This Enchanting New World

Chapter 18

Goth's words hit me like an arrow to the heart, but not in the same way that Calahan's words had done earlier. These words hit hard because I couldn't believe how true they were.

"That one's too smart for her own good," Dizzy mumbled under her breath.

I fought the urge to set her dress on fire. For someone who "could never speak up the way I do," Dizzy sure was getting bold.

"Goth..," I opened my mouth to speak and only found a deafening silence.

"You're right," I finally confessed, "Waiting around for a magical solution that gets me the throne will never prove fruitful. If I want something to change, I have to change it myself. I have to do something to earn the throne."

Goth's piercing gray eyes flickered with something unrecognizable.

"Trust me when I say that nothing will ever happen unless you make it happen," she agreed with a rueful, slight nod.

"How do people become queens?," I pondered aloud, wheels turning in my mind like a ticking clock.

"They dispose of the current ruler," Goth said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

I gave her a wry look. "I'm not killing my brother," I said with an eye roll, eyebrows arched like my mother.

"Then..they pass a test," Goth suggested.

"Again, something applicable to my current situation, please," I clarified.

She scratched her head, her own soft eyebrows furrowing in thought.

Suddenly she began to rub her hands together and make the most wicked, scandalous grin I'd ever seen on my usually peppy old friend.

She leaned in and put a hand next to her mouth, licking her lips as if she relished every word she was about to say.

With a start, I realized exactly what she was poised to bring to the table; After all, my mother had been known for being quite cunning and a mastermind by nature, and Maleficent knows it was like mother, like daughter in this world. (Literally.)

All the blood drained out of me and all the color disappeared from my already pale cheeks, so I looked like a ghost caught in the shadows. 

Goth raised her eyebrows, clutching my shoulders in her strong grip.

"They marry into a throne."

"How exactly am I supposed to not only find a naive enough prince, but also make him fall in love with me!? And what if I don't actually love him back? That's emotional manipulation!," I gasped.

"First off, I know a guy. Second, it's called acting, sweetheart," Goth said with the patronizing silky voice and batting eyelashes I knew well. "Third," she continued using her normal tone, "you can always take a page out of your mother's book. Fourth, this is your one chance to become a queen again, to have a legacy again. If you don't do this, you'll remain worthless forever. This is what you wanted, and this is what you have to do."

Before I could protest, the bell rang to signify the end of lunch and I was left alone to ponder the possibility of marrying and wooing a man I do not love, purely to gain power over his kingdom.

And the worst part was that the more I thought about it, the more it actually seemed like a legitimate option, if not the only option.

Sometimes I made myself sick.