Queen of Reflections: A Snow White retelling (Kingdom of Fairytales Snow White Book 1)

by J. A. Armitage

  Queen of Reflections

  Kingdom of Fairytales: Snow White book 1

  Laura Greenwood

  J A Armitage

  Contents

  1. 7th October

  2. 8th October

  3. 9th October

  4. 10th October

  5. 11th October

  6. 12th October

  7. 13th October

  After the Happily Ever After…

  A NEW FAIRYTALE ANTHOLOGY

  Join us

  A note from the author

  The Kingdom of Fairytales Team

  About J.A. Armitage

  About Zara Quentin

  Kingdom of Fairytales

  You all know the fairytales, the stories that always have the happy ending. But what happens after all those storybook characters get what they wanted? Is it really a happily ever after?

  Kingdom of Fairytales is a new way of reading with one chapter a day and one book a week throughout the year beginning January 1st

  Lighting-fast reads you won’t be able to put down

  Read in real time as each chapter follows a day in the life of a character throughout the entire year, with each bite-sized episode representing a week in the life of our hero.

  Each character’s story wrapped up at the end of every season with a brand new character and story featured in each season.

  Fantasy has never been so epic!

  7th October

  The sun streaming through the window warmed my face, waking me from a dream so dark my heart was still thundering minutes later, even though the memory of it had already faded, like a déjà-vu unremembered. I shivered as though the room was cold, even though it was still cozy from the fire that had been lit the night before. The feeling that something was wrong was intense, but without anything to tether it to, I brushed it aside.

  I swung my legs around, planting them on the floor, and heaved myself out of bed. Frightening dreams had been plaguing me for a while now, but the very second I opened my eyes, they would drift away, leaving me with a sense of unease and no recollection of what I was dreaming.

  I pulled out a pair of leather leggings, tunic, and lace shirt—all in black—and dressed quickly, trying to rid myself of the lingering restlessness I felt at the forgotten dream. With only my hair left to do, I readied myself for the latest stand-off with my grandmother's mirror, an enchanted artifact that almost brought down the whole kingdom over eighteen years ago.

  "What are you wearing?" The mirror huffed a sigh as though my very existence annoyed it...which it probably did. "It might as well be a hessian bag."

  "At least, I don't look the same every day," I threw back, giving myself a wink in the mirror. It looked like an ordinary mirror, though with an ornately decorated frame, but I swear it had the soul of a demon trapped inside it.

  "There's no need to look different when one's existence makes one perfect," it snapped back, always taking everything so personally. I gave a grin and picked up my wand to spell my unruly black curls into submission. I'd never really gotten into spellcasting like everyone else in Enchantia, but I liked this spell. Then again, I liked anything which made it easier to deal with my hair. The wand vibrated in my hand, recognizing me as its owner.

  As an Enchantian, I was supposed to know magic inside and out, but the truth was, my hair spell was one of the few I’d mastered, and that was only because it was easier than working a brush through the tangles.

  "Even with your hair spelled, you're barely passable," the mirror sniffed.

  "Thanks for the barely," I muttered.

  “Anytime!”

  Ignoring it, I strapped my holster around my waist and slid my wand into it, giving my hair a flick for good measure.

  A knock sounded at the door taking my concentration away from my hair

  "Come in," I called.

  The door didn't make a sound as it opened.

  "How are you, Kelis? Sleep well?" Mother asked as she swept into the room, her dark hair and red lips a striking contrast to the white suit and cape she was wearing.

  “My dear queen, how glorious and regal you look today,” the mirror spewed, with obvious delight. “You truly are the most magnificent woman in all the kingdoms. Might I even say you are the fairest of them all,” it continued. Hopefully, this would be one of it's shorter tirades. I wasn't sure I could stomach more this morning. Once, it hadn't stopped praising her for over an hour. She'd ended up walking out of the room without telling me what she'd come for.

  "Here we go," mother muttered, rolling her eyes.

  I suppressed a smirk as she gave it the side-eye.

  “You look more and more enchanting every day,” it continued. “There is no doubt you are the most beautiful woman in all the land.”

  I snorted, unable to help myself.

  "It's not funny, Kelis," she warned me. “You know I detest that thing. It’s not natural.”

  "It kind of is funny," I responded, knowing we were going to have the same conversation as always about this but not being able to stop it.

  “I don't know why you keep that old thing,” she muttered. “It’s a terrible nuisance.”

  “It was grandmother's.” I replied as though that was the reason it still hung on my bedroom wall after all these years. The truth was the thing was hilarious. Plus, throwing away an enchanted object seemed to be asking for trouble. She should know, all of her troubles started with this same enchanted mirror too. Well, and a wicked step-mother who wanted to kill her. But that was beside the point.

  "Look at all the trouble it caused." Mother sighed and dropped herself onto one of the many chairs I had dotted around.

  "Only because someone else wanted to be the most beautiful woman in the land," I pointed out. "I know, I'm not. So it hardly matters; besides, it’s funny."

  She sighed again, and I knew what was coming next. Like with the mirror, it was always the same. "You're beautiful just the way you are, Kelis," she assured me.

  "I’m not looking for flattery," I responded. "I don't need to be the most beautiful person in the land." I shrugged.

  "I know you don't. The mirror makes me nervous, though." She looked over at it, her distaste plain on her face.

  "Don't worry, I'm not going to fall for its charms. Not that it has any."

  She opened her mouth before closing it again, clearly not wanting to get into the same argument we'd had dozens of times before.

  My mother reached out a hand and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, an act reminiscent of my childhood when she'd help me get ready for the day.

  "How is the magic coming along?"

  "You know I don't do much with it," I pointed out.

  She sighed. "I know. But it would make your life easier if you did..."

  "Didn't you once tell me that an easy life wasn't a life worth living?"

  She chuckled. "When did you become old enough to remind me of my own wisdom?" A small smile quirked at the corners of her lips, conveying the true pride I knew she felt for me.

  "I remember a lot of the things you taught me. Mostly about being a leader. I don't need people to fawn over me to rule well. I just need people to respect and like me as a ruler." She'd been teaching me since the moment I'd been old enough to understand, and I'd soaked it all up.

  "You'll make a great Queen someday." There was a sadness in her voice that I didn't understand, but I didn't want to say anything and make her more upset.

  "Not for a very long time,
" I murmured. I hated it when she brought this up. It reminded me of the future and what I'd one day have to lose to reach my full potential.

  "I don't plan on it." She smiled again, this time reaching her eyes. "I didn't come here to talk about some far off future, though."

  "You didn't?" Curiosity pinged through me. “What’s up?”

  She shook her head. "Adam's coming to visit."

  "He is?" My heart began to pound again, but for a very different reason. If my cousin was coming for a visit, there was every chance he’d be bringing Jake with him.

  "He is," she echoed. "He's coming for Fright Fest."

  "Oh," I said as nonchalantly as I could muster. The Fright Fest was the highlight of every Enchantian’s calendar. On the 31st of October every year, the whole kingdom came together to celebrate with a big party. It was supposed to be a festival to celebrate our ancestors, but nowadays, it was an excuse to dress up, show off, and have fun. If I was right about Jake coming, maybe I’d get to have a little fun too.

  “I believe he’s bringing some friends with him. You remember Jake, right?”

  I sucked in a breath to calm my heart from doing a circuit round my chest at the mention of his name. I nodded, trying to keep my excitement from spilling out.

  "How long are they staying for?" Fright Fest wasn't until the end of the month, which gave me plenty of time to pluck up the courage and say something to Jake about how I felt. How I’d always felt about him. The last time I’d seen him, I’d been a girl, but I was over eighteen, a woman now.

  "They're arriving tomorrow and staying until after the Fest."

  "What time?" I asked eagerly then checked myself. “I mean, shouldn’t we arrange to meet them?”

  "They'll arrive in time for the banquet tomorrow night."

  “That's perfect,” I replied, not doing a great job of keeping my enthusiasm from showing. “I wonder what I should wear?”

  My mother gave me an odd look but didn't say anything. I had no doubt she'd read enough into my words to know why I was suddenly fussing about things that didn't usually bother me.

  "If you need any help with that, let me know," Mother said.

  "Thanks," I muttered, turning back to my wardrobe and wondering where I should start.

  "I'll see myself out then." She chuckled. The door clicked back into place behind her, leaving me alone with the mirror again.

  I rifled through my clothes, trying to decide what was best to wear tomorrow.

  "Why is none of this right?" I demanded out loud, almost ready to give up on finding something to wear. There was a reason I never spent this long deciding on an outfit normally. I just didn't have the patience or the aptitude for it.

  "Because you have no measurable sense of style," the mirror mused. If he'd been a real person, he would have been studying his nails as he spoke.

  "At least, I'm unique." It was true. The style throughout Enchantia was to wear white at all times. I never wore white, preferring my predominantly black wardrobe to the chagrin of the mirror.

  The mirror scoffed. "And do you think your mother became the fairest in the land by being unique?"

  "I'd have thought it was only possible to be the fairest if you're unique," I replied passively.

  "You just can't pull it off," the mirror retorted.

  I rolled my eyes. One day, it might say something nice to me. I snorted. Yes, right. The mirror would say something nice the day magic dried up in Enchantia.

  Turning my attention back to my clothes, I pulled out a black skirt I hardly ever wore.

  I held it up to my body and looked in the full-length mirror in my dressing area. No way was I letting my grandmother's mirror have an opinion on something I wasn't even sure if I was going to wear.

  "I wouldn't even bother. That went out of style before you were born."

  Darn. It was like the thing had eyes everywhere.

  "I'm a Princess, I'll bring it back in style," I shot back.

  "You put the name Princess to shame."

  "A Princess is more than what she looks like," I parrotted words my mother had been teaching me since I was little. "She is her actions and her intentions above all else."

  "If you keep telling yourself that, it may become true."

  I hung the skirt back on the rail and turned to the next item, before dismissing that one too.

  “He’ll not like you, no matter what dreadful outfit you pick. I don’t know why you are bothering.”

  I shot the mirror a look but found myself staring at my own angry reflection. That was the downside to arguing with a mirror; you could only ever see yourself in it.

  “Who won’t like me?” I knew exactly whom he meant, but I wasn’t prepared to admit it.

  “That boy you’ve been mooning over since you were knee-high to a grasshopper. I swear, if I had a mouth, I would have vomited over all the times you used me to practice kissing him with.”

  I blushed at the memory. I was about thirteen years old. “That happened once!”

  “Once was more than enough. You’d have to make a costume to entice the poor guy. Preferably, one that covers your face.”

  A smirk played at the corner of my lips. That's exactly what I'd do. I’d make a costume. I was going to design a dress that would blow people away, and if Jake happened to be impressed, all the better.

  No one would have any doubt that I was Snow White's daughter, not even the mirror.

  “Thanks!” I said, throwing a smile at the mirror.

  “What did I do?” it huffed, clearly not used to being thanked.

  I kept my mouth shut as I headed to the balcony and looked out over the kingdom that would one day be mine to rule. White buildings stretched as far as the eye could see, and pristine white streets kept clean by magic were used by the people going about their day. A few were already walking in the sunshine, their immaculate white robes almost glinting. I pulled on a pair of glasses to stop the glare and headed back to my wardrobe, pulling out my favorite black jacket. The night of the Frightfest, I’d wow everybody, but today I was happy enough being just me. As I walked out the door to start my day, I heard the mirror sigh.

  “Black again,” it mumbled. I stifled a laugh and closed the door behind me.

  8th October

  A shudder ran through me, waking me from another restless night of dreams. My breath caught in my throat until I remembered where I was, safe in my own bed in the palace. Something had happened, something awful, but as usual. The dream had already floated away, the memory of it gone, but the fear it produced still evident in my pounding heart.

  A quick look around told me my bedroom was the same. Absolutely nothing was wrong, and yet, it took me ten minutes of measured breathing to calm down enough to get out of bed. Once I was up, the trepidation dissipated, and Jake came to mind, chasing the last of the unease away. He was coming today. Jake was coming today!

  I hummed to myself as I got dressed.

  "What is that dreadful racket?" the mirror demanded from its spot in the corner.

  I rolled my eyes. Just because he couldn't be happy in his life, it didn't mean I couldn't be in mine. And Jake was coming. That was enough reason to hum to myself. Maybe this time, he'd see me for the woman I was becoming, not the kid I'd been. That was the problem with crushing on a guy who was three years older. He'd already been in the adult world for three years, whereas I was just stepping into it.

  I ran my fingers through my hair, giving it a tousled look.

  Feeling brave, I made my way over to the mirror, readying myself for the onslaught.

  "Where did the bird go?" it asked.

  "Huh?"

  "From your hair. it looks like a bird nested in it."

  "Haha, very original."

  "My job is to comment on appearance, not come up with original jokes. If you want that, then maybe you should find the clown who did your makeup," he taunted.

  "I'm not wearing any." I ran my fingers over my cheek, feeling for the cosmetics I knew wer
en't there.

  "More's the pity." The mirror sighed dramatically.

  "I'm not looking for your approval," I sniffed.

  "Good. You won't get it looking like that. What's with all the black lace? You look like a hired mourner at a funeral."

  "Thanks."

  The sting his previous words had caused eased slightly, but it was getting to me more than usual. Jake’s forthcoming appearance was making me second guess myself, and the barbs the mirror was throwing at me were sticking more than usual.

  I was going to harness this feeling. The inadequacy, the bad things I thought about myself, I was going to fuel my creative side with them and enchant Jake in the process. At least, that was my plan. And it all hinged on having the best costume for the Fright Festival.

  "If you divert the water from here, how many villagers will be affected?" Mother asked.

  The man, who appeared to be some kind of general if his uniform was anything to go by, grimaced, clearly not quite as at ease with mother's question as he should be.

  "Just what I thought," mother murmured. "Kelis, how good of you to join us." She beamed at me while gesturing to a seat at her side.

  "Father said you'd be in here," I responded as I took the chair that had been mine for years.

  "Yes, I was just talking to General Charles about some improvements he wants to make to the southern barracks."

  I nodded, knowing exactly the ones she was talking about. "Is the land free to expand on?" I asked.

  "The land is empty, yes," the general replied.

  A flash of a picture came through my mind—waterlogged fields and dead crops in the fields near where he wanted to build.

  "But there's something you're not telling us, right?" I gave him a pointed look. Father had no time for people talking around things, and had taught me how to spot when people were holding back, and this man certainly was.