Poison Read Free Page B

comforting and she lost herself in its dance on the crimson surface. Her thoughts were as dark as the liquid she swirled in the glass and she was drowning in them, the here and now forgotten. In the corner, hidden in the shadows, a black cabinet hung on the wall. The imp who’d sold it to her, long ago, had said it was made from the bones of burned saints from the barbaric lands across the sea, that the glass the cabinet housed came from the blood of mermaids, and the magic bound in it came from the Far Mountain itself.
    For a long while she’d tried to ignore it. As the door creaked open, she took a deep drink from the glass. Her head would hurt in the morning.
    ‘ She truly is the fairest in the land .’
    Lilith looked up. She saw the familiar face in the glass, hung on the inside of the door, was surrounded by inlaid precious jewels. The emeralds sparkled green.
    ‘Shut up,’ she said.
    She should have smashed that mirror. It had belonged to an emperor in the East, the imp claimed, stolen as he lay dying after a hundred year reign. The story went that he had opened the cabinet every day for everyone of those years and listened to its words. She didn’t believe it. The lands were filled with stories, most of which were just inventions. She didn’t think anyone could bear the enchanted mirror day after day.
    ‘ And so graceful .’ In the mirror the face was frozen but the words came anyway, from some endless place behind the glass that could never be under stood. It was a soft voice full of warmth, but still every syllable stung the queen. Her jaw tightened.
    ‘I said, shut up.’
    ‘ Everyone loves her, don’t they? And it’s so easy to see why. Beauty and kindness and yet still wild and free. She will have her pick of the princes to fall in love with. Yes, she truly is the fairest in the land. Isn’t she? Isn’t she beautiful? ’
    Cold, bitter fire burned in the queen’s heart and it erupted in a screech as she launched her goblet at the glass. The door slammed shut and the liquid splatted like blood across the gargoyle faces which decorated it. She stared as it trickled across their open eyes and dripped to the floor.
    ‘Good,’ she hissed. ‘If she wants a prince then I shall find her one. One who will take her far, far away.’
    She trembled and magic tingled on her skin. She spun round, leaving the spilt wine to drip red over the shredded fabric, the wind from her robe snuffing out the candle, and she stormed out into the dark.
    One way or another, Snow White had to go.

2

    ‘A giant from the Far Mountains’
    B y the time the king had been gone a month, things had changed significantly in the castle and the land beyond. It was astounding how much could be done in so short a time when you put your mind to it. The king, although bluff enough by nature and deed, had never given much thought to his subjects who lived beyond the castle walls. They loved him, they always had, and they paid their taxes which allowed him to go on his wars. In turn he made sure they had enough food to be the right side of starving, but not too much that they would become greedy and consider rebellion. The king took them for granted, in a way that only one born to a throne really can. They got on with their business and he got on with his and they cheered when he passed on his horse and that was generally enough.
    There were no statues or portraits of him in public places. He hadn’t seen the need. Having narrowly escaped the flames in the land of her birth, the queen, more than most, understood the power of public perception. She did not have their love or their natural fealty, but she knew how to get their fear and respect.
    She wanted the people to feel she was watching them at all times. The busts and paintings in every hall and market took care of that, along with, for a brief time at least, a network of spies who ensured she knew enough to make the people believe that she could see all of their secrets. She dealt a