A Fair Account of the Traitors Snow White and Rose Red

The Poison Comb and the Cursed Glass

I could slaughter Snow myself.

Thanks to her meddling, Faylen has deserted me! Slouching on a velvet-padded bench, I scowl at a collection of cheerful sunflowers in suitably ornate frames lining the Art Galleria. He was supposed to meet me here for a private tour of Albemarian masterpieces this morning. I was planning to corner him somewhere between the marble busts of the third and fourth rulers of Albemar and seize my first kiss.

But I am beginning to doubt I will ever win a single one from his elusive lips. Over the last two days, my Sarevali prince has disappeared from court to play war games with his fleet in the harbor. Guarding Leona, guarding his fair princess, et cetera.

All this alarm because Snow frosted a few fields of flowers!

The double doors open behind me and my heart leaps into my mouth. My hands fluster over my stiff scarlet brocade gown as I rise, curtsying as I turn. Yet it's not Faylen's warm gaze that greets me, but the cold sneer of the Green Guild's Prime Minister. I promptly quit my curtsy and reseat myself. "You may excuse yourself, Kage. I'm expecting company."

Kage strides forward and yanks me to my feet. Only then do I notice that two emerald-clad guards flank his side. "You traitorous twit!" he whispers, shaking me. "You knew that Snow would go after my orchid keepers!"

"I haven't the faintest idea what you mean," I protest. Proper indignation hardens my tone. "But please accept my assurances that you shall be punished for your insolence—"

"Will I, now?" Kage mocks. "Be glad that I have uncovered your treachery instead of your precious prince!" He throws me into the arms of the Green Guildsmen and pulls a crumpled paper from his pocket, reading it aloud with a tone of sickly sweetness:

"I've lost you, Rose. I don't know how, but I'll come for you when we're ready. I almost have all the elves. Ever yours—Snow."

All this fuss over one silly letter I never bothered reading? I threw Snow's last letter into my hearth fire without opening it. Her frostbitten geomagy must have kept the paper from burning; no doubt one of the many palace servants in the Green Guild's employ snatched it up. I sneeze as Kage shoves the frost-chilled paper in my face.

"How are you contacting that ice witch?" he demands.

"There's a doll . . ." I start, but I wince as a massive headache slams over me. My tongue feels heavy as if it wrestles to keep the words lodged inside my mouth. I stroke the lotus comb tucked in my tresses and the tide of pain recedes ever so slightly.

"A doll? Do you think this a child's game?" Kage shouts. "Snow White and her demon bear destroyed their fifth orchid plantation last night!" He raises his hand to slap me across the face. But the air ripples with a sudden burst of lavender and his wrist makes a peculiar snapping noise, twisting at an awkward angle. He lets out a strangled cry and clutches his broken arm as the Queen enters the room.

Punishment: Mother bestows it best. The two guildsmen holding me are flung into the painted brigade of sunflowers by a lavender burst of her aura, their limp bodies falling under the gilt ruin of splintered picture frames.

"What a shoddy display of treason!" Mother exclaims calmly as she sidesteps the wreckage and links her arm through mine. She doesn't bother sparing a glance for Kage as she carefully smoothes my hair back behind me ear. "Make your excuses carefully, Prime Minister. They will determine your penalty."

"Why don't you ask your daughter where the true heart of treason lies?" Kage counters defiantly as he tosses the crumpled letter at her feet. "She knew that Snow would come after my elves, and yet told no one!"