Page 5 of Snow White

“I win!” I cheer.

“No, you didn’t!” Eric protests.

“Yes, I did!”

“No, you didn’t!”

We bicker for a couple of minutes before jumping off our horses and tackling each other. Hands fly and legs kick, both of us ending up with bruises and cuts. Mother is going to kill us. Well, not kill us, but she will give us that look. The look that says we messed up. Though it usually ends with cookies, so I can’t complain.

Suddenly, a soft whistle echoes through the woods. I stop my punch, my fist hovering in the air over Eric’s face, and blink.

“What was that?” I whisper.

Eric shakes his head. “I don’t know but…”

He shoves me into a pile of mud before running to his horse and mounting it. “I will beat you back to the castle!”

He kicks his horse and races off.

“Cheater!” I huff.

I shake my head and approach Chestnut, but stop when I hear a soft hum drifting through the trees. The sound pulls at me, and even though I know I shouldn’t, I leave my horse and follow it.

I cut off the flow of memory. I don’t need to think about the past. Instead, I need to focus on the future. Right now, I am going to revel in the fun I am having with a possible new friend. Doc and I pass Azura and Beast, my laugh echoing through the woods. I hear her throaty chuckle from behind me, and it sends a shiver up my spine. I feel light from the excitement.

It gives me the extra push, and I squeeze Doc, urging him to quicken his pace. Together, my horse and I pass the old imaginary finish line from years ago, and I raise my hands into the air.

“I win!” I laugh, looking back at her. “I told you I’d win.”

“I’m not convinced you didn’t use your powers to beat me,” Azura says, pulling the Beast to a stop. She dismounts her horse before walking over to me and holding her arms up. Warmth fills my chest, and I grip her shoulders as she helps me down to my feet.

“I only have the ability to wield snow and ice. I don’t know how that would have helped me win,” I say with a laugh and a shake of my head.

Azura scrunches her nose, pausing when I press up against her. “I don’t believe you.”

“You think my abilities would make my horse speed up?” I ask with a laugh as I hold my hand out. A tiny snowflake appears, floating above my palm. My magic has always been a mystery to me. My mother told me she would teach me more about it when I was older, but she died before she had the chance.The only thing I have to go off of is what she told me before she passed. That I would need to learn how to control the element before it controlled me.

Azura steps back, watching the tiny white snowflake dance on my palm.

“You could cool down your horse’s muscles so he would never tire. He would be able to run harder and faster for longer periods of time,” Azura says, her brows furrowing.

I blink a few times, my mouth gaping. She knows how to work my powers? “I… I have never thought about that before. You know a lot about magic,” I say.

“I read a lot,” she says, turning away from me. She tucks her hands behind her back as she looks around. “It is very beautiful here. Peaceful.”

We are in a tiny meadow. Flowers in all colors grow around a few fallen trees, creating a rainbow effect as the sun shines down on them. The trees lining the small clearing are bigger than most, but these woods border the Mystic Woodlands. The rumor is that many strange things happen in the Mystic Woodlands due to the magic manifested by the river. So no one questions the oversized trees, and no one dares to cut them down. Not after one woodsman and his entire city suffered a plague after felling a forest giant. That was over five hundred years ago.

The sound of Doc snuffing brings me back to reality, and I loosely tie him to a tree.

“This isn’t even the best part,” I say, excitement thrumming through my body.

“Oh?” Azura questions, looking back at me.

“Follow me,” I say with a bright smile. I turn around and start to weave my way through the hedges. I am not surprised to feel her at my back. Papa always says that curiosity gets to people.

I push the bush aside to reveal a glistening, sky blue pond. It is so clear that we can see to the very bottom. The only fish that live in the pond are goldfish and frogs that I used to catch when I was a child. The water itself must collect a bit of magic from the mystic forest. When I swim in the pond, I don’t feel cold. I feel at peace. There are no voices in my mind, no chill. Just me and the water.

No one knows about this spot. I didn’t even share it with Eric because this was just a little area of my own. Now I will share it with someone I hope becomes a friend.

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