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ing her face, doing up her hair. And all the while she wore a brilliant smile.
When she arrived at the court, Snow was already there—she looked so small and delicate sitting in her high-back chair in this great hall. Before the preparations had been completed, before the Queen could take her seat, there was a blare of horns. Snow knew what this meant, and she launched from her seat and ran toward the castle entrance. The Queen followed, her speed restricted by her formal gown.
The King burst into the hall. “So, how have my beauties been occupying their time while I’ve been away?” he asked. A great cheer erupted in the castle. Snow leaped into his arms, and he twirled the child around and kissed her.
He had returned from the battlegrounds a different man. The Queen noticed a scar above his right cheek. His hair was not as groomed as it normally would be, and his beard had grown rough and ragged. And it was not only his physical appearance that had changed. His eyes were weighted down with sorrow and confusion. Perhaps regret. Still, underneath, the Queen could see the bright blue sparkle that she so dearly loved.
An emotion the Queen had never before felt welled up inside her. It was something she couldn’t explain—something between deep sadness and sheer ecstasy. Her lip began to quiver and she could feel the pressure of tears weighing on her eyes. She ran to the King and embraced him and the child.
“I’ve missed you so much,” she said.
“Momma crowned the Apple Blossom Maiden! Oh, Papa, she looked so beautiful with apple blossoms in her hair!”
“Was the maiden that beautiful then?” the King asked. Snow made a sour face as if her father should have known she was talking about her mother and not the Apple Blossom Maiden, “I meant Momma, she was the prettiest girl there! She should have been the Apple Blossom Maiden!”
“Oh, I’m sure she was the most beautiful. It sounds as if you had lovely days without me, my dears, I’m sorry I missed them.”
“That’s okay, Papa! But I have had a thought. If you should make friends with dragons, Papa, then, you would be able to fly home more quickly. Or maybe you could even learn to turn into a dragon, like the lady from Momma’s tale.”
The King and Queen laughed at their daughter’s sweet words, and then joined their guests who had already begun to celebrate.
Then, suddenly, an explosion rocked the castle. Screams of terror erupted from the banquet hall and attendants scurried to find safety in any corner of the hall that looked clear.
“Snow White!” the Queen called out, unable to find the child in the panicked crowd, or through the thick smoke that was filling the room. “Snow!”
Battle cries went up from the men who had so recently returned. And they were uncannily suited and armed quicker than any man could dress himself for an ordinary day. The Queen was confounded. What was happening?
At once, the great wooden door of the hall came crashing down. The Queen screamed out, terrified of what was happening.
“Snow White!” she screamed again, but the child did not answer.
Men on horseback, dressed in royal blue, stormed the hall, but the King’s men appeared to be holding them off, for now.
Then, the Queen felt a strong hand grab at her arm and pull her away. She gasped, then turned to see who had grasped her. The King! And he was holding a terrified Snow White in his arms.
“Come,” he said.
The Queen felt faint, but followed as best she could.
“Who are they?” she asked her husband as he led her down one of the castle halls, where men continued to suit up for battle.
“The opposing army from our most recent battle. They must have followed us back home. I am sorry to have put you and Snow White in danger this way.”
Snow continued to shake and kept her head buried in her father’s shoulder, looking up occasionally to see if the men were still attacking, if smoke was still filling the halls. Shouts and battle cries echoed through the castle. As the King unlatched a dungeon door, he grabbed a torch and quickly ushered the Queen and Snow down a spiral staircase. The dungeon was damp and cold, and in the darkness the Queen had difficulty finding her footing. The King felt around the floor of the dungeon and located a trapdoor.
“Take this torch,” he told the Queen. Descend these stairs, and at the bottom you will find a small rowboat that will carry you out of the castle and to safety.”
“You will be joining us!” the Queen said.
“I will protect you in the way I know best. Now take Snow and go!” the King responded, and then he ran out from the dungeon once more.
The Queen held the shaking child close, and she made her way to the boat that the King promised would be waiting. The Queen set the torch in a brace on the boat and boarded. Snow White clung to her, and the Queen found it difficult to row the boat and hold the child at the same time. But she had to! And she did.
Soon the boat was drifting out of the castle and down a small river into the marshland that surrounded the castle. A blast of cold air hit them and the Queen held Snow White close. The Queen rowed the boat into an area that was densely covered with swamp grass, and the two sat shivering among the plants as the sky lit up red and orange around them. Both the Queen and the child started each time a blast sounded.
“Momma, is Papa going to be okay?” Snow asked, through shivering teeth.
“He always is, is he not?”
