by Lily Blake
“Well, well, well … the miscreant Huntsman,” Beith said. He was the leader of them all and the nastiest, to boot. His thick black hair came down in front, forming a giant V on his head.
“Come on, Beith.” Eric tried to laugh, narrowing his eyes at the little runt. “Is this how you treat a friend?” Anyone who’d traveled through the kingdom knew the dwarves. They hid in the woods, often getting drunk, ready to pick a fight with anyone who was willing. Eric was always willing.
Beith lunged at him, so close Eric could smell the toad guts on his breath. “No, you horn beast.” He grabbed a thick branch from off the ground. “This is how I treat a friend!” He struck him hard in the head.
“Stop it!” Snow White screamed. But the dwarves just chuckled.
Eric held his head in his hands, rubbing the tender spot where Beith had hit him. The little rodents were no more than three feet tall—stocky, stinky men with tangled hair and rotting teeth. Beith had a knotted black beard and clothes that were too big. His pants were held up with an old piece of rope. Eric spotted Muir, the blind dwarf, in the back. Nion was right beside him. He was the most spiteful of all. If it were up to him, the whole world would’ve been run by dwarves, with the tallsters there only to serve.
Snow White worked at the rope around her wrists. “What did you do to them?” she whispered as the men consulted one another about Eric.
Eric rubbed his face. He was getting dizzy. Everything looked strange upside down. “I tried to collect a bounty on their heads … a few times.”
The girl rolled her eyes at him. “Is there no one you haven’t wronged?”
He glanced at her, loving the way her nose scrunched up when she was angry. Technically there was one person—her. He would’ve said as much had Beith not turned and started after him, punching him hard in the stomach.
“This is my lucky day!” Beith yelled. “The puttock I loathe most in the world lands in my lap.”
“It is your lucky day, Beith,” Eric said, trying to sound light. Finn’s men would be here soon. He didn’t have time to argue about who had tried to sell whom to the Queen. Those were minor details. “I’ve got enough gold to keep you in ale for a year. Cut me down, and I’ ll—”
Nion clapped him on the ear. “Shut your ugly mug, Huntsman. You had any pennies, they would’ve fallen out of your pockets by now.” Eric clutched his head, which was throbbing now. The ringing hurt too much.
Eric let out a loud grunt. “Just tell me what I’ve done wrong.”
“Tell me what you’ve done right first,” Beith replied. Spit flew from his mouth as he spoke. Behind him, the youngest dwarf, Gus, was staring at Snow White as if she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He smiled, revealing his crusty yellow teeth.
Eric pointed to the girl. “I saved her from the Queen.”
Beith shook his head. “Doesn’t sound like you, Huntsman.”
“People change,” Eric tried.
Nion smacked him on the ear again. “People—not ruttish swine.”
A few of the other dwarves broke out into an argument. Coll and Duir, who were always fighting with each other, went back and forth, trying to decide if they should kill Eric or leave him tied up, waiting to die.
“Let’s skewer him and leave her to rot!” Duir suggested. Eric hated the gleeful tone in his voice.
“No!” a voice called out from behind them. Muir, the elderly dwarf, came forward. His eyes were covered in a thin white film. “She is destined,” he continued. He held up one finger to silence them.
Eric remembered the blind man from another visit in the woods. The others listened when he spoke.
Beith turned back to the girl, studying her with a new curiosity.
“Do you hate the Queen?” Snow White asked, seizing the opportunity. “My father was King Magnus.”
The group settled down. Eric watched the girl, amused. It was the same boldness she’d shown in the Dark Forest. He was beginning to wonder if there was anyone she wouldn’t challenge.
Beith tilted his head to one side.
“If you accompany us to the duke’s castle, you will be paid handsomely,” Snow White went on. “Your weight in gold. Each of you.”
Duir looked Coll up and down, taking in his spindly arms and legs. “I get more than you,” he whispered, smacking his fat belly.
“True,” Coll replied. He stifled a heavy cough. “But because of your size, you eat more and drink more, which costs more, so—”
“All right,” Beith interrupted. “We’ll take you, but the Huntsman can hang.” He cleared his throat, then hocked a giant glob of phlegm in the dirt beside Eric’s head.
“Both of us,” the girl said. She glanced sideways at Eric and nodded, as if to reassure him.
Beith stroked his black beard as if he was considering it. As they waited, Duir, one of the dwarves Eric had tried to sell, pointed to a spot on the horizon. Eric followed his gaze, noticing the silhouettes coming over the hill. It was Finn and the mercenaries. They were coming for them. “Those are the Queen’s men, Beith,” Eric said. He twisted and kicked, trying to free his feet. “Better decide quickly.”
“One dwarf’s worth a dozen tallsters,” Beith snapped. “I’ll take my time, thank you.” But then Beith glanced up at the hill. Ten more men appeared on horseback, their swords drawn. A few of the dwarves shrank away, already running from the sight.
“You were saying?” Eric asked, narrowing his eyes at the little man. He could barely see anymore. All the blood had rushed to his head, making his temples throb.
“Cut him down,” Beith said, signaling to Nion. “Move out!”
Gus helped Snow White out of her restraints. Nion freed Eric with one slash of his knife. Then they started down the hill, Eric and Snow White following behind the dwarves, crouching low to avoid being seen.
Snow White glanced up at the cave’s giant dome. Mineral water dripped down the rock walls. A thin stream of light came in from a hole in the ceiling, highlighting the clusters of bats hanging side by side, their wings folded around them. The thuds of hoofbeats sounded above. Finn’s army shouted across the forest. “I found a rope!” one man yelled. Then the horses changed direction, galloping off until the woods were silent again.
Duir and Coll pointed to a long tunnel in the side of the cave, signaling for the rest of them to follow. The dwarves filed in. They fit easily into the narrow passageway. Snow White hunched over, trying to make herself as small as possible, but her elbows still grazed the walls. She glanced over her shoulder, watching as the Huntsman shuffled in sideways.
The dwarves had led them under a giant tree root and into the cave, helping them escape Finn’s men. They knew the underground labyrinth well. They weaved through the crisscrossing maze of tunnels, taking turn after turn, until they were deep in the earth. Snow White looked down at the wooden rail tracks beneath her feet, realizing it was a mine. She tried to think about just putting one foot in front of another, and not … William. Where is he? She kept trudging along after the dwarves until, suddenly, the tunnel opened up to a green pasture.
Outside, the light was so intense, she shielded her eyes. A shimmering landscape spread out before her. Every color of flower sprouted up from the earth—lush yellow daisies, blooming hydrangeas, and exotic pink rosebuds—filling the air with the most intoxicating fragrance. And then there was the sound, an enchanting humming noise that swelled in her ears, making her want to dance.
“Blasted fairy music,” Nion grumbled. He plunged his fingers into the thick moss that coated the rocks, grabbing a whole fistful. He shaped some plugs and stuffed them into his ears.
Snow White looked around, taking in the dazzling scenery. Flowering vines wrapped around the massive trees, covering them in lush purple blooms. Red and gold butterflies settled on their limbs. Rabbits bounded through the tall grass, darting this way and that. All in front of her, tiny bulbs of pollen hung in the air. The glittering particles caught the light, making it look like even the ai
r sparkled.
“What is this place?” she asked, trying to catch the tiny specks in her hands.
Gus ran to her side. “They call it Sanctuary, my lady,” he said, looking up at her with his big, watery gray eyes. He smiled, revealing his crooked yellow teeth. She hated to admit it, but the little guy was growing on her. “The Enchanted Forest. It’s the home of the fairies.”
Snow White turned to the Huntsman, who was just as stunned as she was. He opened his mouth to speak, but something whizzed past his head, startling them both. Snow White studied the tiny fairy hovering just two feet away. It had translucent white skin and ears that were pointed at the top, and its iridescent blue wings shimmered in the sunlight. It looked at her and smiled before zipping away, leaving a dense trail of pollen in its wake.
“Fairies,” Gus said sweetly. He reached out to hold Snow White’s hand.
Gort kicked through the tall grass. He was the heaviest of all the men, with a full belly that hung over his belt. “Pests!” he snorted. Then the dwarves dispersed into the forest to set up camp for the night.
Snow White and the Huntsman helped cut down firewood, while Coll and Duir cleared away the tall grass and broken branches, leaving a patch of dirt for them to lie down on. Beith retrieved some supplies they kept hidden in tangled tree roots, creating a heaping pile of flagons, dented pots, and dried fox meat. There was even a weathered fiddle. When the dwarves finally settled down around the fire, Gus tucked the fiddle under his chin and began to play.
“Play louder, you whey-face!” Gort yelled. “I can still hear those harpy fairies.” He covered his ears with both hands. Across the way, Muir sat with his son Quert, resting his hand on the young dwarf’s shoulder. Duir and Coll were swigging ale, their movements loose as they gestured wildly, absorbed in another one of their arguments. Snow White sat beside Eric, watching the dwarves tumble around, pushing one another as they danced a wild dance.
Eric chuckled to himself. “Legend has it, dwarves were created to uncover all the riches hidden on earth. Not just gold or precious stones, but the beauty in people’s hearts.”
Snow White stared at him, wondering if the phrase the beauty in people’s hearts had really just come out of his mouth. She looked down at Eric’s side. There were a few fox bones, but no bottle of rum or grog. She stared into his face, noticing for the first time that his eyes were clear. He spoke slowly and carefully, choosing his words. It had been two days, at least, and he hadn’t drunk a thing.
Eric pointed at Nion. The dwarf was stumbling around, belting a tune in Gort’s ears so loudly the dwarf cringed. “Ask me, they’ve lost the art if they ever had it. When the Queen seized their mines, she didn’t just take their treasure—she stole their pride.”
Snow White surveyed the men. Most were drunk. Coll and Duir wrestled on the ground, pressing each other’s faces into the dirt. Gus danced as he played the fiddle, sweat pouring down the sides of his face. It was hard to imagine any magic within them. How could they bring out the best in people when they seemed so unhappy themselves?
As Quert stepped up to sing a more cheerful song, Muir started over to them. Gort held the blind dwarf’s hand, helping him to an old tree stump, where he sat down to rest. The dwarf had long gray hair and a wrinkled face. He had to be at least twenty years older than the others. Snow White rested her hand on his knee so he’d know she was there. “Thank you for before,” she said softly. “For defending me.”
Muir nodded. “Your father was a good man. The kingdom prospered then. Our people prospered.”
“There were more of you?” Snow White asked. Muir nodded.
Gort leaned back onto the tree stump and took another swig of his drink. “One day, the group you see before you went down into the mine for a monthlong shift. Gus was only a boy. When we came back to the surface … nothing. The land was black. Everything and everyone was dead. Gone.” He snapped his fingers to show how quickly it had happened.
“That was a month after your father died,” Muir added. Snow White nodded. She remembered that first month, too. She’d heard the explosions out beyond the castle walls. Fires burned the countryside. Ravenna’s soldiers hooted in the courtyard, bragging about the villages they’d torched and the deaths they’d avenged. She was only seven years old then, but she knew that the kingdom would never be the same. She had felt it in the pit of her stomach. She would never be the same.
They sat there, Muir by her side, until the sun set in the west. Snow White danced to a happier tune with Gus, letting the young dwarf step on her toes. She sang with Nion and ate the remnants of the fox meat, enjoying her first real meal in some days. But at the end of the night, as the dwarves drifted off to sleep, she couldn’t stop thinking of what Muir had said back in the woods. She is destined. It was the future that Anna had foretold, how she would sacrifice herself and lead the kingdom. When the words had come out of Anna’s mouth they’d seemed so strange. She’d spent her life as a prisoner of the Queen, locked inside the castle tower. How could she lead anyone? And even if she tried, why would anyone listen?
She thought of Anna’s village, how the women had all fled into the woods, their homes engulfed in flames. Lily couldn’t stop crying. Now, after all that Snow White had seen, Anna’s prophecy was easier to believe. She couldn’t watch Ravenna’s men take another life. She didn’t want to hear the cries of women who’d lost their homes, or see the scarred faces of children who were slashed just so the Queen wouldn’t take them from their mothers.
She glanced around the dense forest. Flowers grew around the Huntsman, whose face looked calmer—handsome even—when he slept. Coll and Duir dozed back to back, as if they were forever joined. As the night took hold, more creatures emerged from the dense forest—squirrels, beavers, and colorful birds that swooped down out of the trees.
Two magpies fluttered in front of her face, their iridescent wings shimmering in the moonlight. They transformed in a split second, turning into fairies. She stared at them, realizing that they had been the two who’d helped her when she was locked in the castle. They were the ones who’d saved her.
They darted away, waving for her to follow. Their sweet humming filled the air. She started through the woods to where a bright white light shone in the darkness, just beyond a pile of stone ruins. As she approached, the magic of the forest showed itself. The animals surrounded her, moving as she did through the towering trees. Birds flew in formations above. Rabbits and deer came out from the woods, following in a massive group behind her.
It wasn’t until she was just ten feet away that she could see where the light was coming from. A majestic white stallion stood beneath a giant tree. The air around the creature glowed with a magical gold light.
Snow White approached the giant horse. It leaned down, letting her stroke its cheek. Its dark brown eyes stared back at her, as if it understood everything she was thinking and feeling. He pressed his head against hers. She could feel the animal’s warm breath on her neck. She turned back to the forest, noticing for the first time that the dwarves and the Huntsman had awoken and followed her. They all fanned out behind her, watching the scene through the trees.
Beith shook his head in disbelief. “No one’s ever seen it before,” he said.
“It is blessing her,” Muir offered from beyond the glowing woods. “She is life itself. She will heal the land. She is the one.”
Snow White wrapped her hands around the animal’s neck and felt the deepest peace. Listening to the prophecy now, here, she was filled with the desire to act. She would do whatever the kingdom asked of her. She would restore dignity to the throne.
As she pet the horse, the light glowed brighter. Shimmering gold particles floated around them, engulfing her. “Gold or no gold,” Muir said to the other men. “Where she leads, I follow.”
Snow White smiled and rested her head against the stallion’s neck. As she went to pet its beautiful white coat, she saw it out of the corner of her eye. An arrow whizzed through the air. It came
from up above, piercing the creature’s tender flank. The gentle animal reared in pain, then bolted off through the forest, nearly toppling her. All the other animals scattered. The dwarves turned, their weapons drawn. On the hill above them were Finn’s men, their swords drawn.
A fierce wind whipped through the trees, dispersing dark shadows where there once was light. The dwarves pulled on their battle masks and grabbed their weapons. Eric drew his hatchets from his belt, wielding one in each hand. Snow White sized up Finn’s men, scanning the face of each one. Then she froze, staring into the hazel eyes she’d known as a child. William was beside them. He was on his horse, his sword drawn. Why was he here now? Why was he fighting with them?
There wasn’t any time to process it. The brute who’d shot the white horse raised his bow, notching another arrow. He aimed it at her and smiled. Before she could move, William knocked the man from his horse, sending the arrow flying into the treetops. Gus grabbed her hand and pulled her into the forest, away from the men. “Come on!” he yelled as Finn’s army descended on them.
The humming of the enchanted forest was replaced with battle cries. Swords clanked together. The horses whinnied behind them. Snow White kept running, Gus by her side. She glanced back over her shoulder. William maneuvered his horse through the trees. He followed close behind, his armor glinting in the moonlight.
Gus pulled ahead of her, his hand squeezing her fingers so hard they hurt. “Faster!” he yelled, jumping over fallen branches and rocks. But Snow White kept her eyes on William. He was twenty feet behind them, maybe more. She broke free of Gus’s grip and darted into the bushes, waiting there until William was within reach. As soon as he rode past, she jumped up and grabbed his arm with both hands. Then she yanked him back, sending him tumbling off the horse.
Gus ran to her. He drew his axe, ready to bring it down on William’s neck. “Gus, don’t!” Snow White yelled. Gus slowed his axe just in time. It stopped mere inches from William’s skin.