Making an Evil Queen

Chapter 2

~ Eighteen Years Ago ~

Namah sat in front of her vanity, methodically brushing out her fiery red hair. She smiled at her reflection; tonight she and her family would be dining with the the family of the man she was sure she would marry. She had been told all her life that she would never find a husband because she was different; she didn't look like many of the other girls in the kingdom because of her hair color. But her mother had assured her that it meant that she was unique and special, and that someday she'd find the perfect man. And she'd finally found him.
A knock on her bedroom door pulled Namah from her thoughts.
"Might I come in?" a sweet voice asked from the other side of the door.
"Of course." Namah answered.
The door creaked open and in walked Namah's only sibling, Vida. At twenty years old, Namah was the older sister by three years.
"Oh, you look beautiful!" Vida gushed.
Namah looked down at her simple blue dress and smiled slightly. "It's not new, but it's my favorite." she said.
Namah's didn't belong to the richest family in the kingdom, which is why everyone was stunned to learn that she had stolen the heart of the son of the king.
"Do you think he's going to propose?" Vida asked hopefully.
Namah blushed. "I think so." she answered.
Always a hopeless romantic, Vida squealed excitedly. "My sister is going to be a princess!"
"Shhhh!" Namah quieted her sister. "Let's not get our hopes up."
"Okay. But let me help you finish getting ready!" Vida grabbed some powder from Namah's vanity and helped her sister with her makeup until she was even more stunning than before.

Later that night, an elegant carriage came to pick up Namah and her family. It took them to the castle where they were greeted by the king, queen, and their son.
"Welcome!" the queen exclaimed. Namah's father bowed while she, her mother, and her sister curtseyed. When they were done, the prince approached Namah.
"My love!" he said, taking her hand and kissing it. "I am so happy to see you."
"And I you." Namah beamed.
"So, this is the lovely family you've told me so much about?" he asked.
Nodding, Namah replied, "Yes, this is them." She then introduced them and the prince shook each of their hands, introducing himself by his name; Alaric.
When he came to Vida, Namah thought that they looked at each other a little too long. But she brushed aside the feeling of jealousy; it was her that Alaric was in love with, not Vida.
Then they went in to have dinner. Everyone got along really well, Namah thought. And after the meal, Alaric asked Namah to marry him. Grinning from ear to ear, she accepted and he slipped the most beautiful ring she had ever seen onto her finger. With that, Namah discarded all thoughts of jealousy about her sister, even though she kept noticing how Alaric and Vida looked at each other.

The next few weeks were spent planning the wedding; picking the flowers, making the invitations, getting decorations. It was going to be exquisite!
One day, Namah was summoned to the castle. Thinking that she was needed for more wedding planning, she immediately went. Upon her arrival, she was ushered into the library where her prince was waiting.
"Alaric, my love!" Namah exclaimed.
"Hello." he said, unsmiling. Namah thought it was odd, since he always greeted her cheerfully and with a kiss.
"Why have you summoned me?" she asked.
"I needed to talk to you." he replied.
"What about?"
Alaric scratched the back of his head nervously.
"What is it?" Namah asked.
"I. . . I'm. . . I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask for the ring back." Alaric said quickly.
"Why? Is there something wrong with it?" she asked, worried.
"No, not with the ring."
"Then why do you-" she trailed off when the realization hit her. "Are you breaking off the engagement?"
He just looked at her sadly.
"But. . .but we're in love!" Namah protested, lovingly grabbing his hands.
But he slowly pulled away, breaking the clasp of their hands.
"Aren't we?" Namah asked quietly, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Please," Alaric almost whispered. "don't make this any harder than it needs to be."
"But what happened?" she asked sadly. "Is it your parents?"
He shook his head. "No."
"It it because I'm a peasant?" she asked.
"What? No, of course not!"
"Then what is it?" she asked. Next, she asked the question she did not want to ask, because she knew what the answer would be. "Is there another girl?"
When she received no reply but silence, Namah knew that the answer could be no clearer.
"It's my sister, isn't it?" she asked.
She watched as he gave an almost imperceptible nod of his head.
"I can't believe this." Namah said as she jerked the ring from her finger.
"You're despicable!" She threw the ring at his feet before abruptly turning and storming out of the library.
On her way out, she bumped into a cart of books, casing one to fall to the floor.
It was a book of magic; a spell book. Namah picked it up from the floor and left with it.
Instead of going back home, she built herself a house deep in the woods where she began to teach herself magic. And with each passing day, she became more and more powerful, all the while thinking of ways to get back at Alaric and her sister, Vida.

♛ ♛ ♛ ♛ ♛

~ Eighteen Years Later ~
It was the week after Lavinia's marriage to the king, and she was walking through the royal gardens after the sun had gone down. It was so peaceful; the sky was clear and all the stars were visible. There were crickets chirping, and the little peepers singing their songs.
Hanging lanterns illuminated the paths through the garden. It was truly beautiful. But Lavinia couldn't help feeling like she didn't belong here. She was an outsider, unaccustomed to the lavish lifestyle of royalty. She was trying her best to fall for the king, and while she cared for him, she did not love him the way she knew she should. His daughter, however, was a different story; Lavinia was crazy about Snow White! And the feeling was mutual. The little girl was so polite and kind, and so unlike any other child she had ever met.
She was able to get a neighbor to watch after her father, but she wished it could be her; she worried about him constantly.
Lost in her thoughts as she was, Lavinia didn't see the person standing in her path until she stumbled into them.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry!" Lavinia said to the stranger. "I should've paid attention to where I was going."
"No, the fault is mine." the stranger said in a soothing female voice. "I shouldn't have stopped in the middle of the path. But these flowers are just so beautiful, well, I couldn't help but stop and admire them." she said as she cupped a good-sized pink blossom.
"They are beautiful." Lavinia admitted.
The woman dropped the flower and turned her attention to the new queen.
"I'm sorry, I never introduced myself." she said. Then she curtseyed. "I'm Namah, your Majesty."
"Nice to meet you." Lavinia said. "And, not to sound rude, but. . .what are you doing here?"
Namah put a hand to her head. "Of course! I apologize, I was distracted. I came because I have a gift for you."
"A gift?"
"Yes, a gift. You see, regretfully, I was unable to attend your wedding, but I still have a wedding gift that I want to give you."
Before Lavinia had time to answer, Namah grabbed her hand and began leading her through the winding paths to the center of the garden where there stood a veranda. And leaning up against the outside of the veranda was a beautiful mirror. It was bigger than any mirror Lavinia had ever seen! It was circular, and etched onto the glass along the edges were flowers and vines that blended into the pattern on the golden frame.
"What do you think?" Namah asked.
"It's gorgeous; I love it!" Lavinia exclaimed.
"Great!" Namah clasped her hands together and walked closer to the mirror. Then she spun back to face Lavinia. Dramatically raising a finger in the air, she continued. "And this is not just any mirror. This mirror," Namah swept a hand at the mirror. "is magic." she said with a smirk and cocked an eyebrow.
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Yay, I finally updated!!! I hope you guys like this chapter, because out all the things that I've written so far in any of my stories, this chapter has to be my favorite. I just really loved writing it. What do you guys think of Namah? She was a last minute character addition, but I think she's going to make this interesting. We'll just see how it goes.
Okay, bye for now! 😘
Oh! And in case you were wondering what "peepers" are, they're frogs. I don't know if that's what they're actually called, but that's what we call them where I'm from. They come out in the spring and summer at the beginning of the evening and they'll stay all night, and they make a kind of high-pitched "peeping" sound, hence their name.