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“Shall I have the servants bring our desserts to the morning room? We can sit by the fire and tell stories until bedtime, if you’d like,” the Queen said.
“Oh yes!” said Snow. The dining hall might have been homey, but the morning room was cozier still. There were many cushions and warm furs laid before the fire. The walls were constructed mainly of paned glass, and the doors opened onto a lovely garden filled with beautiful flowers in shades of pink, red, and purple. During nighttime hours it was lit with candles and torches.
The three snuggled together in the morning room eating strawberries and cream. A storm had stirred up and rain pelted the windows. Snow’s eyes looked heavy, and the King told her it was time for bed.
“No, Papa! Just one more story, please!” Snow pleaded.
“I’ve no stories left in me this night, child. We’ll continue tomorrow.”
“Momma, you tell me a story about dragons, please.”
The Queen looked at her
husband nervously. The King shrugged.
Unable to deny her little bird anything, the Queen put aside her inhibitions and complied: “Once, a very long time ago, a sad, lonely, and greatly misperceived woman enchanted a young princess into a deep sleep for her own safety….”
“Why was she sad, Momma?” Snow interrupted.
The Queen thought about it for a moment and said, “I think it was because no one loved her.”
“Why?” asked the child.
“Because she didn’t love herself. She feared rejection because she was so unlike anyone she’d ever known. She was so full of fear that she sequestered herself away. This sad woman’s only companions were striking blackbirds that soared in the skies around her home, perching in trees and on ledges, gathering information so she would have news of the outside world. That is how she learned of the princess’s christening. No one understood why the woman was so angry for not being invited to the christening. But you see, my little bird, she knew something the girl’s parents and fairy godmothers did not.”
“I thought you were going to tell me a story about dragons, Momma,” Snow interrupted again.
“I am, my dear. For you see this was no ordinary woman, she could turn into a dragon, and when she did, she was a fierce, frightening creature.”
“Really?” Snow’s eyes were closing, heavy with tiredness.
“Indeed, but we are getting ahead of the story….”
Before she could continue the tale, Snow had fallen asleep in her arms. The King took his wife by the hand and looked at her tenderly. The firelight flickered upon his face, transforming him from a King into something more like an angel.
“You have already become a mother to her. And I adore you all the more for that.
“I’m sorry to be away from you so soon after our guests have left, my love,” he said with a sincere gaze.
“Away?” the Queen asked, taken aback.
“My Queen, I am not a King who sends my men off to die in battle without sharing in that risk. If we are fighting for something—some worthy cause—then it should be worth my life as much as the lives of my men.”
The Queen thought this was an honorable and valiant ethic. But it did not alter the fact that the thought of her husband out on the battlefield paralyzed her with terror. And how could it be that he would rather be in battle with his life on the line, when he was King and could choose to be home with her? Was he choosing his duty over his love for her? And shouldn’t she—and Snow—be paramount in his life? And then, a more worrisome thought entered her mind—perhaps his loving words to her since his courtship had been untrue and he wanted nothing more than to escape her, even if it meant certain death.
“We will have to make the most of our time together, then,” she said, crestfallen.
“And what will you do while I am away? How will you spend your days?” he asked.
“I think I will take Snow to the forest to pick wildflowers. And if you do not object, I would like the child to visit her mother’s grave.”
The King fell silent. His eyes welled up. It was strange to see such a great man, still with stony countenance, dissolve into such a state.
“I’m sorry, did I overstep…?” the Queen began.
“No, love, you did not. It means so much to me that you should want Snow to know of her mother. You are a remarkable woman. You have a beautiful heart, my darling. And I love you more than you will ever know.” The Queen kissed the King on the cheek and stepped away from him.
“And I, you. We will anxiously await your return.”
