Author's Note: In 2012, I watched the movie Snow White and the Huntsman, and then I proceeded to write this story. I failed to complete it then, but now I am determined to pick up on my unfinished writings. *.* Lily
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Chapter 1 - The Evil Queen's Narration
Winter time came early this year. I saw it from my balcony and all outside the windows came first the hail, and then the rain. Finally glazed the snow on earth, gently like a sheet of silk. The first day it snowed, I made a snowman. Crushed small heaps of snow and made balls out of them. The snow was not the fluffy kind of snow but rather icy one, good to make a snowman that would stand tall for a long while yet.
All I had to do was to crush the snow into a hard ball of ice. I shaped its body and for its eyes and hands, I used dried twigs. My hands were cold and my heart, too. I did feel at home though. After all, they call me the Ice Queen; she whose heart was carved out of ice. Dramatic; what my subjects would call me. I have long ceased to take interest in their matters.
Roques, my loyal advisor knocked quietly on the balcony door which was left slightly ajar.
"He is here, your Majesty the Queen Elena." He said.
His eyes were averted from me and they swept the ground almost immediately.
I walked from the winter landscape into the warmth of the room. Roques had a man by his side. He was tall and broad and for his occupation, he very much looked the part. As I have experienced countless of times, he looked at me vaguely in astonishment. His gaze on me then turned hard and sour just like the rest.
"I won't do your bidding; whatever it is." He spat out the words.
It was a good thing that I became cold many moons ago. I remained expressionless.
"Why not just kill me now with your dark magic?" He was practically begging for it.
I looked not at him, but at Roques, who in turn nodded and summoned the guards who were outside the room. They brought in an old farmer and his shrivelled wife. They were tied and bound by chains.
The guards had their swords aimed at their fragile necks. Both were crying and pleading for their lives.
"No, let my parents go. Leave them out of this." The man cried, his heart reaching out.
I smiled. Love was always the weakness of mortal men. Some people said I was no longer human, and I relished it.
"Then you know what you have to do." I said, as a matter of fact.
"Yes, yes." He said, crumbling down to the ground.
I summoned the guards to take the old couple into the dungeons. Only Roques stood beside me.
"I want you to bring me the heart of White Snow." I said.
His mouth opened wide.
"I don't know where she is." His reply came, softly.
"But I do. She is in the Enchanted Forest, hiding her wits out." I said.
"They say the forest is not safe." He said, contemplating his next move.
"It's not but assuming you really are that great huntsman you are, you would know how to protect yourself against the wild beasts, what more my measly stepdaughter." I said.
He gazed at me with those dark pupils of his. He had deep set eyes which were spiralled far into his face.
"Why do you need her heart? Why not her head?" He asked.
He was not afraid of me, not like the others. I guess it came with his hazardous occupation of either life or death.
I was taken aback for a second. No one had ever questioned my motives out loud.
"That's none of your concern." I said sharply.
I forced out a laugh. I had to portray strength and evil.
His gaze on me then was unwavering. I did not like it and instinctively I commanded Roques to see him out of my castle. With both of them gone, I retired into my chambers opposite the meeting room.
I sat on my bed and traced the contours of its lace on the bed sheet. Many a craftsmen had been forced to give me all the comforts and luxuries befitting for their Queen. I held on to that thought. I was the Queen and I shall continue to be. There was no other way.
The huntsman would do to my bidding. After all, my infamous reputation for cruelty to prisoners was known far and wide.
Chapter 2 - The Huntsman's Narration
I was whisked out of the gloomy castle the moment I gazed the Evil Queen directly in the eye. It seemed to me that she could not tolerate any opposition towards her orders.
My mind was in a mess. It skimmed and grazed the meadows of thought through my capture by her guards and then her summoning me to do her bidding and the imprisonment of my parents. I feared for their safety and wellbeing. She had beheaded many prisoners before. Their bodies never surfaced again. Rumours had it that they were tossed to the crocodiles kept within the castle walls itself. I shuddered to think of what would happen to my parents if I failed her task.
She was not quite the Queen I expected. She was of slight build and her voice had a melancholy tinge to it. Her eyes, huge as they were; lit the room with an unfathomable expression.
I made my way towards the Enchanted Forest. No, I had never set foot in its realm. Legend has foretold many strange happenings here. Fairies, gnomes and strange creatures unknown to the folk in our kingdom roam this realm.
If White Snow chose a place of hiding, she did well then. The Queen had a warrant for her head one year ago, and still she could not be found despite thorough search attempts.
After scaling the Small Hill which opened up into a clearing, I entered the Enchanted Forest. Its lushness in pine trees could not be paralleled by the Common Forest where I used to do my hunting of beasts.
I was not afraid. My mind was only wondering how to find the beauty they called White Snow. She was loved by many in our kingdom. She was in her prime of youth when the Queen ordered for her capture just because her vanity could not take the fact that she was not the fairest of all.
I was at wits end after walking for hours. When I did rest under a tree, a small hideous creature emerged from out of nowhere. It was a gnome.
"Huntsman, I know what it is that you seek. I can help you but only if you help me." He said in a shrill voice.
Without waiting for my answer, he said, "I want you to take this apple to the castle and throw it in its gardens. I want a tree to grow from it. That is all I ask of you." He said.
Out from his pouch, came a glittering red apple. I took it in my palms.
Fair enough. It crossed my mind it was a rather irrational request but one which I could easily do in exchange of White Snow's whereabouts.
The gnome lead me to a small brook and upon following its trail, we reached a waterfall falling from a ridge of high rocks, wherein there was a small enclave behind its fall.
The gnome disappeared from sight. I walked inside the cave-like structure feeling cautious all of a sudden. I was here on a mission to kill. My senses were sharp; my bow and arrow ready to shoot.
It was then I saw her leaning against the wall of the cave, observing me in the partial darkness. At first sight, my thoughts were on how fair she was and how her complexion gleamed in the darkness. She was a classically beautiful creature, indeed.
