She wanted to tell him it was all right, that it didn’t matter. But it wasn’t all right and it did matter. Ardan’s life mattered. The village mattered.
“I hope you’ll accept my apology,” he added.
“Perhaps I will.”
“But not today.” He didn’t move to look at her, but she sensed his dejection.
She did not reply. She snuggled under the cloak, closed her eyes, and allowed sleep to take her.
The dream came almost instantly. Of Seraphina standing before one of the mirrors in a chamber somewhere deep within the castle. She understood that this was one of the mirrors stolen from the elves’ archives.
It was a large, round mirror in an ornate gold frame. But the strangest thing of all was there was no reflection. It was simply a blank silver. Then a voice rang out.
“Magic Mirror on the wall. Who is the fairest of them all?”
It was Seraphina.
A featureless face flickered into the silver. “The fairest of them all, my queen, is the one who seeks wisdom and kindness, befriends those in nature, for true beauty lies within the heart.”
Seraphina clenched her hands into tight fists as she spun from the mirror. Rage etched her face, making the lines go deeper and deeper.
“I am no longer the fairest in the land,” she said.
“No, my queen. It is Snow White you seek who is the fairest in the land.”
She snarled with her anger. “She must come to me, then, since the blacksmith cannot kill her. I will destroy all she holds dear if she does not present herself to me. Snow White must die.”
Snow startled awake, jerking upright with her heart beating a rapid rhythm. The forest was still cloaked in darkness. Roderick still slept across from her, though he had turned on his side sometime during the night. She glanced down at Annilen who was still curled on her side and fast sleep.
You sense something, don’t you?Faradill asked.
“It was only a dream,” she whispered so as not to disturb the others.
A dream that is not so far from reality,he warned.
“I understand. On the morrow, I will begin my new journey.”
She settled back down against the trunk of the old oak.
You must forgive Roderick,he said then.For he is the only one who can protect you from what is to come.
“From the queen?” she asked.
The queen and her dark magic.
“I will consider it,” she promised.
She tried to sleep, but as night turned to morning, she hadn’t. She was still sitting against the tree when Roderick yawned, stretched, and sat up on one elbow.
“You’re awake early,” he said.
She merely smiled. “I am. We should be on our way.”
As she picked up the cloak, Annilen stirred and came awake. She fluttered upward to face Snow. “Are you leaving now?”
“Yes,” Snow said.
“Can I come with you?”
