Ebony White (A Snow White Tale)

Years Later

The years passed and Ebony White became a talented young woman. And with each passing season her pale beauty only grew. And it wasn't only her looks that grew. Her magic was spectacular. Everything the dark witch, the only mother Ebony knew, threw at her she excelled at.

On her sixteenth birthday her mother gifted her with a crow. It's feathers were as dark as her ebony locks and reflected like mirrors. It's talons and beak were razor sharp and were as bone white as Ebony's pale flawless skin.
   "This crow has been within my family for generations." Her mother spoke as she handed the crow to her daughter.

Ebony watched the bird and immediately disliked it. It's beady little gaze wandered around the room until it locked its gaze on her. It's too human like gaze watched her for a moment before letting out a screech then spoke in a high scratchy voice.
   "The Fairest! The Fairest! Ebony White be the Fairest! Hair as black as night. Skin as pale as bone. Lips red as cursed blood. Her beauty is unmatched by all I see. Ebony White be the Fairest! The Fairest there can be!" And with a flap of its wings it shot out of the room through a window set high in the moss covered stone wall.

Ebony was flattered that the bird had seen her beauty. But her mother had grown cold and her shadow magic was winding itself around her own throat and wrists like dark tainted jewellery. She commanded her magic to calm in front of Ebony before taking a breath and speaking.
   "The crow is made from magic. A magic that keeps its long life from ever withering away. Magic that allows it to see all over the lands from the sea to the mountains and back to the forests. It can also tell us who is the most beautiful creature that exists and can not utter a single lie."

   "Why can't it lie?" Though Ebony hated the bird she was intrigued by it. A creature that couldn't lie and could see everything happening from miles away. She saw the advantages of having a creature like that.

   "Becasue if it lied the magic holding its life away from death would break and it would suddenly die and turn to ash. It knows this. It might be a smart creature but remember its still only a bird." Her mother sneered to herself. That bird had given her a headache or two ever since she received it as a gift on her sixteenth birthday.

Ebony asked many questions after that and wanted to know more about the strange creature. Her mother answered all the questions with quick answers. Little did Ebony know how much her mother was seething on the inside. The dark witch loved her daughter as much as an evil witch could, but knowing her daughter had caught the lurking eyes of that crow made her want to wrap her shadow magic around the younger girls throat and squeeze. Because for years that bird had only claimed one other person as the fairest of all. Her. And now the younger witch in front of her had taken her place. And she wouldn't have that. Not until that bird corrected itself and claimed the dark witch again the fairest of them all.