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Authors: Cindy C Bennett

BOOK: Snow White (Enchanted Fairytales)

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*****

Months passed, and still Snow White slumbered. Philip became more and more gaunt and sickly, until The Seven worried he would join her in death. He continued to stay by her side. His hair and beard had grown long and scraggly, and he desperately needed a bath and change of clothes.

“You must take care of yourself,” Medic urged. Philip ignored him. Medic looked at Snow White and her healthy glow. She almost appeared . . .
healthier
as time passed. He turned to Philip. “She looks better, doesn’t she? I mean, better than when she was first brought. Better than yesterday.”

Philip leaned closer to the glass. He gasped. “What does it mean?”

“I don’t know,” Medic admitted. “But maybe . . .” When he hesitated, Philip turned his gaze to Medic, his eyes immediately clouding over. “Maybe she’s not
quite
dead.”

Philip strode around the casket and grasped Medic’s lapels, drawing the smaller man to him. “What does . . . she’s alive?” he demanded fiercely.

Medic glanced back at Snow. “Not yet, but maybe . . . maybe she’s getting better. Maybe she’s, I don’t know, coming back.”

Philip thrust Medic away from him. He turned back to Snow, feverish hope lighting his eyes. “Open it. We’ve got to get her out of there!”

“But, Prince Philip—”

“I said
open it
,” he growled.

Medic crossed his arms over his chest. “Fine. But not until you get cleaned up and put some clean clothes on. Do you want her to wake up and see you like this?”

Philip looked about to argue, but perhaps he got a whiff of his smell because he nodded his agreement. “Will you stay with her until I return?” he asked humbly.

“We all will,” Grouchy said as the other six came up the path.

Again Philip nodded
. He looked back into the casket, placing his face on the glass as he gazed at Snow’s beautiful face. “Come back to me,” he whispered. Then he stood and went home to take care of himself.

*****

An hour later Philip returned, clean, shaved, and fed. When he was near enough for his eyes to see the casket, he saw that The Seven had removed the top and side pieces of glass. Snow White lay on the silken white cloth, looking as if she’d open her eyes at any second.

As he came near, he heard The Seven shuffling back to give him space. He didn’t take
his eyes from Snow. H
e dropped to his knees
next to her head. He lifted a hand
and touched her face. It was warm where it had been cold the last time they’d opened the casket to revive her.

“Snow?” he called softly.

She didn’t respond, of course. He ran his hand down her hair, and then stroked his thumb across her cheek. He leaned closer.

“I should have told you before,” he said. “I should have told you I love you more than life itself. I should have told you I didn’t care if you destroyed Katarina
.
I only wanted you here with me. I should have said that selfish as it is, I didn’t care how many others she hurt if it meant the possibility of losing you. But I didn’t. I let you go.
I let you try to save us all, and instead you gave your life.” He shuddered a sigh. “I’d give anything, even my life to Katarina, if it meant bringing yours back.
”

He stood and leaned over her. “You are my heart, Snow White.” He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, surprised again at the warmth he felt there.
And then . . . was that movement her felt beneath his mouth. He jerked back, looking down at her. “
Please
,” he pleaded.

He kissed her once again and suddenly a sigh issued from her.

“Snow?” he asked,
aware of
the others step
ping
closer as if they’d heard her also.

“Kiss her again,” Grouchy urged.

Philip complied and this time he definitely felt her mouth move beneath his. Instead of moving back, he kept his lips pressed to hers, waiting. Then her mouth was definitely moving beneath his, kissing him back.

His eyes opened and he stared at her, willing her to open her eyes. He dared to pull back so that his mouth was only centimeters from hers. Her lashes quivered and his heart picked up tempo. Medic stepped forward and placed his fingers on her wrist.

“
She has a
pulse,” he said triumphantly.

Her eyes fluttered open. A wide smile broke acro
ss Philip’s face. “Snow,” he breathe
d.

“Philip?” she questioned.
He nodded.
“You’re looking at me,
”
she said sleepily.
She bl
inked a couple times.
“What happened? Why am I . . .” Alarm filled her eyes. “Katarina, she—”

Philip laid a finger across her lips. “Shh, it’s okay now. You’re here and she’s gone.”

“Gone? Am I in Fableton?” Philip nodded and she smiled at him. “I’m back?”

“Yes. And I’m not going to let you go again.”

Snow threw her arms around Philip’s neck, and he lifted her into a sitting position as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly against his chest. They clung to one another for long minutes until Grouchy cleared his throat. Philip reluctantly released her as she gave a delighted laugh.

“Grouchy, Medic, Blithe, Dim . . . you’re all here.” Philip stood back long enough for her to hug each one before pulling her into his arms again.

“I thought I failed,” she moaned. “I thought I’d let you all down. But how did I destroy her? She gave me some of the berries.” She gla
nced up at Dim at her statement.
Agitation was in the lines of his body, his pacing and hand wringing
at the thought.

“Katarina brought you here,” Philip said.

“She . . . she’s alive?” Philip nodded. “Why did she bring me here, then?” She glanced down at herself for the first time, saw the dress and the bottom portion of the casket. “Is this a
casket
?”

“Yes,” Philip said. “She thought she killed you. She brought you here
so that we would be forced to watch you lying here, looking as if you were sleeping.”

Suddenly a screech filled the air. The Seven jumped back and Philip
drew
Snow close to his side. Katarina swirled down from the sky in an eddy of dust and wind. Philip jumped to his feet, pulling Snow up with him, tucking her
beneath his arm
.
One glance at him showed that his eyes had clouded again. He couldn’t see.

Katarina glared at them. The Seven stared at her, quaking. They’d never seen Katarina before, only heard the legend. She was terrifying in her beauty and
the power that exuded from her. However, she didn’t even turn her gaze toward them. Her eyes were locked on Snow and Philip.

“No!” she screamed. “How can you be alive? I killed you!”

Snow moved around Philip to face Katarina. “You tried,” she said. “And you failed.”

“You can be sure I won’t fail a second time,” she said, lifting one hand toward Snow.

“Are
you
sure?” Snow asked. Katarina hesitated in whatever she’d intended. “I mean,” Snow continued, “you said I couldn’t destroy you because I didn’t believe I could. The same isn’t true with you.” She took a step closer to Katarina, away from Philip. “You
did
believe you could kill me, and yet you didn’t. I don’t think you can.”

Katarina screeched again and The Seven slapped their hands over their ears.

Snow, more confident now, took another step toward Katarina, and another. Philip reached out to her, but then let his hand drop.
He
believed in her. So did she
now.

“You taught me an invaluable lesson,
mother
,” Snow said. “You taught me that I
can
destroy you, if I only believe it.”

“
No
,” Katarina said, taking a step backward from Snow’s advance.

“And now, Katarina, I believe it. With every fiber of my being I believe it.”

Katarina began shaking her head, as the deep grooves began to crease her face. Her hair became like straw, wild and thin, turning gray as ash. Her claws extended but still she retreated.
Snow stopped her advance as Katarina began to shrink in stature, as an old woman, her skin going from green to the same ash gray as her hair. She brought her hands to her cheeks and began wailing.

“I don’t think anyone’s g
oing to kiss you and wake you up
with their love,” Snow whispered.

Katarina quieted and turned horrified eyes to Snow. She’d heard and for just one second, Snow felt pity for her. A blue light burst over Katarina’s head, and she collapsed in a pile of ash. Snow stared at the spot, jaw gaping. She couldn’t believe what she’d just seen. Had Katarina really disappeared, for good this time?

She glanced at The Seven and saw their expressions matched hers. She spun around to where Philip stood behind her. He didn’t look shocked, he looked . . . awed.

“Philip?” she said. “Are you okay?”

He grinned at her, coming forward to place a hard kiss on her lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back just as hard. Suddenly she pulled back.

“Wait, you can still see me?”

He smiled. “I can see everything.”

“You can?”

He nodded
and lifted his gaze over her head to The Seven. He grinned at them. “It’s good to see you, old friends.”

They were still stunned by Katarina’s change and disappearance, but even more stunned as they looked around. Snow and Philip followed their gaze
, hands clasped together
.

All of the amazingly brilliant colors began to run out of the trees and flowers, leaving everything the same dull ashy gray as Katarina’s hair. The villagers
all came out of their cottages and walked toward Philip and Snow. They looked at one another in confusion. As they gathered, their cottages, which by now were completely gray, disappeared in the same puff of ash as Katarina had.

“What do we do now?” Coy asked loudly. All of the villagers turned to Snow and Philip, waiting for their answer.

Snow looked up at Philip and smiled at him. His answering smile was brilliant.

“We take care of them,” she said.

“Yes,” he said. “We take care of them. Forever.”

Note from the Author

I almost didn’t write
Snow White
because it feels like Snow White is
everywhere
these days.
But I have to admit, she’d been on my mind. I was beginning to write
Immortal Yours,
the sequel to
Immortal Mine
, when I dreamt of Snow White. Not the Disney version, but my version. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get her out of my mind until I got her on paper, so I put aside my other book to write this one.

I wanted to merge the historical version of Snow White with a modern day girl who could kick butt when called upon to. My Snow White might have begun as a frightened mouse, but she became confident and able to take care of herself without losing the essence of who she was. I was quite in love with her by time I finished,
and
I hope you are as well.

If you enjoyed
Snow
’s story, you might enjoy
Beautiful Beast
, Book I of the
Enchanted Fairytales
and
Red and the Wolf
, Book II of
Enchanted Fairytales
. You can read more about these stories at
http://enchantedfairytales.blogspot.com/
.
Enchanted Fairytales
are just the beginning as I countdown to the full-length Rapunzel, coming from Sweetwater Books in February 2013.