Remember Me: A Nutcracker Story | ✔

VIII. Home Again

"After that, the people — my people — crowned that wretched fairy as their queen," finished the Rat King.

Mary was gaping at him the whole time, and then she scoffed. "You deserved no less, as she had said. It becomes a man less to hit a lady, and much less to take her powers by force."

The Rat King knelt in front of Mary and hit her across the face. "But I'm not a man anymore," he said with a sneer. Mary gasped at the sudden pain and longed to caress her flaming cheek, but all she could do was glare at her oppressor.

"Tell me what you told NC," she spat. "All I heard was this pathetic jaw about how you were shamefully banished from your own kingdom by your own folly."

The Rat King stood up and paced around Mary's chair. "Let's see, what did I tell the boy? Ah, yes. You see, Miss Mary, NC is my son by blood."

Mary didn't resist a hysterical laugh. "Now you must be bluffing. Tell me the truth, Rat King! I've had enough of these lies!"

"Oh, but I haven't lied to you yet, dearie," said the Rat King. "I had an affair with one of the princesses I came across on my search for a bride, and when I found out that she was pregnant, I left her."

Mary paused, mulling this over. When it clicked, her glare was a mix of disbelief and horror. "You... The Snow Queen?" she gasped.

"None other, Miss Mary," said the Rat King with an evil smile.

Mary was out of words for a few moments, then her glare intensified and she struggled against her bonds. "You foul creature! You defiled the Snow Queen! You're no father; you're a monster!"

The Rat King chuckled nonchalantly. "That may be, but by blood NC is my son. Everything he has been told all his life is one. Great. Lie."

Mary continued to scream names and curses at the Rat King, all the while fighting against her bonds. Her wrists were cut and bleeding, and her ankles were red and raw, but she hardly noticed them. She was too enraged to feel anything else.

"NC cannot be the son of someone as monstrous as you! He is kind, gentle, honest, and brave. He is nothing like you, you vicious, evil bastard!!"

The Rat King only laughed at Mary's words. "But he will. He will be the king of the Land of Sweets in my place, and he will fulfill my legacy. He will be remembered in history, and I can finally return to my kingdom with glory."

"NO! NEVER!! Let! Me! GO!"

As if on cue, a portal opened on the wall of the throne room. The force of it knocked the Rat King and Mary's chair to the ground, and the impact of the floor on her head knocked Mary out cold.

Sticks flew through the vortex just as it closed, his eyes wild and fierce as he stood ready to face any foe. He first saw the fallen chair and Mary's mess of blonde hair and ran to it. He cut off Mary's bonds and winced at the wounds on her wrists and ankles.

"Mary, can you hear me?" he said as he supported her in his arms. "Mary, please wake up. You have to be alright."

Behind them, the Rat King got up from the floor and saw what caused the sudden disturbance. He slowly approached Sticks with a club in his hand. But Sticks turned around right in time and caught the club as it came down on him. His eyes blazed with fury and he easily overpowered the Rat King.

"You," he said, his voice filled with loathing, "did this to Mary. You hurt her, and now I'll be more than happy to return to favor." 

He pushed the Rat King away and subdued him, then gagged him before he could call for reinforcements. He would have knocked him out with a punch had Mary not stir awake.