Collections of Embellished Fictions, Philosophies, and Poetry

Alternate Ending to SandRider

May 22. 2018.

CHAPTER 7:

Marissa greeted the Red Queen as she stepped out of the Hidden Way. "My Queen, welcome to the Castle." The Red Queen glared at her. "You mean my Castle," she snapped. Mitza smirked. Marissa always gets what she deserves, she thought. Marissa frowned. "Your Majesty, welcome to your Castle," making sure to emphasize on "your" for the Queen's satisfaction. She touched her neck in affection. Never in her life had she been so thankful it was there. She took the Universal Castle Key off her neck and handed it over to the Red Queen. "Yours now," she said, a bit sulkily. The Red Queen snatched it out of Marissa's hand, leaving scratches on her palm. A bead of witches' blood dripped on the crusty leaves beneath. Marissa clutched her hand close, and followed the Red Queen as she made her way to the well-worn Palace. With Queen Jenna's circlet still on her head, she quickly made her way to the front of the party. They made their way across the Moat, unnoticed by Gringe and the Bridge Boy. Marissa was about to open the doors to the Palace and fell in, as the doors on the other side were also opening. To her horror, she realized who exactly it was standing on the other side: Queen Jenna.

"My circlet!" she cried. She grabbed Marissa and pulled her to her feet. "Give it back," she said sternly. "Now." Marissa was careful not to show her wounded hand, as witches' blood was a nasty thing. With her good hand, she took off the circlet and gave it to its rightful owner. Jenna whispered a Clean spell Septimus had told her a while ago. "The essence of a witch is none to be taken lightly. If the essence is small, rinse. If mild, wash. If great, Clean!" Perhaps it was a different angle, but the circlet truly did look cleaner. Now that the fuss over the circlet was over and it was on Jenna's head, not Marissa's, she looked at Marissa's rather odd group of friends. Remembering her Queenly manners she said, "Welcome to my Castle. I wish you a very pleasant stay. If you have any trouble, you may send a Message Rat to me, The Queen, the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, or the Chief Hermetic Scribe." She blushed a little at the mention of the Chief Hermetic Scribe. She didn't know if anyone else noticed, as there was not much light, and she sincerely hoped they did not notice.

The Red Queen flared. "This is my Castle. You do not own it. I suggest that you leave right now, or it's off with your head!" Jenna was shocked. "Who are you? And what are you doing here? I am the heir of the previous Queen, and if you are not related to me in any way, you are not the Queen." The Red Queen smiled so grimly and cackled so maliciously that the hair on the back of Jenna's neck stood on end. "If you would just pass, there will be no heads on the floor," the Red Queen said firmly. Jenna decided she had had enough of this nonsense of Marissa's and her friend's. She stamped her foot as if claiming her turf. "No." The Red Queen had also had enough nonsense. Oraton-Marr had promised her this Castle, and now that she was here, she had felt as if she had stayed there all her life and it was hers. She unsheathed her long, curved sword, its sharp side glinting as the dim torches' light hit off the edge, also revealing dried blood she had never cleaned off. As if in reply Jenna unsheathed her sword with a wicked point, a sword Milo had given her on her twenty-first birthday.

Her self-defense teachings came into use. The Red Queen lunged at her, and Jenna did a skillful dodge. Jenna leaped, as if performing a dance, and went zig-zag around the Red Queen. She jumped over her and was planning to hit the wicked point of her sword on the Red Queen's back, but was a fraction of a second too late. As the Red Queen and Mitza were travelling through the Ways, they ran into a group of Kraan. The Kraan had agreed to assist her; they sensed the Darke in her soul. So, as the group was walking toward the Palace, two Kraan were stealthily following them in the shadows of the tall houses on Snake Slipway. It was these Kraan that appeared and grasped Jenna firmly. She could already feel her energy draining from her body, and her head slumped over. The Kraan dragged her and Marissa led the Red Queen and Mitza through the dark halls of the Palace.