The Snow Bitch

[ysabara]

I love playing around with fairy tales. Here is my take on Snow White.

THE SNOW BITCH

Queen Anais knew the exact moment when she had begun to hate her stepdaughter. When she had first arrived at court to marry the King, she had barely noticed the pale, silent child. The King was old, far older than Anais and the child had been born late into his first marriage. He doted on her but Anais knew that as soon as she could provide him with a son this first child would lose her significance in his eyes. Such a pallid, silent child, she was easy to ignore, especially early in the marriage when the King was so enamoured of his beautiful, young wife and so eager to prove himself upon her. Anais endured his old man’s fumblings, consoling herself with the thought of the sons she would bear and the riches and power that were hers as Queen.
Time passed. There were no sons and the King came no more to her bed. As the possibility of a male heir diminished, his attention turned again to his daughter.
“My Snow White,” he would call her and indeed she was. In a land of fair haired, pale skinned people she was the fairest of them all. Her hair was silver blonde, her skin white as alabaster. Her eyes were grey, light and clear as water; her lashes covered them like clouds, keeping her thoughts hidden. Even so, Anais didn’t hate her then, not when her own golden beauty was still evident in the lustful looks of the court nobles and the jealous glances of their ladies.
Although she could have had any of them as her lover, Anais refused. She wasn’t prepared to risk her status as Queen or to forgo the comfort and power that position bought her. Besides, adultery for a Queen meant death and Anais was too fond of her own pretty neck. She was content to be worshipped from afar, enjoying the machinations of those nobles who still thought that one day she would succumb to the temptations they offered. Occasionally she would see her stepdaughter, at Feast days or formal occasions but her existence barely registered with her. The girl would sit on her throne beside her father, watching everything but never speaking. Anais and her ladies would whisper about her behind their fans.
“So thin. So pale. An ugly child.”
But men’s eyes told another story that Anais refused to acknowledge.
For her twelfth birthday the King gave his daughter seven new attendants. They were dwarves from the eastern mountains, small golden men with eyes like black glass.
“Seven of them to protect you from all harm,” the King said. From then on, wherever Snow White went her silent attendants went too. Some women of the court found them fascinating for although small, they were perfectly formed and comely enough, but they made Anais uneasy. They were as silent and inscrutable as the mistress they served.
Anais’ contentment with her life changed late one winter’s afternoon. She had been sitting in her bedroom, gazing into her silver mirror and admiring the golden waterfall of her hair as it fell over her bare shoulders. Outside, in the courtyard there was a sudden commotion, dogs barking, the clatter of hooves and the shouts of men. Frowning she went to her window and looked out. A hunting party, she thought, eyeing the carcase of a deer which was flung over the back of one horse. Disinterested she turned away when the sudden screech of a large bird of prey and a man’s voice cursing drew her eyes back to the window.
Below her a man wrestled with the huge golden eagle that bated madly upon his wrist and with the horse that plunged wildly beneath his thighs. The bird screeched again and the horse sidled and snorted. The man clamped his thighs tightly around the horse bringing it under control. Crooning under his breath he drew his hand down the bird’s sleek breast, soothing and stroking it to quiescence. Then he glanced up and Anais felt her breath stop in her throat.
He was dark. Dark like midnight. Dark like death. Hair as black as coal, worn long and loose framing a face of wicked beauty. A mouth, lush and sensual, made for kissing and his eyes…Deepest, darkest blue and so clear that Anais could see herself reflected in their surface as though she looked into a mirror. He smiled up at her and Anais had never desired anything or anyone as much as she desired the dark stranger below her. Her gaze locked with his and in the mirror of his eyes she could see that he found her beautiful too. The eagle screeched again and he turned back to it, breaking the link between them. Anais gasped and pulled back from the window. She felt hot and cold at the same time, her limbs twitching, her heart racing.
Pulling her scattered thoughts together she left her room and sent one of her ladies to discover who he was.
A northern Lord, a King’s bastard but high in his father’s favour, he was here as an emissary to discuss trade with his southern neighbours.
“Lord Rui Alvarez,” said Anais’ tirewoman and his name slid down Anais’ throat like honeyed wine.
That night, at the banquet thrown in his honour, Anais could feel his gaze on her like a hot knife pressed to her throat but she ignored him, choosing instead to flirt with some beardless nobleman’s son who blushed and stammered under her attention. Only once did she sense his scrutiny waver, when Snow White and her seven silent shadows made their way to the King’s throne to wish him a goodnight. Then Anais felt the absence of his regard like a dash of cold water to her face and turned to see his dark blue eyes following the girl as she left the room. Anais chose that moment to cease her games with the bumbling youth and to let Rui Alvarez know she wanted him. It required little effort on her part to turn his thoughts back to her and away from her stepdaughter, the Snow Bitch, as she liked to call her.
Rui came to her room after midnight. She had sent her women away and answered the door herself. He had barely entered the room before he pulled her to him and drew his mouth across hers in a kiss that should have set the room on fire, so hot and hungry was it. He took her there, on the floor and then twice more before they reached her bed. Later, after the fifth or sixth time, when he finally slept beside her, and she could think clearly, Anais tried to formulate some excuse not to see him again. It was too dangerous, the risks too great. Then he stirred beside her and she gazed into his mirror eyes and was lost once more.
And so Anais committed adultery. She was ever fearful of discovery but Rui seemed to delight in taking the chance that they might be seen. He took her in the stables, in corridors, in the mews under the disapproving eyes of his great, golden eagle. He swallowed her cries with his mouth so that she wouldn’t frighten the other birds. One night they even made love upon the plump purple cushion that sat upon the King’s throne. Anais stifled her fear by looking into his eyes and seeing her reflection there. As long as she remained the fairest of them all in Rui’s eyes she didn’t care. Eventually, she came to learn things about him which should have frightened her. He was venal and amoral. He liked to hurt her. Sometimes he would ride her as though he wanted to break her beneath him. When she finally realised his true nature, it was too late. She could no more do without him than she could breath.
One day he had pushed her up against a wall in a rarely used servant’s corridor, tearing at her clothes in his haste. Anais watched herself in his eyes, a fair, golden Queen and tried to convince herself that this was love. Suddenly, she became aware that they were not alone. Snow White, the Snow Bitch, stood at the end of the corridor, watching them. She had only one of her small attendants with her, the youngest one. For a moment Anais could only stare at her in confusion. Had Snow White and the dwarf been holding hands? Then the reality of her situation flooded her and she gasped and pushed at Rui’s shoulders.
“Stop,’ she cried frantically.
He raised his head and followed the direction of her gaze. He stared at Snow White and Anais saw her stepdaughter’s image in his eyes before he turned back to her and resumed what he had been doing.
“Let her watch,” he grunted as he pushed against her.
“No,” Anais struggled in his grip. “She’ll tell the King. Stop.”
“She won’t say a word,” said Rui. He continued without pause but all the while Anais could see that he watched Snow White and that his pleasure came from the fact that she watched him. The girl and her companion stood unmoving until Rui had finished, then without ever uttering a word they turned and left. Anais straightened her clothing, and then looked up into Rui’s eyes but she couldn’t see her reflection there anymore. That was when she first hated her stepdaughter.
Sick with fear, Anais spent the rest of the day in her rooms. She was left alone until deep in the night when Rui finally came to her. For once, he wanted nothing more than to talk to her but as she listened to what he had to say she felt her blood turn cold.
He spoke of the death of the King and how Anais would rule as regent for the child Snow White who at sixteen still had two years before she could rule in her own stead. In two years anything could happen to a young girl. Who could say if she would ever rule? As regent Anais would have power enough to ensure that her seat upon the throne was inviolable and Rui would rule beside her. No more fear of discovery.
“I could have you in front of the whole court and no one could say us nay,” Rui breathed against her ear.
Anais looked up at him. “Do you love me?” she asked.
“You are the fairest of them all,” he said and once more she could see herself in the mirror of his eyes.
The King died that night. An apoplexy, they said. Snow White and Anais stood side by side as his gold embellished casket was sealed into his tomb. They did not speak to each other. When the ceremony was completed, Snow White and her seven dwarves all bowed to Anais before they left. Rui took her against her dead husband’s tomb before he led her back to the palace.
From then on, in everything she did, Anais could feel Snow White’s winter gaze upon her. She spent hours thinking of ways to rid herself of the Snow Bitch. Poison wouldn’t work because the dwarves tasted everything that was put before their mistress. An accident of some sort seemed the most logical choice. She discussed it with Rui one day as they stood in the mews. He was feeding his golden eagle with bloody titbits; the bird took the morsels from his bare hands so daintily despite the fierce power of its beak.
“I could cut her heart out for you, “he grinned and squeezed the bloody scraps between his fingers.
“Would you,” she looked up at him. “Could you?” she asked more softly.
He ran his fingers across her lips, smearing blood over them before he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed it off again. “Yes,” he answered. She sought reassurance in his eyes before she nodded agreement.
The night Snow White was to die, Anais waited in her rooms for Rui to return. A wild pounding at her door made her heart ratchet in an answering rhythm. She pulled the door open to find one of Snow White’s dwarves without.
“Your majesty,” he cried. “You must come with me without delay.”
“What is it?” she asked, her throat tight with dread. “What has happened?”
“The Princess,” was all he would say.
For no reason that she could comprehend at the time Anais picked up her small silver dagger before she followed him to Snow White’s apartments, holding it tightly in her hands. When they reached the doors the dwarf bowed and stood aside for her to enter first. Snow White’s other six attendants stood in a silent row against the far wall. Anais looked at them, then at the bed which stood in the centre of the room. The Snow Bitch lay on the bed with her slim, white thighs clasped tightly about Rui’s muscular body. He had his back to the door and was unaware that Anais had entered the room but Snow White met her eyes with her clear, cold gaze. Anais made a sound, a sharp ragged gasp and she saw Rui realise that she was there. Even so, he finished what he was doing before he rolled off and sprawled on his back, smiling at her. Rui liked to be watched.
Anais walked to the bed. Snow White watched her without blinking. Rui only smiled again when he saw the dagger in her hands.
“Are you going to do the deed yourself, then?” he asked her. “ I would have got round to it eventually. It just seemed a shame to waste so much untapped potential.”
Anais smiled back at him. She leant over Snow White and sought his mouth with hers. As she kissed him, she drove the dagger into his chest then released him. He gave a small sound, a tiny huff of breath and looked down at the hilt protruding from his chest with an air of puzzlement before sagging sideways and dying.
Anais stood there frozen, staring down at him. “Why isn’t there any blood?” she asked.
Snow White rose from the bed. Her attendants moved to her side, one offering her a robe to wear, another kneeling at her feet with slippers. The youngest one took her hand and Snow White bent down and kissed him. It was a kiss that Anais and Rui might have shared, so full was it of hunger and passion, but there was something there that they had never had and that was love.
“It won’t bleed unless you pull the knife out again,” said Snow White, then she and her seven dwarves left Anais alone.
For a time she sat unmoving beside Rui’s cooling body. Then she carefully straightened his arms and legs. She combed her fingers through the black silk of his hair. She kissed away the smear of blood at the corner of his mouth. Then she looked into the mirror of his eyes, frozen open in death and tried to convince herself that she was still the fairest of them all.

[Nik]

That's worthy of Roald Dahl...

[svalbard]

Delicious and depraved. You paint a great picture of the tale with your use of words.

[tangaloomababe]

I loved it! I was engrossed from the very beginning. I wish I had such talent. Do you have more?

[Aes]

That was incredibly well-done and deliciously decadent, holding my attention pretty much from start to finish. This is something that is rare with me and nearly all forms of written material.

[timelord4]

hahah

What! No more hero? Unless of course one of the *attendants* has a hairy chest! Nice one D. Loved the way you got the mirror into it. Subtle as ever.

[Leisha]

Well, that's certainly nothing like the original! Fantastic job. It's so very dark and engaging.

I didn't know if you wanted punctuation and such doing, so I left it at these odd bits:

Anais endured his [I'd have put "the" instead of "his" because "his old man" makes it sound like a man's father. ] old man’s fumblings, consoling herself with the thought of the sons she would bear and the riches and power that were hers as Queen.

Occasionally she would see her stepdaughter, at Feast days or formal occasions [comma] but her existence barely registered with her.

He took her there, on the floor [comma] and then twice more before they reached her bed.

Well done, Yasabra!

[ysabara]

Of course Rui didn't have a hairy chest A ~ that's why he had to die

Thanks for all the positive comments guys ~ and Leisha ~ help with grammar is always appreciated.

[Leisha]

Perhaps I can suggest Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, which will teach you all you need to know about punctuation, grammar, and style...

You'll find it online if you type it in. It's definitely a book I'd recommend.




You have talent, Ysabara. Keep at it!

[Cal20]

I agree - that was brillant, very engaging. Are you going to post any more?

[ysabara]

I certainly will ~ since you asked so nicely