Hunted
Fairest, Book 1
by Lorelei Knox
Once upon a time in a land far away a queen gave birth to a daughter during a blizzard. The baby had skin as white as the snow that was falling as she was born and a thick shock of dark hair. The king and queen were overjoyed to have such a lovely daughter. Only one thing marred their joy. The king’s sister Morwenna was ill-tempered and spiteful. She went out of her way to make those around her unhappy. She particularly hated the queen, whom she felt stole her place in the line of succession.
In spite of all this, Morwenna was still a member of the royal family. In an attempt to win her over, the king and queen made her the baby’s godmother. One of the privileges of being godmother was the right to name the child. The queen was nervous for the week leading up to the Naming Day; whatever Morwenna named the child would be binding. Would she choose a good name or would she use the opportunity to be unpleasant?
The fact Morwenna was in such high spirits on the Naming Day gave the king and queen pause. However, they could not, at that point, take the privilege of godmother away from Morwenna without causing a rift in the family, so they simply hoped for the best. Morwenna took great joy in the announcement of the name: Snow Whore, in “honor” of the girl’s mother. The king and queen were horrified and humiliated but there was nothing they could do to change their daughter’s formal name. They could, however, encourage a nickname and so they did. The lovely princess, from that day forward, was known to everyone except Morwenna simply as Snow. Morwenna , true to her malicious nature, used her niece’s full name and used it as often as possible.
Years passed and Snow grew into a lovely young lady, beloved of everyone who knew her. Everyone, that is, except for her Aunt Morwenna . Morwenna was surpassingly proud of her beauty and it aggravated her to no end that Snow’s beauty was increasing as her own was fading. Desperate, Morwenna turned to magic in an attempt to salvage what was left of her beauty. It worked; people remarked constantly that her beauty seemed to increase with each passing year. But magic always has a price and in Morwenna’s case it cost her what was left of her soul. Truth be told, she didn’t miss it.
If Morwenna had been spiteful before, losing her soul made her truly evil. She began to plot how to do away with her brother, his wife, and their daughter. If all three of them were dead, succession would pass to Morwenna and she would finally have the power she had always longed for. She saw her opportunity one day when the king and queen were taking a trip. As their carriage crossed a bridge she called up a mighty flood which washed the carriage away, killing them both. However, Snow was a problem. Morwenna had exhausted her magic summoning the flood and had none left to dispose of Snow. Morwenna used the other power she had at her disposal: gold. She paid a hunter to take Snow into the woods and kill her. Once that last problem was taken care of, Morwenna could ascend to queen of the kingdom.
Morwenna told Snow the hunter was taking her to meet her parents. Snow, sweet and trusting by nature, had no reason to disbelieve her aunt so she went along willingly. The hunter was a young man named Jack. He wasn’t evil but he was poor; the amount of gold Morwenna was offering would take care of his family for the rest of their lives. He justified what he was about to do by telling himself he would make sure Snow didn’t suffer. He had heard stories of Snow’s beauty and grace but he did not know if they were true - weren’t people required to say nice things about their rulers? As he watched her skipping along the forest path collecting flowers and humming a tune, he found himself being won over. Snow was interested in finding out more about Jack and peppered him with questions about his family, his life, and hunting. Soon it became apparent
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