The Nutcracker King (Coming From Darkness #1)

Chapter 10 Part 2: Marie

Marie felt a gentle nudge.

"Mother?" she said as she opened her eyes sleepily. But the first thing she saw was not her mother, or even the Nutcracker. What her eyes focused on was the sword that the Nutcracker held. It was now blood red, and looked sharper than when she had first given it to him. The next thing she noticed was that the Nutcracker towered over her, life-sized.

"It is over, Demoiselle Marie. But I am still wooden."

"What do you mean, Nutcracker?" Marie couldn't take her eyes off the sword. The Nutcracker noticed and sheathed it.

"I had thought, Demoiselle Marie, that the curse would be broken when the Mouse King was killed. However, this wasn't so. I spent the times thinking about it and talking about it with my sisters. That's when I learned something. The trees, Demoiselle Marie, the trees." As he spoke, he waved his arms and blood dripped onto her.

"The trees?" That made no sense. The trees in the Kingdom grew the most delicious candy, but they were not real.

"The trees produce such beauty from blood, Demoiselle Marie. Every hundred years, a sacrifice has to be made. This time, it was the Mouse King." The crazy Nutcracker actually had a smile on his face.

Marie felt sick. "The Mouse King?"

"Yes. The blood of the Mouse King feeds the trees. And now, Pirlipat's blood. With two royals feeding the trees, the fruits are more delicious than ever, as you will soon see."

Thinking back on how she had gorged herself on the fruits in the past made Marie nauseous. She jumped out of bed and, spying the nearest vase, quickly removed the flowers and threw up in it.

As she vomited into the vase, Marie felt something hold her hair up. She shuddered, knowing it was the bloodstained hands of the Nutcracker.

"Are you ill, Demoiselle Marie?" His voice was filled with concern. "The story can wait."

"No, continue." Marie didn't want to have to listen to this story twice.

The Nutcracker smiled approvingly as he continued his tale. "The trees come to life because of blood. I had thought that if I bathed in the blood of my enemies, it would give me life and free me, turning me back into a King. But when the blood of Pirlipat didn't work, I realised I had more than one enemy. It's a pity I could not bring Drosselmeier and Fritz to feed the trees."

"No," Marie whispered.

The Nutcracker didn't seem to hear her, and continued rambling about how he was glad he killed poor, brave Fritz and dear Godfather Drosselmeier.

"It's a pity but that I could not bring them there. It would have been interesting to see how the Kingdom reacted to them. As I was saying, after I killed Fritz, his Hussars were more than willing to follow me. We have gone into the Kingdom and reclaimed my rightful throne. I had come here with the good news, but I did not realise your parents were forcing you to leave. But it's over now. It's over."

Marie asked the question she didn't want answered. "Nutcracker, what do you mean?"

"I have gotten rid of your parents. Now come and be my Queen Marie! I will protect you from everyone!" He pulled out his sword and swung it around, jabbing at imaginary enemies.

Marie couldn't help it, she screamed. Quickly, the Nutcracker put down his sword, grabbed her and pressed his wooden hand over her mouth, muffling her screams. Marie struggled, she did, but no matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried to bite him, she could not break free.

"Calm down, Marie. Do you wish to wake the whole household?" he hissed.

Marie could hear someone running towards her room. Salvation!

"Demoiselle Marie," the frantic voice of cook could be heard, "What's wrong? Open the door!"

"Tell her to go away," the Nutcracker murmured in her ear. "I cannot shrink until we go back to the Kingdom, not to mention it will be dawn soon. We don't have much time left." He removed his hand from Marie's mouth.

Marie took a deep breath. This was her chance. But one look at the gleaming sword and wooden smile of the Nutcracker, and her courage faltered.

"It's... it's nothing, Cook. Just a nightmare."

"Are you sure? Do you want me to bring you a cup of tea or call your parents?"

Marie felt a jab in her sides. "No," she said quickly. "Sister Luise will be coming soon, and they need their rest."

"Are you sure?"

This was her last chance to escape from the Nutcracker. Surely he wouldn't hurt her. Marie glanced at him and saw the worry in his eyes. His sword was over by the table, was it far enough that she could run?

Marie didn't know.

What about Cook? If she made it out of the room, could she and Cook hide until morning? And sister Luise, what about sister Luise? Would the Nutcracker be able to track them to her house? Luise had been part of owner of the Nutcracker after all. Who else could she ask for help, Herr Heinrich?

Could they protect her?

Or should she protect them?

"It's fine, truly," Marie said calmly. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you. You need your rest, Cook, please. Tomorrow will be a very busy day for you."

"If you're sure," Cook said. Then she left, her footsteps growing softer as she walked away.

When all was silent again, Marie turned to the Nutcracker, who had let go of her to retrieve his sword.

"Give me five minutes," she whispered.

Nutcracker

I smiled as I watched Marie walk slowly around her room, trying to decide if she should bring anything. Her reaction to her newfound freedom had surprised me, but I supposed her tender heart loved her parents, even though they were monsters. But she had proven her love by getting rid of that intruding cook. Now, I would be the only one in her heart.

Finally, after rifling through a jewelry box on the table, she was done. The only thing in her hands was a garish green necklace that did not suit her.

"Are you sure you want to bring that? It doesn't suit you," I said, "Don't worry, my love, I will make sure you have more jewels that you can imagine, and they will make your beauty shine brighter than this ever could."

To my surprise, Marie just clutched the necklace tighter in her beautiful hands. It was strange, but it was only a necklace. I could see no harm in it, even if was in terrible taste.

"Do you need to leave a note?" Belatedly, I realised that my dear Marie might want to account for her disappearance.

Marie shook her head. The silence was strange, but this was a momentous night. She probably did not want anyone to hear her and interrupt our escape. I held her waist and pushed her towards the closet. After one final glance at her room, she walked into the closet and started to shrink. I followed, returning to my accursed doll size, and followed her up the arm of the fur coat.

We made our last trek from the gateway through Christmas Wood, across Rosewater Lake and into Marzipan Castle. When we walked into the Castle, we were greeted by my subjects, who had gathered in the courtyard.

"Welcome your new Queen, Marie!" I announced, and they broke into applause and cheers. Marie was obviously surprised, but she put on a brave smile and accepted the adoration gracefully.

Looking at Marie, I knew that she was going to be a great Queen. 

The Nutcracker's part was pretty short so I figured that there's no point in breaking things up. So only two more parts left till the end of this story!