfaces and report back on the things you found,”

“I was the damn mirror on the wall?” I grumble.

“I never thought of it that way, but yes, you were.” Odile smiles wickedly.

All the missing mirror memories made sense. She must have put me there to do her bidding. Travel here and there, collect information, and report it to her. Nobody would know about the child watching them through their mirror. I could be easily missed should they turn to see who was following them.

“What happened after I told Mom you murdered the kid?” I pushed the story on. I didn’t want to linger on the joke the mirror was becoming.

“I received quite a lashing, and my magic lessons were revoked.” Odile pouted.

“That doesn’t seem so bad. Lenny was put to death for our mother’s murder.” I winked at Odile, knowing she would love me by mentioning his name.

Odile’s face twisted, and she let out a snarl of contempt.

“Lenny is a whole other story, that lazy loaf of a sorcerer. He couldn’t even spit sparks from his fingers before he came into our lives.”

I enjoy the fact his name bothers her.

“Then tell me about the borders. Why are they closed?” I still had not learned what I wanted to know, but I could use all the information she was willing to give.

“That’s because we live between realms. It’s part of our mother’s curse. All her ideas. Nobody ever appreciated her art, and she wanted to get even. That’s how Daddy and a handful of other humans got stuck. They are none the wiser and think this is how it’s always been.” She laughs softly and leans back against the couch.

“Did you put Lenny under a spell?” As much as I wanted to know about the townspeople and why they were between realms, I could feel movement in my hands. Someone was waking, and our time was ending.

“It took little convincing to get his help. I’m not sure he cared about our mother. I think he just needed a place to stay. Plus, she kept enough booze around to sedate an elephant.” Her response skates around the question.

“Lenny seemed more than willing to share his side of the story when I visited,” I retort flatly.

“Of course he wants to tell his side of the story. A twelve-year-old girl duped him. All I had to do was mention he could have the key to Coscoroba if he killed her off.” Odile shrugs.

“Are you kidding me? You put me up as the bargaining chip?” I tossed my hands in the air and sighed. First, I was in the magic mirror, and now I was a means to make a deal. I was grateful I couldn’t remember any of this.

“It wasn’t my idea.” Odile smiles.

“If it wasn’t yours, who was it?” I ask.

Odile’s eyes shine, and I know she has something she has been dying to tell me.

“It was Mom’s.” She squeaks as she slams her hand over her mouth to muffle her giggles. She looks furious.

“Why would Mom do that?” I wasn’t shocked. I had already figured it was a setup all along.

“Do you realize how many families want to take the throne?” Odile gasps.

“Five?” I answer.

Her confession about our mother took me aback. With everything I had learned over the last week, it wasn’t shocking. Hearing she wanted to use me as a trade was a little unnerving. Even slightly horrifying to know she put her own life on the line to open the possibility to other families. However, she could have outed Pax and made him a target five years earlier. Did she have a soft spot for the then-ten-year-old?

“There are five main families, but we also have the lower-level royals. The ones destined to be lords and ladies, not princes and princesses. Ask our stepmother about her father. He could have taken the throne after his brother died, but he ran off and married another royal. Thinking he could outrun what was happening in Coscoroba.” Odile grits her teeth together.

“That’s unfortunate,” I mutter.

I knew Karen was royal and tied to the throne. She had even said because she was female, she couldn’t take the throne, so it fell to the firstborn son. In my humble opinion, I feel Pax picked the short stick.

Odile shrugs. “There were a few people who stayed behind. But when the farmland fermented and the borders closed, there was no other option but to leave.”

Odile stops speaking and looks at me. I motion with my hands for her to go on. We were running out of time, and I needed to know everything she could tell me.

“Karen met Dad, and they had a kid, our brother, and Mommy found out. She was unhappy that our father had banged the prince’s daughter and had a son. You know how a monarchy works. Well, in our land, only a man can take the throne. Women are treated as bargaining chips to expand kingdoms. One day, I will tell you the story about the Red Wood.” She put up her hand, and I wondered what stories she knew. There seemed to be far more to Coscoroba than a Swan Queen, empty castles, and fermented farmland.

“Karen mentioned this before,” I mutter. Odile shoots a look of contempt in my direction, and I shut my mouth.

“When the royal families had children, they duel it out for dominance. Pax has traveled under the radar for fifteen years, mostly because he’s not of age yet to take the throne, so it wouldn’t be wise to kill off a child.”

“That explains why nobody ever suspected Pax,” I smirk. “He was too young. Even our mother had a soft spot for children. Why else would she put an age limit on her magic?”

“Your friend, Preston, doesn’t seem to care whether he’s fifteen or twenty-five. He plans on hurting our brother whether or not we step in. Anyway, Mommy saw all of this in her little orb thing and was furious. So, she sealed the gates with a blood oath when she sealed them for good. The doors will only open if the blood of the five royal families is spilled on sacred ground.” Odile looks at the sky, grimacing.

“That is what they meant by battle royale,” I sigh.

“What else did you think he meant?”

I hold back my urge to slap her. She keeps forgetting I don’t know the entire story. I know the bits and pieces I learned during the week.

“What happens if I refuse to kill anyone?” I say, knowing our time is ending.

“Then everyone dies. It’s a catch for twenty-two, Odette. Sacrifice the five to save the hundred.” Odile shrugs as if it doesn’t matter to her what I do. She’s content where she’s at, able to travel through reflective surfaces.

“How do I know who to sacrifice?” I take a deep breath, remembering our previous conversation about pre-selected victims.

“Leave that to Mom,” Odile says as she looks at the broken clock on the wall above the sink. “You have a busy day today.”

I can feel my body falling as the image fades into darkness.