OUTLAW | A Snow White Retelling

Part 11: In Which Dash Becomes My Mother

My eyes opened, and the world came to a blur. Two ice blue orbs a few feet away from me ebbed into focus, and I found myself returning the gaze of Finn. He lay facing me, wrapped in his cloak. A groggy smile stretched across his face. "Good morning, Princess," he whispered.

I smirked and closed my eyes, the corners of my mouth still tilted upwards. "You again," I muttered.

His eyes had a playful twinkle. "Me again," he said. "Has anyone ever told you that you look older when you sleep?"

I grunted. "Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

"Well—" he began.

I started. "Wait a second—were you watching me while I was sleeping?"

"No!" he exclaimed, sitting up. "I mean, yes, that was my job. But I was just...waiting for you to wake up. While breakfast was cooking." He shrugged off his cloak to reveal an apron underneath.

"You said you would wake me up for my watch!"

"You can watch while we eat," Dash told me, seizing a wooden spoon and stirring the porridge in the small pot over the dying fire.

"But—"

"No 'buts'! Admit it—you needed a few extra hours of sleep."

I opened my mouth to object, but he was right. "Don't 'mother' me!" I barked.

"I'm not mothering you," Finn sassed. "You want to see what that looks like?"

He adjusted his apron and put on an obscenely shrill voice, handing me a bowl and spoon. "You mind your table manners now, Snow!" He waved the spoon to emphasize as he chirped, splattering me with oats. "And you stay away from those princes, no matter how dashing and irresistible they are! Scum of the earth!" He dropped his trill to a low, warning whisper. "And if you ever see one," he said, creeping towards me, "Be sure to give 'em a good hard whack!" He flipped the spoon in the air, caught it by the handle, and winked. "It makes 'em fall faster."

I did the best I could to suppress my laughter, but my lips still curved into a grin. "You're forgetting one thing," I said. "I have a step mother."

He dropped onto a log beside me. "Ah, yes," he said. "The infamous Stepmother-Evil-Queen. Do tell."

I prodded my porridge. "There's not really much to tell. Are you sure you want to know?"

"Only if you're comfortable," he said. "I won't press for the juicy details."

I blew on the porridge and sampled a spoonful. It was rich, sweetened with honey and flavored with berries. "Wow, this is really good," I said. "Thanks."

"Nothing like Mama Finn's porridge, am I right?"

I rolled my eyes. "The Queen is upset because I'm the heir to the throne and I'm on the run. And as the heir, I pose a threat to her crown."

"Not to sound unattached, but why can't she kill you and be done with it?"

I let out a bitter laugh. "Believe me, she's tried. But I've been on the move, and apparently none of the people seem to want me dead."

The prince dished out some porridge for himself. "Too beloved by the kingdom. That's not terrible, is it?"

"No," I sighed. "But it does make the people suffer more."

"You care a lot about your people. When I was with the Huntsman, we must've tracked you through more than a dozen villages."

I chuckled. "Or so you thought. They like to spread rumors about me to throw people off. It seems to have worked."

"That explains it. So, you're the heir, you have the people's support, you're a fighter. What's stopping you from reclaiming the throne?"

"A lot of things," I said. "I'm too young, for one. And I'm not prepared enough to take the crown, let alone run an entire kingdom. And—"

"And what?"

"I'd have to face the Evil Queen."

He sighed. "Don't you see, Snow? You're set to win the crown. Plenty of people will be there to help you out. All you have to do is stand up and take it."

I turned away. "I can't."

"Can't or won't?" he challenged.

I paused. "Won't," I decided.

"So you're just going to sit around and let the people—your people—suffer until it's handed to you?"

"But—" He was right. That's exactly what I was doing. "Are you ready to take your crown?" I asked, turning it onto him.

He got up and walked a few paces away, so I couldn't see his facial expression. "According to my father or me?" he asked.

"You."

"I'll get the crown when I'm married," he said, making a face. "To Princess Eileen, no less. I'm not ready to do that yet. Otherwise, he would have me on the throne and under his thumb by now."

"That's why you keep running away," I realized.

He turned and I saw the emotional war etched into his features. "Can you blame me?"

"You're avoiding your responsibilities just as much as I am!" I clapped a hand over my mouth.

"Aha!" he said, bouncing back over to me. "Avoidance! That's your problem!"

"Yours too," I pointed out, but he clapped his hands over my mouth to silence me.

"Ah-ah-ah, we're focusing on you right now. But we can procrastinate together."

He began packing up and I shoved a few more spoonfuls of the delicious porridge into my mouth before he could snatch it away. When he glanced at me, I did my best to hide my chipmunk cheeks bulging with food and swallowed it all in one gulp. "What?" I said. "You can't do good work on an empty stomach!"

He returned to his work. "Good point."

I finished the porridge and flicked a few drops of water in his direction as I cleaned the dishes. Several moments later, wetness splattered my cheek. I used the spoon to fling water at him when he wasn't looking. Just as I launched it, he turned to face me and it caught him square between the eyes. His jaw dropped in surprise. I abducted the waterskin before he could reach it and took off, his footsteps moments behind me.

 I hurtled fallen logs and wove between the trees, but I couldn't shake him. The sound of running water reached my ears, and I beelined for it. I ducked underneath some low-hanging tree branches and found myself on the bank of a wide creek. I had just enough time to take in the early-morning sunlight before Dash  tackled me into the water.

 And down we went.