Snow White (14 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

SUDDENLY A BRIGHT LIGHT exploded and Corlan’s lips molded more firmly to Snow’s. Once the light dissipated, his lips released their hold and he pulled back.

“Please work,” he softly said to her. “Please come back to me.”

Just then her chest rocked forward and she gasped.

“It worked!” he exclaimed as he watched her eyes flutter open and her breathing become normal.

She blinked and then slowly grinned. “Hello.”

“Well, hello yourself,” he said.

“You are here.”

“You are back.”

Snow tugged free of his and Hope’s hands to reach up and place her arms around Corlan’s shoulders. “Did you just kiss me awake, like in the fairy stories?”

“Aye, I did.” He chuckled. “When you are with fairies and they tell you to do something, you’d better do it.”

She looked around and smiled at the group above them before looking back at him. “How long have I been asleep?”

He shook his head. “It was worse than that. Melantha poisoned you.”

“The apple?”

“Yes.”

Her lively eyes sparkled at him. “But you are not cursed anymore? You are not trying to kill me?”

How grateful it was to see her and feel her again. “No. I have been released.”

“Then what are you waiting for?” she whispered, her eyes searching his.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, are you not going to kiss me again? Now that we are both back to normal?”

“Minx.” He laughed. “You would not mind? Are you sure it is me you are in love with and not all those other handsome men?”

She rolled her eyes and tugged him toward her.

“Wait.” He placed a hand over her mouth and glanced up at the delighted women. “Do you mind giving us a just a bit of privacy?”

They playfully groaned and snickered amongst themselves before turning around and walking away. Even Love stood up. “We will be in the cottage, where Hope will fill us in on all that happened here. You two enjoy yourselves.”

“Thank you!” Corlan said.

She winked in reply and then went in the home with the others.

“Now, where were we?” he asked.

“You were about to kiss me senseless.”

Corlan’s eyebrows rose. “I was? Are you sure?”

Snow giggled. “Yes. Perfectly sure.”

And so he did just that, kissing her like he had imagined doing for ages now. They would more than likely still be kissing today, so enjoyable they found it, if they were not interrupted by Raven and Terrance bursting out from the rose garden.

“Snow!” Raven called. “Snow, where are you?”

Corlan heard Terrance answer, “There she is. See? In Corlan’s arms.”

“You are not a dog!” Raven ran up to him.

“I think we have been found.” Corlan grinned down at Snow.

She good-humoredly sighed. “Yes. It would seem that way.”

He quickly kissed her one more time before helping the beautiful girl to her feet. He brushed at a few stray pieces of debris from her hair as Raven chattered.

“I am so happy to see you both here, and alive! We thought for sure when we lost sight of my mother that you would both be dead.”

“I was, apparently,” Snow said. “Corlan brought me back, though.”

“Thankfully Melantha removed the curse or no one would have known it was me.”

“Where is she now?” Terrance asked.

Corlan shook his head. “After she poisoned Snow and transformed back into her former self, she left. I do not know if she walked or simply disappeared and went back to the castle. I was too worried about Snow to care where my mother had gone.”

“Have you heard from King Herbert?” Terrance asked.

“No. The letter I wrote never made it to him—she took it. Hence the reason she transformed me into a dog—to make me prove my loyalty to her.”

“I need to find a horse and get to him immediately. Someone needs to let him know what is happening,” Terrance said.

Snow spoke up. “I believe they are discussing the matter in full detail at the moment. The fairies who have been watching over me are not a group to be messed with. I think they expect to battle the mirror.”

“Wait. Fairies?” Raven asked. “You have been living here, in this gorgeous cottage, with fairies?”

Snow nodded. “Oh, goodness, I have so much to show you! Let us go inside and see what their plan of attack may be. You will be amazed at how magical they are.”

“Do you believe we could get Mother back?” Raven asked as they began to walk toward the house.

Corlan nudged Terrance before he began following them inside. “I have begun to see what you mean.”

“What?” Terrance asked.

“About women.” He waggled his eyebrows and glanced at Snow as she walked into the cottage on Raven’s arm, her long black ringlets tempting him with every bounce. “I am quite smitten.”

“And would you do anything for her?”

“Anything.”

Terrance grinned and nodded as he began to follow them. “Aye. It is always about the women.”

“Yes, it is,” Corlan said as they stepped into the cottage. “And thank goodness, or life would be excessively boring.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

THE FAIRIES WELCOMED SNOW and the rest in with bounteous food and laughter around the enlarged table. The group introduced themselves properly and they discussed at length what what would be the best plan of attack against Melantha and her powerful mirror. Everyone was unanimous in agreeing that she must be stopped at all costs. Too many lives were at stake, and already she had complete control over King Herbert’s castle. Soon, it would be all of Olivian.

“I think it is wise for Terrance to head to King Herbert as soon as possible,” Grace said. “Let the king know the threat that is within his home.”

Brave and Peace both agreed.

“I will guarantee you arrive quickly and safely,” Peace said.

Brave added, “And you will be protected. I see him fighting a great battle at the moment, though I believe it has been brought on by the mirror. If we can destroy that mirror, I feel the threat of war will cease.”

“So do I,” Peace said. “It is why we need you to get to Herbert and let him know all.”

Terrance nodded. “I will leave at once.”

“Truth will create a swift horse for you. One that will get you there extremely fast so you will be able to meet us at the castle by nightfall,” Grace said.

“So it is to be tonight?” asked Snow. Already the butterflies in her stomach were beating wildly, but she found herself more eager to face the queen than to hide. It was time she did her part to save Olivian from their new queen.

“Yes.” Corlan folded his arms. “The quicker my mother is stopped, the fewer people will be harmed. It must be tonight.”

“We will travel by fairyflight.” Grace looked at Terrance. “As soon as Herbert is on his way, we will arrange it so we arrive just a bit before him to create the surprise needed to catch Melantha off guard.”

“Would it be easier if I traveled with the prince and then sounded the horn when we were about a quarter of an hour away?” Brave asked.

“Perfect!” Joy exclaimed.

“Yes, go,” Grace said. “It will ensure that nothing goes wrong.”

Terrance and Brave stood from the table and waited for Truth to come around from the other end. The prince leaned down and left a quick, surprising kiss on Raven’s lips. “Be safe,” he said to her.

“Me? But you are the one going to the battlefront.”

“Yes, you. Be safe.” He grinned. “I want to taste those lips again when I return tonight.”

“Ha! We will see if you deserve another kiss.”

“If you did not grin I would believe your protests, but since I can tell you are as eager as I am, I guarantee you will get your wish.”

Raven flushed and the group laughed as he walked outside with the fairies.

“What will you need me to do?” Snow asked, eager to help in any way she could.

Grace turned to Corlan. “What do you feel would be best for her?”

Corlan glanced over Snow and then said, “My mother thinks Snow is dead. We can use that to our advantage. What can you fairies do to help us stop Melantha? Right now, the magic of the mirror halts me, completely freezes my limbs so I must do what it requires of me. I am overpowered. Is there a way to somehow trap her before she can overpower us?”

“Yes!” Peace exclaimed. “There is. If we are all together, we should be able to trap her in her own magic, which would mean locking her within the mirror. But all of us must be together to do so.”

“How does it work?” Snow asked.

Grace spoke up. “When we were created, we were intended to be a force—an opposition against evil. And therefore, each of our gifts, our names, are interlinked. You cannot oppose evil without our characteristics. Once you have all seven within you, all seven days of the week, you can withstand anything the opposition throws your way. Each of our days are significant as well, but I will not go into all of that. Suffice it to say, with the Grace of the Almighty, the Truth you can withstand all, the Hope life will get better, Love over everything, Peace which dwells within, Joy at life and all her ups and downs, and Brave—the ability to face it all without fear. Once you have us all together, there is nothing the opponent can do to you. It is simply trapped. But if you allow one of these gifts to fade, you welcome the enemy in.”

“Just think,” Joy said. “Think of what she is saying. What if you did not have Truth or Hope, but you had the others? You could not fully trap your enemy. You must have Joy and Peace as well. You must have it all. And once you have mastered that, anyone can defeat anything.”

“It would seem the mirror is based on the opposite qualities,” Corlan said. “He is all about greed, envy, strife, murder, fear, lies …”

“Yes, and now do you see why it was imperative that we watched over Snow like we did?”

“I am so very grateful you promised my mother you would,” she said. “Who knew how much I would actually need you now?”

Hope smiled. “Life has an interesting way of coming full circle. Indeed, you never know who will turn out to be the exact person you need in your life. When you first meet them, you cannot imagine what role they may end up playing. It is something I find quite fascinating.”

Corlan stood up and began to pace within the parlor. Snow could tell he would not rest until the full strategy had worked itself out within his mind.

She listened to the fairies chatter for a few minutes before walking over to him. “What are you thinking?” she asked.

He stopped and glanced her way. “I was just pondering everything, wondering if perhaps this might actually work. Remember, I have read the accounts of what the mirror has done in the other kingdoms. We must at least try to withstand it.”

“None of the other kingdoms had fairies,” she said.

“I know. It is what gives me hope.” He grinned over in Hope’s direction.

Snow searched his features until he looked at her again. Then she caught his gaze and held it. “Do you believe Melantha can come back to us?” she whispered.

Corlan closed his eyes briefly. “I hope so, though I do wonder how we will ever be able to forgive her.”

She looked at him for a while and could not say a word. Even her forgiving heart would take a long time to trust and forgive after this.

“Come, you two,” Grace called. “Let us sort through the rest of our plans. No matter what happens tonight, whether we are able to save Melantha or not, our true focus is to bring peace back to Olivian and remove the curse from the castle.”

They planned for several hours, all of them together. The fairies made sure everyone was comfortable and well fed, but the plan was all anyone could speak of. And then just around seven o’clock, Love announced to the group, “I hear the horn. It is time!”

Quickly, Raven, Corlan, and Snow huddled together while four fairies stood around them, tugging upon their clothes.

Snow looked up at Corlan, her hands clenched his. Her slight fear must have shown on her face because he kissed her brow and whispered, “It will be fine. I will not allow her to harm you.”

“Now!” Grace commanded. “It is time.”

And they were gone.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

THE GROUP ARRIVED JUST outside the castle. As they had planned earlier, Corlan walked in alone first while the others waited for King Herbert and Brave to appear. He made his way directly to his mother’s rooms. If all went as intended, it should be quite easy to trap her within the mirror. What happened after that was still uncertain, but at least a massive battle would not be needed, thanks to the help of the fairies. It was crucial that the fewest people possible were harmed in this confrontation.

He knocked upon her door. “Mother, I have come home.”

The door opened on its own and he found her seated in front of her mirror, her back to him, her red hair as full and pretty as before. “I know,” she stated simply. “I know everything.”