Mirrored Snow [short story]

Corset

Snowdon's shirt had been shredded from his escape through the woods and his hosts had nothing that would fit him. So when he spotted the old woman at the side of the road, sat beside a large basket with a selection of clothing spread out on the grass in front of her, he was eager to investigate. When he reached her, he was kind enough to lean the axe I was watching from up against a tree, giving me a perfect view of their exchange. 

 "What can I help you with today, sir?"

Snowdon pulled at his tattered shirt with a wry smile. "I seem to be in need of some new clothes."

The old woman's eyes glinted as she gestured to three shirts from her wares. "Chose whichever takes your fancy." The queen may have looked like a cookie-baking grandma, but I could still detect her usual haughty tone. It was too optimistic to hope Snowdon would too, though.

Instead, he picked up the middle shirt, inspecting it closely. "This is excellent quality. The sort of thing you would expect to find on a courtier, rather than the side of the road." That was because she had stolen it from one of her lackeys that morning. The poor master of grain was only on a brief visit to the palace, and the queen had taken every item of clothing he had brought with him, as he was the only one close enough in size to Snowdon. He would have to ride home in his undergarments this afternoon.

Snowdon shrugged off his tattered shirt, revealing a chest every bit as 'fair' as his face. I had seen a lot of bare chests over the years - usually when I accidentally popped into someone's mirror while they were getting changed. I didn't usually mean to do it, although there was a young labourer in the neighbouring village I would end up visiting quite frequently when he was putting his shirt on each morning... Don't judge me. It's as close as I'm ever going to get. I'm stuck in a mirror - spying is my only option. But I realised now that I had been wasting my time on the labourer. He didn't come close to Snowdon.

I let out a day-dreamy sigh, which unfortunately alerted the queen to my presence. She looked over at the axe and spotted me. A dark scowl creased her brow.

While I stared back at the queen, fighting the urge to stick my tongue out at her, Snowdon shrugged the new shirt on and started to do up the buttons. "And just the right size too. What luck!" he said, drawing our attention back to him. I shook my head as a smile played on the queen's lips. Snowdon was perhaps a tad naive for someone on the run... He took a coin purse from his pocket and gave the 'old lady' a few golden coins.

"You are too generous, sir," she told him. Snowdon's brow furrowed slightly.

"A normal saleswoman would be grateful. You just sound annoyed," I told her, enjoying the fact that she couldn't answer me directly without looking crazy.

"But, thank you," she added grudgingly.

"I don't understand why you're going for such an elaborate plan, anyway. Why not just kill him now and be done with it? Why dress him up first?" I was winding her up: her jaw was clenched, her eyes narrowed. Good. Let her direct her anger at me. Anything to distract her from her plan. If I was really lucky, she would do something stupid and give herself away.

"Is that all I can help you with today?" she asked, resolutely ignoring me.

"I believe it is. Thank you." Snowdon smiled at her and walked back over to the tree where he had left his axe. He swung it over his shoulder and rejoined the dwarfs. As the group started up towards the mines, I had a perfect view of the queen. A wicked grin was spreading across her face and, when she saw me watching her, she raised a hand and waved.

Snowdon entered the mines oblivious to his step-mother's plans. He took to the labour with a vigour that took me by surprise. I had to quickly jump out of the axe and into a metal water canister when he struck the rocks for the first time and my world juddered violently.