Sneaky Snow White (Dark Fairy Tale Queen Series Book 2) (4 page)

Hunter leans back, horrified.

I exhale impatiently. “Haven’t you ever gutted a deer? I know you have, this is no different. You are a hunter, Hunter.
Hunt
her!”

Hunter looks away from me. I feel bad at how conflicted he looks; the poor boy is too sensitive. I will have to be brave for both of us.

“I think the queen is misunderstood,” he says. “Can’t we just destroy The Mirror?”

“Yes, we can. But Cinderella goes first, I’m not backing down on that. If you love me as you say, you will protect me. Do you love me, Hunter?”

Hunter’s leaning on his knees, his head bowed. His rakes his fingers through his thick, dark hair. Then, with his eyes closed, he gently nods his head.

Hunter and I make our plans to kill the queen. We will meet at the well at sundown. Hunter is going to bring me some clothes, something more practical than my poufy white gown. I have to show him the entrance to the secret passage that leads inside the castle. From there he will go on alone. The guards, I suspect, will be under orders to kill me on sight. I will return to the tower and wait for Hunter there.

I’m thrilled to learn Hunter didn’t know about the tower. He has seen the cave but never went in, since caves are not considered safe places to explore. That means our tower is well hidden. I tell Hunter about my plans to turn it into a home for us, but he doesn’t seem to be listening. I can tell he’s nervous about what he has to do.

He presses me against him before he leaves; kisses me between my eyebrows. He lends me a hunting knife from his belt, since I dropped my pretty dagger when I attacked Cinderella. Once he’s gone, I head back to the tower, noting landmarks along the way. I need to memorize how to find this place.

I grab apples off the trees and eat them as I go. Oh my stars, I’m so hungry. I think about the Love Apple. Cinderella won’t make it for me now, which worries me. I need that apple for me and Hunter.

A Love Apple, according to the spell book, will grant everlasting happiness to you and your lover. It will keep your love as fresh and magical as when it first blossomed, never letting your hearts grow weary, like those of an old married couple. And it prevents your lover from ever straying to someone else. Both of you must bite the apple to complete the spell. And then you live happily ever after.

I grope my way through the cave again and return to the meadow with the tower. My heart is much lighter now. Soon I’ll be rid of Old Cinders and the darkness she brought into my life. I explore the clearing for a while and discover some raspberry bushes at the edge of the forest, and a bit further back, a shallow stream. I cup my hands and drink the cold water, then wash the dry blood off my arm. I will try to clean up the tower next, though it won’t be easy without a broom. I need to make things suitable for the baby.

I can’t help smiling as I think about it. That baby is the only thing Cinderella cares about. And I’m going to take it from her. So in a way, I’m doing to her what
she
wanted to do to me. I am ripping out her heart.

Hunter, always early, is waiting for me when I return to the well. He’s got a leather pack slung over his shoulder and from it he draws a simple gray dress. “It was my mother’s. But I think it will fit you.”

“Thank you!” I take the dress and slip behind the broad trunk of an oak, to change. It’s a much more sensible dress than the white – at least the skirt isn’t three feet wide. I feel as cute as a little peasant maiden.

When I return, Hunter is holding his elbows and frowning. “I’ve thought of a problem. If we kill the queen, who will rule the kingdom? You’ll have to do it, you’re next in line. Which means we can’t live in that tower.”

“I don’t want to rule the kingdom,” I say firmly. “It never makes anyone happy. Let the people find a new ruler among themselves.”

“It will throw our land into chaos.”

“Oh Hunter, now you’re stalling. None of this changes the fact that we
have
to kill Cinderella, or she will kill me. The rest will sort itself out.”

Hunter sighs. I give him a comforting hug and rub his back. I wish I could go with him, to help him be brave. But it’s far too dangerous.

“So where is this secret passage?” he asks.

I point to the well behind us. “Right here.”

Hunter stares at me in disbelief.

I giggle. “It is! It starts in the dungeons below the castle and ends here at the well. It was built as an escape route for the royal family in case they were under attack. But those who know how can also use it to get
into
the castle.” I beckon him to the side of the well that has crumbled down. We crouch on the dirt and peer inside. Much of the well’s inner shaft is grown over with ivy, so it’s hard to see far. “Look there.” I point to the far side of the shaft. “There’s an iron rung built into the wall, like the step of a ladder. Do you see it?”

Hunter nods.

“There are more of them. You can climb down. Now, once you’re at the bottom, it’ll be tricky. There’s a tiny door, about half your height, made to look like the wall. You’ll have to crouch and push until it opens for you. From there the passage leads straight to the castle.”

“And what do I do about the guards?”

I hesitate. I know what
I’d
do if I had a crossbow and came face-to-face with those cowards who did nothing to help me yesterday. But I’m made of tougher stuff than Hunter.

“Avoid them if you can,” I say. “Take the back stairs used by the servants until you get to the main floor. If you get caught, say you’ve been summoned by the queen to hunt the traitor, Snow White. They might take you to her.”

Hunter nods without looking at me. He secures the crossbow to his back, shifts his legs into the well, and lowers himself in. When only his head and shoulders are still above ground, he turns to me, one hand gripping the top rung of the iron ladder. “Wish me luck,” he says with an uneasy smile.

I’m still crouched on my knees, so I lean forward and kiss him, my hands holding both sides of his face. For the first time ever, I feel reluctance from him, like he’s only receiving the kiss and not giving it. I will have to get the Love Apple soon.

I draw back but let my lips hover just above his. “Kill her quickly,” I whisper. “And bring me the baby. I’ll be waiting for you at the tower.”

“I will come,” he says. And then he drops out of sight, into the well.

Back at the tower, I find a shallow wood crate with some walnuts at the bottom. I shake them out, carry the crate up to the high room, and stuff it with my white dress. There. Now the baby has a soft place to sleep.

There’s still a lot that we will need. Tables and chairs and pots and bowls and curtains and rugs. And a bed for me and Hunter. My body blushes hot at the thought of it. I will need to find a friar to marry us first. Hunter is the noble sort and I know he won’t share the bed with me until he’s made me his wife.

I walk to the window, though night has settled in and I can’t distinguish the trees from the sky. It should be over now. Hunter should have the baby in his arms, heading back to me through The Wood. And Cinderella should be dead in the palace, lying in a lake of her own blood. I hope he did it in front of The Mirror.

My stomach grumbles so I eat a handful of raspberries I collected earlier. I wonder if the baby is a boy or a girl. I will have to choose a name for this infant who will be both my child and my sibling. I doubt we’ll look alike, though. Cinderella and my father were both blonde, but I have the midnight hair and eyes of my mother.

I remember my own mother well. She died when I was six due to some trouble with her lungs, my father said. She was as beautiful as sculpted ice, with haunting eyes that seemed to harbor a dark secret. She told me that my beauty came from her, but also from magic. Blood Magic, she called it. She said she would explain it to me when I was older. But, of course, that day never came. I miss my mother. If she hadn’t died, Old Cinders would never have come. I would still have my family.

I’m now feeling nicks of impatience. Hunter should have returned by now. I strain my ears at the window, hoping to hear crackling footsteps or the feeble cry of an infant. Perhaps things did not go as planned. I should have gone with him, but I was afraid of Cinderella, and the palace guards, and more than anything else - The Mirror. Although I didn’t tell Hunter this, I know Cinderella was right: The Mirror wants me now. I have felt it for weeks, I just didn’t understand. I won’t let it find me. I won’t let it control me.

I hope he made it past the guards. I hope he killed Cinderella but not the baby. I hope he was strong enough to cut the baby from her. I hope he got out of the palace. I hope he wasn’t attacked by Dwarves in the forest. I hope he will be here soon.

All night long, I hope and I hope. But my Hunter does not come.

I walk through The Wood at a hard, steady pace. Hunter never came back. Once morning gave me enough light to see by, I set out with the hunting knife clutched in my hand. He must have been caught, imprisoned at the palace. Well, I’ll get him out. Even if I have to slay every guard in my path.

The forest is a sleepy gray, the sky wearing a wooly blanket of clouds. I’m still far from the palace, moving around clusters of oak and chestnut trees. It’s dim even in daylight and too leafy to see far ahead. Someone should really cut a path through this place, it would make getting through a lot easier.

And then a Dwarf steps right in front of me.

I stop in pure shock. I don’t think he knew I was coming either, because his bushy eyebrows shoot up. He’s holding a wooden club with iron spikes at the end. The thing is nearly as tall as I am.

He gives a short nod. “Morning, miss. Glad I ran into you.” He looks beyond me and raises his voice. “Hey, fellows, look who’s here!”

Oh NO! I whirl around but more Dwarves are creeping out behind me, pushing through ferns and around trees. They’re all enormous, close to seven feet. Oh my stars, I’m a dead girl.

I spin back to face the one in front of me. I jab my arm upward and point the hunting knife at his face. A ripple of rough laughter circles around me.

The Dwarf ahead of me smiles. He’s got sandy hair and a short beard, both untidy. One of his eyebrows has been split at the center by a deep scar. But despite all that, there’s something familiar about him.

“Put it down, little miss, won’t do you no good. Sorry we scared you the other night, we didn’t know you were Hunter’s gal.”

I drop my arm in surprise. “What?”

“We don’t harm each other’s women. It’s in the code, more or less. Keeps us all on friendly terms that way.”

“Us?” I ask, bewildered.

“Us!” The Dwarf laughs and lifts his arms, gesturing to the six other men. “And our brother Hunter too, of course.”

I keep perfectly still. I can’t process what I’m hearing. “Hunter is… your brother?”

“We’re all brothers,” the Dwarf says. “Hunter’s the youngest.”

“Hunter is a
Dwarf!
”

The seven men all rumble with laughter.

“Naw, he’s too small for that,” the Dwarf says. “He came from Pa’s second wife, so he didn’t get the big bones of our mother. She was solid.”

“So Hunter is your half-brother.”

“Brother is brother!” the Dwarf says gruffly. “What, he didn’t tell you about us?”

I shake my head. All Hunter ever said was that he lived with his family. Oh boy, are
we
going to have a long talk!

“Probably didn’t want to push his luck. Really bowled us over when he said he was courting the princess. He was none too happy we chased you the other night.”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” says another Dwarf with a dark, longer beard. They all look at least thirty or older, but even with their lined faces and hard scowls, I can see traces of Hunter. His father must have married again late in life.

I shake my head. “It’s… it’s….” No, I can’t say it’s all right. They did scare me out of my wits. “It’s time for me to go. You won’t stop me?”

“Nope!” The Dwarf steps aside, raising a hand to the forest ahead of me. I manage a smile as I pass him. “And what do I call you if we should meet again?”

“Cooper.” He claps a huge hand on my shoulder. “I’m glad Hunter found you, you’re a right pretty wench. But just so you know, if you ever hurt him, we’ll split you open and eat your heart and liver for supper.” He smiles pleasantly.

I crook an eyebrow at him. “And my spleen for dessert?”

That gets a thunderous roar from all the men. Cooper slaps my back, still laughing. “On your way, Princess.”

“Call me Snowy.” I’ve gone about three steps more when a sudden thought strikes me. I turn back. “What if someone
else
was hurting Hunter? Like the queen, for example. What would you do then?”

Cooper’s eyebrows drop low. “Why do you ask?”

“I think you all had better come with me to the palace.”

On the way, I tell Cooper how the queen tried to kill me. I say that Hunter offered to go “talk” to her about it – that’s all they need to know. But I think the queen locked him up, instead.

The other Dwarves follow in silence. They all, basically, look like each other, just with varying shades of brownish hair and beards of different lengths. Their arms and exposed bits of chest are hairy. I’m so glad Hunter did not inherit those traits.

We approach the palace steps and I have to admit I feel powerful. I’ve got seven scary men behind me, all armed with deadly weapons. The palace guards have almost never been challenged. They will drop like flies before us.

“I want Cooper to stay with me,” I say. “The rest of you make it your mission to find Hunter. Strike down anyone that tries to stop you. He is probably down in the dungeon.”

“What are we going to do?” Cooper asks.

“
We
are going to look for the queen.” If Hunter was unable to finish his task, then I must finish it for him. Cooper will help. I can tell he likes me; we’ve struck some kind of chord. We’re both bad apples, but lovable.