“I welcome the opportunity to exhibit more useful behavior,” the prince said, bowing low at the waist.
Jack rolled his eyes. “No, seriously, we wouldn’t want to take you away from whatever it is you’re doing,” he said.
The prince shook his head. “This giant is slain. And since I cannot return … I mean, since my only task is to avenge my father by slaying the giant who murdered him, I must seek out more giants. That means I may travel where I will, and with whom I would.”
“Maybe you just found that giant,” Jack suggested hopefully, nodding toward the huge body in the distance. “Maybe you’re done now and can go home.”
“Unfortunately, no,” the prince said. “I had a chance to converse with this giant over the last five days. He was not the one for whom I search.”
“Yet you killed him anyway,” Jack said. “How noble of you.”
“That thing
ate
you!” May said to Jack, who just shrugged that off.
“All giants deserve death,” Phillip said matter-of-factly. “The more I slay, the less there are to devastate the world. My quest only benefits mankind.”
“That’s nice of you,” May said.
“Oh, come
on
,” Jack said, but he had a difficult time being appropriately indignant, given that the giant
had
tried to eat him.
“So, the Black Forest, eh?” Phillip said, though he didn’t seem too enthused over the prospect.
“Do you know where it is?” May asked him.
“Of course!” he said expansively. “It is no more than a day’s travel from here. We should perhaps wait out the rest of the day here, then get a fresh start in the morning.”
Jack’s stomach chose that moment to rumble loudly. May looked at Jack, then smiled at Phillip. “We’re both a little hungry,” she admitted.
“Say no more,” the prince said, reaching for his traveling bag. “I never leave home without preparing.”
He untied the bag, then upended it over a blanket he set on the ground. Fruits of varying sizes and shapes tumbled from the sack as he shook it, all looking as fresh as if they had just been picked from the tree or vine. Next came bread, followed by several round cheeses. It was as if the previously thin-looking bag was now overflowing with food.
May’s eyes widened. “A magic food bag!” she shouted, grabbing for an orange. “
Sweet!
Ours is only magically roomy.”
The prince smiled with a royal smugness. “Please,” he said, “eat all you can. The bag cannot be emptied. It was one of my father’s rewards for his giant-slaying.”
May tore into the orange, then proceeded to stuff her face with bread and cheese. Jack marveled for a brief moment at her feeding frenzy, then threw himself on the food with even more enthusiasm than the princess was showing. The prince seemed a little taken aback by the display in front of him, especially when half a peach landed on his shoe. May reached over to grab it back, glanced at the prince, blushed, and let it go.
“I see that you are quite hungry,” the prince said, sounding a bit sick now.
“Yup,” Jack responded through a mouthful. “We haven’t eaten for a while.”
“Oh, my friend,” the prince said, shaking his head. “How could you take this beautiful young woman out into the wilds without proper provisions?”
May looked up, her face covered with seeds and fruit juices. “We haven’t really slowed down enough to eat.”
The prince nodded. “Such is life at times. Still, anything that I have, consider it yours.”
May dropped a plum. “That’s so nice!” she said, her eyes soft as she looked at him, purple juices running down her chin.
“I will do my best to live up to your trust,” the prince said, for once not interested in staring at her. “Do you know what we are looking for at the edge of the Black Forest?” he asked, moving his gaze to the sky.
Jack and May both shook their heads. “My grandmother just said there would be someone in the forest to help,” May said through a mouthful of a tasty deep-brown bread.
The prince raised an eyebrow. “Someone
in
the forest? But that does not make sense, Princess. Nothing lives within the Black Forest. And no man that travels into the accursed place emerges alive. Why, everyone knows that!”
May chewed twice more before Phillip’s statement hit her. After it did, Jack had to dodge bits of flying bread. “
What
was that again?” she said.
“Nothing lives in the Black Forest,” Phillip repeated. “And no man has ever emerged alive from its depths.”
May turned to Jack. “What’s he talking about?!”
Jack shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you. I mean, everyone knows it’s cursed, but—”
“Cursed?!” May said, her voice going up several octaves.
“Friend Jack is mistaken, Princess,” Phillip said.
May seemed to calm down a bit at that. “Well, good,” she said. “I’m telling you, I’m not sure I can handle much more creepiness.”
“The forest is not cursed so much as haunted,” the prince finished.
May just looked at Phillip with disappointment, then sighed heavily and turned to Jack, throwing him a truly evil look. “You knew this?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“Well, kinda,” Jack said, backing a bit away from her just to be safe. “No one
really
knows what’s in the Black Forest. I knew it wasn’t going to be fun, exactly, but that was it.”
“And
why
doesn’t anyone know what’s in there?” the princess asked, her voice still dangerously low.
Jack inched even farther away. “Because no one’s ever made it out alive …?” he squeaked.
May stared at him for a good minute, then turned to Phillip. “So. You two were going to let me just walk in there?”
Phillip put his hands up to calm her down. “I believe this is the first I have heard of the plan to actually go
into
the forest. And I did bring up my concerns immediately upon hearing of our destination.”
“Okay, that’s true,” she said to the prince. “
You
are off the hook.”
Slowly, both of them turned to look at Jack.
“What?” he asked, but May just glared at him.
“You really should have mentioned this to the princess,” Phillip told him, shaking his head.
“Thanks,” Jack said sarcastically. “You’re a
big
help.” He turned back to May. “It’s not like we had anything else to go on, so we didn’t exactly have a choice. Besides, who knows what’s in the woods? All we know is that no one’s made it out. Maybe that means there’s some kind of paradise in there, something no one wants to leave!”
“Or something doesn’t
let
them leave,” the prince said quietly.
“Hear that?” May asked, nodding at the prince. “We’re all gonna die in there, and when we do, guess who I’m going to blame.”
Jack’s mouth dropped open. “Listen, May, none of this was
my
idea! It was your grandmother who said—”
“Don’t you
dare
blame this on her!” May exploded. “You’re supposed to be my
guide
here!”
“Is
that
what I’m doing?” Jack shouted back. “I thought I was just here to get eaten every ten minutes!”
“If I may,” Phillip said, but both Jack and May ignored him.
“If I’m so little help, maybe you two should just go in alone!” Jack yelled.
“Maybe we should!”
“Fine!”
“Fine!”
Jack stood up and May turned her back to him. Neither said a word.
Phillip finally broke the silence. “I, uh—”
“So go already!” May shouted at Jack, interrupting the prince.
Jack growled, then grabbed his bag from the ground and stomped over to the edge of the clearing. “Enjoy your little royal expedition here, Your Majestic Highnesses,” Jack said bitterly. “I’m so glad you found a
prince
to help you, Princess!”
“Now, Jack,” Phillip started, but again, May shouted right over him.
“You have no
idea
what you’re talking about!” she yelled, jumping to her feet and following Jack to the edge of the clearing. “And your kiss was
pathetic
!”
“Kiss?” Phillip asked, as Jack abruptly froze in place.
“Trust me,
Princess
,” Jack said without turning around, “the feeling’s
completely
mutual.”
Behind him, May growled in frustration. “I can’t believe I ever wanted your help!” she screamed.
Jack didn’t answer. He just started walking, so mad he couldn’t even think of a reply.
“Oh, good one!” she shouted after a pause, and Jack’s anger doubled, as did his pace. As soon as he was out of sight, though, Jack stopped and threw his grandfather’s bag to the ground, mumbling and shaking his head about the stupidity of the princess.
How moronic
was
she?! How was
he
supposed to know exactly what was going on in the Black Forest when no one else did? Sure, he’d heard stories, just like everyone else, but who knew which of those were true? Just because the war with the animals had ended there didn’t mean the whole forest was cursed, after all.
Still, he might have said
something
.
But why? It’s not like he hadn’t taken care of her up until this point. They’d done just fine on their own so far, and how could things get any worse than a man-eating giant—or a man-eating witch, for that matter?
Jack picked up his bag and took a step back toward the clearing he’d just left, then turned and threw his bag down again, shaking his head in disbelief at himself. She didn’t need him anymore. She had her prince now, and obviously preferred him. After all, the
prince
could kill a giant just by standing still for a few days! All Jack had been able to do was make it yawn.
Again, he picked up the bag, but something occurred to him, and he turned to walk back down the path toward the royal pains. As he did, he caught a glimpse of someone standing just behind the trees. As he glared the person took a step out, revealing herself.
“I
saw
you there the whole time!” Jack lied.
May took a step toward him, her look not quite as hostile as it had been. “I was just checking to see if you’d left yet,” she said, not looking directly at him.
Jack narrowed his eyes. “Sorry, Princess, I haven’t gotten that far. I dropped my bag.”
“I saw that,” she said, then paused. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
“Are you leaving?”
Jack shook his head. “I was. I am. But I forgot about this thing,” he said, reaching into the bag to pull out the broomstick. He held the stick out to her. “It obviously likes you better, so … here.”
May took a step forward, her mouth open slightly, like she wanted to say something, only nothing came out. Jack didn’t say anything either. He just stood in place and shook the broomstick. May sighed, then grabbed the front of the broom. For a
second, they both held it, and Jack almost found himself apologizing. Instead, he dropped his end of the broomstick. “That’s it, then,” he said. “Good-bye, Princess. Good luck rescuing your grandmother.” With that, Jack turned around and started walking into the forest.
“Jack …,” May said from behind him. “What do you want me to say? That I need your help? That I want you to stay?”
“I don’t want you to say anything, Princess, other than ‘good-bye,’” he said, then stepped into the woods, leaving May and her quest behind him.
The rising sun shone through Jack’s eyelids, irritating him just enough to wake him up. As he separated his nightmares from reality he realized with a groan that far too many of the bad parts were actually happening. The rocky ground he’d slept on didn’t really help things, but even sleeping on a bed of the softest linens wouldn’t have kept dreams of a knight in a blue cloak away.
Jack stretched, then pushed himself to his feet, groaning again as he did. Everything was sore, but at least he wasn’t waking up in a witch’s house. He picked up his bag and started walking, suddenly regretting not taking any of Phillip’s food when he had the chance. After one night, his hunger had
returned, and this time brought friends, some relatives, and even a few pets.
As the sun rose higher in the sky the forest began to come alive around him. Birds, both natural and magical, sang out their songs, each competing with its neighbor. Jack smiled at this, watching the regular birds futilely attempt to overwhelm their supernatural cousins. A few everyday birds gathered on a branch, trying to outsing one particular bird with silver wings and a golden head, its body as big as a crow’s. The regular birds chirped away in a pretty, offbeat sort of rhythm, but they had nothing on the three-part harmony that emerged from the mouth of the silver-and-gold bird.
As Jack walked he stayed to the trail, since he wasn’t exactly sure where he was going. Apparently this trail wasn’t very well-traveled, as the local animals and creatures didn’t seem too afraid of humans. He thought he spotted a fox at one point, and another time, he definitely saw a magical snake, shimmering like an underwater candle as it spiraled through the air, just a few inches off the ground. Jack actually found himself enjoying the walk, despite his mood.
Unfortunately, soon enough clouds blocked the sun, causing the day to grow more and more overcast as the morning moved
on. Gradually, the graying light threw the path into shadow, and the pleasant magical creatures around him began to take on a more sinister appearance. Red eyes that previously had been cute in the middle of fuzzy faces now glowed menacingly from the darkness, and Jack swore he heard a voice, tiny but clear, reciting something in a strange language.
Soon little droplets of rain fell, refreshing at first, but quickly turning into a drenching shower. The storm didn’t help the dirt path much, muddying it up within minutes as the rain came down harder.
All in all, the woods were getting pretty creepy as he drew closer to the Black Forest.
The fact that he could have been well on his way home by now still bothered him, but when it came down to it, he just couldn’t leave the princess to die on her own … and Phillip hardly counted. No, this was all her fault, and Jack promised himself he’d tell her that over and over whenever he finally did catch up with them. He couldn’t be too far behind, not when he’d only walked an hour last night before stopping to make camp, turning back toward the Black Forest at daybreak.