Shadows on Snow: A Flipped Fairy Tale (Flipped Fairy Tales) (2 page)

The creaking of the stable door caused me to jump. The horses didn’t stir, save for one or two giving a soft whinny as I scurried back behind the wall of the stall I slept in. A single set of footsteps approached, so quiet I almost didn’t hear them. Most in my position wouldn’t have been awake, let alone keen enough to notice a visitor at this time of night.

“Shh,” a man said, his voice deep and soft. “I’ve brought you a treat, Remy. I see you couldn’t sleep, either. Not on a night such as this.” He released a long, slow breath. “Not with such heaviness in the air.”

There was a crunching sound as the animal bit into something, likely an apple.

Heart hammering, I eased around the edge, already suspecting who this visitor was, but not at all sure what to do with myself.

The prince stood two stalls down, stroking the neck of his horse. “You look happy to be home, my friend,” he said. “Have you been treated well?” The sound of his voice, even so quiet, brought a strange peace to my heart. I knew I shouldn’t be eavesdropping on him as he searched for respite, but I couldn’t force myself to move away.

Remy whinnied in response.

“Good,” he said and picked up a brush. “I suppose they don’t groom you quite the way you like, however. I know how picky you are.” He chuckled and lifted the latch, stepping inside, but still within sight. “Why don’t I…”

He paused, and I held my breath. Had I done my work in too much haste? If he complained, I was sure to get the lash for neglecting His Highness’s steed. I always took great care with the animals, but if I missed something in my preoccupation…

“Odd,” he murmured, walking further into the stall. “It seems as though someone already beat me to it.” He chuckled quietly. “No wonder you’re so calm tonight. There aren’t many with hands that can soothe you, my friend.”

I blew out a relieved breath, immediately cringing at the sound I made. There was no way he hadn’t heard me, but I kept still so that he might attribute it to one of the other animals nearby or the noises of the night.

There was nothing for several moments, so long that I thought perhaps he’d gone. My knees ached from my legs being pulled to my chest for such an extended period, but I couldn’t risk moving if he were still about. Behind me, a horse shifted and bumped a bucket hanging beside it.

“You needn’t be afraid of me,” he said, his voice in my ear.

My pulse surging, I skittered as far away from the stall opening as I could, pressing my back against the far wall.

The prince crossed his arms in front of his chest and grinned at me. Even through my terror, I couldn’t dislike him. What fairy magic blessed him with that quality?

“Are you responsible for the care my mount received today?”

I nodded, stupidly staring at him, but without having to fake dumbness this time. I quite literally had no words in my brain.

Stepping forward, he leaned down and offered me his hand. When I didn’t move, his grin softened to a reassuring smile. “It’s all right. I promise. You did well with Remy. I only wanted to thank you.”

It was incredibly difficult, but I managed to tear my gaze from his dark eyes, staring at his hand instead. Something about him left me completely unbalanced. Realizing I had to acknowledge him, I tentatively set my hand in his.

Tingling warmth crept up my fingers and through my arm, chasing away the cold of night, surprising me further. As he hefted me to my feet, I lost my footing and stumbled towards him. His hand on my waist turned the tingling warmth to raging fire in my gut, and I gasped, backing away with a mumbled apology.

His eyebrows drew down, confused. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, Your Highness.” I gulped, relieved I’d finally found my tongue. I needed to get a hold of myself, or risk giving everything away.

He tilted his head to the side. “You’re new since I left. What’s your name?”

My name… it had been so long since any had asked, I wasn’t even sure anymore. “I… Rae, Sire.”

“And how long have you been in my mother’s service?”

“Half a year now, Sire.”

“Where are you from?”

“Not from anywhere, My Lord. I traveled with family until I got on here.”

“And how do you find it?”

I shifted, uneasy. I was running out of half-truths and I didn’t know if I could lie to him. Actually, I was sure I couldn’t lie to him.

He leaned up against a post and cocked his head to one side, studying me. “You don’t want to tell me the truth, but I hope you will. Are you mistreated?”

I shrugged. “Not as bad as most places, not as well as some. I keep my head down and my work done, Sire.”

“You’re very good with horses, I see.”

I swallowed past my nerves. “Animals are kind by nature, Highness. I show them the same as they give to me.”

The upward curve of his lips grew wider and he straightened, beckoning me to follow him. Still hesitant, I kept my distance at three paces behind. He stopped in front of his mount and rested a hand on Remy’s neck.

“He’s very particular about the direction his coat lays when groomed. Did you know this?”

In shifting my focus to the horse, it was easier to speak freely, and I stepped closer. “I wasn’t told as such, no, Your Highness. But animals speak more loudly in their silence than most men do with thousands of words.” I set my hand against the steed’s mane, fingering the thick strands of black hair that fell against his rich chocolate coat. “It was easy to hear him.”

“It’s a rare thing to find another person who knows this,” he said. When I looked up, he regarded me with a thoughtful expression, and I again found myself sucked into his gaze. “I’d very much like if you’d continue to see to him personally. He didn’t take well to the new stablemaster.”

I grimaced, but held my tongue. As often as I could, I took on extra duties to keep Master Grey from the animals. He had a rough hand and spooked the horses whenever he was near. Animals had a deeper sense of the true nature of people, and, from what I’d witnessed, they weren’t wrong in their judgments of him.

“How would you like a promotion?”

I stiffened. Promotions garnered attention, and that was the last thing I wanted. “I ask for nothing, Sire.”

“True,” he said as he came up beside me. “But I value hard work and intelligence. I’m in need of a set of trustworthy hands now that I’m home.”

My heart raced as he stopped no more than a step away. If he came any closer… “Can you be so sure I’m what you say? I—”

“You’ve met with Remy’s approval,” he interrupted. “And I trust his opinion far more than most men I know. If you were not these things, I dare say you wouldn’t be able to get so close to him. Now, my question. Would you consider a position as my personal page?”

Spirits be blessed, I wasn’t sure what to say. If this came to pass, there would be no more hiding in plain sight for me. Worse, the wrong people might learn my secret.

Trembling slightly, I shook my head. “While it is His Highness’s right to choose my fate, I would ask to remain as I am. But if it is not my choice, I will do as you command.”

His warm, strong hand rested on my shoulder, sending a spike of tingling heat through me once more, and it was all I could do not to run. “I wouldn’t force it on you, have no concern.” He lifted his hand and left me with a reassuring pat. “I’m disappointed, but I understand your hesitation to involve yourself any further in palace intrigues.”

Following him out of the stall, I secured the latch behind us.

“I hope you won’t mind if I tell Master Grey you’re the only one to handle my horse from now on, however?”

Flushing, I nodded. “As you wish.”

With a nod and a wink, and a last pat to Remy, he turned and made his way out of the stable. It took me several minutes before I composed myself enough to realize how completely, thoroughly exhausted I was. After a nuzzle from Remy to prompt me, I yawned and returned to my pallet, thoughts of the prince’s smile haunting me as I drifted off to sleep.

“What’s going on?” I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“Hush, dearest one,” Adelaide said as she bent over me. “It’s time for us to be away.”

“Away?” Sitting up in bed, I wrinkled my nose at her in confusion. “Where are we going?”

She wrapped my coat around my shoulders and kissed my hair. “Somewhere safe,” she whispered. “Somewhere he can’t find us.”

At nine years old, I couldn’t understand what she meant. “But aren’t we safe here? There are plenty of soldiers to—”

She set a finger against my lips, but her sad smile deepened my worry. “The soldiers aren’t our friends now, Rae. Maybe they used to be, but they serve the king now. Remember what we talked about a few days ago?”

I screwed my face up. “You said he didn’t want you to be queen. You said it was his fault Mama died.”

She nodded, her dark hair brushing my arm. “That’s right. But now people are asking questions, and he doesn’t like it. He’s telling them it was our fault instead.”

“Our fault?” My eyes widened, stunned. “Why would we want that?” Tears blurred my vision. “I loved Mama. We all did. Why would anyone think—”

“Because of our magic, dearest one. It scares some people. That’s what happens when they don’t understand something.” She laid a hand against my cheek. “We know differently, but there’s nothing we can do about it at the moment.” Adelaide stood and pulled me to my feet. “Do you need help with your boots? We have to hurry.”

I shook my head, fear of this sudden need to be away coupling with my own confusion and causing my hands to tremble. Despite me telling her I could do it myself, I shook so badly she took over the laces and hurried me towards the wall.

As she reached for the latch to open the secret passage, I cast a look back over my shoulder. I’d spent nearly every night I could remember in that room, and I loved it dearly. The rich red tapestries and gold-tasseled curtains all held warmth and comfort for me. I knew each stitch of cloth, each little knick in the wood, as well as I knew my own skin. My sisters and I played at tea parties and tried on all my new dresses in that room. My tears had soaked the pillows on more nights than I cared to remember, and laughter had rung off of the stone walls, echoing and multiplying the joy of far more days. That was where I plotted against Erata’s tricks, and cooed over Belinda’s newest furry friend. It was where Adelaide helped me grow posies in the window sill, and where Clarice taught me to braid my own hair. Farah had even warded a little hiding place for my most prized treasures, and Delphine assured me that, even though I was the youngest, I should never worry about being less wanted when I was left out of events my elder sisters attended.

My entire existence was contained in that bedroom. Nearly every memory of my mother, and the vague whispers of the father I barely knew lived there.

And, in a single moment, it was being taken from me.

Adelaide’s warm hand slipped into mine. “There are some things he will never be able to take from us, dearest one,” she whispered.

I sniffled and wiped at my cheek. With a nod, I turned away from my bedroom. “I won’t let him take you, too.”

She gathered me in a tight embrace, so close I heard the tiny sob she choked back. “And that’s why he’ll never win, Raelynn. So long as we have each other, there’s nothing we can’t survive.”

Sitting up with a start, I sucked in a deep breath. Cool wetness on my face marked the tracks of my tears through the grime of endless days in the stables. I’d not had dreams of that night in so long, as it had been replaced by far more terrifying ones, that it shocked me with its vivid realism. Unlike the last time I’d experienced the memory, however, this time I was filled with an overwhelming sense of love, rather than the fear I’d felt that fateful night. That my sisters still lived, that we cared for each other through every imaginable hardship, that was what stayed with me. No matter what else life had thrown at me, at us, we never wavered in our commitment to each other.

I would do anything to keep them safe.

Collapsing on my pallet, I cursed at the support beams of the stable. My entire body ached from a day of grueling work in the castle, preparing for the grand masked ball to celebrate the prince’s return. It was to be the first of many such events, all leading up to his Ascension Day.
 

But, as exhausted as I was, I still needed to report in. Reaching up to the hook beside me, I grabbed the metal bucket and lit a small fire in the kindling. Within seconds, smoke wafted into the air, and her face appeared before me.

“Sorry it’s so late,” I said with a yawn. “It’s been a very long day. There’s a masked ball tomorrow and there’s no shortage of people ordering me to do everything from deliver parchments to messengers, to hauling baggage for arriving guests. It’s been wretched.”

“A ball?” the voice said from the incorporeal face. “This may be the distraction you need.”

“You can’t be serious. There will be people everywhere.”

“If you disguise yourself properly, you shouldn’t have a problem.”

I gulped, knowing full well what she meant by “properly.” My palms were already sweating at the thought of it.

“You can’t avoid it forever, dearest one,” she said softly. “You must fight through it. One can be beautiful and strong at the same time.”

My jaw clenched. “I have a hard time believing that anyone can be strong in a ridiculous gown with a hideous amount of fabric restricting every possible movement.”

“Beauty can mask strength. It throws off suspicion.”

“It also invites others to take advantage of perceived weakness,” I snapped. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. “I apologize. I shouldn’t be short with you.”

“I understand your heartache, but you must consider it.”

I waved it off, disturbing the smoke. “Even if I thought to do so, I cannot conjure the kind of attire I’d need for the event, and I’ve no way to acquire such things. It’s a moot point.”

The face drifted, thoughtful. “Perhaps not. Let me confer with the others. There may be something we can do.”