Page 56 of Snow White

“How can I? You won’t even talk to me.”

I growl, kissing her again, searching for how it was a moment ago. “Kiss me back. Like before.”

If she kisses me back, maybe I can live with myself. Maybe I’ll be able to look in the mirror and not hate what I see.

She looks at me blankly. “I should go.”

I kiss her again, but she doesn’t respond. There is nothing, none of the warmth from her cool lips, none of her soft, mewling sounds of pleasure. “Snow, please.”

Snow pulls away from me, spinning on her heel and leaving me behind. A trail of ice follows in her footsteps. She slams the door, the sound echoing in my soul.

We can only depend on ourselves, Azura. We never look to others. Others are weaknesses.

Why couldn’t I have just listened and stayed away from Snow? She was pure and perfect, unaffected by me, and I ruined it because I’m a selfish creature. I wanted to touch the purity inside her, coveting it for my own.

I cover my face with my hands and fall to my knees. Tears wet my cheeks, and I wonder that I am even capable of such an act of sorrow. I broke her. I made her just like everyone else, just like me.

Broken by the world.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Snow

She used me. The one person I never thought would.She used me.

The voices were right. I am nothing more than a naïve little princess. A tool to be used.

My heart, my body, and my soul all feel numb. I should be crying. I should feel something, but I don’t. My feet drag, but I keep my chin high. I will not show them I have broken inside like a shattered icicle. I will not break until I am alone in my room and the world isn’t watching.

I am everything those princesses have called me. Stupid. Childish. Naïve. How have I gone this long in the world being like this? Why haven’t I learned? You let someone in, and they take what you have before pushing you down. They stomp on you until you break.

Poor little Snow White, learning what she truly is. Nothing.

I feel the ice freeze in the cracks of my shields as the pain wraps around me. How could she do this to me? Why would she do this to me? This has all been a game to her. She manipulated me, the stupid little princess, to get close to my father. Azura broke me, and I felt wrapped in ice, untouched by the sun.

Only the heat of her touch can free me from this spell, but that will never happen. She has her plans. She wants to be queen more than she wants me. I will need to get used to the dark, cold world I am now in. The voices will taunt me for eternity, and I will someday become what I should have been a long time ago, a cruel, heartless princess. Just like how it is supposed to be.

As I turn the corner, I see my brother’s door open. Belle steps out, and my heart stops beating as I watch the scene unfold. She is wearing nothing but her nightgown, which I now know means things have happened. They had sex or something along those lines. Was Belle using me, too? Were she and Azura conspiring behind my back to take both my father and brother?

Foolish little Snow. Friendless and used. Should have listened to us.

“Thank you for that,” Belle whispers. “Strangely, I feel better.”

Eric smirks, wiggling his fingers. “Well, I do have the magic touch.”

My stomach turns, and my heart feels like it’s not beating. I grab my chest, forcing out a breath.

Belle shoves Eric and laughs before turning her head. She sees me, and her expression drops. “Snow?”

I back away from the scene, walking down the other hall. I don’t want to hear her excuses. She would insist that they hadn’t had sex. She would say all they did was talk. It would only be lies, right? That is what everyone does. They lie.

Everyone lies, Snow White. It is what has built the very kingdom you live in.

Join us.

Find us.

We will treat you right.

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