All at once, the guards stopped coming, and we ran into the throne room. The queen was seated there, looking surprised. There were only two more guards in the room, and we knew that victory was imminent. None of us slowed down. We charged toward her as a group, yelling in unison. The guards near her didn’t even move.
She gave a calm gesture, and I found myself flying upwards, then slamming painfully back onto the floor. Stars flashed across my vision, and my ears rung. Before I could catch my breath, something that felt like a wind both scalding hot and freezing cold dragged me to my feet and wrapped around me, making it impossible to move. When I tried to struggle, the bonds became unbearably painful, and I had to stop. I looked around, my vision still spotty, to see what held me and if my brothers were all right, but it looked as if we were being restrained by the air itself. My brothers were alive, but I couldn’t tell how badly they had been hurt. Audric struggled savagely, yelling in anger and pain as he did so.
The queen stared us, expression smug, but I thought she looked pale. “Now, Audric, I wasn’t expecting to see you again. Just what has happened to your little bride-to-be? Was she not to your liking?” She sounded a little breathless, and I wondered if we had frightened her, or if there was something else going on.
The prince bellowed, “What have you done with her? Where is she?”
Vulpine looked surprised a moment, then smirked. “Someplace you will never find her, and I assure you, she is suffering.”
I screamed, willing the barrier around me to drop so I could kill the queen with my bare hands.
The queen heaved a quiet sigh that, impossibly, could be heard over the shouts. “Children, I must insist you use more respectful tones or I may have to kill you sooner than I had planned.” We fell silent, startled by Vulpine’s sweetly spoken threat. She gave a cruel little laugh. “Did you really think you could defeat me and take back your princess, Audric? You’re the weakest of all your brothers.”
Movement to one side of the room caught my attention. Some servant wearing a hooded robe crept up to the throne from the side, moving cautiously. What I could see of her hands were covered with dirt, and I wondered what business the servant could have here.
Audric gave Vulpine a ferocious glare. “You’re no queen! You’re a puppet to your own lust for power!”
Vulpine looked annoyed, then made a gesture. I felt the magic wind tighten around Audric, even from where I was, and the prince gave an agonized scream that lasted for a full five seconds before Vulpine pulled back the pain with another gesture.
The queen stared down at him coldly as he gasped for air. “You ought to be begging for your life,” she panted, barely loud enough to be heard. She was looking drained, and I realized that using her magic must tire her, which might give us a chance to escape.
“Hey!” shouted a guard near the queen. The servant girl had come within fifteen feet of the throne. He lunged for the girl, but she barely managed to stay out of his grasp. She took a few running steps, then made a flying leap, wrapping her arms around the queen’s neck. The queen shrieked and tried to get away, but her heavy skirts kept her from moving anywhere near quickly enough.
The guard grabbed the girl by the arms, and an instant before he yanked her away, the girl pressed her face to the queen’s. I was beyond astonished to see that the queen was growing older very rapidly. A scant five seconds later, she looked to be almost impossibly old, then she fell forward out of the throne, apparently dead.
There was a shocked silence, and I don’t know how long we would have been frozen exactly as we were if the servant girl hadn’t turned to us and boldly thrown off her hood, saying in a commanding tone, “Guards, kindly release my brothers and my betrothed. I am queen now.”
Snow had smeared mud on her skin to keep her unusual coloring hidden. Looking at her, I noticed that something had changed, aside from the obvious fact that her voice had returned. Her braid, which was once as dark as a crow, was now dark brown in color. What I could see of her skin was no longer stark white, but a much more natural shade, and her lips had softened from apple red to a medium shade of pink. She was as beautiful as before, but now she looked far less surreal.
Audric came sprinting across the room and scooped her into his arms, lifting her off the floor, and he would have kissed her if she hadn’t put up a hand.
He looked hurt as he set her down gently on the floor, but she didn’t seem too concerned with his reaction. She jogged over to the banquet table to one side of the room, picked up an apple, and kissed it. When it didn’t change, Snow went running back to Audric, used his shirt collar to yank his head down to her level, and kissed him.
Happy for Snow though I was, I felt uncomfortable watching such an open display of affection, so I averted my eyes and started to look around the room.
Unfortunately, all of my brothers seemed bruised or otherwise injured, but all of them were still standing, which told me that the injuries weren’t severe, and I felt extremely lucky that we had all come through this alive.
My brothers and I quietly gathered near each other, most of us still glancing at the guards suspiciously from time to time. I noticed some men in the uniform of Birkitt walk in. Audric greeted them warmly when he and Snow finally pulled back from each other. These must be the men the prince had been traveling with, but what were they doing there now?
After she and Audric had spoken to the men from Birkitt a few minutes, Snow walked up to us with a broad grin, towing her prince by the hand. Audric, coming to a stop near me, was looking around in a happy daze, and I thought he looked just slightly drunk. I couldn’t say I really blamed him. After having thought he lost Snow, only to find her again, then to lose her, then to finally hold her in his arms, it wasn’t surprising that he would be more than a little dazed and confused. The man obviously had no clear idea what to do with himself, but I did notice that his grip on Snow’s hand was firm, as if he was worried she’d wander away from him again if he didn’t hold on to her.
Snow gazed around at each of us in turn, beaming, before making a “follow me” gesture just like she would back at the cottage. She walked in the direction of a doorway to one side of the room, but then stopped abruptly, giving a loud, clear laugh. “Oh, dear. I suppose I’ve already forgotten that I can speak now.” She turned to face us, still chuckling. “I’m sure you all have questions, and I’ve been longing to talk about what’s happened to me for some time.” I noticed that Snow’s voice sounded remarkably clear for not having been used in at least two months, and I wondered how that was possible.
We all stumbled over to the banquet table, which was difficult between our injuries and our soreness from our long walk. The moment we were seated, servants appeared and set plates of bread, fruit, and cheese in front of us, mumbling apologies about not having anything hot to offer us just yet, but Snow interjected, “This spread is more than all right. Thank you, Ruby, Sarah.”
The servant girls nodded, smiling a little, then turned and headed back into the kitchen. Snow watched them go with a confused expression on her face. “Until a little over two months ago, I worked alongside them, and it’s strange to be served by them now.” She turned her gaze back to us, sliding into a chair. “Boys, why aren’t you eating? I’ve never known you to hesitate at mealtime before, and I’m sure you’re all famished.”
Audric sat down next to her and picked up a pear from a bowl without taking his eyes off her, but then seemed to forget he was holding the fruit as soon as it was in his hand. He rested his arm, food and all, on the table, and didn’t seem to have an intention of moving it anytime soon.
I had been so dazed that the thought of eating hadn’t even crossed my mind. For some reason, I didn’t feel hungry, but I reached forward and picked up some extremely soft bread and brought it to my mouth. All at once, I was inhaling bread and cheese as quickly as I could manage, and even though I didn’t look up much, I knew my brothers were doing likewise.
Snow gave a laugh. “That’s bet
ter. I should be scolding you for forgetting your manners, but I’m so happy to see you’re all right that I can’t stand the thought of reprimanding you for anything just now.” She paused a moment. “Audric, dear, I know you once told me that if you had me, you wouldn’t want anything else, but I’m positive that you still need to eat sometimes. Please be working on that pear before you waste away in front of me.”
Audric put the fruit up to his mouth and started to eat it so slowly that it was doubtful he would finish it by the time this conversation was over. The man was so engrossed in Snow that I wouldn’t be surprised if he had forgotten he had a stomach at all.
Snow watched us eat for a moment, nibbling at a slice of bread herself before setting it down and saying, “I know it would be best if I waited until you were done, but I just can’t wait a moment longer. What I’ve been through these past few years have been something awful, and I want to share it now that I finally can.” We all looked up as she said this. We were hungry, sure, but to hear what had happened to Snow was something we didn’t want to miss.
Chapter Eight
Snow hesitated. “I should start with my history, if I want this story to make any sense.” She paused again. “My mother died not long after I was born. My father felt that it was his responsibility to love me enough for both her and himself. It must have been difficult to rule a large kingdom and raise me simultaneously, but somehow Father always managed to find time for me. I’d always miss him terribly if he had to leave home, but when he came home, the first thing he did would be to come and find me. I would be so happy to see him that I would run up to him, put my arms around his neck, and kiss him on the cheek.”
As charming as this story was, I didn’t see how it applied to Snow’s conflict with the evil queen, and I found that I was downright drowsy now that my stomach was filled. I hadn’t slept much the previous night, and it was catching up to me.
“You’ll be surprised to hear that I was a very selfish creature when I was younger, and in my mind, Father and myself were the only people who mattered. I acted kind only because it seemed to make Father happy.”
I was trying very hard to keep my eyes open, and I hoped my struggle to stay awake wasn’t obvious—I would hate for Snow to think I meant to ignore her.
Snow was quiet for a moment, either trying to remember the next part of her story or reliving it, I couldn’t tell which. “Around the time I turned thirteen, Father told me that he must leave home to find me a suitor. He wanted me wed at sixteen, as is our kingdom’s custom, but he hadn’t yet a clear idea who I should marry. Some investigation must be done.
“When Father finally arrived home a few months later, he told me all about the prince he had chosen for me. He talked at length about Audric, but I wasn’t really listening. The subject of suitors simply didn’t interest me.”
I nudged Darren, who was starting to nod off.
“A few weeks later, some woman from another kingdom arrived. I hoped she would leave quickly because I hated her at once. I was very dismayed when she didn’t leave at nightfall like I had been expecting, and then Father sat me down to explain who she was. Her name was Vulpine, she was once queen of a neighboring kingdom, and Father had married her when he was abroad. She hadn’t come home with him because he still had some business elsewhere, but now she was in our castle, and she was to be my stepmother.” Snow looked disgusted.
“Father told me I’d like her just fine once I got used to her, but I only liked her less as the days went by. I knew she could tell, but she didn’t seem angry with me for it. In fact, she seemed to be silently mocking me, which made it even harder for me to act civil near her, but still I tried, for Father’s sake.
“One morning right after Father left on one of his frequent errands, she gave me an apple as a gift. I wanted to refuse to eat it, but I knew how disappointed Father would be, so I thanked her as politely as I could and ate it.”
Snow blinked slowly and swallowed a few times before continuing, as if she was trying not to cry. “That evening, Father came home, and like always, I ran to kiss him. Suddenly he yelled, then his embrace went slack as he fell to the floor. I was horrified to see that my father had been replaced by some old man, a dead old man, and I tried to scream out loud, but found that I couldn’t make a sound. Vulpine, who had been standing around the corner listening, told me bluntly and accusingly that I had killed him. The apple she had fed me earlier had placed a curse on me that whosoever I kissed would die, and then my voice would leave so I could never confess my crimes.
“I ran at once to tell a guard what happened, but by the time I had dragged him back to where my father lay, Vulpine had apparently done some spell to make him look like a normal corpse. She was crying very convincingly, so of course I couldn’t make the guard understand that I was trying to accuse her of murder. He did, however, ask me if I needed a doctor—he had never seen me look so pale.
“I crossed the room and glanced in the mirror, and I was shocked to see just how pale I was. My skin no longer had any color, but for some reason, my lips were redder, my eyes were bright green rather than their more normal hazel, and my hair, which has always been dark, was now black. It didn’t take me long to figure out that my appearance was part of the curse.”
As she spoke of the ways her face had changed, I studied her, comparing her with my memory of what she looked like while she lived with us. She certainly looked less vibrant now, but somehow even more like herself.
“After the guards took Father’s body away,” Snow continued, “the queen wasted no time in explaining to me why it was my fault Father had died. Father never told me that our kingdom and hers were about to break out in war, and he realized that if I married one of Vulpine’s sons, an alliance would be formed, and our kingdom would be safe. However, when Father reached their kingdom’s capital and met with the princes, he found none of them to be suitable for me, so rather than pushing me into an unhappy marriage, he married their mother, whom he despised.
“Vulpine told me that if I wasn’t such a selfish child, Father would have never married her to appease me, and she became very angry when I refused to feel guilty over her sins.
“Vulpine worked on me for a few more hours, and when I still didn’t give the reaction she wanted, she relieved her feelings by ordering me to live as her servant. That night I found myself dressed in rags, lying on a hay bed in the cold, drafty servants’ quarters, and crying myself to sleep over Father.”
Snow gave a sigh. “One day, after I had been living as a servant for some time, I was summoned to the throne room. Vulpine all but threw me at Prince Audric, which was the last thing I had been expecting—I had forgotten all about him. He looked at me for a long time, scooped me up into his arms, and rushed out of the castle as if he was worried someone would take me from him and lock me in the dungeon if he didn’t get me away from that place at once.”
As well he should—in Audric’s position, I would have wanted to distance Snow from her abuser as quickly as I possibly could.
Snow gave a bitter laugh. “I was relieved at first. But then I realized, with horror, that if I married Audric, sooner or later we’d have to kiss. So, even as he was carrying me away on his large white steed, my arms around his waist, I was trying to figure out how to get out of marrying him.
“He and his men rode nonstop until it began to get dark. They started to set up camp as Audric talked to me, very earnestly, about how horrified he was that the queen had been treating me in such a way, how beautiful our wedding would be, and so many other such things. The longer he talked, the worse I felt. I knew I would have to leave.
“When Audric’s attention was finally called away by one of his men, the captain of the Royal Guard warned me about how easy it was to get lost in the woods, then gave me a whistle to use if I got separated. I was grateful to the captain, not for the whistle, but for giving me a clear idea how to get away.
“That night, when the camp was asleep, I crept out, and headed of
f into the woods in a random direction. It wasn’t hard at all to get lost, but what was harder was figuring out what to do next. I had heard of so many people getting lost in the woods and dying that I just sort of expected it to happen to me if I remained good and lost long enough. I was sitting on a stump and sulking about the complications of trying to die alone in the woods when Keaton found me.
“When he tried to persuade me to let him take me back to town, I knew that wouldn’t do at all—Audric would likely be searching for miles around, and if I showed up in town, he’d hear about it. I tried to refuse to go, but Keaton was too concerned about my survival to let me be. I was so angry when he picked me up and started to carry me that I swore I hated him. Of course, if he had thought to mention to me that the place he was taking me was secluded enough to be missed by a search party, maybe I wouldn't have been as annoyed.”
Oh, that’s why she had been struggling so hard when she arrived. I was surprised that Snow had not even thought to be afraid of my brother.
“When you decided to take me in, I thought it was almost too good to be true. I was more surprised still by just how considerate you all were to me—I was certain I would be seen as a burden, but you seemed to think of me a sister, and living in your cottage was the first time I had felt truly loved since Father.”
I stared at that. Was she honestly comparing her time in our home to the way her father had raised her? That hardly seemed like a fair comparison at all, and I would have thought that what we had done for her would seem inadequate after her father’s doting.
Snow gave a little laugh. “Of course, it was a few days before I found I could relax because I kept expecting Audric to show up on your doorstep, but I dealt with it by making myself as useful as I could. I can’t tell you what a relief it was to work because I wanted to, and not because I was compelled. I really was happy in your home, aside from missing Father and worrying about Audric.”
A Poisoned Apple Page 7