City of Starlight

Chapter 6 - The Sister

(3rd POV)

As a handmaiden to Queen Guinevere, it didn't take very long for Hilda to find out that two of the new guests from the Enchanted Forest were none other than the famous Snow White and the Evil Queen. However, she was even more stunned to hear that the two have been on cordial terms for several years now. After all, when Hilda was still living in the Enchanted Forest, the two had been at each other's throats and their conflict only resulted in huge amounts of bloodshed both on the battlefield, and in the lives of many villagers. 

Whilst that it had been many years since she experienced those things, they still lived in her mind like it was yesterday. She was worried about her elder brother when he moved out of their childhood home to work in the stables of a noble family's estate. She exchanged regular letters with him, until they mysteriously stopped. But by then, she was already far away from the Northern Kingdom because of her husband's occupation. Several years had passed, and Hilda begun hearing news of how the Evil Queen began to terrorise the land following the King's death. As a result, Hilda and her husband were forced to seek their fortune elsewhere, to escape the monarch's strict restrictions on trade. Not long after they arrived in Camelot, her husband died of an illness. Without her close companion by her side, nor any children to take of, Hilda looked for work, and she ultimately managed to secure a job as a handmaiden in Arthur's castle. 

Hilda expected that the guests would cause a commotion, but she wasn't anticipating that a girl would be poisoned so soon.  When she inquired about what happened, she was surprised to hear from the messenger that it wasn't the notorious evil monarch's daughter.

Holding a basket of healing herbs and moist towels, Hilda climbed the tower where the guests were residing. Though she was humming a tune quietly to herself, she immediately stopped in her tracks when she entered the room. Standing beside the bed was the familiar silhouette of a man who she hadn't seen in a long time. She put down the basket and murmured, "Daniel?"

The man turned around slowly and looked at Hilda in puzzlement for a second before his eyes lit up upon recognising her. "Hilda!"

The siblings ran towards each other and embraced tightly. Hilda then repeated in a shaky voice, "What, how? I thought...I thought you were dead! Your letters stopped coming so I thought the Queen had done something to you!"

When they parted, Daniel threw Lena a look but his wife tried to shake off the mention of Regina by stepping forth and prompting, "Hilda?"

Another wave of recognition rushed through the handmaiden and she gasped, "Lena!" Then, seeing the sick teenage girl on the bed, she said, "That's...that's your daughter?"

Lena nodded and lead Hilda over to Aurelie, who blinked weakly. She too, was intrigued with the interaction that had just occurred. Then, Hilda asked, "What happened? Surely the poison wasn't meant for your daughter." Her voice softened as she took Aurelie's hand in hers and asked gently, "What's your name?"

After Aurelie replied weakly, Lena cut in and said, "The Evil Queen did it."

Hilda looked worriedly at her brother, "Are you sure? Has somebody reported that? I thought the Queen and Snow White were on good terms now, but surely Snow would do something about it?"

Daniel quickly interrupted with a stern glance thrown towards his wife and confirmed, "You're not wrong, Hilda. But I don't think this was her doing-"

Lena scrunched up her forehead upon hearing Daniel's answer, but she didn't want to be the one to reveal to Hilda that her husband had been the Queen's lover. Not yet. Hilda swallowed uncomfortably but nonetheless crossed the room to retrieve the basket that she had carried up to the room. As she did so, Lena tried to steer the conversation away from Regina and changed the topic by asking, "How did you end up in Camelot?"