Page 9 of Snow White

Who would like to spend time with a silly little princess like you? You are better off sinking to the bottom of this pond.

My lip trembles slightly, but I push those thoughts away. There is still hope. I can show Azura there is more to me than being the princess who has yet to explore the world.

I spin away from her and continue my swim. Unfortunately, it isn’t clearing my mind as it normally does. This whole situation is beyond frustrating as the voices in my mind go back and forth. What is wrong with me?

“We should head back,” Azura says, her voice breaking the silence. “There will be an evening feast.”

I don’t respond to that, dunking my head under the water. She can not tell me what to do, and I won’t leave until my mind has settled.

As I’m under, I hear nothing but bubbles escaping my lips. Am I fit to be a princess? Do I deserve this life? Why did my mother have to die? How can I be more like her?

I can’t seem to escape my thoughts, no matter what I do. When I break the surface again, I see Azura still waiting for me.

“Snow.”

“I’ll make it back on time,” I say before floating away from the shore. Maybe when I am truly alone, I will be able to control my thoughts.

Or join the spirits at the bottom of the pond.

Chapter Seven

Azura

The water is watching me.The hair on the back of my neck stands up, and my skin ripples with awareness, the feeling of being watched intensifying. I make a conscious effort to keep my magic at bay. The temptation to cast a spell to ward off whatever is spying on us is nearly overwhelming. But to do so would reveal my powers to Snow, and it’s too soon for her to know the truth about me. I have to be deeply rooted in the kingdom and crown to even risk that secret coming out.

Lithelle prides itself onaccepting all kinds, but even they draw the line at those who practice dark magic. We are not welcome anywhere. We are beings that take the innocent lives of those born with magic and consume the remains to fuel our own power. We are the definition of evil, and the water remembers. It remembers what I did. Mentally, I shut down that avenue of guilt. I feel no guilt.I feel nothing.

“What do you mean?” I demand, trying to look anywhere but at the dark water. Even if it means I don’t get to see the slope of Snow’s back and the way her breasts sway beneath the surface of the pond. I have to force myself not to give in to temptation, to focus away from her.

She glances back at me, and I see the flash of her icy eyes in the reflection of the water. Her expression is so innocently coy. “I’ll meet you there.”

She has no idea the effect she has, does she? How could she? She’s too innocent, too pure, as pure as the newly fallen snow. Snow doesn’t know I’m imagining the water lapping at her waist is my tongue instead. She could never imagine how I ache to slide between her flawless thighs. I need to take her with my mouth until tears fall from her eyes, and she shoves me away while begging me to never stop. I want her so overcome with pleasure that she can’t bear to come again.

“Absolutely not,” I snap, forcing my eyes to her. I will not be brought low by some pathetic water, and there’s simply no way I’m leaving her here alone to swim. There is a better chance of my mother growing a conscience. I know all too well the risks a vulnerable,innocentbeing faces around dark water. I don’t want Snow to fall prey to what I am. She’s the purity I’ve never had the luxury of experiencing.

Snow frowns at me, her dark red lips tilting down. She doesn’t use rouge. Her lips are just naturally that color. Just like the rest of her, her mouth is unintentionally alluring. “Pardon?”

Snow is so polite. What would a curse sound like coming from her? Some part of me wants to hear her scream out curses as I pleasure her with my fingers.

I sit on the rock and tear off my boots again, tossing them to the side.Am I really about to move closer to her?I stomp to the very edge of the water, holding out my hand. “Come with me.”

Focus on Snow, don’t look at the water. Use her as a beacon.

She moves farther away from me until the water reaches her chin. “Why? I can return on my own.”

I can’t leave her here in the pond alone, but how can I explain that? How do I tell her that the last time I set a toe in dark water like this, I resurfaced with the heart of a young kelpie who tried to befriend me? I went into the water as an innocent child and came out as something else. I haven’t stepped into a large body of water since then.

I attempt to keep my eyes on her and off the water but do not wholly succeed.

“Snow.” I emphasize the word with another step deeper into the pond.

Focus on her dark hair, the compact curls soaked at the ends where the water is lapping at them. The water. Darkness. Death.

Snow gulps, her back hitting the edge of the rocks. “You don’t have to worry about me.”

I force another step forward. The water drags at my breeches, soaking the heavy material and tightening it around my legs. They become a weight, trying to pull me down. “I won’t leave you alone out here.”

Don’t remember the pressure and the water filling your lungs. Don’t think about how you nearly gave in to the need to slip away. Focus on the now. Forget the past.

---