Free Snow White by Jenni James

eaten the heart of a pig.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
    SNOW RAN WITH ALL her might through the darkened forest, dodging trees and shrubs and fallen logs and all sorts of hazardous rocks and dips in the ground. She ran and ran and ran until she simply could not run anymore. And then she walked. When her walking eventually slowed to a stop, she collapsed against a large pine tree and wrapped her ripped cloak about her.
    She was lost.
    Alone.
    And so very afraid.
    It was not right that princesses should cry and so she attempted bravely not to do so. But the memory of Corlan lunging at her with that knife caused her to shut her eyes tight. He was going to kill her. He was commanded to kill her.
    This was beyond her worst fears.
    Why Corlan? Of all people, why him?
    Burying her face in her hands, she slipped to the forest floor that was covered in pine needles and leaves and she sobbed until she could not cry another moment. And then with tear-filled gasps she eventually fell asleep, too exhausted to care if Corlan found her or not. Her last thoughts were of her father, somewhere very far away battling to save them all.
    “Father, I love you,” she whispered as she drifted to sleep. “Prevail and come home soon. I need you. We all need you.”
    ***
    “DID YOU DO AS I asked?” Melantha demanded to know when Corlan came into her chambers later that night. She wore her robe and slippers, but it looked as though she had not slept, probably anxious for him to return.
    “I have the heart for you in here,” he replied in a monotone voice. He passed the ornate box over to her as she lounged upon the red velvet sofa near her window.
    He saw her looking over his bloodstained torso and leg.
    Glancing down, he blinked, surprised to see the amount of gore the pig had left on him. Cutting out a heart was a messy business. He had deposited the dead animal in the chef’s butchery room to be found the next morning.
    “Really, Corlan, you need to clean yourself up and get dressed. It is improper to be walking around like that. What if someone were to see you?”
    Did she honestly think he would care at this point? “What is wrong, Mother?” he asked. “Are you worried about what others might think? Truly? Is this your greatest concern right now?” He walked backward a few steps and bowed low, mocking her. “Knowing that your stepdaughter is dead does not trigger anything within you, only how your son will be portrayed without his shirt on, covered in blood?” Straightening, he continued, “Did you not think this is how I would appear after your gruesome task was performed? How should I have approached you, then—bathed and freshly dressed?”
    “Corlan, enough!” She stood up, clutching the box to her chest. “Your sarcasm is not acceptable. We are protecting our family, our kingdom. Snow White was the biggest threat to us. Now that she is gone, we can finally go forward with our plans for peace.”
    Hardened and numb against anything the woman said, Corlan did not even attempt to disagree. There was no shock left within him at her words and actions. She had removed all the good left inside. He was simply hollow now, a mere shell of the man he once was.
    She giggled as she lifted the lid of the box and asked, “Would you like to see what becomes of me? You will be astounded! The mirror has promised that it will be extraordinary!”
    He smirked. “You will eat it now? Raw?”
    Glancing up in surprise, she said, “Of course! I must. But it will be worth it to receive all the beauty I deserve now that she is gone.”
    He grimaced. Perhaps he was not as immune to her plans as he believed. This woman before him was certainly not the mother who had raised him.
    She walked to the looking glass and chanted while the green mist began to fill the room.
    “Mirror, mirror on the wall,
    Beseeching thine assistance, I do call
    As this heart within the box
    Speaks of a fairer beauty that mocks.
    I ask you grant me the beauty fair
    To wind itself