Snow White (Enchanted Fairytales) (10 page)

“Yes, I do,” she said. “But other than Channy, there isn’t anything I miss. I only had Katarina for family, and you know how that was.”

“But you want to go back.” It was a statement, not a question. She considered.

“I suppose I do, but I don’t know if I can. Not because of the enchantment, but because I’d have to spend the rest of my life wondering if Katarina would finish what she began when she sent me into the forest with the hunter.”

“Well,”
Philip
said, “If we can figure out how to get you out of here, I suspect Katarina won’t be an issue any longer.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because if you can get out, it will mean the enchantment is broken and she will lose her power.”

Snow thought about his words. She glanced around the room at the magical quality of the place, which went along with the rest of Fableton. It wouldn’t be
horrible
to stay here. But if she could break the enchantment and cause Katarina to lose her power, it might save someone else in the future from
being
her
victim
. Snow didn’t know but suspected she wasn’t Katarina’s first
target
in the past five-hundred years.

She brought her gaze back to
Philip
. His eyes were on her, as if he could see her
. W
armth entered her heart.
Philip
was good and kind. His hand on her waist was firm and strong. His hand beneath hers was warm. Her heart beat a little faster when she remembered him holding her next to the waterfall, vulnerable in his need for something as simple as a hug.

“Maybe we can have a picnic by the waterfall tomorrow,” she said.

A smile lit
Philip
’s face. “I’d like that very much. And if you promise not to tell anyone, I’ll show you more of my paintings.”

“Deal,” she said, deciding talk about breaking the enchantment could wait another day.

*****

“No one else ever comes in this room,”
Philip
said, opening the door and standing back so she could enter ahead of him. “They don’t know Katarina. They’re unaware of the name of
the one
who caused the enchantment on Fableton. I prefer they don’t know since she can’t hurt them if they don’t. At least, I hope she can’t.”

Snow stepped into the cavernous room. The floors were marble, white with silver veins like the ballroom floor. However, in here there were
mirrors floor to ceiling between tall marble columns. The ceiling was arched and depicted cherubs and angels in pastel colors.

Philip
stepped forward and took her arm, guiding her to the back corner. She glanced at him. Today he wore a loose white shirt that laced up the front, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and beige pants tucked into his black knee-high boots. He looked like a hero stepped out of the past. He looked
good
.

When they reached the corner, he stepped forward and pulled the sheet off of a pile of paintings. When he moved to the side and Snow caught a glimpse of the first painting, she choked on her laugh.
Philip
grinned back at her and said, “That isn’t even my best one.”

Katarina looked back at her, erasing any doubt that
Philip
’s Katarina was the same as her own. Only this Katarina
had a red clown nose, a tall rounded hat, powder white face with grotesquely bright red lips, and a huge ruffle around her neck.

Philip
leaned it forward and pulled another from behind. She didn’t even try to hold back her laugh at this one. Katarina’s face was clearly recognizable in spite of the dog snout and furry face, floppy ears hanging to the side.

Another showed her face blurred to the sides, on
e had her features upside down o
n her face,
another
gave her a polka dotted face, and in
yet
another her wide-eyed face grew from a tree. By the time he finished showing her the paintings, Snow’s stomach ached from laughing.

Philip
put them all ba
ck in place and covered them
again.
Snow
imagined
it was like turning the lights off to him. He turned toward her and shrugged, looking a little abashed.

“It’s not very nice, I know. It helps me let out my frustration toward her and what she’s done to all of the people here in a passive way.” He took her hand this time as they walked from the room, and Snow flushed at the gesture.
“I haven’t shown them to anyone else.”

“Well, I appreciate you showing me. I haven’t laughed that hard in a long time.”

They went out to the
musical waterfall
where a picnic basket sitting on a checkered blanket waited for them.
Philip
led her to the blanket, and they sat.

“You get around pretty well,” she told him. “If you hadn’t told me you’re blind, I wouldn’t have guessed.”

“I suppose living in the same place for over five-hundred years
gives it a sense of familiarity,” he said wryly.

“I guess it would,” she laughed, closing her eyes to listen to the water. Then she popped them open and was dazzled by the combination of the
tinkling music
and the glistening droplets. She sighed in pleasure.

“You like it, don’t you?”

“Like what?” she asked.

He waved toward the water then continued filling their plates. She was amazed that everything landed on the plate without overlapping. “I can’t see your expression, but I can hear your pleasure.”

Snow blushed, glad he couldn’t see
that
. She took the plate he handed her and said, “Have you ever swam in it?”

“In the waterfall?” He
was
stunned at the idea.

“Not in the
waterfall
, but in the pool of water at the base of it.”

His head turned toward the waterfall, as if he could see it. “No, I haven’t. I hadn’t thought of trying. I suppose I never thought to ask anyone if it were possible.”

“It’s possible,” she said.
“We should swim sometime.”

Philip began coughing as he choked. “Together?” he finally managed.

“Well . . . yeah. I mean, why not? Although, I don’t have a swimsuit. I can probably get Stitcher to make me one, though.”

“A swimsuit?” He looked confused. “You wear a suit of some type for swimming in?”

“Um, don’t you? What do you wear?”

“Nothing.”

Snow’s jaw dropped. She glanced at the water then back at Philip. No wonder he’d been shocked by her suggestion that they swim together.

“I haven’t been swimming since I’ve been in Fableton, so I suppose things have changed,” he said.

“You swam with other people . . . naked?” she asked, shocked. Somehow she thought that five-hundred years ago people would have been much more modest.

“With other
men
,” he clarified. “
Men and women do
n’t
—or
didn’t
anyway—
swim together
. They swim together now?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Not usually naked. Though some of the swimsuits they wear they might as well be.”

Philip shook his head. “Guess the world has really changed in the last five hundred years.”

“You have no idea,” Snow laughed.

“You’re right. I don’t. So tell me.”

Snow tried to describe airplanes, which Philip believed more than he did cars that travelled over a hundred miles an hour. She had a hard time explaining phones and so didn’t even attempt to tell him about cell phones. TV and movies were beyond his comprehension.

“If I didn’t know how pure your heart is, I’d think you were making up stories to fool me,” he laughed when she told him about computers and the internet.

“What makes you think I
have a pure heart?” she asked.

“Because I believe you’re the one in the prophecy.”

“What prophecy?”

“
Before Katarina created
the enchan
tment
and blinded me
and
left in Fableton
,
I was visited by a seer. She was well known throughout the kingdom for her accuracy in her predictions. She told me that after a time, I’d be visited by a girl with skin as white as snow,
and a heart as pure as her skin,
who wou
ld find me without being shown, and that she’d be the key to
freeing me
.”
He laughed. “I had no idea what she was talking about—I already had my freedom. I didn’t know what was to come.”

Snow shook her head. “That isn’t me. My skin isn’t that white.” She glanced down at her pale arms. Pa
le, yes, but not white as snow.

Philip took her hand and Snow’s heart skipped a beat. He placed his other hand on top and rubbed light circ
les on her skin with his thumb, sending shivers up her spine. “Maybe she got that part wrong. Maybe she spoke of your name. Everything else fits.”

“What if everything was wrong?” she whispered. “What if I can’t do it?”

Philip was silent for a moment, then he smiled sadly. “The worst part of that, Sn
ow, would be that because of me
you’re stuck here.”

Snow sighed. “It’s not because of you. Katarina did this. She made you her victim a long time ago. She made me her victim not so long ago—or tried to, anyway. Who knows who else she’s hurt over the years?”

Philip turned to her. “I hadn’t thought of that, but you’re right. If nothing else, we need to try so that she can’t hurt anyone else.”

Snow nodded, remembered h
e couldn’t see the gesture and
said, “Okay, Philip. Let’s see if we can figure it out.”

He lifted one of his hands from hers and placed his hand along the side of her neck, rubbing his thumb lightly on her cheek. “You’re an amazing person,” he said. She started to shake her head, which he felt. He leaned forward and she stopped, holding her breath, wondering if he’d kiss her. With a start she realized she wanted him to. “Don’t let her get inside your head. She was wrong. You are valuable, and worthy, and kind. Your beauty comes from within.”

Snow stared at him.
“You don’t . . . I can’t . . .” She blew out a breath. “Thank you.”

Philip smiled, and Snow once again marveled at how gorgeous he was.

“Let’s go talk to Stitcher and see about getting some of those . . . swim . . . suits you were talking about. If nothing else, we’ll cause a scandal by swimming together.”

Snow laughed. “Sounds like fun.”

“Which? Swimming or causing a scandal?”

“Both.”

*****

The swimsuits Stitcher made
for
them
looked like something from the 1920’s, with a tank-style top and shorts-style bottom, but trying to describe a modern
swimsuit—even a modest one—sent
Stitcher into a nearly apoplectic fit.

The water was surprisingly warm as the
y stepped in. It felt like water in spite of
how it looked and sounded. However, their skin glistened and sparkled in the sun wherever the water touched it. Snow dove beneath the water and came up near Philip. She thought of splashing him, but realized it would be unfair since he wouldn’t see it.

Philip was staring at her, a look of stunned wonderment on his face.
Did
he fe
e
l something different than she did in the water, much as he’d heard something different that s
he couldn’t until he showed her?
She closed her eyes, concentrating. Nope. Still felt like water.

Then Philip’s hand touched her cheek and her eyes flew open. Such emotion crossed his face she thought something bad happened. “What is it, Philip? Is something wrong?”

He
smiled, his face brilliant, and
laughed. “No. In fact, everything is good. No, better than good. Fantastic and amazing.”

“What?” she asked. Maybe swimming was
something he’d missed more than he realized.

“I can see you,” he said, dropping his hand to her shoulder.

Snow’s jaw dropped. “What?” she repeated.

He nodded. “It’s true, I can see you. I couldn’t before, until you came up out of the water, but now I can.”

Snow glanced around her at the diamond-like water as if she could find the answers there. Then she looked back at Philip who was grinning widely at her. Her stomach fluttered at the look.

“Do you think Katarina made the water magical, so that you can see anything it touches?” she asked.