When the queen awoke the morning after a tormented night, she found Snow White unconscious on the floor of the hall, an apple a few feet away from her, bitten in the center. The apple was dark red, just like the poisoned one, but it couldn't be the same... the queen had hidden it, hoping it wouldn't cause any more harm! Grimilde felt despair, she wanted to scream at the top of her lungs and cry, but her voice was gone, and soon she stopped thinking and began to act.
When the dwarves found her, voices had also come from outside: apparently the knights had followed her tracks into the woods and then crossed the river, seeing the queen's horse tied to a tree near a small house. From that moment on, the queen's vulnerable mind was in utter confusion: she had ordered her men to prepare what was necessary for her departure, then she had taken care to secure Snow White's body to hers for the ride, tying her to herself with ropes taken from the group of miners. The dwarves would have liked to do more to help Snow White, but they hadn't had a chance to confront Grimilde, who had built a wall, coldly ending their discussion.
She hadn't meant to be insensitive, but she had other things on her mind. She'd promised she'd return with good news as soon as possible, otherwise she'd send a carriage to take the dwarves to the palace, hosting the group as a token of gratitude for their good deeds. Then she'd hastily set off for the kingdom's capital. She couldn't think straight, because in that moment she wanted to take Edgar and destroy him with her own hands. She'd been so stupid, she'd underestimated the power of temptation and dark magic, and for that reason, it was her fault that Snow White was now in this predicament. Why? She wondered, why had they involved the princess? She would have easily given up her safety, risking her life, to bring the sweet princess back from the dreamland where she was trapped.
She'd never felt so useless and helpless in her life.
The journey to the castle would have required a night's rest, but Grimilde, overcome by madness and mentally wracked with worry, had ordered her knights to follow her without stopping, to reach the fortress as quickly as possible. It would take hours, and no one stopped despite the exhausted group, and upon her arrival, they wasted no time in calling the court physicians and servants to arrange the beloved princess in her chamber. Needless to say, anyone who saw Snow White in that condition began to cry or turn pale, and it was then that the queen deeply understood how beloved the ebony-haired girl was.
During the process of arranging the sleeping girl, Grimilde never left her side; she couldn't afford to, not knowing who she could trust at court. It was a desperate moment for her; she had decided she would make a new pact with the demon Astrael to bring the princess back.
While the doctors were checking Snow White's physical condition, she had ordered a knight to find the court advisor, taking him to her private office and awaiting his arrival. The doctors repeatedly asked what had happened, but the queen was adamant that she could not divulge too much information about the incident. No one objected, and everyone simply made sure Snow White was alive and well.
Soon, other knights arrived at the palace and confirmed the discovery of Mariella, Snow White's handmaiden: she was safe and sound, but confused. She had been unable to explain how she had found herself tied up in an alley; she had lost her memory. While Mariella and Snow White were kept under close surveillance, Grimilde ordered all uninvited palace personnel to leave the princess's wing of the castle and soon strode purposefully toward the office of the arrested advisor. When Edgar saw the doors swing open, he blanched and cowered under the queen's angry gaze. He knew in his heart that he had been discovered, but he would never admit it. So when the queen ordered the room searched, searching for weapons and any of Edgar's possessions, including letters and other written papers, he remained steadfast in his position, not saying a word.
"Edgar, do you know why I'm here?" the queen's voice had never sounded so cold and frightening. The advisor shivered and replied, "No, your majesty." His voice trembled, as did his nerves, ready to explode. Grimilde approached him and whispered threateningly in his ear, "I most likely won't find any black magic manuals, will I? Is it wrong to believe you have plotted to get rid of the princess, using forbidden practices, making a pact with a demon...? If my intuition deceives me, please tell me now."
Edgar would never have thought that the Queen of Arran possessed that kind of knowledge of dark magic: how was it possible? How could he have been so blind as not to realize it? Queen Grimilde was not only intelligent and cunning, but possessed information that could change the fate of an entire nation. She was powerful, so powerful it made him tremble from head to toe. He wanted to kneel and ask for forgiveness, but that would have crushed his pride, his dreams, and his goals. He would rather set the entire capital ablaze and burn with it.
"Your Majesty, you will find nothing. I have always been a faithful servant of the king! He would never have allowed such treatment—" he raised his voice, word by word increasing his conviction and confidence in his plans, but he couldn't have foreseen that the queen would be so enraged as to lose control. Grimhilde, in fact, had raised her arm with great speed and struck the advisor full in the face, knocking him to the ground. The knights in the room had stopped to observe the scene.
"Continue searching. Two of you will take the advisor to the castle dungeons: I want him bound in chains and ready for interrogation. Am I clear?"
"Yes, Your Majesty." Two men moved immediately, grabbing Edgar by the arms and dragging him away from the queen's feet. Before being led away, the man had looked into the queen's eyes, discovering the face of a demon he had never seen. A visceral fear settled within him, reaching his bones and shaking them: he knew the queen would stop at nothing and that that night would be his last.
~•~•~
"Your Majesty, have mercy! Forgive me, please."
"Edgar, as much as I hate traitors, I hate liars even more. Not even in the face of death do you wish to confess your sins? An abyss of terror and torment awaits you."
Edgar was in chains, his shirt torn by the lashes of the whip, stained with blood and sweat. The guard had taken care to make him obey with harsh manners, now he was as docile as a lamb. "Your Majesty!" Edgar was about to resume his plea, but some castle guards arrived in the room, and the queen turned her attention to them: she raised her hand to the cell keeper to tell him to check on Edgar and left the room. The counselor shivered again, whispering something under his breath until the keeper struck him to silence him. After about ten minutes, the queen returned with a book in her hand and, with an impassive expression, threw the manuscript at Edgar's feet, which opened to a particular page: a pentagram and some annotations in red ink were revealed.
"The writing seems to match, what do you say?" Grimilde placed the letter found in Aron's refuge next to the page and looked down at Edgar, who had his head bowed and blood dripping from his lips. Suddenly he raised his eyes, thirsty for blood, and screamed: "I will have you killed! You have no idea who you're up against, you whore—"
The queen watched as the caretaker grabbed the advisor's face and slammed him against the stone floor. His scream shook the walls of the room, but not Grimilde. "It pains me deeply to give up someone as capable as you, Edgar, but there is no room for traitors, liars, and ill-mannered people in my palace... I hope you can understand my decision."
Grimilde's looked at the guards, who left the room without another word. As soon as the prisoner and the queen were alone, the latter called Astrael to her, using the pentagram on the manuscript as a gateway to the demon and using Edgar's blood as a precious gift.
"Astrael..." As Grimilde began calling the demon, Edgar raised his face, his eyes wide. "What are you doing? What, how—"
"Astrael, our pact, our blood, binds us... I offer flesh and spirit, I call your name, I ask for your assistance, grant my wishes, greater demon."