The Darkest Shadow

by Janya budaraju

  The Darkest Shadow

  Janya Budaraju

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  Her twin girls were beautiful, very much so. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t live to watch them grow up. Her last gift to them would have to be their names. Rose-Red Shadow for one, with the moon-shaped birthmark, after her rose-red lips, and Snow-White Tempest for the other, with the snowflake birthmark, after her snow-white skin. Then she was slipping…slipping away.

  Her twins were in the care of her husband now, a weak man with almost no money. He was forced to marry Irene Tildyth, the daughter of a duke, to make ends meet.

  Irene was a selfish woman who had run away from her father because he was too strict. She was living a life of luxury only because she had inherited a large sum of money from rich relations. Her specific request was a young, beautiful girl to have, so she married a single with one or two and had no other requirements.

  Irene got along very well with Snow-White from a very young age, for the sole reason that Snow-White was not intelligent enough to question Irene’s evil thoughts and plans. Together, both of them ordered Rose-Red around. She was a servant in the household.

  Irene Tildyth was beautiful; almost inhumanly so. She was much older than she seemed and only appeared pretty because of a magic mirror that enchanted her. Every morning she would ask who was the fairest lady in the land and every day, the mirror would answer with her name.

  But the mirror could only keep Irene youthful for so long. Soon her beauty began to deteriorate while Rose-Red’s grew. And then came the day when the mirror answered Irene’s daily question with the name of Rose-Red. Irene flew into a temper, ordering the huntsman to kill her and serve her heart and liver for supper. But Rose-Red was such a sweet child that the huntsman could not bring himself to do it. Thinking that she would be finished by wild animals anyway, the huntsman let her go into the woods and served a goat’s heart and liver instead. And Irene was fooled until the next morning.

  But the mirror still answered with Rose-Red! Irene brought the huntsman to her, and he confessed his actions. But Rose-Red was far away from them now, having been employed by seven dwarves. She did chores for them, such as cooking, cleaning, and washing, but only ate leftovers and slept in a tiny attic. On her twelfth birthday, Rose-Red quit the job. And then the hardest part of her life began.

  Chapter 1

  That wish upon a star thing? It doesn’t work. I’ve tried a billion times. I have a lot to wish for- a mom, an actually nice sister, a not-cruel stepmother, and believe it or not, an ugly face. Because it’s my beauty that put me in the position I am now.

  My name is Rose-Red Shadow Faye. Call me Shadow. Shadow kind of reflects on my life- dark, dreary, always creeping up on me-but now I’m going to change all of that. See, I just quit my job as a maid for the dwarves. What bad things have happened to me so far, you may ask? My mom died right after my twin sister and I were born and I was raised by my powerless father, evil stepmother, and her crony Snow-White, who just happens to be my twin sister. After my stepmother tried to kill me because I was prettier than she was, I ran into the woods and started working for the seven dwarves. The dwarves were terrible-nothing I did was good enough for them. So today on my fifteenth birthday, I quit. I can finally stop slaving away.

  Wait. What’s going on at the dwarves house? I run back into the woods and hide behind a tree, my hands shaking. Is that Snow-White and Irene? I scramble up the tree for a better view. Irene is questioning one of the seven dwarves. Probably asking if he had seen me. I’m guessing he just told her that I was working as a maid in their household and quit today, because her face is turning red. In fact, I think that she’s losing her beauty stressing about me and how I’m more beautiful than her and all that unimportant nonsense. I don’t even want to be the fairest in the land. It’s not my fault. In fact, the only reason that the mirror didn’t say Snow White instead of me is that her birthmark is kind of crooked and uneven. Just a little bit- you’d have to be looking for it to see it. But unfortunately, hers is crooked making Irene prettier than her by a smidge, and mine isn’t, and that’s what ruined my life.

  Anyway, Irene just stomped inside the dwarves’ house and is most likely turning everything upside down to find me. She’s like that. She always gets what she wants. Now she’s stomping back out, furious that she lost my trail again. I’m so grateful to the huntsman for saving my life back then. He risked losing his job, life, everything to save me. It shows you that there’s still good in the world.

  About the whole surviving thing- this tree is actually surprisingly comfy. It’s a great place to spend the night without being seen. The branch I’m sitting on is wide and flat enough to lie down on easily, and high enough to avoid being spotted by my stepmother or any of her cronies. It’s getting dark, so I lay my thin blanket on the branch and lie down. No, wait! What if I roll too much and fall off? It’s a pretty long fall from here. I find that the tree’s leaves are strong and sturdy and can withstand a lot of pressure, so I use those to tie myself down to the branch and try to fall asleep.

  After I wake up, I climb down and check my rucksack. My knife’s still in there. I took it with me to the dwarves’ house. If you’re surprised, don’t be. The only way I survived at Irene’s house was by killing my own food. Now, honestly, my knife is worse than terrible. I made it myself out of a sharp stone that is connected to a thick branch by a couple leaves, and it’s starting to fall apart. The leaves are in pieces, shredded and almost breaking. The branch, which used to be thick and sturdy, now closely resembles a twig. And the blade, which used to be sharp and strong, is so worn that the leaves almost cover it. So I’m buying one this time. Then I start my training. Knife-throwing, stabbing, things that might save my life one day.

  But before I do anything, I need to get a dress. Yeah, that’s right. One that I’ll keep clean and soft so that if I need to go out and buy something in the upper class, I won’t seem suspicious. But until then, I need to go around in my too-short pants and t-shirt. Money isn’t a problem, though. Irene figured out a way to access the fortune Mother left us, so I took back everything that was mine. Basically, after the huntsman took me, my original plan was to take the knife from him, threaten him, then find my way back. I realized that I wouldn’t be able to double back because I had no idea where I was. SO I grabbed a handful of pebbles and dropped them behind me.

  The huntsman made this WAY easier when he released me, so after the huntsman released me, I doubled back and stole the money by climbing into a window I broke. I’ve wondered why mother didn’t leave father the fortune for years now. I’ve decided that it’s because just in case Father married an evil lady like Irene, Mother didn’t want them taking the fortune.

  It was a nice try, but there’s no stopping Irene.

  So I’m going to go to the fanciest shop in town in these clothes, but money speaks for these people. They don’t care how you look, but if you have a fistful of money, they suck up to you. So I head to Belle’s Beauty, a place run by the local fashion queen. But she’s a major subject for gossip, because she married a man with so much hair on his body that he looks like a beast. He’s kind and helpful, but people can’t get over the hair.

  Anyway, she does carry some gorgeous dresses, even to an anti-fashionista like me. So I run over there as soon as it opens, far before Snow-White and Irene wake up. It’s pretty quiet this early, so I smile at Belle and look around the racks until I decide on one. Nothing over the top, it’s a golden dress in the l
atest style.

  Now I head over to the shadowy, lower parts of town for a knife and dark cloak, to sneak around if I need to. Also, it’ll look really weird if a lady is walking around in the fancy parts of town, looking for a knife. So for the cloak. I head over to Cinderella’s shack. She had an even worse life, ending up at a ball, only to be laughed off. She has lived in shame since them.

  “Whaddya want, Shadow?” she hisses. “I’m cleaning up. Someone tipped off the police on our location. I need to skedaddle.” Skedaddle? Who says that?

  I jingle the coins in my hand meaningfully. “I need a hood. Black one.” Cinder pulls a black cloak out of a closet. Simple and cheap. “Perfect”, I say. I drop the coins into her palm and pull on the cloak. “I need to leave. Thanks, Cinder.” I rush out the door just in time to watch the slightly chubby police round the corner! Cinder’s just finished packing her tent and is in no condition to run. I sigh; too bad I’m too nice to let her deal with them. Well, since I can’t leave her, how do I beat these fatsos?

  It’s really dark. I can take advantage of that. I hold up a stout black stick like a gun. “Hands up, weapons down! Now!” I shout to the cops. I hold up the “gun” in plain sight. It seems to fool them, because they carefully lay down their weapons and put their hands up, all the while staring at the stick. Cinder and I back away, me facing them with my stick. As soon as we’re out of sight, we run as fast as we can. Fortunately the police are all kind of obese and can’t keep up with us. Cinder and I go separate ways without glancing at each other. I arrive, panting, at the knife shop, and am rewarded with the glint of deadly daggers, curved sickles, and sharp swords. But I’m looking for one of those new knives with all the different types that flick out of the handle- a Swiss cheese knife or something- because who knows what type I’ll need. I spot one in the corner, with a hilt seeming to be molded for my hand, and every type of sword imaginable hidden in it. Perfect-I can hide it with my dress in the upper parts of town, holding it like a rolled-up umbrella in my hand. So I haggle over the price with the shopkeeper, and walk away with the knife in my hand, testing each blade.

  At my tree, I tie myself down again and fall asleep as soon as I lie down.

  When I wake up, I while away time while whittling with my knife and nibbling berries. But it is so boring that after a lunch of boiled squirrel, I just take a nap and tie myself down with leaves.

  Chapter 2

  Later in the afternoon I wake up to the sound of voices that I’d never hoped to hear again. Snow-White and Irene are talking right below my tree. I untie myself quickly and sit up, holding my breath. Then Irene speaks. “Well, what’s this?” she asks. What’s what? I look around for clues. Wait. There’s only one of my binding leaves. Where’s the others? They must have fallen on the ground! Irene’s speaking again.

  “Snow-White, climb that tree and check for any disgusting”-she wrinkles her nose-”pests.” Snow-White looks confused.

  “Pests? Like bugs? Why would giant bugs be in trees?” She’s never been the sharpest tool in the shed. Irene growls, frustrated.

  “Rose-Red! Check if Rose-Red’s in the dumb tree!” she shouts. Snow-White nods, with a pleased expression on her face.

  “I get it, I get it!” she says, as if it’s the hardest thing in the world to understand. Then she realizes something. “Climb? Ewwww. Climbing is icky. It makes my dress all sticky. No way. I don’t want to. Climb? Ewwww. Climbing is ick-” I’m not sure she realizes that she’s repeating, but Irene is steaming mad.

  “Climb! Now!” she barks. Snow-White grumbles, but she’s slowly advancing towards me. My breath catches. What do I do? I take deep breaths. Okay. I need to get my knife, dress, cloak, and blanket and go. But my blanket is big and bulky. I can’t take it with me! Okay, just the other three then. The cloak is thick, heavy, and warm, so it can work as a blanket. I grab the things. Next I look for an escape route. Down is not an option. How about if I jump into another tree? I quickly look around. The nearest branch isn’t too far. I take a deep breath- and Snow-White’s at the top! She sees me! She’s about to shout when I throw the bulky blanket as hard as I can at her. She topples off the tree, arms pinwheeling wildly. She hits Irene with a thump. Both of them collapse together.

  In the confusion, I jump off the tree and onto the branch. I leap from branch to branch for what seems like hours. Finally I stop, panting. I’m on the other side of the woods. I clear the last branch and sit there for a while. Soon I hear Snow-White and Irene’s voices again.

  ”We lost track of her”, says Irene. “But she won’t ruin our plans. Soon the kingdom will be yours, Snow-White.” Their voices fade into nothingness as they walk away. I’m left baffled. What the heck did she mean by that? Snow-White can’t rule the kingdom, she’s not even a princess. But there’s only one way to find out: follow them home. To the same place where I slept in a tiny closet. Not a great option, but it’s the only one.

  I find them pretty quickly with their big, clomping footsteps. I keep in the trees close by. Unfortunately, they’re just making small talk and I can’t deduce anything from it. I guess I’ll have to follow them back to the home that was never mine. I don’t want to return there. I have terrible memories from then. But I don’t have a choice if I want to find out what they were talking about.

  Soon we’re at the giant marble house. I hate this place. My room was a cupboard smaller than Snow-White’s makeup closet. Not a drop of light made it past the heavy door that was locked every night by Irene, so I couldn’t run away. Now I have to go back into this house of misery. But have to be strong, for the sake of the kingdom. Because if Snow-White is in charge of this land, everything will go downhill from there.

  Now we’re there. Snow-White and Irene go through, excusing the guards from duty, presumably so nobody can eavesdrop. As Snow-White is closing the door, I quickly slip inside, unnoticed. I creep along, keeping my back to the wall. They’re talking again, but in whispers so I can’t hear all of their conversation or distinguish their voices.

  “You’ll marry the prince at age 16 and become queen. After that, you feed him a poison apple so that he is no longer a threat. You will be in power! We will rule together! “ I only hear that much. Because after that, I sneeze. And it’s not a tiny, unnoticeable sneeze. It’s not a small, quiet sneeze. It’s not even a big, loud sneeze. I release a monster sneeze that was probably heard around the world. Irene and Snow White both look straight at the wall I’m hiding behind. Their footsteps are getting closer…closer…and they’re at my hiding spot. Fortunately, I’m not at my hiding spot. I’m curled up in the cupboard I used to sleep in. This is the one place I wanted to avoid. I feel claustrophobic. I need to get away. I close my eyes and curl in tighter. If they look in here, I have no escape.

  Irene is talking again. “What was that? Who was listening to our plan?” she cries evilly and slightly maniacally. I shudder. Is it just me, or is her voice getting less beautiful every day? Maybe the mirror can only fix someone’s appearance so much. In fact, before she tried to kill me and eat my heart and liver, her beauty was already deteriorating. Her face has a couple wrinkles and her beautiful golden hair has a gray strand in it.

  Anyways, they passed by the cupboard and out the door without even thinking of the cupboard. I have time; they probably went to check around the neighborhood for anyone who ran out the front door. Now, about the kingdom-I’m pretty sure Irene is using Snow-White as a puppet. See, in our kingdom someone can only become a princess or queen when they marry into the royal family. Irene is way too old to marry the prince, so Snow-White would be perfect for that, with her beauty and all. The prince would fall for her like a rock. I wonder if that’s why Irene has always liked her. She must have had this plan for a while. After we grew up a bit, she must have realized that I was smarter than Snow-White. Snow-White would be much easier to persuade to take over the throne. Irene was probably also afraid I’d ruin their plans. That’s why she tried to kill me.

  Wow, it’s nice to kno
w my stepmother hates me because I’m smart and pretty.

  Okay, now I can get out of this cupboard. I step out into fresh, open air. Okay, maybe it’s in a stuffy, fancy mansion, but whatever. I’m finally out of that closet. Suddenly, I hear footsteps. But Snow-White and Irene just went out! The footsteps are coming down the stairs! I freeze. Wait. Could it be…”Dad?” I ask as a familiar face looks around the corner. He freezes.

  “Rose-Red? You shouldn’t be here. Irene wants to kill you.” I bite my lip. “I know, Dad. I was doing a little eavesdropping to find out something. Please don’t tell them I was here. Please?” I plead hopefully. Dad looks torn. He seems to be weighing his options.

  “Okay, I won’t tell, as long as you go now”, he says weakly. I nod, and mouthing a thank you, I pull my cloak over my head and run out the door. I hate how he doesn’t do anything about them. I dive into a bush and create a diversion by throwing a stone into another small hedge. The guards are distracted, and I sprint away.

  Okay. Now that I know a little more about their plan, what should I do next? Go to the kingdom and tell the prince? Yeah, right. I’m a criminal who lives in the woods. The prince is definitely going to believe me when I tell him that the girl he loves is actually going to kill him and take over the kingdom. Totally. Anyway, the best thing to do, no matter how much I hate it, is to get a complete makeover. Because after that spying incident, Irene and Snow-White are never going to let someone follow them again. I need to become a member of the court, and I would never pass as a plump, rich, potbellied man when I happen to be the fairest in all the land. That means I have to be a lady of the court, and help the queen with her fashion decisions and whatnot. Disgusting.

  Wait! I have a better idea! I’ll pretend to be a foreign princess! I’ll still have to wear a dress, but it’s better than deciding if the red dress looks better than the other red dress. The only problem is, how do I fake it? I’m way too noticeable, what with being the fairest lady in the land and everything. So I need to get a make-under instead of a make-over. But I also need to go somewhere that nobody has seen me or Irene or Snow-White, just in case. I settle for Safety Scissors, a beauty salon run by eccentric but trustworthy Belle. At least, I’ve heard that she’s eccentric but trustworthy. She’s pretty young, as I can tell after she walks out the entrance to put the trash out. Her hair tumbles down in wavy brown locks, and today she’s wearing a poofy yellow dress with the biggest skirt I’ve seen. Personally it’s a bit over the top, but hey, I’m no fashion designer. I step into the salon and wave at her.