by Jen Calonita
“Please! Wait!” Snow cried as the closest villagers grabbed each of her arms.
Henri tried to kick out from his hold. “Let go of the princess!” His treasured pocketknife fell from its holder and landed in the hay, where Fritz picked it up and held it out.
“I’m so sorry,” cried the woman who’d handed Snow the blankets earlier, her eyes glistening. “We have no choice. The queen shows no mercy. We must take you in.”
“And we will be paid well for our find,” Kurt added.
Snow sensed this would not end well. As lightning lit up the cracks in the barn and thunder roared, she looked around for an escape. Some of the men were shouting at one another, while others, along with several women, were trying to make them see reason, but none would. Snow’s head was swirling. Mother, help me, she prayed as the baby in the woman’s arms cried harder.
And then Snow had a moment of clarity, amid all the shouting and words of hate: These people are scared. They don’t want to hurt me. They feel they have no choice. These folks weren’t evil. They were her people. Snow thought back to the beggar woman she’d met with her mother so many years before. Always remember your past, Snow, and let it help you make decisions on how to rule your future, her mother had said.
“Please!” Snow tried again. “Let Henrich go and I will let you take me to the queen. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”
“Snow, no,” Henri started to say, but she shushed him and spoke only to Kurt, whose pale face lit up in the glow of the lightning striking outside.
“All I ask is that you listen to me for a moment more,” she begged.
“No! You will just spin more lies!” Kurt declared.
“Let her speak!” someone thundered, and everyone turned around.
A person stepped forward then and removed a heavy hood to reveal a tan face, long curly brown hair, and big brown eyes.
Snow gasped in surprise. “Anne?”
The girl smiled. “You know my name?”
“Of course I do,” Snow said. “You’re the royal tailor’s daughter.”
“Don’t listen to her lies, Anne,” Fritz started to say, but Anne cut him off.
“I have seen the princess from afar my whole life,” she told the others, “and I can assure you, she is not evil. She is very much alone. The queen has allowed her no one. She has been abandoned, much like the rest of us have.” Anne turned to look at her. “If she says she wants to help her kingdom, then I, for one, believe her.”
Snow’s eyes welled with tears. For so long she’d observed this girl, and it turned out Anne had been doing the same thing. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Anne nodded. “Surely, men, you can give your kingdom’s princess a moment of your time before returning her to the queen for a bounty?”
These words shamed Kurt, Fritz, and the others, and they hung their heads. The women looked displeased with them, she could tell. Buoyed by Anne’s faith, she felt a renewed vigor to explain herself.
“It is true I am on the run, but not because I’ve abandoned you,” Snow told them. “The queen tried to have me killed, as I am a threat to her crown.” The room was quiet except for the sound of the rain falling outside their doors. “I escaped and have been planning my return to the castle with the help of Grumpy and his men, and Henri here.” She smiled at him. “Instead of running, I am choosing to fight for your freedom and my own. For too long we’ve been under the strangling rule of Queen Ingrid, who cares only for herself and nothing for her people.”
“That’s true,” she heard one of the men mutter.
“She doesn’t care that you work yourselves to the bone through weather such as this to bring in crops,” Snow continued. “She taxes you excessively and gives you little reward. My parents taught me the castle was meant to be shared with those who needed shelter. If you had an issue with your land, they wanted to hear it. If you needed a bit of joy, there was always a party to celebrate our kingdom’s good fortune.”
“I remember,” said the woman with the baby, jostling the child and trying to calm her. It was still thundering and her voice was soft, so Snow listened hard. “Queen Katherine always greeted her subjects. She had a kind word for everyone. I remember her giving me a flower once as a child. She was very kind.”
“Yes, she was.” Snow’s face softened. “But our new queen is not. She has taken our kingdom’s wealth and squandered it while destroying our relationships with our neighboring kingdoms. For our kingdom to survive, her reign must end.”
“And how are you going to do that?” Kurt asked, looking unconvinced of her sincerity. “You are just one girl.”
“I may be one girl, but I have friends now, and that makes all the difference. Grumpy and the others are on their way to the castle as we speak,” Snow said. “We plan on overwhelming the guards so that I can get into the castle and make my way to the queen. Our numbers may be small, but our hearts and our word are true. We will do whatever it takes to put this kingdom back in capable hands.” Fritz looked thoughtful, then glanced at the others.
“It is still no matter,” Kurt said. “She has a price on your head now. You won’t get far.”
Snow’s heart sank. She couldn’t deny that with the queen’s decree, their job was going to be even tougher than they’d anticipated. Everyone would be looking for her now. How was she going to get into the village undetected?
“No one can get into the castle,” said another. “No one.”
“You forget, that castle was my home . . . once,” Snow said. “I know its secrets. I can get back in there undetected . . . if you give me the chance. If you fight at my side, I won’t forget it. I promise if you do, I won’t let you down.”
Kurt glanced at his wife. “Let her try, Kurt,” the woman said. “She’s our future.”
Our future. Snow smiled. Her mother would have liked this woman’s spirit. “Help us take back what’s ours. Who’s with us?” At first, everyone was quiet.
“I am,” Anne said, and she smiled.
Snow beamed. “Even one more is a help. Thank you.”
“We cannot let this queen continue to ruin our lives,” Anne told the others.
“Your mother would not want you to risk it, Anne,” said one man.
“This is for our livelihood,” Anne told him. “It’s worth any risk. I know my mother would agree.”
Fritz stepped forward with Henri’s knife, using it to cut his binds. Then Henri quickly freed Snow.
“I will help you,” Fritz said, lowering himself to one knee.
“So will I,” agreed Kurt, and he, too, bowed down before her. Several of the other men did the same.
Snow laughed through tears. “Please rise! We have much work to do! I cannot thank you all enough for your faith in me.” The people in the barn let out a cheer, which buoyed Snow’s rising spirit.
“We will fight with you, Princess,” said Kurt. “Don’t let us down.”
“I won’t,” Snow declared.
She watched the mirror obsessively for the next several hours for word of the girl’s capture, but there was none.
“Show me the girl again!” she would shout at the mirror in her leathery new voice, which she was beginning to despise. But she would do nothing to change it till she had the girl. She would not get distracted.
“In the village she slumbers, my queen, but she’s ready to rise. Her goal guides her like a beacon—to take you and the castle by surprise.” The mirror showed her an image of Snow and the prince sleeping on a bed of hay like animals. How had no one captured her yet?
“She won’t get far,” Ingrid said yet again. “Her people will hand me her head on a platter!”
“The princess is loved by all that she meets,” the mirror said. “To best her you will have to find a new method of defeat.” The mirror’s smoky haze lifted and an image of the dwarfs appeared.
Ingrid gasped. “They’re alive!” The little men were marching in a line over a hilltop. They looked dirty and tired, but they we
re all there . . . and it seemed there were several more men with them, carrying pickaxes and other weapons. Not a large number, but a growing one to be sure. “Their group is no threat to me,” Ingrid declared, but inwardly, she worried.
“We both know that not to be true,” the mirror replied. “Do not attempt to wear a mask. Your fears betray you.”
Ingrid didn’t reply. She was lost in her thoughts. How had the men survived her storm and lived to tell the tale? How were the others not intrigued by her reward? Money and power usually changed everything.
“Love is the key to her undoing,” the mirror advised now. “Harm her dear ones. That is the plan worth brewing.”
The smoke cleared and showed Snow again. The little men might have no longer been at her side, but the prince still was. His presence was beginning to become a nuisance. The mirror was right.
Something would have to be done about that boy, indeed.
Their new friends did not have horses to spare, but they did have fruit, bread, and water, and they packed some up for Snow and Henri’s journey. Kurt and Fritz vowed they’d gather more men to meet the dwarfs at the castle, with plans among both groups to stop at other like-minded villages along the way. Snow was grateful for their change of heart and hopeful that their growing ranks would make a difference. They were small in number compared to the queen’s army, which there was still the matter of getting past once the fighting began.
Anne approached as Snow and Henri were getting ready to leave.
“I’m coming with you,” she told Snow.
Snow blinked in surprise. “What about your mother and your work in the castle? Won’t the queen be angry if you don’t arrive as scheduled?”
“I have told Mother I am ill and cannot join her,” Anne said. “She will cover for me, Your Highness.”
Snow blushed at the term. “Please call me Snow.”
“Snow,” Anne repeated shyly. “We have to ensure you get to the castle in one piece, with that price on your head. It will be difficult for you to move about the kingdom unnoticed.”
“If your village has already seen that ‘wanted’ scroll, then I suspect there must be dozens more just like it around the kingdom,” Snow mused. “I won’t be able to go anywhere.”
Henri bit his lip as he stared at the cloudless sky. “And the queen was already tracking our every move. A new storm could appear at any moment. How will we get by her?”
“I think I have an idea,” Anne said. “To allow you to continue to spread your message, and get you the rest of the way to the castle unseen. And your prince, too.”
Snow blushed. He wasn’t exactly her prince, was he? “How?”
Anne’s brown eyes looked playful. “We have to make the two of you become invisible . . . and I know just the person who can make that happen: Sorceress Leonetta. She’s an enchantress people in the village sometimes go to.”
“An enchantress,” Snow said in surprise. “My father mentioned one, as well.” Snow quickly explained the truth about him.
“This explains so much,” Anne said. “And if this enchantress is one and the same, then she will want to help you as she has him. She’s a bit out of the way of the castle, but I believe it will be worth the trip.”
“Let’s go see this Sorceress Leonetta, then,” Snow agreed.
Anne held out a sack. “I’ve brought you both some new clothes. One of the men lent some things for Henri, and Snow, I made yours,” Anne told them. “Things the queen discarded. Mother usually makes me leave the clothes she doesn’t want behind, but I don’t like to see my creations go to waste.” Anne’s eyes twinkled.
Snow pulled out a lovely blue dress with a gold sash. There was even a tan traveling cloak to go with it. “Anne, you’re very talented. But I knew that when I saw that green velvet gown you made, with the red cape.”
Anne’s eyes widened. “How did you see that? The queen hated it!”
Snow smiled. “I heard you talking to your mother the day the queen told you to do away with it. It was too lovely to go to waste. I took the extra fabric to make into curtains.”
“I thought I saw those in passing! But you always close your door so quickly.”
Snow blushed. “My aunt would grow angry when I conversed with others, so I shut myself away. But you were someone I always suspected I would enjoy speaking with.”
“I always thought the same thing about you,” Anne said, and they both smiled.
Once dressed, Snow, Anne, and Henri headed off. Snow learned a lot about Anne in a short amount of time. Her father had passed away when she was a baby, and she was close to her mother. Anne wasn’t as familiar with birdcalls as Snow or Henri, but Snow taught her a few. Before they knew it, Anne said they were nearing their destination.
“I’d heard rumors about the enchantress for years, but had never been brave enough to go see her myself,” Anne explained. “When you showed up, I asked someone in the village who had been here before to tell me the way. I think this is the spot.”
They came to a halt at a small cottage that was built into the side of a small hill. Covered in green moss, with a roof that looked like it grew grass, it seemed to blend into the mountain and fade away from existence. Anne pulled a small scroll out of her pocket and consulted it.
“Redwood trees in a circular pattern,” she said. “A weeping willow orchard on top of the hill . . . yes, this is the place. Come on!”
Anne approached the door and knocked three times in quick succession.
It opened seconds later. The small woman had long white hair and skin so wrinkled it appeared fake. Her grayish-blue eyes were so cloudy Snow thought she might be blind.
“What do you want, Princess?” she asked, revealing a mouth of yellowed, rotting teeth.
Snow’s eyes widened. Anne got down on bended knee and beckoned the others to do the same. “Sorceress Leonetta, the princess, her prince, and I seek your wisdom.”
“Humph,” Leonetta grunted, and she tried to shut the door again. “You won’t make it to the castle like this, that’s for sure.”
“Wait!” Anne cried. “We know that. That’s why they need your aid.”
“I don’t get involved in the politics of this world,” Leonetta said, eyeing Snow with interest. “And this one right here should already be dead like her mother.”
Snow shuddered. “I almost was, but I got away. Please help us find a way to continue unseen. We are told you can make such things happen.”
“I can, but it will be difficult,” the woman said. “There is a mark on your heads. Both of them,” she said, gesturing toward Snow and Henri. “And one may not fare as well as the other in the end.”
“Please,” Snow tried again, and she pulled the blue necklace out of her breast pocket. “I believe you may have once helped my father—King Georg.”
The woman raised one black eyebrow in surprise. “It is the necklace he kept close to his heart! If the king has given it up, then you truly must need my help. That necklace has protected him for years. Come in.” She looked at the sky again. “Before she sees. Quickly!”
She ushered them inside her cramped abode. It was a single room. Herbs and roots, either by design or nature, hung from the ceiling, and a cauldron bubbled in the center of the room. There was a large table with pots and containers holding worms and various creatures, alive and dead.
“I met the king when I journeyed through the kingdom he was banished to,” Leonetta said, walking toward the table and examining a jarful of worms. “His life of late had been filled with such sorrow, and yet he never lost faith.” She looked at Snow. “He knew you’d make an excellent ruler if given the chance, and begged me to watch over and protect you from afar. I have tried my best, but the queen makes it difficult. Her dark magic is very powerful and you have been locked away for so long. Is he right to put his faith in you?”
“Yes,” Snow promised. “I will not let my kingdom down.”
Leonetta studied her for a moment. “I believe you.” She
began pouring things into a pot. The liquid turned blue as she added water. “Just as I believed him. Why do you think I used magic in that necklace to cloak his movements from her? I sent the spell that would keep him from being seen inside his abode. The king deserves some privacy until he is finally free.” She pointed to Snow. “You are the one who can do that.”
“I know. I won’t fail.” Snow paused. “I will take her dark magic and use it to force her off the throne and return my father home.”
Leonetta scratched a wart on her chin. “And if you succeed, and wear the crown, will you help me if I call? As I am willing to help you?”
Snow wasn’t sure what to make of this request. What would Leonetta ask of her? It was a difficult decision, but her instincts told her she could trust this woman. “I will.”
Leonetta flashed a yellowed grin. “I know you will, my future queen. Let’s get you and the prince to the castle unseen.” She chopped several herbs and threw them in the pot. It made a small explosion, but she seemed unconcerned.
“Sorceress Leonetta, how long will this spell take?” Anne asked. “We haven’t much time, and I suspect a spell like this will be complicated.”
“It is!” Leonetta agreed. “That’s why I don’t need any interruptions.” She wagged a finger at Anne. “There may come a day when you also need me, but it’s not today. You wait outside. I need to concentrate.”
Anne looked at Snow, and she nodded. Then Anne went to the door.
“I must warn you, you will only remain unseen until you set foot on the castle grounds. Once inside, you are on your own.” Leonetta spoke again once the door closed, her face grim. “The queen controls the magic within those walls. I suggest you trust no one but each other, and even then, don’t be fooled by appearances.”
Snow wasn’t sure what she meant by that, but she nodded all the same. “How do you plan on making us invisible?” This seemed the most impossible idea in the world.