Violet

This chapter has been edited on August 6, 2019.

When Brent regained consciousness, the first thing he noticed was that his neck was very stiff. It felt as if he had slept on a stone floor. When he actually opened his eyes, he saw that he had slept on a stone floor. The second thing he realized was that he was wearing different clothes. The previous black suit he was wearing was replaced by thin brown pants. That was it. He was shirtless and barefoot to match, without even a single blanket.

The third thing he realized was that he wasn't even wearing any underwear.

Brent looked around the room and realized he was in a cell, his legs and wrists chained to the stone wall behind him.

"So you've finally woken up," said a voice to his left. In the corner of the small, dingy jail cell was a woman. She wore the same pants as him but with an ugly brown shirt to match. She was pale, almost grey, as if she hadn't seen daylight in years and her wrinkles gave her an ever present scowl that made her look suspicious. The only thing that glowed with youth on her were her snake-like green eyes. Her head was shaved.

Even though she looked slightly dead, and her wrinkles sagged further than her jawline, she still seemed to have a shadow of beauty. Maybe it was the way the woman sat straight and tall, despite being chained to the wall as well. She looked powerful, and intimidating.

"Who are you?" Brent asked, "And why are we imprisoned?"

"You don't remember?" The woman raised an eyebrow, a smirk gracing her chapped red lips. "You must have really exerted a lot of energy. My, what I would've paid to see you."

"What are you talking about?" Brent furrowed his brows, "What's your name?"

"Me? You want to know little ol' me? I'm flattered, Brent Lucas," She put a hand on her heart in mock-flattery, "A long time ago, they would've call me Lady Grimhilde. Queen of the Eastern Kingdom. Now..."

She snorted with a slight chuckle, "Well they don't call me that anymore, I can assure you that."

Lady Grimhilde.

That was the name his father had said. The one who had made a deal with his mother. Jenine had also mentioned that this woman was here. Does that mean he was in the dungeon of the Northern Palace? Why? What happened?

More importantly, this woman said she was the former queen of the Eastern Kingdom. Brent mentally scolded himself, he couldn't remember which princess currently ran that kingdom.

"So why are we here?" He asked.

"Me? Oh that's a long story, you don't need to know. You?" she took another moment to break into a fit of laughter, "How could you forget?"

"Can you please stop talking in circles and just tell me what happened?" Brent put his head in his hands.

Lady Grimhilde just laughed again, "Oh alright, child. Hold onto yourself, this is fairly wild," she grinned, "You turned into a vampire-werewolf hybrid and terrorized the people of the castle. I'm even told you might've killed two people."

Brent stared at her for a second, blinking, "I'm sorry, what?" he asked with a polite smile, his brain still not processing what she said.

"You are the son of Vandra and Daniel, correct? Vampire and werewolf, yes?" She asked and then continued without waiting for an answer, "You're a hybrid. You turned half vampire, half werewolf. From what I was told, it just looked like a beast. And, just in case you didn't hear me the first time, you nearly killed two people."

"What two people?" Brent said, choking on his own breath, "W-what do you mean? How did I-"

"You hit stepped on one person, who's probably going to die," She sighed, leaning back into the corner of the stone prison, "And then you hit the prince with your arm... or at least that's what I've been told."

"Lucas?" Brent gripped the side of his pants tightly, "There's no way I would hurt Lucas. He's my best friend."

"Yes, yes, I remember those words," Grimhilde smiled, "very similar to the words your mother spoke after she killed Lily Charming. Prince Lucas's mother."

Brent didn't speak. He put his back to the wall and brought his knees up to his chin, covering the rest of his head with his arms.

How could this happen? Brent wanted to prove he was nothing like his mother. He wanted to prove that he could be close to Lucas and for the prince to never find out about his mother. His mother was evil. A parasite, a witch, the devil herself. He wasn't anything like his mother.

The things people said about her were... awful. She killed her own best friend.

Truth be told, there's a lot more to your mother than you might think.

His dad must of been out of his mind. Of course, she wasn't different than the rumors about her. She killed her own best friend... even though Brent might have just done the same thing.

Depends on if you believe in her or not.

Why would he believe in a murderer? A vampire murderer at that. He turned his attention back to Lady Grimhilde. She stared at the wall, eyes empty and mind off to another time and another place.

The only ones that know the truth are Old Lady Grimhilde, myself, Vandra, and Lily Charming herself.

Old Lady Grimhilde.

"Lady Grimhilde," Brent said softly.

She blinked once and slowly turned her head to him, expression still stolid and blank. He cleared his throat, "Could you tell me what really happened to Lucas's mother? My father told me that... the story everyone might have been saying isn't necessarily true."

Her face slid into a grin, "Of course, little Brent. You know I was there when you were born?" she coddled, "I'm practically your godmother, I would do anything for you."

"You would," Brent perked up. He sat up straight and looked at her with expectant eyes, "You'd really tell me?"

"Of course, but... well..." she sighed, "You know you can't go around in this world getting things for free. You can't get something from nothing, you know."

Brent furrowed his brows, "Alright, then what do you want?"

"You're gonna break me out of here," she said matter-of-factly.

"What?" He shook his head, "First of all, I wouldn't even know how to do that. Second, I don't even know why you're in here. You could be a murderer for all I know."

"So could you," she smiled, "I have a way for you to break me out. But it'll only work if you do it. A little spell."

"Why can't you do it yourself?" he asked, crossing his arms, the chains around his wrists clinking loudly as he did.

She crossed her arms as well, "The spell will only work if you do it."

"Why?"

"Enough questions. Do you wanna figure out the truth about your mother and break both of us out of here or not?" she raised an eyebrow.

"I..." he thought to himself. This woman could actually be a murderer. Not an accidental one either. She could've killed an entire town. She could've tried to kill Lucas in the past or any other member of the royal family. There were too many variables.

"I don't think I can trust you," he said, shaking his head, "You're too much of a mystery. I'm sorry."

She sucked her teeth loudly and scolded, "Oh fine, fine. You know Snow White?" she asked

Brent nodded, "Of course I do. Or at least I know the story of her that they tell the children in the continents."

"Surprise!" she gave a big fake smile, "I'm the hag that gave her the poison apple."

Brents eyes widened, "You are a murderer."

"What? No! I helped her find her true love," she shrugged, "Depends on how you look at it. Anyway, it all worked out in the end. Except for the part where I was put in jail to rot for the rest of my life."

"Well then you're here for the right reason, I can't help you get out now," Brent said, "Who knows who you're going to poison next."

"I don't have any magic left in me," She shook her head, "It'd take me a good month to recharge. You see these chains on us? They drain you every moment you've been here. I've been sitting in this cell for over a decade."

"Wait how could that be? I grew up learning about all the princesses. That means you have been here for over a century," Brent narrowed his eyes.

"Time used to move a lot differently back in those days," Lady Grimhilde rolled her eyes, "It's a story about Merlin. I don't have time to get into this. Are you going to help me or not?"

"Absolutely not. I'm not going to set loose a murderer." He shook his head, "You're the evil queen!"

"I have a lot of nicknames," she waved the insult away, "Don't you want Prince Lucas to know the truth though?"

At the mention of the prince's name, Brent flinched slightly.

She smiled, "Out of all people, you probably want Lucas to know the truth, right? You wouldn't want him to actually think that you've betraying him all this time, would you? Think how heartbroken, it would've made him. Do this, and I promise you'll have the truth. On my life, I swear I will show you what really happened the night that Lily Charming died."

"You give me your word?" The evil queen nodded eagerly. Brent thought it over for a second and then nodded, "What do I have to do?"

The smile that broke out on her face made Brent's stomach churn. She leaned over to the wall on her right and dug her yellowing nail into the chip in the stone. A small piece of the wall gave away and reveal a tiny hole. She stuck two fingers inside and pulled out what looked like a tiny beige bean.

She leaned over once more and handed it to Brent. He stared at it, confused.

"What is this?" he asked

"It's a beanstalk bean. I'm sure you've heard the story," she winked.

He eyed the bean warily, "Why didn't you use this years ago?"

"I told you I can't," she said, much too excited for Brent's comfort, "Only those pure of heart can activate its magic."

At those words Brent almost declined again. He almost handed it back to her. But then he saw Lucas in his mind. Lucas, heartbroken and in pain. Lucas nearly dying because of what Brent had turned into.

He turned to Lady Grimhilde, "Okay, how do I use this thing?"

Her grin grew, "It's very simple, my boy. Listen closely."