Sneaky Snow White: Dark Fairy Tale Queens, #2
By Anita Valle
()
About this ebook
Mirror, Mirror, on the wall. Who is deadliest of them all?
Cinderella killed my father.
She thinks she can do anything because she's the Evil Queen. And my stepmother. The only thing she truly loves is her Demon Mirror. But the more she gazes into that thing, the crazier she becomes.
But I am no longer a child. I won't allow the Evil Queen to poison my heart and my home. Although my skin is white as snow, my soul is far from pure. I will make Cinderella suffer for her sins.
Sure as my name is Snow White.
Anita Valle
Anita Valle lives near Poughkeepsie, New York, with her husband, three boys, and a sour Siamese cat. She is the author of two young-adult book series: The Dark Fairy Tale Queens and The Nine Princesses. In her free time, Anita enjoys reading aloud to her kids, watching telenovelas in Spanish, and roller skating. She is originally from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she was homeschooled with her four siblings and considers them her best friends. She loves kids, eighties music, and staying inside. But she goes outside if she has to.
Read more from Anita Valle
Dark Fairy Tale Queens
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Titles in the series (4)
Sinful Cinderella: Dark Fairy Tale Queens, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSneaky Snow White: Dark Fairy Tale Queens, #2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRotten Rapunzel: Dark Fairy Tale Queens, #3 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBad Beauty: Dark Fairy Tale Queens, #4 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Book preview
Sneaky Snow White - Anita Valle
Prologue
Cinderella killed my father.
I don’t know how she did it. But he’s gone. Not even a body to bury. When I ask her, she simply laughs and says he got what he deserved. She thinks she can do anything because she is queen.
And my stepmother.
I can’t bring back my father. But I can avenge his death. Although my skin is white as snow, my soul is far from pure. I will make Cinderella suffer for her sins.
Sure as my name is Snow White.
Chapter 1
Cinderella summons me to the throne room.
She’s sitting on a throne made of solid crystal. I’m not even kidding - a cold, hard rock, the most uncomfortable chair your rump will ever meet. I can’t imagine where she got it.
Hello, Snowy,
she says. Her voice billows out in the empty room, soars up to the cavernous ceiling. There’s nothing here except her throne and the bare, black marble floor, threaded with veins of white.
What do you want?
I whine. Most of the time Old Cinders leaves me alone. She only calls for me when she wants something stupid.
Cinderella looks at me with her beautiful ice-blue eyes. I need you to find me a fairy.
See what I mean?
A fairy!
I cry, spreading my arms. Are you crazy? They don’t exist!
She smiles. Oh, but they do. I had one once.
You had a fairy....
Yes, she was my godmother.
Oh man, she’s really lost it. Well, assuming I could find one, what do you want with a fairy?
Cinderella lays a hand on her belly. It bulges like she’s got a melon stuffed inside her black dress. I want one for the baby. To watch over it.
The baby. Unbelievable. Seven years of marriage without any children and now one decides to show up. The kingdom rejoiced when Cinderella made her announcement. My father looked pleased and proud. For a month, the two of them stopped fighting, they even seemed happy together. I thought we were finally becoming a family.
And then Cinderella killed my father.
I sigh. How am I supposed to find a fairy?
Go into The Wood,
she says. And place yourself in some kind of peril. Walk along a precipice or hunt an animal larger than you. Fairies enjoy saving people in danger.
I stare at her. "You want me to risk my life?"
If you don’t mind.
Witch! I wish the kingdom could see her for what she is, selfish and evil and crazy. But somehow she’s bewitched them all. They adore their blooming twenty-four-year-old queen, with her luxurious gold hair and seductive smile. Shouldn’t the creepy black dresses tip them off just a little?
I fold my arms. Well, maybe I don’t feel like dying today. Find your own fairy if it’s so important to you.
Cinderella lifts a single eyebrow. You will do as I say, Snow White.
Really? Or what?
Or I will take you to the Mirror.
My stomach goes cold. No, she wouldn’t do that to me. Not again....
Fine,
I say, my voice weaker. I’ll go.
Chapter 2
Afriggin’ fairy.
How am I supposed to find one? And what do I do if I do? Take it home in a basket?
I leave the palace by the front door and walk down the white marble stairs. They are round, like a series of half-moons that grow wider as you go down. It was these stupid steps that made Cinderella the queen. She was leaving a ball one night and she lost her shoe right here. My father used it to find her.
I never knew what he saw in her.
The Wood surrounds the palace and spreads out, dense and flat, for miles. It is said to be enchanted but I always found it pretty ordinary. I wouldn’t believe in magic at all if it wasn’t for Cinderella and her demon mirror.
The hem of my dress crackles over the fallen leaves of early autumn. I like to wear white dresses with big skirts. My hair I do absolutely nothing with, it’s raven-black and just spills right down to my waist. I might be pretty but I don’t really care.
After ten minutes of walking, I reach the well. It’s old – the roof and pulley are gone – and the stones have crumbled down on one side. It sits in a sunny grove surrounded by apple trees. Hunter is waiting for me on the good side of the well. Another reason I was so annoyed with Cinderella, she made me late. Hunter and I meet here every day at noon.
You look pouty,
he says, grinning. The grin shoots golden joy right through me. I rush into his arms and squeeze him hard. Then I tilt back my face so he can kiss me. The touch of his lips is pure magic, a spell that melts through my body. He has kissed no other girl but me.
You won’t believe this,
I say, hopping up to sit on the well. Hunter sits beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. I tell him about the crazy quest Cinderella gave me, but all the while I’m gazing at his wonderful face, his dark hair and eyes, the gentle cut of his profile. Hunter is nineteen, a woodsman, and the sweetest boy I’ve ever known. I adore him, I can’t help it.
A fairy,
he says quietly.
I know, it’s ridiculous.
No.... I’ve seen a few.
"You’ve seen fairies?"
Just flickers and shadows, they don’t like to be seen. But when you walk around The Wood as much as I do... you see things.
But how do we catch one? Old Cinders says I have to put myself in peril and a fairy will come to save me.
Hunter smiles. I could push you into the well, if you like.
He grabs my arm suddenly, like he’s going to do it, and I squeal and laugh out loud. He’s so adorable!
I think,
Hunter says, that the real question is, why does the queen want a fairy?
Oh, she told me that. She wants it to protect the baby.
Really? Why does the baby need protection?
Oh, I don’t know. She’s crazy.
Hunter shakes his head. No.... She has her reasons. She’s just not telling them to you. Does she seem happy about the baby?
I scowl and cross my ankles beneath my billowy white skirt. She does, actually. My father did too. They were talking nicely about it. And then....
I clamp my teeth together.
Hunter pulls me in and kisses the top of my cheek. We don’t know for certain.
I shake my head. "It was her. She hated my father. Cinderella loves nothing but... herself. Ugh, I almost said
The Mirror." Hunter doesn’t know about the Mirror. And I try not to think about it.
Have you ever thought about sitting down and having a nice long talk with her? She might open up to you.
"Oh Hunter, please. It’s too late for that! She’s been nothing but poison ever since she entered my life. She called me ‘Stepchild’ and nothing else our whole first year together. She moved my bedroom to the smallest tower and made me take my meals alone there. And she put all the candles on the floor."
Hunter looks at me. What?
The candles. They’re on the floor now, lining the rooms and the halls. At night, everyone is lit from below, which looks really creepy. And she keeps having my dresses made with bigger and bigger skirts.
Hunter’s face fills with horror. You think....
I nod. She was too afraid of my father to do something directly. But she loves to talk about how accidents can happen to children. Instead of wishing me goodnight, she says, ‘Be careful, Snowy’ – always with a smile. And then I climb the narrow stairs up to my little tower room. There’s a candle sitting on every step and they are always burning.
Hunter slouches a little, exhaling. I - I didn’t know that.
I shrug. "It was nothing I couldn’t handle. But then she took away my father.... You know,