Read Online Sneaky Snow White (Dark Fairy Tale Queen Series Book 2) by Anita Valle - Free Book Online Page A

nothing from him since Old Cinders had her babies. I look in on them a few times but all it does is make me angry. Cinderella is very weak, she can’t even stand without help. Hunter never leaves her side, often holding one baby while she tends the other. He smiles often but his face looks troubled. At night, while Cinderella sleeps, he sits by the fire with his eyes closed and his mouth pressed into his fist. I hope he is missing me terribly.
    The Dwarves, meanwhile, are driving me nuts! They destroyed the palace with their mock battles, I honestly think they break things for the fun of it. And I’m getting awfully tired of having slabs of meat for supper. Sometimes they bring strange women to the palace, sometimes they light a fire and sing loud, bawdy songs while drinking tankards of ale. It’s like living with a barbarian horde.
    “Cooper!” I say one sunny morning that promises no new rain for my spell. “Get your brothers and meet me in the throne room. It’s time to give you guys something constructive to do.”
    When the Dwarves assemble, I don’t waste words. “This place has been Cinderella’s castle for too long. She may like empty rooms and black floors but I don’t. You want to break something? Fine. I want you to smash all of these marble floors. We’ll replace them with something more cheerful. And let’s get some new furniture, and some carpets too.”
    “So the queen’s not coming back?” Cooper asks.
    “Certainly not. I am the queen now.”
    “I could make some furniture,” says one of the Dwarves. “I was trained as a carpenter.”
    “And I’m a stone mason,” says another.
    “Beautiful,” I say. “Let’s fix up the castle and then we’ll have a coronation ceremony. You’ll all be rewarded for helping me.”
    “What about Hunter?” Cooper asks.
    I smile. “Hunter will be the king, of course.”
    The Dwarves grin. They like that idea.
    “That’ll make us princes!” Barker says.
    “The women will come flocking,” says another Dwarf. “Maybe we’ll finally get some wives!”
    “I want three!” Barker cries.
    That makes me laugh. “Sure! Anything you want. Just fix up the palace for me. And please, no more battles.”
    The Dwarves agree and talk about finding tools for the project. Cooper stays with me when they leave. He follows me out of the throne room and into the parlor. “Where are you going?” he asks.
    “Up to The Mirror for a while.”
    Cooper puts a hand on my shoulder and turns me around. “You were up there for five hours, yesterday. Give it a rest.”
    “I just want to talk to it.”
    “It’s changing you.”
    “It’s teaching me things.”
    “Not good things. You were nicer before.”
    “I am exactly the same.”
    Cooper points at me. “You want Hunter to like you, you gotta stay nice. You turn into some Evil Queen and he won’t want you no more.”
    “I’m not turning into the Evil Queen! Besides, Hunter would love me no matter who I became.”
    “He’s just a boy, not a hero. You gotta do your part.”
    “And what is my part, oh wise one?”
    Cooper leans down and scowls in my face. “Stay nice!”

~*~ 26 ~*~
     
    My third attempt at the poisoned apple is a failure. This is exhausting. It’s not easy staying up all night, stirring a cauldron in the dark. I have to sleep until late afternoon to recover.
    “Maybe I should try something else,” I say to The Mirror. I’m sitting on the floor in front of it, too exhausted to stand up. “I’m just not magical. This isn’t going to work.” I stare at my glum face in the glass and wait for The Mirror to respond.
    It shows me a scene. A young woman, wearing a red hooded cloak, is walking through the palace garden. Snow has fallen around her, dusting the paths and dead flower beds in white. Her skin is pale, her hair is black, and at first I think the young woman is me. But as I continue to watch, I realize it’s my mother.
    Oh! I rise onto my knees and press my hands against the glass.