Blood in the frost

She wasn't vain- the stories always got that wrong in later tellings. She used mirrors, true, but in the normal way; fixing a slipped comb in her hair or checking her face after dinner. There was no magic in her. She was not a sorceress, or a witch. She wasn't even queen at the time, merely a princess; the first heir to the throne. The unwanted heir, as the kings sister, and not as one from his royal loins.
She was ruthless though.