The huntsman stood before the queen in her throne. He was horribly nervous, but tried to suppress it, thinking the witch could sense fear.
“So where was the little wench when you found her?” she asked, stroking the little velvet box.
“Um, well, she was next to a rock. She was...casting a spell,” lied the huntsman.
“Of course she was. And you made sure she didn’t cast the spell, correct?”
The huntsman nodded.
“Excellent. You are dismissed.” She handed him the wand and a bag of money. “I shall tell Mirror the great news.”
The queen left through a side door, and the huntsman walked as quickly as possible. He was almost to the door when–
“HUNTSMAN!”
He ran the rest of the distance to the door and slammed it open. It crashed back on his face and he was knocked on his back.
“WHAT DID YOU GIVE TO ME?”
He turned around to see the queen right above him. “Ple-please your Highness, l-let m-me explain!”
“Please do,” she said, summoning a ball of fire in her hand.
“Wh-when I found her, I-I was going to k-kill her l-like you asked, b-but th-then she was s-so sweet and I heard her pr-praying and–”
“Praying, you say?”
“Yeah and she was s-so k-kind and she ta-talked to me, it’s been so l-long since so-someone j-just talked to m-me–”
“Huntman, would you stop stuttering? You could be done if you would hurry up!”
“AndItalkedtoheraboutmywifeand kidsandIdon’twanttobeahuntsman–”
“What? You don’t want to be a huntsman? Then why–”
“Your Highness, do you want me to finish or not?”
“I’m sorry, I just need a minute to think. Could you just leave?”
Grimhilde didn’t even know what to think. If Snow was really a devil’s witch, she couldn’t have been praying. It was impossible. And if she wasn’t really a devil’s witch, she couldn’t have used lying magic. She couldn’t have used a wand because she’d had none when she’d arrived, and Grimhilde only had the Pondering Wand. So the only option was that someone else had made Mirror lie. But no one else had access to her castle. Except, of course, herself–
“Oh, my God,” she said aloud. “How could I not have realized this?”
Snow White ran through the woods as fast as she could. She ran past trees that seemed to grab at her with their limbs, yet she did not stop. She ran past animals that she wouldn’t dare try to make do housework, yet she did not stop. She ran until she felt overwhelmed by the feeling that the evil queen was watching her from everywhere, and she fell into deep, dark waters, and she tripped over roots, until she became too tired to take another step. She was so exhausted that she allowed herself to be tripped once more and fell asleep immediately.
When she woke up, she thought that she must certainly be dead. She saw that birds and other woodland creatures had watched over her at night. She turned to the right and saw something that made her smile. There before her was a small house, most likely a children’s home, in the middle of the woods.
