Kings. Alfred, Egbert, Rufus.
She scoffed.
Useless men. All of them.
Why should the kingdoms be ruled by men, when she was as worthy? She had a crownandmagic.
Regret sifted through her now as she thought of Snow White. She should have used the same destroyer spell on her but something held her back. Instead, she banished her from the kingdom.
Turning from the balcony, she walked across her immense chamber to the secret door hidden behind a tapestry. She shoved it aside and pressed the stone which was a lever. Stone scraped against stone as the door slid open for her.
Once inside, she whispered an illumination spell, lighting the two torches on either side of the Magic Mirror. A mirror that was full of darkness and shadow. A mirror that held secrets and dark magic. She consulted it from time to time to give her guidance and advice.
It was one of three on the entire continent, though the one Malvina possessed, the Dark Mirror, was destroyed. Pity. With its destruction, the three were no longer connected. Only the Magic Mirror and the Enchanted Mirror remained.
The oval mirror in a silver frame was large enough to fill the whole wall. She paused a moment, admiring her reflection. Her black hair was over one shoulder. Onyx eyes peered back at her out of her youthful face that belied her true age. She raised taxes on the land more than once to maintain her extravagant taste for high fashion that included fairy silks from the Eternal Court and velvet from Rothbridge on the other side of the continent.
“Magic Mirror, in your silver sheen, who’s the one with dreams so keen? In this vast world where hopes do roam, tell me, mirror, who calls it home?”
The mirror came to life, the visage appearing as nothing but a featureless face. “It’s you, my queen, who holds no fear.”
She smiled, well pleased with the mirror’s response. “Tell me, mirror, who is the one to control all the land?”
A pause, then, “You, my queen.”
She smoothed a hand over her shiny hair. “Tell me, mirror, who is the fairest in all the land?”
She asked this question every now and then to make sure she still reigned supreme. That no man would be able to resist her charms when she marched across the land to take down other kings and kingdoms.
The mirror said, “With dreams that sparkle and passions that enthrall, in your heart, you’re the fairest one of all.”
That response gave her pause as she stared at her wavering reflection and the face in the mirror that gave her the answers she sought. But this answer was not the one she wanted to hear.
“In my heart?” That phrase sent a cold chill through her. “Is there another? Tell me, mirror.”
It was silent for a long moment, and then, “It is a fair maid I see. Lips red as the rose. Hair black as ebony. Skin white as snow.”
She gasped, pressing cold fingers against her lips. “Snow White. She was supposed to die in the forest. The girl still lives?”
“She still lives, my queen. Deep in the forest she has made a home, where the elves have allowed her to roam.”
“Theelves?”’
The elves were a reclusive sort. But what she knew of them was they inhabited the Wyldwood Forest. She sent a hunter there to bring back the horn of a unicorn. She needed it for a particular spell. One that would help her conquer the remaining kingdoms in the Enchanted Woodlands.
“Yes, my queen. She lives among them and follows their ways. She’s learned their magic in the moonlit forest where enchantment plays.”
Fury rose through her breast in a burning sensation. It was not the news Seraphina wanted to hear. She shoved away all thoughts of conquering the rest of the realm. Now, the only thought she had was of destroying Snow White, for while the princess lived, she was a threat to her and her throne.
“Thank you, mirror.” Her voice was but a whisper.
She turned from the room, closing the secret door behind her once more and returned to the balcony in her chamber. Once there, her hands gripped the handrail as she glared with deep regret and fury at the treetops in the distance. Somewhere out there the princess dwelled.
Seraphina had been a fool to think she would perish deep with the forest. Perhaps it was time to conjure a spell for the elves in the Wyldwood Forest. A spell that would, ultimately, reveal the princess’s location. One thing she knew for certain, Snow White could not be allowed to live.
Snow White must die.
As Snow approached her woodland village, she saw the preparation for the upcoming Springtide Festival, the celebration of the vernal equinox, was already underway. When she slipped out early that morning, no one was stirring in the village. Now, several villagers hung cascading colorful string lights going up on the lowest tree branches. Others wrapped the base of the trees in lights to match.
