فصل سی و چهارم

34

One Last Chance

Tap, tap, tap. . . . The guard was walking back and forth in front of Ofelia’s door, back and forth, to keep himself awake. The round window, twin of the full moon by day, was blackened by the night, which would end all hope to fulfill the Faun’s tasks. All was lost. She’d never find out whether he’d told the truth that there still was a place she could return to and call home.

A place where she still had a mother and a father.

Watch her. And if anyone tries to get in, kill her first.

“Kill her?” She’d been waiting for someone to do that since the Wolf left—sitting in her nightgown on the floor, under which the Pale Man roamed, her back against the foot of the bed—waiting for someone to come in and slit her throat.

Ofelia had placed the suitcase with her mother’s clothes beside her, hoping it might give her some comfort, but it only whispered: She is gone. They are all gone: your mother, Mercedes, even the Faun has abandoned you. It was the truth. All that was left was the old mill filled with ghosts and the terrible man who had been the death of her mother and would kill Mercedes, too. Yes, he would for sure kill her. Ofelia wondered only whether she was already dead or whether the Wolf would take his time with her, as they said he’d done with the rebel boy.

Through the steps of the soldier outside her door she heard her brother crying down in the Wolf’s den. He sounded so lost and lonely. His crying mirrored the moaning of Ofelia’s own heart and spun a bond through the night between them. Though she still blamed him for her mother’s death.

Ofelia raised her head.

There was another sound—a rustling of wings shaped like withered leaves.

The Fairy was fluttering above her, a living reminder of her dead sisters and of Ofelia’s failure. She landed on Ofelia’s hand, grabbing one of her fingers. She weighed less than a bird and the touch of her delicate hands filled Ofelia’s heart with light and warmth.

“I’ve decided to give you one more chance.” The Faun appeared from the shadows, holding out his hands as if he were carrying a precious gift.

Ofelia scrambled to her feet.

“One last chance.” The Faun’s narrow lips wore a forgiving smile.

Ofelia threw her arms around him and pressed her face into his long pale-yellow hair. It felt like embracing a tree, and the Faun’s laughter was a bubbling spring feeding joy to her desperate heart. He caressed her hair, leaning his patterned cheek against her head, and Ofelia felt safe despite the soldier in front of her door, despite the Wolf, despite the suitcase with her mother’s empty clothes. The Faun’s huge body shielded her from a world that had grown so dark. Maybe she could trust him after all. Who else would help her? There was no one.

“Yes, I give you one more chance,” the Faun whispered into her ear. “But do you promise this time to do everything I say?” He took a step back, his hands still on her shoulders, and looked at her inquiringly.

Ofelia nodded. Of course. Everything! She would do everything she could just to have him protect her from the Wolf who’d dragged her back to this room like a rabbit caught in the woods.

“Everything?” The Faun bent down until he could look straight into her eyes. “Without question?” He caressed her face with his clawed fingers and Ofelia nodded again, though this time she sensed the menace in his request.

“This IS your last chance.” The Faun gave weight to every single word.

Ofelia remembered the grapes on the Pale Man’s golden plates. No. This time she would be stronger. She nodded.

“Then listen to me.” The Faun tipped his claw playfully against her nose. “Fetch your brother and bring him to the labyrinth as quickly as you can, Your Highness.” That was a task Ofelia hadn’t expected.

“My brother?”

She couldn’t help but frown. What do you care? she asked herself. Yes, he sounds as lonely as you are, but he is his father’s son and your mother would still be alive without him. But not for the first time another voice inside her whispered, He couldn’t help it. He had to come to this world even though he was as scared of it as much as you are.

“Yes,” the Faun said. “We need him now.”

For what? Oh, Ofelia! her mother used to say with a sigh. Too many questions! Can’t you for once just do what I say? How, when her heart was asking them so persistently?

“But—” she began carefully.

The Faun’s finger shot up, a withered warning. “No more questions. As we agreed, yes?” Will you do everything I tell you? Everything. . . . Ofelia took a deep breath. The menace dwelled in that word, but she had no choice, did she?

“His door is locked.”

The Wolf’s room was always locked since he started keeping his son in there.

“In that case,” the Faun said, smiling mischievously, “I’m sure you remember how to create your own door.” The chalk he produced out of thin air was as white as the piece he’d given her to enter the Pale Man’s lair.